May 24, 1981

HIGHLIGHTING a Connecticut summer crammed with music, art, theater, antique shows, outdoor attractions, special events and sites of historic interest, are two impressively mounted Shakespearean productions in Stratford and the establishment of a new spectator sport - whale-watching. The American Shakespeare Theater, which had fallen on hard times, has after four years of financial and administrative reform been restored to economic health. ''We are ready to make a strong artistic statement and to reestablish the theater's national prominence,'' said Richard E. Bader, its executive director since 1977 and a former Deputy Administrator for Parks and Cultural Affairs for New York City. ''Obviously we're doing well now, or we couldn't do this season.'' At a cost of $600,000 for each production, Shakespeare's ''Henry V,'' starring Christopher Plummer, will be presented from July 7 to Aug. 22, to be followed by ''Othello'' with James Earl Jones in the title role from Aug. 4 to Aug. 30. Both plays will be directed by Peter Coe, newly appointed artistic director of the theater.

Flashback: The time is the early 1970's. Pubic hair is visible in ''Medium Cool,'' a film about Chicago in the 1960's. Frontal nudity is seen in ''If,'' a movie about an English boys' school. And, in the film ''Midnight Cowboy,'' one of the principal characters is a male prostitute. No one now at the Motion Picture Association of America's Code and Rating Administration can remember precisely what was the specific objection to ''Midnight Cowboy,'' but the fact remains that the CARA awarded all three of these films its X rating: For Adults Only. Times and community standards change, and there is general agreement among most people in the movie industry that none of these films would cause much of a stir today. Now, in all probability they would be rated R - restricted to those over 17 unless accompanied by a parent. In the decade past, the ratings system devised in 1968 by the motion picture industry in an effort to forestall an outbreak of community censorship has reflected a general loosening of community standards.

NEWARK IN THE end, as rationing died, water was being wasted to the sea and water companies were petitioning the Board of Public Utilities, the state's rate-setting agency, for substantial rate increases because of slumping sales and revenues. The suppliers seeking increases are the Hackensack, Elizabethtown, Middlesex, Ridgewood and Commonwealth Water Companies. Alfred L. Nardelli, the state's Deputy Public Advocate, whose department challenges utility rate cases, took a dim view last week of the water companies' plea on the basis of declining revenues. ''When a utility loses money,'' Mr. Nardelli said, ''they can't come and assess customers higher charges for the losses. Their are several cases that establish this doctrine. We're going to be saying that the stockholders should bear those losses, not the customers.''

It may seem odd to regard a sandstorm as a piece of good fortune, but in Egypt recently my family and I were hit by one that closed the airports and forced us into a delightful discovery about a new way to travel down (or up) the Nile. Since January, a spanking new overnight train, manufactured in West Germany, has been making daily runs between Cairo and Aswan, with an intermediate stop in Luxor. In my book it ranks as one of the finest railway journeys anywhere. I confess a certain weakness for trains. I have traveled on sleepers in the American West and the Canadian Rockies, in Thailand and Finland and Eastern Europe. I have spent more nights than I can count on Russian trains to Murmansk and Minsk, Vilnius and Leningrad, Riga and Brest. My wife, Debby, and I once took the train from Moscow to Paris through a monumental snowstorm, sitting in our snug compartment and stuffing ourselves with black caviar, vodka and steaming tea.

HARTFORD ''THOSE who know Connecticut appreciate it; those who don't, think it's all concrete and factories,'' said Barnett D. Laschever, the state's Director of Tourism. Since assuming the post in 1974, Mr. Laschever's job has been to persuade those in the latter category that there is more to Connecticut than industrial development. Compared with some states, like Florida and New York, which come ''pre-sold'' because of their major attractions, he said, ''we have to try harder.'' Connecticut, he said, has an image problem. ''Ask someone out in Iowa what they associate with Connecticut and what will he say? Industry. Ask someone closer and he'll probably tell you the state is a 'bedroom town' for New York executives. What these people don't realize is that Connecticut is still 80 percent forested and that it has a wide range of scenic, historical, cultural and recreational attractions.''