- June 2024
One of Shakespeare’s very first plays, The Two Gentlemen of Verona is the story of Proteus and Valentine, two friends sent out into the world to make their fortune. Proteus is in love with Julia, and when Valentine is sent to Milan, he falls in love with Sylvia. But when Proteus falls for her too, classic Shakespearian shenanigans ensue. Sylvia’s father is trying to marry her off to Duke Thurio, and when he finds Valentine planning to run off with her, Sylvia’s father banishes him to the woods. Meanwhile, Julia, unaware that Proteus has fallen in love with another, dresses as a boy and sets out to find him. Along for the ride are the servants Speed and Launce, and Launce’s pet dog Crab. Eventually everyone ends up out in the woods, where Valentine has been crowned king of a group of outlaws. After some comic misunderstandings, the love triangle is resolved.
This version, set outdoors in Clare's newly refurbished Sunken Garden, has been inspired by the Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition, failed camping trips, and farce. Picture everyone in waterproof trousers, comically large backpacks, and threatening each other with sporks. This rarely performed and deeply silly play has it all: Crossdressing! Italy! Outlaws! A dog called Crab!
- June 2023
Clare May Week Play
Scholar’s Garden, 21st-23rd June
“A fool, a fool, I met a fool in the forest!”
One of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, set in the fantastical Forest of Arden, is coming to Clare College’s Scholar’s Garden this May week!
As You Like It follows its hero(ine) Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and the eccentric Touchstone to find safety and eventually love in the Forest.
- June 2022
The first ever production of Mike Bartlett’s Albion set in a real garden is coming to Clare College,16TH-18TH JUNE 2022
Albion follows the story of Audrey Walters, who has recently purchased an old, grand house in the English countryside. Trying to restore its garden, ‘Albion’ to its former glory, Audrey begins to tear apart her family, unearth buried secrets, and blows apart the peace of the village she’s moved to. Amongst this chaos, friends will fall in love, a baby will be born and the lines between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ begin to blur.
Reminiscent of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, Albion looks at the world through the lens of an explosive family drama, but is fascinated with the idealism of nostalgia against the hope of those who hunger for change.
First staged at the Almeida in the wake of the Brexit referendum, and then again in 2020 after the UK left the EU, Albion grows in resonance as the world we live in ebbs and flows. Exploring patriotism, intergenerational love, sexuality and everything in between, Bartlett’s allegorical tale is radical, powerful and nuanced.
This is an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.
- June 2020
The annual Clare College Shakespeare play happens during May Week every year in Clare's gorgeous Fellows' Garden - renowned to be one of the most beautiful in Cambridge.
Plays in recent years have been 'Twelfth Night' and 'Richard II', which were received very well by large audiences.
- June 2019
The season's shindigs have come to an end and the morning's hangovers have just begun to settle in. As Sir Toby and co. stare down the dying of the light with a drunken glint in their confused orbs, a 'very midsummer madness' takes over Illyria. Love, confused gender and identity all crossed with a lot of very silly behaviour take place in this riotous production of 'Twelfth Night' set the morning-after-the-night-before, and performed in Clare College's most beauteous gardens.
The annual Clare College Shakespeare play happens during May Week every year in Clare's gorgeous Fellows' Garden - renowned to be one of the most beautiful in Cambridge.
Plays in recent years have been 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Richard II', which were received very well by large audiences. This year we're delighted to be putting on a production of 'Twelfth Night'!
- May 2019
- June 2018
'For within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court'
A country divided and in crisis, a leader whose vanity threatens to drag his people into war.... The havoc that can be wreaked by an incompetent and arrogant king knows few bounds but when young Harry Bolingbroke returns from exile and begins to amass support, Richard must watch as his authority crumbles before him. A story of political ambition, weak leadership and the questioning of constitutional rights, Shakespeare’s words remain as relevant to the modern day as ever.
Using some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful verse, we’ll follow the characters in promenade through the striking setting of Clare Gardens and watch on as the factions and debates of the corridors of power dictate the fate of kings.
