- 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.
- November 2004
Finding the Sun is three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee's
captivating study of human relationships.
It's a warm sunny day at the beach. Some people sunbathe. Some people play
ball. Two men embrace while their wives aren't looking. A mother muses
about the possibility of seducing her teenage son to a woman she's only
just met. A marriage breaks down. And at least one person dies.
This is a fascinating, funny, and disturbing play, brought to the stage by
the cream of the crop of Cambridge's new theatre talent. The action takes
place in only a few hours of a single day, in a single location, but the
characters' pasts are more than rich enough to keep us entertained: Why did
Cordelia invite a bisexual swinger into her family home? "It was cheaper
than a new playroom."
- November 2004
“A Small Family Business” is produced, directed and acted in entirely by Freshers. In previous years, the theatre has been fully packed for the shows and they always receive an extremely positive response, as Cambridge's fresh theatrical talent is introduced to the community.
- November 2004
Evolution is seemingly working in reverse with George Bush considered a world leader and that Jade Goody a celebrity. With that in mind we present A Brief History Of Stupidity, an hour long rush through the stupidest events in world history. From Jesus’ short lived cooking show to the guard that thought the Trojan horse would make a nice mantelpiece ornament, we run the full gamut of idiocy from the inane to the downright frightening.
The new show from the makers of Don’t Put That Firework There and the producers of Scally Kids Steal The Funniest Things a group of individuals so disturbing that they are worshipped as demi-gods by a small tribe in Equador and have been threatened with legal action by the Krankees.
A Brief History Of Stupidity – all the bits that Simon Schama didn’t have the balls to mention.
- November 2004
CU Musical Theatre Society brings the stunning music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim back to the ADC stage.
Following from the whirlwind success of Little Shop of Horrors (2004) at the Cambridge Arts Theatre and the sell out Hot Mikado (2003) and Songs for a New World (2004) at the ADC Theatre, the society presents Merrily We Roll Along, a deeply intense, moving portrayal of friendship and passion.
Frank, Charley and Mary are young, idealistic and ambitious. They begin their lives together gazing into the night sky, dreaming of Broadway success and changing the world. What has become of their hopes and desires twenty years later? As the years roll back from 1976 to 1957, the friends struggle to maintain their friendship in the face of shattered dreams and broken hearts.
A rarely performed masterpiece, Merrily We Roll Along combines a heart aching score and storyline with the finest actors and singers in Cambridge.
www.merrilywerollalong.com
- November 2004
Rostov's house is the winner of the prestigious RSC Other Prize, awarded to
the best piece of new writing to emerge from Cambridge over the past three
years.
The date: the 26th of October 1917 and last night, the world revolved. Six
soldiers of the red army arrive to arrest Rostov, a deputy to the state
Duma who has been accused of crimes against the people, only to find he has
'left the house for the theatre'.
Over the course of one night they search the house, wandering through
disconcertingly repetitive rooms and as the light changes they are immersed
in the 'other world' of Rostov, the Revolution and its ideals becoming
increasingly distant and vague. Love, brotherhood, death, the tsar, French
novels, religion, the petrifying coincidence of an open window?
The surreality of the night is brought to an abrupt close as an order of
execution is issued and each man must decide on which side of the line he
will stand.
- November 2004
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of
Shakespeare's Hamlet, as seen through the eyes of two bewildered courtiers,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This comic duo finally take centre stage in
this chilling comedy which has been widely acclaimed as a moden dramatic
masterpiece. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find themselves caught up in the
plot of Hamlet and, frantic to find out what is going on, try to cope with
crazed Hamlets, hysterical Ophelias, dead Polonii and a group of sexually
depraved (and indeterminate) players. They struggle to escape the plot of
Hamlet that traps them in a world where reality and illusion intermix: Who
are they, where are they going, and where did those pirates come from? But
can they flee the unfolding tragedy? Or are Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern...DEAD?
- October 2004
- October 2004
Sir Isaac Newton: hero, genius and England’s leading scientific thinker.
What will he do to keep it that way?
When Newton accuses German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz of plagiarising
his invention of calculus, he begins a bitter conflict over priority.
Newton assembles a committee of eleven honourable men, all Fellows of the
Royal Society, to adjudicate on the matter. But is their decision really
their own?
When reputations are at stake, what place do morals have in deciding who
was first?
Top Quark Productions' staged reading of this play is to complement the production of Oxygen, co-written by Carl Djerassi.
- October 2004
Two people, two writers, two situations, two points of view, two genres, two atmospheres, two languages, two chairs, two spaces, two countries, two characters, two moods, two plays.
To be seen.
After Racine’s Phèdre and William’s A Streetcar named Desire (both performed in French tours), ACCENT, European Theatre Group, presents a new cross-Channel production. Nathalie Sarraute’s Elle est là (with subtitles) and Harold Pinter’s Landscape are two provocative short plays, performed one after the other, offering a contrasting vision of modern incommunicability and misunderstanding from two masters of contemporary European drama. Ranging from the absurd to the poetic, the comic to the tragic, the prosaic to the abstract, this production hopes to reconsider playfully the never-ending question of love-hate relationships between the two sexes and even the two countries…
- October 2004
For one night only, an exciting piece of new writing!
