- April–May 2014
Four survivors of a train crash, all of whom have lost family members to disaster, leave the court following the acquittal of the driver, who has been found innocent of any gross negligence or misconduct. Unsatisfied with the verdict, and driven by their grief-stricken sense of righteousness, the group resolve to exact their own form of justice on the man they believe murdered their loved ones, by whatever means necessary.
- April–May 2014
“I can see him. With vineleaves in his hair.” Hedda Gabler is bored, and that's dangerous. Stuck with her dull, dependable husband in her stifling new mansion, she wants a destiny to control – if not her own, then someone else's. And an old friend re-enters her life. In him, Hedda sees potential for something great and beautiful. A window into a world that cannot be hers. How far will she go in her pursuit of power? Hedda Gabler is a psychological masterpiece that gnaws at the very heart of tragedy.
For more information, email jh807
- April 2014
Corrie and Paul are newly-weds who have just moved into their cold eyrie apartment in New York. Corrie is starry-eyed, Paul less so after staggering up five flights. Their house seems to be populated by unusual people, the most bohemian being Victor whom Corrie finds entertaining. Corrie tries matchmaking between Victor and her lonely mother but after a disastrous dinner party she learns that walking barefoot in the park may not necessarily denote joie de vivre - in February it is simply silly!
Further information: sallymarsh@bawds.org
- March 2014
- March 2014
There are parallel universes everywhere, or are there? There are parallel universes everywhere, or are there? etc
Previous praise for the writer/performers:
'when you can make an audience chuckle between skits, you’re onto something good.' - The Cambridge Student
'Basically, these guys are great, unpretentious and funny, simple as that. Go see them.' - The Tab
'ingeniously original' - Varsity
'top-grade student comedians' - The Cambridge Theatre Review
- March 2014
‘Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell’.
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning masterpiece warns us to be careful what we wish for, and questions what comes after ‘happily ever after’, bringing new life to the Grimm Brother’s most famous fairytales.
A lesson on parenting, growing up, and morality, ‘Into the Woods’ is a dark and magical journey into the unknown ‘where witches, ghosts and wolves appear’. With a captivating score and dazzling illusions, this show is at once heart-warmingly funny, devastatingly tragic, and inspiringly hopeful, teaching that ‘nice is different than good’.
- March 2014
From the writers of 'Dressing Down', 'The Princess and the Pea', 'Lost Property' and 'Esio Trot' comes this year’s Footlights Spring Revue, a chronological odyssey through the history of the universe - from the Big Bang to the invention of the iPhone and everything in between. Why not take a whistle-stop tour through the primordial soup, up the Jurassic coast, down the Fall of the Roman Empire, into the House of the Tudors, and back to the Future in time for tea? And all in 90 minutes.
Brace yourself. This is as big as it gets.
- March 2014
A father and son, trapped in a maze of their own making. A bullish monster. A barren beach. An inventor and his hopes. An apprentice and his folly. A striking piece of physical theatre, thing with feathers promises to surprise, delight, move and inspire.
- February–March 2014
7 July 2005. Riding high on the victory of the Olympic bid, London is buzzing. The rhythm of the city is intoxicating. But national pride comes, inevitably, before a fall; a betrayal of the nation; mass-murder, made-in-England. Through seemingly unrelated narratives emerge the entwined journeys of ordinary people. This is a portrait of our own England seen through a kaleidoscope: a vision at once fragmented yet unified, mesmerising yet repulsive, disorientating yet starkly familiar.
"It has a throb and pulse of its own. It feels latent. It feels charged. It feels sprung. As though something remarkable is going to happen."
- February–March 2014
"Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust"
Fascist Italy, 1933. Two despotic brothers tyrannize their own country. But their corrupt and merciless regime struggles to contain one ungovernable force: their sister. The Duchess.
She seduces the man she loves in defiance of her brothers, but their obsessive jealousy follows her at every turn. As she fights for the life she wants, the Duchess draws ever closer to her terrifying fall.
This production of Webster's dark and thrilling play will use film, sound and a powerful aesthetic to recreate Mussolini's world of false propaganda and brutal masculinity, where lust and violence reign.
"Your darkest actions, nay, your privatest thoughts, will come to light."
- February 2014
Dűmpf is a sketch show combining fast-paced sketches with musical comedy.
Archie and Adrian want to talk about some issues. Unfortunately the only way they can get anyone to listen is to write a comedy show, so that’s what they’ve done. The product, Dümpf, is a whirlwind of thoughts, desires, sketches and songs. But also issues.
In a whirlwind of thoughts, desires, sketches and songs we invite you venture into the deranged world of Dűmpf.
Previous praise for the writers includes:
‘Brilliantly original and often daring’ - The Cambridge Student
‘Hilarious’ - The Tab
‘A delightful taste of musical comedy’ - Varsity
- February 2014
The CU Show Choir returns to the stage to take on some of the greatest British hits. From the Beatles to Bonnie Tyler to Bastille, we’re going to take you on a journey through our nation’s musical history in celebration of all things British.
So put down your crumpets, old chap, whack out the Pimms and come enjoy the songs that make our country great. God Save... Queen?
