- June 2013
‘There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend… One day the black will swallow the red’.
New York, 1958. Mark Rothko is painting his largest scale work to date, anxious about a rising new generation of artists and the claim that he has ‘sold out’. Ken is an aspiring young artist and Rothko’s new assistant. In a conversation taking place over the course of several years, the two men begin to learn that there is more at stake than just Art.
See the Playroom transformed into an artists’ studio, and inside the psyche of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial painters. Winner of six Tony Awards on its 2010 debut, including ‘Best New Play’ and ‘Best Featured Actor’ for Eddie Redmayne as Ken, John Logan’s unique meditation on art and death (and everything in between) is already set to become a contemporary classic.
- June 2013
This is Helen’s new world: a spotless living room/diner, a bread-winning husband, Danny, and a beautiful little child, Sean. It is Danny and Helen’s first romantic night in since Sean was born and they have important news to discuss – excitement is in the air. But this veneer is thin – easily broken by the loud slam of the hall door, the turning of the living room door handle and the unwanted arrival of Liam, Helen’s brother. Silence welcomes him. And the questioning starts. Is that blood Liam? Has there been an accident?
Orphans is about impossible choices – the three characters are confined to a small room while the weight of the past, of isolation and of love pins them down. What are their priorities? Can they hold their family together through horror? Will they choose to be a monster for love? And when is one more lie a lie too many?
- June 2013
“You put rags in your mind, you got nothing.” 1950: Jamie and Dee meet in prison. Two girls, one white, one black; with 9 years, each other, and not a hell of a lot else. They play, they fight, they fantasize and, above all, they practice. Because practice makes perfect and when they’re out of here they’ve got plans. They’re going places. Then its 1959 and time for those plans to be realised. But life on the outside ain’t no picnic, and surviving is going to cost them everything they have.
Following the lives of two women in their struggle against poverty, segregation and abuse, And I And Silence is a play that explores our ability to transcend our surroundings. In Jamie and Dee’s struggle to survive, can fantasy ever be enough?
Naomi Wallace’s play was named one of Lynn Gardner’s Best Plays of 2011, after its premier at the Finborough Theatre in London.
- June 2013
It’s almost impossible for a standup comedian to come across well when promoting themselves. I mean, I can throw glittery adjectives about, but it’s not like I’m an estate agent referring to some maisonette as ‘elegant’ and ‘well-appointed.’ (Am I elegant? Am I well-appointed?) Fundamentally, the undercurrent of this entire charade is - all too obviously - 'GIVE ME YOUR MONEY AND I WILL TALK AT YOU.'
Ahir Shah is an elegant, well-appointed, three-bedroom standup comedian. He offers easy access to local amenities and good natural light.
'Destined to become one of the brightest stars in the British comedy firmament...a frighteningly intelligent gagsmith.' - The Scotsman
'An intense, exciting performer whose act crackles with wit, his energy holding the audience captive until lights out.' - FringeGuru
'Certainly the most promising young stand-up I’ve seen in a long time.' - Spoonfed
- May 2013
‘The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.’
Conrad’s canonical novel is adapted into an epic one-man show narrated by Marlow, an English sailor given the task of making contact with Mr Kurtz, an elusive ivory trader working deep inland. Marlow describes in visceral detail the shocking and rapacious nature of European ivory-trading and colonialism on the African continent at the turn of the 20th century.
Engaging with a brutal but inescapable aspect of Europe’s shared colonial history we are left with only:
‘The horror! The horror!’
- May 2013
"She's mad. She needs therapy."
"You are her therapy, Doctor."
Fifteen years have passed since political prisoner Paulina suffered at the hands of her captor: a man whose face she never saw, but can still recall with terrifying clarity. Tonight, by chance, a stranger arrives at the secluded beach house she shares with her husband. Paulina is convinced that the stranger was her tormentor and must now be held to account...
Death and the Maiden is one of the most successful and highly acclaimed works of twentieth-century drama. A profoundly moving indictment of the torture carried out by fascist regimes across the globe, it has become a modern classic lauded both for the power of its message and the deceptively simple skill of the playwright in putting that message across. Winner of the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, Death and the Maiden is one of the most important, thrilling and deeply humane plays of our time.
- May 2013
Armed with boundless imagination, the Cambridge Impronauts are taking you to a far away land with their on-the-spot creation of an outrageously new fairy tale. Inspired by audience suggestions and original music, they convert the stage into a fantastic, new world with unforgettable characters and a gripping storyline.
After a sold-out run with their Michaelmas term production (The Revolution Will Not Be Improvised) that left The Cambridge Student "in stitches for practically the entire hour", the Impronauts are at it again with “Once Upon a Time”. Led by talented performers that have been called out by The Tab as "wonderfully charismatic" and "endearing and entertaining throughout", flashback to your childhood and erase those bedtime stories with a new one complete with adventure, love, and downright hilarity.