- November 2017
'Killing my enemies is easy. The challenge is to control their minds. And I think I controlled yours pretty well. In years to come, I'll be able to say: 'Bulgakov? Yeah, we even trained him. He gave up. He saw the light. We broke him, we can break anybody'. It's man versus monster, Mikhail. And the monster always wins.'
Moscow, 1938.
A dangerous place to have a sense of humour; even more so a sense of freedom. Dissident playwright Mikhail Bulgakov has both, despite being stalked by the secret police. Inspired by historical fact, Collaborators embarks on a surreal journey into the fevered imagination of the writer after he’s offered a poisoned chalice in exchange for freedom: write a play glorifying Stalin to celebrate his sixtieth birthday. Help is at hand, however, when the dictator himself decides to help out in the writing of the play – and Bulgakov takes over the running of the Soviet Union!
‘Collaborators’ is both hilarious and surreal, charting an artist’s slow erosion of principle and certainty involved in collaboration as he is confronted with the steamroller of absolute power.
- June 2017
“Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream”
Athens. A woodland. Women, men, and faeries.
Escaping the archaic clutches of marriage and legacy in oppressive Athens, two young lovers, Lysander and Hermia, convene in the nearby woodland - a place both strange and wonderful. But as the lovers delve further into the forest, reality turns dreamward as they and their lovesick friends become embroiled in the supernatural affairs of faeries.
With star-crossed lovers, bumbling comedy and more than a hint of the wondrous, A Midsummer Night's Dream will transport you from the ornate beauty of the exclusive Clare Fellows' Garden to an otherworldly wilderness where waking and dreams collide.
Clare Actors bring you one of Shakespeare's most well-loved comedies in the beautiful (and exclusive) Clare Fellows' Garden, on one of the only days of the academic year when members of the public are allowed inside. Don't miss it!
Tickets £6 adults, £5 concessions - CASH ONLY on the door!
Doors open 13.30. There will be protective matting covering the grass in the seating areas, but audience members are encouraged to bring their own seating, i.e. outdoor rugs/ camping chairs/ pillows/ inflatable mattresses). Please also note to wear weather-appropriate clothing, as Clare Actors are not perturbed by drizzle!
In the event of cancellation due to extreme adverse weather conditions, audience members will be informed.
https://www.adcticketing.com/whats-on/play/a-midsummer-nights-dream/
- March 2017
- January 2017
The 'Owning Your Craft' ensemble come together to provide an informal showing of the work that they have spent the last week creating and discovering through their week of training with Amanda McRaven.
- November 2016
After 2 weeks of rehearsing, training, and building an ensemble, the students of RELENTLESS FORWARD MOTION, a theatre residency by the internationally acclaimed Colleen Sullivan, come together to showcase what they have learnt, felt, and experienced.
- November 2016
What happens when you are hopelessly, dangerously drawn to another person? What does it take to stand by them? What does it take to leave them? How do you reconcile being with someone who is so different from what you claim to love about them?
Antony & Cleopatra, a story about the fragility of love and human relationships. Adapted for two actors.
Duomuži's Antony & Cleopatra premiered August 2016 at The Brick in Brooklyn, New York and is currently touring internationally. We are company of 3 located separately and variously in New York: Colleen Sullivan (Director) North Carolina: Luke Robbins (Actor), England/Czech Republic: Ronald Prokeš (Actor/Musician). After almost a year of development, writing original music and rehearsal (much of which happened through Skype) our 2-man, 7 character, 90 minute, stripped-down production of one of Shakespeare's most epic tragedies has become an experience of intimacy and truth, love and commitment in all of its complicated and devastating messiness.
- June 2016
Black rage comes over me, it makes me rave
Seeing the dreadful way most men behave.
There's not a walk of life where you don't meet
flattery, injustice, selfishness, deceit.
Meet Alceste. Alceste didn't get a ticket to John's. He missed out on Trinity too. In fact, his May Week's looking quite dull. Not that he'd mind. You see, all that pretension's not really his thing. Social climbing? Not interested. Quite frankly, the immorality of it all disgusts him. He's a bit of a miserable old git.
