Durham has a thriving Performing Arts Scene, one of the best in the country. This term alone there has been well over 120 performances across the university from the 30+ theatre groups, 30+ university music groups and 50+ college music groups. Here are some of my personal favourites from this academic year.

Starting in a typically unbiased fashion, one of my favourites from this year, and perhaps my entire time in Durham, was Jesus Christ Superstar, put on by our very own TCMS in the Dining Hall here in Trevs. Director Ben Cawood put on a true spectacle with his post-apocalyptic reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic, with standout performances from the entire cast. One particular highlight from the cast was Seb Powell playing Judas in one of the most well-rounded performances I have ever seen from student theatre, let alone from a college theatre company. A really integral part of show was the completely immersive lighting and sound provided excellently by Theo Nellis and Oli Matthews respectively. The technical feat of theatre often goes overlooked, but the immersion provided was simply exquisite. Further credit should be given to Niamh Connellan’s phenomenal musical direction, with the band being the one of best I have seen from a DST show.

This term alone there has been well over 120 performances across the university from the 30+ theatre groups, 30+ university music groups, and 50+ college music groups.

This article won’t just be an ode to Ben Cawood’s directing skills, but I would be remiss not to talk about Black Comedy, one half of a double bill put on in January and again directed by Cawood. This amazing farce revolves around the lighting being inverted, so when we see bright light, it is pitch black for the characters. This core mechanic allows for some exceptionally physical humour in the ensuing chaos of a power cut. One stand out performance from this show was Oli Butler’s character of Brindsley, who spends the entire show covering up for his own transgressions, including some excellent physical comedy. Once again, this show relies heavily on the lighting, this time incredibly designed by Lucy Smith.

It would be amiss for me to write about the best performances of this year and not mention the absolute success of this year’s Live on the Hill, which saw over £3000 raised for Anthony Nolan over both nights. Emma Knight led the band excellently in one of the most musically excellent iterations of Live on the Hill in memory. A particular stand out for me was Trevs’ Music veteran, Dan Scobbie’s arrangement of the classic song ‘Tainted Love’, excellently performed by Thomas Rainford. This jazzy interpretation provided a nice change of pace from the Shakira and Sabrina Carpenter that surrounded it. Of course, it was also nice to see, once again, half a dozen of my own arrangements in the mix, including the show’s opener: ‘Time Warp’.

Perhaps the most musically talented performance of the year in Durham would have to be the Northern Lights’ performance at Gala theatre in February. The Northern Lights are Durham’s competitive A Capella group – think Pitch Perfect! At the time of writing, they have just become the first group from the UK to finish on the podium since 2016 at the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella in New York. At Gala, they performed this competition set alongside a few other songs in February at a joint concert with Footnotes, Full Score and Durham Dynamics. I can absolutely see why Northern Lights won this UK round of the competition with a flawless performance. I particularly loved the weaving of Somewhere Over the Rainbow through this entire performance. Their incredible ICCA Set wasn’t their only performance, featuring many more songs after that, including a breath-taking Beatboxing feature from Dan Laheney, and my personal highlight: a mash up of ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Jailhouse Rock’.

A final shoutout must go to the comedy groups of Durham, who often go overlooked when discussing theatre in Durham. Ooook’s interpretation of Taskmaster, was, once again, one of the funniest things I have seen all year, with particular credit to Oli Owen’s blasé attitude to everything as well as Jonas Stringer’s lovable anarchy. A great way for me to experience all of comedy’s finest though was at the Opening Night for the Durham Drama Festival which saw the Stand Society and Shellshock join DU Musical Troupe and the Durham Revue in a variety show. The Revue were once again fantastic, with a range of sketches from one-liners to longer skits, once again excelling in having the audience in stitches.

I have seen so many impressive performances this year, it was hard to only pick a few to write about.

I have seen so many impressive performances this year, it was hard to only pick a few to write about. I have discovered some incredible new pieces of music, such as Anna Clyne’s Pivot as performed by Durham University Orchestral Society or the entire soundtrack of Bonnie and Clyde as performed by Tone Deaf Theatre Company, as well as witnessed several other incredible bits of theatre such as Jekyll and Hyde or Iolanthe. All of Durham’s performing arts have been so incredible, and I cannot wait for next term’s performance including Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Alice By Heart, Spamalot, Hay Fever, and Room for a Doubt, to name just a few of the shows I am already looking forward to seeing.

Image: Dan Wattis