Musical Theatre alumni premiere new work brought to life with annual RCS funding award

Published: 28/09/2023

A new musical that began its journey at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will premiere in Glasgow next week as part of the acclaimed lunchtime theatre experience A Play, A Pie and A Pint.

Glasgow-based musical theatre duo Jonathan O’Neill and Isaac Savage – who met while studying on the BA Musical Theatre programme – will debut Stay from October 2-7 at Òran Mór.

Stay, which brings together RCS graduates in the cast and creative team, has been brought to life with funding from RCS’s Bruce Millar Graduate Fellowship.

This annual £10,000 award is presented to new graduates of the School of Drama, Dance, Production and Film (DDPF), which allows them to fund a project, performance, phase of research and development, or launch a creative company. Jonathan and Isaac, who graduated in 2020, were awarded the 2021/2022 fellowship.

Isaac Savage

Jonathan O’Neill

Stay, which explores ‘love, grief and peculiar park-life’ stars Daisy Ann Fletcher (BA class of 2017) as Kit, Craig Hunter (MA class of 2021) as Rowan, and has been directed by Melanie Bell (MA class of 2010) with additional choreography from Hannah Docherty (BA class of 2023).

“Stay began its journey with the incredible opportunities presented to us at the Conservatoire and through the Bruce Millar Graduate Fellowship award,” said Isaac.

“We’ve been working on this story for over two years now, sharing snippets throughout its development, but this is the first time audiences will be seeing the musical in full. Not only are the cast and creative team making their A Play, a Pie and a Pint debut but all involved are musical theatre graduates from RCS. Stay has been such an exciting collaboration for us, and we can’t wait for people to see this production.”

In Stay, co-presented with Traverse Theatre, ex-lovers Kit and Rowan stand at the edge of a park pond with an urn and four years of unresolved history between them. After the scattering ceremony flops, something draws both Kit and Rowan to stay…but can death rekindle the past?

WATCH: Enjoy this song A Story Inside from Stay, filmed during workshop development

Stay tickets are available from the A Play, A Pie and A Pint website. The musical will transfer to the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, from October 10-14, following its Glasgow run. Book tickets.

Film: Fraser Scott

Photography © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan