York Theatre Royal is big on being small, as Damian Cruden tells CHARLES HUTCHINSON

ARTISTIC director Damian Cruden will direct his first production in the York Theatre Royal Studio as the opening show of the second Studio season.

Explaining his choice of Willy Russell's comedy Educating Rita - the ubiquitous one about feisty hairdresser Rita enrolling on an Open University English Literature course - Damian says: "It hasn't been done in York since the early 1980s, and it's still a great play. It's still very relevant.

"We often get the impression that we've taken a huge leap forward in terms of who has access to education but I don't think we've done that at all. People who are working class still find it difficult to get into higher education and complete their education satisfactorily."

Damian points out that three million people in Britain don't send Christmas cards because they cannot spell and are worried about that inability. "There's a huge problem at the moment with illiteracy - and Rita is not illiterate. In fact she's literate but wants to engage her mind fully," he says.

"Educating Rita is not just a diatribe about education but about the human condition. Look at Frank, Rita's teacher. He's an alcoholic who's losing his drive to educate and that has resonance now when we're asking how do you motivate teachers today?"

Damian, who was educated in Scotland, believes his native country has a stronger belief in the absolute right to education.

"In England we don't value it, and we should be better at that. Here's a play that shows the benefit of supporting education. A wonderful, witty, funny play with two great parts - and now I've got the chance to direct it in the Studio."

Educating Rita runs from February 14 to March 9, to be followed into the Studio by the Theatre Royal debut of York classical theatre company Actors of Dionysus, specialists in Greek drama. Noted for their powerful combination of poetry, physical movement and music, Actors of Dionysus present director David Stuttard's adaptation of Euripides's play Trojan Women from March 12 to 16.

"David and his company have been rehearsing their plays in our Walmgate rehearsal rooms for two and a half years now and he's a very talented guy. Having them as guests in this building is great; I hope they feel comfortable with us and we want to develop our role with them, doing whatever we can to help them," says Damian.

"Hopefully, people who don't know their work will come to see them for the first time, and this is also a chance to bring Greek theatre to the people of York: as with Ibsen or Chekhov, it's difficult for the Theatre Royal to sustain a Greek tragedy for three weeks but we can support it this way. Our duty to develop audiences never stops; it must go on and on building."

As part of the theatre's commitment to young people, four of the region's youth groups will be performing two shows a night from March 20 to 23 under the Royal National Theatre's International Connections scheme.

The National commissions 12 plays a year with young interests and concerns in mind, and plays are then selected for regional showcases. Co-ordinated by education officer Maggie Goddard, the Theatre Royal quartet will be: Youth Theatre Yorkshire's production of Tasmin Oglesby's Olive, a sharply humorous tale of a father returning home to his daughter after 14 years; IN2 Theatre in Nuts, Fausto Paravidino's cartoon-style comedy based on the Charles M Schulz comic strip; Stagewrite in Take Away, Jackie Kay's exploration into whether a solution can be found to a city's onion problem; and Huntington School's production of Andy Hamilton's The Exam, a high-pressure exam comedy from the writer and producer of Drop The Dead Donkey.

"This event used to be BT Connections, and this year will be the first time we've presented the plays in a mini-festival. It's all part of our drive to have a new Theatre Royal youth theatre in operation in September," says Damian. "Youth Theatre Yorkshire will be closing down in the summer and their members will be invited to join us."

Watch this space for more details.

The 100-seat Studio, which opened last September, once again will be the location for Kidstory readings, a regular programme of enchanting children's tales for the young and young at heart, to be read on Saturday mornings by members of the Theatre Royal repertory company. Readings this winter take place at 11am on February 23 and March 2 and 9. Please note, children must be accompanied by an adult; tickets are £1 or free if in receipt of means tested benefits.

"The Studio shows form part of a short but particularly sweet Theatre Royal season for February and March, and I'm particularly pleased to be doing Educating Rita in the Studio," says Damian.

"In the future, we aim to keep the Studio as diverse and flexible as possible with a full repertoire, so stand-up comedy and acoustic gigs will be on the cards too."

For tickets and brochures, ring 01904 623568.

Updated: 10:43 Friday, January 04, 2002