- February 2014
- February 2014
'Let none escape, murder the Huguenots.
Kill them, kill them.'
Paris is on edge. France is at war with itself as Protestant and Catholic vie for control. The King of France decides that it is time to remove the 'threat' once and for all while his loyal advisor, the Duke of Guise maintains his own pursuit of power. And so begins one of the bloodiest massacres of French history.
As part of the 450th Anniversary, this short play of Marlowe's about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre is set to shock in exploring this brutal event instigated by brutal people in a modern day context.
No one is safe.
- February 2014
“They say you changed the whole sky and everything under it, Sergei Pavlovich. What does that mean?”
Rona Munro’s 2011 play, originally performed by the RSC, charts the fascinating life and largely untold story of Chief Designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov, who in spearheading the Soviet space programme, set humanity on a course to the stars. Munro’s play is one about personal endeavour in the face of personal and political strife, and ultimately tells a human story of success, enthusiasm and defeat. Although Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to ever look back on the Earth, Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov was the man that put him there.
- February 2014
The Cambridge University University Musical Theatre Society presents its annual Gala night - a one night extravaganza of everything from Shwartz and Sondheim to Schonberg and Styne complete with solos, chorus numbers, choreography, a full band and a good sprinkling of glitz and glamour. The Gala is looking for performers old and new alike for what is guaranteed to be an evening of outrageous fun. Auditions are to be held on Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December, 13.30-16.00 - venue TBC. Applications are also open for Technical Director - email rth26@cam.ac.uk and sjm263@cam.ac.uk for more information.
- February 2014
SPLIT is a one-chair-show, ably supported by a single man who is not Colin Firth. Clatter through the lives of the troubled and the tactless as they strain to connect with each other and mitigate their own lonely pointlessness.
- February 2014
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
The world is crumbling and the British people have turned to The Party to keep them safe. Britons have willingly sacrificed their rights and freedoms in order to protect themselves from an unknown yet ever-present threat. War constantly rages with an unidentifiable enemy; opposition is forbidden and futile; dissent is a crime and defiance is treason.
Adapted by Matthew Dunster, Orwell's classic novel is brought into the 21st Century to show a horrifyingly dystopian vision of our future.
- January–February 2014
- January–February 2014
‘A woman who expends her energy exercising the brain does so at the expense of her vital organs.’
It is 1896 at Girton College, Cambridge, and Elizabeth Welsh is preparing for battle.
Girton is the first college in Britain to admit women. The girls there have risked everything to go to University. They study ferociously. They match their male peers grade for grade. And they leave empty handed.
While the men graduate and are awarded their degrees, the girls gain only the stigma of being a ‘blue stocking’- an unnatural, educated woman. They are unqualified and, worse, unfit for marriage.
Principal Elizabeth Welsh is determined to win the girls the right to graduate, whatever the cost.
CUADC presents Blue Stockings in its first University Production following a critically acclaimed debut at the Globe just four months ago.
This Lent, the blue stockings return to Cambridge to fight for their right to an education.
'The only thing a woman can own is knowledge... We must build our Trojan horse and infiltrate from the inside.'
- January 2014
A chance meeting in a service station. A dance-off in an arcade. A private escort with a box cutter. A new dark comedy.
Adam and Harold, two strangers, meet at a Welcome Break. As time ticks away the pair sip coffee, discuss fast food, and break the ice.
And Adam realises two things. The first is that Harold is not the private escort he claims to be. The second is that he's sure he's met Harold before. When the pair step outside and Harold pulls a boxcutter, Adam's past begins to catch up with him.
"Ok, finish your nuggets, I'll get this blood off my hands, then it's hometime."
- January 2014
Cambridge University Dance Society invites you to spend a magical evening exploring the hinterland between dreams and reality. From the society that brought you Enigma comes a spectacle that showcases some of the best dance talent in Cambridge and will take you on an enchanting journey of fantastical discovery.
- January 2014
The finest of Cambridge’s musical theatre talent will be joining forces to create an original musical... in just 24 hours! Following a similar format to the ADC’s incredibly successful 24-Hour Plays, several creative teams will be given a theme for a musical and will have just 24 hours to compose and rehearse their song. Overnight, the composer and lyricist for each team will write their song and the following day their performers will learn it in time for their one-off performance at 11pm. The result will be an eclectic and brand-spanking new musical, and a spectacular celebration of new writing. Just bring along yourself a song to perform, preferably a musical theatre song!
- December 2013
The king is dead. The show must go on. A new star is waiting in the wings. Richard of Gloucester is a born performer, stepping up as director and leading man as he stages his own irrepressible rise. Casting two performers in the role of Shakespeare’s infamous murderer-king, the prestigious European Tour Group takes a fresh look at the rise and fall of an icon.
“Richard loves Richard. That is, I am I”
- December 2013
Nick Warburton's brand new adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel, directed by Colin Lawrence.
- December 2013
Joyful Joyful : A Journey through Gospel tells the story of gospel music in an hour-long piece scattered with music, dance and poetry.
