SUPAS: How Sheffield musical theatre group provided launchpad for national award winner working in West End

Sheffield’s only dedicated musical theatre group is providing a launchpad for stars of the future.

Sheffield University Performing Arts Society (SUPAS) is where Elin Schofield honed her craft before going on to win national acclaim as a director.

Elin shared the best director gong at the UK Theatre Awards 2022 with Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau, for the groundbreaking Rock/Paper/Scissors which was performed simultaneously at Sheffield Theatres’ Crucible, Lyceum and Studio venues.

She is now associate director of the West End production of the acclaimed musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge, set in Sheffield’s famous Park Hill flats and described as a love letter to the city.

Elin’s next projects for 2024 include Directing Chris Bush’s adaptations of A Doll’s House at Sheffield Crucible and Robin Hood at The Rose.

SUPAS is bringing its latest show, Made in Dagenham, about female Ford workers’ fight for equal pay in 1968, to the University of Sheffield Drama Studio, on Shearwood Road, Broomhall, from Wednesday, April 24 to Saturday, April 27.

‘So proud of Elin’

The group’s publicist Eve Catanach said Elin’s success was a testament to the quality of its work and its importance in developing theatrical stars of the future, both on stage and off.

“We are so proud of Elin and what she has achieved and we really hope that many more of our members will go on to such heights,” she told The Star.

“Not only does it show the importance of arts at a student level, it is also a testament to the quality of our society, being a stepping stone for a director who has gone on to work with the National Theatre and on West End productions is such a promising thing.

“We also have many other alumni who currently work in the arts industry as screen-writers, stage technicians, managers, etc.”

As well as Elin, the group has another potential star of the future in its show publicist Shaun Stone-Riley, whose short films Cheese and Onion (2022), and Only Looking Forward (2020) have won praise.

Eve told how societies like SUPAS play a vital role in producing future stars of the theatre industry, TV and film.

‘Arts are treated with such little respect and care’

“The arts are always struggling,” she said. “We in particular are always fighting against the larger sports societies for funding, space and other things which wouldn’t have an eyelid batted normally, especially in a city such as Sheffield, where the arts have had such an influence in music and theatre.

“It is so important that the arts continue to thrive and are given the support that they deserve. We are currently having funding issues, with the university scheduling the building in which we and many other societies store our equipment for demolition this November with no alternative.

“After the building of the new university sports facilities this has been incredibly disheartening to see the arts being treated with such little respect and care.

“Societies like ours provide students with an outlet just as much as any other branch of creativity, and stories like Elin’s, or Shaun’s, who have had their future careers supported by societies like SUPAS and have gone onto bigger and better things, highlight the significance of societies like ours.”

Members have felt effects of fight for equal pay

Eve told how Made In Dagenham sadly remains relevant more than half a century on from the real life story it tells, as the fight for equal pay continues, and it is particularly pertinent for members of the society.

“Made in Dagenham is a show filled with so much heart and it felt like the perfect show for SUPAS to tackle as our next production,” she said.

“A musical about the 1968 Women’s Ford Dagenham strike, it follows the lives of normal women who stepped up to the challenge of fighting for equal pay.

“As a society with majority female cast members, this felt like the perfect show for our members to truly sink their teeth into, as they themselves have all felt the effects of the fight for equal pay.

“We as a society are always looking for shows which represent us, and having recently preformed ‘The Addams Family’ we felt it was time to take on a show with a bit more reality at its centre.

“Made in Dagenham is a show full of passion and a real sense of empowerment and we cannot wait for the audiences to see our production.”

For more about SUPAS and to buy tickets for its production of Made In Dagenham, visit: https://www.supassheffield.com.