- February 2012
'You take your eyes off a show for two minutes, and the next thing you know the theatre's half empty and all the laughs have gone.'
Keith is at the theatre watching his play. So is everyone else. Allegedly. But what with upholstery, understudies and unwelcome birthday treats, is it any surprise no one's paying attention?
From Michael Frayn, two times winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy and writer of ‘Noises Off’ comes ‘Audience’, a one-act comedy about how the real spectacle can be found in the stalls, even if the drama is on stage.
- November 2011
- November 2011
You've Burnt The Parsnips is an original 45 minute one-act comedy, telling the story of an ill-fated dinner party.
Susan, a positively obnoxious snob, is fretting over the last-minute preparations for the dinner party she is holding for her brother’s twenty-fifth birthday. While she panics and perfects every minute detail, all her husband, Simon, does is dance along to his only remaining record, after the mysterious disappearance of his collection. Simon - a long-suffering and downtrodden man - yearns to escape his marriage but is too weak to oppose his tyrannical wife.
As the guests arrive, the underlying tensions surface all too easily: Susan’s bitter competition with her “common” sister, Brenda; a not-so-subtle affair between Susan and Brenda’s husband; and Susan’s overbearing mollycoddling of her wimp of a younger brother.
Served with a generous helping of snide gibes and a hearty dollop of awkwardness thanks to an unworn Christmas present and a total disregard for the Estonian champagne industry, "Parsnips" follows every member of the family reaching breaking point and setting out to exact revenge in increasingly inventive ways.
Will the evening’s events finally set Simon free?
- November 2011
Freshers' Week: we've all been there. This time with songs...
Follow the lives of five freshers as they attempt to navigate the highs and lows of that first week of university life. Nervous Hayley is finding it difficult being away from home but there is hope that cheeky chappy Tuc will help her overcome her fears. Posh boy Rupert enjoys playing croquet, but his female counterpart Ally seems less than impressed by his advances. And shy Basil is struggling to find out who he really is... Will rapping about your cat really win you friends? Is Frankenstein or Flo Rida a more appropriate costume for the fancy-dress party? And why are all romantic encounters fraught with complications? With the ‘best years of our lives’- and some of the worst mornings after - re-imagined in musical form, FRESHER! will take you back to those first days of university you wish you could forget.
- November 2011
- October 2011
Serge has bought a painting. A very expensive, totally white painting. Marc hates it. Yvan is caught in the middle.
Marc is a cynical know-it-all. Serge is a proud name-dropping showoff. Yvan is just trying to be a good friend and mediator.
If your friendship is based on tacit mutual agreement, what happens when one person does something completely different and unexpected? The question is: Are you who you think you are, or who your friends think you are?
Multiple Comedy Awards. The Tony Award for Best Play. Who'd have thought it was all about a "white piece of shit"?
- May 2011
- February 2011
How hard could a wedding amongst friends be? Plenty of booze, plenty of food, plenty of room to sit. Just make sure you choose your guests wisely.
A newly-wed couple’s reception seems destined for merriment. In the intimacy of their new house with their respective families and friends, surrounded by home-made furniture, and the prospect of their life together, the party seems well on its way. Except no one’s got anything to talk about. As conversation drags around such party-friendly topics as choking and wood-glue, the tension rises, and the guests’ attempts to liven the atmosphere pushes nerves and furniture to breaking-point. Newly-weds with a shameful secret. Family members without scruples. Parents with terrible stories. And couples full of resentment. All thrown onto a stage literally on the verge of collapse. One of Brecht’s first outings on the stage, this unlikely, uncomfortable comedy is one of his lesser-known works, and will be a one-off event performed IN THE ORIGINAL GERMAN for all to experience the play as it was written.
- February 2011
From the "hilarious" (Varsity) Dannish Babar comes a brand-new, "hilarious" (TCS) evening of stand-up comedy and mentalism that promises to be "hilarious" (The Tab).
What the press pack says: "Dannish Babar has got to be one of the most strangely endearing people free to roam the streets" - The Tab "Stunning character, originality and confidence" - Varsity "An unattractive man [...] who did a slow stand-up set" - Oxford Cherwell
- February 2011
From the "hilarious" (Varsity) Dannish Babar comes a brand-new, "hilarious" (TCS) evening of stand-up comedy that promises to be "hilarious" (The Tab).