So it's just a pity that he's fallen in love with Célimène. Ever-present socialite, notorious BNOC and general good laugh - she's everything Alceste most resents. And she's throwing a party. 14:00. Clare Gardens. You're all invited.
Watch Molière's savage satire of 17th-century Parisian high-society pretension and hypocrisy transposed to May Week. Featuring generous helpings of ball gowns, smartphones and Pimms, The Misanthrope mocks both the excesses of Cambridge, and those too self-righteous to join the celebrations.
- January 2016
"And whatever you do, don’t stray from the path…”
Forests are places of losing and hiding, where reality warps before your eyes and the paths twist and turn in the most unexpected of ways. You might think you know these tales, but nothing is quite what it seems in the gloom of The Forest Grimm. Hansel and Gretal aren’t the innocent lost children they might appear, Little Red Cap’s a petulant whiny teenager – no wonder her mother packed her off to the forest… and the Prince might think he’s found his true love, but Rapunzel may not agree. The witches have stolen more than children, someone’s bitten off more than they can chew, and as for the Wolf – well, who knows what game he’s playing? Join us in the Forest, and prepare yourself for a twisted tale.
- January 2016
One dismal winter’s evening, in her dingy London flat Kyra Hollis, a twenty-something school teacher, receives a visit from her ex-lover, Tom Sergeant whom she has not seen since the end of their six year love affair.
Several years her senior — Tom is a charming and successful restauranteur whose wife Alice, has recently died from Cancer, driving him to a life of apathy and nostalgia for his past with Kyra.
As the evening progresses, the two cook and converse, attempting to reignite the passion and spark they once had. The conversation is intimate and explosive as they reminisce, confront truths never before addressed and rediscover all that made them fall in love. As morning dawns, the snow begins to fall, and the Spag Bol grows cold both their futures hang in the balance.
David Hare’s Olivier Award winning play delves deep into the inner workings of conversation and human intimacy.
- November–December 2015
- August 2015
- June 2015
“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
Dorian Gray; young, beautiful, innocent. A paragon of aesthetic virtue. Perfectly corruptible. After being inducted into the ways of hedonism by the unscrupulous Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian Gray makes an unnatural wish; that his portrait might age instead of himself, and that the signs of his sins might be soon on its canvas, rather than on his own faultless features. As all around him age and wither, Dorian alone remains without imperfection; eternally magnificent. But as his appetite turns to increasingly debauched tastes, darkness grows, and madness prowls.
Famously used at Wilde's 1895 trial as evidence of his immoral nature, this June the infamous tale will be brought to life in the alluring surroundings of Clare Fellow's Gardens.
"Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing"
- February 2015
The stories of six journalists from around the world and their pursuit of hidden truths in the face of intimidation, harassment, and violence from drug barons, terrorists, and governments, are brought to the stage in an immersive, multimedia piece, drawing on the testimonies of real figures.
- February 2015
'There's no dark like a winter night in the country. And there was a wind like this one, howling and whistling in off the sea. It was this type of night now. Am I setting the scene for you?'
It's a windy night and the local men are gathering at Brendan's pub for their daily pints. The arrival of Valerie, a stranger to the town, sets the men on edge. As the drinks flow, so do old tales of things that go bump in the night... But Valerie has her own tale to tell, and when she shares it the group will never be the same again.
Hopeful and heart-breaking; expect toe-curling ghost stories and belly-warming laughs in this Olivier Award Winning modern masterpiece.
Praise for the play:
'The play of the decade' - Express
'I am convinced that this is the best new play I've seen in years' - Sunday Telegraph
'I have rarely been so convinced that I have just seen a modern classic' - Daily Telegraph
- December 2014
BURLESQUE! IS BACK!
Cambridge University's filthiest talents are back for third helpings.
Join our band of reprobates and sexual deviants for nights of silly, decadent and downright outrageous fun. We'll provide the glitter.
