- February 2010
Venice: a city of romance and hedonism, where Jews are confined to the world’s first ghetto.
The late 1930s: a time of renewal and growth, while the storm clouds gather over Europe.
This imaginative production boldly sets the action of Shakespeare’s most complex comedy in Mussolini’s Italy. The young Venetians, unaware of the perils ahead, seek romance and revelry, while in Belmont the bored and intelligent Portia awaits a suitor worthy enough to free her from confinement. But the spited moneylender Shylock is pursuing revenge: the scene is set for a gripping finale.
This thoughtful, atmospheric and powerful production of Shakespeare's most controversial play will revel in the headiness of youth and his sparkling wit, while not shying away from the demands of one of his most romantic, tense and compelling plays.
- February 2010
Three Tales is a very different sort of performance. Combining a contemporary operatic score with a strong visual component, Three Tales is a response to nearly one hundred years of modern technology, concerning the explosion of the Hindenburg Zeppelin, nuclear testings on Bikini Atoll, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep (drawing connections between genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and Darwinism). The different stories are told from various perspectives, with speech culled from interviews with eyewitnesses, audiovisual documentary material of both the Hindenburg and Bikini tragedies, and experts in computer science (e.g. Marvin Minsky and Kevin Warwick), artificial intelligence (Rodney Brooks), Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, and genetic engineering (Richard Dawkins).
- February 2010
Cambridge University's premier mixed a cappella sensation perform live in concert for one night only. From early beginnings as a jazz ensemble, Cadenza exploded onto the UK a capella scene in 2002. With their unique blend of rock and pop classics, Cadenza have been wowing audiences across Britain, appearing on BBC's Last Choir Standing, as semi-finalists in BBC3 Choir of the Year Competition, last year reaching the Voice Festival UK final and performing at dozens of Cambridge May balls. Now, this talented group of Cambridge's finest vocalists are bringing their toe-tapping performance to the ADC and are sure to have you rocking along to your favourite tunes, performed as you've never seen them before. From Annie Lennox to Bon Jovi, from the Spice Girls to the Killers, this is an experience not to be missed!
- February 2010
"I would have died for you, but I didn't have the luck!"
A.E. Housman, renowned poet and classical scholar is dead. As he is ferried across the river Styx he reflects upon his life. We first see the young Housman in a punt in 1870s Oxford, in the "golden age". Then later we see his life in London in the 1890s, when everyone is talking about Oscar Wilde and the scandal that shocked late Victorian society. As the young Housman longs after his unrequited love, and finds his poetic voice, everything else is changing around him. Wilde asks Housman, "where were you when all of this was happening?" and Housman replies, "at home". The play asks us whether life should be lived cool and detached, or hot and exciting.
The play is Stoppard at his best. His language is beautiful and his wit is sharp. The play explores the nature of art, scholarship, and of course love. It is a spellbinding show by one of Britain's best playwrights.
- February 2010
Alcock Improv are back! Prepare for a night of spontaneous fun as Alcock Improv, Cambridge’s best-loved improvised comedy group, bring you a show that is COMPLETELY UNPREPARED, but couldn’t be more ready to go. Taking your suggestions, our improvisers will tell stories, play games, sing songs and much, much more, turning your ideas into comedy gold. Featuring some of Cambridge’s top comedians, Alcock Improv bring you four completely different nights of fun and games at the ADC Theatre, meaning you can go again, and again, and again, and then once more. Don’t miss out!
'Spontaneous fun from Alcock Improv as they take your suggestions and turn them into comedy gold! Not to be missed'
- February 2010
It is 1692 in Salem, and there’s magic in the air. Religious fervour and sexual repression come into explosive conflict as accusations of witchcraft spread through the town like fire, fuelled by paranoia and hatred. John Proctor finds himself trapped in a web of lies and suspicion as his past sins come back to haunt him, and the hysterical youth of Salem lead a crusade against the supposed forces of the devil. In ‘The Crucible’ Arthur Miller brilliantly weaves together the private world of Proctor and his wife with the public madness sweeping through Salem, creating an profoundly moving theatrical experience which audiences will find utterly unforgettable.
