- January–February 2020
Come and watch as a talented team from the Cambridge Impronauts create the apocalyptic movie that you wish existed !
What catastrophe will you have them thrown into tonight? The Audience decides!
Are all the Sheep now hungry for human brains?
Are all the bloodthirsty Sharks swept up into an endless Tornado?
Has Big Ben Exploded and now Time Itself No Longer Exists?
How will our stage-denizens survive? What will become of their dreams, ambitions, and relationships when society is turned upside down?
Let the drama (and comedy) unfold !
- January 2020
The comedy sketch show is a genre that has grown incredibly popular in Cambridge over time as we all love to see our favourite student comedians combine to act out the absurd and the hilarious for our entertainment. However, with such a diverse field of talent we're always left asking for more...
So, more is exactly what you're going to get. Following the success of this concept by the founders of Eggbox Comedy in 2016, under a strict time-limit of 23 hours, 30 of the finest student comedians in Cambridge will come together to produce not just one but FIVE sketch shows for your entertainment. From Stand-up and song, to improvisation and mime, come and see comedians of all genres combine to produce and perform jokes fresh from a frantic day of writing.
30 comedians, 23 hours and at the end of it all 60 minutes of glistening new comedy sketch show for you all to enjoy.
- January–February 2020
"In fact, this is my soul leaking over the floor here, soot itself. I'm going to scoop handfuls up and spread it over you. Your head, you see, was the match head to this."
In a neglected Northern town, desperately missing her dead father, Little Voice spends her time locked in her bedroom, listening to his old record collection.
Meanwhile, downstairs, her mother Mari is on the rampage-she’s after booze, a man, a greasy breakfast, and a working phoneline.
Away from the chaos, Little Voice learns to perfect astonishing impersonations of famous divas including Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland.
When Mari starts dating small-time club agent Ray Say, she thinks he's her last chance for a better life. When Ray Say hears Little Voice sing, he thinks she's his ticket to the big time.
Little Voice just wants a normal life and to be loved.
Not everyone is going to get what they want.
Funny, brutal, beautiful and sad, Jim Cartwright’s timeless and ultimately uplifting tale is a comic tragedy about finding your voice in a noisy world.
- January 2020
A blue shimmering wonderland is illuminated, but what on earth could this wonderland be?! Why, it’s the aquarium of your mind! A fish-eye lens on your brain! Thoughts swimming around like little fishies?! Dive into the ThinkTank where the alter egos that live within one human’s brain play out the imagined scenarios, the random unfiltered thoughts and the kooky characters that exist within the mind. It’s the hysterically hysterical sketch show where everything is possible, where all worlds collide and the only limits are those you make for yourself. It’s Footlight’s Presents: ThinkTank.
“Did someone put out the bins? And feed the fish?
I’m cosplaying as my ex today. I’m wearing Entitlement, it’s an Urban Outfitters collab.
Hoover or Who-ver?
But seriously – did someone put out the bins? And feed the fish?”
Wowzers, it’s the aquarium of your mind! A fish-eye lens on your brain! Dive into the ThinkTank where thoughts swim about like little fishies!
What are you waiting for?! Come and have a silly swim in the ThinkTank!
- January 2020
- January 2020
"They are like animals that have torn at one another and broken up without a decision, each waiting for the other’s mood"
Arthur Miller's masterpiece on human weakness.
Eddie Carbone lives with his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine. His life is simple and pragmatic, but this all changes when Beatrice's immigrant cousins enter the fold...
How far will Eddie go to protect the world he has created?
https://www.varsity.co.uk/theatre/18560
- January 2020
Sitcoms are the comfort food of students, we use them as a reward for completing an essay or for well-deserved binge at term’s end. Skitcom, a sketch show, will create a single Sitcom episode comprised of 10-12 large sketches and 5-6 ads smaller ad sketches, utilising 2-3 character troupes from sitcoms. Skitcom will be comprised of 3 sets - a coffee shop, flat and office, all capable of being lit separately. The audience will be introduced to each duo or trio in their setting (e.g. flat) through 3 opening sketches. This will establish characterisations which remain consistent within in all proceeding sketches and also introduce links between characters in the other opening sketches.The following sketches will utilise the different sets with characters being separated from their original setting. New relationships will be established and conflicts arise and be resolved. Each sketch with advance the overall narrative and be broken up by a blackout and the segue music used in Sitcoms, as well as sketch adverts. The result - 50 minutes of situation comedy and 90s nostalgia made from short sketches connected by an overarching narrative. Volia: a Skitcom.
