- October–November 2023
“I was looking at the road and I was thinking, as I often think, in the evening, when I am on the doorstep and I am waiting for the rain to come, I was thinking of the years we had lived there, all those years like this, us, you and me, the five of us…”
In this original English translation of Jean-Luc Lagarce’s 1994 play, five women await the return of the prodigal son, ‘the little brother’, who left many years ago. Suddenly, he is back and sleeping in his childhood bedroom, exhausted from his travels. But has he really arrived? And why did he leave? Now, waiting for him to wake up, the five women whisper their own story. In a time suspended between two periods of waiting, the homecoming and the awakening, this lyrical tale of split memory narrates the realities and fantasies of a family in mourning.
- October 2023
- October 2023
Smörgåsbord is the Corpus Playroom's own eclectic bi-annual showcase of new student-written theatre.
For over a decade, this evening has been a rite of passage for emerging student playwrights in Cambridge, and it’s the event at the heart of the Corpus playroom’s calendar.
We particularly seek to give a spotlight to those who haven’t previously had their work audienced, and to anyone who feels that they have an underrepresented narrative or cultural lineage to bring to the fore.
Come and sample a platter of the most exciting new theater in town!
- October 2023
"You are going to die in an hour and a half. You are going to die at the end of the play."
A King only has until the end of the play to live. How will he spend this final evening of existence?
From the walls of the palace to the workings of the solar system, the universe is falling apart. His kingdom has crumbled; his room is cold. His first wife remains unflinching; his second wife is obstinately optimistic. King Berenger’s 400 years of life are coming to an end, whether he accepts it or not. Who could have seen this coming?
Ionesco's darkly comedic play takes an absurdist look at a once-powerful King grappling with the futility of life and the inevitability of death.
- October 2023
How can everything just stop like this? What is coming next? Will the world ever be safe again? Locked down in her room, these questions swirling in her head like snow on the mountaintop, she reminisces on the years before the pandemic, grappling with these ‘unprecedented times’ in the face of the world as she knows it coming to a halt. Memories of the Brexit vote and first boyfriends, Trump and Chemistry homework all blur into one chaotic recollection, as she tries to come to terms with the new state of the world, and whether she can make peace with it and finally come out of isolation.
- October 2023
- October 2023
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect !
Gregor Samsa has worked. And worked. And worked. All his life. As a travelling salesman, Gregor works relentlessly to support his struggling family. His mother, a worried and endlessly busy housewife who cares deeply for her family, his father, hyper critical ‘in-the-home’ tyrant who’s terrified of authority, and his little sister Greta, a promising violinist who looks up to him, find their home turned into a world of horror as Gregor wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a “gigantic insect!”. Whilst Gregor struggles to survive, keep any sense of mental clarity and desperately longs to return to human form, his family’s opinions swiftly devolve from sympathy to despair and hatred as they live in terror both of their son they so desperately relied upon, and in constant fear of his discovery. Berkoff’s adaptation of Kafka’s iconic novella explores the effects of a ‘money-driven’ society’s pressure on the individual and the strain it causes on family relationships in a powerful and moving way which will make you reassess what takes does and what should take priority in life.
- October 2023
Be Happy. Be Angry. Be Sad. Be Apathetic. Be all four at once.
The Four Seasons of Tyler Branch shows the same day in the life of Tyler in four different versions, each with its own unique Tyler. In each version his life has gone a little different, but the people in his life remain the same. His sister still knows how to get under his skin, right when he’s busy elsewhere. His mother still interferes haphazardly on the most important days of his life. And his childhood friend is still hanging around, for reasons nobody can quite tell. Each version has different consequences, different outcomes, and one very big thing in common, something Tyler doesn’t want to talk about…
- October 2023
Diagnosed as a child with a severe mental illness, Anna was heavily medicated on an abundance of pills. Now, as a young adult, she wonders what life would have been like without them. However, in her attempt to rediscover her interrupted passions, she threatens the delicate balance her mother has fought to maintain.
The Almighty Sometimes is a vivid and sensitive exploration of the reality of mental illness, for those who experience it firsthand, and for those who love them.
- October 2023
Blank Canvas is a brand new creative writing venture by the Fletcher Players!
