Review: The Society

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If you’ve seen Matt Gibson performing stand-up comedy or hosting the successful Bubble Bath panel style comedy shows throughout his time at St Andrews, you know that he is a funny guy. Thus, it should be no surprise that the play he wrote and directed was also funny. Was it a life changing work of genius? Well, no. But it also did not set out to be. Was it an enjoyable way to spend 40 minutes on a Wednesday night, and a good way to raise money for Spina Bifda, a charity that Gibson is passionate about? Absolutely.

The large audience was welcomed by the present main character, Warren (Nishant Raj), and complimentary bags of Propercorn. Happy munching and jovial chatter quietly subsided as the lights dimmed. The set depicted a typical student gathering space, complete with old Union furniture. Warren starts us off with an uncomfortably silence. This was handled deftly and with humor and  credit is due to both Gibson and Raj for getting the audience on their side with this endearingly awkward opening from the get go.

Eventually, we are introduced to the other characters in Gibson’s little slice of uni life: the no nonsense and sassy first year, Kat, played by Isabelle Arnson; the enthusiastic and well-meaning first year, Frank, played by Bernie Munro; and the adorkable and slightly out of touch second year, Nigel, played by Jack Briggs. All of these people have joined “The Society”, which we learn that Warren, a fifth year back from his study abroad, has created for CV boosting purposes. However, he is now faced with the challenge to get the society to actually do something in order to keep from being disbanded by the Union.

Thus, the rest of the play is spent with the characters collaborating and trying to figure out what they want “The Society” to do.  This enables Gibson’s script to (mostly good naturedly) poke fun at many of St Andrews’ media, societies, and events hosted throughout the year. Because it was so relatable and sharply observational, the snide commentary about our student activities was mostly well received by the audience. Across the board, comedic delivery was well-executed. Since the play was less of a story and more of a tool to cleverly mock St Andrean life, I was pleased when there was an adorable resolution to the initially proposed problem. In the end, it was decided that “The Society” would be a place for fifth years and the like who needed to make new friends after theirs graduated.

What was clear from the beginning was that this was a very niche play. If you were not a St Andrews student who was generally in the know, then the vast majority of the humor would have been lost on you. However, judging from the vast amounts of laughter from the audience, I think we can safely assume that Wednesday night’s attendees were the exact correct audience for the content.

In the end, “The Society” was an excellent swansong for Matt Gibson. Like him, the play was acutely observational and very funny.