- November 2011
When Dr Stockmann discovers the public baths are poisonous, he expects the people of his small Norwegian hometown to welcome him as a saviour. However, after the cost of the proposed improvements is made clear to the Mayor of the town, the pragmatic politician moves to manipulate both the press and public opinion against Dr Stockmann, his own brother.
‘You really are hell bent on our destruction, aren’t you?’
‘I love this town intensely. I’m wedded to it. Nobody wants to see their bride become syphilitic.’
Henrik Ibsen, widely hailed as ‘the Father of modern Drama’, tells a searing tale of honour, love and ambition. In a democracy, is 'the truth' ever more than what the the majority say it is? Is it worth pursuing at the expense of those one loves? Can the press be separated from power politics? Perhaps most pertinently, is Dr Stockmann’s discovery any more inconvenient than those that 21st century governments routinely suppress?
- October 2011
The Orphanarium of Erthing Worthing is a silly new comedy by two of Cambridge's biggest goofs:
"Orphans come and go, but some just stay for ever." Marcus is on orphanage work-experience and it's all gone a bit weird. Is it the eccentric proprietor with a fur-coat made of 'er not cats'? The Zimmer-frames piled up in the hallway? The fact that there's not a child in sight? Yes, it's probably that. In seventy years, no orphan has graduated from the Orphanarium of Mr Erthing Worthing, and Marcus has been sent by the villainous Jocelyn Cuddles to put a stop to this un-parented chaos. Cuddles, CEO of Closing Ltd, delights in closing everything he can: fridge doors, the borders of small countries, even his eyes. Now, it's the Orphanarium in the firing line.
Amidst the bunch of kleptomaniac/French-exchange/former glamour-model geriatrics is Dorinda, orphan nanny and all-round good-time gal. Will she be the one to convince Marcus that being an orphan is for life, not just for Christmas house-fires?
Probably, but that would be telling.
- October 2011
- October 2011
When Antigone defies orders from the state by burying her dead brother, she sets in motion a chain of events that rapidly spirals out of control. This ferociously charged play asks whether family bonds are stronger than civil ones, whether laws must always be enforced and if we truly have control over the decisions we take, testing the human limits of power and love. A new version by Richard Keith and Simon Haines; directed by Richard Keith.
Richard Keith trained and worked as a professional actor and director before coming to Cambridge, including performing at The Globe, the BAC, the Apollo Theatre, West End and directing at various London venues. He continues to teach at drama school and privately: whilst in London he was a member of the Young Vic Genesis Directors programme and The Royal Court Young Writers programme.
- October 2011
BROODY - a brand new sketch comedy show.
Week 2.
ADC Lateshow.
Ladies and gentleman! Are you sitting comfortably? You are? Yes. Yes… of course you are. You’ve all been sitting comfortably for far too long. Look at you, in those lovely comfortable seats of yours. Look at yourselves. Look at your faces. If you can’t manage that then look at the face of someone next to you. See what I mean? Horrible isn’t it? Really rather horrid… like… umm… prunes.
Last night after my dinner cereal (Special K), gazing into the mirror positioned on the ceiling above my bed, I looked into my old, old (old, old) eyes… and (as I stared into the abyss (which was my own soul)) I realised that I was feeling really rather broody. I really really wanted to have a baby. The Special K (2 bowls-a-day) challenge just wasn’t enough for me anymore…
Theodore Chester and Ryan O’Sullivan, frequent writer/performers in Footlights Smokers bring you BROODY, a brand new (dark and moody) sketch comedy (show).
- October 2011
National a cappella champions Cadenza are joined by girlband CB3 for an evening of your favourite hits. Classic tunes are given the Cadenza treatment while CB3 bring back 90s girl power! For one night only, two become one.
- October 2011
Two feuding brothers, a Catholic priest and a liquor-selling school-girl take centre stage in this black comedy about suicide, smashed china and a dead dog.