In Michaelmas Week 0, the Fletcher Players are organising a table read for new and untested scripts by emerging Cambridge student writers. The idea is to create a low-key, welcoming space for scripts to be performed in front on an audience, who can then offer their responses. The focus is very much on providing a positive and nurturing environment where feedback can be sourced and given constructively. Pleased to announce that the programme is as follows:
==============================
TUESDAY 3RD OCTOBER:
6:30pm - "One and a Part" by Toby Collins (approx. 50 mins)
7:40pm - "I miss SOPHIE" by Evie Chandler (approx. 55 mins)
WEDNESDAY 4TH OCTOBER:
6:30pm - "Angelus" by Jacinta Ngeh (approx. 120 mins)
THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBER:
6:30pm - "Oranges, Cut into Six" by Yen Min Ting (approx. 80-85 mins)
8:15pm - "Skylines" by Isabella Bottle (> 40 mins)
FRIDAY 6TH OCTOBER:
6:30pm - "302" by Theo Chen (approx. 45 mins)
7:35pm - "Turpitude" by Catherine McLean (< 90 mins)
SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER:
6:25pm - “The Lover’s Choice” by Irisa Kwok (approx. 5 minutes)
6:30pm - “Soul Surprise, Some Advice” by Jacob Tucker (approx. 30 mins)
7:20pm - “Mages & Misadventures” by Bear Stephenson (approx. 50-60 mins)
8:30pm - “Untitled (A Trans Magdalene Play)” by Evie Chandler (approx. 50 mins)
==============================
- September 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- July 2023
- July 2023
N.B. this show has been cancelled
The Way Ahead centres around a couple-one an actress/ composer, the other a playwright, struggling with their relationship-who are on a quest to find the secret ingredient that allows a work to stand the test of time.
Can it be found? BE SURPRISED.
A strange encounter forces them to face hidden truths. A sacrifice must be made.
The play is set in the north west Highlands with a semi-mythical feel, and has surreal elements.
It explores different times/spaces, memory and the nature of relationship, with humour and compassion.
An uplifting journey into other worlds? BE PREPARED.
- June 2023
'I shall drag myself through the flames of hell; and from the ashes I shall be born anew.'
Self-proclaimed people's champion Alex Franklin attempts to carve their face into comedy's Mount Rushmore, and blow the whole thing to smithereens.
An absurdist, chaotic, musical, lightning-fast, generation-defining show that will be talked about by Alex's therapist for years to come.
As seen/heard on Channel 4 / HBO Max / BBC Radio 4.
'Undeniably ludicrous comedy gold' **** (Entertainment-Now.com)
'Eclectic, risk-taking and inventive' (Scotsman)
- June 2023
- August 2023
Four Cut Sunflowers: CUADC x Edinburgh Fringe play 2023
‘When light and dark converge, it is an act of creation…’.
It’s the late 19th century. Modernity is taking hold of Europe… Socialism, feminism and ‘modernity’ is fastening its grip, and conservatism and the classical tradition is on its way out.
This play follows the true story of Johanna Van-Gogh Bonger, the woman who single-handedly made Vincent Van Gogh one of the most influential figures in western art history. Formerly an unknown and marginalised figure, this play aims to shed light on her incredible and inspiring life, and reveal the woman behind the artist.
This is a story about desire, grief, guilt, passion and politics. It calls into question why we create art, and what it means to leave an imprint on the world.
- August 2023
The love of a cruel bull, a queen’s illicit affair, and her hybrid son, the Minotaur, a monument to her cursed lust. A bold, feminist imagining of Euripides’ lost play ‘The Cretans’, it’s time for Pasiphae to tell her own story.
Exploring how dance, movement and puppetry can come together with the Greek chorus to create a striking piece, Evie Chandler's follow up to her London debut 'Cow' promises to get right to the heart of what it means to love and lust.
- June 2023
N.B. this show has been cancelled
Meet Eliza. 16, and meeting her father for the first time. 16, and kissing girls for the first time. 16, and encountering racism for definitely not the first time…
Meet Danni. He runs the mostly empty gay bar, and he might even be falling for its straight owner…
Meet Jonni. Their ex is back in town…
Falling pianos! Custard pies! Drag to 80s classics! All that and more! So come in; buy a drink. And welcome to the Cock and Butch!
- June 2023
Frank is a frustrated poet and brilliant academic whose disillusioned outlook on life drives him to drink and bury himself in his books. Enter Rita who is eager to learn and slowly wins over the hesitant Frank with her innate insight and refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer. Their relationship as a tutor and student blossoms, ultimately giving Frank a new sense of self and Rita the knowledge she so craves.
Full of humour and poignancy, this beautifully written play is as relevant and unmissable today as it was in 1980, when it first hit the stage.
- May 2023
A Grave, once full, lies empty, and the dead return in ever decreasing circles…
UnEarthed follows Mark and Georgia, two estranged siblings who are reluctantly reunited by the death of their alcoholic Dad. After the funeral, they both stay in the family home; soon, however, a grave opens and strange things occur. UnEarthed deals with the simmering insecurities, rifts and silences which exist in a family rent by depression and alcoholism. As the dead rise from their graves and walk, so histories slip from tongues and talk.