- January 2020
In just 24 hours, CUMTS will create and perform a brand new musical. A theme will be announced to some of Cambridge's sparkiest new writers and composers, who will then put their heads together for 24 hours of creative madness. A troupe of CUMTS performers and musicians will be on hand to bring their work to life, in what will be a whirlwind celebration of new writing. There will be sleeplessness. There will be coffee. Who knows what the final product will be? All we know, is that it will be unmissable.
- December 2019
The Cambridge University European Theatre Group is 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 25 or so tour with professional lighting and sound equipment, costumes and an experimental set, enabling us to put on a show absolutely anywhere.
Each year we typically visit twelve venues - ranging from professional theatres, to schools and universities, and even to churches and converted bread-ovens - and travel through five or six countries. In the past, we have performed in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, The Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary, before returning for a homerun in Cambridge the following January.
ETG’s rich history began in 1957 when a group of students, which included Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Trevor Nunn, travelled across Switzerland with their production of Romeo and Juliet. Over time, ETG has developed a reputation at home and abroad for producing exciting, innovative, experimental and professional interpretations of classic texts, attracting the most ambitious actors, technicians and creative forces from within the university. We provide successive generations of company members and audiences with challenging experiences completely unimaginable elsewhere in British (let alone student) theatre.
- December 2019
This December Ballet Central returns to the ADC Theatre to perform their adaptation of the Christmas classic, The Nutcracker.
- December 2019
- December 2019
Cambridge University Ballet Club presents this original production of ballet show to appear on ADC theatre stage in December.
Overview
The story of Scheherazade is a frame story used as a device to present a collection of folk tales with origins in ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Greek, Jewish and Turkish folklore and literature, known collectively as ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ or ‘Arabian Nights’. Unlike most ballets, the narrative of Scheherazade is driven by female characters and their desires and choices. Its empowering story of a woman risking her life to liberate others from oppression will resonate with modern audiences, with particularly potency in the current political climate, serving as a reminder of the humanity, struggles, and dreams shared between diverse cultures.While many story ballets faithfully recreate traditional programmes, Scheherazade as a ballet has never been standardised. Our production is an original creation in terms of both story adaptation and choreography, set to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s romantic score. Featuring soaring violin solos, playful clarinet melodies, and rumbling brass-forward themes, the piece is invigorating and heart-breaking, moving the body to dance and the soul to triumph with the heroine.
Synopsis
This ballet is set to Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic interpretation of the Arabic Folktale One Thousand and One Nights. In the dramatic opening, the Sultan Shahriyar discovers his Queen cheating on him. Furious, he commands that she be executed. He vows to each night take a new bride, and each morning behead her, so he can never again be betrayed. After several years, Scheherazade, a courageous young woman determined to end this terrifying regime, becomes the Sultan’s bride. On their wedding night, Scheherazade tells the tale of Sinbad the Sailor and his harrowing encounter with the vicious Roc seabirds, but dawn breaks before she reaches the conclusion. Shahriyar, captivated, decides to spare her one more day to hear the ending. The following evening, Scheherazade finishes that tale but begins another, and in this way postpones her execution indefinitely, taking the audience along for the stories of Alaeddin and the Wonderful Lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. After one thousand and one nights, Scheherazade declares that she knows no more tales. Shahriyayr, angry with himself for the vow he made over five years before, and with Scheherazade for putting him in a position now where he is challenged to uphold it, tells the guards to prepare her to be executed at dawn. But as the Sultan sleeps, he dreams Scheherazade and the tales she told, and begins to piece together the metaphor of his own life that she had woven into them. Shahriyayr awakens to see Scheherazade standing before him, heartbroken, and he embraces her tenderly, promising to spare her life and to love her forever as his Queen.
- December 2019
There are 525,600 minutes in a year so why not spend 60 of those minutes boogieing along to some of your favourite musical theatre tunes as the CU Show Choir bring you yet another evening of fabulous all-star entertainment?
From Burlesque and Grease, to Hairspray and Little Shop of Horrors, expect slick harmonies and cheesy choreography as we take over the ADC for not one, but TWO nights of pure, all-out fun!
