- October 2022
"Do not let him finish this case. For the sake of his own health and yours..."
Thorgil was a world-renowned detective. A charming paragon of justice with a mansion, books written about him, and even his own thinking scarf!
Now he is an old man. Alone in a house too big for him and a world that sees him as nothing more than a cheesy sell-out.
But when he finds out that he is dying of unknown causes nothing else is on Thorgil’s mind except a mystery to be solved, and a legacy to be rebuilt.
This new original drama by Frederick Upton takes the iconic murder mystery genre and flips it completely on its head – exploring the dynamics of legacies, role models and swollen egotism- and poses the question of ‘what do we do when we see our old heroes grow too grey and senile for their own good?’
- October 2022
Love, betrayal and revenge behind the scenes of a production of Othello, against the political turmoil of Jim-Crow America, set in the hotels the cast stay in whilst on tour.
- October 2022
After meeting at a pet cemetery, divorce lawyer Bernadette and free-spirited musician Oliver start to date. But their relationship is tested when a new law is enforced: citizens are only permitted to speak 140 words a day. As their regular relationship develops against the backdrop of a dystopian political experiment, we ask ourselves: can a relationship survive on tapping out messages in morse code? How do you argue with your partner when you’ve got a word limit? And what happens to words when there is so much to say and so little freedom?
- October 2022
A New Brain is a musical about making the most out of life in the face of tragedy. When a neurotic, frustrated composer is confronted with a terminal illness, he finds comfort in the healing power of art. The show is William Finn’s autobiographical account of his own battle for life when afflicted with a brain injury. As the central character, Gordon, struggles to survive, he finds salvation in his music.
Brought to you by the writing team of tony-award winning Falsettos, A New Brain is a tender, heartfelt and funny exploration of the ways in which creativity stems from everywhere; “you gotta have heart and music!”
- October 2022
- September 2022
- July 2022
The Belvoir Players’ inaugural production is the premiere of “The Firefolk in the Air” by David Hutchison. The action centres on an allegation of sexual harassment and the university administration’s attempts to deal with it:
"On a starlit night, Terry Freeman, eminent professor of molecular biology at a redbrick university, is gripped in a moment of lust on the canal towpath with one of his post-grad students…
But who gripped who? And was there something else in the air that night? Vice Chancellor, Julie Richards, is determined to get to the truth of the matter, and to do what is best for the University…"
The well-drawn characters tell a compelling story, alongside the ‘who did what to whom’, raising many thought-provoking issues about justice, belief, society’s rewards, and the perspective of time.
The excellent cast promises to do justice to an intriguing and well-crafted new play by an award-winning author.
- July 2022
Two explosive and comedic short plays written by Steven Berkoff, performed back-to-back by the same one actor.
- June 2022
In a hilarious subversion of a romantic comedy, How to Date a Feminist turns a traditional straight relationship on its head by playing with ideas of feminism and gender roles. This incredibly self aware production uses stereotypes and cinematic tropes to bring a traditional rom-com storyline into the 21st century, weaving in some classic family drama for good measure. Kate and Steve are caught between their parents’ expectations, supposedly ‘perfect’ partners and their own predisposed (and gendered) understanding of what a relationship should be.
- June 2022
I want this to be a validating experience for you. Can I suck your cock?
52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals will not be a validating experience for you. In this devised two-woman comedy show, we will take you on a journey from Germaine Greer to Jouissance, from Barbara Streisand to BDSM. Documenting our experiences of love, sex and intimacy as trans women, 52 Monologues promises to be outrageous, confronting and honest.
- June 2022
Once upon a time, a load of gays and their cishet best friend (what? We all have one) walk into a bookshop, looking for love. Except of course no-one can agree, people are hiding things, and anyway love is always unrequited so what’s the point?
Meet Gee and Zae. Rich and Davie. Kallie and Chad. Three couples – or at least, they should be. But they don’t know that yet…
But, as if love and heartbreak weren’t enough, when their eccentric landlord threatens Gee and Zae’s bookshop, everything is thrown into flux. The bookshop is their anchor, their livelihood, and the centre of their little community. Losing it would mean losing everything.