- May 2023
A chilling trio of Short Plays, ‘Beckett after dark’ interprets the absurdist playwright into an obscuring darkness where small lights of resistance spring. In a pitch black stage, accompanied by a characterful, live band, the night will bring forth the voices of those hidden by tyrants of life, loyalty, and love. ‘Play,’ ‘Not I,’ and ‘Words and Music,’ are some of the most compelling stories that the playwright has to offer, and the cruel darkness of the theatre will let them shine. While preserving the ways of the texts, these new interpretations will present a welcoming introduction to curious newcomers and intriguing twists for seasoned audiences.
- May 2023
She's had enough of pictures of kids with bald heads. She's had enough of being told she's brave and she's definitely had enough of her own body trying to kill her.
She's sick of it.
Sick of It is a true, solo(-ish) show on what it's like to be young and have cancer, told through memory, sound and song. Being in your 20s is hard enough, you don't need to be dying at the same time.
- May 2023
Sky, a precocious but quiet teenager, gets caught smoking a zoot and is sentenced to live with their teacher, Miss Court. Between Miss Court's caution to maintain boundaries and Sky's disinterest in interacting at all, neither of them is expecting the other to be anything except a housemate. But a badly-timed Covid-19 infection forces the two to spend a fortnight with no social options except one another.
What emerges from the ashes of this explosion of misfortune could either be a beautiful gift, or a disaster...
An original musical about friendship, trust, identity and weed.
- May 2023
secreting is a series of duologues documenting the intimate conversations that take place between a group of teenagers in the peripheries of a house party as they flail through to the early hours. Trying so hard to surpass the bubble boundaries of selfhood and connect with others, these characters shoot and miss miserably, creating cringe-worthy, heart-warming, and chilling drama out of the—seemingly—most basic human interactions.
A tragicomedy, the play vacillates between naturalism—largely in dialogue—and grotesque physicality. Nostalgia meets abjection.
As our characters try so hard to have fun and impress, mundanity spills imperceptibly into danger.
- May 2023
- May 2023
WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Orwell's chilling vision for the future, brought into the modern day by Duncan Macmillan and Robert Icke. Outer Party member Winston Smith of the Ministry of Truth has started a diary, and fallen in love - and Big Brother is watching him. Knowing that "he is the dead", Winston embarks upon his doomed romance with the beautifully impure Julia, and develops a political fascination with the Party's eternal enemy Emmanuel Goldstein, day by day committing his tiny rebellion against Big Brother. But no end is in sight for the Party's rule, and Room 101 can open for anybody.
- May 2023
On a cold Moscow night in 1925, a stray dog is lured to the laboratory of a rich and eccentric professor, where his endocrine system is replaced with that of a recently deceased man. As the dog morphs into an increasingly human creature, the professor's hitherto respectable life becomes a nightmare. The creature's interest in revolutionary values wars with the traditional views of the professor, the housing committee banging at his door to divide up his flat for increased occupancy. A black comedy based on the work of Kiev-born author Mikhail Bulgakov (most famous for 'The Master and Margarita'), 'Heart of a Dog' brings a cult Soviet satire for the first time to the English stage.
- May 2023
Chiltern is in dire straits: his livelihood, his public image, and his marriage are all on the line all because the wounds of his scandalous past have been reopened by the sly, conniving Cheveley. Oscar Wilde's classic play enraptures the audience with quick-wit, sharp-tongues, and scandalous corruption but in this adaption, the play is transported from the aristocratic manors of 19th century Britain to the tense and vibrant parties of 1970s America in a changing world, where every turn is broadcasted every minute to hungry eyes and ears.
- April 2023
- April 2023
This compelling new solo show, written and performed by Mark Stratford, tells the story of William Charles Macready, one of the greatest actor-managers of the 19th Century. The story of Macready - the man to whom Charles Dickens dedicated "Nicholas Nickleby" - is one of the most remarkable ever to come out of the Theatre. With humour, drama, emotion, and an array of characters, Stratford takes us through the highlights of Macready’s life including his first tentative steps on stage in a tatty country theatre to his final ever performance at the mighty Drury Lane.
- April 2023
A compelling solo show based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novella. First published in 1886, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is a mystery tale about the inexorable conflict between good and evil. In this faithful adaptation Stevenson's gripping narrative is brought vividly to life through a combination of powerful storytelling and masterful character creation.
- March–April 2023
- March 2023
- March 2023
Bea is an intrepid traveller who falls in love with the tranquil life of a sleepy, far-off town and the beautiful artist, Sol, who lives on the sun-dappled square. Fulfilling her promise to return, Bea leaves behind her dreary life only to be faced with a desert landscape plagued by drought, famine, and warfare. With the help of a wise old man, the two face the desperation of their situation, navigating a mystical land, Sol’s controlling father, and futile conflict. Will they survive?
