Nigel Jarrett chooses from a bountiful list of events in theatre and concert next month

WARNINGS of nudity in a stage play are more likely to attract punters than put them off.

Bare flesh will no doubt be tastefully in context for Kaos Theatre's adaptation of Defoe's Moll Flanders at the Riverfront, Newport, for three days from October 20.

The irrepressible Moll is one of English literature's first ladies of pleasure and will be letting herself go in at least two senses.

Theatre at the Riverfront (01633 656757) kicks off the season on October 13 with a two-day Shakespeare Schools Festival, part of a nationwide celebration of the Bard.

Instead of two plays on each, there will be seven in the form of half-hour abridged versions, one by Tom Stoppard, performed by eight Gwent schools.

Many leading British jazz musicians know Abergavenny as a stopping-off place on their peripatetic itineraries, and pay regular visits.

The latest will be guitarist John Etheridge, who plays at the Borough Theatre (01873 850805) on October 12 with Welsh guitarist-composer Dylan Fowler in a union of two different styles.

Theatre at the Borough next month includes the Scamp Company in a Bristol Old Vic production of Private Peaceful, which centres on the reflections of a Great War soldier awaiting the firing squad.

This is on October 18 at 1.30pm (note the time), the day before an appearance by one of the world's best-known touring Flamenco groups, Jaleo, who take the stage at 7.30pm.

On October 22, the military theme continues with New International Encounters' production of My Long Journey Home, about a Hungarian soldier who is press-ganged into the German army in the 1940s and discovered 53 years later in a Russian asylum. Blackwood Miners' Institute (01495 227206) is marking National Poetry Day on October 6 at 1.30pm with an appearance by John Hegley, featuring work from his quirky collection, My Dog is a Carrot.

Later, at 7pm, in a Welsh Academy presentation, members of Caerphilly Writers 'squads' will read from their own work in a show rather disturbingly titled The Future of Poetry. Classics come to the 'Stute for three days on October 20, when the Love & Madness Ensemble perform Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and an adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Book both for a discount.

Gwent hosts some truly special musical events next month, the biggest being an appearance at Caldicot School on October 1 by Guang Yang, winner of the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

The Chinese soprano, in her only UK recital appearance, will be the guest of Two Bridges Music, the musical appreciation branch of the local University of the Third Age (01291 420988/421661).

On October 22 at St Michael's Church, Abergavenny, the local Unicorn Singers will be joined by soloists from St Petersburg for a rare amateur performance of Rachmaninov's Vespers (01873 810200/853394).

For just two nights on October 14, the unmissable Mark Morris Dance Group will be at the Wales Millennium Centre (08700 402000).

Among other foreign visitors, the Red Army Ensemble arrives on October 22 at St David's Hall, Cardiff, with traditional song and dance from Russia in colourful costumes (02920 878444).

For full details of events, ring for a brochure.