- November 2024
World-famous popstar Candice arrives in the town of Little Wonder, England, where she hopes to lay low during her record-breaking world tour. Unbeknownst to her, Little Wonder is also home to her biggest superfans: classmates Trish, Vee, Camryn, Jaime, Aisha and Bo, who plan to form a band after graduation and chase their dream of being musicians.
After a mix-up leads the group to Candice's whereabouts, news breaks that her back-up dancers have wedged their eco-boat in the Suez Canal. Discovering the friends already know her songs and choreography, manager O'Neill and tour handler Leslie offer the deal of a lifetime: for keeping the news a secret, the group can live their dream as the back-ups (to the back-ups!) to their favourite singer.
As preparations for the concert begin though, pressure grows and relationships are tested, while Candice faces tough decisions about her future when her partner Alix arrives. Pop stardom meets market-town Britain in this sweet, funny crowd-pleaser about what it means to meet your idol - and follow your dreams.
The CUMTS freshers musical is the perfect way to support musical theatre newbies in Cambridge. Each year, a group of freshers get together in their first term and put on a student-written musical with the help and oversight of CUMTS current students. A show full of fresh, new talent and enthusiastic musical theatre freshers, it is not one to be missed on the CUMTS calendar. Come and show your support for the next generation!
- November 2024
CUADC Freshers' Play
Welcome to the tech rehearsal. Around you, a company of fourteen is engaged in the very peculiar task of creating a new play.
Take a seat next to the sound designer as he mixes cues. Eavesdrop on backstage gossip as it happens in real time. And watch the director struggle to contain the uncontainable...
10 out of 12 is a wry and absorbing look at how work forms and deforms us.
This production is suitable for ages 12 and over.
This amateur production of “10 Out of 12” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
- November 2024
Remember own clothes day? Primary school cake? Watching celebrities eat spiders on live television? Or when the apprentice was actually good? Then Notstalgic is the show for you! Taking you back to the days gone-by this student-written sketch comedy show is guaranteed to make you sick with laughter (giving you the perfect excuse to skip PE again, because no one really likes PE). This night of hilarity and amusement will be one you won’t forget, or is it one you'll remember? Either way, we’ll leave you feeling Notstalglic for our show!
- November 2024
“We are only what we always were but naked now.”
A dramatized and partially fictionalised story of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. John Proctor, a farmer, and his wife Elizabeth are a troubled couple, haunted by Proctor's past affair with Abigail Williams, who still harbours feelings for him. Reverend Hale is called upon to investigate the claims of witchcraft. Proctor struggles with his guilt over his affair and his desire to protect his wife and the truth.
In a town crying witchcraft, Proctor must make a choice between integrity and self-preservation.
- November 2024
- November 2024
The feel-good musical comedy based on the smash-hit film, Sister Act is a dazzling tribute to the universal power of friendship and music.
Disco diva Deloris’ life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder. Under protective custody she is hidden in the one place she should never be found – a Convent! Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris uses her unique disco moves and talent to breathe new life into the church community at the expense of blowing her own cover. The gang soon gives chase, only to find themselves up against Deloris and her newly found sisterhood.
- October–November 2024
Dragtime! is back again with another hour of cabaret fun and this time things are getting spooky! Get ready to meet our drop dead gorgeous kings, queens and inbetweens as we return to the ADC for our fifth (!) Halloween show, presenting the best drag talent the city has to offer. Hold on to your seats as we take you on a thrill-inducing ride through the dark side of drag, featuring singing, lip sync, spoken word, pole dance, burlesque, live music and more!
- October–November 2024
'I want to dance, Kate. It’s the Festival of Lughnasa. I’m only thirty-five. I want to dance.'
Welcome to the not-so-hot Summer of 1936 in Rural Donegal, Ireland. As the five Mundy sisters gather round to listen to the dulcet tones of their new radio, ‘Marconi’, change is coming.
Father Jack’s back from Uganda, Gerry comes and goes at will, yet there’s one journey yet to be decided upon - will the sisters make it to the Harvest Festival after all? Brian Friel’s celebrated semi-autobiographical play artfully and wittily captures the joys and pitfalls of an immediately identifiable era.
Guided by our narrator, Michael, the 'illegitimate' son of the youngest Mundy sister, Dancing at Lughnasa is at its heart a celebration of cultural survival. Marking Friel’s return to the ADC stage, this timeless tale ultimately questions how, in changing circumstances, we relate to and secure our own senses of identity.
- October 2024
Expect laughs, laughs, and more laughs...