VARSITY *****
'Anarchic filth',
'Delightfully racy, with fetishistic heels, and phallic pistols, but there’s a point to it all, an underlying satire which makes it much more than just a pretty face',
- November 2014
‘The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned.’
Witness Faustus' life unravel as he is forced to face up to the moral implications of his deal with the devil in this striking piece of promenade theatre.
Tickets are limited in this intimate re-telling of Marlowe’s classic tale.
- June 2014
"Riches, the dumb god/ That canst do nought, and yet mak'st men do all things"
Volpone is dying. Or is he? As Venice's wealthiest and greediest turn up to bribe their way into his will, Volpone plans his next trick. But this time he might have gone too far, and Mosca might not be there to get him out of trouble.
"All the wise world is little else/ But parasites, and sub-parasites"
A raucously silly Jacobean comedy to be performed in Venetian costume in the grounds of Clare's stunning Fellows' Gardens. The perfect dose of May Week hilarity.
- May 2014
London 1913. The Suffragette Movement is at its height. Emily Davidson has just fallen in front of a horse. Thousands of women of all classes serve time in Holloway prison in their fight to gain the vote. Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith discusses the issues in parliament. Lady Celia Cain feels trapped by the policies of the day and a frustrating marriage. In prison she meets a young seamstress, Eve Douglas, with whom she begins an affair. Passion and politics coalesce as they pursue an erotic and intense affair. Eve is subjected to force-feeding, and slowly their relationship and the sanity of their minds fall apart as Celia uses her position of social privilege to leave prison. Finally, Eve breaks down in prison and Celia leaves her husband, William. This is a play where personal lives intermingle with politics and women struggle to get their voices heard in a patriarchal government.
The independent called it “a great drama about women, by a woman” and Michael Billington of the Guardian gave it 4 stars and declared that “Lenkiewicz’s real concern is to show how female militancy transcended class and sexual convention.”
Her Naked Skin was the first play written by a woman to be performed on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre in 2008.
- February–March 2014
7 July 2005. Riding high on the victory of the Olympic bid, London is buzzing. The rhythm of the city is intoxicating. But national pride comes, inevitably, before a fall; a betrayal of the nation; mass-murder, made-in-England. Through seemingly unrelated narratives emerge the entwined journeys of ordinary people. This is a portrait of our own England seen through a kaleidoscope: a vision at once fragmented yet unified, mesmerising yet repulsive, disorientating yet starkly familiar.
"It has a throb and pulse of its own. It feels latent. It feels charged. It feels sprung. As though something remarkable is going to happen."
- February 2014
Immersive theatre returns to Cambridge this February. Grey Matters is a multi-room experience based on real accounts of mental illness.
Known to all but understood by few, popular performing arts troupe, Grey Matters, are back in town. After seeing their latest show Beth meets old-hand Leo and the two form an unexpected bond. In a bid to convince her to join the group, he invites her to an exclusive, late-night Grey Matters’ performance. Stripped of their costumes and make-up, Beth soon begins to learn the real truth behind the well-known group.
Set in an old, abandoned theatre over three rooms in King's College, this immersive theatre project tackles mental illness in an unusual fashion. Based on in-depth interviews of individuals about their experiences, a variety of mediums has been used to interweave these accounts into each part of the audience’s journey. Thought-provoking but entertaining, Grey Matters is a must-see, innovative piece of theatre.
- November 2013
Two actors, Over 50 characters. A snapshot of British life.
Laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes heartbreakingly moving, these are tiny plays in which every one of us could have a starring role. They are little windows into other people's lives that reveal the triumphs, disasters, prejudices, horrors and joys of 21st-century life.
Originally published in a Guardian newspaper column, these hugely entertaining and utterly addictive plays will change the way you listen to the world around you: train journeys will never be the same again.
- June 2013
As dusk falls in Clare Gardens, a swirling euphony of comedy, confusion, music and beauty finds its way out of the bushes. Balanced between merry chaos and the shadows of sadness behind it, “why, this is very mid-summer madness”.
