Durham Student Theatre

Bailey Theatre Company

Bailey Theatre Company (BTC) is St John’s College’s resident theatre company. Our inclusive and dynamic community fosters a fun and friendly atmosphere, and we pride ourselves on creating accessible and entertaining theatre within an environment that inspires camaraderie and creative innovation. Additionally, we have also partnered with John’s Music Society to deliver our own college musical which has added another dimension to BTC.

BTC seeks to encourage students of all levels of experience (and confidence) to participate in all aspects of theatre; and we endeavour to support and provide students with the resources they need to actualise their theatrical visions. As both a Durham Student Theatre (DST) company and college committee, BTC has exclusive access to performance spaces in St John’s College (e.g. the amphitheatre, Leech Hall, the Old Library, etc.), as well as university-wide venues.

Presidents: Isabelle Evans and Ellie Malley

Castle Theatre Company

CTC is the oldest, one of the largest, and most successful theatre companies in Durham. Internationally revered and loved by both college and university, CTC showcases the best of Durham talent, each year performing phenomenal productions. In the Castle’s 950th birthday year, CTC will be aiming to put on as many shows within the Castle walls as possible. The company also aims to produce more inclusive and diverse productions, helping to forge the new history of the 21st century Castle. CTC’s annual Shakespeare Tour premiers in venues across England and the United States of America and is one of the most sought-after productions every year. If you are interested in theatre in any capacity, or simply keen to give something different a-go, CTC is the perfect theatre company for you!

President: Tom Carroll

Email: castle.theatrecompany @durham.ac.uk

Evangeline Theatre Company

Evangeline Theatre is Josephine Butler College’s resident theatre company, producing the annual murder mystery formal within the college, but looking to produce a further non-musical theatre performance throughout the year. We offer an inclusive, friendly, and welcoming environment where anyone can get involved

President: Eloise Fleming

Feather Theatre Company

Feather Theatre is one of the youngest theatre companies, but thanks to boundless enthusiasm and lots of talent we are more than making up for lost time. We put on many productions a year ranging from classical theatre to popular musicals. Some of our shows are Mildert only like the 48hr Musical and Christmas Panto but there are still shows that are available to university wide casts. Here at Feather there is something for everyone!

Presidents: Nell Hickson and Dylan Jimenez Morales

Foot of the Hill Theatre Company

The resident theatre company of St Mary’s College, Foot of the Hill Theatre Company (FHTC) is open to all students regardless of college. St Mary’s is often thought of as “the friendly college”, something FHTC likes to think reflects our theatre company. Our aim is to create a fun, welcoming environment in which people can become fully immersed in theatre, regardless of their experience. We perform a range of shows across the year – in recent years this has included musicals such as Little Shop of Horrors and High School Musical, as well as more traditional plays such as Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. We are committed to creating high-quality theatre, but having plenty of fun while doing it!

Presidents: Saachi Bajaj and Emma Race

Green Door Theatre Company

Green Door is St Chad’s College’s resident theatre company, but so much more! We are a company that wears our college ethos on our sleeves: Small but Mighty. By specialising in smaller productions we put on performances that are intimate, personal, and cathartic. This structure has allowed us to cultivate an environment where cast and prod team alike may work closely and bond over a shared passion for theatre; comfortable to challenge themselves and grow. Our beautiful college offers a range of venues that are ideal for a variety of performance types. These spaces include the Cassidy Quad, St Chad’s College Chapel, and Horsfall Room.

President: Charles Moscrop

Hild Bede Theatre

Hild Bede Theatre is the largest college drama society in Durham. A vibrant and friendly community, HBT stages a minimum of three shows a year and has won Best College Musical for four consecutive years. Previous productions include The Crucible, 4.48 Psychosis, Oliver! The Musical and many more!

President: Harry Allderidge

Lion Theatre Company

The Lion Theatre Company (LTC), Hatfield College’s official drama society, looks to put on performances that make use of the wide spectrum of dramatic talent within the college. Productions include Hatfield-only plays, as well as shows that bring in performers from throughout the university, with shows ranging from musical theatre and comedy to 24 hour plays.

Recent productions have included plays by Pinter, Shakespeare, and Dario Fo, as well as several student-devised pieces.

