An original student play by creatives from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Matthew Heppell and James Platt, have broken ticket sales records for the 60-year-old Sheffield University Theatre Company – SUTCo.
Something to do with Bolivian Affairs, being staged this week at The University of Sheffield Drama Studio, has officially become the theatre company’s best-selling opening night of all time, days before doors even open, leading to additional seating being added.
Breaking the record last night, the company behind the original comedy play, detailing the lives of three upper-class couples during an unfolding geopolitical crisis, have celebrated achieving the milestone, made even more impressive through the original nature of the production, which often see lower attendance than established scripts.
Bringing together cast members from the Edinburgh Fringe and Sheffield performers alike, the seven-person cast has been dubbed an ‘all-star’ line-up by many close to the production, who have previously been awed by members’ performance roles.
Fresh from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Lucy Singer’s Peace Circle, Roberto Rowinski (Peace Circle, Twelfth Night, The Effect) will be playing Pepe, and Abbie Wright (Twelfth Night, The Effect, Margaret Beaufort: Kingmaker), who starred in the 2023 Fringe production We Are, In Fact, The Problem, has been announced as Ella Lang.
Wright was also named ‘Actress of the Year’ in both 2024 and 2025.
Joining them are SUTCo’s ‘Comedy Actor of the Year’ (2025) Toma Hoffman (Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Importance of Being Earnest, Medea) as Miles Myers, Eden Houlberg (Twelfth Night, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Jane Myers, and Luke Hookham (Twelfth Night, It Came From The Ice, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Joseph Lang.
The trio previously starred together in the 2024 production of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Library Theatre, to critical acclaim and record-breaking sales at the box office.
Writer and director Matthew Heppell said: “This show has been in development for a long time and I’m very excited to share my work with the world.
“To see that so many people are as equally excited to see the show is incredibly heartening as a first-time writer-director”.
Chair of SUTCo Amaara Qureshi said: “Opening our 2025/26 season, Something to do with Bolivian Affairs has an important slot in our programme, but one I know Matthew and James will excel in.
“Something to do with Bolivian Affairs is already stirring up excitement”.
Tickets for the premiere production of SUTCo’s Something to do with Bolivian Affairs, running from October 30 to November 1, 2025 at The University of Sheffield Drama Studio, are available here.
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire