- June 2021
-Do you think this is the year we become real playwrights?
-We haven't had an audience larger than the cast since 1587, and that was back when we were doing erotic puppet shows in Saffron Walden.
Tom and Rob languish in a bedsit situated somewhere between 1590s Deptford and undergraduate accommodation built in the 60s. They're greasy, cold, and fancy themselves writers; Rob drinks too much and Tom is bad.
‘The Parnassus Players’ is an original student-written comedy, set within a fusion of the 21st century student theater scene and the theatrical world of 1590s London. It follows two budding writers, Rob and Tom, in their struggle to navigate the scrappy underworld of Shakespeare's London and attain literary stardom.
Join these vagrants for an innovative satire and celebration of live theater! We're talking queer Elizabethan romance, goofs, gaffs, the Phantom of the Opera, and more bawdy puns than you can shake a pickled herring at!
- May 2021
CW: Sexual Assault
The Passion is a new piece of student writing about sexual assault and relationships. Set in a student flat in Cambridge, the play follows the reconciliation of Dan and Tony, a former university couple, over a single afternoon during Freshers Week. However, when it is revealed that Dan’s motives concern an incident which occurred during their relationship, the afternoon soon becomes a heated discussion about memories, self-deception, and the realities of assault. The Passion is a story about the things that go unsaid in a relationship, and the implications we make of other people. It features a cast of two, and is comprised of three acts.
- May 2021
Fleeing a world he has rejected, Robin finds solace in his music and the sanctuary of his remote family home. But as his kingdom begins to crumble around him, how far will he go to save it and at what cost?
Polly Stenham drags us far into the depths of Robin's mind, unearthing dark family secrets on the way. As the extent of his suffering is slowly revealed and his sanity is called into question, Robin plummets into a spiral of self destruction as he fights to keep his world from falling apart....
- March 2021
Sleeping Beauty is rudely awoken from her slumber. Marry Prince Charming?! Thanks but no thanks - a better adventure is calling.
Join our hero as you've never seen her before as she enters the world of work under evil bosses, Jake and Will Grimm, and on her very first shift must undertake a dangerous mission to find an escaped Panto Horse and save her colleagues' jobs. She sets off journeying through a series of absurd pantomimes in pursuit of the horse, only to discover that everything is not as it seems...
Sleeping Beauty and her friends must work together, find the horse and ship the baddies off - next day delivery.
- February 2021
It’s 1935. Alma Martyr, a lovable English professor, and her secret gardener fiancé Castor are preparing for a romantic weekend getaway at her parents' woodland cabin. However, a mix-up with dates leads to four of her best students joining them for the weekend. There’s sweetly innocent Daphne, pompously cruel Leopold and laughably keen Lance and Laurie. Unwise preconceptions and misunderstandings abound – unrequited love and mutual hatred leading to such entanglements! Carnage ensues, as rivalries among the students and complex love affairs lead to games, disputes and a dramatic conclusion...
- December 2020
The sequel has arrived. Are you ready to enter the void?
The spiritual successor to Lacuna Ridge is finally here. We left the show wondering if X went home. She did - but she’s still trapped in the realm. Join us for another fantastical adventure with X as she goes on the most dangerous journey of her life. Are you ready to enter the Void?
- December 2020
Ella Hickson’s ‘Eight’ explores a generation defined by apathy, and what it takes to feel.
Danny sleeps next to corpses, Millie bonks for king and country, and Miles thanks a terrorist for his new life. This series of monologues carefully sketches a cast that is alternatingly repulsive and fascinating.
- November 2020
“We’re doing what so many people told us we were incapable of doing: holding our leaders accountable for their disastrous and dangerous actions.”
In 2015 a landmark lawsuit asserted the US government had knowingly infringed upon the rights to life and liberty by encouraging activities which cause climate change. Those who brought this case: 21 young people aged eight to nineteen. Suffering from displacement, drought, famines, wildfires, many felt forced to drop out of school for fear of their future. Now struggling with the pressures of holding hope, they continue to fight. This is their story, told in their words. It is a story of bitterness and terror, but also triumph and love, for each other and our home.
- November 2020
N.B. this show has been cancelled
- November 2020
He's back!
- October 2020
A student-run theatre.
Dressing Room 1.
Opening night.
15 minutes to curtains up.
And one of the actors is missing.
What has happened to her?
Why is the shower door closed?
Why is everyone so concerned about who's in the audience?
And what's so significant about this 'Hangman Sketch'............
- August 2020
“The Czech state may call the tune, but its musicians just won’t play along.”
