Get ready to cheer for Dane Stone as he tries to impress local quine Elle Rick at His Majesty’s this week, which can only mean one thing – the Aberdeen Student Show is back with Dirty Danestone.
Filled to the brim with Doric phrases and local references, director Alasdair Corbett promises Dirty Danestone puts the local community and Doric at the heart of the student show.
Alasdair, who currently works as a graphic designer, performed as part of the Aberdeen Student Show during his college days studying visual communications at NESCol.
He said: “I’ve done a lot of theatre, I’m a member of a lot of dramatic societies and when I was a student I was an Aberdeen Student Show performer.
“It’s now been ten years since I last performed as part of the student show and now I’m back as a director so it’s a nice full-circle moment.”
Doric version of Dirty Dancing
Dirty Danestone will reference the popular 1987 film Dirty Dancing which starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
“It’s predominantly based around Dirty Dancing but we’ve set it locally,” explained Alasdair.
“Our lead character Dane Stone is a loon with two left feet and he’s in love with Aberdeen’s dancing queen Elle Rick. He’s trying to impress Elle.
“There are a lot of fun names based around local places such as Kitty Brewster, and Berry Den.”
Rehearsals in full swing for Aberdeen Student Show
The 39-strong cast recently started an intense rehearsals process – practising from 10am to 10pm.
“We’re in a really good place – the cast are working exceptionally hard,” said Alasdair.
“We’re all very proud of them. It’s such an intense period of rehearsals and such a tight turnaround to create a full-scale show in that time frame to be performed in a venue like His Majesty’s Theatre. It’s certainly an incredible achievement from all involved.”
Aberdeen Student Show will once again raise funds for local charities. This year, the production team decided to lend a helping hand to Abernecessities, Charlie House, Music4U, The Archie Foundation and many more.
The 2021 production of Freezin – which brought live theatre back to HMT after numerous lockdowns – raised a whopping £114,561.
Alasdair hopes they’ll once again be able to raise a significant sum to support those who need it most.
He said: “We’ve already managed to sell loads of tickets and we have funds from sponsorships with local businesses too. This year we’re supporting about 40 charities.”
One of the Aberdeen Student Show team’s earlier fundraising activities was their Spring Concert which saw Rock Till We Drop star Eileen Pike reunite with her family members Craig Pike and Hannah Jarret.
Alasdair said: “It’s a student show tradition. Students performed a medley of songs at the concert to raise additional funds. It was received very well.
“We want to maximise our efforts and raise as much as we can.”
How to book tickets to see Aberdeen Student Show at HMT
Dirty Danestone is at His Majesty’s from Wednesday April 20 until Saturday April 23. Click here if you wish to purchase tickets.