This production will take place in a shadowy world of judgment and fear, never allowing the audience to escape the mounting intensity of the play right up until its harrowing conclusion.
- February 2010
“There is neither rhyme nor reason, just tears, people’s pain, rage, aggression…and silence.”
What would you do if your best friend, daughter, lover - suddenly, completely out of the blue - just stopped speaking?
Oscar winner, Anthony Minghella’s bitter sweet play ‘Cigarettes & Chocolate’ debates how language effects what it means to be human. Gemma’s stopped speaking. Her vow for Lent is total silence. No one knows why and she’s not about to explain herself. Watch her friends, family, unrequited, and unfaithful lovers react to this negation of words themselves.
This is a dark comedy about the threat of silence to the superfluous, trivial conversations of modern life. Infidelity, intimacy and indifference, laugh or cry, Gemma won’t say a word.
- February 2010
'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' is an hilarious look at the dating game. Four actors take the audience on a merry-go-round of various characters who, each in their own special way, face the realities of dating and marriage in a world where not everything is as easy as in a musical-comedy ...
After 10 years running off-Broadway, it is time that this modern romantic-comedy-musical made its mark in Cambridge.
- January 2010
This summer, evil has a face. And a torso. And legs—it’s basically a man. Dr Apocalypse™— twisted Nazi communist and minor academic. His plan: to destroy America—by blowing up the world.
Only one man can stop him: government agent Jack Lang™ – gun-toting, torture-loving maverick and devoted father.
Watch as this new breed of hero fires two Uzis at the same time, drives a car down a flaming skyscraper, and takes on an army of 4000 cyborg ninjas—while occasionally mentioning his emotions™. And that’s just the tip of the explosion.
Written by Footlights Lucien Young and James Moran, it’s the first ADC Lateshow with a budget breaching $1,000,000,000. We guarantee: state-of-the-art CGI, creating almost photorealistic performances— at least two fights per line of dialogue—and more gunshots than were used during both world wars. If you only go to the ADC once this term, see this show. Twice.
- January 2010
Hjalmar is a photographer. He lives with his wife, father and daughter in a small attic. He wants to change the world with his invention in order to alter the fate of his impoverished family. Gregers is his old friend, and the son of a wealthy merchant. He knows that Hjalmar’s life is an illusion founded on lies woven by his father. He thinks Hjalmar should know about this. A wild duck lives in Hjalmar’s attic. It is injured and they cannot really improve its situation, they can only keep it alive. Perhaps the only place the wild duck can escape to is death…The drama of Henrik Ibsen returns to the ADC Theatre in this dramatically powerful, visually haunting masterpiece about the lies that life is built upon, the tragedy of hopeless dreams, and the cost of reality and truth encroaching upon a world of fantasy and illusion.
- January 2010
The year is 1964. Mary is nineteen and in love with her Dansette record player. And her boyfriend. She lives in a nice house with nice parents and has a nice job in a bank. Life is perfect.
Until Mary discovers she is pregnant.
Things like that don’t happen to nice girls. Society hides its bad girls away.
Mary, hidden away in a mother and baby home, fights to keep her baby against the wishes of everybody who knows her. Will she succeed in her dream?
Set to the irresistible music of the early 60s, Be My Baby is guaranteed to make you laugh and cry.
- January 2010
The comedy show named by The Scotsman as having the second silliest title at the Edinburgh Fringe (controversially beaten only by Chomp: A Zombie Musical) galumphs in triumphal fashion raucously back onto a stage! For two nights only at the ADC, don't miss two lanky bespectacled men in black tie pretending to be hippopotamus impersonators, leg thieves and earwig fanciers. Watch and be intrigued as over the course of fifty minutes of sketches, monologues, poems and songs they gradually reveal the astonishing life and extraordinary times of the mysterious and probably non-existent master spy, Sir Henry Cheese-Badger! Scrumptious! Thundering! Walrus! Princely! What do these words have in common (except walrus)? They all describe CHEESE-BADGER (and other stories), the sketch show that towers above Cambridge like some sort of humorous Godzilla.
