FANS OF this column have complained that in my preview of the Dublin Theatre Festival, in the last issue of Hot Press I paid only lip service to the "most prestigious and biggest show on offer," the RSC's production of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale (Gaiety Theatre). My, but you readers can be cruel sometimes - and right.

So let's look a little more closely at what many people are claiming will be the imported hit of the festival and, indeed, why someone would want to forsake an evening at any of the Irish productions on offer to see what clearly is one of Shakespeare's lesser-performed plays.

"Aye, but there's the rub," to quote the man himself. One irrefutable reason for rushing to see A Winter's Tale is that its author is William Shakespeare and unless you're dead to theatre, language, music, poetry, philosophy and the politics of sexuality you can't fail to be moved on some of these levels by the man's genius.

Michael Attenborough, executive producer of the Royal Shakespeare Company has described the staging of this particular production of A Winter's Tale, which is part comedy, part tragedy, as "difficult and thrilling."

"It is almost like directing two plays in one," he has said. "It shifts between the first half, which is a tragedy about sexual jealousy, and the second half, which takes place 15 years on, and looks at what has happened. To have those extremes in one play is pretty extraordinary, but the achievement of this production is that it's great, great fun."

Not just "great," mark you but "great, great" fun. It should be great, okay. Playing the lead roles are Samantha Bond, Gemma Jones and George Nettles (probably best known for his nine years as TV detective 'Bergerac' or, 'Cyrano De Bergerac' as it was called in the theatrical circles). The play will be directed by Adrian Noble who, obviously has pumped some much-needed new blood, and enthusiasm into the Royal Shakespeare Company, since he took over as Artistic Director, from Trevor Nun. His set is said to be stark and back-to-basics, emphasising the dynamics in the text and within each character. For me, the joy will simply be in witnessing a production of one of those rare Shakespeare plays that I have neither seen nor read.

Similar to the role of "indie" record labels in the music industry so-called "fringe" events at this year's festival may prove to be offering a healthy alternative to the official fare on offer. The ever-persistent Smashing Times company - who probably contact Hot Press more often than most, looking for a plug for their productions - are presenting 'Blooming Women', written by Mary Linehan and focusing yet again on Molly Bloom, that woman who said "yes, yes, yes."

Those men who said "yes" to concept of the "new man" are bound to end up regretting such a decision if they attend 'Man Is Dead; Serious Women" a satirical one-man show, written and presented by David Constantine. Another one-man show is Donal O'Kelly's reading of his new play Asylum, Asylum which tells the tale of a Ugandan seeking sanctuary in Ireland.

Other fringe events include No Exit Theatre Company's production of Richard Cameron's Can't Stand Up For Falling Down; Mary The Enchanted Cave; Tom Stoppard's The Fifteen Minute Hamlet and, finally, Da Vinci Theatre Company's The World of Shakespeare which leads me out, where I began, with the man himself: W. Shakespeare. How's that for structured journalism? Information on fringe events can be obtained by phoning Dublin 546588.