Central Students Present the First-Ever SU Fest
In February the Central Students’ Union, together with students from across the School, collaborated to create and present the first ever SU Fest.
The festival showcased the collaborative work of 70+ Undergraduate and Postgraduate Central students from across the School’s courses. It was the culmination of months of planning and collaboration, during lockdown, which brought Central’s students together to create new pieces of theatre.
The event showcased 15 short new writing plays, all written, directed and produced by Central students. Students also engaged with the project as movement directors, video editors, graphic designers and sound designers, and Central’s MA/MFA Creative Producing students offered bespoke enterprise workshops to participating student-led theatre companies.
Beyond this, SU Fest provided the Central student community with a way to connect, to create art together during lockdown and outside of their normal course work, and to meet and interact with their peers digitally during unusual circumstances.
Jaydon Merrick, SU Fest Creative Director and the Student Union Vice President for Contemporary Performance Practice said:
“The idea of SU Fest evolved from hearing how many students missed being able to create performances and connect with fellow artists.
I had been involved with Central’s New Writing Nights in the past, week long events where multiple short plays are presented each evening, and found that they were the best way for me as a student to work with and meet other students on so many different courses. I’d also, for the first time, in the summer taken part in a full length zoom play, working with people I’ve never met in person before, and it was a huge success!
So after hearing how many students wanted to meet, connect and network with their peers in the school, I thought, is there a way we can combine those two experiences? And that’s how SU Fest was born!
It been an entirely student led festival which has brought so many of us together in a time where we’ve been physically distant from each other. We’ve been able to produce 15 short plays, all written, directed, produced and performed by Central students. Students have also been able to come onto the project as movement directors, video editors, graphic designers and sound designers!
So it’s been a great way for everyone from all years and courses, both undergraduate and postgraduate to connect with each other!”
SU Fest Producer and Creative Producing student Faith Donner said:
“To me it seemed like a no brainer to get involved in a project that was all about collaborating with students from so many different courses and countries. One of my favourite things as a producer is to watch shows go from just an idea to a fully-fledged show, with this festival I have had the opportunity to do this with fifteen different pieces!
This year has really showed us just how much potential there is , we see this year as a starting point for SU Fest and have so many ideas for making it an even larger collaboration in the future. We want to give as many students and opportunity as possible.”
SU Fest Producer and Creative Producing student Bethany Smiles said:
“The SU Fest, whilst being a lot of work, has been incredibly rewarding. I initially came on board as it provided me with an opportunity to develop my own skills as a producer, however, it has developed so far beyond that.
Seeing the progress of the pieces from just words on a page and being transformed into actually productions that are being viewed by hundreds of people, has made the whole thing worth it. I am so thankful to all the creatives and actors that I have had the honour of working alongside as the standard of work would not be possible without them. Bring on SU Fest2022!”
Live streamed across four evenings on the Central Students’ Union YouTube and Facebook accounts, the Festival is available to view now.
The SU Fest team included:
Creative Director: Jaydon Merrick
Producers: Faith Donner & Beth Smiles
Movement Directors: Hamza Ali & Kiren Virdee
Video Editors: Jessica Durand, Emily Hamilton-Matthews & Grace Oskiera-Vooght
Sound Designers: Danny Romeo & Trevor White
Graphic Designer: Yifei Ma
