Shut down to shining: Bangor University’s musical theatre society’s road to success

SODA: Bangor University’s Musical Theatre society has plunged itself back into the spotlight after many years in the dark.

SODA rehearsing their latest production of the pantomime ‘Cinderella’. - Credit - Jack Michael Taylor

University can be one of the loneliest times of a person's life. Leaving home for the first time, leaving the friends you've made and the comfort of your hometown while attempting to go forward with your higher education and new life, for some, like myself, this can be extremely overwhelming.

University life can be challenging; however, societies and clubs at university can help students settle into their new life.

Ranging from Music to Herpetology, the Students’ Union at Bangor University boasts a wide range of free societies and clubs for students to join alongside their academic course.

A prime example of this is SODA - Bangor University’s Musical Theatre society.

Many budding performers within the university community congregate towards SODA.

Despite their troubled and infamous past, SODA have come out on top as they go from strength to strength.

SODA - the society of dramatic arts, located at Prifysgol Bangor University, in the city of Bangor in North Wales, boasts three performances a year, including one in Theatr Bryn Terfel in Pontio in the spring.

Running societies whilst also studying can be a large commitment: guidelines, money issues and hours and hours of work. Many students see it as a part-time job, but it is also a sanctuary for students to escape the uni world.

Caitlin Rees, who studies Media Studies and Sociology at Bangor University, is in her second year.

She is secretary of the musical theatre society as well as being involved with other performance niche clubs. Rees says, ‘As the secretary of SODA, I truly love the dynamics we have within the society today. Everyone’s genuine enthusiasm and love for musical theatre makes rehearsals the highlight of my week. The feeling of finishing a show? Unmatched; it makes it all so worth it!’

Miranda Reid, who studies Ocean and Geophysics at Bangor but has a keen interest in Musical Theatre, says ‘We have an incredible group of folks who uplift and support each other, and I love being part of that community’.

Despite their bright lights and positive attitude in 2022, SODA has unfortunately been plagued with issues in the past.

In 2019, SODA chose their main show of the year to perform in the spring: Hairspray.

The musical follows a racially segregated 1960’s Baltimore teen, Tracy Turnblad, who auditions for a spot on ‘The Corny Collins Show’ and earns a place on the show. She becomes an overnight celebrity and uses her power to overrule the racial segregation prevalent at the time.

The society planned on performing the show with an all-white cast. The ultimate backlash they received from the city’s community was overwhelming.

The Hairspray licensing company SODA contacted ‘Music Theatre International’ and had a “loophole” which allowed productions of Hairspray to have all-white casts, saying that “we also realised, to deny an actor the chance to play a role due to the colour of his or her skin would be its own form of racism, albeit a “politically correct” one’

The licensing company only prohibited the use of make-up to distinguish race.

The “loophole” has been removed since June 2020; composer Marc Shaiman said on Instagram, “While it always seemed like common sense to us that people would choose to put on Hairspray with the knowledge that they could perform the show as written, we were naive”.

“Music Theatre International (which represents and licenses Hairspray) WILL be requiring groups to cast the show to accurately reflect the characters as we wrote them.’

Issuing a statement online on the 21st January 2020, which has since been deleted, SODA said ‘We are devastated to announce that, after a meeting with the SU, we are unfortunately not able to continue with our production of Hairspray.’

‘We had a long discussion with the president of the SU and the head of societies today; after a long debate and us trying our very best, they’ve decided that everything we’ve done wasn’t enough. The society continued.

Issues were raised when rumours began that they were using ‘black-face’, armbands and other racist means to put on this show.

In defence, SODA released another statement, saying ‘Other theatre companies have introduced ways of differentiating the cast in cases of a majority full white cast, while putting on Hairspray’.

‘One of these ways is racial banding to signify either race. Another is by the clothing that the cast wear’.

Undeb Bangor, the Students’ Union at Bangor, released this statement after meeting with the 2019/2020 committee: ’Due to recent concerns raised to Undeb Bangor from within the student body about the planned musical ‘Hairspray’, Undeb Bangor have discussed the issue with our SODA musical theatre society, and the decision has been made to cancel the production this semester’

‘As the musical handles themes of race relations in the Civil Rights era USA, we could not find an acceptable way of portraying this on stage’

‘In addition, the reputational and legal risk of continuation of the production, to Undeb Bangor, further contributed to this decision being made.’

During COVID, the society was placed on hold. No rehearsals could be in person, no performances could be in person. The restrictions altered how the community values and views the arts.

The arts had to adapt during unprecedented times, from the West End to amateur dramatics; the whole industry ground to a halt.

With social distancing orders, rapid antigen testing and the limiting of people in venues, in-person performances were not possible.

Modifications were in order. The committee of SODA organised a streamed showcase ‘Another Day of Sun’, showcasing all of their talents whilst fulfilling COVID guidelines.

Despite the allegations of racism and the issues sprung from the pandemic, SODA in recent years has stood stronger than ever.

In the year 2022, they performed ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ in March and hosted a sold-out pantomime in December. SODA continues to go from strength to strength, including premiering their next show, ‘Into the Woods’, in Theatr Bryn Terfel, Bangor, in April 2023.