See you there!
- November 2019
- November–December 2019
It’s not easy being Red. Growing up on the edge of the woods, with only her mum for company, Red wants more from life.
As she runs into the forest in search of answers, Red encounters a world beyond her wildest imagination. On her journey, she is reunited with her estranged father, Robin, and gets a taste of a new life. But when he’s not quite what she bargained for, Red must find her way through a forest full of magic, danger and Big Bad villains. Join Red on an epic adventure, as she grows up and begins to learn the value of family.
- November 2019
Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Angela Carter’s dark fairytale is a story of seduction, perversion, blood and love. A 17 year old girl marries a wealthy French Marquis, and upon returning to his home she quickly discovers his sadistic tendencies, and her attentions turn to the home’s blind piano tuner. When her husband is called away on business on their wedding night, she is left with only his keys and one room off-limits, her curiosity leads her to make a haunting discovery, leaving her future uncertain. Carter’s work brings feminism and a gothic twist to a traditional tale, and Lavery’s adaptation sees the story reimagined once more for the stage.
- November 2019
The Olivier-Award winning play by Jessica Swale brings the life of Nell Gwynn, seventeenth century actress and mistress of Charles II, to the stage. Charting this unlikely heroine’s rise from orange seller to star of the stage when women were first permitted to perform, the play follows her ensuing stardom and the chaos that ensues as she finds herself thrown into navigating a male-dominated world. Catching the attention of the king, she is left using her charm and spirit to protect herself from the dangers of the Court. Swale’s hilarious take on the historical tale mixes raunchy comedy with a strong dose of feminism, and was first performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, before transferring to the West End.
- November 2019
The Marlowe Showcase is an opportunity for 12-14 graduating actors to perform in front of industry professionals, including agencies and castings directors, under professional direction.
This ninety-minute long showcase will be directed by Richard Williams, former Artistic Director of Contact Theatre Manchester, The Oxford Stage Company, Unicorn (Arts) Theatre London and Liverpool Playhouse.
There will be an opportunity to meet the students after the performance.
- November 2019
Derek Awards Best Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019
Shortlisted for Best Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019 by Broadway World and Musical Theatre Review
'When you leave here, everything else is going to be exactly the same. The only thing that’s changed is you.’
Based on personal experience, 'Rust' follows 20-year-old Evie over a month in rehab following a mental health crisis. Candid and sharp, the musical explores her relationships with the other patients, who range from a twenty-something alcoholic to a cynical, middle-aged drag queen. The audience joins them in the immensely difficult but inexpressibly worthwhile process of recovery and how it feels to realise that you still remember how to laugh.
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http://musicaltheatrereview.com/rust-edinburgh-festival-fringe-thespace-venue-45/
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https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/rust/741686
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https://www.thenationalstudent.com/Fringe/2019-08-23/fringe_review_rust_the_musical_thespace.html
- November 2019
Sidney Bruhl, an academic and struggling playwright, has writer's block. That is until he reads Deathtrap, a tour-de-force murder mystery laden with plot twists, psychological horror and emotional intensity. It’s just a shame that an unproven upstart wrote the masterpiece – but what if there was a way Sidney could make it his own? Time to invite the playwright round for tea…
Deathtrap, arguably Ira Levin's greatest play, still holds the record for the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway, consistently staggering audiences for decades. Now, brought to life at the ADC Theatre, Deathtrap promises an all-too-real comedy-thriller that hits like no other.
"I'd like to beat the wretch over the head with the mace there, bury him in a four-hundred-pound hole somewhere, and send the thing off under my own name."
- November 2019
Your suggestions create a hilarious, dark, new story every night. Think trench coats, dark alleys, gruff voices, and a complete disregard for human life.
Will you see two rival gangs battling over possession of a kidnapped politician? A lone gunman taking on the full force of the mafia to avenge a dead lover? A corrupt policeman who will stop at nothing to find their lost kitten?
The audience will decide...
#WhimCityImprov
Access Info: https://access-cambridge.fandom.com/wiki/ADC_Theatre (Main Theatre)
- November 2019
"If you can't be famous, be infamous". Chicago, the winner of 6 Tony awards and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, is a story of seduction, murder, and showbiz. Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who maliciously murders her on-the-side lover. Desperate to avoid conviction, she fools the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into fame.
