- February 2010
This seminal piece of female drama is controversial even today. A group of monologues from people in all walks of life discuss different aspects of the pussy with humour, tenderness and rage. Titles include ‘Reclaiming Cunt’, ‘Hair’, ‘My Angry Vagina’ and ‘Because he Liked to Look at it.’ The production will take place as part of ‘V-Day’ - a worldwide feminist movement around Valentine’s Day to promote ending violence against women. All money raised from the production will go to women’s charities.
- November 2009
- November 2009
'...one flew east, one flew west, One flew over the cuckoo's nest'
When convicted villain McMurphy manages to cheat his way into serving out his sentence in a mental hospital, utter pandemonium ensues on Nurse Ratched's ward. Cheif Bromden, the supposedly deaf-mute patient, watches as the new addition refuses to bow to the rules and routines that had before been irrefutable, and slowly, as Nurse Ratched's rigid grip on her authority disintegrates, the other inmates begin to regain a sense of vitality. McMurhpy's rambunctious behaviour transforms life on the ward, but at what cost?
Dale Wasserman's 1963 stage adaptation of Kesey's classic novel brings to life this touching and revelational tale through the juxtapposition of scrutinising action and beautiful soliloquays. In an exhilarating exploration of the human mind and the concept of 'sanity' this production will not fail to engross.
- March 2009
‘The goldest throne in the world is still sat on by an arse’ said Montaigne, and the Earl of Rochester's SODOM examines this fundamental of fundaments with no little rectitude. The base instincts which govern our governors are expressed here through the nihilism of a poet who finds his only reality in sexuality. Relocated from Restoration decadence to political sleaze, Lewinsky dresses and Prescott leers, with songs, dances and Signior Dildo, this is what every play should be, this is to Shakespeare what Hollyoaks Later is to Hollyoaks.
- March 2009
“Is there no instance of a friend turned false? Take heed of that: no love by proxy, Julio.”
An extremely exciting opportunity to be part of an imaginative production of Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’. For years, Cardenio has been surrounded by mystery and the subject of heated debate as to the true authorship...However, for the first time we present an original re-imagining of the play by Bernard Richards; perhaps as close as we will ever get to the truth of this lost work.
- February 2009
Sophrosyne is a play about family and evil. It is Robert's 60th birthday. He lives with his boyfriend, his mad mother and her parrot. His two warring children come up for the celebrations: his son grows penises on the backs of rats, his daughter believes in God. Robert wants to talk about sex. No one else does. A child has been lost and a poem written, and Robert wants to put a glory-hole through the fourth wall. No one quite knows what to say. We can see the strings of madness, inherited voices and murder.
Sophrosyne is written by the joint winner of the Other Prize 2008, Freddy Syborn. His previous plays include Tragedy Circus, A Beast For Thee, Now the late last winter, Indivisible, and Flesh-Eating Jacobean Zombies. Of A Beast For Thee, Varsity said "I really can't think of a better new play I've seen at Cambridge. As both writer and director of this forty-five minute piece, Freddy Syborn skillfully avoids all the usual over-earnest pitfalls of 'student writing' and instead constructs his own strong and impressive theatrical language."
- November 2008
A small town in 50s' France - A Rhinoceros stampedes through the streets, mildly upsetting our hero, Bérenger. At first he is undaunted by the rhinocerisation trend but as the whole of humanity begins to follow the fashion and transform into rhinoceri he desperately tries to hold out and remain human.
A hilarious romp in the darker recesses of the 20th Century.
- November 2008
- May 2008
Footlights' famous evening comedy shows hit Queen's this easter term in association with BATS.
- March 2008
Twenty years after forming a society during their teens called “the disciples of James Dean,” five former members hold a reunion dedicated to looking to the future, but find themselves rooted in an unresolved past. Tensions mount as secrets are revealed and an unexpected guest returns to reveal the truth about love, life and James Dean. Past and present merge in the two separate time periods in which the action is set, adding comedy and poignancy to this innovative work.