- June 2022
Now and Then is a show about illness, and the feeling of being ‘other’ whilst navigating modern life.
- May 2022
Gareth and Georgia are getting married today. Which Ro and Mac are fine with. Really.
They’re fine with how Georgia (Mac’s ex) and Gareth (both Ro and Mac’s ex) met through them, fell in love, and happily left the two of them behind. They’re fine with how their own 15-year friendship was entirely wrecked through the creation of this rather confusing love quadrilateral. What they are not fine with, however, is how, instead of being at the wedding, they’re stuck in the storeroom of the sub-par Italian restaurant Ro works at, with nothing to do but finally talk to each other, and work through some of the things they’re potentially, just maybe, not so fine with after all. Wedding of the Century is a hopeful comedy exploring love and friendship, and what happens when the two really fail to work together nicely.
- May 2022
1 and 2 have been inside so long that they can’t remember their own names. It’s only when 3 appears that they recall there might be something beyond their living room. Over the years they have created their own world and named it Ballyturk, a place merging mythology and memory.
- May 2022
- May 2022
'A Place on Earth' is a fun new comedy following four students on a night out to a gay club in London. The audience plays the fly-on-the-wall to Tina and Harry's attempts to seduce Molly and Tom, watching the four as they drink more, take more and dance more. This exciting piece captures all the twists and turns of a night out; its characters are quick and thrill-seeking, its comedy is biting and its plot is relatable. In short, it's a great night out.
- May 2022
An Open Book is a Wildean farce set in modern-day Cambridge.
Professor Ernest Gray stands for academic rigour, discipline, and truth. He avoids frays on Twitter. His moral backbone is widely considered to be as inflexible as a Scudamores punting pole. Yet when a St John’s librarian - half-mad with dreams of power, conquest, and chapel-to-library conversion schemes - uncovers scandalous relics from his wild youth as a Master’s student, Ernest is forced into quandary. Does he bend to blackmail to save his reputation and his (almost-existent) love life? Or does he dare to be an open book?
- May 2022
The Chair traces the key transitions in a Singaporean family’s ancestry, observing the evolution of a bloodline from rough immigrant labourers to educated businessmen and women. The members of the family gain affluence, survive war, and fight among themselves, with a chair being passed from generation to generation, witnessing it all. The importance of this story lies in its characters and how they are portrayed, the nuance of Singaporean behaviours and relationships, and the shared history of the nation. This show is meant to provide an insight into what makes Singapore and its people the way it is.
- May 2022
How to right the wrong of insatiable money-hungry men when you’re a powerless student? Easy. Kidnap a billionaire.
Brian Henry is a member of the upper echelons of British society. The unparalleled success of his social media company Voyeurme has given him a net worth of £4.4 billion – Leigh, Robyn and Sophie have had enough. These modern-day Robin Hoods set out to solve this financial imbalance by kidnapping Brian, holding him to ransom and redistributing his billions amongst the employees he has so grossly underpaid.
This darkly comic piece of new writing explores the power dynamic when age, class and gender norms are instantly subverted and asks how far do you have to go to make a change?
- May 2022
What happens when you combine a lifelong goody-two-shoes with a girl who just keeps digging herself holes? You get Maria, chattering on at you for an hour about all the times she’s got it wrong before getting it right. Join Cambridge Footlight, Maria Pointer in her one-woman show ‘Say it Loud!’ as she lets you in on all the chaos of her life and what it’s like to live in the shadow of a certain musical number…
Come and have a laugh (at Maria’s expense) and join in the fun for one night, and one night only!
- May 2022
My eyes are vague blue, like the sky, and change all the time.
– Frank O'Hara, Meditations in an Emergency
A precocious young man on the cusp of adulthood, Artem grapples for a sense of purpose. Estranged from his father, dismissed by his lover and disillusioned by the world around him, he exists in a limbo that is hard to escape. But as a political campaign threatens to turn things sour, Artem must confront his priorities and carve out a path of his own.
