- 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?
- March 2023
Welcome to the 28th inaugural episodes of The Really Late Show! Join interviewer Brie deMeaux for an evening of riveting interviews with unique (C list) guests, fascinating (scam) adverts, and insightful (seedy) glimpses into the lives of celebrities. Gasp at the salacious secrets of our star-studded celebrities. Experience the enigmatic eccentricities of our excellent interviewer. Marvel at deMeaux’s desperate attempts to get the show renewed for a second series. This isn’t just a sketch show. This is a show where you—yes, YOU—will be our very own studio audience.
- March 2023
N.B. this show has been cancelled
Imagine that you must choose one single memory from your life.
Imagine that choosing this memory is your only way of passing through to eternity.
Imagine that you have just one hour to choose...
- March 2023
Did you wish upon a star for an all improvised fairy-tale? Well, someone must have because Once Upon a Whim is a show where your suggestions get fairy-god-mothered into a whimsical and hilarious adventure!
What are our protagonist’s hopes and dreams? Maybe they want to find true love? Or simply learn how to run a cheese factory. You decide!
Watch and chuckle as your suggestions grow into devious villains, snarky sidekicks, and juicy plot twists. The power of storytelling is in your hands so be sure not to miss it, for each night is unique and will never be seen again…
- March 2023
“Je t’aime…Je t’aime…Je t’aime…”
One woman, One telephone. In the middle of her room, a young woman awakes next to her telephone, waiting for a call from her ex-lover. After many wrong numbers, he finally gets through. Over the 40-minute call, Elle delves into their past in search for the truth as we watch her spiral into despair. The connection cuts out, the line between truth and fiction becomes blurred, and a confident woman crumbles as her misery and paranoia overtake her. Based on the play by the same name, Poulenc's powerful one-woman opera La Voix Humaine tells of the importance of human connection, and the fear we all share of being alone.
- March 2023
Following its initial run as a rehearsed reading in October 2022, this new student written play will be staged as a Corpus Mainshow in March 2023
Sam is gay, Sam is Catholic, and Sam's mother doesn't think he should be dating his boyfriend. An exploration of the intersection between faith and sexuality, 'Greater Than Ourselves' engages with a mother and son's endeavour to define what love truly means to them.
- March 2023
…Yeah, we realise how that looks. Let the record show- Going Down is a strictly platonic show.
See, you can only fit so many things within your average two by four metre moving box. A bad boy like that can squeeze in a good sized group- we’ll say seven, maybe eight people. The odd petty power struggle, for sure. A bit of room for some weirdly consistent references to diuretics. And some straight up murder. That’s just good business. But sexual innuendo? Fuggedaboutit!
Take all of that and you’ve got Going Down, a very not serious drama which has a real disregard for keeping the British lexicon consistent. (The word ‘lift’ simply has zero gravitas and we will not be apologising for that at this time). When a group of strangers find themselves shut in an elevator for the foreseeable future, they must navigate the trials of survival, power play and how many times you can ask someone to turn down their phone volume before you look like the unreasonable one.
It’s the kind of situation that can only end well!
For at least one whole person!
- February–March 2023
Lizzie Borden is one of America’s most famous murderers. Or is she?
Five years after Lizzie was proclaimed not guilty for the brutal murder of her parents, the night of the their deaths still haunts her. Lizzie is drinking with her new friend The Actress when she suggests recreating the night in question. But what’s real? What’s acting? Jumping between two time-frames, Sharon Pollock’s eery play asks us to question how misogyny villianizes women, asking who the victim and villain really is here, and leaves you wondering whether we could all be driven to murder under the right circumstances.
- February 2023
According to traditional Chinese beliefs, a person cannot rest in peace and enter their next life if their soul is not brought back home after death. However, this simple requirement is impossible to meet for a group of women: the victims of human (in particular, marriage) trafficking. This age-old, outrageous crime has made them lose their home not just physically, but culturally as well. To save these wandering souls, a girl decided to dedicate herself to helping them find the way home, while her own identity remains a mystery even to her closest companion. Each represented by a kind of flower with special symbolism in Chinese culture, this play focuses on the stories of four women who are from different social backgrounds, different ethnicities, and even different time periods in Chinese history, yet share the same trauma. As they unveil their tragic memories to us, their narration is incorporated with classic poems, traditional dance and music, thus the beauty of Chinese culture is presented alongside various misogynistic aspects of Chinese society, and here raises the question: where does the root of this crime actually lie in?