Footlights bring you the funniest songs, sketches, monologues and stand up in an evening of non-stop, back-to-back fun-filled hilarity. The material is always original and always varied. It can be soft and silly; rude and spikey; wordy and nerdy or a little surreal - whatever the style, it's always "uproariously funny" (Varsity).
- October 2024
"I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn't take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn't never gonna bloom.”
August Wilson's critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play Fences has often been described as one of the most moving and accurate portrayals of the black family. Meet Troy Maxson, a disillusioned sanitation worker who has bitterly moved on from the days of his youth where he used to play in the Negro Baseball League. Wilson explores the battle between ruthless pragmatism and hope dividing the Maxson family living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as Troy is willing to tear down the dreams of his wife Rose and son Cory who aspires to one day follow in his father's footsteps in search of sporting acclaim with hopes of becoming professional football player. There is no line Troy is unwilling to cross.
- October 2024
Brutal. Infamous. Slimy.
He's a theatre critic.
Meet Bob the Leech.
Join three actors as they hopelessly attempt to impress this bloodsucking parasite ...
- October 2024
Uncle Vanya looks after the estate of his brother-in-law, a frustrated professor who has recently remarried. Vanya manages the books, he has essentially raised his niece and, above all, he is grumpy. When Doctor Astrov appears one evening to check on the professor, he puts a spark of life back into the household which will end in unrequited love, illicit desire, and Vanya’s ‘just too late’ realisation of his wasted life.
Uncle Vanya explores what it means to be at home, whether in the relationships we have, the house we live in, or the world we inhabit.
- June 2024
"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."
When Caesar returns triumphant to Rome, the people flood the streets in celebration. A group of educated elites are concerned by his popularity, and conspire to assassinate him. In the ensuing chaos, choosing what to believe and who to follow becomes the most important question of all.
Don't miss the home-run of this year's Cambridge America Stage Tour.
- October 2024
The Big Olive. Athens. Before B.C. existed. The populists are on the rise and they’re looking for a scapegoat. Sound familiar? Any old goat will do. Enter Socrates. He opens his mouth and soon he’s on trial for his life. The Man Who Argued Himself To Death, a blisteringly funny satirical comedy by Colin Swash (The Queen, Have I Got News For You) tells us all what it’s like when it becomes a crime to say ‘I Don’t Know’.
Corkscrew Theatre brings yet another original and thought-provoking piece of writing to a larger stage after successfully championing new plays Horrox (2023) and ABRA (2024). Following on from this year’s A Few Good Men and their much-acclaimed production of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, this is another piece of must-see theatre.
This production is suitable for ages 12 and over.
- September 2024
When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality, and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father’s hidden desires.
Winner of five Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, original musical about seeing your parents through grown up eyes.
This amateur production of FUN HOME is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
This production will run for 100 minutes without an interval.
This production is suitable for ages 12 and over.
- September 2024
Join us for a timeless favourite, The Vicar of Dibley, presented by Hilarity Theatre Group in aid of Comic Relief. This extraordinary and side-splitting production is sure to keep you laughing heartily. Brilliantly crafted episodes are woven together to create a show brimming with merriment.
The hilariously memorable Parish Council characters, along with our very own Geraldine, promise to send you into peals of laughter. Anticipate a delightful array of entertainment they have planned for you.
Geraldine is presented with not just the chance to host a radio show for the Parish Council but also to organise a Gala evening and a Christmas play. But what can go right? Surely Jim will be on his best behaviour, right? And David, who might have embarrassed himself on live radio, thankfully has his moment of redemption.
Owen as a sound man? Now that's intriguing. Fear not, Mrs. Cropley will be there to ensure everyone is well catered for with her unique cakes.
Rest assured, there are no dull moments in this play. We invite you to this joy-filled show.
This amateur production has been adapted from the TV series by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer by kind permission of United Agents. 'The Vicar of Dibley' was originally produced by Tiger Aspect Productions.
This production is suitable for ages 12 and over.
- September 2024
Comedy, farce, drama - the Cambridge Festival of Drama provides an opportunity to see the best of local amateur drama presenting a wide variety of plays in a mix of new writing and established pieces.
Each session features two or three short plays, followed by comment and evaluation by a professional drama adjudicator – with the added frisson of a competitive element!
There’s plenty of opportunity between plays to meet friends in the bar and talk over what you’ve seen – will you agree with the adjudicator, or not? Will you pick this year’s winner?
