The award-winning financial journalist on the debt-ridden 1970’s ‘Dramus’ club
It’s October 9, 1970. Under the glow of a lava lamp, a student opens today’s edition of Brig and there it is, The End of Dramus, the article announcing the abolishment of the university’s first-ever drama society.
Many of us today have never heard of Dramus, and are more familiar with SUDS, the resident drama society which has been an established institution at the University of Stirling for nearly 50 years. Little did we know that in the early years of the university’s opening, before SUDS took the stage, the controversial Dramus society had a (very) short run.
The author of the hilariously self-critical article, former student Paul Lewis, was the founder of this club that was banned by the Student’s Association (CSA) after their “cavalier” attitude to money led to repeated debt. With lavish sets and little to no budgeting for equipment in place, “the loss grew with each visit of the postman”.
Lewis is better known today as the award-winning financial journalist who gives money tips on radio, TV, and in national news publications.
“My own finances were always a bit of a mess when I was younger, to be honest,” says the now 75-year-old Lewis. “As a club, we were interested in plays, not in money, and I wasn’t interested in money back then.”
Lewis remembers Dramus’ downfall not being solely due to finances though, sensing there was a general dislike of the amateur dramatics club at the time: “I think we were seen as a bit of a clique, a bit English, a bit self-selecting, and not terribly talented as far as acting or producing was concerned.”
He recalls that in one of their final plays, Luther, he refused to go out for the curtain call, too embarrassed at what his society had become.
While the original article is filled with humour, detailing Dramus’ struggles with woeful financial mismanagement, inner-society jealousies, and unconvincing leading men, it is also scathing of the Student’s Association which seemed intent on closing the curtain on Dramus.
“This was the 60s and 70s and we were all very outspoken and very anti-establishment,” says Lewis. “Brig was seen at the time as our voice. It was our take on the university and even though it was made with university resources, we were quite willing to bite the hand that fed us.”
Having forged a very successful journalism career, Lewis credits his time at Brig for making him realise he had a knack for writing, though his style has changed since.
“I did write some rude things,” says Lewis, who would publish cheeky acrostics and columns under the pseudonym, McMerde.
“The rude columnist McMerde was eventually sacked from the newspaper after pressure was put on the editor by the university,” he says. “Until this moment I’ve never told anybody it was me except for two of my closest friends.”
As for Dramus, another article in the following 1970 issue of Brig, In Defense of Dramus, was published to address misconceptions about the club’s supposed carelessness and argued that financial pressures were just too much for an inexperienced club to handle.
It was too late though. After Dramus was shut down, SUDS was formed, and Lewis recalls that the existing members of Dramus were blacklisted from the new club.
Luckily, a fed-up Lewis was happy enough to leave the club in the past and now enjoys a life devoid of amateur dramatics… and all of its associated drama.
Old editions of Brig can be accessed online in The University of Stirling’s Archive Collections.
Featured Image Credit: BBC