- October 2011
ADC LATESHOW Week 1, 12-15th October, 11pm
“Expect fantastic.
Expect escapes and japes and high quality high jinks.
Expect these things because expected, generally, happens.
I am missing a button on my waistcoat. I can’t perform like this.”
Bright lights, hay spirals down. Baltimore Bontecou seems to have left the premises, but the lights are on, the heating's still working and the acts look set to tick along swimmingly.
Explosive, stark, intricate in performance, “DANDELION HEART” is an expedition into the bizarre, its characters an experiment in embracing the peculiar and rolling with it. Comedic yet poignant, this play draws a world of fundamentally broken people, with a way of seeing that doesn't work in tandem with anyone else's, even each other's. What emerges, in the absence of any grounding point, is this:
Reality is relative.
Wed £5/£4, Thurs-Sat £6/£5
Praise for Moss' previous work
"Visceral . . . potent . . . sharp" THE STAGE
"Beautifully wrought . . . Slick, brutal, raw" VARSITY
- October 2011
Ensnared by the power of his own beauty, Dorian gradually sinks deep into a world of selfish pleasure; unchanged by his sins, untouched by age and uncaring of the tragedy he leaves in his wake. But up in his attic, hidden behind a curtain, the portrait painted by a young lover tells a different story…
‘I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of that portrait. Why should it keep what I must lose?’
Written by Oscar Wilde and adapted by John Osborne, this twisted and darkly funny play tells the story of a young man who sold his soul for his youth and beauty, only to discover the price may be too high.
- September 2011
The premiere of an exciting new play inspired by true events. A haunting love story from a land where vampires are more than just myth and the dead are an everyday part of life. From the creative team behind last year's critically-acclaimed WILDE IN NEW YORK.
- September 2011
“Now o’er the one half-world | Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse | The curtain’d sleep.”
One of the greatest works in Western literature, 'Macbeth' explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil.
A barren, post-apocalyptic wasteland, dead trees, and broken mirrors. Cambridge American Stage Tour’s 2011 production of Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece presents a nightmarish vision of the future, where nothing is quite as it seems. Inspired by modern dystopian fiction, prepare to descend into a landscape of broken dreams and bloody ambitions, inhabited by murderers and madmen. In a world of royal isolation, amidst smiling courtiers and a promise of immortality, Macbeth is king of nothing.
Under the patronage of Dame Judi Dench, CAST has given sixteen students the opportunity to tour America over the past twelve years, establishing itself as one of the most prestigious tour shows in Cambridge, performing across the East Coast in cities from New York to New Orleans, Boston, Washington DC and Miami.
- June 2011
The biggest show of the year from "the most renowned sketch troupe of them all" (The Independent). Performing to over twenty thousand people across two continents, ‘Pretty Little Panic’ will travel around the UK, head up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and then take on both coasts of America, stopping off in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles amongst other major cities. Make sure you grab a "must-have ticket" (The Times) to the show that has launched – and continues to launch – many of the greatest names in comedy.
- June 2011
A garbage island on the Mississippi river. A woman sits with a guitar and a boombox. A man washes up on the shore. Bubbles. Gorilla costumes. Raindrops and roses and ash. ‘Death happens. Get over it.’ A play with songs. Directed by Imogen Stubbs and Ben Kavanagh
- June 2011
Bourne. Bond. Inception. Action films think they’re pretty smart nowadays, with their shaky-cam and their men getting hit in the balls. Armageddapocalypse 2.5: Armagedinburgh holds up a mirror to their stupidity, and then smashes that mirror against their face, before hurling them into an erupting volcano. From the exploding pens of former Footlights James Moran and Lucien Young, we present the Edinburgh Fringe previews for a comedy that will showcase – and, in all likelihood, kill – Cambridge’s top performing and production talent*.
Building on the sell-out success of last year’s Armageddapocalypse 2: The Explosioning, catch this action-packed extended-edition before it punches the Edinburgh Fringe in the stomach. Watch as Jack Lang – the maverickiest agent in the Agency – returns to fight twisted genius Doctor Apocalypse and an array of combustible baddies. If we can make just one audience member explode, we know we’ve done our job.