You’ll find a full listing of the plays at www.camdramfest.org.uk
- July 2024
Step into the world of Murder Most Unexpected, an Agatha Christie-style Whodunnit made up entirely on the spot. Our talented cast of improvisers will take you on a journey full of hilarious twists, turns, and suspicious characters - all dictated by your suggestions! Every performance is unique, anything can happen, and anyone could be the killer. Come and watch the mayhem unfold as our improvisers unravel the mystery. Don't miss this unforgettable night of comedy where you help craft the mystery.
This production is suitable for ages 12 and over.
- July 2024
Nick Warburton, screenwriter and playwright, a writer for The Archers, and who has also adapted many classic works for Radio 4’s Classic Serial, now brings you a new staged adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Originally adapted by Nick for BBC Radio 4’s The Archers in 2018, six tales from that version have now been readapted for the stage.
A raggle-taggle band of pilgrims – common working folk, some kings and queens, and the odd shady priest – pauses on its way to Canterbury. The pilgrims stretch their legs, take a little refreshment and start to tell their stories.
Here are six of Chaucer’s most vibrant tales, presented by a talented cast of fourteen.
You’ll meet the Knight, the Miller, the Wife of Bath, the Pardoner, the Friar and the Franklin who’ll spin a whole range of stories for you in lively modern English. Some will be comic and bawdy, some tender and romantic, and some will include a touch of magic.
More than thirty characters are brought to life in this new modern adaptation of Chaucer’s colourful and timeless storytelling.
This production is recommended for ages 12 and over.
- July 2024
"I’m just as good as bloody Pierrepoint." So says Harry, in his small pub in Oldham where he is something of a local celebrity. But what’s the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they’ve abolished hanging?
Among the cub reporters and sycophantic pub regulars dying to hear Harry’s reaction to the news, a peculiar stranger lurks, with a very different motive for his visit, telling the regulars:"‘Don’t worry. I may have my quirks but I’m not an animal. Or am I? One for the courts to discuss."
Set mostly in Harry’s Oldham pub in 1965, Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London in September 2015. It received the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Play, with the Daily Telegraph describing it as "Pitch perfect…Perhaps the most line-by-line funny play London has seen in years."
- June 2024
It's that time of year again.....
The Footlights International Tour Show is back and has brought together six of Cambridge's BEST comedians to create a sketch show that can only be drescribed as 'funny'. And this time they have a dog (breed yet to be specified). You'd be absolutely silly to miss it as it jets off from Cambridge, across the UK, to Edinburgh, and Beyond!!!!
- June 2024
Step into the dazzling world of musical theatre for an exhilarating night of big band music...and all that jazz!
Big Band Roulette is the big band, with the big twist. Every performance has a brand new setlist, randomly selected musicians, and only one day to rehearse. With a talented pool of musicians composed of Cambridge's premier student jazz talent, you'll be sure to feel that "fascinating rhythm".
We are thrilled to be joined by Cambridge University's esteemed Musical Theatre Society to bring you an evening of theatrical showstoppers, all arranged for our colossal 26-piece jazz band. From classic broadway hits to jazz re-imaginings of modern favourites, there is something for everyone to tap their feet to. Featuring multiple original arrangements, numerous vocal features and epic instrumental medleys, this will be a truly unforgettable (and unrepeatable!) night of music.
- June 2024
How do our inner fears manifest themselves? Where are these feelings embedded, and how do they become externalised? Underscore is the product of exploration, collaboration and innovation between dancers and musicians around these questions. It confronts the audience with a striking atmosphere through live music and unconventional forms of movement and expression.
- June 2024
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 tweens spell their way through a series of [potentially made-up] words. Each hope to never hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake, and the overstated feeling of failure that resonates with overachievers everywhere. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box.
Complete with an engaging, tuneful score by William Finn and a sweet, funny book by Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee causes audiences to fall in love, both with the show itself and its “perspicacious,” “jocular,” and “effervescent” spellers.
- May–June 2024
Winner of a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards, The Producers is Mel Brooks' story of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich quick by putting on the worst musical ever written.
They will raise two million dollars to finance the show, take the money, and then head to Rio when the show inevitably closes after just one performance. With tap-dancing Nazis and the worst director in town, the show is a sure-fire flop.
The Producers is a show like no other: a laugh-out-loud, outrageous, crowd-pleasing farce that has been a smash hit since its inception.
This production is recommended for ages 12 and over.
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International
All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI www.mtishows.co.uk
- May 2024
Laugh out loud with Cambridge Footlight and almost-qualified doctor Fatima Eshani for an uproarious one-hour comedy special: a witty, insightful take on her journey to the frontlines.
