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About us
Royal Holloway Shakespeare Society strives to promote the Bard in a way that is accessible, innovative, inclusive, and exciting. Our society is a one of a kind within the Performing Arts Societies as we are not only performance based but offer an equal amount of academic opportunities for those who enjoy the discussion and study of Shakespeare rather than staging it. Throughout the year we will host a range of events from productions, socials, workshops, lectures, charity events, discussions, read-through, and theatre trips.
As one of the Performing Arts Societies on campus we produce student led plays termly allowing students to take a lead on crew roles and giving our members the opportunity to perform at some of our amazing campus venues. Last year our members produced Twelfth Night, Hamlet and our First Year Show Much Ado About Nothing! We also collaborated with the Royal Holloway Players to perform a half-improvised production of Hamlet, and the committee kicked off the year by performing A Comedy of Errors with only a week of rehearsals! We want to support the creative and skill development of all our members offering shadow schemes for anyone wanting to learn crew roles hands on as well as the opportunity to submit experiemental and explorative pieces for our annual creative showcase Fresh Folio.
However, outside of our shows we offer a range of exciting opportunities where we encourage our members to expand their knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare and his work. Our socials, academic discussions and read-throughs, allow members to meet likeminded people of different backgrounds and various levels of skill set and knowledge- welcoming everyone from casual enjoyers to long time lovers and complete newbies! We cater all our events to include everyone as no matter your background the joy of Shakespeare is how his words can connect to the 'human-ness' of us all.
Over the last 12 years that we have been active, we have won the most Improved Society 2015, the Skills and Employability Award 2016, the Inclusion and Accessibility award 2018 with several of our members having received Crest and Freshman Awards.
Membership
Purchasing our membership gives you full access to the range of our events, allowing you to bid and audition for shows, take part in any workshops, lectures, discussions or trips, allowing you access to attending events such as A Night at the Theatre in October, the Performing Arts Ball in January and RHOscars at the end of the year, as well as reduced rate tickets for all our shows and the ability to vote in any of our elections.
Events and Activities
Our activities include:
- Termly performances
- Academic discussions
- Casual read-throughs
- Shakespeare In 48 Hours
- Fresh Folio
- Regular Socials
- Academic/performance workshops
- Guest lectures
- Charity events
- Collaborations events with other societies
- Theatre trips
- Christmas Feast
- Shakespeare Week- our annual celebration of all things Bard
Contact Us
Shakespeare Society Committee 24/25 are incredibly excited to welcome the new freshers to our society so if you have any questions you can contact us through our links below! (Email or Instagram preferred)