Previous praise: "Dannish Babar has got to be one of the most strangely endearing people free to roam the streets" - The Tab "Stunning character, originality and confidence" - Varsity "An unattractive man [...] who did a slow stand-up set" - Oxford Cherwell
- November 2010
Three comic sketches and one short play; all by the late, great Harold Pinter.
'Trouble in the Works', a farce, takes a hilarious look at the trials and tribulations suffered by a factory owner whose workers have 'taken a turn against the products'.
'Request Stop' sees a young woman reveal surprising motives, as she berates a stranger at a bus stop.
'That's Your Trouble' charts the course of bickering between friends as a sandwich board starts an innocent discussion that quickly becomes heated.
'Party Time' is a darkly comic short play. The play, which takes the form of a political allegory, explores the multiple underlying tensions at an upper class party: what is this mysterious club that everyone is raving about? Why has there been a disturbance outside? And where, we wonder, is Jimmy?
- November 2010
A table, some chairs, and some lockers... Watch as you are drawn into the hyper-realistic setting of The Scientifically Minded. In this student's hangout, a group of under- and post-graduates discuss their lives, their loves and their futures as we are afforded a tantalising glimpse into their complex lives. Through their everyday, nonsensical conversations, we see moral and scientific issues taking root in the hearts of the students undertaking this research, as topics such as genetic manipulation and animal testing arise.
This translation of Oriza Hirata's acclaimed play is a modern theatre experience that brings the audience into its starkly realistic world, blurring the boundaries between the stage and actuality. And as these students discuss their everyday situations and the problems of their work, they tackle fundamental ideas of what it means to live, from both a scientific and an immensely personal perspective.
- November 2010
Ava is gone, events must take their course, though not everybody - past or present - knows why.
"Joseph - What's done is done, I suppose, so if we could put the events of Kristallnacht behind us, I'd like you to come for dinner, following the meeting tomorrow. I've a speech I'd like you to take a look at it . Your help would be appreciated - public speaking is not, after all, what I am remembered for - I couldn't bear to put on a poor show. Regards, Hermann."
Germany, the 12th of November, 1938 - possibly - Dieter is hiding in the kitchens, Helga is drunk again, and Frederick flits between above and below, in denial. History is and is not what we make of it. Pembroke New Cellars, Week 5: 9th-13th November, 7:45pm. An immersive, intimate new piece of theatre by Niall Wilson, previously shortlisted for the Marlowe Society 'Other Prize' for both 'Notes on Another Life' and 'A Lesson in Morbidity', and writer of the "Best Overall Play for the Judges and Audience" at the 2009 ADC '24 Hour Plays'.
- October 2010
At the dawn of human civilisation, only the big, muscular men and women able to defend their families and tribes survived. As these groups grew in number, and the tall, strong farmers could provide food surpluses, an evolutionary niche was filled by the 'comedy writer'. This weak-willed yet mindful fool used wit to disarm opponents, self deprecation to lull them into a false sense of security, and then, finally, irony to deliver the fatal blow. Laughter evolved as a defense mechanism, and is as popular today as ever. This sketch show is its next test.
- March 2010
‘Quality Street’: the glittering Restoration-revival comedy that inspired a family favourite box of chocolates. Phoebe Throssel and Valentine Brown are the lovers parted by war in Napoleon’s Europe; when Brown returns home, it seems old passions have been laid to rest. But with the aid of her stalwart sister, Phoebe sets out to captivate Brown once again in the guise of her own coquettish ‘niece’. The light-hearted deception mounts to a crisis, with hilarious complications, and a heart-warming conclusion. Auditions: Sunday 24th January, Pembroke College, N7, 14:00-18:00 Contact: Alexander Whiscombe aw413 with any questions.
- February 2010
‘Loving Leticia’ is a lighthearted, newly-written melodrama, which is full of fun, comedy and laughter. Leticia is in love with Augustus, but her mother is desperately trying to marry her off to Lord Leighton who is certainly not all he seems... Is poor Leticia doomed or will love conquer all?
