TWO former Stratford schoolchildren have grown up into RSC actors and are making their debuts next month.

Caitlin Mottram and Chris McGill are making ready for appearances in both A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It, which open at the RST in March.

Caitlin is playing Helena in the first production and Phoebe in the second. She spent most of her school years in Stratford and her family still lives in the town, with her mother, Maria, working in the RSC box office.

Caitlin went to St Gregory's School and then King's High School in Warwick and while she was there, became a member of the National Youth Theatre and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford.

She went on to university and then joined RADA in 1998 and since she left there, she has appeared in London as well on television, alongside Robson Green in Wire in the Blood.

She's now 28 and lives in Market Harborough. She auditioned for her parts just two days after returning from her honeymoon last year.

"I was told I had got the parts in October, around the time of my birthday, so it was a great present." she said. "At first, I couldn't quite believe it. I used to see a lot of plays in Stratford but I never thought I'd get to perform here. It's fantastic, a dream job."

Chris McGill is 24 and was born in Tiddington. He was brought up in Kenilworth and went to Trinity School in Warwick. He spent three years at Lamda and has worked at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Birmingham Rep as well as with the Generator Theatre Company.

As a youngster, he started out with the Playbox Theatre Company, the Warwick-based youth theatre, which was run by his father Stewart McGill.

He first remembers visiting the RSC to see Macbeth in 1988 and afterwards tried to see as many plays as he could. Now he's going to be playing a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream and a Forest Lord in As You Like It.

"Working with the RSC is something I've always wanted to do," he said. "But when I heard that I'd got in, I was absolutely terrified.

"Of course, once I'd got over the shock, I was delighted. The rehearsal process involves some training elements and we get to work with some of the biggest names in the theatre profession, including voice expert Cicely Berry and director John Barton.

"It's going to be a very exciting season to work on."

The pair are rehearsing for five days a week in London before the company moves to Stratford ready for the shows to begin - A Midsummer Night's Dream on March 31 and As You Like it from August 5.