- May 2005
Abby and Martha Brewster enjoy all the leisurely pursuits of the respectable old lady; tea parties, church, crocheting and biscuits - not to mention murder, if one has the time. Their nephew Mortimer, fazed by the stockpile of dead gentlemen inhabiting the cellar, attempts to shift the blame onto his conveniently insane brother Teddy. When the estranged third brother Jonathan, evil and ghastly, returns to his aunts' house with his slimy sidekick Dr. Einstein, the situation - and the body count - spirals out of control.
Set in 1940s Brooklyn in the elegant household of two loveable old darlings, this gory black comedy is as witty as it is unsettling. Combining old-fashioned elegance with sharp humour and shocking wickedness, Kesselring's classic play will make you fear your own grandmother.
- 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
- May 2005
'The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember.'
But then what is the present when all you have is a distant past?
Based on Oliver Sack's Awakenings, Pinter brings to life the tale of a woman awakening from a catatonic state, known as sleeping sickness, after 30 years. Sleeping as a child she awakes as an adult, terrified, confused and alone. This beautiful play offers a glimpse into a mind that has been suspended in time and space, examining a woman who has been dreaming a 16 year olds' dream for three decades.
For one night only, come explore memory and the human experience, and witness one of the most delightful and simply beautiful of Pinter's plays.
- May 2005
An exciting mixture of physical theatre, musical and thriller, La Passion d'Alexis (sur-titled in English), written by the renowned French Playwright Jean Gillibert, tells the story of a murder that took place in a playground in 1930. The play starts ten years later, during the period of French history called "The Phoney War". The murderous schoolmates and their fiancées meet again for a last party before the men leave for the front. They come to dance, to forget the evil inside them, but they are consumed by remorse. Alexis is waiting for them. His spectral presence haunts the place, ready to take any form. He drags his old friends into a fantastic and cruel "cops and robbers" game - a dancing and singing game in the vindictive style of an American musical...
- May 2005
"Clap hands for you and me and all of us whose voices count for nothing in this world." As a young boy awaits his release from prison after serving time for the murder of a child, a mother pushes her small daughter into a stage career in which the rule for success is "Talent, Teeth and Tits". Written at the time of the impending release of the Bulger killers, Peter Morris' controversial work was hailed by The Telegraph as "a brilliant play that begins by making you laugh and ends by making you shudder".
- May 2005
The world famous Footlights present their immensely popular Smokers - an hour of stand-up and sketches from the very best of Cambridge comedy talent.
Described by Varsity as 'un-hyped excellence' and by TCS as 'fast and hilariously unrelenting' these are some of the most exciting performances around. The material is always brand new and has proven consistently to be the strongest source of new writing in Cambridge. Displaying a massive range in styles - from the highly absurd to super naturalism - Smokers provide experimental comedy at a very high standard.
Book early to avoid disappointment - these really are not to be missed.
- May 2005
Albee returns to the land of middle class suburban America which he explored to such biting effect in his classic, 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?'. The Pulitzer-Prize winning 'A Delicate Balance' is a caustically funny and moving exploration of love, compassion and the bonds of friendship and family. Agnes and Tobias, a middle-aged couple, are engaged in a battle of wills with Agnes' sister Claire, a self-professed drunk, and their daughter Julia, who has returned home after a fourth failed marriage. Their equilibrium is further jeopardised by the sudden arrival of their best friends, Edna and Harry, a couple seeking refuge in an already threatened home.
At once horribly tragic and wonderfully funny, the play further explores the American drama ideas of truth, illusion and secrecy. Fueled by alcohol and pure vitriol the characters embark on a tirade of accusation and humiliation, revealing the emotional savagery of suburbia and the psychological terror of empty lives.
- March 2005
My Fair Lady charts the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from a Cockney street-urchin into a genuine Edwardian lady. Starting as a bet between Higgins, an opinionated linguistics professor, and the affable Colonel Pickering, Eliza’s journey takes her into the lives and homes of the English upper class, to Ascot and to the Embassy Ball. But after all the beautiful dresses, the elegant parties and the handsome suitors, perhaps all she really wants is a little kindness.
This fresh and exciting revival capitalises upon Cambridge’s finest talent to combine the vibrancy of London’s East End with the refined world of the Edwardian aristocracy. Including musical classics such as ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’, ‘On the Street Where You Live’ and ‘Get Me To the Church on Time’, My Fair Lady is one of the best-loved musicals of all time.
- March 2005
The world-famous Cambridge Footlights are proud to present the winner of the Harry Porter Prize, awarded annually to a new comic play. Established three years ago to celebrate the contribtion to Footlights of the Club’s Senior Archivist, the Harry Porter Prize gives Cambridge’s stickiest comic spiders a chance to spin their web on the ADC stage.