- May 2013
“Does anyone leave this hospital alive?” “Yes, sometimes with all the right bits too, just not necessarily in the right order.”
Surgeons is an original, hour-long comic play set in the staff room of a failing hospital during an inspection. Pitched somewhere between a black comedy and a farce, it owes as much to the Carry-On films as it does to Peep Show.
Over the course of the play the characters will grapple amongst themselves to ask the questions that really matter: ‘What happened to the canary?’, ‘Who is that in the cupboard?’ and ‘Why does it smell of glue in here?’
“I hardly think this is a laughing matter.”
- May 2013
‘You see…I believe in the god of carnage. He has ruled, uninterruptedly, since the dawn of time.’
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and adapted into a film by Roman Polanski, 'The God of Carnage' is one of the most successful and acclaimed plays of recent years.
Ferdinand Reille, 11, has injured Bruno Vallon, 11, in a violent altercation. Their respective parents are meeting to discuss how best to straighten out the children’s unruly behaviour. Will it be an evening of mature and rational discussion? Or a night of playground politics and spoilt sulkiness?
What happens when the grown-ups bicker like the kids? What’s it like when the kitchen sink is thrown out the pram? And who on earth is the god of carnage? The naughty step is nigh.
Yasmina Reza’s thrilling play, in a punchy translation by Christopher Hampton, is savagely funny and wildly entertaining.
- April–May 2013
"Welcome to Beachy Head, East Sussex, the third most popular suicide spot in the world. Dreadful, isn't it? Only third."
A member of Beachy Head's Chaplaincy Team, Carol, has her work cut out when it comes to saving people from the brink. Join her as she goes above and beyond the call of duty to save depressed romantic Miles, and attention-seeking ex-pop star Randy. A kiss, a date in a greasy spoon cafe, a fight on the cliff tops, an international concert tour, can they help each other find purpose and happiness after all?
From the writer of 'It's Complicated' (Footlights Harry Porter nominee 2012, "wonderfully amusing" - Broadway Baby) and 'Guido!' (“Impressive…ridiculous…really, really fun” - Cambridge Tab) comes a brand new, poignant and genuinely daring new comedy, sensitively exploring the taboo themes of depression and suicide.
- April–May 2013
Jim: Have you been stalking me?
Fred: Do I look like a stalker?
Jim: Yes.
Jim Swain has just seen his latest screenplay, The Journey, turned into a blockbuster smash. But Fred Savage, a mad, bearded homeless man, isn't happy for him. Whilst Jim lives the high life as a successful writer, his pockets lined with cash, Fred stumbles through the cold, treacherous streets of New York, bitter and resentful. The Journey was his idea, Fred claims, a supposedly autobiographical epic about a nasty CIA conspiracy dedicated to his undoing, which Jim overheard him telling to John Kelly (God rest his soul). Fred wants nothing but to exact justice on Jim, so he follows the sycophantic screenwriter from Broadway, down Sherman Avenue, across Dyckman Street, to Riverside Drive, a secluded spot overlooking the Hudson River.
Riverside Drive is a black comedy by renowned humourist Woody Allen.
- March 2013
Helena Montague has wanted to be a coroner since she was a little girl. And she's now got a degree and some relevant experience, so what's stopping her? The thought of morgues? Hoards of mannequins? Latent feminism? Or something more or less sinister?
Join some inexplicably talented Corpus Christi College first years at their one and only Playroom for a confused evening of bewildering new drama:
POST MORTEM
'I think we're going to need a fresher body'.
- March 2013
When Christopher reveals he is Idi Amin’s son, his doctors must determine whether he is telling the truth – or simply mad.
In Blue/Orange, the creaking Health Service is exposed for being overstretched, underfunded and intensely competitive for its employees. This situation impacts on its patients, leaving people like Christopher lacking unified care. His mental state has led him to hospital – and his heritage may keep him there.
His doctor, Bruce, is determined to see him released to lead a freer life. Senior Consultant Robert is more cautious, but with a research project on race-related mental illness, whose best interests are really at heart?
Blue/Orange questions power, hierarchy and prejudice, and shows Joe Penhall’s writing at its most commanding.
- March 2013
- March 2013
There were five in the Ward, then the Girl came in. She affects everyone - a charmingly cynical contagion. She must leave before the real disease.
Leaving The Ward is a new dark comedy about madness, sadness, disillusionment and disquiet - what it means to fear and live.
"It’s October. How long she has been lying amongst those leaves, he says, nobody knows. The camera takes her in. The woman can’t talk. Blood has dried her face."