Armageddapocalypse 2.5: Armagedinburgh – because last time, parts of Cambridge were left intact.
*A joke. We are scrupulous about health and safety matters
- June 2011
This Thursday for one night only!
COMEDY SLUTFEST *
An all-girl Slutwalk-themed comedy event
- June 2011
Following their sell-out successes of Sweeney Todd and Chess, Festival Players return to the ADC with their own interpretation of the smash-hit, multi-award-winning and totally irreverent musical The Producers adapted from Mel Brooks’ 1968 film of the same name. Brash, camp, totally over-the-top and yet at times surprisingly touching, the original musical won an unprecedented twelve Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Original Score) and was hailed as “a gift from the show-biz gods.” (Time Magazine).
Max Bialystock, once the king of Broadway is now notorious only for producing flops. Then he realises that if he could put on a show that’s so tasteless it’s guaranteed to fail, he could keep all the investment money! The all-singing, all-dancing spectacular Springtime for Hitler seems perfect – except there’s no accounting for taste! Fast-paced, colourful, brash and outrageously funny, The Producers is a show definitely NOT to be missed!
- May 2011
Can a poet and hip-hop artist learn to see eye to eye? Mark Grist and MC Mixy have spent the last year trying to find out. Since forming in 2008, the Dead Poets have been challenging the preconceptions of poetry and hip hop across the country.
Find out how Mark, an English teacher from Peterborough, struggles as he attempts to compete on the hip hop battle circuit and see MC Mixy’s attempts to be accepted by Peterborough’s poetry community.
The Dead Poets journey ends with Mark competing in a range of hip hop battles, winning several shock victories while Mixy manages to gain the title ‘Poet Laureate of Peterborough’.
Packed with witty wordplay, laugh out loud humour, and overflowing with creative energy. The Scotsman - hilarious.
‘Dynamite! Both your flows are impeccable!’ Steve Merchant
'Dead Poets' will take audiences of all ages on a journey from the classroom to the club in just under an hour. Packed with witty wordplay, laugh out loud humour, and overflowing with creative energy, Mark and Mixy will make you see poetry and hip-hop in a completely different light.
- May 2011
I Found My Horn (Varsity *****) will return to Cambridge for one night only on the main stage of the Sidney Sussex Arts Festival, on Saturday 25th June 2011. Starring Oskar McCarthy and directed by Jack Furness, the show was a huge success at the ADC this term as the Week 3 late show.
Here's the Varsity review: http://www.varsity.co.uk/reviews/3600
You can find out more about the festival here: http://www.sidneyartsfestival.co.uk/
And you can buy tickets here: http://www.adcticketing.com/
“It takes bollocks of Sheffield steel to play the French horn in public!”
Ever learnt a musical instrument? Then dropped it on leaving school? And secretly regretted it ever since? Then whether you’re a virtuoso, lapsed instrumentalist, music lover, or just looking for an uplifting break from the depths of your revision, this is the show for you.
Jasper Rees, seeking redemption after a lay-off of 25 years, clambers into the attic and uncovers the sixteen feet of treacherous brass tubing he never mastered in his youth. Picking up his old French horn, he sets himself an impossible task: to perform a Mozart concerto in front of a paying audience of horn experts. Madness? Perhaps; but for Jasper, there's no choice. It's now, or it’s never.
Adapted from the best-selling book, I Found My Horn has been called “irresistible” (Sunday Times), “delightful, warm, witty” (Mail on Sunday) and “inspiring, moving and quite hilarious” (Classical Music Magazine). Featuring some of the most beautiful horn music ever written, including live performance, this captivating one-man show comes to the Sidney Sussex Arts Festival determined to remind you that it’s never too late to conquer your demons.
