Just A Quickie with... Harrogate actor Laurence Mitchell, who returns to North Yorkshire in his Royal Shakespeare Company debut next week.

THE RSC will be opening its UK and international tour of Julius Caesar at Hambleton Leisure Centre, Northallerton on Tuesday. What character will you be playing in a show billed as "Shakespeare's fast-paced political thriller"?

"Octavius Caesar, and the Soothsayer who has the most famous line in the play, 'Beware the ides of March'. I'll be pretty much nipping in and out as my main character doesn't come on until Act 4. He forms part of the triumvirate with Marcus Antonius and Lepidus, who take over Rome after Caesar's death."

Old play, but will David Farr's production have an old or new setting?

"Modern, more or less. There's no pretence that we're not in a theatre, and in this production we play it as a theatre company that storms the auditorium. That's fine because there's still the reality wherever you play your scenes. It's just that we'll be wearing jeans, leather jackets and baseball tops.

"There's also some use of modern technology, so Caesar's first entrance is like attending a modern-day presidential press conference, where they're lined up with their aides. I don't want to say his name, but it's like Bush.

"Then the big speech after Caesar's death scene is filmed live and is shown on a screen behind to give the sense of it being a live broadcast relayed around Rome."

You are making your Royal Shakespeare Company debut at the age of 29. How did this opportunity come to fruition?

"Like every other job, I just went for an audition... and someone was stupid enough to give me the job or, in fact, two jobs. We're also doing The Two Gentlemen Of Verona on this tour, but not in Northallerton. How it works is that the two directors have to agree on a joint list of actors. They each draw up a list and then argue about - or agree - who they should cast, and what the cross-casting should be."

How long will you be on the road?

"More or less a year. We'll be going to North Carolina in March for a couple of weeks at Davidson College. There's lots of this stuff over there. They love the British, they love Shakespeare, and they love the RSC."

STAGE FACTS: The Royal Shakespeare Company technical crew will arrive in Northallerton on Sunday to erect the RSC's mobile auditorium in Hambleton Leisure Centre. Five 45ft articulated lorries, carrying 50 tonnes of equipment - including the auditorium, seating, costumes and set, tea urn and washing machine - will be unloaded. Within 24 hours, the leisure centre will be transformed into a full theatre.

Royal Shakespeare Company presents Julius Caesar, Hambleton Leisure Centre, Northallerton, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 1.30pm matinee, Friday. Tickets: £22, with concessions available; ring 01609 777070.

Updated: 15:45 Thursday, September 09, 2004