- February 2023
- February 2023
Don’t miss out on the return of the Fletcher Players’ freshers play as they join the Greek God of wine Dionysus on his journey to the underworld to save theatre. First performed in Athens in 405 BC this surviving Aristophanes comedy follows a colourful cast and has jokes galore ranging from the subtle and politically critical to the ever-classic toilet humour.
- February 2023
"If someone could just tell me, I’d use the guide for every single second of every single day. I’m just so tired of not being able to— I just don’t feel like a person"
WINNER OF THE MARLOWE OTHER PRIZE 2022
Her Very Many Faces explores the lies we tell to be loved a little more, and how these lies destabilise our relationships with things, people and places. Wider social structures, such as class and gender, condition the lies that the protagonist (Her) tells, as she struggles to move between her home life with elderly, working-class parents, and her university life among privileged students. Her eating disorder becomes the only thing she can control as she grapples with her sense of self. But when Her's lies begin to dissolve, perhaps she can find comfort in the truth of who she is.
- February 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!
- February 2023
A robot walks into a convent. What could go wrong?
Electric Rosary imagines a not-too-distant future in which human-looking robots are employed in farms, hospitals, even churches. Acting Mother Elizabeth’s decision to open St Grace’s Convent to one of these robots, Mary, elicits mixed responses from her sisters (in spite of the council bursary which comes with the robot, a sizable sum they need to travel to their sister convent in Ecuador). As Mary’s presence exacerbates tensions among the nuns, the struggle for power within the convent echoes unrest across Britain, where Luddites protesters have started attacking and destroying robots.
‘And that celebration is running through my fingers to my toes, through my boots and up my habit to my hymn book and my rosary. Electricity. That’s what a prayer is.'
Hysterically funny and profoundly moving, Electric Rosary blurs the line between women and machines in a poignant exploration of faith, technology and of what it means to be human.
- February 2023
Sammy, Jason and Teddy, grow up together. Strange concrete places become forests, and the world is big. They find imaginary friends in between these spaces; mirror images of themselves that take them to the world next door.
Then they grow up. Certain doors shut and are brick bound again. Teddy goes missing and his absence causes a rift between them throughout the years that threatens to break them and the fragile lives they've made for themselves.
Sammy and Jason find that the world has moved on without taking them with it.
But as they grow older, neither of them can shake the feeling that someone else is watching them. The world next door is whispering and their imaginary friends don't want to be forgotten.
- February 2023
"I wanted you to have opportunities I couldn't ever have given you".
"No, you didn't. You wanted your own life more than you wanted mine!"
Against the backdrop of the huge social changes of twentieth century England, four generations of women navigate the incredibly complex and difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Rosie are forced to try and reconcile their varying social roles, responsibilities, and the generational burdens they have placed on one another, as they all struggle against impossible societal expectations across the century.
Keatley’s incredibly powerful, emotive and captivating piece is the most performed English play written by a woman. Delving into themes such as teenage pregnancy, familial guilt, duty and above all, sacrifice, it asks us to think about how the decisions and emotional entanglements of family affect generations, and fundamentally what it means to be a mother.
- February 2023
Macroevolution, Variant B is a feel-good comedy/drama about a longlasting three-way friendship.
Three shy freshers meet at a board games night in the university of York, and agree to play the fiendish Macroevolution, Variant B together. This meeting blossoms into a close friendship, over which the group keep playing Macroevolution on and off, for many years, until their lives start moving along different tracks.
Can they help each other navigate the choppy seas of their twenties? Can any of them understand the game’s opaque, pretentious rules enough to win it? Can they keep in touch, or are things coming to a natural close? This original play documents the highs, lows, arguments, and stupid-yet-hilarious banter that you get when three introverts join forces against the world.
