The University College Players (or Univ Players for short) are the theatrical society of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

History

The first production was in May 1941 when

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. It ...

'' was performed in co-operation with

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

. Peter Bayley was the senior member from the start till the 1960s. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Univ Players was re-founded with a production of ''

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the ''First Folio'' of 1623. The play's plot features its ...

'' in 1946. In 1952, a young

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...

appeared in a production of ''

He Who Gets Slapped ''He Who Gets Slapped'' ( rus, Тот, кто получает пощёчины, links=no) is a play in four acts by Russian dramatist Leonid Andreyev; completed in August 1915 and first produced in that same year at the Moscow Art Theatre on ...

'' by the Russian playwright

Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (russian: Леони́д Никола́евич Андре́ев, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian litera ...

, directed by Peter Bayley at the Clarendon Press Institute, after attending a theatrical training scheme and performing in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'' at the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

(then Michael Johnson) was a Univ Players member in the early 1960s, before graduating with a degree in English in 1964.

Peter Sissons Peter George Sissons (17 July 1942 – 1 October 2019) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He was a newscaster for ITN, providing bulletins on ITV and Channel 4, before becoming the presenter of the BBC's ''Question Time'' between 1989 ...

, later to become a newscaster, was Treasurer of the Univ Players during his time studying at University College in the 1960s.

John Albery Wyndham John Albery, FRS (5 April 1936 – 3 December 2013) was a British physical chemist and academic. Early life Wyndham John Albery was born on 5 April 1936. His father Michael James Albery (1910-75), a barrister, was part of a sprawling ...

took over from Peter Bayley as the senior member of the Players during the 1960s, after his appointment as a chemistry don at University College. He organised the

Univ Revue The University College Players (or Univ Players for short) are the theatrical society of University College, Oxford. History The first production was in May 1941 when William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's ''The Comedy of Errors'' was performed in ...

for many years. The March 1963 production of '' A Man for All Seasons'' at the

was especially successful. In 1974,

Jon Plowman Phillip Jon Plowman (born 1953 in Welwyn Garden City, England) is a British television and film producer. He has been a producer at the BBC since 1980, when he produced Russell Harty's chat show ''Harty''. He moved on to executive producing at ...

directed a musical version of ''

Zuleika Dobson ''Zuleika Dobson'', full title ''Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story'', is the only novel by English essayist Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford published in 1911. It includes the famous line "Death cancels all engageme ...

'' at the

, with a script by Reggie Oliver and music by Michael Brand. In the late 1970s, the Univ Players produced successful outdoor summer productions of ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'' (1976, in St Hilda's meadow), ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and an adaptation of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' (1977 and 1978, in the grounds of Magdalen College School by

Magdalen Bridge Magdalen Bridge spans the divided stream of the River Cherwell just to the east of the City of Oxford, England, and next to Magdalen College, whence it gets its name and pronunciation. It connects the High Street to the west with The Plain, no ...

). More recently they have had annual outdoor summer productions in the garden of the

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Lodgings. Recent Productions include

Sheridan's Sheridan's is a liqueur first introduced in 1994. It is produced in Dublin by Thomas Sheridan & Sons.«Sheridans ...

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...

'' in 2003, Stoppard's ''

The Real Inspector Hound ''The Real Inspector Hound'' is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit. By chance, th ...

'' in 2009, and Congreve's ''

The Way of the World ''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is stil ...

'' in 2010. In May 2011, Jack Peters directed

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pla ...

''. In May 2013, Elisabeth Watts directed

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

's ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

''.

Univ Revue

John Albery organised the Univ Revue in the college Hall, starting in 1972, with Leslie Mitchell. It consisted of an irreverent series of sketches with some musical by both fellows and students of the college. Performers included John Albery, Leslie Mitchell, Jean Maud,

Colin Moynihan Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baronet, 4th Baron Moynihan (born 13 September 1955) is a British Olympic silver medalist, businessman, Conservative politician, and sports administrator. Lord Moynihan served as chairman of the British O ...

John Redcliffe-Maud __NOTOC__ John Primatt Redcliffe-Maud, Baron Redcliffe-Maud, (3 February 1906 – 20 November 1982) was a British civil servant and diplomat. Early life Born in Bristol, Maud was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford. He gained a ...

and others.

Alumni

Here is a selection of former members: *

* Peter Bayley *

Jonathan Bowen Jonathan P. Bowen FBCS FRSA (born 1956) is a British computer scientist and an Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, where he headed the Centre for Applied Formal Methods. Prof. Bowen is also the Chairman of Museophile Limited ...

Andrew Edis Sir Andrew Jeremy Coulter Edis PC (born 9 June 1957), styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Edis, is a Lord Justice of Appeal ( Judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales), having previously served as a High Court Judge. Edis studied at Live ...

Gordon Honeycombe Ronald Gordon Honeycombe (27 September 1936 – 9 October 2015), known professionally as Gordon Honeycombe, was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor. Honeycombe was born in Karachi, in the British Raj. He was educated at th ...

Braham Murray Braham Sydney Murray, OBE (12 February 1943 – 25 July 2018) was an English theatre director. In 1976, he was one of five founding Artistic Directors of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and the longest-serving (he retired in 2012). Ear ...

* Reggie Oliver *

* Andrew Robinson * William George Q * Tony Sarchet * Desmond Shawe-Taylor *

* Dame

References

{{University College, Oxford 1941 establishments in England Arts organizations established in 1941 Amateur theatre companies in England Clubs and societies of the University of Oxford Players *Players *Players Student theatre in the United Kingdom Theatre in Oxford

History

Univ Revue

Alumni

See also

References