About RicNic Productions
RicNic Productions is a youth theatre group with a difference: every level of the production, from direction to acting to music to stage management, is undertaken by people aged below twenty-one.
Founded in 2003 by Ashley Riches and Ben Nicholls, each summer RicNic produces a piece of high-quality, full-scale musical theatre involving students from several state and independent schools in the Winchester area, unadulterated by the involvement of grown-ups except in a legal supervisory role. For a few weeks during the school summer holidays these talented and dedicated thespians meet and rehearse at the Queen Elizabeth II Theatre in Winchester before staging a run of performances for the general public at the end of July.
Guys and Dolls, which we performed in 2004, was a huge hit, called a “triumph” by one of the participating school’s headteacher. In 2005 RicNic produced the far more complex show Into the Woods, which was received with critical acclaim. 2006 saw the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!, another spectacular success. Details about 2007's production, Kiss Me Kate can be found here.