However Belligerent the Cactus is an original drama that deals with ambition, idealism, and the search for identity. In a time where life itself can become a performance, learning to be authentic is no simple task.
- May 2022
“What if I said you could go back in time. For just one hour. And change the course of your life, forever...”
Mild-mannered Ned Burger is 57 years old, happily married and runs a sandwich shop in San Francisco. However, he’s still got a chip on his shoulder from his high school rivalry with world-famous baseball player Garry Bonds. Following a visit from the ghost of baseball legend Lou Gehrig, Ned is given a unique opportunity: to go back in time to his high school days and show Garry who he is, once and for all…
This original comedy-drama by Rishi Sharma asks a fundamental question: what will you sacrifice to be the best? The play is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, and, most importantly, requires no knowledge of baseball, its rules or its history.
- May 2022
The young white looking guy who swears he's an Arab really does a funny show about being an Arab but not really.
semi-finalist- chortle 2019
quarter-finalist - Leicester square new comedian 2022
quarter-finalist - the Musical comedy awards 2022
quarter finalist- Sketch off 2022
This performance is recommended for audiences aged 15+
- April 2022
'What on earth’s the matter with these people? He took absolutely no notice of me. Like I didn’t even exist... You can see me. Can’t you? You two? You can see me? Can’t you?'
Melanie believes she has foreseen the future. But has she really? Or is it all in her mind? True or false, she has seen events which threaten the life of one she secretly loves and she feels they are in terrible danger. What can she possibly do or say to prevent things happening and who will even believe her?
This amateur production of Consuming Passions is presented by an arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd.
- April 2022
Castlemore is currently being ruled by the evil Queen B! She plans to get rid of all the children in the land! (Boo!) Who can stop her? Is it that funny Nanny Doolittle (she says she can talk to the animals!) Or maybe the new mysterious Prince Theodore who's just come into town? Or maybe even her younger sister... Princess Ella? 'SuperElla' is jam-packed with songs, action and some good old family entertainment! A year round panto! Oh yes it is!
- April 2022
- March–April 2022
"I'm warning you, don't weep. That's what they want. So don't cry. Laugh. Do you hear me? Laugh." Stop us if you've heard this one before. An Englishman, an Irishman, and an American... are locked in a bare call, political prisoners captured by Lebanese terrorists. Over time, the three men overcome their personal, cultural and religious differences to lean on each other in order to attempt to survive their horrific ordeal with their minds intact. Based on a true story, this play by classic Irish playwright Frank McGuinness celebrates the strength of the human spirit and the power of laughter in the face of oppression.
- March 2022
‘This is not the story of how they died. This is the story of how they lived.’
It’s time to tell a story that you’ve never heard before. A story that is not only culturally significant for Jews but also important for all of us as human beings. It is a story about resilience, about the best and worst we as people have the potential to be and, most importantly, it is a story about stories.
The story we want to tell takes place in Warsaw during the Second World war, more specifically the brutal Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of that great city were forced to live during the Nazi occupation. Our protagonist is Emmanuel Ringelblum. Through his creation of the Oyneg Shabes, a secret group of archivists, he would fight the Nazis by collecting and burying thousands of essays, articles, poems, payslips, photographs, songs- testimony to Jewish life and living- so that if indeed the Jews were wiped out of history by their oppressors, their true voices would survive in some capacity.
This devised piece of theatre celebrates life in the face of certain death. It celebrates Jewish culture as beautiful, wonderful and full of stories. Ringelblum understood and celebrated this more than anyone.
We intend to honour his legacy.
- March 2022
The Captive is a play first staged in 1926 in Paris which, upon being staged on Broadway, was one of the first to have an explicitly lesbian character. It’s a play with an amazing history: after 160 performances, the show was not only shut down but led to the passage of the Wales Padlock Act banning depictions of homosexuality on Broadway stages. Part of a canon of LGBT+ plays from an era pre-empting a more repressive time in American theatre, this show is being staged with an all-female/NB cast with an emphasis on its historical context.
