The insider’s introduction to York’s prolific Drama Society
York DramaSoc is one of the largest and most active societies at the University, with over 400 members. We are an incredibly prolific society and our output is one of the highest of any drama society in the country. We produce one major production a week during term time, as well as numerous smaller projects, such as weekly Open Drama Nights which anyone can turn up and join in with for free, and also frequent outreach opportunities such as working in schools or prisons (although not together, obviously). The standard of our productions is generally very high, but don’t be put off, there are opportunities for enthusiastic people of all levels of experience.
Most of our productions take place in our very own venue, a small black box studio theatre known affectionately as the Drama Barn, located near Vanbrugh college (making Vanbrugh bar the unofficial DramaSoc HQ). The barn is admittedly quite small, but extremely versatile and is frequently used to great effect by many innovative student directors. It is pretty rare for a university drama society to have a venue of their own, we are very lucky to have it and use it to the full!
Getting involved in the society is really very simple. You do need to be a paid member in order to perform in the barn for insurance reasons, but membership for the year is a mere £6, and this allows you to be involved in any productions for the year, and also gets you a quid off any ticket prices, so even if you aren’t a performer it is well worth joining if you intend to see a few plays throughout the year. You don’t need to be a member to audition, auditions are open to all, but should you be successful you will need to be a member to perform.
The main way to get involved in the society is to audition. There will be auditions for the autumn term productions in Week 2, for plays taking place in Weeks 6, 7, 8 and 9. I strongly encourage anyone interested to audition, it is a wonderful way to get to know people even if you aren’t immediately successful. There is often a lot of competition, and the key thing in auditioning is enthusiasm and perseverance. If you don’t get cast in your first term, please don’t give up! There are also numerous opportunities to be involved other than acting, including teching and backstage work, production and directing. The society is entirely run by students, from the most prolific director to the most humble spear-carrying stage hand, everyone is important!
One project happening this term, that maybe needs a little more explanation than the rest, is the Barnarama. This is a new project, and is essentially an unauditioned play. Anyone can be involved in this, in pretty much any capacity. A team of student playwrights are currently writing a number of short pieces based around the theme of Greek Myths, and these will be open to anyone who wants to get a taste for acting, directing, production, teching, stage managing or anything else without being involved in a major production straight away. There are also two student-written plays being performed this term. Dramasoc strives to provide opportunities for student playwrights, and frequently stages new writing by students.
If you want to stage a production yourself, things are very straightforward. You can apply with classic material or with original work, which will be considered without regard to the age or experience of the writer. Once you’ve decided to stage a production, all you need to do is find a producer and apply for a production slot. Information about when and how to apply will be provided via email and on our website later in the term. Although DramaSoc is sometimes seen as daunting and scary, we’re a welcoming society and hope to see as many new faces involved this year as possible!
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