- January 2010
Let us make you an offer you can’t refuse; a fast-paced story based entirely on your input that will leave you on the edge of your seat and reaching for your suit. Come and play director to the mafia as they wreak havoc in the rowdy town of . Join our seasoned improvisers for a night of gangs, guns and gripping action!
Want to see an arachnophobic mob boss with an affinity for gardening searching for his stolen stash of mattresses? Can Big Al escape his wombat wielding wife? Will Detective Hank Harper be able to infiltrate The Family? And who is the mysterious stranger who calls himself Don Mysterious Stranger?! Improvised Comedy Ents presents the gangster story Hollywood doesn’t dare to tell. But who will come out on top? You decide.
- January 2010
"But we are spirits of another sort..."
Enter into an industrial, monochrome forest, formed on the outskirts of a city under authoritarian rule. It is home to unearthly, exiled creatures that call themselves fairies...
The Cambridge University European Theatre Group proud to present 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' this winter, following on from last year's spectacular, sell-out 'Hamlet'. We are a self-sufficient, entirely student-run theatrical company, which tours a Shakespeare play around Europe for two and a half weeks every December (and has been doing so for over 50 years now!). It is an ambitious coach-bound operation; a company of 24 tour with professional lighting and sound equipment, costumes and an experimental set, enabling us to put on a show absolutely anywhere. It is one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences in Cambridge theatre.
Each year we visit around ten venues - ranging from professional theatres, to schools and universities, and even to churches and converted bread-ovens – and travel through five or six countries, before returning for a homerun in Cambridge the following January.
A typical day on tour doesn’t exist! Every single performance is like an opening night as we usually only perform at any given venue for a day, meaning we constantly have to adapt the show, both technically and artistically, to best suit the space we are performing in. However as a rough idea, we leave the previous venue very early in the morning, arriving at the new venue around lunchtime. The entire company then unloads the coach and starts the “get-in”, setting up the lighting, sound and set. Whilst the techies finish this, the cast prepare the show for this new stage. Sometimes we then put on a late matinee (and if not, we explore the town), before settling down to dinner followed by the evening show. Once the curtain comes down we rapidly “get-out”, reload the coach, and by midnight, head off to stay with a host family!
SEE www.cuetg.co.uk FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
- December 2009
Best known for Sam Mendes' Donmar Warehouse production in which Nicole Kidman and Iain Glen famously bared all, The Blue Room is David Hare's chic, contemporary adaptation of Schnitzler's La Ronde. The play depicts a daisy-chain of encounters between five male characters and five female characters, but the narrative is concerned less with sex and more with emotional inarticulacy, betrayal and how each character forges a path through a landscape of lust, fantasy, self-delusion and regret.
- November 2009
Could you create a play out of nothing in 24hrs? Come see the best of theatrical talent in Cambridge do just that. Five directors, writers, producers, creatives & techies along with 25 actors will form 5 groups to put on 5 new plays.
This is the Cambridge version of the concept made famous by the Old Vic which has been a stunning success for the past five years. Some of their previous participants have included Jim Broadbent, Joseph Fiennes, Josh Hartnett, Rosamund Pike, Kevin Spacey & Catherine Tate. No one knows what will emerge on stage in the 25th hour but there can only be one winner as chosen by the judging panel.
What will they come up with? No one knows, not even them. Come and find out who will win and who will fall.
- November 2009
Welcome to the desert.
In their 126th year, the Footlights team up once again with the ADC for a return to traditional pantomime...ish. Join Ali and his street-wise chum Cassim, as they struggle against the nasty Chief Nalu (boooooooo!!!) in a bid to free the beautiful (and remarkably physically and emotionally strong) Morgiana. Also, meet Jeanie, the genie, as he tries his best to be a Genie, Jamiel and Amara, the loveable misfits, and no less than forty whole thieves!!! And some real Camels…ish.
The ADC/Footlights Pantomime has been playing to sell-out crowds for loads of years, and with a traditional script by Daran Johnson, Abi Tedder, and Liam Williams, an original score by Richard Bates, and direction from Matt Bulmer, this year will be no different. Although it will be a little different. The script will be different. Better still, perhaps? Judge for yourselves. And as usual this year boasts performances from Cambridge’s bestest comic actors all ready to Panto your mime. Tickets go fast, so book, book, book, (book).
