Soho Repertory Theatre returns to two of its favorite authors for the 2000-2001 season, staging premieres by Mac Wellman and Richard Maxwell. The theatre unveiled Wellman's Hypatia just last season, while it mounted Maxwell's Cowboys and Indians in spring of 1999.

The new season will open in December with Wellman's Cat's Paw, directed by Soho Rep artistic director Daniel Aukin. Aukin has a big success last year with Quincy Long's The Year of the Baby.

Cat's Paw, subtitled A Meditation on the Don Juan Theme, is set in the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, among other New York City landmarks. The story, about the difficulties facing women in a man's world, concerns four females who are arrested for trespassing at the Statue of Liberty and end up in Federal Superior Court. Wellman's works include A Murder of Crows, Cellophane and Second Hand Smoke.

April will bring Richard Maxwell's Caveman. The Obie-winning writer-director's latest features a trio of characters -- a man, his wife, the man's co-worker -- who meet in the couple's apartment and suddenly give voice to their innermost secrets. As in past Maxwell works, the text is peppered with original faux-pop tunes, sung by the characters at odd moments. Maxwell's Boxing 2000 will be presented at the Present Company Theatorium in September.

Soho Rep is located at 46 Walker Street in Manhattan. For more information, call (212) 941-8632. --By Robert Simonson