Student of the Month: April

April’s student of the month is the delightful Rachel Tam, a third year student and the creative force behind one of St Andrews’ newest theatrical projects: the 100 100 Word Plays. This Sunday, Venue 2 will host the outcome of months of preparation, what Rachel describes as a real “passion project”. Sunday’s event is a showcase of 100 word plays, which have been written by not only students from across the university, but also graduates, lecturers, poets and a whole variety of different people over a series of workshops throughout February and March. Rachel was passionate about keeping the idea open to all, wanting to “connect as many people as possible”.

After being heavily involved in Mermaids in her first year, Rachel found herself wanting to find new ways for people to get involved in theatre when sometimes the limited numbers of roles available each semester don’t allow it. She’d always thought of herself as a writer but hadn’t really written during her time at St Andrews, so joined Inklight (the University’s Creative Writing society) and the idea of a writing project was born. When I asked Rachel what had inspired her to start this particular project she explained that it began as an initiative from the Royal Court to inspire young writers. She wrote her own 100 word play before she realised that they had stopped taking submissions. Rather than waste her hard work, Rachel decided to use her own play as a “point of conversation” and saw it as “a small idea with big potential”.

This potential has been realised through the workshops with themes, which have ranged from ‘The multiple’, ‘The Russian soul’ and ‘Memory and witnessing’. All of the events have aimed to “get people talking, be creative together and inspire each other”. I asked Rachel why the limit of 100 words and she explained that it gives every kind of writer, no matter what their experience, the opportunity to create a complete work and forces you to think very intensely about subject, form and style. She also thinks that the workshop environment is an excellent way to “get people to not feel so scared about writing” and also brings people together for something that is usually a fairly solitary activity.

Credit: Olga Loza

The showcase is entitled ‘Inmates and Outliers’ and Rachel explained that this was – in part – a nod to the political and even institutionalised leanings of several of the pieces, as well as their often intimate and confessional nature. Rachel has collated the pieces together and hopes that the audience will feel that they are taken on a progressive journey and will recognise several distinct voices throughout the event. The show is a performance of an “interactive and multidisciplinary nature” based on the words that have been generated by everyone who has taken part, with some writers popping in and offering a few scattered words, and others being much more intensely interested generating more complete individual writings. Rachel also emphasises the flexible approach they have taken to the concept of a ‘play’. Some read as fairly conventional dramas, others are more fragmented or poetic and some consist solely of stage directions. It is this variety that she hopes will really appeal to the audience who will be witnessing a truly collaborative and devised theatre performance and writing project.

Rachel hopes the audience will “recognise and feel some affinity with the various but not unrelated voices that will emerge throughout the evening”. So go along on Sunday at 8pm to Venue 2 for a night of a very different theatrical nature to what we usually see here in St Andrews. The Stand will be there so make sure you are too!

Tickets are £4 and will be available in the Rector’s Cafe or on the door.

100 100 Word Plays is part of On The Rocks which kicks off today – check out the rest of the events on offer here.