- November 2009
The play follows the philosophical, meandering and often comical conversations of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two incidental characters from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', as they wait for something to happen to them. Whenever something does, it is in the form of encounters with other characters from 'Hamlet', which just serve to make the title duo question the bizarre nature of their lives further. Slowly they realise, that rather than being leads in their own story, they might just be disposable roles in someone else's.
- November 2009
When a deranged boy, Alan Strang, blinds six horses with a metal spike, he is sentenced to psychiatric treatment. Dr Dysart is the man given the task of uncovering what happened the night Strang committed his crime, but in doing so he will open up his own wounds. While Dysart struggles to define sanity, and justify his marriage, his career, and his life of normality; ultimately he must ask himself: is it the patient or psychiatrist whose life is being laid bare?
- November 2009
“A great while ago the world begun with hey, ho, the wind and the rain ...”
When twins Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked off the coast of Illyria, each of them believes that the other is dead. In order to survive alone in this masculine world, Viola disguises herself as a boy with some surprising consequences!
Come and audition for the chance to take part in Shakespeare’s darkly comic tale of love, deception and cross-dressing...
- May 2009
- March 2009
In the history of great men, where do the mediocre fit in?
Professor Thomson is, in her own words, “feckless and posh, but really rather clever.” However, despite her boundless self-confidence the invention of a time machine in her lab does come as something of a surprise. Her delicate equilibrium is further disrupted by the arrival of some angry historians closely followed by the political establishment. Fortunately two ambitious young journalists are at hand to make sure the fiasco is recorded for posterity.
Will the history of humanity be irrevocably altered? Will the space-time continuum be destroyed? But most importantly will Professor Thomson’s vintage wine smuggling project prove profitable?
- March 2009
In the history of great men, where do the mediocre fit in?
Professor Thomson is, in her own words, “feckless and posh, but really rather clever.” However, despite her boundless self-confidence the invention of a time machine in her lab does come as something of a surprise. Her delicate equilibrium is further disrupted by the arrival of some angry historians closely followed by the political establishment. Fortunately two ambitious young journalists are at hand to make sure the fiasco is recorded for posterity.
Will the history of humanity be irrevocably altered? Will the space-time continuum be destroyed? But most importantly will Professor Thomson’s vintage wine smuggling project prove profitable?
"Historical Fiction" is the runner-up in the Pembroke Players New Writing Competition.
- November 2008
- November 2008
A quiet family gathering. A harrowing revelation. A deep, dark, challenging piece of contemporary theatre.
Helge is sixty. It is a time of celebration. A time for the family to gather and smooth over the cracks left by the suicide of Linda, twin sister to Christian. As Helge's eldest son, Christian will raise the first toast.
Confined within the family house, the guests are rocked by the revelations that pierce and destroy the veneer of middle-class respectability.
- November 2008
Constantius, the ageing king of Britain, decides to entrust half of his realm to Vortigern. He accepts, but soon falls prey to his ambition, orchestrating the murder of Constantius and seizing the crown. When Vortigern is forced to London to take his last stand, the fate of Dark Age Britain is sealed.
Battles, discarded wives, dastardly murder, scheming warlords and sultry seduction abound in this “lost work” of the Bard, written fraudulently by William Henry Ireland in 1796. The play was inspired by the eighteenth century obsession with Shakespeare, but both play and author have lain in relative obscurity ever since.
Join the Pembroke Players for a one-night stand in the New Cellars on November the 19th, possibly this play’s first performance for over two hundred years, and enjoy an evening of treachery and greed in Mediaeval Britain.
- November 2008
To welcome you back to another year, Pembroke Players invite you to join them at the Sticky Floor Smoker. The reasons for its name may be lost in the mists of time, but it promises drinks, laughs and a good time all round.
- November 2008
- November 2008
"I want you to listen. Because I am trying to unlace all of my life."
Five stars in Varsity. "I really can’t think of a better new play I’ve seen at Cambridge...To say more would be to dissect too far. This play and production truly deserve to be seen." *****
An actress and a journalist. A brother and sister. Set in the hours before dawn and death.
By Freddy Syborn, joint winner of the Other Prize 2008, and writer of Flesh-Eating Jacobean Zombies, Indivisible and Now the late last winter.
- June 2008
On their 125th anniversary, the world famous Cambridge Footlights come charging back with their eagerly anticipated, brand new show, "Devils".