- May 2011
In their Debut Spectacular, the Cambridge University Show Choir and goes all-out with a wide variety of song and dance from the most famous films, musicals and TV shows of the last century. With two shows - a Tuesday lateshow at 11pm and a Saturday matinee at 2:30pm - this is an incredibly fu nproject that lets all those involved display a wide range of talents.
- May 2011
CUADC is excited to bring this intellectual, romantic, tragic and comic rollercoaster to the ADC stage. Skipping between genres and between centuries, Arcadia explores the irreversibility of time, the conflict between Classicism and Romanticism, the struggle between chaos and determinism, the difficulty of ascribing historical certainty, rules and numbers to love, mathematics, physics, architecture, nihilism, lust, madness.... No amount of words can begin to capture the brilliance of Stoppard’s masterpiece that, aside from anything else, has the most captivating and moving story, and a rich array of brilliant characters.
One room. Two time periods.
The magnificent drawing room of a Derbyshire country house. The precocious 13-year-old, Lady Thomasina, is studying with her tutor. The infamous Lord Byron is an unseen house-guest looming offstage. As the people around her have affairs, threaten duels, shoot rabbits, and mutate the surrounding landscape into a ‘picturesque’ Gothic fantasy land, she begins to grow up. But her age never manages to catch up with her extraordinary mathematical genius.
The same room. Hannah, a garden historian, is investigating the past of the grounds. Bernard, a professor, is there to explore the sordid scandal involving Lord Byron that took place at Sidley two centuries ago. With the help of the current inhabitants of the house, they become consumed in the history of Sidley. As their investigations, discoveries and arguments unfold, the truth about Thomasina’s childhood at Sidley is ingeniously untangled, while past and present begin to intertwine with the same grace as her equations.
- May 2011
From the people who brought you The Seagull (2011), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (2010) and Madness Of George III (2009), coming to the ADC this spring, a thrilling new staging of David Mamet’s modern classic SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO.
‘You are trying to understand women and I am confusing you with information.’
David Mamet's study of changing sexual mores in early seventies urban America follows the love affair of office manager Danny and commercial illustrator Deborah from first “encounter” to closure. They might have made a success of their relationship were it not for their choice of confidants, Bernard and Joan who persistently sabotage and undermine. The problem??? Bernie wants everyone, Joan just wants someone and Dan and Deborah want each other! Don’t miss this fast-talking, sexually charged urban comedy set in the singles scene of seventies Chicago. You’ll never forgive yourself!
- May 2011
Following a year of exceptional musical theatre success, CUMTS are proud to present their end of year Gala; 'Broadway, Baby!' Prepare to be dazzled bysome of the brightest and best of Cambridge's musical theatre talent. Whether you love the big showstoppers, or the heartfelt ballads, we can guarantee that there will be something to entertain you at this one night extravaganza!
- May 2011
A story of forbidden love, loyalty, guilt and the corrupting power of greed, Arthur Miller's acclaimed play 'All My Sons', revolves around Joe Keller and his family. Joe's factory is alleged to have supplied World War II planes with defective machinery, leading to the deaths of innocent pilots, a crime for which his business partner has taken the fall. One of Joe's sons, Larry, is thought to have been killed in action, but his mother simply cannot accept he is dead. Nor can she accept that Larry's fiancee is now in love with her other son, Chris. The confrontations that ensue lead to the uncovering of a world-shaking family secret, and tragic consequences that will further scar the lives of this family.
Following the success of previous productions of Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' and 'The Crucible' at the ADC, do not miss out on this stirring yet moving portrayal of a family in crisis.
- May 2011
Are you in dire need of an escape from the realities of adult life, from looming exams, or long and hard-working days?
Pheon Productions presents a solution:
Once Upon A Dream, with its twenty-piece orchestra, twenty-strong chorus, and star solo singers, offers you a unique chance to return to your childhood for an hour and enjoy a relaxing feeling of nostalgic cosiness. For you, the most talented musicians in Cambridge perform fabulous all-new arrangements of songs from such classic films as The Lion King, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story and many more...