After a dismal evening ‘celebrating’ their silver wedding anniversary, Penny is confronted with the news of her father’s death. As the root of a mysterious family rift is slowly revealed, Penny is forced to make a choice: will she choose the family she hasn’t seen for twenty-five years over her hapless husband Neville, who can offer her little more than a bag of doughnuts. This jam-filled, sugar-coated comedy promises an evening filled with laughter, love and lots of… doughnuts.
- October 2004
What is discovery? Why is it important to be first?
To celebrate the centenary of the Nobel Prize, the Nobel Foundation decides to award a 'retro-Nobel' for accomplishments preceding the establishment of the prize in 1901. The Nobel Committee decides to recognise the work that launched the Chemical Revolution: the discovery of oxygen.
Chemists Lavoisier, Priestley and Scheele seem natural choices, but the committee (full of academic rivals, ex-lovers and even an historian) can't seem to agree. While the committee attempt to determine whether they wish to acknowledge the first to experiment, to publish, or to fully understand the work, the candidates themselves join their wives in 1777 Stockholm to promote their work to King Gustav III.
In Oxygen, authors Carl Djerassi and Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann, both chemists themselves, tackle the ethical issues surrounding priority and discovery, and the question of what it really means to be a scientist.
There is a series of pre-performance talks to accompany the play - details can be found on www.topquarkproductions.org.uk.
- October 2004
From the bowels of the deep recesses of the dark deep – comes a play? A play. If you wanted an eclectic example of the betrothal of the marriage of absurdism, naturalism.
From the award-multi-team-winning-team that brought you the multi-award-winning comedy ‘Daddy’s Dead’ this comes.
“Doctor Doctor” “Who’s there?” “A really good play” “Come in” “What’s my Diagnosis?” Ear infection.
- October 2004
In the degenerate opulence of eighteenth century France, the magnetic and
manipulative Vicomte de Valmont and his former lover La Marquise de
Merteuil are locked in a convoluted and calculating game of sexual conquest
and emotional sadism.
Seeking diversion from the ennui that even their customary sexual intrigues
and emotional perversions cannot alleviate, the two conspire to corrupt and
destroy the fifteen-year-old Cecile, who is barely out of her convent.
Meanwhile, Valmont also seeks prey more worthy of his talent and
reputation; Madame de Tourvel, happily married and famous for her strict
morals and religious fervour, would be his greatest coup.
Thus, the two masterful chess-players manipulate their pawns for their own
sadistic pleasure. But as the stakes rise ever higher, there emerges from
beneath a veneer of frivolity, an intense emotional power struggle and the
ultimate tragedy.
- October 2004
I remember once going with my father to meet one of his old schoolfriends. They shared memories of driving tanks with the CCF, and I remember very clearly how alive they seemed, talking about their youth, and yet how very old and grown up. Slightly intimidating, Bob had been on the Krypton Factor and had an early personal computer that drew fractals for me. When we had dinner, I was left with a feeling of an immense candlelit banquet, with merriment and witty discourse.
This show will be like that, only with a drink: choose yours from our menu. Best enjoyed with ice.
The Uncertainty Division was resident at the C cabaret bar during the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and can be seen again at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge, at 7.45pm on Sunday 17th October, bringing a quirky view on the world through songs, stand-up and sketches.
- August 2004
A unique mix of comedy, music, puppets and actors doomed to die.
Worried about your mortgage? Stressed about your report due in tomorrow? Well it doesn't matter, because by tomorrow you'll be dead - the world is going to end, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.
Trapped in a theatre with an audience they've barely met, five actors face their impending demise by sharing memories. A half-remembered childhood incident combines with a fear of heights - and suddenly a story is born. Taking ideas from the audience and blending them with puppetry, music - and imminent doom - this is a unique experience for your final minutes.
Fully improvised and completely unpredictable, the latest show from The Uncertainty Division will capture your imagination for a few brief moments before it stops making any difference at all.
- October 2004
"Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life!"
Muriel Sparks' classic novel about "a miss Jean Brodie in her prime" is bound to be among the "creme de la creme" of ADC productions this term. In Edinburgh in the 1930s, Miss Brodie dedicates herself to the business of putting old heads on young shoulders, with consequences both hilarious and tragic.
- June 2004
Across Britain snow falls. In this altered landscape, banal situations
escalate to horrific and hilarious extremes. 'Beyond A Joke' promises to
showcase the cream of Cambridge's current comedy talent, in a show that
will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in August and tour the country in
September.
- October 2004
'Come woo me, woo me, for now I am in holiday humour and like enough to consent.'
Following a 3 week tour of the United States, CAST returns to Cambridge with Shakespeare's comedy, 'As You Like It'. A colourful feast of music, clowning, cross-dressing and country wenches this promises to be a fantastic start to the new year at Cambridge and a great way to see the newly refurbished ADC.
