- November 2015
'Don't we want everyone to be political?'
'Yes, but we don't want everyone to be politicians. That wouldn't work.'
Six students, one garden shed, and a world that needs changing. Jared, Mel, Phoebe, Jones have decided to form a political party as a response to the dire situation they consider the world is in. Duncan wasn't expecting the party he was invited to to involve so much voting and so little dancing.
Witty, funny, and insightful- The comedy by Tom Basden deals with what happens when narrow minds try to crack wide issues- everything from China, to Muslims, and when they should break for cake.
- November 2015
Life can be full of surprises. You may unexpectedly find love. Someone you trust may betray you. And sometimes the world just literally ends.
Revelations is a new sketch show exploring humanity’s struggle to maintain order in the face of an uncaring and callous universe. And also, irate monkeys. Come along for Star Wars, classical music, CamSIS and the Apocalypse. No, really. That actually happens halfway through the show.
- October 2015
From the TAB THEATRE AWARD WINNING creators of SITCOM: A SITCOM...
One fateful night, while tucked up in their comically oversized bed which they all share for some reason, Elliott, Patrick, Evie, Stefan and Seth were visited by the ghost of Stephen Fry. This unearthly apparition of one of the country's most beloved middle-class entertainers gave them but one single instruction; to create the greatest sketch show of all time. This is what happened.
From up-and-coming comedy people Elliott Wright, Patrick Wilson, Evie Butcher, Stefan Bencik, Seth Kruger and Michael Tigchelaar (as collectively seen in Sitcom: A Sitcom, Footlights Smoker, Sticky Floor Smoker, Golden Gods Smoker, UKIP: THE MUSICAL, Stuart Brown's Guide to Cambridge, Christ's Holy Smoker, Laughing Fitz, POLITICS!, Picasso Stole the Mona Lisa: Fringe Edition, Tate Postmodern, The Coalition) comes just what the Cambridge theatre scene is crying out for: another sketch show! Join them as they flail about on stage for about an hour, sometimes doing silly voices, in an effort to make you laugh via that desperately unexploited format: sketch comedy! Sit back and enjoy as these four brave men, one brave woman and one eunuch (try and guess the eunuch for a free ticket!) revolutionise the Cambridge comedy scene forever.
Past praise for these idiots:
"Original, clever and witty, I’m sure this lot will go far"- The Tab
"Genuinely hilarious"- Cambridge Theatre Review
Elliott Wright: "a younger version of Stephen Fry"- edinburghguide.com
Patrick Wilson: "a fitting balance between the disgusting, the funny, and the sincere"- The Tab
Stefan Bencik: "brilliantly mad"- Cambridge Theatre Review
Evie Butcher: "the highlight of the production"- Varsity
Seth Kruger: "always entertaining"- Cambridge Theatre Review
Michael Tigchelaar: "bit of a twat"- Tig's mum
- October 2015
“There's nothing proper about what you do
But at least try to kill me properly”
43BC. Julius Caesar is dead and the future of Rome is waiting to be claimed. For Cicero, exiled to his country estate, it is a chance to restore the system of politics under which he flourished. For Mark Antony, it is a chance for absolute power - and revenge. As alliances form, Cicero is condemned and the man of letters must decide whether to flee to safety or stay to meet his fate.
Written in blank verse in the style of a Greek tragedy, Pro Patria Mori charts the reversal of Cicero's fortunes. Once the most powerful man in Rome, he is now a wanted man who must decide what is more important: his principles or his life?
- October 2015
After 24 packed out shows in Edinburgh, Bafflesmash is back where it belongs: underground.
Come for an hour of gag-riddled, irreverent silliness, as Jamie, Rob and Tom guide you through the world of Bafflesmash. You could call it a multidimensional odyssey which breaks the boundaries of time and space, or you could just call it a sketch show.
Previous praise:
‘A glorious mix of surreal, intelligent and simply hilarious sketches’ * (Tab.co.uk)
‘Had the audience simultaneously scratching their heads and roaring with laughter’ ½ (Varsity)
‘I cannot recommend the show highly enough’ 10/10 (TCS.cam.ac.uk).
- September–October 2015
For the ninth consecutive year the Pembroke Players Japan Tour will once again be be visiting Tokyo and Yokohama with a company of some of Cambridge’s finest actors, directors, and technical crew, to perform a Shakespeare play and give educational workshops in schools, theatres and universities.
‘They say this town is full of cozenage…’
Ephesus and Syracuse are in conflict. Any Syracusan found in Ephesus — a city known for disguise, deceit and sorcery — will be condemned to death.