You are guaranteed to find your Prince Charming, win the heart of the perfect princess, shed a tear for lost youth, or just leave the theatre with a brief taste of happily-ever-after. Whatever part of your dreams is realised, Once Upon A Dream promises to be a night to remember.
- May 2011
"Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love."
Verona. 1948. The war is over. There’s a fight in the streets.
Some of the finest actors, technicians and creative forces from within Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club bring the agony and the ecstasy of the greatest love story of all time to the stage of the ADC Theatre in this year's fresh, visual and visceral Easter Term Shakespeare.
Beneath a world of bright lights, riches and romance lies an anarchic subculture of mafia warfare. The rival families of Montague and Capulet infect the streets with bloody violence. In a chance encounter, two young people fall in love.
Inspired by the films of Coppola, Pasolini and Fellini, the action will be set against a bleak Italian midwinter, flick-knives replace swords and the men wear sharp Italian suits. In the style of 'Sin City', black, white and red dominate the stage.
- March 2011
Cambridge University is delighted to be hosting the inaugural Inter-University New Writing Festival. The festival will bring together the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and UCL – each with well-established reputation for dramatic excellence – to find out who really creates the best theatre.
Each university will perform a 40-minute, brand new student-written play on the evening, and contribute one of their esteemed theatrical alumnae to form the judging panel.
The Cambridge production (cast and production team listed below) is "Burying Dad".
- March 2011
The Cambridge Footlights present the winner of this year's Harry Porter Prize for a one hour comic play. The prize was set up in 2003 in honour of the late Dr Harry Porter, who served as the Footlights' Senior Archivist until his death, and was the longest standing member of the Footlights Committee. Join us to herald the realisation of the latest Porter-winning playwright's comic vision.
This year the winner was chosen by the one and only Tim Key; a former footlight and winner of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award. He knows his laughs. Have a look at him here: www.timkey.co.uk
Written by Mark Fiddaman, this is footlights first: An all female, one-woman, production.
- March 2011
West Side Story, many would claim the greatest musical ever written, has delighted audiences worldwide since its opening on Broadway more than 50 years ago. With a score by one of the finest composers of the twentieth century, Leonard Bernstein, lyrics that launched the career of the great Stephen Sondheim and the iconic choreography of Jerome Robbins, this modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet returns to the stage in Cambridge for the first time in several years this Lent Term, in a production featuring Cambridge’s finest talent in musical theatre. Prepare to be entranced by the beautiful melodies of Tonight and Somewhere, the irresistible rhythms of America and I Feel Pretty whilst being dazzled by the spectacle of dance and fight scenes alike, as this definitive work in the cultural landscape of the last century comes to the ADC.
- March 2011
"An old Russian widow falls in love with a painting hanging on the hallowed walls of the Hermitage. What happens when it is sent to auction, and how far will she journey to get it back?"
When darkness falls and the curtain drops on the ADC mainshow, a troupe of fabulists emerge from the depths of the theatre to spin you a yarn. Using ancient props and costumes salvaged from productions past, marvel as they create a host of characters, plucked from our enchanted hatbox. Malevolent art historians and opportunistic chandelier salesmen come to life, with entrancing music played live on stage by our transvestite accompanist. This troupe might be poor as church mice but they are just as resourceful, showing that the theatre can be a rich place by little means...
Praise for last production: 'Imaginatively staged and brilliantly conceived…it artfully married nostalgia and innovation' (Varsity)
- March 2011
What are the odds that you would lose a mansion, all your money, most of your dignity and your wife in the space of one very miserable week? Unfortunately, they are pretty high for the likes of this particular homeowner. Welcome to the Footlights Spring Revue 2011, the sketch show which shows you that with a big house comes big responsibility.
The Footlights Spring Revue is one of the biggest comedy events in Cambridge. It's sold out for the last five years in a row, and 'Odds' promises to be another smash hit from the world famous comedy club.