In 80s Communist Prague, nothing is more dangerous than jazz. Struggling against threats of censorship and imprisonment, a small group of musicians band together to create ‘The ‘Jazz Section’, an act of rebellion with fatal consequences. This dynamic gig-theatre show focuses on the resilience of musicianship and how sometimes real art can make a stronger statement than any political party.
- April–May 2020
There must have been a moment, at the beginning where we could have said ‘no’
But somehow we missed it
Two friends wake up with no memory. They are swept up in the events of someone else’s tragedy and left to suffer their own - alone. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
This imaginative new production of Stoppard’s first play examines how it feels to be cut adrift. Afraid and alone, the pair are trapped in the spotlight. Yet their fate is written and creeps closer and closer...
- March 2020
Hailed as the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls transports us to 1950’s New York, a world of gamblers, gangsters and nightclub singers, and missionaries. A tale about finding love in all the wrong places, it follows Nathan Detroit as he tries to find the cash to set up the biggest crap game in town, all the while with the authorities breathing down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend, Adelaide, laments their long-standing engagement. To secure the funds for the location, Nathan bets Sky, a high-rolling gambler, that he can’t take the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to Havana; and chooses straight-talking and straight-laced Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown. In the ensuing chaos, Guys And Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong.
- February 2020
Bernard, Neville, Louis, Jinny, Rhoda and Susan are childhood friends. Bound by their mutual love and hate, their lives remain interwoven from their shared school days and despite their divergent paths through adulthood. The Waves follows these six individual but irrevocably connected souls as they navigate their various experiences, their communal griefs, and their relationships to one another and the world around them.
The novel that Virginia Woolf called her 'play-poem' comes to the Cambridge stage for the first time, in a new adaptation which celebrates multimedia and physical theatre.
Now with a pre-show panel discussion featuring Professor Dame Gillian Beer, Dr Trudi Tate, and members of the production team on Friday 28th February.
- November–December 2019
It’s not easy being Red. Growing up on the edge of the woods, with only her mum for company, Red wants more from life.
As she runs into the forest in search of answers, Red encounters a world beyond her wildest imagination. On her journey, she is reunited with her estranged father, Robin, and gets a taste of a new life. But when he’s not quite what she bargained for, Red must find her way through a forest full of magic, danger and Big Bad villains. Join Red on an epic adventure, as she grows up and begins to learn the value of family.
- October 2019
“You need a name that expresses a Christian faith - Mary- mother of Jesus - is the most blessed name - but I just named another girl that this afternoon, ahh, there is Ruth - but I hate names of monosyllables so - ESTER! Yes, that is it, that is your name. Ester, she was a woman of great, great courage, saved her people in fact, second only to the Virgin Mary in Holy women in my opinion. And you look like one - indeed you do, you do.”
It’s 1896 in Rhodesia and Jekesai has just been given her new, Catholic name. Chilford, the only black Roman Catholic teacher in the region, has decided she’ll now be known as Ester, wear European clothing and speak only in English. She’s torn away from everything that she knows by her fellow African who earnestly believes the promises of the White man.
- August 2019
Harry and Ella walk into a bar. They’ve been together a year now. It’s going well.
Until suddenly – after a not-so-quick trip to the Ladies – it’s not.
Join us in this intimate venue and watch the drama unfold in real time, first from the corridor outside, and then from within THE most glamorous, the most mysterious, the most sacred of all locations: the ladies’ loos. During Act 1, lament the many impediments of being male – waiting for your girlfriend (seriously, how long does it take to put a tampon in?), neglected, powerless, and, as always, excluded from the action. During Act 2, see what you were missing – revel in the glory of being female, of being welcomed into this chapel of piss, poo and periods, where the gossip and the drama flows as readily as the sickly pink soap from the silver dispensers. And most importantly, find out what happened behind cubicle doors to rock this Perfect Couple.
New endings and old beginnings, frustration and embarrassment, humour and tenderness – this play examines the walls we build around gender and sexuality, and the struggles of navigating a queer new world when those walls unexpectedly come down.
‘The Ladies is one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen during my time here: it is funny and witty, it is utterly sensitive and articulate, and the sheer complexity and nuance of growing up that Tyrrell is able to so aptly cram in is staggering. I love, love, love it.’ – TCS, 5 stars
‘To have written something so nuanced and cleverly-crafted, with its layers of meaning running from the first to the last second, is such an exciting achievement...’ – Varsity, 4.5 stars
‘While the play exhibits a deep sense of sensitivity and awareness, its sardonic wit caused audience reactions that ranged from smirking to irrepressible hysterics.’ – The Tab, 4.5 stars
- June 2019
'I’m walking down the street and there’s a door in the fence open and inside there are three women I’ve seen before.'
Three old friends and a neighbour. A summer of afternoons in the back yard. Tea and catastrophe.
