Measure For Measure - “Some rise by Sin; And some by Virtue fall.”

In the bombed-out rubble and moral confusion of post war Vienna comes an innovative and exciting production of one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most human plays. The city is falling apart and the Duke leaves his seemingly spotless deputy Angelo in charge to try and bring some discipline to the madness, and to see if Angelo is as perfect as he seems. Into this world of dangerous power comes Isabella, religious and innocent. She hopes to save her brother from execution by Angelo’s harsh new rules. But if the price to pay for her brother's freedom is her virginity and honour then should she give them up? When no one is what they seem and sex and death fester under the surface of law and order, who is there to turn to?

Warwick University Drama Society brings you a beautiful and shocking play that explores our darkest desires and the lengths that we will go to fulfil them.

By The Bog of Cats

Set in rural Ireland, ‘By the Bog of Cats’ is an “uncompromising tale of abandonment and shocking self-sacrifice”. Hester Swane is a woman born of gypsies and tied to the bleak landscape where she has lived her whole life. Her lover, Carthage Kilbride, with whom she has a young daughter, is about to be married to another woman who will bring him land, wealth and respect. Discarded and ignored, Hester sets out with a reckless fervor to reclaim the life that she had.

In this loose retelling of Euripides’ Medea, Marina Carr blends the mythic with the modern, populating the Bogs of Cats with misfits, witches, and ghosts.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

Hermia dreams of marrying the man she loves despite her father’s wishes. The Fairy King dreams of stealing a beautiful changeling boy from his disobedient Queen. Nick Bottom simply dreams of putting on a play. During one night in an abandoned playground in the outskirts of Athens, lovers, fairies and budding actors collide in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy which tells of patriarchal authority, the fickle nature of desire and the power of sexuality.

‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore - John Ford’s controversial masterpiece is given a noir sheen; plunging the young lovers into a world inhabited by crooked cops and corrupt clergymen.

The streets are controlled by Don Florio and his men. The Catholic Church has found itself becoming more and more involved in the Prohibition. At a time when compassion has all but vanished, true love appears between Giovanni and Annabella. The only problem is... they are brother and sister.

Much Ado About Nothing - “Friendship is constant in all other things. Save in the office and affairs of love”

Shakespeare’s sharp comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, places a story of jealousy, deception and quick wits against a rich, Sicilian backdrop. As one of Shakespeare’s most dark and dazzling comedies, the play skilfully sets mischievous flirtation beside faithful sincerity. [more]

Under Milk Wood - To begin at the beginning... You can hear the houses sleeping in the streets, in the slow deep salt and silent black bandaged nightÉ

So begins Dylan Thomas' poetic masterpiece, vividly brought to life by members of Warwick University Drama Society in a deeply imaginative interpretation of this classic radio play. You are invited to join the cast in their voyeuristic journey into the weird and wonderful world of Llareggub where the eccentric inhabitants go about their daily business.

Under Milk Wood is at once funny and tragic, a heartbreaking and heart-warming glimpse of a way of life that is now almost entirely lost. [more]

Elephant’s Graveyard - It was September and there was a Town.

There was a Circus.

There was a Railroad.

A Circus arrives, bringing fun and colour to Erwin, Tennessee, the town that couldn’t even remember its own name. As the parade makes its way down the muddy main street on the first day a series of unexpected events leads to a tragic accident.

What happens when small town life becomes more circus-like than the Circus itself? The show becomes dangerous and cruel.

Set in 1916, Elephant's Graveyard combines historical fact and legend, exposing the deep routed American craving for spectacle, violence and revenge. [more]

100 - Imagine.

That you must choose one single memory from your life - everything else will be erased forever.

That choosing this memory is your only way of passing through to eternity.

That you have one hour to choose.

Choose now.

From your whole life, from all you’ve ever done, felt or thought... what is the one thing you treasure most?

In December 2008, Warwick University Drama Society took its touring production of ’100’ to Queen’s University Belfast Drama Studio. ’100’ is a fantastic production devised by the imaginary body in 2002, winning a Fringe First Award at Edinburgh. Revived by Warwick University teaming up with Queen’s University, it is a show that makes you think about your own life, and what the things are that you treasure the most. [more] Use the player below to hear the 100 interview on BBC Radio Ulster.

In a world where everyone is guilty, where can you find redemption? [ more ]

The Skriker - Don’t you want to feel global warm and happy ever after? Warm the cackles of your heartless. Make you brave and rave. Look at the colourful, smell the tasty. Won’t you drink a toasty with me?

The Skriker, a creature of incessant hunger for love and revenge, enters the city to hunt two young mothers. With her, she brings the altered fragments of British folklore. Join WUDS for a promenade production of Churchill’s greatest play of linguistic complexity and bodily sensation. Feast, dance and play court to the Skriker as she tells you the tale of a world which is consuming the future to feed the present.

The Pitchfork Disney - Agoraphobic chocoholic twins Presley and Haley Stray are having another night in. But it's interrupted by the arrival of a bizarre nightclub entertainer, Cosmo Disney and the evening assumes a very sinister direction.

The Pitchfork Disney is a dreamlike, surreal play dealing primarily with storytelling, childhood fears and mans double-edged attraction to the Grotesque. Immerse yourselves in the claustrophobic world of the Stray siblings which teeters on the edge of insanity. A one-act play set in real time that will challenge your perception of the world on either side of your front door.

He descends into the dark city in search of sexual fulfilment, experience, and ultimately redemption. Edmond is the very antithesis of the theatrical hero. He is flawed, he is pathetic, he is a monster. We follow him not out of empathy, but out of morbid curiosity. Whilst at first we may identify with his social displacement, we soon see the extremes to which he is prepared to go to find himself.

Dinner - ‘...embrace the silence that’s to come. Cleave the dark, And say nothing.’

Dinner is a sharply observed black comedy that examines themes of apathy, paralysis and the relationship between money and personal fulfilment. It was first performed in the Loft at the National Theatre in 2002, and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Watch as a practically dumb waiter serves the most unlikely dinner-party guests, culminating in the play’s terrifically dark twist.

Brothers Coleman and Valene Connor have bickered all their lives. Possessive Valene marks his belongings with a ‘V’, while Coleman’s sole mission in life is to antagonise his brother. He waters down his poteen, melts his beloved figurines and cuts the ears off his dog, Lassie. Starting at a funeral, a well natured Priest sets out to remedy a family's violent relationship... but amidst this crumbling society, where murders and suicides are a regular occurrence, what will happen to the broken community that resides there?

The Love of the Nightingale - What is a myth? The oblique image of an unwanted truth reverberating through time.’    

Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play The Love of the Nightingale is a stunning reworking of Sophocles’ lost play Tereus, finding modern resonance in a myth that is thousands of years old.