- November 2009
Winner of the RSC/ Marlowe Other Prize for new writing, Going Short takes you behind the scenes in the world of investment banking during the Northern Rock crisis.
With tempers running high and huge sums of money at stake, two hedge fund managers are desperately trying to make a killing from the chaos.
Can it be legal? Can it be moral? And more importantly, will it make them happy?
- November 2009
Sculptor Brindsley Miller and his fiancé Carol are throwing one lavish party. They’ve even ‘borrowed’ their holidaying neighbours’ finest furniture for the occasion. And all to convince Carol’s staunch military father that he should allow them to marry (and sell Brindsely’s work to the local millionaire art collector at the same time!) Everything seems to be going rather well…until the lights go out. Plunged into darkness, the hosts’ evenings don’t run quite so smoothly. Topped with a multitude of uninvited guests – including Brindsley’s mistress, the couple’s unwittingly generous neighbours, and a drunken teetotaller – the party very quickly falls into absolute disarray. From the pen of ADC alumnus Peter Shaffer (Equus, Amadeus), this hilarious farce will showcase the finest fresher talent from the University and have you howling with laughter.
11pm, Wednesday 18th - Saturday 21st November @ ADC!
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW : http://www.adctheatre.com/shows.asp?genre=Drama
- November 2009
For one night only, Blueprint, Cambridge's original boyband, will be doing an extra-special live performance at the ADC!
The ideal antidote to Cambridge's usual mix of a cappella groups, swing bands and orchestras, this will be a tongue-in-cheek show for the Cindies generation. From Westlife to Michael Jackson, from Chicago to Busted, Blueprint presents a diverse set of classic 'guilty pleasure' boyband tunes and original arrangements, both high-octane dance numbers and swoon-inducing ballads.
This is Blueprint's first EVER ticketed public gig - your chance to say 'I was there...'
- November 2009
All hell has broken loose in the Abashvili mansion, whose Governor has been beheaded by the Fat Prince during civil war. Natella, the Lady of the house, is far too concerned with the contents of her suitcase to notice that her baby is not amongst her escape party. Grusha, a young servant girl, rescues the child - though the further she travels with the boy the more she feels for him. Grusha finds herself playing a dangerous game of hide and seek with the law, but are her actions ceasing to be what is best for him and instead motivated by selfishness? When Natella reclaims her child it is Azdak who is to resolve the dispute between the mother and Grusha, calling on the ancient tradition of the chalk circle to resolve the dispute. Who wins? A morality masterpiece, The Caucasian Chalk Circle typifies Brecht's pioneering theatrical techniques. Heavily censored in McCarthyist America due to its communist overtones, this modern classic epitomises Brecht’s vivid and amusing characterisation in a piece of truly unrivalled storytelling.
CUADC Freshers' mainshow 2009.
- November 2009
"Of course I...want to, but I don't want to want to."
CUADC presents the acclaimed play by Patrick Wilde ("Blondel", "You Couldn't Make It Up"), a teenage love story. It is 1992, Section 28 prohibits the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools, and the age of consent for gay men is twenty-one. Sixteen year old Steven Carter, who is just fine with being "dodgy", falls in love with John Westhead, head boy and popular sporty type. His love is returned until societal expectations force John back into "the closet". As Steven comes up against pressure at home and at school, Hutton, his teacher, longs to give him some support, but finds that the law is not on his side.
Wilde wrote the play to challenge the assertion that it's "easier to be gay now". It rails against the attitudes that keep Steven and John apart, and against certain aspects of the "gay scene". The issues that the play wrestles with are as applicable to 2009 as they are to the recent past and it remains a poignant, beautiful and honest tale.
- November 2009
CUMTS presents THE WIZARD OF OZ, in the RSC adaptation of the legendary MGM film which includes some of the most famous and best-loved musical numbers of all time. In this new darker imagining of the show, Dorothy escapes from the material poverty of Depression-era America into the glamour, fantasy and romance of the silver screen.
