Hello and Welcome to the first blog post of the new academic year! First and foremost, as of last weekend, Minotaur is delighted to announce the arrival of another 50 first-year drama students. That takes the total Minotaur Membership count up to around 150.

It's very safe to say that we're all very excited to see what work the company will be capable of producing this year, after such a large number of creative individuals have been added to the mix. Look out for their profile pages, coming soon to the website.

The festivities kicked off last week, on the 17th and 18th of September 2014. Hellos and Welcomes were in abundance for the first years when they were met by the Committee; the following day saw the return of our annual 'Meet and Greet': a quick hello on the Drama Steps and then over to Campus Kitchen for a group meal. It signaled the start of the infamous initiation process, Minotaur Weekend. It gives the first years a chance to get to know their course mates, by devising four short pieces based on Classical Greek Myths, set to perform to the rest of the company on Sunday night. As usual, we were greeted by the stories of Midas, Theseus and the Minotaur, Persephone and Orpheus, but all with their own, unique twist: comedy, physical theatre, and even a live acoustic performance of Hero by Enrique Iglesias! It was a pleasure for the company to witness the creativity and enthusiasm the new students brought to their performances, and we hope they'll bring the same level of pride to any Minotaur shows they're a part of here at UEA.

Once that was over, it was back to our first production: Dennis Kelly's Love and Money, whose cast and crew have been working hard on over the last few weeks. It is being performed at the UEA Drama Studio at 7.30pm from the 16th-18th October 2014 and we're all very excited to see what they've done with it.

Auditions are due to take place over the next few days for the Shorts Festival 2014, which features 12 short plays written by members of Minotaur. As always, they'll be a great example of the versatility and creativity of our company. The Shorts are a real team-effort and involve students working together from all three years. There's no limit on how to get involved: if acting isn't your cup of tea, you can write, direct, produce, stage-manage or manage the technical aspects of the show, lighting and sound.

Preparations have also begun surrounding the upcoming second Semester shows after the New Year. There are always more opportunities in Minotaur Theatre Company - but you'll be hearing more on that as the term goes on.

It has undoubtedly been a wonderful, exciting start of the year for Minotaur. We've already got so many projects under way that this year promises to be another fruitful and ambitious one, here at UEA.

That's all from me today; it's been a pleasure typing to you. Please stay tuned for future updates from Minotaur Theatre Company. Keep an eye out on our website, our Twitter and Instagram accounts, and Facebook.

Tom Mason (Social Secretary)