What's on
Performances, workshops, events and seminars are shown on this page, where they're of interest to Drama students.
Please remember that coursework-related events may not appear until a week before the event, so please check back regularly.
Wed 13 May
Start time: 16:00Behind the Curtain: The hidden origin stories of documentary films and their journey from idea to screen
Presented by: The Centre for International Creative IndustriesLocation: Screening TheatrePostcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
This event will showcase the documentary work of two members of staff from CDF: Konstantinos Thomaidis (Drama) and Jezz Vernon (Film). They will each show a short film or excerpts, and discuss their experience of making the films, as well as engaging with the creative industries in their promotion and showings on the festival circuit and online. The event will shed light on the issues involved in making such films, and how to promote and distribute them in the wider creative industries.
Konstantinos Thomaidis is a co-director on the film ‘Mother Company’ for which he used his extensive practice and research in voice and performance. The film has been highly successful on the international festival circuit, screening, among others, at Academy Award-qualifying PÖFF Shorts in Estonia and winning major awards (such as Best Artists’ Film at BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica). There will be a screening of ‘Mother Company’, and a discussion about the making of it, along with his experience of being part of the festivals.
Jezz Vernon has created the highly innovative film distribution label, eXeFilm (https://www.exefilm.com/), promoting short films and documentaries. He will show excerpts from two films, ‘Public Enemy’ and ‘The Hard Stop’, and talk about the themes that drive them, bumps in the road they had during production, thinking about the mechanics of distribution, and the incidental ‘story’ quality in terms of their journey to the screen.
This event is part of the launch of the new Centre for International Creative Industries in the department, which highlights and promotes the research and engagement with the creative industries across the three subjects.
Thu 14 May
Start times are 15:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Underdogs
Director: Evvie Potamitis and Olivia Whitfield
Location: TS1 Alexander Building, Thornlea, New North Road, Postcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
A show about a bunch of losers trying their best to overcome their situations with the upper-hand.
Fri 15 May
Start times are 14:30 and 18:00T3 Festival
A Dreaded Tale
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
Fairytales. Improvisation. A single Jenga Tower. What could go wrong?
'A Dreaded Tale' is a long form improvised horror comedy show using the tabletop roleplaying game system Dread, where players pull from a Jenga Tower to determine where the story goes. If you are a fan of improv, twisted tales and an intense game of Jenga, this show is for you!
Fri 15 May
Start times are 16:00 and 19:00T3 Festival
Pirates!
Location: RS2 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
It’s Pirates and they're in the Carribean - need I say more?
Avast, it’s going to be good swashbuckling fun!
Mon 18 May
Start times are 14:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
Women of Innocence
Director: Issy Hassall
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
A city on the brink of war sees a virgin sacrifice as its only solution, igniting a more personal conflict between two friends
Tue 19 May
Start times are 15:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
A Doll's House
Director: Freddie Harrison and Kate Burr
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
Any doll's house needs its overlord to play with it, and just like any other, Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' has a split right down the middle. Instead of playing, we can only watch Nora Helmer 'play' under the strict rules of her husband, Torvald's, patriarchal grasp. As her desire for autonomy slowly unravels her, Nora is left confined, frustrated, and spinning like a top. She must learn to dance on her own terms.
Wed 20 May
Start times are 16:00 and 19:00T3 Festival
Rebecca
Director: Lyra Farnan and Michaela Todeva
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
A year has passed since the beguiling Rebecca De Winter’s tragic death and yet her presence still clings to the halls of Manderley, the grip of her long tenacious fingers tightening around its inhabitants… Haunted by visions of Rebecca, the new Mrs De Winter must learn to navigate her new married life against all odds and try to forge friendships on hostile grounds.
A fragile bride tormented. A master confined to the past. A maid so devoted that even death is not a barrier.
This is a study in jealousy, and a story about love which refuses to die.
Wed 20 May
Start time: 17:00Employability Salon - Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Location: Screening TheatrePostcode: EX4 4LA Show on MapRob Langley-Swain, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Rob is from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he is head of Marketing and Student Recruitment: many graduates from Exeter apply there for the MFA and MA Acting course. This is a chance to find-out what they offer, when they recruit and what they are look for in a candidate.
