Elysium Theatre Company presents OTHELLO by William Shakespeare

Part of the Durham Shakespeare Festival 2024

“Perdition catch my soul but I do love thee, and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.”

Award-winning Elysium Theatre Company returns to the Assembly Rooms with new production of Shakespeare's immortal tragedy of love.

Durham University's national musical theatre champions are bringing a show full of of iconic musical songs, characters and silliness to Edinburgh this summer! Laugh yourself silly as you choose which of your favourite musical theatre characters find themselves in the wrong song, and watch in amazement as our troupe members belt out classic tune after classic tune – making the troupe's Fringe debut with a bang! Durham University Music Theatre Troupe (DUMT) cannot wait to see you there!

Following the advice of her (hot) therapist, entomologist Zenab buys a baby doll to reconnect with her inner child. But from the moment she takes it out of the box, she feels a strange connection to it. Through the breakdown of her relationship with best friend Bryn, her encounters with a slightly sinister support group mother and therapy sessions that are a little too intimate, the show follows Zenab as she begins to lose her grasp on reality. milk teeth is a play about lost love, motherhood and loneliness.

It’s the morning of the tech run for a fresh, new student production, and the technicians have stayed up all night to make sure their cues are perfect. But their plans quickly change when the Director has a revelation and insists that the entire production be reworked!

Wrong Tree presents a newly devised show: Too Close to the Sun. The sun will come up tomorrow. But what if it doesn’t? Six people on the periphery reckon with what and who they have left when the unfathomable becomes reality. Against the backdrop of the Arctic, doomsday cults, and outer space, and inspired by the story of Icarus, this experimental and physical anthology explores what we take most for granted.

Love and Freindship (fear not, deliberate misspelling) is a Regency romp through the adventures of Laura, a young woman on the quest for love... and yes, freindship. After finding a stranger on the doorstep of her rustic cottage, Laura is swept away into various schemes and exploits – framed and narrated by her older and wise(r) counterpart. Styled as a combination of Austen and drunk history, this play is the original theatrical late-1700s road trip movie, as our heroine flirts with both the nobility and the law. Before there were women's rights, women's wrongs were fair game.

An unsure artist, incongruent in high-class society, and a young bride, delivered to a new city, are thrown together to create something beautiful for the people that control them. What they end up producing is a delicate all-consuming relationship that will prove to be the most important of their lives. Inspired by the friendship between famed Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli and his model and muse Simonetta Vespucci. Their story is told through vignettes of the brief time they spend together in the artist’s studio before the deadly poison of the outside seeps in through cracks in the door.

When four acquaintances receive a Facebook invite to a surprise birthday party, chaos ensues. Past relationships are revealed, revenge plots are intertwined, and secrets are spilled as the night progresses. Happy birthday to... who?

Newspaper Punchlines is a narrative-based improvised comedy show from Shellshock! Improvised Comedy, based on a newspaper headline conjured from audience suggestions. Led by one of our cast as our roving reporter, we’ll write a hilarious brand new front-page headline each night, and incorporate other suggestions on the spot to tell its never-before-seen story. There are laughs aplenty waiting for scandal enthusiasts and comedy lovers alike in our show, discovering the funniest news stories hot off the press!

The group that brought you Liz Kingsman, Ed Gamble, Stevie Martin, Nish Kumar, Ambika Mod and more are back with a new troupe and 100% new material. Join the award-winning Durham Revue, one of the UK’s most famous student comedy groups, for an hour of hilarious sketches. ‘Raucously funny with sublimely clever writing.’ (Fringe Biscuit).

The Durham Revue is turning 50 years old! And how are the troupe celebrating? With a mid-laugh crisis! Will the troupe be able to conquer their 50th fears or will The Durham Revue finally face their last laugh?

The group that brought you Liz Kingsman, Ed Gamble, Stevie Martin, Nish Kumar, Ambika Mod and more are back with a new troupe and 100% new material. Join the award-winning Durham Revue, one of the UK’s most famous student comedy groups, for an hour of hilarious sketches. ‘Raucously funny with sublimely clever writing.’ (Fringe Biscuit).

The Durham Revue is turning 50 years old! And how are the troupe celebrating? With a mid-laugh crisis! Will the troupe be able to conquer their 50th fears or will The Durham Revue finally face their last laugh?

When four acquaintances receive a Facebook invite to a surprise birthday party, chaos ensues. Past relationships are revealed, revenge plots are intertwined, and secrets are spilled as the night progresses. Happy birthday to... who?

It’s the morning of the tech run for a fresh, new student production, and the technicians have stayed up all night to make sure their cues are perfect. But their plans quickly change when the Director has a revelation and insists that the entire production be reworked!

Newspaper Punchlines is a narrative-based improvised comedy show from Shellshock! Improvised Comedy, based on a newspaper headline conjured from audience suggestions. Led by one of our cast as our roving reporter, we’ll write a hilarious brand new front-page headline each night, and incorporate other suggestions on the spot to tell its never-before-seen story. There are laughs aplenty waiting for scandal enthusiasts and comedy lovers alike in our show, discovering the funniest news stories hot off the press!

A play about strangers, connection, community, hopes and fears.

The stage is set in Durham, and the text is constructed solely from the verbatim words of 5 residents.

It will have you reflecting on your own life whilst also being inspiring, touching and thoughtful.

'Sonder' explores our intimate and mostly unseen connections to strangers.

Showcasing, our similarities, philosophies and even differences, from the mundane to the massive.

...Really, it's about life.

Castle Theatre Company is delighted to announce its 2024 touring production of one of Shakespeare’s most quick-witted comedies: As You Like It.

When a court falls into distrust and disrepair, brothers will bicker, friends will flee, and shepherds will sing.

Rosalind, disguised as a fiery young man called Ganymede, along with her best friend Celia and their voracious fool Touchstone flee to the Forest of Arden to find a new home. Orlando, out of fear of his elder brother Oliver, hides in the forest where he meets Ganymede who promises to cure him of his love for Rosalind. Meanwhile, Silvius attempts to woo Phebe, who has fallen in love with Ganymede and Touchstone uses his relationship with Audrey to taunt the hapless William. As the pessimistic Jaques questions the nature of man and Rosalind finds herself in over her head pretending to be Ganymede, will these four couples find liberty in their banishment?



Castle Theatre Company is one of the oldest performing arts groups at Durham University and for over four decades has taken an annual summer Shakespeare tour around the south of England and the USA, performing classic comedies on the lawns of stately homes, gardens, and abbeys. The company is renowned for its high standard of performance, offering a full-length Shakespeare comedy that is suitable for all the family. 2023’s touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was performed to audiences around the South of England, New York and North Carolina.