All information for this Camdram Entry (excluding the description above) was added by the CAST 2018 Tour Managers and is based on an archived programme. However, this actual Camdram entry was created at the time of the original show. It is also worth noting that the exact dates/times of the performances listed are not known. However, the venue order is correct.
If you have any more information regarding this show or would like to know more, please get in touch.
- March 2004
'In failure... all are equal.'
"Grandiloquence chronicles one long night in the lives of four city-dwelling twenty-somethings: the prophetic Cigar-man, the relentless and beautiful Washing-man, the desperate Other-man and the star-crossed Girl. Everyone has ideals but it is a lucky man that does not, at some point in his life, realise that his ideals are impossible to live up to. He can then either abandon them or render them useless by living in denial. Grandiloquence is set as its characters are forced to make this decision and live with their acceptance or rejection of imperfection. Grandiloquence is not a depressing play, it is a frank statement of what means to call yourself 'mature'.
- March 2004
Annie Oakley is a poor country girl. Her sharp-shooting skills see her join Buffalo Bill’s traveling Wild West Show. There she soon falls hopelessly in love with Frank Butler, the big star. But Annie soon eclipses Frank, and they look destined to fall apart. She soon realises she'll have to make some difficult choices if she wants to win her man...
With numbers like Anything You Can Do (I can do better) and There’s no Business like Show Business, this is classic feel-good musical theatre at its best. A thrilling, romantic, vibrant production, with everything from tribal dance to gunslingin’ stunts which will amaze... not to be missed!
More information is available at the show website: anniegetyourgun.co.uk
- March 2004
- March 2004
- March 2004
Featuring some of the more unusual numbers from the Broadway and West End stages, the Amateur Dramatic Club is delighted to be bringing a touch of the musical wonderland to the ADC Theatre stage. Featuring numbers from 'The Last Five Years', 'Sweeny Todd', 'Rent', 'Me and My Girl', as well as the Lent Term Musical, 'Annie Get Your Gun', the evening promises to be an hour packed with some of the show stopping hits from the past few years.
- March 2004
Ambition, murder and treachery come to the ADC. “Now is the winter of our discontent” to “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”; from end to end a classic. Watch as English drama’s original and most magnetic villain takes over the stage and the world around him in his path to the crown by blood and by deceit. An imaginatively staged and powerful new interpretation of Shakespeare’s astonishing play.
- February 2004
Predatory, violent, immoral, angry, frustrated and comic lads Mike and Les want some easy cash, and a quick leg-over. Their target, Sylv, is an unhappy, unconscious collaborator in her own sexual exploitation; their Dad is a filthy slob; then there is poor put-upon Mum. This savage, witty and repellent play presents 1950s London: Berkoff described it simply as ‘frontal assault’.
- February 2004
- February 2004
The Challenge: to write, rehearse and perform a play in 24 hours. The Venue: the ADC Bar.
The last time 24-hour plays were undertaken, the audience were left wondering why weeks of rehearsal are ever necessary
- February 2004
"So I try to tell them about Richard Branson’s evil plans, but he won’t listen, so instead my good-looking boyfriend decides to serenade me with 'When A Man Loves A Woman'. The police block also consisted of a grand piano, which a rather butch-looking policewoman proceeded to play with extreme skill"
Do you ever lose the connection between reality and imagination? It’s not difficult, given the right catalyst. Become lost in your imagination. But Kitty’s bored with her own imagination, so she takes it upon herself to invade the lives of former school friend James and his womanising flatmate Colin. What unfolds is an exploration of Kitty’s eccentric, often drug-induced, thoughts and their impact on those around her.
- February 2004
Millions of pounds, nine husbands, two eunuchs, a butler, two thugs and one ex-boyfriend – you could be forgiven for thinking that Claire Zachanassian has it all. But she wants one more thing: revenge. Just how far will the people of the small town of Gullen go for the reward that she has to offer? By the author of The Physicists, this is a tragi-comedy revolving around money, power, revenge and greed.
- February 2004
"Out Of Order" is a modern farce which matches witty dialogue with fast paced action.
- February 2004
Facing moments of crisis and finding the courage to go on – hitting a wall and having to make a choice: Jason Robert Brown delivers in ‘Songs for a New World’ a freewheeling exploration of the human soul, addressing the fundamental issues of faith, love, regret and devotion.
In sixteen songs ranging from broad comedy and full-voiced anthem to touching love song, and from a single mother's hymn of praise for the gift of her child-to-be, to a bored and sexually frustrated Mrs Santa Claus, Brown has created a piece of musical drama that above all deals with the struggle for personal fulfilment.
- February 2004
He is named Gwarra. The Lost One. And the Owl cries for him. And he will not listen.
A mother's search for a son. A man's search for identity, born to one world, brought up in another - and alien to both. A boy's question - why am I different? A poignant story of intertwined lives, crushed in the aftermath of the clash of Australian Aboriginal and European cultures.
Based on a true story, this intense piece of new writing comes to the ADC for a one-night rehearsed reading, following a highly successful performance at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