- November 2009
'You may have buried yourself alive, but you haven't forgotten to powder your face!' In these two bitingly witty short farces, Chekhov exposes the ridiculous consequences of human pretensions in all their glorious hilarity. A widow's self-righteously exaggerated mourning for an unworthy husband is disrupted by a belligerent creditor. A smug, pompous Chairman congratulates himself on the anniversary of his bank, only to have his carefully orchestrated celebrations collapse into mayhem. The comedy that ensues when the mask we present to the world slips to reveal our true motives is played out in this fast-paced, furiously funny and fabulously farcical double bill.
- November 2009
- November 2009
The Amateur Dramatic Club Presents
The House Of Bernarda Alba By Federico García Lorca Week 4, Michaelmas Term 2009 Tuesday 3rd-7th November, 7.45pm ADC Theatre
"There are eight years of mourning ahead of us. While it lasts not even the wind will get into this house."
When Bernarda Alba's husband dies, she locks all the doors and windows. She tells her grown-up daughters to sew and be silent. But not even the tyranny of Bernarda's repressive rule can cool the passion and desire that smoulder darkly within the household. With the arrival of Pepé el Romano, an attractive young man from the village, comes a tantalizing breeze of the cool air which plays amongst the reeds, away from the house. Whilst an emergent freedom comes to ascendancy in society, the household of Bernard Alba remains in a state of totalizing constriction.
This production re-imagines Lorca's masterpiece, to the mid 70's with the demise of Spanish Fascism and Spain's liberation. Redolent with Lorca's sensual poetry, blending, dance, music and stirring visuals this production breathe's new life into this haunting narrative of oppression, rebellion and fragile beauty.
- October 2009
The Amateur Dramatic Club presents Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karel Čapek – Week 3 Lateshow, Michaelmas 2009
‘There are no more people. Robots down to work. March!’
Mankind has discovered the secret of life. Rossum’s factory uses the recipe and manufactures artificial people to work as slaves. Known as ‘robots’, they ensure that all humans live a life of luxury.
Helena Glory visits the factory, and witnesses the machines at work. Initially intending to agitate a revolution amongst the robots, she is drawn to life at the factory and falls for Domin, the manager. But she can’t shake the feeling that forcing the robots into servitude will have dangerous consequences. And as discontent ferments among the robots, she is proven brutally right.
First performed in 1921, R.U.R. is the play that invented the word ‘robot’. This production will be visually bold, with an emphasis on physical performance. We will take an experimental approach to the process, involving devising and improvisation. The aim will be to create a dark vision of an alternative future, using a variety of innovative dramatic techniques.
- October 2009
Alter Ego Productions presents
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE by Tennessee Williams
ADC Michaelmas Week 3 Mainshow
Blanche DuBois is not all she seems. Coming to stay with her sister Stella in the Elysian Fields of New Orleans, she seems every bit the glamorous, sexy, beauty queen of the Old South. But what’s her secret? Stanley Kowalski, Stella’s straightforward and ‘no bullshit’ husband, makes it his task to find out.
But what cost will the truth come at?
Auditions: June 13th (12-6pm) ADC Dressing room 1
If you have any queries about auditions, or if you cannot make the above audition slots, please email the director, Alex Winterbotham aw428@cam.ac.uk. If you have any queries in general regarding the production, please email the producer, Hugh Lamarque hgcl2@cam.ac.uk
- October 2009
Near an isolated fishing village, on a faraway island, a stranger is found in the surf. Unable to speak the language of the fishermen and their wives, wild rumours spread that this stranger is a demon, come to snatch a baby for its supper. As their fear and suspicion escalates, it is only "that woman" that attempts to find out more about who this stranger is, where she has come from and what she is looking for. Bottles full of strange manuscripts from the land beyond the sea are washed ashore; perplexing cave paintings speak of a search for a better world; fishing boats bob helplessly on the wild ocean.
Noda has been described as "not one of the best but absolutely the most talented and provocative playwright of contemporary Japan". Now his play "Red Demon" is coming to the ADC. This will be a visually enticing, high energy production using tight ensemble work and physical theatre to bring to life this strange and wonderful story.
- October 2009
George is King of England.
George is sovereign of the world’s greatest commonwealth.