One pair of twin brothers (both called Antipholus), and one pair of twin servants (both called Dromio) are separated at birth. When one Antipholus and one Dromio, both of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, they are thrown into a heady mixture of confusion and chaos: soon realising that in this city, things are definitely not all they seem.
'What error drives our eyes and ears amiss?'
Prepare for an intoxicating, entrancing Comedy of Errors, with live music and a stylish aesthetic inspired by Highsmith and Hitchcock. Enter a world of souks and bazaars, shady merchants, and figures hiding beneath wide-brimmed fedoras, a whirlwind of violent cross-purposes and social disarray, where the consequences of one’s mistakes may prove very dangerous.
‘I’ll say as they say and persever so, / And in this mist at all adventures go.’
- August 2015
A soldier comes home. A journalist loses his mind. An advertising firm markets a war.
An adaptation of the Oresteia for a century of humanitarian intervention and marketised warfare, 'war war brand war', the winner of the 2014 RSC Other Prize, interrogates family, war and tragedy in the Internet age. As new technology and hubris lead nations into deadly wars with all of the relentlessness of the ticker tape that scrolls across the bottom of news channels and stock exchanges, one family’s imbalance of power brings violence to an international arena.
- August 2015
‘The epitome of bizarre hilarity and joyous absurdity’ * (Tab.co.uk). Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that makes up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. Pelican is also an ambitious sketch show featuring Cambridge Footlights Jordan, Theo, Sam and Guy who have spent years training and dreaming. ‘Truly uplifting, joyful and silly’ (Varsity). Pelican combines sketch, skits, mime and love in this celebratory comedy show!
- August 2015
Come for an hour of gag-riddled, irreverent silliness, as Jamie, Rob and Tom guide you through the world of Bafflesmash. You could call it a multidimensional odyssey which breaks the boundaries of time and space, or you could just call it a sketch show.
Previous praise:
‘A glorious mix of surreal, intelligent and simply hilarious sketches’ * (Tab.co.uk)
‘Had the audience simultaneously scratching their heads and roaring with laughter’ ½ (Varsity)
‘I cannot recommend the show highly enough’ 10/10 (TCS.cam.ac.uk).
- June 2015
EdFringeReview and the Pembroke Players are teaming up to bring you a showcase of some of the best shows heading to the fringe this summer
- June 2015
Once in a lifetime, there comes a tale so beautiful, so profound, that it redefines a genre and shapes a generation.
This is that tale.
SNAKES ON A PLANE. The Musical.
(no, really).
Praise for Quite Nice Theatre's original production:
Fringe Guru: "sure to have you laughing hard"
Broadway Baby: "it's engaging, addictive and a must see"
***** Musical Talk: "comically excellent, musically fun, totally excellent"
- May 2015
"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain" - Charlie Chaplin
Get your post-election selves down to the New Cellars for a great evening of comedy.
- March 2015
Come see the recording of the pilot for Sitcom, the new sitcom featuring four young and attractive twenty-somethings as hilarity and romance ensue in their modestly furnished apartment.
Starring...
STUART BROWN as Colin, an uptight snob
FRANKIE BENNY as Dougie, a disgusting slob
MARGOT BEAUFORT DE'BEVER as Alison, a woman
and IVAN IVANOVICH as Dimitri, their wacky Russian lodger
Will Colin get the big promotion at work? Will Alison get her man? And will the network commission a full series? Come along and find out!
- March 2015
"We have made continual sacrifices, involving unheard of suffering, I assure you; and we could endure them only by living as we are living now. Unfortunately, it must look very strange to people, seem even scandalous, arouse no end of gossip!"
There's a newcomer in town, and the gossips are crying for truth. But is there such a thing? And if there were, would you really want to know? This new translation by David Tremain combines Pirandello's much-loved tragi-comic farce (rarely performed outside of Italy), 'It Is So If You Think So', with the harrowing sketch 'The Man With a Flower in His Mouth'.
"Because, you understand, if I were to only spend an idle minute inside by myself… why, I could beat the life out of someone, someone I didn’t know, take up a revolver and murder some poor unfortunate stranger, like yourself perhaps, someone who had missed his train"
- March 2015
“If you can get tickets next year then don’t think twice about it” - Tab, 2014.
And AT LAST those precious tickets are available.
