Edinburgh University Student Performance of Terence’s "Eunuchus", 1681
This printed notice/advertisement, written in Latin, concerns the performance of an amateur production of a play which interestingly seems to involve a joint operation with some pupils of Kelso High School. It may well be one of the earliest surviving amateur playbills.
Interest in the dramatic arts evidently continued at Edinburgh, and by the middle of the 20th century the E.U. Dramatic Society was meeting weekly and holding classes in mime and movement, make-up and voice production, as well as lighting and production. It also presented three full length plays annually.
Participation in clubs and societies has a very long history at Edinburgh University, stretching back into the eighteenth century. But the greatest expansion of such activity took place after the establishment of the Students’ Representative Council in 1884, and throughout the 20th century when vast numbers of organisations reflecting the great variety of interests of the student body were formed.