George is also going mad.
So when the King's illness takes hold, the impatient Prince of Wales - his "fat turd" of a son - begins to scheme for sovereignty. A greasy tangle of ignorant doctors, corrupt politicos, and self-seeking royalty all vie for power. It is left to the unconventional Dr Willis to restore the King to his senses before it is too late.
Witty, poignant, and terrifying by turns, this is one of Alan Bennett's greatest plays, later an Oscar-winning film. From insightful humour to George’s heart-wrenching relationship with his beloved "Mrs King", this is a moving and powerful portrayal of a king’s descent into madness. Lavish costumes, the glorious music of Handel, and Cambridge's finest acting talent come together in this extravagant landmark production.
"I am King of England, sir. A man can have no better conceit of himself than that.”
- October 2009
Keith Reed is failing – as actor, lover, and liver. Middle-aged and middle-talented, he is finally cast in his dream play. In his nightmare role. Join Keith for a night of electrifying comedy, as life becomes even more absurd offstage than on.
Shortlisted for the Footlights Harry Porter Prize, this fresh, funny slice of backstage life from one of Cambridge’s hottest new writers promises to be this term’s must-see comedy.
Life's but a poor player...
‘absurd, fast-paced and eloquent ... incredibly funny’ – Marlowe Society
‘much better than I expected, and very funny’ – Germaine Greer
- October 2009
Clytemnestra has murdered her husband Agamemnon as punishment for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia. Electra, devastated and alone, desperately awaits the return of her brother Orestes so that the savage, but necessary act of matricide can take place, and revenge can be achieved. A tale of love and loss, deception and revelation, blood shed and justice not to be missed.
'Electra' promises to be a compelling, dynamic and visceral production with a striking aesthetic, and ensemble cast, produced by Cambridge’s exciting new theatre company: ‘Top Goat Theatre’.
- October 2009
It’s here! The Footlights National Tour Show is the biggest and most famous show of the year from the biggest and most famous student comedy society in the world.
Experience an all-new, full-length, home-grown show on home ground from some of the most talented and hard-working young comedians around. From monologue to many-logue, sketches to stories, get ready to laugh your heads and your socks off until your sides split.
A preview show of epic proportions, this will be your first chance to see the culmination of the Footlights year, before the show sets off on a three-month comic odyssey to the Edinburgh Festival, around the United Kingdom and back again.
Previous Tour Shows have kick-started the comedy careers of countless famous faces. And this year it’s going to be better than ever. So come join us. Because this is where it all begins.
- October 2009
‘I am the dog: no, the dog is himself, and I am the dog--Oh! the dog is me, and I am myself; ay, so, so.’
‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ is one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, and is a heartwarming tale following the fortunes of four lovers, three outlaws, two clowns and a dog. Valentine leaves Verona to seek his fortune in Milan, where he falls in love with Silvia. Valentine’s best friend Proteus comes to Milan to visit him, where he too falls for Silvia, prompting a story about betrayal, about love, about friendship, and about a clown with a cute little dog. Hilarity ensues.
CAST, the Cambridge University American Stage Tour, was founded in 1999 with the aim of producing an annual Shakespearian tour of the East Coast of the United States of America with a small group of Cambridge's most talented actors and technicians. CAST also provides the opportunity for American students and young people to participate in workshops, as a way of introducing them to Shakespeare or building on the knowledge they already have.
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/cast/2009/home.html
- July 2009
It is the 18th May 1893, and Thomas Henry Huxley – Charles Darwin's steadfast and belligerent champion – has just given his last public lecture on the subject of evolution. This time, however, his message was very different. Gone was his earlier portrait of the Law of Natural Selection as a 'calm, strong angel'. In its place, Huxley has painted an altogether darker picture of the Darwinian world, full of cruelty and slaughter: a world to which mankind belonged, but was duty-bound to fight against. But later that night, memories of his old friend, his arch-enemy and his beloved daughter force him to look again at his own evolutionary journey. Presented in association with the Cambridge Darwin Festival, This View of Life is the story of one man's struggle to give Darwin's revelation to the people, and to find meaning in this most wondrous and dangerous of ideas.
- June 2009
