HOLLYWOOD'S finest actors have been known to go to great lengths to help them get into character, but few drama students do for the school play - until now.

Pupils at the Cherwell School, in Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, have been taking daily lessons in the martial art Tai Chi to prepare for their play Red Demon, which they are taking to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month.

And not content with this extra effort, they have raised more than £13,000 to fund their trip and have also been asked to perform at a special reception at the Japanese embassy in Edinburgh.

Head of drama Paul Slater said: "We have been training with Grandmaster Gou from the Oxford Gong Fu Institute for a year now, learning the discipline of Tai Chi and Tai Chi Fan. There has been a lot of hard work involved, but there is a lot of Tai Chi in the play."

It is written by Japanese theatre legend Hideki Noda.

When the 30-strong group of students aged 14 to 18 first performed the play - to great acclaim - at Christmas, it was the first amateur production.

Mr Slater said: "Hideki Noda is highly celebrated in Japan but hardly heard of here. When we performed the play at Christmas it was a sell-out success.

"Everyone really enjoyed it and thought it was something special."

He described the play as a "timeless tale" about an island people living in fear of the outside world. When a strange alien arrives on their shores, the community is thrown into turmoil.

He said: "We aren't sure exactly how the Japanese embassy found out about us performing the play, it could have been through us filling out forms for the Edinburgh Festival, but we've been invited to a special evening reception at the embassy on August 3, which we're all delighted about."

They will be performing at the Fringe from August 5 to 10 at Venue27@Holyrood.

He added: "The students decided they would love to go to Edinburgh, so they set about raising the money to do it. They've put in a brilliant effort, holding all sorts of fundraising events, but are still short of about £2,000."

They have already secured sponsorship from Conneely, Dry Lining and White Horse Breweries but are keen to hear from any other companies or individuals who might be able to help them.

Anyone able to help should call the school on 01865 558719.