Everything began in the fields. Deep, powerful, soulful music asserted the slaves’ power of speech, the remnants of their humanity. We sing ‘Oh Mamma Blue’ and ’Swing Low’. Early gospel was the ultimate expression of pain and suffering, but it grew into something more uplifting : a celebration of life, a manifestation of joy.
We pay tribute to the genre in its widest sense: from ‘Man in the Mirror’ and ‘World’s Greatest’ to ‘Oh Happy Day’. We want to share with you the joyful sensation that gospel music brings. Because after all, gospel gives you the 'feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong' (Mahalia Jackson).
- December 2013
Once upon a chime and (not so) far away the CU Show Choir was formed. Now they present a 60 minute extravaganza of brand new arrangements, original music and dance, tied together by three well known tales with a twist.
Join Alice as she falls down the rabbit hole into her fresher year, Ben as his partying ways bring him to the attention of the academics of Cambridge Past, Present and Future, and the tragic romance of Bromeo and Jules.
As each characters stories twist their way through a multi-genre setlist, let’s hope they can all live gleefully ever after.
- December 2013
Three White Guys returns to the stage to give you a taste of Cambridge comedy. This multiple act standup show comprises of some of Cambridge's finest comedians, previously seen at gigs such as Clare Comedy, the Kings Jest, the Wolfson Howler and the Corpus Smoker.
Previous praise for Three White Guys:
‘These comedians are highly accomplished and, on the whole, very funny ... showed real affection for comedy’ - The Tab ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A fun show with lots of great lines ... big laughs even from the exam-stressed crowd’ - The Cambridge Student
‘Fresh and varied ... I hope they get the full house they deserve.’ - Varsity
- December 2013
It's back. Since its inception in Manhattan's Lower East Side over 15 years ago, the 24hr Plays have appeared all over the world, pushing theatrical talent to its limit and creating unforgettable performances.
What will happen when Cambridge is asked to create 5 new plays in just 24 hours to be performed in front an industry judge? The clock is ticking...
- November 2013
“I couldn’t forget about gender, it was the elephant in my mind”. Bess and Bobby are twins. They sit at a table in the Vesper cafe. They sit at this table every day, because it suits their hipster image, which may or may not be ironic. They aren't sure. Sipping coffee and smoking, they spend their time scrutinizing the lives of other regulars, and trying to get the cat's attention. There's a cat. Then one day a story comes along, a story that they want to be true, that they need to be true. And somehow they must bring it to life. But as their obsession grows, their plans become increasingly daring, and they start to forget where the story started. And now they’re not sure where it will end. The story is gender.
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- November 2013
- November 2013
When Odysseus finally came home, after years at sea, he ruthlessly hanged twelve innocent maids. Whilst this was a mere footnote in Homer's original story, Margaret Atwood has given these women a voice, in her dark yet witty play: 'The Penelopiad'.
Presented by this year's freshest dramatic talent, in a challenging physical theatre adaptation - inspired by Frantic Assembly, see one of the world's most famous myths retold through Atwood's "cunning replotting and smart updating" (Mary Beard).
- November 2013
Winner of the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year Award and Comedy Central's Funniest Student Award, Footlights alumnus Phil Wang brings his critically-acclaimed first grown-up hour of stand-up comedy to the ADC for one night only.
A collection of sharp observations and curious opinions, told with undue confidence. Prepare to meet the biggest Wang in comedy.
★★★★ "An astonishingly assured debut" - The Sunday Times
"An intelligent, attuned observer" - The Scotsman
"Slick, distinctive, and funny" - Chortle
"A skilful and hilarious individual" - Varsity
- November 2013
A village fete gone disastrously and farcically wrong. A mother trapped in baby talk. A blunderingly failed attempt at seduction. Five short plays; five instantly recognisable social encounters; five snapshots of tragically lonely and obsessed characters which will leave you “wondering whether you should be laughing or crying” (The Stage).
Cambridge’s newest acting and backstage talent presents five interlinked one act plays from one of the most successful and prolific modern playwrights, each offering a poignantly funny snapshot of human eccentricity and a cry for companionship.
"Buoyant ... sad, sharp and funny." - London Guardian
- November 2013
Two actors, Over 50 characters. A snapshot of British life.
Laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes heartbreakingly moving, these are tiny plays in which every one of us could have a starring role. They are little windows into other people's lives that reveal the triumphs, disasters, prejudices, horrors and joys of 21st-century life.
Originally published in a Guardian newspaper column, these hugely entertaining and utterly addictive plays will change the way you listen to the world around you: train journeys will never be the same again.
- November 2013
'In all of the world so far, I’m the greatest star.’
That may have been the case in 1964, but now it’s 2013 and if Fanny Brice is ‘a great big clump of talent’, she’s one of thousands. Her dreams might get her to the audition, but even a rousing rendition of 'Don't Rain On My Parade' might not be enough to keep her in all the way through to the final round.
This November, Funny Girl is re-imagined for the ADC theatre, bringing all the class and exhilaration of the original Tony-nominated musical and Academy Award-winning film right into the 21st century. Poignant, fierce and with a brilliant score full of show-stopping numbers, Funny Girl takes a look at what being a star is in a world where everyone thinks they have the X-factor.