This year's winner is 'Evelyn Budden; Auctioneer', a comic tale about an auctioneer who accidentally kills the people he loves. Told in flashback with auctioneering interludes and a musical finale, it will prove to be a real one-off.
- March 2005
This year’s Medics Revue returns home from a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe with another fast-paced comedy sketch show, ready to maintain the long tradition and excellent reputation that it enjoys in Cambridge. This is high quality entertainment with wide-ranging appeal, taking you from current affairs to the completely surreal with almost everything in between.
The revue has a distinguished history of selling out the ADC Theatre and this show, with its fresh faces and new material, promises nothing less. The cast is made up of Cambridge undergraduate medics and vets, but the 60 minutes of slick, professional and downright hilarious comedy is entirely non-medical.
Come and get another dose of comedy from the people who brought you Fibula on the Roof and Lawrence of the Labia. You’ll find it’s just what the doctor ordered.
- March 2005
A mouth-watering selection box of dramatic treats; monologues by the likes of Bennett and Kane interspersed with work devised by some of the university’s most imaginative performers. These short pieces come in comedy, tragedy, tragi-comedy and strawberry cream flavours.
- March 2005
A group of blundering actors are about to embark on a touring production of 'Nothing On' - a classic British farce. But on the night before the first performance, the play is far from ready to perform. Fluffed lines, misplaced sardines and the tension of backstage romances all contribute to the uproarious troubles of the production team. As the tour continues, events behind the scenes spiral out of control, and the predicament of the actors and crew becomes even more farcical than the play they are performing.
'Noises Off' firmly established Michael Frayn's position as an exceptional and perceptive dramatist, with its first production winning both the Evening Standard and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy of the Year. One of the truly great comedies of recent times, this frenzied farce is an unmissable piece of theatre from one of Britain's finest and most popular playwrights.
- March 2005
‘Beautiful, oh she’s beautiful. Who is she waiting for- no one for me-? Her neck soft as a baby’s thigh. I could bite valleys out of it. I could…’
A play that will revel and delight in the spectacular performance that is the drudgery of daily life. A play that will highlight the actor in all of us before wooing it out of the stage. While a man searches for someone to be honest to.
- March 2005
In 1529 two worlds collided – lands were colonised, people were enslaved and thousands upon thousands were slaughtered.
Francisco Pizarro is a man disillusioned by life. Jaded, faithless and cynical, he is driven only by his hope of achieving lasting fame, and so recruits a motley group of no-hopers to join his last voyage to the New World in search of gold, prestige and a place in the annals of history. Instead of the primitive communities they anticipate however, they encounter the Incas – an empire of millions, subjugated by their divine ruler, Atahuallpa; the god-king, the son of the Sun. As the fate of the two men becomes intertwined, Pizarro’s personal confl ict between his hubris and his new-found faith reaches a captivating and ultimately tragic climax.
Based on factual historical accounts, this is the story of the first contact between the Spanish conquistadors and the Incas of Peru, given life by Shaffer’s compelling play. A true spectacle, involving ‘not only words, but rites, mimes, masks and magics’, this production captures the thrilling allure of the empires of the New World – and the harrowing consequences of conflict and conquest.
- February 2005
A chorus of actors. A century-defining poem. A genre defining drama. Innovative and exiting, Wasteland offers a visual-vocal invigoration of T S Eliot’s magnificent poetic creation. Sometimes words speak louder than actions as this energetic new drama demonstrates, bringing the unique power of spoken verse to the ADC Theatre. In a spectacle of voice, movement, music and iconic visuals, Eliot’s poetic vision and narrative thread are drawn out and rendered in sight and sound.
Including music especially commissioned for the piece and composed by one of Cambridge’s most talented aspiring young musicians, as well as additional new writing from 2004 young poet of the year, this is a remarkable bringing together of the complex strands which have defined nearly a century of modern thought.
Watch and listen as Wasteland stamps its bold impression on the Cambridge drama scene. We will show you fear in a handful of dust…
- February 2005
The Comedy Iceberg and ICE present four brand new, made up on the spot, TV shows (punctuated by commercial breaks, news flashes and even government information films), offering you the opportunity to vote off the worst of the dross. Lifestyle makeover? Fly-on-the-wall documentary? Police drama? You decide...
- February 2005
From Footlights regulars Joe Thomas and Raph Shirley comes this hilarious comment on modern insecurities and inadequacies. Featuring a sensitive mix of realist and surrealist writing, this new take on the sketch show promises to be the most innovative and laugh packed production of the year.
Building on the success of their past shows – Raph starred in this year’s tour show, Beyond A Joke, and Joe co-wrote this year’s hilarious pantomime Great Expectations – and the illustrious history of the Cambridge Footlights, this show promises to showcase the very best comic talent in the University.