Having honed her comedic chops as a Cambridge Footlight since 2020, Fatima's deadpan and witty persona promises an unforgettable evening. From navigating the awkwardness of attempting to make friends around dissecting cadavers to mastering the art of bad news delivery to paid actors in Addenbrookes, this show unveils the hidden corners of life in the NHS. 'We Only Clap on Thursdays!' offers an honest, humorous, and unique perspective on the joys, heartbreak, and chaos of the medical world. Join us for an hour of laughter, camaraderie, and a sneak peek into the life of a junior doctor that goes beyond the textbooks and scrubs.
Fatima Eshani is "wonderful to watch" (the Tab), gives a "perfect demonstration of elegant sarcastic humour" (the Tab), and James Acaster once wore a sticker of her face (partially by accident).
- May 2024
A Devised Show!
A Working Progress is just as it sounds: a work in progress! This hour-long show is a devised piece created within one week by a company of talented Cambridge students. Themed on the idea of construction, we as a team have put together a new show from scratch! Come along for one night only to see where our minds lead us!
- May 2024
“While our eyes wait to see the final destined day, we must call no mortal happy until he has crossed life's border free from pain”.
A plague is destroying Thebes. Oedipus the King, renowned for his intellect and benevolence, vows to locate the source of corruption. As he traces the threads of pollution, he finds himself unknowingly entangled in an incriminating web and he must confront the fact that the truth lies a little too close to home. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Tyrannus, explores issues of identity, the limits of human knowledge and the fickleness of fortune. This new adaptation seeks to blend traditional Greek elements with contemporary styles in a liminal and seemingly timeless space.
- May 2024
Penelope Quadrangle has one best friend in the entire world: Natalie. Sure, she doesn’t talk much, or invite Penelope to her birthday drinks, and might be a serial killer, but they’ve been best friends since high school, and never quite grew out of it.
And then there’s her next-door neighbour Bridget, who insists on trying to be friends, and absolutely believes that Penelope is lonely. She’s not. In fact, she has a thriving social life which includes going on coffee dates every single week in her favourite middle-class café.
But when she personally witnesses Natalie brutally murder a client at their workplace, priority number one is make sure she isn't next. As she attempts her first ever friend break-up, conversations with Bridget begin to pick apart Penelope’s ideas on what a friend really is. Shouldn’t friends be there for one another, even if it means hiding a body? And would she frame Bridget to protect herself from her own best friend?
If Penelope is one thing, it’s loyal. (And extremely well dressed. And absolutely, definitely, not lonely.)
- May 2024
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.
- May 2024
'Doesn't anybody ever get it right?! Doesn't anybody think that I hear?!'
The cult-hit, rock musical based on Stephen King's bestselling horror novel. Carrie White is a freak, at least in the eyes of her classmates. There's just something about her, something that attracts their hate. She’s shy, awkward, desperately lonely, and controlled completely by her tyrannical, religious fundamentalist mother at home, while at school she is tormented by almost everyone she comes across. But something has changed. She feels different. She feels powerful. She can move things without touching them. She could hurt people, if she wanted to. When she is invited to the prom, the hatred and rejection of her peers still festering, their pity somehow even more hurtful, was there ever any hope of her keeping this power under control?
This iconic horror story is at once a supernatural thrill-fest, and a tragic, thoughtful, biting, meditation on the question: just how cruel can normal people be, in order to feel like they belong?
- May 2024
Cloud eight and a half is a sketch show all about what makes us happy - hobbies, people, crisps, schadenfreude, and everything in between! Come on down to the ADC to enjoy a night of insanity, fun, and nostalgia - we may not be able to take you to Cloud 9, but we'll get close!
- April–May 2024
In Ben Jonson’s Epicoene, a rich man, Morose, sets out to find a wife and, in doing so, disinherits his nephew, Dauphine. This decision triggers Dauphine’s friends, a group of chauvinistic young men with a history of playing humiliating tricks on Morose, to hijack his uncle’s resolution by presenting him with the woman of his dreams. But is it too good to be true?
Thrillingly relocated to contemporary London, a culture of misogynistic masculinity influencers and oligarchical parties, Jonson’s rarely seen play comes to the ADC.
- April 2024
Inspired by a true story and based on the hit film, Made in Dagenham is the uplifting musical comedy about friendship, love and the importance of fighting for what's right.
Essex, 1968. When Ford’s Dagenham car plant drops female workers’ pay, mum Rita leads her friends in a battle against the mighty company and the corrupted union supposed to protect them. As the women’s journey grows, so does the pressure. Can Rita keep up the fight and the happy home she’s built?
Funny, touching and timeless, Made in Dagenham shows how ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they stand together.
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International
All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI www.mtishows.co.uk
- April 2024
- April 2024
