AMY Thompson is in the last year of her drama degree at Hull University... and rehearsing for her York Theatre Royal debut in Nick Lane's version of Beauty And The Beast.

"I'm only missing a couple of lectures," she says. "For my year there are no exams but a big practical project instead, and I'm doing that in the evening when I get back to Hull from the daytime shows."

Nick, who is directing and co-starring in the two hander in The Studio from next Thursday afternoon, says he would in no way jeopardise Amy's degree.

"If it had been evident that it would have impinged on her university work, I wouldn't have asked her to do it," says Nick.

"And I wouldn't have done it!" says Amy.

Nick first staged Beauty And The Beast at Hull Truck Theatre in December 2001 as the second of his Christmas shows for children, and it was at Hull Truck that he first encountered Amy. "She started working there behind the bar, ushering, whatever, all things basically," Nick recalls.

Amy went on to step into the Hull Truck cast for John Godber's Thick As a Brick when it toured the Greenwich Theatre for a fortnight. Her talent was duly noted.

Fiona Wass had appeared in Nick's original production of Beauty And The Beast but was committed to appearing in Godber's Reunion, and so a gap opened up for Amy once more. "I didn't have to cast my eye far for a replacement," says Nick. "I knew Amy was smart, bright and could work quickly.

"My main priority was that Amy should feel comfortable within the framework of the play, and we've done that even better than I expected. We had the framework within three days and have been rehearsing steadily for two weeks since then."

Nick will play the Beast, the Merchant (Beauty's father), Beauty's sister Blob and The Fairy; Amy has a trio of roles, Beauty, the shared part of Beauty's father, and Beauty's other sister, Ratface.

Those new names of Blob and Ratface encapsulate the performance style of Nick's work.

"The sisters don't have names in Madame Leprince de Beaumont's story, so I thought 'Do I go for something French or something wacky like Blob and Ratface?'. Those names help with the characterisation," Nick says.

"The key ingredients are to make sure you're not patronising your audience, but stick to the original story while you're telling it in a way they can get involved with, and can laugh along with or sit there quietly and still enjoy it!"

Beauty And The Beast, The Studio, York Theatre Royal, April 10 to May 3, morning and afternoon performances. Box office: 01904 623568.

Updated: 10:12 Friday, April 04, 2003