The most glamorous event in the Cambridge comedy year slides gracefully - shimmering in its well-lubricated, black-tied splendour - into your calendar. Eight of the finest standups and sketch teams will battle it out to be crowned this year’s winner. And truly, they will be the finest. Perhaps helped along by the unlimited free wine, Pembroke’s Black Tie Smoker has proved time and time again to be the most brilliant (and sophisticated) comedic event of the year.
2015 has provided some exceptional comedians so far, and you can expect to see the best of them coming together in a uniquely competitive environment - there will never have been so many beautiful, hilarious people in Pembroke's Old Library in all its 700 year history.
Brush off your black tie and grab a ticket now - don’t think twice.
Dress code is black tie - doors open at 8:00 for an 8:30 start.
- February 2015
Starting on Shrove Tuesday, Bafflesmash are back in the cellar.
Rambunctiousness is guaranteed from these Footlights Smoker regulars. Expect a show riddled with gags. Sketches will abound. Essentially, it's a multi-dimensional odyssey.
From three of the various minds behind: 'Anthony: A Sketch Show' ( - The Tab), 'Beauty Spots' ( - The Tab) and 'Bafflesmash presents: Menagerie (10/10 - TCS) comes a whole new sketch show.
That is all.
- February 2015
An exercise in uncomfortable conversations, Talking Out Loud throws us into the worlds of four individual – yet interconnected – people, as they navigate life in modern Britain. Told through monologues, this show tackles some of the most important issues of our time: identity, race, love, gender, and how to get away with not doing your science homework.
Sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, and always honest, Talking Out Loud presents the importance of saying what’s on your mind.
- January 2015
Ever thought the comedy scene was lacking in women? Think again! To mark the 30 year anniversary of women at Pembroke, The Pembroke Players are hosting an exclusively female smoker for one night only, in the renowned comedy venue The New Cellars.
- January 2015
Orlando sometimes struggles with defining who he is. He didn't take a gap year, and so never had the opportunity to find himself. He will endeavour to do so in his first solo hour of stand-up. Words will be spoken.
- November 2014
In February 1599, Shakespeare sat down in a grotty Thames-side inn. “Hmm,” he thought to himself. “Should I write a sketch show, or the greatest tragedy of all time?”.
He choose the latter.
This is what would have happened if he hadn’t.
- November 2014
Jess loves David. Jess loves credit. Believing happiness can be bought in a world of easy finance and materialism, possessions become irresistible. But at what cost? Their love and money are killing their relationship, their future, and them. We trace back to the past to find out what went wrong, from the happiest bride in the world smiling in happiness by the just-received marriage proposal to the distraught husband feeding Smirnoff to his wife. Funny yet heart wrenching, Kelly’s dark comedy portrays a dislocated view of the world we live in, the risks we face, and the lengths we go to in search of happiness.
- November 2014
Oh yes, it's that time of year again. The stickiest floor of them all is back.
A glowing roster of Cambridge's funniest acts will, once again, make you laugh so much your feet stick to the floor. Laughter. It's what binds us together.
Reviews of last year:
"Excellent. Loved the floor." - Tab
"Help me. I'm still stuck." - TCS
"I haven't laughed so much in years." - Gadaffi
- November 2014
Pembroke Freshers' Play 2014
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
The assassination of Julius Caesar has brought chaos to the Roman Empire. Persuaded by scheming politicians and his brother-in-law Cassius, Brutus has helped murder Caesar for the good of Rome, for freedom. But freedom does not come. Brutus and Cassius are called to arms: Mark Antony and Octavius are out to avenge Caesar’s death, and civil war rages across the land. Guilt-haunted, Brutus, “the noblest Roman of them all”, marches on the enemy.
Human error and ambition clash in Shakespeare’s visceral play. With only one week’s rehearsal, this production captures the raw, fiery, and impulsive nature of the text. Succinctly adapted and performed by Pembroke freshers, the staging brings youth and vigor to Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of patriotism, power, and betrayal in Ancient Rome.
- November 2014
Lane's plans for the Yale game are interrupted over lunch by the inconvenience of his girlfriend Franny Glass's spiritual breakdown. A few weeks later, at the Glass family's apartment, Zooey Glass tries to straighten things out with his sister, with the help of their dead and living brothers, a 19th Century pilgrim, and Christ himself.
After Seymour is a bittersweet look at the Glasses, a family plagued with questions about art, education, death, and religion, striving towards a very real, very human kind of Enlightenment.
- November 2014
In October 1998 Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Five weeks later, the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, a chronicle of the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is one of the most performed plays in America today.
