BY day, Sam Hill is a 20-year-old student from Hammersmith studying English Literature at the University of York.

By day, Molly Kay, 24, from Flamborough Head, works in the Reading Room café in Rowntree Park, while nurturing ambitions to progress her theatre career after studying for the three years at The Arden in Manchester.

By night and weekend, both are rehearsing for their York Shakespeare Project debuts in chairman Maurice Crichton's production of All's Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare's "too little seen romantic comedy, written at his peak".

From next Thursday to the following Sunday, they can be seen in the roles of Bertram, the young Count of Roussillon, and Helen, who lives in his household, loves him but knows she is out of his league.

Women are a complete mystery to Bertram, who is on the cusp of leaving home for Paris, the Court, and every sort of temptation. Helen should forget him and move on, but she has her very own fairy godmother in the form of a magic remedy left to her by her father.

Both Sam and Helen jumped at the opportunity to audition for such deliciously enjoyable roles.

"A friend of mine played Orsino in YSP'sTwelfth Night and he mentioned the company, so I applied," recalls Sam, whose last role was playing Captain Stanhope in the University of York Drama Society's production of RC Sherriff's Journey's End in the Drama Barn. "For a while I was having to rehearse both at the same time."

Molly, meanwhile, was working in the Rowntree Park café when she saw YSP were rehearsing Twelfth Night in the park. "I got talking to them, then got in touch through Facebook," she recalls.

She duly landed the role of Helen, whose progress through the play makes her a joy to play. "She starts off quite weepy, quite childish, but gradually she gains confidence, becomes more bolshy, tenacious, and grows into this mature woman by the end of the play, when she gets what she wants," says Molly.

"You've got to get the balance right between being vulnerable and weepy and yet being strong by the end, and we've also got to achieve the balance between the tragic and the comedic. The best comedies are when you find the truth in the story. Sometimes people are tempted to ham it up to find the comedy, but it's better to play it seriously and the comedy will come through."

Bertram, meanwhile, is "really fun to play", says Sam. "Especially when he has to lie through his teeth, which is a wonderful scene to play."

He hopes to continue appearing in YSP productions during his university studies before seeking a place at drama school. "I knew I wanted to read English Literature at university as well as going to drama school, and in the year ahead I'll be looking to do the college auditions from next September," he says.

Molly has her eyes set on the south.

"I'm hoping to move to London to cast the net for roles down there. I was a student of Alan Booty, who's from York, when I was at The Arden and he was saying there's more opportunities in London, more shows, and I just want to give it a shot."

York Shakespeare Project presents All's Well That Ends Well, Friargate Theatre, York, November 27 to 30, 7.30pm plus 2pm matinees on November 29 and 30.

Tickets: £12, concessions £10, students and under-18s £8, on 01904 613000 or ridinglights.org/friargate/ 

Did you know?

Molly Kay appeared in a McDonalds' Christmas breakfast advert . "I played a plain officer worker in a plain skirt and blazer," she recalls.