- March 2008
Two short plays, one about the sexual tensions of a lesson which veers into violence, the other about the difficulty of kicking a man to death when you are holding a pot plant. Short, quick, cheap and entertaining, these plays promise to be entertaining and experimental.
This double-bill is a joint venture between BATS and the Lady Margaret Players.
- November 2007
The story is about an affable man Elwood P. Dowd and his imaginary friend Harvey, a 6 1/2 foot tall rabbit. When Elwood starts to introduce Harvey, a pooka, to guests at a society party, his society-obsessed sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter Myrtle Mae and their family from future embarrassment.
When they arrive at the sanitarium, due to a comedy of errors, the doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion. When he shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood's delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors, including renowned Dr. Chumley, his medical partner Dr. Sanderson, and the head nurse Miss Kelly.
Only just before Elwood is to be given an injection, Dr. Chumley's Formula 977, that will make him, as his taxi driver says, into a "perfectly normal human being; and you know what bastards they are!" does Veta realize that she'd rather have Elwood be the same as he's always been — carefree and kind — even if it means living with Harvey the pooka.
- November 2007
'...no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves. Nora: It is a thing thousands of women have done.'
Over a century ago it caused a scandal never been seen before on the European stage; it was banned from British theatres; it changed the portrayal of women on and off stage forever. Yet even today, the shock that 'Ibsenism' brought into contemporary society all that time ago, the issues he explored are still relevant and highly emotive. In the infamous central character, Nora, Ibsen epitomized the human struggle against the humiliating constraints of social conformity, an issue which still holds sway over each and every one of us today.
- November 2007
What would you do if you received late-night phone calls from a stranger wanting to know if you clean your shoes with furniture polish? What if the same stranger turned up on your doorstep? Would you let him in? Would you offer him olives? What would you ask him to do with the pips?
Boasting a typically irresistable blend of wit and menace, 'The Collection' is a lesser-known Pinter classic that is guaranteed to charm, shock and delight. Come and experience the thrill of Late Night Pinter.
- November 2007
"A nice little promising life there, I thought and a nasty mess somebody's made of it." One evening the Birling family sits down to dinner to celebrate the engagement of their daughter. Prosperous and content, they could not be more satisfied with life. Unexpectedly the doorbell rings, an Inspector has come to inquire about a young woman who has committed suicide. A young, pretty woman by the name of Eva Smith but they none of them know her, of course.
Slowly but inexorably, the Inspector connects them to the young woman, shattering their illusions about themselves and their lives.
"An Inspector Calls" is a challenging play by a well-known playwright that is searching and poignant but underpinned with understanding and humour. It offers the actor well-drawn, complex characters and brilliantly written dialogue in a suspenseful, dramatic situation.
- June 2007
Egeon is the father of twin boys, both called Antipholus. Both boys have a servant - both called Dromio. Egeon is separated from his family, and the twins from each other in a shipwreck.
Egeon arrives in Ephesus looking for his family. Antipholus and Dromio arrive in Ephesus from Syracuse in search of their long-lost twin brothers, Antipholus and Dromio. Antipholus, married to Adriana, and Dromio, servant, live in Ephesus. Antipholus and Dromio are surprised to find that everybody recognises them. Antipholus and Dromio aren't.
Confused?
Suddenly the strangers find themselves greeted like old friends, Antipholus finds that he has acquired a wife, and everyone in Ephesus seems to be behaving very strangely...
- March 2007
In this play the usual conditions of light and dark are reversed: when the lights are 'on' we see nothing but darkness; when they are 'off' we see the characters behaving as if they were in a black-out. Carol and Brindsley, an engaged couple, have invited a millionaire to see some of Brindsley's art, and in an attempt to impress him have 'borrowed' antiques from a neighbour. Carol's formidable father is also expected. The lights fuse, and chaos gradually ensues as the arrival of various unexpected visitors effectively wrecks the evening.