- February 2005
The Amateur Dramatic Club preposterously offers you 24 Hour Drama. Devised, scripted, rehearsed and performed in just one day.
Join us in the ADC Theatre bar at the 23rd hour...
- February 2005
If a part-time waiter and retired wrestler came to your front door, completely uninvited, and started to load the attic with enormous tanks of petrol, shamelessly explaining their plan to destroy the neighbourhood, you’d probably think they were joking. But this is exactly the situation thrust upon Herr Biedermann, a typically narrow-minded and unexciting bourgeois gentleman, who just happens to have a ‘very favourably situated’ house.
A comic allegory of the appeasement of Hitler, The Fire Raisers is a colourful tapestry of paradox. It deals with delusion, persuasion, political blindness, the folly of mankind, and yet all in such a darkly hilarious way that you won’t know what to feel.
Comedy, original music and lots of mind warping psychology: this show is guaranteed to blow you away.
- February 2005
This gothic adaptation of a classic play, refreshed for the modern generation, offers a satire on contemporary life and current news, asking the questions we’re too afraid to ask. Examining the corruption of wealth, the exploitation of power and the commodification of the sexes through the medium of the media, this show promises to transform the ADC into a live news room! Volpone, the protagonist, endeavours to trick his ‘friends’ out of money by pretending to be at death’s door, upon receiving the gifts he wants more…the wife of one of his friends, to save him from death and fall into his grace. His humble servant Mosca aids his master all he can, but his intentions are far from innocent… With all the farce of the original play, but with the politics and lust of the 21st century, come witness the humour and the horror, come deceive and be deceived.
- February 2005
Relax with nibbles, jazz, and your favourite monologues performed to the
highest degree. From Shakespeare to Pinter, from Marlowe to Kane, old
favourites and modern classics alike – sit back, relax and watch some of
the funniest and most poignant monologues ever written.
This is a laid back event that’s bound to delight thesps and non-thesps
alike, and a great way to end your week.
Visit http://www.hatsdrama.co.uk for further details.
- February 2005
"…his death was uncalled for, but our generation just became intolerably bored. We are the STILLBORN generation! Rise up, young fellows. Jump off the bridge. We have nothing to lose but our mediocrity…"
The place: here. The time: now. The world: ours… and something parallel. A cultural revolution, the end of a rancid era. Assassinations, riots, the bloodsucking vampire generation finally brought to its scabby knees. Power the only currency, circumstance the only government. Into this terrifying anarchy stumble professors and students, lovers and leeches, intellectuals and rude boys. Let the games begin…
- February 2005
Alex isn’t very nice. Alex says things like ‘If a butterfly flaps it’s wings here, a series of knock on reactions make a hurricane happen in Tokyo.’ When he’s feeling angry, Alex sticks his hairdryer out the window and thinks of Tokyo. Martin spends his time sitting on the lino talking to matchsticks. Xavier says he always empathised with matchsticks (passively). Jackie is not feeling too happy. Jackie says her son is probably the antichrist. Kate says it’s just as likely to be Jesus; which would, I think we can agree, be lovely.
Written by Luke Roberts, this is a series of short conversations where people talk at each other and things go wrong...
- February 2005
This newly-written operetta was rapturously received when it was first performed in an abridged version in May Week last year. Now it is back by popular demand, and appears for the first time complete and unabridged. Mark Wainwright's dazzlingly witty Gilbertian libretto is set to music and fully orchestrated by Roland Anderson in a sparkling classical pastiche, full of melodies Mozart would be proud of.
- February 2005
Part of CUSU Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Awareness week, the Amateur Dramatic Club has commissioned new writing from across the city to create an evening of monologues that explore life as seen from the perspective of members of the LBGT community.
A rare opportunity to share the experiences of a minority group whose voice, in the light of recent political events, has become ever more important. It promises to be a provocative and affirming night of community theatre.
- February 2005
Footlights present their immensely popular Smokers – each one a laugh-packed hour of the finest new comedy. A novel appendix to the pub, Smokers provide a completely original mix of sketches, characters and stand-up. Footlights continue to produce experimental and unpredictable material designed to have you in stitches, whatever your sense of humour. A regular sell-out, be sure to come early. Non-smokers welcome.
- February 2005
In the amateur premiere of this new adaptation of Bulgakov’s magic realist novel, we are transported to 1930s Moscow. The Master, a playwright the authorities consider subversive, is locked away. His sole ally is his mistress, Margarita: until the Devil arrives in Moscow. ‘Woland’ wreaks merry havoc, making people disappear, chopping off heads and staging a spectacular black magic show. The Muscovites’ socialist rationalism shatters at the sight of Satan himself and his deranged troupe of assistants: bare-breasted Hella, fanged Azazello and a giant black cat. The Devil befriends the hapless Master, on one condition: that Margarita hosts his Satanic ball where history’s most infamous murderers carouse. The Master strikes a Faustian bargain with Woland: but at what price? Bulgakov’s modern masterpiece throws together epic romance, political satire and comic absurdism in a story which throbs with the variety of life. An aesthetic extravaganza which celebrates the best and worst of existence: people die horribly, love madly, and nothing happens in moderation.
