Review: STAG Nights Festival- Fate

Performance during the STAG night. Picture source: Sophie Gattis (Publicity Officer)

The Student Theatre at Glasgow (STAG) had its annual festival just last week. For three nights only, from 14th to 16th November, the STAG nights festival took place at the Queen Margaret Union. It consisted of three 20-minute plays per night – all completely different from one another but surrounding the same theme, which was fate.

This year, Caoimhe O’Sullivan was in charge of STAG nights, she is in her 4th year of History of Art and Theatre studies at Glasgow University, making this her final year with STAG. Caoimhe’s job involved different aspects such as writing, venue design, and the very beautiful programmes that were printed out. The programmes included all the information you need to know about the team and the plays. Caoimhe worked tirelessly to plan the festival this year, and you could see all of the hard work put into it. Alongside Caoimhe, she had a wonderful team of help– the executive festival directors, Robin Mulder who was the operations manager, and Jessica Nottingham, the creative liaison. Not only did this make the whole operation run smoothly, but everyone involved in the making of STAG nights worked well together, to put on three nights of six showstopping plays.

The host of night one, Sam James, was brilliant at getting the audience pulled in. He had everyone entertained from the second he stood up on stage, getting them to chant and sing in harmony.

The three plays on the first night were Eve Strong: The Chosen One, Middle Land and Prophet, and The Good Years. Eve Strong: The Chosen One was written by Jessican Massey and perfectly executed by the acting team of Briony Conaghan, Siobhan Meldrum, Beste Yasav, Lexi Crockford, and Lewis Cooper. This play was about Eve Strong and their destiny to save the world from the powerful Lord Evil, however, Eve is over the whole ‘saviour of the world’ thing, and wants to pursue their own dream, to be a baker. The play had the audience giggling the whole way through with their comedic talent and excellent use of lighting and sound.

Image from ‘Eve Strong: The Chosen One’. Picture source: Sophie Gattis (Publicity Officer)

After the first play, there was a short interval where Killian Spence, from the Cecilian Society, put on a show with their singing.

The second play, Middle Land and Prophet, written by Jess Hutchison, was about three travellers who see a resting God. Laying in front of the God, there were three cards that contained the fate of the humans. Overthinking, the travellers tried to find something to make a good impression on the God by giving a gift. It isn't until the end when a card is forcefully taken by one of the travellers, and another sits and meditates while the God finally moves and holds his hand. This act was very different from the first, even though both surrounded the topic of fate. It gripped the audience in another way from the first as it was more drama-based and had the audience questioning who this prophet was. The cast of this play was beautifully acted out by Sam Reyntiens, Ashit Tyagi, and Kirstin Veitch.

Image from ‘Middle Land and Prophet’. Picture source: Sophie Gattis (Publicity Officer)

The third and final play of the night was The Good Years, written by Sofia Macchi Watts. This act had a cast of only two members, Marie Boje Larsen and Robin Mulder. The Good Years was about two drunk characters who, on a night out, ended up getting married. A few mornings later, the two meet again to go through a very embarrassing divorce. Both characters, filled with regret from their drunken mishaps, find themselves arguing, to later find out that perhaps fate brought them together. They weren’t as bad for each other as they thought.

Image from ‘The Good Years’. Picture source: Sophie Gattis (Publicity Officer)

All three plays perfectly showed the theme of fate in their own unique ways so that no two plays were the same. For the first night, it was clear that the whole festival was destined to be just as great. All the members of STAG that were involved in the festival this year were fantastic in their own ways, it was noticeable that everyone worked so well as a team to produce such a memorable three nights.

★★★★★

The next STAG event is Sitting Ducks, a production that takes place in the modern day and the past. The story is about an unlikely friendship between a grumpy pensioner and a recently redundant writer, delving into a love story in the 60s, which will explore topical, societal issues, and the perusal of ambition and dreams. This will be held at Queen Margaret Union from the 28th to the 30th of November. Doors open at 6:30 pm and performances start at 7:00 pm.