Thu 21 May
Start time: 15:00.17:00T3 Festival
Like a Fish on a Bicycle
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
The average woman is an outlier.
Did you know toothpaste was designed for the Ph of mens bodies, not women’s? Society is steadily growing more aware of gender inequality but it’s still one-size-fits-men.
We want to create a collaborative, devised piece with a company of non-gender specific actors, writers and passionate people. Our intention for the piece is for it to be abstract, honest and experimental.
Mon 25 May
Start times are 15:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
The Disgraced
Director: Rudi S. Carson
Location: TS1 Alexander Building, Thornlea, New North Road, Postcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
A family of forgotten gods ruminate their legacy, reflecting on their actions as humanity forgets them. While some preach an acceptance of this, acknowledging the family's flaws and the part they played in their fall, others begin to ignite riot, believing that humanity needs to be punished and reminded of their place.
Tue 26 May
Start times are 16:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
An Ideal Husband
Director: Lucy Ma and Holly Smith
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde is a play that follows the complexities of marriage in 1890s London. Sir Robert Chiltern and Lady Gertrude Chiltern must overcome the lack of perfection in their marriage and face reality when Mrs. Cheveley blackmails them. The audience follows this contrast between natural and artificial life and are left to question, is perfection the most important thing?
Wed 27 May
Start times are 14:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
Adult Orphan
Director: Elektra Alexander
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
When you lose a parent you barely had, what exactly are you supposed to grieve? After the death of her estranged father, years after the passing of her mother, Morgan is pushed, very reluctantly, into therapy by her friends. There, she finds herself surrounded by absurd, unpredictable personalities. Beneath the sarcasm and resistance, lies a lifetime of complicated loss, forcing her to confront grief, identity, and what it means to be someone’s child when there’s no one left to claim you. A funny, heartfelt tragicomedy about healing, friendship, and the messy reality of being human.
Wed 27 May
Start times are 16:00 and 18:30T3 Festival
The Coffee Machine is Broken
Presented by: Vitruvian Theatre Company
Director: Seamus Casey and Daniel Siner
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
A hospital waiting room - everyone’s favourite place to spend an evening.
A woman faces an impossible choice between life and death. A father and son reach for each other but miss every time. A daughter split open by grief, longing for it to end. A young nurse stretched past breaking point. A man, drunk, loud, and impossible to ignore. All different. All waiting.
Over the course of a single night, ‘The Coffee Machine is Broken’ explores the fragile connections people cling to when everything feels uncertain. Lives hang in the balance, strangers collide, and love is tested in all its messiest forms. Conversations overlap, inner thoughts spill out, and moments of connection appear where you least expect them. Tender and darkly funny, this play captures the raw, human moments that exist between life and death, when all you can do is wait.
Thu 28 May
Start times are 14:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
A Portrait of Rival Detectives Investigating Duel Murders/Art Theft, 1974, Oil on Canvas
Director: Tegenn Jeffery
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
A painting has been stolen, a man has been murdered, and INTERPOL are on the case! Two British detectives and two American action heroes must put their differences aside to find out whodunnit. Unfortunately, that's a lot easier said than done, and as tensions rise, we can only hope they manage to pull this off.
Thu 28 May
Start times are 15:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Sundog
Director: Rafi Z. O/'Neill
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
How well do we know those closest to us?
Aged 58, Jethro Slump has died suddenly in his home. Put in charge of his eulogy, his daughter Kristie is experiencing an ill-timed bout of writer's block. With only a week to write it, she begins to look through his old scrapbooks and diaries for inspiration. In doing so, she realizes that her father's life was far more complicated, and far more tragic, than she could have ever imagined...
Fri 29 May
Start times are 14:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Shook
Director: Henry Ryland
Location: TS1 Alexander Building, Thornlea, New North Road, Postcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
Riyad, Jonjo and Cain are serving time in a young offenders institution. Bound together by their fate behind bars they trade sweets, chat shit, kill time, and await fatherhood. It’s Grace‘s responsibility to teach them how to be good dads, but will they ever be good enough for the society that put them behind bars?