A tale full of corruption, murder and deception. Oh, and all that jazz.
- October–November 2019
Dragtime! is back with another hour of cabaret fun and this time it's getting spooky :O Cambridge's premiere drag troupe return to the ADC with their very first Halloween themed show, presenting the best new drag talent the city has to offer. Hold on to your seats as Dragtime!'s kings, queens and inbetweens take you on a thrill-inducing ride through the dark side of drag, featuring singing, lip sync, spoken word, pole dance, burlesque, live music and more!
- October–November 2019
"My stars shine darkly over me"
When twins Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked and separated on the strange city of Illyria, the two are forced to assimilate into a heightened world of hedonism and grief, laughter and cruelty. Viola’s attempts to integrate into the privileged centre of this modern city, disguised as Cesario, are complicated when she falls in love with Duke Orsino, who is himself in love with Olivia.
Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love and mistaken identity, a brilliant blend of hilarity and melancholy.
★★★★★, The Tab: https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2019/10/31/review-twelfth-night-3-127504
★★★★ 1/2, TCS: https://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/review-twelfth-night-2/?fbclid=IwAR3sUTKFJKkMGzLUWtBVTm2MtXxZGwHGZeiCkRO4SetVJfg7lS5bJjlWCZM
★★★★, Varsity: https://www.varsity.co.uk/theatre/18150?fbclid=IwAR0dzN0_GCHlEjUAb9Ng1vBfKErPZQvahvUDw5XRM1MIptTkCnKyvrr-hZQ
- October 2019
‘You’ve got to do something pretty damn impressive to not get into heaven these days. Inflation hit us pretty bad as well.’
A quasi-uplifting comedy about interdimensional lovers faced with mortality, bureaucracy and the crushing boredom of eternity.
Upon stepping into the arrivals lounge, Will is informed that he is in holding for divine punishment. Either Hell, or worse - a bottom karma-band reincarnation and return to Earth. With only seven days to seek redemption and secure his place above the sky, he will encounter many of the bored residents of paradise as he wrestles with the celestial bureaucracy, wrangles with angelic officials and whines about the existential squalor of eternity with a workaholic former Pope.
Come and witness what two writers with one RS GCSE between them will produce if they talk about Heaven for long enough: the Kafkaesque Romcom that left Alex Horne "feeling peculiar about whether I will ultimately want to get into the Pearly Gates." Highly commended for the Footlights Harry Porter Prize, we invite you into the afterlife. Take a seat, there’s a queue.
- October 2019
You’ve heard of Mel and Sue, Fry and Laurie, Mitchell and Webb. You know Danny and Sandy, Elphaba and Glinda, the Sherman brothers. But what happens when the world of comedy collides with all things musical theatre?
It’s time to send in the clowns. Come down to the ADC for one night only to see what happens when Cambridge’s finest comedians team up with the best musical performers to create a unique, feel-good, hilarious evening of laughter and song, hosted by Cambridge Footlights Harriet Fisher and Will Owen.
In this show, anything goes! But one thing’s for certain: you’ll want to be in the room where it happens...
- October 2019
“You need a name that expresses a Christian faith - Mary- mother of Jesus - is the most blessed name - but I just named another girl that this afternoon, ahh, there is Ruth - but I hate names of monosyllables so - ESTER! Yes, that is it, that is your name. Ester, she was a woman of great, great courage, saved her people in fact, second only to the Virgin Mary in Holy women in my opinion. And you look like one - indeed you do, you do.”
It’s 1896 in Rhodesia and Jekesai has just been given her new, Catholic name. Chilford, the only black Roman Catholic teacher in the region, has decided she’ll now be known as Ester, wear European clothing and speak only in English. She’s torn away from everything that she knows by her fellow African who earnestly believes the promises of the White man.
- August 2019
Grab your bag-for-life, stick your pound-shaped keyrings into the trolley, and step inside The Supermarket™© for a freshly-baked musical treat.
Take a walk around [caution: wet floors ahead] and say hello to twice-divorced Vicki from checkout 6, thrice-divorced Nicki from checkout 7, and not forgetting the mysterious Karen, who lurks in the pet supply aisle, eating all the cat food. Every day in The Supermarket™© is harmoniously humdrum, until an unexpected crisis ripples turbulently across the shop floor. Can the employees save their beloved store? Who will come out on top? Does Karen even work here? The stakes are high, and the steaks are highly priced.
