WHAT is the connection between TV classic Mad Men, cult film Disco Pigs and panto star Johnny McKnight?

The answer is the Tron Theatre, or rather it’s hugely creative autumn/winter programme.

The Tron revealed today the highlights of the season ahead, which are certain to entice the widest possible public audience.

The Mad Men connection comes about in September with the return in September of Theatre Jezebel who are producing Mad Men and House of Cards writer Keith Huff's “fresh and compelling” A Steady Rain.

The play stars former River City actors Andy Clark and Robbie Jack who appear as two Chicago cops, whose friendship is tested to the limit.

“Their life-long, almost family-like bond is put to the test when they're called out to a domestic disturbance that takes a turn for the worst,” says a Tron spokesperson.

“With Andy Clark and Robbie Jack taking on the roles of Joey and Denny, this promises to be a compelling piece of theatre.”

There is also the chance to see the world premiere of “noir-ish” thriller Grain in the Blood by Rob Drummond.

The Tron say they were delighted to be working with the Traverse Theatre on a production that will be the centre-piece of the season.

“Set against the backdrop of an eerie rural community and steeped in the folklore of the harvest, it explores the timely moral dilemma of how much we are prepared to sacrifice for the greater good?”

A sharp contrast to Rob Drummond’s contemporary piece is Krapp’s Last Tape, a short play by Samuel Beckett about a writer who has recorded his thought and views of his life on audio tape every year since he was twenty four.

Now Krapp, played by Gerry Mulgrew, is sixty nine, and looking back on the life he could have had.

But if existentialist angst doesn’t make your heart strings go zing, September offers up the chance to see Summer Heart.

It’s an insight into the extraordinary life of classical pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, who until her death in 2014, was known as the world's oldest living Holocaust survivor.

Challenging the familiar recital experience, the play tells Alice's story using some of Chopin's most dramatic études, theatrical writing, illustration and projection.

In October there’s also a chance to see Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs, recommissioned by House and touring nationally.

It’s described as “a furious, funny and violent dash through a lifelong friendship at the moment of its savage destruction.”

The play also enjoyed life as a 2001 cinema production, starring Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy.

Those with a taste for the “spectacularly surreal” however will flock to the main auditorium to see Pajama Men: 2 Man 3 Musketeers, with their “audacious new show packed full of dizzingly hilarious characters."

But the eclecticism doesn’t stop there.

Olivier Award-winning Pat Kinevane comes to the Tron with his “unequivocally beautiful” piece Forgotten presented as part of Luminate: Scotland's festival of ageing.

And the ever-popular Mark Thomas returns with the third in his trilogy of multi-award winning shows, The Red Shed.

It’s the story of a battle for hope and the survival of a community played out in the Wakefield Labour club as it celebrates its 50th birthday.

All of that is a sharp contrast to Company Chordelia and Solar Bear’s unique piece of dance theatre, Lady Macbeth: unsex me here.

The show features a cast of male dancers who explore the relationship between masculine and feminine in one of Shakespeare's most complex women.

Writer-performer Gary McNair returns with his Fringe First-winning show A Gambler's Guide to Dying, described as “an intergenerational tale of what we live for and what we leave behind.”

And some of Scotland's finest clowns will test their funny in Clown Cabaret Scratch Night.

The theatre is also delighted to be staging Andy McGregor's “fast and furious” new comedy The Rise and Inevitable Fall of Lucas Petit.

“The only remarkable thing about Lucas is how unremarkable he is, that is until one day in the B&Q café he meets a tramp who may or may not be God.”

Sounds fun. And as ever, the season will conclude with another of Johnny McKnight's panto extravaganzas, The Snaw Queen. It’s a virtual laughs guarantee. `

The festive show for three-six year olds is The Night After Christmas, directed by Tron Participation's Lisa Keenan.

Artistic Director Andy Arnold is delighted with his upcoming programme.

“As well as several high-profile collaborations, I've programmed an extraordinary and eclectic range of work this season.

“We have world-class theatre and unique dance presented alongside ventures into absurdism and activism.”

• For the rest of the programme and details check www.tron.co.uk