- January 2005
Eclectic and energising, vibrant and visceral, the dances of Spectrum are a spectacular visual feast of colour and movement intertwined. A lifted arm is gilded by golden light; a dancer glides through a sea of blue; red passion is spoken through searing physical movement. Colour explodes into movement, while dance is painted in bright new hues.
Spectrum is an evening of exciting new contemporary dance that investigates the colours of our world and lives. We invite you to step into the minds of 17 choreographers with highly diverse styles as they explore the emotions, signifi cance and possibilities of colour.
Beautiful, universal, thought-provoking and exciting, in Spectrum you will fi nd that the human body is the most dazzling artist of all.
- January 2005
Tonight sees the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra perform a set of jazz, funk and vocal numbers. CUJO comprises the best jazz talent in the University and plays tunes ranging from Count Basie to modern arrangements by the likes of Gordon Goodwin.
Come to hear this popular ensemble groove, solo and swing.
- January 2005
Visit the website www.powertheplay.com
This is the amateur world premiere of 'Power'!
'Power' was premiered at the National Theatre during Nick Hytner's first summer as artistic director. We are performing the first production of the play outside of the National.
'Power' is Nick Dear's portrayal of kingship and monarchy under Louis XIV. Fouquet is a wealthy and charismatic member of France's seventeenth aristocracy and is close friends with Louis, the new King who chases his brother's English wife one day, and beds her chambermaid the next. This happy arrangement turns sour as Louis' suspicions of Fouquet are enflamed by his mother and his advisors. At turns compelling, wickedly funny, and philosophical on the nature of power as the old European monarchies faced losing their unequivocal position of authority to a system of checks and balances.
- January 2005
This brand-spanking-new musical satires the cult of celebrity and the insatiable pursuit of wealth and fame. With an exiting new score this show tapdances you through the audition process, theatrical corruption and even romance.
Jane is willing to risk everything to fulfil her dreams of becoming a famous dancer. She will stop at nothing to be noticed. It is only when she steps back and realises that she does not know who she is any more that she reconsiders the price of fame.
Showcasing an array of Cambridge’s most talented performers, and a full band, Stagefright cannot be missed!
- January 2005
Since 1957, ETG has toured Europe each winter performing a Shakespeare play. Founded by Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Derek Jacobi, we have developed a reputation both at home and abroad for producing exciting and innovative interpretations of classic texts. We traditionally visit a wide variety of venues across the whole of Western Europe travelling complete with set, lights and costumes; this enables us to produce a first class performance in any location. ETG is not only Cambridge's premier touring theatre group, but also the oldest and most respected touring group of any university.
- December 2004
This year's Footlights/ADC Pantomime brings a classic Dickensian masterpiece to the stage. Deep in Victorian London, this panoply of music, dance and humour tracks the funny and poignant story of a young boy's quest for happiness. As our comic hero treds the pathway from poverty to riches, he is accompanied by a sparkling cast of lovers, villains, dames, ugly sisters and the all-important Pantomime Cow.
This bizarre mix of the idiosyncratic and grotesque combines romance and redemption with gothic comedy to form a hilarious Christmas treat for adults and children alike.
- December 2004
Richard and Sarah seem to epitomise the respectable 1950s married couple. But beneath the bourgeois veneer lurk voracious sexual appetites. Sarah entertains a lover daily while Richard visits his whore. The deception at the core of their relationship eats away from within and the pretended life they have lived together for 10 years quickly disintegrates. ‘The Lover’ is above all about the relationship which can be the closest and also the most fraught of all: that between two lovers.
- November 2004
Test the mettle of Cambridge's finest improv comedians at a One Night Stand of riotous spontaneity. This perennial favourite fuses the exotic ingredients of the audience's imagination with wits so sharp they could julienne a carrot
- November 2004
Matilda is a liar. She tells so many lies, even she can’t keep up. But one day, something happens that changes Matilda entirely. She can no longer lie – everything she says is the absolute truth.
But Matilda’s family, held together only by a web of lies, falseness and façades, soon realise that if the lies hurt, the truth could be even worse. Will they be able to live happily ever after? Only one thing will guarantee their fairytale ending – Matilda must be stopped!
This jarring fable is an enthrallingly surreal fairytale for our time, and a grisly warning for anyone who ever thought a little lie wouldn’t hurt. And that’s the truth.
