Ref. 72567-04THEY may make some people's skin crawl but three brown rats will be taking starring roles in the George Orwell classic 1984 tonight.

The Old Town Theatre Company is tackling the chilling thriller at the Swindon Arts Centre in their latest production.

Following an appeal in the Evening Advertiser, Ray Gabriel and Sally Williams came forward to offer their services as rat handlers. They got in touch with their friend Jason Davis, who owns the three furry stars.

"We wanted scary big brown rats rather than the cute cuddly kind and these are perfect,'' said Ashley Heath, the director of 1984.

"There are excellent, especially when their tails flop out through their cage."

The rats will be appearing each night at the arts centre in Devizes Road, Old Town, until Saturday, terrifying both the leading character Winston Smith, played by Richard Large, and the audience.

The rodents didn't have any names so the cast of 1984 have Christened them Huey, Dewey and Louie after Donald Duck's nephews.

1984 is an apocalyptic satire where Winston's individual personality is wiped out and replaced by the party image.

Parts of the play have already been filmed and are used as video inserts.

"These will form the invasive Telescreen announcements through which Big Brother exerts his will,'' said Ashley, who also wrote the adaptation which has been approved by the Orwell Estates.

David Howell takes the part of O'Brien and Tanya Barker is Julia.

Lance Hodges the vice-chairman of the company said: "It is a very technical show with voice overs, live action and big TV screens it is quite challenging.''

The theatre company has been going since 1992 and its aim is to produce challenging works from contemporary playwrights.

Lance said: "We aim to appeal to the more adventurous theatre-goer.''

Previous productions range from Shakespeare's Macbeth to Monty Python's Life of Brian, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 'Allo 'Allo and Strippers.

They have won the Swindon One Act Play Festival for the last four years and the company operates on an open door policy and every time it auditions for plays it is thrown open to the general public.

"We welcome anyone interested in the theatre including acting, directing, lighting, sound, set design and backstage work,'' said Lance.

1984 starts at 7.30pm each night and tickets are £5 from 01793 614837.