- March 2013
Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, in a translation that hums with rhythm and poetry, is an all-female tragedy of passion, oppression and reputation. After her husband’s funeral, proud matriarch Bernarda Alba imposes an eight-year mourning period upon her household. Her five daughters are locked inside the house, with only their chores and frustrations to occupy them. Then a man enters their lives... As jealousy and suppressed sexuality surface, the women tear each other apart, and the effects of Bernarda’s cruelty endangers more than the girls’ liberty.
- March 2013
- February–March 2013
Kafka's death-wish was for his works to be burned. His only friend, Max Brod, published them instead. Almost a century later, both suddenly appear in 1980s Leeds suburbia, the home of Sidney and Linda. Via a downtrodden northern wife, gratuitous humiliation of a tortoise, and the importance of phallic dimensions, Kafka's Dick roars from inter-war Prague to the cocktail party of posterity inside the Gates of Heaven. Brought into hilarious high-definition in the confined space of Corpus Playroom, Bennett's lightning-paced, 'irresistible farce' forces the audience to re-examine their notions of fame, reputation and respect.
- February 2013
Ted Haggard is the most powerful evangelist in America. A following of 30 million. The President on speed dial. He is the father to many, many lives.
In a day, Haggard’s world will be publicly and profoundly devastated. Exiled and ashamed, he and his family will be forced to confront a dark reality, to examine just how far faith and humanity can coexist.
From the writers of Post, and the winner of best writer/play in 24hour plays (2010), based on verbatim records of sermons, interviews, and press conferences, ‘Haggard’ constructs the private story behind one of the most public falls in modern American history.
- February 2013
Richard Cameron's 'Can't Stand up for Falling Down' tells the story of three women who unbeknownst of each other are interlinked by one brutal man (who never actually appears onstage), and does so almost exclusively through monologues. The play outlines the circumstances that bring these three women together.
It is a poetical and nearly lyrical exploration of why we love and the ripples of impact our actions can have, as well as a celebration of women and storytelling.
- February 2013
- February 2013
"I view this as the biggest accomplishment of my life: I married a man who is not a psychopath."
Becky used to be a big shot, Max thinks he still is. Suzanna's a would-be psychologist who wishes she could cure everything she can't. Like her chemistry with Max. Or her husband Andrew's penchant for vulnerable women. Women like Becky. Confused? They are too. Especially when Max and Becky go on a disastrous blind date that pushes them all a little too close to breaking point.
This dark American comedy, 'as engrossing as it is ferociously funny' (New York Times), provides a contemporary and often unsettling take on the perks and pitfalls of relationships with the opposite sex, and might just leave you wondering whether there is such a thing as a clean slate.
‘dazzlingly written’ -Financial Times
***** Time Out
- February 2013
Paris. 1944. Winter. Coco Chanel meets Spatz, her Nazi lover, for the last time.
In this room the only war is between two lovers and the rest of the world. But as Coco and Spatz fight to save their relationship they discover a new hidden enemy in love itself. As time slows down and hastens, and the outside world works its way in, the two become so out of sync with one another that they must question how strong their love really is.
To be together, both must escape from time and the reputations that keep them alive. But in the war of love against time, who is victorious?
A lyrical new play comes to the Corpus Playroom for its debut.
- February 2013
Emma, Jerry and Robert are entwined in a tangle of deceit that conceals their inner passion under the surface of their everyday lives. Through beautifully sparse dialogue and scenes of breathtaking tension, Pinter reveals the fervency of realism in this electrifying play.
- January–February 2013
Twins Presley and Haley Stray live alone in a dilapidated flat in East London, passing the time by telling each other twisted stories and eating chocolate. Into this world comes the menacingly beautiful night-club performer Cosmo Disney, and his nightmarish associate, Pitchfork Cavalier. This unexpected visit and its terrifying consequences will change the Strays forever.
This piece of magic-realist drama was award-winning playwright Philip Ridley's début play and was received both with great praise and great controversy. His masterful descriptive power capture both the childish beauty and the surreal horror of the Stray's world, inviting the audience into a unique dramatic universe, that is truly Ridley's own.
- January–February 2013
‘Every civilization sets quite arbitrary limits to its tolerances…it is my hope people will think afresh whether or not they are valid’. Martin is a world famous architect living an ideal life. He has been having an affair with a goat. When he reveals this confidentially to an old friend it sets in motion events that will destroy his family and leave his life in tatters. Painfully tragic, brilliantly funny, fast paced and witty, Edward Albee’s 2002 Tony Award winning play forces us to readjust our notion of acceptable love.
- January 2013
One man's obsession for his cause propels him towards madness. Those around him fail to see clearly and those he needs to change will do nothing. The difference between good and evil is fine, but where will you stand when the evil clings this close to his bones?
All is not what it seems in this powerful one act dissection of the mechanisms of genocide. A gripping piece of fresh student-writing.