Presidents: Tilly Alexander and Jacob Cordery

Oswald’s Players

Oswald's Players (OPTC) is South's brand-new resident theatre company, performing our first show in 2024. We put on plays, musicals, showcases, and the annual student-written South College Pantomime under a casual and friendly environment with people of all abilities and theatrical interests. Being incorporated in South JCR, our main home is the rehearsal/performance space of the Mount Oswald Hub, and we levy the expertise of the South Music and South Dance societies for our eclectic, fun productions - which are of course open to all colleges. No matter your background in the arts or reasons for joining, we’d love to welcome you into one of our shows!

President: Jake Holding

Phoenix Theatre Company

Phoenix Theatre Company (PTC) is Grey College’s very own theatre company, which strives to help both Grey and non-Grey students alike realise their theatrical visions. PTC is blessed with its own ready-made performance space in Fountains Hall, but we are also keen to become more of a university-wide company by putting on productions outside of our spiritual home. This process began with last year’s production of American Buffalo and will no doubt continue as the renovation of Fountains begins. PTC welcomes applications to direct with us all year round so just pop us an email to start the dialogue.

President: Moritz Afridi and Isabel Waller

Rocket! Theatre Company

Rocket is Stephenson College’s resident theatre company, which aims to support a wide variety of writing, stories, and styles of theatre. We focus on creating high-quality productions, which emphasise fun and inclusivity, and encourage participation from first-time and underrepresented creatives. In recent years, Rocket have undertaken productions ranging from Shakespeare to Caryl Churchill, and we are always keen to give a platform to new and exciting student-writing, particularly following the success of our recent student-written double-bill with First Theatre Company. We provide opportunities for students from both Stevo and the wider university to get involved in all aspects of theatre, and have staged shows in a number of unique and exciting venues including the Assembly Rooms, City Theatre, and Stevo’s own Platform 2.

President: Felicity Rickard

Sixth Side Theatre

Sixth Side is Trevs’ resident theatre company, providing at least two performances of non-musical shows per year with our own hexagonal flair. If you are not a part of Trevs, fear not – auditions are open to all members of DST, so be prepared to get involved!

We would love to work with people with a wide variety of dramatic experience and interests so that we can create an even more dynamic atmosphere to our productions.

Our aim is to create captivating productions which will allow performers, directors, producers and technicians alike to stretch their creative wings and have fun with theatre.

A season ticket is available for £15 which entitles you to a free ticket for each of Sixth Side’s shows!

President: Charlie Eddison

The Snow Globe

John Snow’s resident theatre company, with a friendly and inclusive atmosphere. Winners of D’Oscars College Play of the year for ‘Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads’.

Manager: Maisie Donohue

Trevelyan College Musical Society

Trevelyan College Musical Society (TCMS) offers an inclusive, friendly and relaxed environment. We produce high quality, high spirited, musical theatre that goes down a storm!

Coming out of our most profitable year in recent history, we look forward to welcoming fresh faces with new ideas. Our Epiphany term productions tend to focus on big shows with big budgets (such as ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘The Addams Family’). Running over several months, the ample time for socials and rehearsals not only promises a polished performance, but builds a tight-knit cast and crew, creating friendships that last long beyond the shows! However, if you’re looking for a faster pace, our post-exam Summer productions are run more intensively, taking place within a matter of weeks.

TCMS offers a range of roles in both production and performance. Whether your interests lie in performance, tech, music or management, we have a place for you, regardless of previous experience. We run on a Trevs-priority basis, but readily welcome students from other colleges into the fold. We hope to see you at our auditions!

President: Lara Mulgrew

Woodplayers

Woodplayers is Collingwood’s resident theatre company, passionate about working with people of all experience and confidence levels to create fun, engaging, and thought-provoking productions. We stage three performances a year, ranging from showcases to musicals to plays, and also host regular socials and open mic nights, offering a wide variety of opportunities to engage with us! We embrace any genre and any scale, with previous productions including ‘Chicago’, ‘9 to 5’, ‘Bring It On’, ‘Sweeney Todd’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and many more! Whether you're drawn to acting, singing, writing, playing an instrument, directing, producing, costume designing, makeup, tech, or working backstage, there’s always an opportunity to get involved, and we can’t wait to work with you! Enthusiasm is essential, experience is optional.

President: Edward Clark