Throughout their long and grand history, Footlights continue to be an unparalleled force in British comedy. The club's luminaries range from Peter Cook and John Cleese to present day stars such as Mitchell and Webb, Sacha Baron Cohen, and last year's if.comedy Best Newcomer, Tom Basden. "Devils" is the culmination of a fantastically successful year for a club, as the finest few comedians have been plucked from one of the largest and hardest-working comedy institutions in the world, to present a stunning mosaic of sketches, monologues, songs and more.
Sharp, exciting and unfailingly hilarious, "Devils" promises to be a sparkling comic treasure, and a landmark event in Footlights's 125-year history.
Edinburgh Festival Sell-Out Show 2007
"A must-have ticket" - The Times
"**** impeccable, excellent, fautless" - Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
"Fast, well-observed, hilarious - lives up to the hype" - Fest Magazine
"I was charmed and delighted - really good" - Simon Amstell
- May 2008
Cambridge's finest comedians in all their shiny glory.
FEATURING: Tom Ovens, Nate Dern, Will Hensher, James Moran, Lucien Young to name a few...
Compered by the dazzling Will McAdam, this will be quite the night.
Please email wpm22 for more information.
- March 2008
Sit down and relax as ICE bring you a series of comedic tales from a world that seems strangely similar, and yet strangely different from our own. Just what is the secret that lurks at Joe's farm? What's in the briefcase that everyone's dying to get hold of? And which stories are actually parts of a greater whole, entangled with each other as the plot threads weave through the night? You decide!
- March 2008
Anatol is a twenty-something who loves women and is equally loved by them. In a loose sequence of six scenes he encounters his many different girlfriends. However, since he loves them all, passionately, forever for the moment, he is haunted by the consequences: deceit, jealousy, clashing dates, rejection and wounded pride.
The production gives consideration to the role Anatol and his girlfriends play in a modern world and time in which compensation for de-individualisation and industrialisation of men (and women) is sought in the worship of the moment. Just as the women are interchangeable, so are the men: Anatol and his friend Max, two extreme poles of sensibility and rationality, highly sexed and asexual, acting and observing, are entangled in this comic and sometimes tragic play of real and false love, of passion and indifference, and maybe a deeper meaning...
The play is entirely in German.
- March 2008
An unnamed man - apparently a war criminal -is being interviewed by a woman possessed by an absolute conviction in her nation's ability to kill history, and her assistant, who tells bad jokes. They discuss Viennese coffee, quantum physics and the multi-world theory, art, advertising, Shakespeare as an infinitely-typing monkey and how best to kill a man with a set of dentures. They also discuss the extermination of a race.
Partially based upon Hannah Arendt's account of Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem, Indivisible is the latest play from the writer/director Freddy Syborn who was responsible for last term's Flesh-Eating Jacobean Zombies, and who is currently co-writing a new sketch show for Tiger Aspect, a comedy and drama production company.
- March 2008
On a Saturday evening in July, Sarah, arrives with her husband Reg, to his mother's home to give Reg's sister, Annie, a weekend off from caring for their cantankerous invalid mother. Norman, Annie's brother-in-law, a scruffy assistant librarian, who dreams of sexual conquests, also arrives. An exploration of deceit, sex and control soon follow with Sarah learning that Norman, having had sex with Annie the previous Christmas, now intends to take her away for a dirty weekend to East Grinstead. That evening, a hilarious scene of false manners ensues. Etiquette and absurdity dominate this brilliant "comic masterpiece".
- February 2008
This powerful thriller sees two Oxbridge students, Brandon and Granillo, first deciding to murder a fellow student, and then to hide him in a chest in their flat, justifying their actions as "intellectual pursuit". Before disposing of the body, however, they decide that inviting the boy's father and aunt around for a party would provide their actions with a fitting denouement. Cue suspicions and sexual tensions in this dark, but striking 1920s drama.
- November 2007
Four young men embark on a three-year course of study with the noblest of intentions. In fact, they are so well meaning that they swear never to see a woman until their studies are over with.
And that's all fine until the Princess of France arrives…
Love, banter, Spanish princes, this hilarious but rarely seen comedy is not to be missed. ESPECIALLY because it's set in the 80s.
Book online to avoid disappointment at www.pembrokeplayers.org or get your tickets at the door.
