By Nayomi Karthigesu The Sun rises in the east, Hamlet was the most adapted Shakespearean text of the silent era and I was 15 minutes late to “Silent Shakespeare”: a night of “nostalgia, wonderment and silliness”, in the words of Professor Judith Buchanan. Part lecture, part theatre, Buchanan’s night, in conjunction with Silents Now, a company bringing silent era films back to the modern day audience, and the Society for Renaissance studies, brought about a night fraught with

We caught up with Caitlin Burrows and Leo Jarvis mid-rehearsal,to ask about their experience of playing leading roles in this unique, Brechtian production of Woyzeck. Who do you play and you can tell us a little bit about them and their relationship to each other? Leo: I play Woyzeck, the main guy who is completely mental. He’s a soldier in the army and is slowly going insane after the experiments the doctors have done on him. He has quite a stormy relationship with his partn

So what is Danse Macabre? Danse Macabre is a new theatre company of York University graduates who want to stage innovative shows, with a focus on bringing a little lightness to the dark. By taking serious themes and adding our own irreverent humour, we hope that we can make people laugh at their greatest fears, whilst remaining respectful to the issues at hand. Who are you? We all began studying theatre at the University of York; there’s Joseph Willis, a writer/director who’s

By Tom Barry “No good or evil. We are all as wretched as each other” Amongst the few Ancient Greek texts to have survived the centuries, Euripides’ most renowned (and arguably well-regarded) play Medea stands as a fascinating spyglass into the psyche and society of the time, and its treatment of women. Regarded as a warning of feminine capriciousness by some, and as a proto-feminist diatribe by others, Medea’s position as a classic of the form is beyond contestation. Beginnin

As the University of York’s Drama Barn welcomes a new year of varied and exciting performances, Unknown Magazine were able to chat with some of the cast and crew of The Ruling Class. Set amid a struggle for power in the upper strata of elite English society, Peter Barne’s satire follows the newly acceded 14th Earl of Gurney, Jack, who – as a possible paranoid schizophrenic with a Messiah complex – must deal with the new title and a deviously scheming family. Without too many

The Black Box Studio in the University of York’s Theatre, Film and TV department was a suitably intimate venue for last night’s performance of 9 Million and Counting: a political documentary trilogy based around the Syrian refugee crisis. Intense and at points gruelling, the pieces successfully created a coherent and hard-hitting evening of theatre. The three-part show opened with Where The Heart Is, dedicated to the impact that the refugee crisis has had on children: not onl

In the run up to the opening of the performances next week, Unknown Magazine checked in with the cast and creators of York’s newest documentary theatre, 9 Million and Counting. Focused on the theme of migration in the light of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, the three verbatim plays present a political and thought-provoking venture for all involved. The scripts for all three shows are made from interviews with members of the public. To what extent does this help or hinder

The third week of term sees the arrival of The Last Five Years Co-directed by Harry Elletson and Georgie Wilmer, the musical tells the story of two young lovers, Jamie (Ross Telfer) and Cathy (Katie Garnett), from their first meeting to their break up five years later. Cathy’s story is told in reverse, contrasting the narrative of Jamie’s. Through this, we watch as the couple simultaneously get together, separate, and go through the highs and lows of young love and breakup. W

DramaSoc returned with the award-winning The Flick to open the 2015-2016 academic year last night. There were some very interesting and dynamic moments in this performance for which the cast and production team should be praised for, especially with the plot’s aim in drawing interest and depth towards the mundane. However, despite the talent that went into this production, the adaptation itself did not instil much excitement. The Flick tells the tale of three characters: Aver