University_of_Sydney_Revues

University of Sydney Revues

University of Sydney Revues

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The University of Sydney plays host to a wide variety of comedy revues each year, each typically tied to a faculty or identity group. Each revue features comedy sketches, songs and videos written and performed by students, usually commenting satirically on current affairs, the supporting faculty and general student life.

The Revues are casual student production, and as such are prone to production issues, such as when Engineering Revue was infamously saved in 2015 by a group of past-performers sourced from multiple revues whom put together a show in 2 days after the original cast fell through. The show trended across the country.

Most of the revues are performed in the Seymour Centre on the university's Darlington campus. Tickets range between $10 and $25, with various discounts for students. The revues are supported financially and administratively by the University of Sydney Union (USU) and presented in a collective "season".[1] The Revues range in budget and cast size, with the Faculty Revues using larger venues, and higher budgets as a result of Faculty funding.[2]

Past revuers have gone on to perform, write and produce shows in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the New York Fringe Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe Festivals, in groups such as The Chaser, The Aunty Jack Show, The Ronny Johns Half Hour, The Axis of Awesome, Ben Jenkins & The Delusionists, and the Cloud Girls on triple j.[3]

History

Revues at USYD began with a single "USYD Revue", which then expanded to additional shows in the 1960s, with 13 revues performing in 2017. The original four Faculty revues were made up of students from Medicine, Law, Architecture and Engineering.[3]

Of the revues, the largest are the Arts Revue, Science Revue, Med Revue and Law Revue. Engineering Revue has been staged in Manning Bar since 2006, and Commerce Revue made its debut in 2008. A Pharmacy Revue was planned for 2009, but was cancelled/postponed. The growing number of faculty revues has led to certain revues developing their own individual character, such as the Science Revue, which is known less for science specific humour, and instead for the work of its distinct troupes of singers, dancers and band, who work alongside the actors.[4]

Since 2013 a Best Of show, usually named University of Sydney Revue, has been staged as a part of the Sydney Comedy Festival, which is composed of the best performers and scenes from the previous season.

With Womn's Revue first performed in 2007, and Queer Revue in 2010, the set of Identity Revues has expanded in recent years with productions including Jew Revue, POC Revue and International Revue. From 2016 onwards, a separate, earlier Revue Season was created for the Identity Revues during the first semester of the university calendar.[5]

The popularity of revues saw a decrease, with steady drops in ticket sales recorded in 2016 from the past few years.[5] Lockdowns in 2020 resulted in an almost non existent 2020 revue season, which put strain on revues such as International Revue, which dissolved as a society in 2022.[6]

Faculty Revues

Science Revue

The Science Revue debuted in its current iteration in 2006. The Revue is best known for having a large cast, with 92 cast members in the 2008 production.[7] This has led to the development of distinct troupes (Acting, Singing, Dancing and Band), who all contribute to the sketch development (the band being the last to join this process in 2017).[8] Science Revue is also one of the few revues to consistently use the York Theatre, the largest theatre available at the Seymour Centre.

Band Revue

In the wake of the success of the Science Revue band in 2019, members of the production and others created Band Revue as part of the Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) 'Summer Slots,' running off the limited budget provided by SUDS.[9] Marketed as a "Science Revue Fundraiser", it received positive reviews for its 3 night run, but currently is not a standalone Revue.[10]

Engineering Revue

Engineering Revue is the only Revue listed to not be supported by the USU, instead running as an ad hoc organisation. The Revue is known for being planned at the last minute and featuring large amounts of both alcohol and heckling, by both audience and performers.[11][12] Due to numerous bans from performance venues on campus, Engineering Revue is currently held in PNR Lecture Theatre.[13]

Identity Revues

POC Revue

POC (People of Colour) Revue debuted in 2015, under the name ACAR Revue (Autonomous Collective Against Racism), as a response to the lack of POC cast and crew in other revues at the time. The 2015 production was described as a "test run" given its unorthodox venue and rushed production.[14] The Revue was rebranded as POC Revue from 2017 onwards.

