Drama

St Andrews has a vibrant performing arts scene, enabled by the Mermaids Performing Arts Fund. As a subcommittee of the Students’ Association, you are automatically a member of Mermaids. Funding and support are available to assist with the production of almost anything you can imagine. Mermaids supports numerous devised, published and student-written plays and musicals. In previous years they have even helped with a student-written opera and laid the foundations for a ballet.

Mermaids has something for everyone to get involved in, whether you fancy directing your own show, producing it, acting or singing.

Mermaids funds around 30 shows a year, from Shakespeare to contemporary drama, including pieces written by students. These have ranged from shows in our very own black box theatre – the Barron – to a staging of Philip Ridley’s Mercury Fur in an abandoned airfield. Shows are also staged in the Byre Theatre.

Student productions often feature heavily at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Mermaids also runs the Freshers’ Drama Festival every year, where every role both on and off stage is taken on by a new student.