Stage

The Devil's Disciple. The Summer School Repertory Theater is starting its three-show season with its obligatory bicentennial tribute--George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, and the Loeb Drama Center is already decked out in red, white and blue bunting to publicize the July 4 (when else?) opening of this British comic melodrama about the American Revolution.

The Rep is expensive--ticket prices are only slightly lower than downtown--but the quality of its productions is reputedly high. George Hamlin, producing director of the Loeb, recruits the company from all across the country, inviting noted New York and Boston area actors and other younger performers chosen through a series of national auditions to participate.

The Devil's Disciple will star James Valentine, an experienced Shavian actor, in the lead role of General "Johnny" Burgoyne. Valentine has appeared in the show twice before--in two different roles--so he should know what he's doing.

If you're planning your summer theater season in advance (and it pays to--advance subscriptions are cheaper), coming up on the Rep's schedule are Life with Father and That Championship Season. The former--which stars Hamlin, who will also direct, as "father"--has had a brisk advance sale, so it might be a good idea to get tickets now.

Previews of The Devil's Disciple July 1, 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. Gala gourmet buffet and show July 4 at 7 p.m., including entertainment by the Proposition--Boston's most famous improvisational theater group--doing excerpts from their show The Boston Tea Party. Opens again July 6 and runs through July 24, with performances Monday through Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 5 and 9 p.m. Preview tickets $5.50, regular tickets $6.50 and $7.95, rush seats (one half hour before curtain) $3.75.