‘You May Now Applaud’ – Teddy Hall in Drama Cuppers

A mixture of Teddy Hall undergraduate and postgraduate first-years are joining forces this term for the College’s entry in Cuppers, Oxford University Drama Society’s annual competition for freshers.

New students are encouraged to put together a dramatic piece of no longer than 30 minutes, which can be an existing play, an excerpt from one, or an original work. The pieces are then performed over the course of four days at the Burton Taylor Studio.

This year’s St Edmund Hall entry, You May Now Applaud, was written by Isaac Mayne (MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology). It is a short play set in a dystopian future in which machines make theatre. Isaac is also directing and performing in it alongside undergraduate Georgia Rose Byrne (Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics) and postgraduate Faidra Faitaki (DPhil in Education). The rest of the team is made up of Cherona Chapman (DPhil in Geography and the Environment), as Technician, and Producers Elaine Chan (Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics) and Yune Kwon (History and Politics).

“The competition is proving to be a great way to show off some Teddy Hall talent,” said Isaac. “A play of mine was up at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer so I was very keen to keep being involved in drama from day one of Oxford, and I easily found like-minded drama-lovers to make something brilliant together!”

All are welcome to come and watch the performance of You May Now Applaud on Wednesday 15 November (6th Week) at 9:20pm at the Burton Taylor Studio (Gloucester Street, OX1 2BN). Entry is just £1, on the door. Please arrive 5 to 10 minutes before the start time.

More about You May Now Applaud:

Three performers. Three monologues. Three attempts to meet a computer’s standard of applause. From a seminal gay rights case, to a widow’s sex life, to an eccentric Englishman piecing it all together, this short play will dig deep into the cost of perfection.