‘Unexpected item in the Bagging Area’ is an original comedy-musical from Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society (SiX, Hot Gay Time Machine) by Laurence T-Stannard and Cambridge Footlights Jamie Bisping and Amaya Holman. Get ready for an absurd hour of hilarious songs, heart-warming characters and some taste-the-difference hummus that is dangerously close to its expiry date.
Expect chuckles. Expect brioche. Expect the unexpected (item in the bagging area).
- October 2019
The Cambridge Footlights bring you an hour of brilliant comedy, ranging from sketch, to stand-up, comedy song, monologues, or maybe dance. Whatever the style, it's always 'uproariously funny' (Varsity).
- October 2019
What is there beyond hope?
In the sitting room of a dishevelled flat in post-war London, Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. Slowly, the story of her tempestuous affair with an alcoholic RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to unravel. With it comes a portrait of a woman steeped in need, loneliness, and a long-repressed passion.
Terence Rattigan’s masterpiece and one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century, The Deep Blue Sea offers a close and unflinching look at the fragile veneer of social repression and the brutal sense of loss and longing that lingers just beneath.
- September 2019
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ANTIPHOLUS (and Dromio)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!!
We are delighted to invite you to Antipholus’ birthday bash! Join us on this very special day for some party-popping, disco-bopping, candle-blowing, fancy-dressing fun — the banners are up, the mini sausage-rolls are out the oven, and the fabulous birthday boy (and Dromio) has arrived; there is only one thing left to do… get this PARTY STARTED!
After being separated as infants, two sets of identical twins, with identical names, finally find themselves in the same place at the same time. Following years of travelling the world in search of their missing halves, Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio arrive in Ephesus (unbeknownst to them, the home of their long-lost siblings). However, standing in the way of their reunion is a chaotic series of mistaken identities, confusion, and a fair amount of cake.
Stick on a party hat and come celebrate Shakespeare’s most farcical comedy; reimagined as the world’s most anarchic birthday-do, this Comedy of Errors has us questioning who is who? What is going on? How many blooming layers of paper is there left to unwrap? And, really, how many errors can possibly be made in one day!?**
**SPOILER: many, many errors.
- September 2019
- September 2019
Join us for a celebration of amateur drama!
- July 2019
It’s 2003 and oil consultant Ryan Ellis has been posted from the UK to a remote area of the Balkans. Although based miles from the civil unrest (following the collapse of the Yugoslav Federation), Ryan is taking no chances. He protects his home with sophisticated security gates and alarms, and when his wife Lidia comes out for a short visit, he hires Masluch, a local bodyguard, to look after her.
But a few days into her visit, Ryan begins to doubt if the charming Masluch is all that he claims to be. He has concerns over the relationship between Lidia and Masluch. And in a region torn apart with ethnic cleansing and frequent kidnappings, perhaps Ryan has ever reason to be worried?
Guarded is one of six original one-act plays that make up the WRiTEON Festival, a celebration of new writing across all three ADC venues: the ADC Auditorium, the Corpus Playroom, and the Larkum Studio. This unique collection spans genres, themes and styles. Dip in or complete the set for the full experience.
- July 2019
Home and family is something we all desire. The Summerhouse explores the need for belonging, brotherhood and love, with compassion and wit. Rose’s house was the best home Alan and Kurt ever knew, and years later they are reunited at their foster mother’s funeral, in the garden where they played cricket and fantasised as kids. In order to keep their precious home they have to do things they regret, challenging their brotherhood. Now that they are adults this drama exposes their complex memories and how far they will go to preserve their version of the past.
The young never appreciate the consequences of their actions, but whatever happened in the summerhouse, Alan and Kurt have to face the truth. Do all our misdeeds stay with us for ever, or can we put them in order to find peace?
The Summerhouse is one of six original one-act plays that make up the WRiTEON Festival, a celebration of new writing across all three ADC venues: the ADC Auditorium, the Corpus Playroom, and the Larkum Studio. This unique collection spans genres, themes and styles. Dip in or complete the set for the full experience.
- July 2019
A private hotel in 1954 Bournemouth where shock and social disgrace are cleverly interwoven with the decay, furtiveness and fraying of established manners.