Winner of the 2019 Papatango new writing prize, Samuel Bailey’s darkly comic and hard hitting play serves as a compelling reminder of the struggles faced by male young offenders trying to find their place in the world.
Fri 29 May
Start times are 16:00 and 20:00T3 Festival
Chef! Gimmie One of Everything!
Director: William Finney
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
Sketch comedy? Improv? Stand-up? Chef! Gimme One of Everything!
In this fast-paced and interactive variety show, the audience will be invited to select from a delectable menu of sketches, improv scenes, and stand-up vignettes to concoct 35 minutes of deliciously fresh comedy à la carte. With sketches ranging from mouse-themed rappers to GCSE drama, dry but absurd improv and highlights from up and coming stand-ups, Will Finney, JJ Connolly, and George Littlejohn promise to serve you up a banquet of unique entertainment at each and every performance.
Sat 30 May
Start times are 16:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Inside the Tech Box
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
People rarely see what goes on in the tech box during the show but in my experience it can be just as entertaining as what is on stage...so we're putting it on stage. And you might recognise some of the stories...
Thu 04 Jun
Start times are 15:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Three Sisters
Director: Isabella Davies and Vincent Hobbs
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
Three Sisters follows a family living in a small town on Russia. As the years pass their brother marries a girl from their town and their plans for life slowly morphe into something unwanted as these sisters experience loneliness, desire, devastation and a longing for their home in Moscow.
Fri 05 Jun
Start times are 14:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
Women and Children First
Director: James Chester
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
A ship is wrecked, claimed by the frigid waters of The Cape of Good Hope. It is 1852, two naval officials by order of the British government make the long cold journey to the Southernmost tip of Africa.
Between the smoky boards of an old tavern, the usuals patrons arrive. Vulgar, repressed and increasingly inebriated. They do not take well to the two British strangers who fling questions regarding a sunken ship and display unsubtle insults to the ethnicity of their hosts.
As the storm rages through the night so do the bar's patrons. Talks of ships soon turn to arguments of land, race and gender. Oppressors hide in the guise of victims and volume smothers the fragility of language. What begins as creeping leaks of prejudice becomes a typhoon of ignorance that threatens all in its wake.
Fri 05 Jun
Start times are 15:00 and 18:00T3 Festival
Life is a Cabaret!
Location: TS1 Alexander Building, Thornlea, New North Road, Postcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
Join us for an exciting selection of songs from a range of musical shows, with singing, dancing and maybe an immersive twist... If you love watching passionate and talented performers and getting lost in the magical world of musical theatre then this show is for you!
Fri 05 Jun
Start times are 15:00 and 19:00T3 Festival
Under Milk Wood
Director: Isabel Allanson
Location: RS1 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
In this adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood I intend to examine the beauty of mundanity, grief and the power of memory. Explored through a duel narrative; one set in Llareggub of Thomas’ play and one set in the modern world as a family wrestles with the expectant grief at the loss of their father.
Mon 08 Jun
Start times are 14:00 and 17:00T3 Festival
A Trebled Mind
Location: TS1 Alexander Building, Thornlea, New North Road, Postcode: EX4 4LA Show on Map
'A Trebled Mind' is a devised piece, exploring internal thoughts, emotions, and struggles through music and sound, and stylised movement. This is a piece which forefronts self-expression through methods outside of verbal communication, addressing themes of self-perception, individuality, and mental health.
Mon 08 Jun
Start times are 15:30 and 18:30T3 Festival
The Final Look Back From Obscurity
Director: Adam Purdy
Location: RS3 Roborough Studios, Prince of Wales Road, Postcode: EX4 4SB Show on Map
At the mercy of a dying campfire, three itinerant performers cling to performances very few may remember with a flea circus, a balloon dog, and a quarrelling pair of dolls. Their talk circles the drain of a question none can answer; why continue? As memory frays and companions quietly vanish, devotion curdles into revolt.
“Purity is a concept made to shame us; you do not need to be clean to be good.” Absurd, intimate, and unsettling, Final Look Back From Obscurity honours the dignity of artists performing for a world that no longer exists.
A self-written and directed project with hopes of developing into the future.