- October 2012
A heartrending drama about family, betrayal and forgiveness, spanning four generations and two hemispheres. When the Rain Stops Falling moves from the claustrophobia of a London flat in 1959 to the windswept coast of southern Australia, and into the heart of the Australian desert in 2039. Andrew Bovell’s award-winning play interweaves a series of connected stories as seven people confront the mysteries of their past in order to understand their future, revealing how patterns of betrayal, love and abandonment are passed on. Until finally, as the desert is inundated with rain, one young man finds the courage to defy the legacy.
- October 2012
'Respect is no use to you when you're gone. If you don't earn it while you're alive, don't be looking for it just because you've happened to die. I never really did any great things. In fact, I've done many things which, to tell you the truth, I'm very very ashamed of. And if you've let people down, don't be wanting them to be all crowding around talking about what a brilliant fella you were, at your funeral, you know?
John and Mark come in on a cold Christmas eve after burying a man neither of them knew. John is a sociable undertaker whose life has been destroyed by drink, Mark his quiet young assistant. John entertains Mark with stories of days gone by, but it is not until the return of his estranged daughter that he is forced to come to terms with his past in a meaningful way. Conor McPherson's Dublin Carol entices the audience into John's world for one day only, but leaves them with a whole life story.
- October 2012
Are you alone or afraid? Is your mum late back from the supermarket? Did you get off the tram two stops too late? The Apocalypse Bear can put things right for you. Stalking through the anxieties and duplicities of suburban life, he’s always ready to lend a friendly ear, and a helping paw...
Presenting three short plays from the highly-acclaimed Australian playwright Lally Katz, this production brings a unique and perceptive theatrical voice to the stage for the first time ever in the UK. Join us for an evening of exploration, taking in modernity's darkest dreams, fears and childhood memories. Are you ready to step out into the woods?
- October 2012
Ever worried about saggy skin and wrinkles? This lovable group of comics has an answer that is clinically proven to "naturally build facial volume and tighten the skin". This miracle cure will have your facial muscles taught, your diaphragm aching and your funny bone practically dislocated. Ludicrous, eccentric and astonishingly funny, these heart-warming, tummy-tickling, rib-cracking, off the wall girls and boys have something for everyone. So be prepared for a night of unstoppable laughter as this troupe of fresh faces in Cambridge comedy has you laughing until you're splitting your sides with their brand spanking new sketch show.
May contain traces of face.
- June 2012
Daniel wants a relationship. Not just any relationship; a long-distance one. All the psychological perks, something exotic and exciting, without the socially awkward situations. What could be better? Suddenly Daniel finds himself with two girlfriends: will he choose the perfect girl-next-door from the USA - sweet, funny and beautiful - or the Dutch one, who just lives closer? Surely he's not just another one of those womanisers (or 'sluts') that he and his female roommate criticise so much? Social networking might have brought the world closer together, but now it's too close for comfort and, what with his internal monologue as well, there are now too many voices competing to be heard. It's Complicated is a hilarious comedy, which was shortlisted for this year's Harry Porter Prize.
- November–December 2011
It’s 1979, and Ed and Isabel are on a blind date.
They really like each other - and each other's parents. As Ed and Isabel's relationship grows, so does their parents' enthusiasm. But tension litters their course: Isabel's dad won't speak to Ed, Ed's mum won't eat pork and no one will shut up. As these characters meet, eat, misinterpret and overreact, will the older generation be a catalyst or a catastrophe? This comedy about the sheepish beginnings of love, and the zealous involvement of parents,makes you wonder why couples stay together. Is it for each other, or is it for the other's family? For anyone who has practically dated their other half's mum or dad, 'Highlight' is two riotous acts of catharsis.
- May 2011
It’s 1979, and Jack and Karen are on a blind date. They really like each other—and each other’s parents.
But tension litters their course: Karen’s dad won’t speak to Jack, Jack’s mum won’t eat pork, and no one will shut up. As these characters meet, eat, misinterpret, and overreact, will the older generation be a catalyst, or a catastrophe?
This new comedy probes the sheepish beginnings of love, and the zealous involvement of parents.
By Tamara Micner