The play tells the story of Jacques, a man in love with his friend Irene, who in turn is a lesbian struggling to hide her lover, Madame d’Aguines. The play is a compelling story of unrequited love and the navigation of relationships and homosexuality in the early twentieth century.
- March 2022
...it’s such a relief to have love again and to lie in bed and be held and touched and kissed and adored and your heart...
From a desolate and unnamed city, four voices emerge. A, C, B and M desperately seek out love and light, in the process finding life’s many ecstasies, horrors and heartbreaks. Sarah Kane’s Crave is a beautiful and unnerving one-act play, meditating on desire, belonging and obsession.
- March 2022
We've taken Henrik Ibsen's "unstageable" drama and Edvard Grieg's classical incidental music, and turned it into a brand new, original jazz reinterpretation. Performed live by a three-piece jazz band and a cast of three, 'Peer Gynt' is half-way between a piece of theatre and jazz gig.
Peer Gynt supposedly lives a life alongside princes, trolls and magic animals -- but everyone knows he’s lying!
His story, a tragic comedy, a realistic fantasy, and a satyrical biography, spans an entire lifetime and half the known world. Along the way, he procrastinates, flees, explores, loves, regrets, and learns.
- March 2022
- March 2022
A hard thing has come under the people of Briggsley village: the soil they have ploughed for generations now rejects their tools impenetrably. It won't be shovelled, scraped, swept, moistened or wormed into! Every crumb of the earth refuses to budge.
Nina is a tyke or an oracle (depending on who you ask) and tries fervently to advise her folk. But who will listen? None! Except for Orla, of course.
As farce becomes famine and horizons prove tough, frustrations become frenzies and enough becomes enough becomes enough!
'Unsoiled' is an original drama, but will it break ground?
- February 2022
Smörgåsbord is a night of new writing, hosted by the Fletcher Players in the Corpus Playroom. We are committed to bringing you a taste the freshest writing in Cambridge, ranging from 5 to 15 minutes.
This term, as LGBT+ History month is around the corner, we are particularly interested in putting on pieces of writing with LGBT+ characters and themes, but we really want to work from people from all marginalised backgrounds, including BAME , working class and disabled people. There is no experience barrier - I really want the perspectives which we haven’t seen enough of on Cambridge stages.
- February 2022
Alex DiMaggio has made the most important discovery of their career. The identity of the Blue Lagoon statuette, one of the 21st century’s greatest archaeological mysteries, has finally been revealed. Tomorrow, Alex will unveil their discovery at an exclusive event within the prestigious Blast Museum to a select entourage of VIPs, reporters, and historical experts. Years of diligent work are finally paying off. That is, until Alex’ old friend, Susan, comes to call. Now the famed Blue Lagoon is shattered to pieces, and it’s up to Alex and Susan to try and replace it. And all the while they’ll have to dodge overbearing bosses, psychotic security guards, and a litany of ridiculously demanding VIPs. Will they get away with it? Or be strung up as yet another one of the museum’s artifacts, caught in the spotlight and judged by the world.
Based on farcical British comedies like Fawlty Towers, Blue Lagoon is a homage to the creative style of playwrights like Peter Schaffer, showcasing two character’s descent as they dig deeper and deeper into their own lies in the attempt to save their skin.
- February 2022
A summer evening. Hazel and Robin are two retired nuclear engineers, living in a remote cottage on the coast. They live in the shadow of a recent meltdown at the plant where they used to work: a disaster responsible for the devastation of the local landscape.
But their ambling life is interrupted by the arrival of Rose: a former colleague, unseen for 38 years. Rose has come with a plan to compensate for the mistakes that led to catastrophe. But it is an unpopular one: it is a plan that threatens to completely shatter the comfort of Hazel and Robin's previously peaceful retirement.
Lucy Kirkwood’s drama plays out hugely far-reaching contemporary generational tensions within the contained sphere of the claustrophobic domestic space. It is a play that offers us a terrifying glimpse into a hypothetical future of environmental collapse: one in which interpersonal relationships are left just as precarious as the natural landscape that surrounds them.