- March 2011
This new one-act imagines the genesis of 'Frankenstein'. An innocent writing contest in Lord Byron's Swiss villa spawns surprise arrivals, rivalries and romance, and the world's most infamous monster. Byron, his companion, the Shelleys, and a surprise guest clash, picnic, and witness the birth of ... 'Frankenstein'!
- March 2011
I am writing, with sinful pleasure, a Comedy:
3 lovers, 2 celebrities, 1 Gun, no Plot & lots of Love.
– Anton Chekhov
More than a hundred years after its premier, we re-imagine Chekhov’s greatest play for a modern audience, in a new version by Simon Haines (“very funny” Germaine Greer).
Chekhov’s comedy and his cruelty is laid bare in a dark comedy about the regrets and romantic entanglements of a gaggle of actors/writers/artists gathered on a lake-side estate in pursuit of love, sex, fame – or simply a round of applause.
(Praise for Simon Haines' previous writing/directing:)
"A gratifying gem of a production." – The Stage | - "A little ray of sunshine." – TCS | - "Great new writing, flawlessly acted, and very, very funny... You won’t just enjoy it, you’ll remember it." – Varsity
~ You’re sixty years old, darling. Medicine won’t help. ~
- February 2011
The time and place are unknown. Two men climb down onto the stage, continuing on their journey. Neither them nor us know where they’re going, but there’s a writer in the sky who is telling them to carry on. Award winning writer of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", Milan Kundera presents “Jacques and His Master,” a play where past and present seamlessly overlap, and nothing is quite as you remembered it. The two men, Jacques and his Master, have both gambled with love, involving themselves in situations both criminal, perverse and downright bizarre. The memories of both characters are brought to life by figures from their respective pasts, forcing master and servant to confront the issues of guilt, and the thorny problems of who is ultimately responsible for one’s bad behaviour and bad luck.
- February 2011
‘I’ve got a new rule for you, mate, it’s called survival of the fittest, it’s called “fuck you – we’re the Riot Club”. Respect that.’
Posh is a play about power. The ancestors of the Riot Club boys used to rule the country, but times have changed. Over the course of a drunken dinner in the back room of an Oxfordshire pub, the pretences of the Club – of camaraderie, of harmless fun, of invincibility – are eroded and finally shattered, leaving the boys as they are – scared and alone. Posh isn’t merely an attack on a couple exclusive Oxbridge clubs, but rather about what lies behind them – elitism, arrogance, class, money, exclusivity and pack mentality on the one hand and weakness, isolation and fear on the other.
- February 2011
Noises Off is a side-splittingly hilarious comedy following the loveable cast and crew of Nothing On as they attempt to take their show from final rehearsal to final performance. The pandemonium that goes on behind the scenes, the disasters that occur front-of-stage and the incestuous relationships that breed in between are laid bare in riotous detail to the audience.
Will Lloyd, the director, be able to balance two relationships with members of the company at once? Can practically deaf old Selsdon be kept off the bottle long enough to make his entrance? How will Frederick cope in a fight when the mention of violence gives him a nosebleed?
Come along and find the answers to all of these questions and more. With seven slamming doors, six breaking windows, three near-fatal falls, and an onslaught of mistaken entrances, cues and prop malfunctions, what could possibly go wrong?
- February 2011
QUEEN TO PAWN
Love does crazy things to everyone. But when the stakes are higher, so are the losses. The Alcock PLayers proudly present the premier of Jeff Carpenter's Dido and Aeneas, a brand new orchestration of Henry Purcell's great classic.
MAGIC AND HEARTBREAK
Dido is the queen of a great empire, tough, powerful, independent - but love is completely shut out of her life until the handsome hero Aeneas sails into town. Now there are dark powers at work, witches with agendas of their own. And Aeneas may not be quite so heroic as he looks...
A NEW VISION
This new interpretation updates the orchestration to a more modern sound inspired by twentieth and twenty-first century musical theatre - think Sweeney Todd and Wicked!