- March 2007
Written by one of Spain's greatest playwrights, 'Yerma' tells the story of Yerma, a passionate but childless woman living in rural Spain, and her unhappy marriage to the cold and indifferent Juan. Her desperate desire for motherhood becomes an obsession that eventually drives her to commit a horrific crime.
An original translation of Lorca's text by Alex Moyet.
- November 2006
Tired of her cheating husband the Prince, Snow White decides to pack her bags and get an education at Queens' College, Cambridge. However, there's trouble afoot: Something that lurks in the shadows of Cripps Court has been killing off the builders. Now it's down to Snow White and her dwarf friends to destroy this evil before it wreaks havoc upon the upcoming bop...
- November 2006
Ten characters. Ten encounters. "Sheer theatrical viagra."
- November 2006
All is not well in the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. A ghost stalks the dark corridors, leaving strange letters for the management and...killing people. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, two Lancre witches investigate, and are soon involved in all kinds of skulduggery, mayhem and ear-splittingly loud singing.
- November 2006
1968: three couples, whose lives are overshadowed by a demanding film producer, escape his clutches and flee to Amsterdam for the weekend. Safely ensconced in their hotel room, the uneasy equilibrium that has existed between them is searingly exposed as the alcohol starts to flow....
From the same iconoclastic writer who changed the face of modern theatre, "The Hotel in Amsterdam" is an eloquent expression of the fragility of friendship; it is about yearning for chances and the sting of success.
- November 2006
One sunny evening, ten-year-old Rhona goes missing. Twenty years later her mother, Nancy, is still set in a state of frozen hope. Agnetha, an American academic, comes to England to research a thesis entitled "Serial Killing: A Forgivable Act?". And then there's Ralph, her scarred kidnapper in this Tony award winning play. Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark upon a long and dark journey which finally curves upward into the light.
- June 2006
On a small island in the Adriatic, the exiled wizard Prospero exacts a magical revenge on his enemies that has been eleven years in the planning. Join fools, fairies and princes for BATS’ fifty-ninth May Week Shakespeare play.
In a setting not too distant from Whitehall Palace, where James I watched the first performance in 1611, we bring ‘The Tempest’ to Cambridge. Sit outside in the sunshine for a production that marries the conventions of Jacobean theatre with modern technology to present Shakespeare’s valedictory play; part comedy, part wistful musing on life, love and power.
- March 2006
Sparkling performances to delight and entertain...'Ahobrase' is a show of comedy, music and dance acts, sketches and monologues for a one night cabaret in association with BATS on 8th March.
This will be an evening of fun and high quality entertainment...and all the money goes to charity.
The cabaret will be in aid of a vocational school for abandoned and abused girls in Elmina, Ghana.
- February–March 2006
10 People are trapped in an isolated house - all of them accused of being murderers who have escaped justice. In the drawing room, a large tapestry spells out an old nursery rhyme: "Ten little Indians, sitting down to dine/One choked himself and then there were nine...". The ten guests of the mysterious Mr Owen laugh the accusations off as ridiculous. Then one of the ten chokes to death at dinner and then there are nine... "Nine little Indians staying up late/One overslept himself and then there were eight..." then seven... then six... As their numbers collapse, the crowd realises that one of them must be responsible for these outstanding and psychotic murders. But with no detective at hand, only the suspects can solve the case. They're all equally suspicious though and most of them won't survive the night... A baffling and outstanding puzzle from the Queen of Crime is brought to the stage. Christie rated this as the finest mystery in her canon.
- November–December 2005
'PAPER FLOWERS' is a tight two-hander, written in 1969 (the year the Communist leader Allende, came to power) by one of Chile’s greatest living playwrights explores the gulf between ‘Los Rotos’ (the broken ones) and the repetitive life of the affluent middle classes. The play is constructed with exceptional skill and is a sophisticated fusion of magical realism, absurdism and black comedy. I’m looking for two committed and open minded actors who wish to challenge themselves and enjoy exploring these two complicated and intriguing characters. Together we will make creative use the rehearsal process to produce a piece of theatre which does justice to the play’s unique and exciting explosion of longing, power games, silence, humour and desperation.