Womn's Revue

Womn's Revue debuted in 2007 as "Women's Revue", returning in 2009, and then going on Hiatus until it was reestablished in 2015 as "Wom*n's Revue".[15] From 2017 the show has been titled "Womn's Revue".[16] The show is described as specifically "written, directed, performed and produced by those who identify as, or have lived experience as womn!"[17]

Queer Revue

Queer Revue debuted in 2010, as a show specifically for both members of the Queer Community, and allies. In recent years, Queer Revue has differed from other Revues by having 3 Directors, as seen in 2017,[18] 2019,[19] 2022[20] and 2023.[21]

List of Performances

More information Season, Revue ...

† ACAR Revue was renamed to POC Revue in 2017.

†† Band Revue is technically an event made by the Science Revue


References

  1. "University of Sydney Union - Venue hire is available for clubs and societies in various spaces in Holme, Manning and Wentworth buildings. A range of equipment is also available for hire". usu.edu.au. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. "Queer Revue: Peter Pansexual (Phoebe Moloney)". Honi Soit. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  3. "The University Revue: a golden age for student entertainers?". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  4. Ward, Mary (13 September 2016). ""Why didn't people see the faculty revues?"". Honi Soit. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  5. Sydney University Internation Revue (8 February 2022). "Sydney University International Revue Notice of General Meeting". Facebook. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  6. "The history of USyd's best revue: Science Revue". Honi Soit. 10 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  7. "Science Revue: a scientific report". Honi Soit. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  8. "So you want to see a SUDS summer show?". Honi Soit. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  9. Honi Soit (18 May 2023). "Engineering Revue: A big blur". Honi Soit. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  10. https://www.facebook.com/honisoitsydney (24 August 2016). "Engo Revue: Like high school again. But worse". Honi Soit. Retrieved 23 August 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |last= (help)
  11. "Engo Revue Strikes Back 2023". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  12. "High Standards and High Heels: Glittoris, the 2015 Wom*n's Revue". Honi Soit. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  13. "Womn's Revue is the most fun you'll ever have at prom". Honi Soit. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  14. "USYD Queer Revue 2019: Dead Bi Morning". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  15. "Been Gay, Done Crime". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  16. "Commerce Revue: Les Biz (Alisha Aitken-Radburn)". Honi Soit. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  17. "CLUBS & SOCIETIES AWARDS". pulp. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  18. "Queer Revue: Fun for the whole family". Honi Soit. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  19. "Commerce Revue 2014 Presents: MOOLAH ROUGE". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  20. "The 2015 Arts Revue: Sun Tzu's The Arts of War". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  21. "Queer Revue 2015: STRAIGHT TO HELL". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  22. "Commerce Revue 2015 Presents: GUYS AND DOLLAR BILLS". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  23. Huang, Eunice. "Albums: ACAR Revue: '2015: A Race Odyssey'". Facebook. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  24. "A tour-de-force of fun, farts and farce". Honi Soit. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  25. "In the Red: Commerce Revue 2017". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  26. "PoC Revue IV: Heroes of Time Past". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  27. "Queerer Things: Queer Revue 2018". Honi Soit. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  28. "Commerce Revue Presents: Camp Comedy!". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  29. "PoC Revue 2019: The Hard Sell". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  30. "Review: Womn's Revue 2019 – Inside the Snowglobe". Honi Soit. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  31. "Why everyone should see International Revue". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  32. "Commerce Revue 2019: It's actually just a wholesome office party". Honi Soit. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  33. "Science Revue 2019 presents CSI: RO Rogue Operation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  34. "USU POC Revue 2021: The Period Piece". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  35. "Review: Queer Revue 2021". Honi Soit. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  36. "Queer Revue: Cirque Du So-Gay". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  37. "Review: Commerce Revue - A Night at the Logies". Honi Soit. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  38. "Science Revue Presents: SEANCE REVUE". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  39. "USU Womn's Revue 2022 - On Tour". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  40. "USU POC Revue 3022 - Futurism". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  41. "Review: Law Revue 2022 — Don't be a 🔲". PULP. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  42. "Review: Arts Revue 2022". PULP. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  43. "USU Science Revue 2022 - A B sCience!". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  44. "WOMN'S REVUE 2023 - TAKE OFF!". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  45. "POC Revue 2023: The Family Reunion". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  46. "USU Science Revue 2023: Cosmic Relief". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  47. "USU Law Revue 2023: Evidence Everywhere All At Once". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  48. "USU Med Revue 2023: ChatGP". Seymour Centre. Retrieved 23 August 2023.

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