WHEN Sir Peter Hall was phoned by David Jacobs, a longtime friend, and asked to become director of a new theatre in Kingston-onThames, his heart sank. Another run-of-the-mill, out-of-London theatre, he thought, we do not need.

However, Hall, now into his mid-70s has launched Rose of Kingston with all the messianic fervour of the man who, 40 years ago created the RSC.

The theatre itself is the major attraction. Still half completed - another Pounds 6m to find - it's based on the original Elizabethan building, foundations of which were found 15 years ago under a building site in Southwark. Seating nearly 1000, its potential is palpable: a more open, smaller relation of Shakespeare's Globe, without its "thrust" stage but, crucially, more intimate.

That promise has still to be realised. The opening season includes a couple of funding galas hosted by Dame Judi Dench and Jimmy Tarbuck, and this production, starring Hall's daughter, Rebecca. Her Rosalind, seen originally last year in Bath, retains its gawky Diane Keaton-Jean Seberg-like appeal. Her unisex garb of crumpled shirt and slacks marks her out as of today's unisex crowd.

Unfortunately, her throwaway delivery tends to have a lacklustre effect on a production whose battery of fine, established actors - Michael Siberry (as a delightfully dry, cynical Touchstone), James Laurenson and Phillip Voss - and Dan Stevens's bold young Orlando produce magical moments, but which overall, also lacks contrast.