Originally published 10 September 2002

Twenty eight students of English and Drama from the University of Warwick are cutting short their summer holidays to take part in an innovative new project run by the Royal Shakespeare Company's Education Department. The students will be put through their paces to produce a play from scratch in only five days. The Boot Camp starts on Sunday 8th September and culminates in the one and only public performance of the Jacobean tragi-comedy The Witch in the Swan Theatre on Thursday 12th September at 2.30pm.

The entire process of putting on a play from initial design to end product normally takes about three months, so putting on a production in just five days will certainly involve an intensive work schedule! The aim of the project is to give each student invaluable hands-on experience of working in a professional theatre environment.

The students, all aged between 19 and 25, will appear on stage and work behind-the-scenes. Acting as mentors will be a range of RSC experts, including Andrew Wade from the Voice department, musicians James Jones and Ted Waters, Martin Slavin from the sound department, Simon Spencer (lighting), Pete Chollerton (props), Sarah Fathers (costume supervisor) and Paul Clarke from design. Members of the current acting company, including Paul Bhattacharjee and directors Declan Donnellan and Gregory Doran, will also be lending their support.

Thomas Middleton's The Witch is an outrageous and intriguing cocktail of love, murder, vaudeville and witchcraft. It will be directed by Heather Davies, Associate Director on the RSC's highly successful season of rarely performed plays from the Jacobean and Elizabethan eras - Edward III, Eastward Ho!, The Roman Actor, The Island Princess and The Malcontent.

The RSC Boot Camp is part of the event programme attached to the Jacobean Season in the Swan, and has been devised and produced for the RSC by Fiona Lindsay in partnership with Professor Carol Rutter from Warwick University.

For further information please contact
Nada Zakula
RSC Press Office
01789 412622

Note to Editors:
The Witch can be seen in the Swan Theatre on 12 September at 2.30pm. All tickets £2.50. Box Office 0870 609 1110
The company includes: Louise Rowley (Derbyshire), Helen Sampson (Merseyside), David Tanqueray (Berkshire), Shueh Yen Wong (Leicester and Singapore), James Anderson (Surrey), Ross Armstrong (Worcestershire), Ali Boucher (London), Briony Dupont (Devon), Molly Flatt (Oxfordshire), Jessica Harmer (Cambridge), Jonathan Heron (Newcastle), Jo Howson (Essex), Charlotte Hunt (Leicestershire), Emily Juniper (Somerset), Alek Maxwell (Solihull), Laura McKee (Essex), Josie Murphy (Essex), Irene Musumeci (London), Megan Paul (Hampshire), Steph Potschke (London), James Rigby (Merseyside), Jo Royce (East Sussex), Chris Tester (Coventry), Amy Thornton (West Yorkshire), Helen Toms (Wiltshire), Vicky Williams (Llanelli, Carms).