Autumn/Winter season 2013
SMOG
February 2014
Smog takes its inspiration from the 1958 novella by the Italian writer Italo Calvino , with echos of his 1972 publication " Invisible Cities " . In the 13th century court of the emperor Kublai Khan , The Venetian Ambassador and traveller Marco Polo is challenged to tell us a tale of a city that speaks to our futures ..."
Directed by Mitch Mitchelson. Devised by the Level 3 Physical Theatre company.
Smog takes its inspiration from the 1958 novella by the Italian writer Italo Calvino , with echos of his 1972 publication " Invisible Cities " . In the 13th century court of the emperor Kublai Khan , The Venetian Ambassador and traveller Marco Polo is challenged to tell us a tale of a city that speaks to our futures ..."
Directed by Mitch Mitchelson. Devised by the Level 3 Physical Theatre company.
SKONE OKE
December 2013

Once upon a time, there was a small village called Battenberg, where it was always light and never dark and the villagers went about their daily business in joyful, uninterrupted brightness.
Surrounding Battenberg was a dark forest. In the depths of this dark forest lived Dr. Coppelius, the toymaker. He avoided this town of light and its inhabitants, preferring the dark and the company of his curious creations.
One day, however, darkness fell upon the village of Battenburg, creeping in from the shadows, and the mysterious Coppelius became their only hope …
Surrounding Battenberg was a dark forest. In the depths of this dark forest lived Dr. Coppelius, the toymaker. He avoided this town of light and its inhabitants, preferring the dark and the company of his curious creations.
One day, however, darkness fell upon the village of Battenburg, creeping in from the shadows, and the mysterious Coppelius became their only hope …
In Arabia We'd all Be Kings
December 2013
In Arabia We'd all be kings chronicles the demise of a group of individuals living in New York's Hell's Kitchen. Out of work and strapped for money, the lives of these individuals revolve around a local bar and their misguided hopes and dreams. Performed by our second year Theatre Arts Students.
North North North
October 2013

In July 1897 three Swedish adventurers set out from Svalbard, headed for the North Pole in a hydrogen filled balloon. Their aim was to discover new lands, to map the undiscovered Arctic and to plant the flag of Sweden at the pole. At 2:30pm on the 11th July they cut the anchor lines and floated up into the cold arctic air. They were never seen alive again...
Using an international cast and a delightful mix of projection, physical theatre, storytelling and live music, NIE invite you to join them on an exhilarating journey into a little known story from one of the worlds last great wilderness areas. A journey full of hope and daring do, of frostbite and patriotic songs, of seal meat and sharing a sleeping bag. A dream and a nightmare of the great white north.
Using an international cast and a delightful mix of projection, physical theatre, storytelling and live music, NIE invite you to join them on an exhilarating journey into a little known story from one of the worlds last great wilderness areas. A journey full of hope and daring do, of frostbite and patriotic songs, of seal meat and sharing a sleeping bag. A dream and a nightmare of the great white north.
Spring/Summer season 2013
Dogs
June 2013

A lack of certainty about events heightens the dramatic interest, intrigue and general anxiety of this tempestuous new corporate power play for five women - Alex, Peterson, Mads, Joan, and the enigmatic Andrews. Business instability is high and confrontation with the enemy, Jeffries, is imminent. Trust has eroded and alliances are bought and sold as Joan, the new girl, is asked to ‘hold onto’ a set of files.
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Stories & Visions
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Can't Pay Won't Pay
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Cabbages & King's
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Spring & Summer Season 2012
Valley of the Blind
Drama St Mary's Original Production
_Directed by Anna Healey, VALLEY OF THE BLIND
is based on the H.G.Wells' novel The Country of Blind Men. This devised
piece of theatre told the tale of a mountaineer who falls down the
side of a mountain and comes across a valley cut off from the rest of
the world. The valley was once a haven for those fleeing Spanish
rulers, but now disease has taken over and all the villagers are blind.
The community has adapted to life without sight, but the mountaineer believes that he can teach and rule the villagers. However things do not work out as he had planned. |
Love & Madness
_“Love that is not madness is not love.”
LOVE AND MADNESS takes us into the world of Clowning and Commedia dell’Arte to meet the wonderfully comical characters that arose in 16th century Italy. Using a 400-year-old scenario we will see Masters and Servants argue and fight in a world full of envy, love and revenge just like they did all those centuries ago. A father, Pantalone, takes his daughter, Isabella, to a strange city to be married. Desperate, she feigns madness to avoid her fate. Unwittingly this starts a chain reaction as first her true love, Oratio, and then Flaminia, who also loves Oratio, really do go mad. Soon everybody is dragged into their folly. A prophet arises foretelling the end of the world. Signs are seen in the sky. All succumb to urges beyond their control as the world goes mad. |
1, Beach Road
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They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
_They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
followed The World Championship Dance Contest and its contestants as
they endured seven weeks of marathon dancing. What seemed an exciting
competition became a twisted struggle for survival as we witnessed the
murder of competitor and Hollywood hopeful, Gloria Beatty.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? was a huge success for Drama St Mary's with a sold out final performance. In the audience was the writer Ray Herman who enjoyed the show immensely. |
Fasymmetric Theory
_Fasymmetric Theory featured in our
Autumn/Winter season as part of our Graduates Week and returned in the
Spring as part of the companies audition to enter the National Student
Drama Festival.
Written by one of Drama St Mary's Students, Kat Evans and performed by Drama St Mary's Theatre Arts students, Fasymmetric Theory takes a dark look into the meaning of beauty and what is defined as beautiful? Art, love, power, storytelling? Fasymmetric Theory is an original Drama St Mary's production. If you are interested in purchasing the script please contact dramastmaryspublicity@live.co.uk |
SleepyBased on the works of Anton Chekhov and using the device of storytelling, the Second Year Physical Theatre company created a visually stunning piece of theatre. With an Eastern European folk style the cast and creatives took the audience on a storyfilled journey.
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Autumn & Winter Season 2011
A-Political Cabaret
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Stray
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Oskar
December 2011
_Oskar is a story about a little boy & his journey to try and come to terms with his fathers death.
In a vase in a closet, a couple of years after his fathers died in 9/11, nine-year-old Oskar discovers a secret... A twenty strong cast in chorus, the Physical Theatre Graduates have been working to provide an ensemble piece full of laughter, loss, and an epic journey full of visual imagery and full of hope to discover a better life. |
Three Blind Mice
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Tales From a Sea Journey
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Allegiance
November 2011
_This rehearsed reading of
Mary Kenny’s play offers an imaginative reconstruction of a
historically based incident by focusing on the meeting in the autumn of
1921 between two key figures in the highly charged political
negotiations that led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It explores the
emotional and moral dynamics of the intimate enmities between Michael
Collins and Winston Churchill. “A play that asks serious and
interesting questions” (The Guardian). Starring Matthew Marsh
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Fasymmetric Theory
"Beauty is not as simply defined as many people believe it to be"
Written by new playwright and St Mary's student Kat Evans, Fasymmetric Theory is a darkly comic, thought provoking piece of new writing that is premiering at St Mary's this November. Bringing together a wide range of different creative talents and dramatic conventions, this homegrown new play promises to engage, entertain and excite its audiences. |
An Evening of Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror
October 2011
_Drama St Mary's presented this Halloween treat with An Evening of
Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror. With a collection of four
short Grand-Guignol plays there was horrifying tales mixed with some
grusome comedy in this night of ghostly entertainment.
This performance was inspired by Exeter Press: Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror by Richard Hand and Michael Wilson. Available to buy. |
Familiar Change
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_A Dish of Tea With Dr Johnson
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