From award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill, Escaped Alone combines neighbourly chit-chat with visions of apocalyptic horror. Providing a uniquely female version of the Armageddon, four seemingly normal women sit down for a chat over tea over several summer afternoons; but what emerges about each of their pasts, as well as what lies in store for them, could never be expected.
- May 2019
“The plague bacillus never actually dies. It never disappears - not entirely”. From Camus’ novel, in an unnamed city, it has reared its head and sent forth its rats. The screaming becomes normal, the gates are locked, families and lovers have been cut off; now all there is to do is identify, diagnose, condemn and file. Faced with inevitable doom, humanity chooses to fight or resign, asking what we all want to - ‘can there be hope without meaning?’.
We bear witness to the retrospective inquiry into these events. Our protagonist, Dr Rieux, is torn between the personal and the official, bureaucracy ultimately hindering the inquiry and his healing. Camus’ original may have been a response to Nazi invasion, but now this electrifying adaptation makes it applicable to our personal and societal descent into chaos.
“What it is that you learn when you live through a time of plague… there is more to admire about people than to despise or despair of”.
- March 2019
The international, award-winning musical Legally Blonde follows the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl whose life is turned upside down when her boyfriend, Warner, dumps her to 'get serious' and go to Harvard Law. Refusing to let her dream life slip away, Elle becomes determined to show him how serious she can be. She charms her way into Harvard but when she arrives she struggles to gain the respect of her peers, professors, and most importantly, Warner. With the help of a few good friends, she quickly realises her potential and sets out to prove herself in this new world.
This laugh-out-loud musical will take you from the lavish golf-courses of Malibu to the hallowed halls of Harvard Law as we follow Elle on her journey to discover you don't need to conform to other people's idea of 'serious' to win a murder case.
- March 2019
Bombs, bombs, bombs! Mary has been recruited for a top-secret national project in Malaysia by the ambitious General Zulkifli. The mission: building Southeast Asia's first atomic bomb.
There is a catch: there is no legal way for them to obtain uranium. Join Mary as she collides with one wacky character after another, from a shady uranium smuggler to an army general with a Napoleon complex. This political satire takes on racial issues, national hubris, the tenuous relationship between the East and the West, and the post-colonial hangover.
- January–February 2019
London, 1969. A conscientious but mischievous phone-operator uses her specialist skills to avert the end of the network.
The last days of the manual telephone exchange. While the new automated switchboards are being installed across the nation, an operator resents connecting phone calls that are ending the careers of her colleagues. Never shy to a prank, Susan commits herself to take it further, using her skills of eavesdropping, rumour-spreading, and call-misdirection to save the present from the future. When the upgrades were only scheduled in Birmingham alone she was able divert and disrupt them; yet within days the threat starts to close in on London itself.
Unable to match the efficiency of the system, Susan must contend for the human side of the technological sector. Though she is up against an industry that prefers the superfast dreams of the visionaries, who promise instant connectivity and the removal of human error. Susan refuses to leave, in part to complete her employment, and in part to wait for the impossible return of a precious fellow operator.
- January 2019
‘How do I define history? It’s just one f*cking thing after another.’
Sheffield. 1982. Eight bright but rowdy upper sixth boys are aspiring for Oxbridge, and Hector is in charge of getting them there, but the Headmaster has insisted on providing some new blood to help polish them.
A story of sexuality, lust, and potential, Alan Bennett’s acclaimed and beloved ‘The History Boys’ looks at a world where education is becoming less about what you are taught, but where it can take you.
Opening at the Royal National Theatre in 2004, it has since become a worldwide hit, winning the 2004 Olivier and 2005 Tony Awards for Best Play.
- January 2019
Join us for a relaxed evening of student-written, student-performed poetry, including a special performance from a feature poet.
- November 2018
‘Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man.’
Gingie has been running his whole life. But when the evil venture-capitalist Mrs Badbury and the jaded Milky Bar Kid combine forces to convert Quality Street from a halcyon glade of flavour equality to a mass-producing, soul-destroying factory, Gingie must finally stop and bite back.
Will Gingie learn the value of friendship and tolerance to form an assorted mix of intrepid baked goodies? Will they be able to stop the baddie’s plan to turn the moon into a crème egg for profit? Will Flake finally decide to show up? Does anybody actually like Bounty?
Join us in a kooky cookie, topsy-turvy, curly-wurly story across the cosmos: it’s going to be finger-lickin’ good and ginger kicking food. Featuring the crème de la crème of Cambridge talent and choc-a-bloc with gooey goodness, ‘The Gingerbread Man’ is a treat for all the family.
