San Diego's Sledgehammer Theatre's upcoming new season includes plays by August Strindberg, Samuel Beckett and Kirsten Brandt (the company's artistic director). The June 25-July 23 kickoff presentation is Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata, directed by Scott Feldsher, which will be followed Sept. 7-17 by Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, directed by Matthew Wilder. Brandt will direct Pick, working title for a new play which she promises will be "a startling and unexpected trip into unknown territory. Epic. Prolific. An ambitiously massive production," she said. "Don't ask questions. Just think BIG." Pick will run Oct. 29-Nov. 26. The final show in the season is The Devil's River, a world premiere which will run Feb. 11-March 11, 2001.Conceived and directed by Brandt, the play is about "corn thieves and cowhide, pioneer heroes and rattlesnake soup," she said. "Twist-mouth tales told by shape-shifting crows and half- clad ghosts. I've tried to fuse folklore, fantasy and super-natural myth in this one."

Sledgehammer works out of St. Cecilia's Playhouse, 1620 Sixth Ave. at Cedar in downtown San Diego. For tickets and information call (619) 544-1484 or visit www.sledgehammer.org

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent