Camdram

Em Sparkes

She/They
President 2024-25 - CUADC
Director, Performer, Choreographer, Techie
Currently: Dance Captain/Helen - Carrie (CUMTS), Choreographer - Thunderstorm, Assistant Director - The Chaplain (CUMTS), Choreographer - Pirates of Penzance (G&S), Lighting Designer - Devil's Drum, Technical Director - Spelling Bee

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Em Sparkes is currently involved with

Thunderstorm – Legend Choreographer

19:45, Tue 14th – Sat 18th May 2024 at ADC Theatre

Adapted from the renowned play Thunderstorm by Cao Yu, often hailed as the ‘Shakespeare of the East’, this play stands as a milestone in the development of mature Chinese modern theatre.

‘All is submerged in the ruthless well of the cosmos.’

There emerges an icebound affair traced for thirty years, and there submerges a successional withering of love and desire. On a hot summer day, an unexpected woman returned with an erupted thunderstorm to Zhou’s residence looking for her daughter, and discovering her beloved girl involved with the family’s young master. The wheels of fortune rotate, reeling off every secret hidden beneath the luxurious house…

Not only is the play one of the most influential tragedies in the history of modern Chinese theatre, Cao Yu’s Thunderstorm is an elegy of love and desire that appeals to a universal audience across time and space.

Eight years after the last time modern Chinese drama was on ADC’s stage, we’d like to bring an adapted version of Thunderstorm featuring a revolutionary presentation of aesthetics and narrative supported by a digital vision.

Devil’s Drum – Lighting designer

21:30, Wed 15th – Sat 18th May 2024 at Corpus Playroom

3 lost souls wander aimlessly through the forest, before setting up camp for the night and telling each other stories to entertain them. Welcome your storytellers, a band of travelling figments of imagination who bring to life an array of British folklore, from simple to horrifying. Until the worlds and the monsters created within them return to bring the lost souls home.

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Em Sparkes is preparing for

  • The Chaplain - Bar Read-Through – Producer / Assistant Director

    20:00, Mon 20th May 2024 at ADC Theatre (Bar)

    In 1850s Victorian England, a prison chaplain is tasked with cleansing the souls of those sentenced to death or transportation for the most heinous crimes. In a dirty prison cell, the Chaplain meets…

  • The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Technical Director

    19:45, Tue 11th – Sat 15th June 2024 at ADC Theatre

    A cartoonish, eclectic group of six overachieving mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home life, the tween…

  • The Chaplain – Producer / Assistant Director

    18:00, Tue 13th – Sat 17th August 2024 at Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Camden

    In 1850s Victorian England, a prison chaplain is tasked with cleansing the souls of those sentenced to death or transportation for the most heinous crimes. In a dirty prison cell, the Chaplain meets…

  • The Pirates of Penzance at the Minack – Choreographer

    19:00, Wed 18th – Sat 21st September 2024 at The Minack Theatre

    An apprentice to a band of pirates, Frederic has turned 21 and has chosen to leave piracy forever. As he says farewell to his former colleagues, who should appear but the beautiful Mabel, daughter to…

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Em Sparkes has been involved with