This show finished on Wednesday 21 October 2015, and this page is being kept for archival purposes only.
The EUTC presents Panopticon, an original writing by EUTC member Liam Rees.
“It’s Julia’s first day at work running drama classes in a women’s prison. She wants to understand how they ended up in prison, what life is like on the inside and what lies in wait for them when they’re released. She wants to help but the prisoners have other plans. As sparks fly and tensions mount she’s left questioning if she’s capable of doing any good at all.”
Director Liam Rees
Lighting Designer Elizabeth Marsh
Producer Tabitha James
Sound Designer Amy Abeyawardene
Stage Manager Perry Nimtrakul
Technical Assistant Rui Zhang
Technical Manager Alex Greenwald
Wednesday 21 October - By Barbara Bryan for Edinburgh Guide
The Edinburgh University Theatre Company, run by students, use the Bedlam Theatre as a venue to stage a selection of plays throughout the academic year. ‘Panopticon’, written and directed by second year student Liam Rees, is the story of a drama teacher endeavouring to run workshops in a women’s prison.
The setting is a cage, divided into sections, which spans the length of the stage. Eight characters are involved – six female prisoners, Julia (the drama teacher) and a psychologist. We were introduced to each prisoner via a monologue describing their life and others – although their specific crime was never revealed. Friction between the prisoners emerged periodically until Julia, the idealistic Drama teacher, eventually became disillusioned.
Considering the cast were academic students the acting was of a high calibre, particularly Aggie Dolan as Julia who effectively portrayed the earnestness of the character. The dialogue at the beginning of the play was good, and held one’s attention, but as the play progressed it was obvious a lot of the script could have been edited. Generally though, it was a good production by this student company.
http://www.edinburghguide.com/reviews/theatre/panopticonbedlamtheatrereview-16307