ROLES:
EVA: A lonely middle class widow who paints flowers alone in the botanical gardens. She tries with all her might to reach out and offer her love to Beto, a man whom she finds both socially and sexually threatening and compelling. When we first meet her, her life is ordered, repetitive and empty:
“That’s what my life is, eating and more eating, morning noon and night. I sometimes think that life is nothing more than a permanent meal, with pauses in between to get bored again”
BETO: An enigmatic figure from the slums by the river; dressed in rags, prone to severe fits of shaking and a disarming ability to evade questions about his past. He is a forceful presence, often fluctuating between monotonous utterances, brutality, childlike pathos and intensely poetic speeches:
“Love is broken bridge, with a broken tooth, with a broken crank. It flies within the world’s four walls, cracking skulls. Love is a three legged dog! A tramp with one hand and two bananas!”
The action is set in Eva’s ordered and neat living room, beginning as she enters with Beto carrying her shopping. What unfolds spans a tense few days in the house where we see Beto gradually colonise Eva’s world and impose disorder and havoc: rearranging, reconstructing and destroying the furniture and gradually filling the room with his dark, enormous, ragged paper flowers.
- November 2005
A provincial town, a dreaded inspection, mistaken identity; a provocative farce. Nikolai Gogol's timeless comic masterpiece brought to you by BATS' brand new talent.
- November 2005
-"I am a heterosexual"
-"I wish you wouldn't use these Chaucerian words."
A London psychiatric clinic becomes a world of carnivalesque chaos when rampant libidos, mistaken identities, undressing and cross-dressing create layer upon layer of mischievous confusion in Orton's farcical masterpiece. The less than reputable Dr. Prentice makes his advances on a would-be secretary and sets in motion events that blur boundaries of gender, decency, and sanity.
'an icon of modern drama' - The Guardian
'A truly classic sex farce that keeps up an almost relentless stream of great gags.' -Sunday Express
'A breakneck comedy of near operatic complexity' - Metro
- November 2005
There's nothing quite like onion in The morning to bring back a grin Oh Gardi's, we love you so...
It's a normal night outside of Gardi's, but all the usual suspects have started singing... BATS presents the stage-show of a Cambridge legend! This is an eclectic student-written musical, based around the almost-closure of the famous eatery last year, and presenting the audience with a slightly bizarre snapshot of student life – deadly smokers, earnest Christians, assassins and all. Expect mad capers, high jinx, and a bloody laugh and a half...
- November 2005
A hilarious and heady comedy of confusion and crossed wires. This fourhander set in the 1960s is the play that made Ayckbourn his name in the theatre.
- August 2005
- June 2005
To reserve tickets email csf24@cam.ac.uk with your name, number of tickets, and contact tel. no
- May 2005
Mr Blake kidnaps a family for his annual birthday and tries to swap places with the father. The daughters are angry; the mother doesn't seem to care; and we can't tell what the father thinks because he's bound, gagged and imprisoned somewhere. He’s probably quite annoyed though.
Familiar familial homilies are literally unwrapped and set on fire before your thighs in this new Tragi-comedy; which we prefer to call 'Comedy', taking the 'Com' from 'Comedy' and the '-edy' from 'Tragedy'. Edgy, dark and innovative, this runner-up to the Footlights' Harry Porter Prize was judged by Bill Oddie to be 'err...'. Find out if you agree.
For more information visit www.ourdarkerpurpose.com
- March 2005
Rosie, an ageing whore, and James, her life-companion cum pimp, set out in search of their ideal selves in a fairytale forest. Rosie and James encounter Edmund and Anastasia; chaste, virtuous, poetic, beautiful and optimistic- gender perfected. In a dysoptian midsummer night's dream forest chase, the characters shamelessly stalk love and identity, violently bouncing between the worlds of metaphor and reality. Extreme doses of life's aspiration mixed with vulgar images of sex and death leave Rosie and James' questions unanswered, giving them only the ultimate hangover from wasted optimism.
- March 2005
