With their professional careers regularly mirroring one another, it seems apt that acting students Charlie and Noah should appear as brother and sister in their latest professional performance.

The duo performed in Safe at The Customs House in South Shields – their first professional performance together.

But the pair are no stranger to playing side-by-side, having performed in countless Stockton Riverside College productions since signing up to the Level 3 Acting for Stage and Screen course two and half years ago.

They are now on the college’s Level 4 Cert Ed in Acting, continuing to develop their skills while also working professionally as and when the right opportunities come along.

Charlie, 18, said: “You have to put the effort in if you want to build a successful career.”

With so much competition and potential talent out there, that doesn’t mean putting your feet up at the end of the college day.

Throughout their studies, Charlie and Noah, also 18, have taken every chance to further their performance portfolio in addition to the college shows.

Both have secured agents, leading to further auditions and more professional work.

It was through their respective agents that Charlie and Noah were coincidentally put forward for the performance at The Customs House.

It was only when comparing notes that Charlie said: “We realised we were auditioning for the same play.”

Always quick to cheer one another on, it was double cause for celebration when each was individually cast.

“It is a competitive industry, but within our college group we all support each other,” said Charlie of Eaglescliffe.

Charlie is first to admit, it was seeing Noah secure an agent that spurred her on to do the same.

“At first I thought that’s really impressive,” she said. “Then I started to think is this something I should be doing. Noah inspired me to put myself out there a bit more, so when an audition came up for Stagebox I went for it.”

Noah puts part of his own success down to being in the right place at the right time. He said: “I was lucky to get into an open audition with lots of writers and producers. My now agent was there, Janet Plater from Janet Plater Management.

“A few days later I was invited to the office and asked to do a self-tape. I did that and they got me on the books.”

For both up-and-coming young actors, a college calendar packed with performance dates has provided plenty of chances to shine.

Charlie and Noah both played Peter Pan in the college’s Christmas productions at ARC in Stockton, they have had great roles in My Son Pinocchio, and in the summer they played brother and sister in The Railway Children at the same time as performing in The Lovely Bones, to name just a few.

They were part of the college cohort to perform at the National Theatre’s Connections Festival, performing on stage at the Dorfman Theatre in London.

And, before their agents came along, a workshop in college with the artistic director Theatre Space NE saw the two audition and secure professional work in A Summer of Shakespeare, a series of indoor and outdoor productions in Sunderland. Charlie performed in As You Like It, her first professional job, and Noah in Julius Caesar.

Noah, from Blackhall Colliery, went on to feature in a short film set in Durham and has taken part in photo shoots for adverts.

But his first taste of professional acting came in Year 9 when director Ken Loach came into his school ahead of the drama film, The Old Oak.

“I auditioned for a speaking role and was recalled to do an improvised scene in front of Ken Loach which was so surreal,” said Noah. “I didn’t get the role, but I was put in as an extra.”

Today, as up and coming young actors, both Noah and Charlie have had to become accustomed to the inevitable knock-backs.

The excitement of one yes far outweighs the disappointment of those roles they don’t get.

With another professional performance under their belts, their ambitions are to work on more productions, both on stage and screen. They talk animatedly about their favourite films and dramas, the parts they would love to have played, the quality of the writing and the performances they dream of matching one day.

Of choosing to pursue his love of acting and studying at Stockton Riverside College, Noah said: “It has been the best decision of my life.”

Charlie added: “If I was asked what I want to do for the rest of my life I would say this!”