- November 2018
The war is over. Berlin is crumbling. Don Juan feels like the last man standing, and after years of abstinence, is once again ready to engage in more of the debauchery and sin that made his name. But amidst the political and economic upheaval, fighting mental and physical battle scars, Don Juan finds himself increasingly at odds with the man he used to be. Hero or lothario, is there redemption for this broken man?
Ödön van Horváth’s visceral tale of isolation in the aftermath of the First World War is presented in a new adaptation by Duncan Macmillan.
- November 2018
Sisters Alice and Jenny are polar opposites. Alice works in Geneva, as part of the team at CERN searching for the Higgs Boson, the mysterious ‘God Particle’. Jenny is a skittish homebody living in Luton where she smokes, drinks, and puts more trust in her horoscope than her doctor. When tragedy throws them together again, the collision threatens them with chaos.
Lucy Kirkwood’s latest, electrifying play weaves together a family drama and questions about the fundamental nature of the universe. It asks us if there is a difference between what we know, and what we think we know.
- November 2018
On the South Devon coast, the Haussman family home stands dilapidated and derelict. Its chief occupant is Judy, an aging, anarchic hippy who – after a minor cancer operation – holds court, welcoming her children home. Libby, accompanied by her daughter, Summer, is waspish and resentful. Nick is flighty and nervous, a former drug addict with little to call his own. Over a few sweltering months, the Haussmans hash out their past differences, remember family dramas and infatuations, and day-drink the summer away.
Dealing with the legacy of the 1960s and the Baby Boomer generation, Stephen Bereford’s debut play captures the spirit of a generation, and the consequences in their wake.
- November 2018
- November 2018
Poetry nights at the ADC bar are back! These relaxed performance evenings showcase the best of Cambridge writing talent. Come and join us for diverse compilations of assonance, rhymes, and mic drops. With tried and tested favourites, and new material, there’s something for everyone.
- October 2018
‘Sin will pluck on sin’
It is 1980 and the notorious York family has finally made peace with their bitter rivals, the Lancasters. Everyone is looking forward to a period of calm, united under the new head of the families, Edward. Edward’s younger brother, Richard, however, has other ideas.
Cast-away and jealous, the unassuming Richard plans to take the role of Don for himself.
Political drama meets gangster-thriller, this re-adaptation sees Shakespeare’s least redeeming character seamlessly slot into the modern world by acquiring the position most suited to them: that of a scheming mobster.
- October 2018
"There's always been something wrong. Always, just as long as I can remember. But I never knew what it was until all this happened."
In 1930s rural England two female teachers are falsely accused of homosexuality by one of their students. Once the scandal reaches the local community, Martha and Karen's lives are destroyed as they become increasingly ostracised by society.
Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour was banned when it was published due to its controversial depiction of female homosexuality. Now in the 21st century, it serves as a powerful reminder of the horrors of intolerance.
- August 2018
A new translation of this ‘scandal play’ from 1903 unveils intimate conversations between people before and after they have sex. A prostitute meets a soldier on the street and they have sex on a bench. In the next scene, the soldier seduces a housemaid, and so on until in the final scene, a noble Count meets with the prostitute and everything goes full circle.
While it may not be as scandalous now as it was 100 years ago, the characters and relationships are just as accurate and still startlingly contemporary. Confrontational, physical and funny, this original production dissects the relentless mechanics of desire, gender roles, and power imbalances that still exist today.
- August 2018
"Drifting Towers is a noughties’ adventure video game set in a bleak futuristic cityscape. It was discontinued shortly after release for being too difficult. Reddit users called it ‘dense but ambitious’.
Best friends Sam and Tobi have been playing the game for 8 years, and they’re nearly at the last level; but while Sam wants to keep playing to the end, real life doesn’t wait for them to finish.
Tobi is moving away, and things will never be the same. The real world slowly bleeds into the absurd adventure of the game - in both worlds, all Sam wants is not to be left behind."
A new comic devised play about friendship, moving on and mashing the square button til your problems go away. From the people who brought you 'Spiders', 'Conviction', 'The Arm in the Cat Flap', 'Stormface', 'Footlights Presents: Pen Pals', 'Baby Steps', 'Welcome to Little Heswing' and more.
- May 2018
In a campus of a small New England University, Martha and her husband George arrive home from a party at Martha’s father house. Despite it being 2 am the pair are expecting guests for a spot of after-party drinks; the new biology professor and his wife Honey.
As the alcohol flows, the stage is set for a night of drunken debauchery and revelations. George and Martha compete to find new ways to humiliate and fight with one another in front of Nick and Honey. Battle lines are drawn as these unsuspecting guests are dragged into a private hell of a marriage.
Let the games begin.