- January 2013
The transience of love. The incommunicability of the human spirit. Issues completely irrelevant to the life of a London mini-cab driver. Usually. But tonight Jimmy is finished with avoiding difficult questions. Tonight he wants resolution… Bluebird is the first play by award-winning playwright Simon Stephens, and follows Jimmy, a London mini-cab driver, through a single summer evening in 1998. As the night life of London pours in and out of his cab, we are confronted with the random cruelty of the city, but Jimmy remains constant, our sardonic voice of reason. Perspective comes at a cost, though, and Jimmy knows this better than anyone.
- January 2013
Jamie Fraser (Footlights Smoker, Corpus Smoker) and Ben Pope (Wolfson Howler, Clare Comedy) are part-time comedians and sort-of friends. They've swapped phone numbers. They've been to Subway together. Jamie has complimented Ben on his scarves at least once. Now they're bringing you an evening of hilarious buddy comedy. Featuring their trademark stilted delivery and awkward personalities, these plucky standups are gracing the Corpus Playroom for one night only. Witty observations! Self deprecation! 100% genuine audience interaction! Ben and Jamie think it might be good. These people agree: 'genuinely hysterical’ - The Cambridge Student ‘provoked the loudest guffaws of the night’ - The Tab ‘left the audience gasping for breath’ - Varsity
- November–December 2012
Controlled by her husband, demeaned by her boss, enticed by her co-worker and needed by her children, Molly bears it well... but her subconscious won't take it lying down.
Molly is a dark and beautiful expression of one woman's journey to empowerment. Come Experience It.
- November–December 2012
'Wouldst thou have laugh'd had I come coffin'd home, That weep'st to see me triumph?'
Coriolanus, conqueror of the Volsci, returns to Rome a hero, and is soon pressured by his overbearing mother into running for political office. But he has enemies in the Senate, and will soon discover that all his military skill will do little to save him from the court of public opinion.
How does class define our narratives about the world? What comes first: country or family? How can we cling on to our sense of honour in an age of frivolity?
Coriolanus comes to the Corpus Playroom in a bold and daring new production that radically reinterprets one of Shakespeare's most powerful tragedies.
- November 2012
Burlesque! welcomes you to our Weimar-era, fortune-teller's lair to spend an intimate evening with Ryvita von Teese and her company of charming reprobates.
Bring the art of burlesque back to its roots of social satire, join us for a dizzying romp through musical numbers, sketch comedy and interactive cabaret.
All accompanied by our onstage drag band, Burlesque! is a chaotic variety jamboree and a stand-out production in a town where love comes to die.
- November 2012
Mia is at boarding school. She has access to drugs. They are Martha's. Henry is preparing for Art College. He has access to alcohol. From Martha. Martha controls their lives. Martha is their mother.
Within a bourgeois world of boarding-school torture rituals, addiction clinics and business-class travel, a family is rotting. And there is no escape from psychosis.
"Crammed with startling images, ferocious cruelty and pitch-black humour, it is insolent, audacious, witty and wise."- The Times
That Face won the TMA Award 2007 for Best New Play.
- November 2012
- November 2012
"I can't be the saint people dream of now. People want a street angel. They want a saint but with a cowboy mouth."
Patti Smith, legendary punk-poet. Sam Shepard, revered playwright. Their brief relationship in the 1970s was fraught, a passionate yet all-too brief meeting of minds. 'Cowboy Mouth' is the result. Composed on one typewriter in their room at the Hotel Chelsea, the play offers an eccentric glimpse of these artists at the very start of their career, through the eyes of their projected characters, Slim and Cavale, holed up together in a room. They fight, tell each other stories, and are surrounded by rock'n'roll, French poetry and the potential of separation at every verbal turn. They wait daily for the Lobster Man, who brings them food, and perhaps for something more, for 'un cavale': an escape.
- November 2012
From the team who brought you 'Moments' (*****- TCS, "laugh out loud funny"- The Tab) :
A comedy about knitting, penguins and Battenburg. 'Me, As A Penguin' is an insight into the life of Stitch, his heavily pregnant sister Liz and her sofa-loving partner Mark. Stitch is attempting to sample the gay scene of Hull, Mark is having doubts about 'the bump', whilst Liz is just desperate for the loo.
But who is the man in the giant penguin costume? And why is nobody allowed into the toilet?
From the writer of the smash-hit comedy "The Kitchen Sink", 'Me, As A Penguin' was the centre-piece of Northern Exposure 2009; the West Yorkshire Playhouse's new writing showcase. 'Me, As A Penguin' is witty, heartfelt and deeply engaging.
"A sprightly piece of absurd realism" The Guardian
"Heart-wrenching, engaging and entertaining" whatsonstage.com