"He said, c’mon guys, lets show the world that Laramie is not this kind of town. But it is that kind of town. If it wasn’t this kind of town, why did this happen here? I mean, you know what I mean, like – that’s a lie. Because it happened here ... And we need to own this crime. I feel. Everyone needs to own it. We are like this. We ARE like this. WE are LIKE this."
- October–November 2014
Bafflesmash will see regular Footlights Smoker-ers creating laughter through the means of an hour long sketch show. There will be Dolphins and reggae.
- October–November 2014
'Know that I am a king – O, at that name, I feel a hell of grief. Where is my crown? Gone, gone. And do I remain alive?'
The King of England is in love, and the nobles are none too happy about it. The last and arguably most mature of Christopher Marlowe's works, Edward II deals with the brutal struggles and betrayals leading to the downfall of one of England's most notorious kings. Taking full advantage of Pembroke's New Cellars, this production aims to use innovative staging to evoke the full intensity and high stakes of Marlowe's tragedy.
- September 2014
For the eighth consecutive year the Cambridge University Japan Tour will be visiting Tokyo and Yokohama to perform a Shakespeare play and give educational workshops in schools, theatres and universities.
With generous sponsorship from Seikei University, the Tour this year is excited to present "The Merchant of Venice".
- August 2014
Hello everyone, we’ve occupied this theatre, we think what’s been playing here is quite frankly irresponsible and probably offensive. Come and join us while we sort out how to change art and the world. Please do come, we’re a little confused.
- August 2014
When Odysseus finally came home, after years at sea, he ruthlessly hanged twelve innocent maids. Whilst this was a mere footnote in Homer's original story, Margaret Atwood has given these women a voice, in her dark yet witty play: 'The Penelopiad'.
Presented by Cambridge Shortlegs, and funded by Pembroke Players, in a challenging physical theatre adaptation - inspired by Frantic Assembly - see one of the world's most famous myths retold through Atwood's "cunning replotting and smart updating" (Mary Beard).
From the creative team behind the original ADC Lateshow (4 Varsity, 8/10 TCS), 'Five Kinds of Silence' (5 Varsity, 9/10 TCS), and A Clockwork Orange (4 CTR, 4 Tab, 9/10 TCS)
- June 2014
Just as May Week is quieting down, in Pembroke's New Cellars a brigade of sketch comedy talent will hot the night back up again, with Pembroke Players' new sketch night - THE NIGHT OF THE AMOROUS PRAWN.
Be there. It'll be amazing.
- June 2014
An old man. A son with a habit of raising and racing horses. Debts, which can only be battled with the sort of learning found at the Thinkery.
Socrates. Angry Socrates. Meditations on morality. And all throughout, a relentlessly brilliant piss-take of intellectualism.
The Clouds by Aristophanes, Pembroke Players' May Week show. Celebrate the end of exams with this rowdy, crude, irreverent, bitterly satirical play, known for being one of the funniest comedies ever written.
- May 2014
The most golden, godliest smoker of all - come to Pembroke's New Cellars for an intimate audience with Cambridge's finest comic talent. I've heard it's going to be good. And it's a hell of a lot funnier than revision.
- March 2014
White. Orange. Pink. Brown. Blue. Blonde. Six perfect strangers, assembled to pull off the perfect crime – a diamond heist where nothing can go wrong. Then simple robbery explodes into bloody ambush, and the ruthless killers realise that one of them must be a police informer. But which one?
Critically acclaimed for its raw power and breathtaking ferocity, the brilliant American gangster movie classic from writer-director Quentin Tarantino is brought to the Cambridge stage for the first time.
"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"
- March 2014
Coelio has fallen in love with Marianne, who is married to old Claudio. But he doesn’t dare speak to her, instead asking his friend Octave to plead for him. We are at the heart of the Neapolitan carnival and personas might change quickly… The play, written by the poet Alfred de Musset, is one of the masterpieces of French theatre and will be performed in its original language. Yet our focus on physical theatre will make it accessible to everyone.
- February 2014
A night of comedy by the University's finest college-based drama society.
Join the Pembroke Players in Pembroke's picturesque Old Library for "the classiest event on the Cambridge comedy calendar", showcasing some of the best talent on the Cambridge comedy circuit. Drinks and nibbles will be provided.
Places are strictly limited, and early booking is advised.
A prize of £60 shall be awarded to the best act, as chosen by the audience.
Dress code is black tie. Of course.
Doors open at 8pm, for an 8.30 start. Book tickets here: http://www.adcticketing.com/whats-on/comedy/pembroke-players-annual-black-tie-smoker.aspx
