Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC) is a student theatre company at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. The EUTC was founded in 1871 as the ''Edinburgh University Amateur Dramatic Club'' and adopted its current name in the 1970s. Since 1980 it has run the

Bedlam Theatre Bedlam Theatre is a theatre in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The building was completed in 1848 for the New North Free Church. After closing as a church in 1941, the building served as a chaplaincy centre and then a store for the Universi ...

History

EUTC was founded in 1871 as the ''Edinburgh University Amateur Dramatic Club'' It adopted its current name in the 1970s. The EUTC were given sole residency of the

building on 31 January 1980. The EUTC is one of several amateur dramatics societies affiliated to the

Edinburgh University Students' Association Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of ...

. The EUTC is responsible (through a

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

elected at the Company's

AGM AGM or agm may refer to: Military * Air-to-ground missile, a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft * Artillery Gun Module, an air-portable self-propelled howitzer * Missile Range Instrumentation Ship (US Navy hull classification ...

) for most aspects the theatre's administration and produces the vast majority of its shows. Most members of the EUTC are students or former students of the University of Edinburgh. Shows are proposed to the EUTC at a General Meeting, where they are selected by a general vote. All show proposals must have, at the very least, a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

(organisation, finances and publicity), technician (lighting, sound and special effects) and

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

or set manager (set building, props and costumes). Once a show is selected, it will be fully supported by the EUTC, who also provide a block grant depending on the show's classification. The company stages a show most weeks during term time. The standard schedule consists of ''Lunchtimes'' (small-scale shows with one or two performances, no longer exclusively performed in the afternoon), ''Mainterms'' (larger-budget shows with at least three performances in the early evening) and ''Festivals'' (usually week-long events, sometimes incorporating more than twenty productions selected by the elected festival team). The most important Festivals take place in Freshers Week and early January. These can be supplemented with ''Extraordinaries'', which are usually one of performances which do not fit easily into any of the previous categories. The EUTC runs the Bedlam Youth Project aims to introduce children to the various disciplines of theatre. In 2009, they visited Brussels to help run 'Featlets', a youth theatre subsidiary of the Festival of European Anglophone Theatre Societies (FEATS). In 2016, children were involved in a week long Easter camp at Bedlam Theatre, where they devised and performed their interpretation of ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...

'', with the assistance of the Youth Project Team.

The Improverts

Bedlam's longest running show is the acclaimed improvised comedy troupe ''

The Improverts The Improverts is a improvisational comedy troupe from the Edinburgh University Theatre Company, which primarily performs at the Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh. They perform weekly during Edinburgh University's term time and every night during the ...

''. They perform every year at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and every Friday night at 10:30 during termtime. They are Edinburgh's longest-running improv troupe.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Bedlam Theatre has operated as Venue 49 in the

since it was given to the EUTC in 1980. Today, Bedlam Fringe is almost completely separate from the termtime EUTC, who hand over control of Bedlam on 1 June each year. It is run by a Fringe Venue Manager, who for historical and liaison reasons is technically a member of the termtime EUTC Committee. However, they and other members of the senior management team are technically volunteers for the Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA), who report to EUSA and receive a EUSA honorarium rather than a wage. Other Bedlam Fringe staff are EUSA employees. The Fringe Venue Manager must allocate at least one slot to productions selected by the EUTC. The EUTC usually has two slots allocated to it; one is traditionally taken up by ''

''(though they must be democratically selected like all other Fringe proposals)'', ''and the other by a theatrical production.

Alumni

Friends of Bedlam is the alumni association for the EUTC and its predecessors. Well known alumni include:

References

External links

Bedlam Theatre

EUSA: Theatre Company (Bedlam)
{{University of Edinburgh Clubs and societies of the University of Edinburgh Amateur theatre companies in Scotland Student_theatre_in_Scotland theatre in Edinburgh 1871 establishments in Scotland