- October 2005
‘WHEN CAN I STOP RUNNING DOWN THAT STEEP WHITE STREET IN CABEZA DE LOBO?’ Catharine, fresh out of the asylum, has a story to tell. The viperous Mrs. Venables, who snaked an umbilical cord of pearls around the memory of Sebastian is intent on denying the truth about her son and his death. Suddenly Last Summer builds to a climactic revelation of what happened to Sebastian in Cabeza de Lobo. But the true cannibalistic horror lies far closer to home… In the garden district of New Orleans, where massive tree flowers suggest organs of a body, still glistening with undried blood, Williams’ darkest examination of emotional violence screams, hisses and thrashes its way towards a bloody conclusion where ‘truth’ is a weapon and survival hangs by a spider’s thread. Emotional myth-making, desire and corruption strike an iconic balance between dignity and hysteria in this most theatrical of productions.
- October 2005
"The night air is thick as molasses. Maggie doesn't notice the strap of her slip as it slides down one shoulder. The ice clinks softly in Brick's glass as he pours himself yet another drink. She's sick of the routine; he's sick of her. And tonight they've both reached boiling point. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a southern family's simmering secrets rise to the surface as the family gathers to bid a final happy birthday to their ailing Big Daddy.
Tennessee William’s Pulitzer Prize winning play about the lies and distance that are part of our nature comes to the ADC in its 50th anniversary year."
- October 2005
In a world of beggars and whores lust, crime and corruption thrive. An
elegant yet bitter indictment of base society, Brecht's Threepenny Opera is
a darkly fascinating work. A seductive drama blending seamlessly with the
jazzy syncopation of Kurt Weill's inventive score. This ensemble production
picks you up by the hair, spins you round, makes love to you then slaps you
for the privilege. Come to a world of danger, jazz, illicit sex and
booze...
- October 2005
“Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.”
In a barren, disordered world, Macbeth’s fateful encounter with the witches tempts him into a spiral of murder, deception and death. Returning from a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe with CUADC, Blank Theatre presents a spellbinding new interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Fusing the original verse with a battery of music, rhythm and dance, this vibrant young company creates a unique form of ensemble ‘total theatre’; in one hour Macbeth is re- imagined through a visual language of physical theatre and multimedia, enhancing the clear and entertaining telling of the story. Pace and energy characterises this compelling hour of theatre, combining the ‘sound and fury’ of an original score with exhilarating choreography. Following the success of The Tempest (November, 2004) Blank continues to break new ground in the performance of Shakespeare.
"Breathing new and dynamic life into familiar Shakespearean territory." (Steve Waters, Playwright)
- July 2005
- June 2005
The students at the dance college are making the most of their lives and talents, as they demonstrate in this exciting performance.
You will be engulfed in a feast of Dance talent ranging from Classical Ballet to Hip Hop, Jazz to Contemporary and Tap to Singing. The audience will be transported to foreign lands in through a celebration of national Dance, and will be able to sample some of our talent and enthusiasm generated by The dance Collegein the training programme for our ‘Teacher of Tomorrow’.
Whether you indulge and appreciate these art forms as an alternative to a night in; or whether you are considering this as a career path yourself, you're guaranteed to enjoy this performance.
- June 2005
Footlights' Nick Mohammed returns to the ADC stage with his debut solo show 'Back in Town Again: - “Waltzing Out of Town;'. With a host of zany characters in his repertoire, Mohammed has a lot to say, and is a lot of people to say it. Mohammed performed in last year’s Cambridge Footlights’ National Tour, 'Beyond A Joke', in which he was described by the Cambridge Evening News as ‘without doubt a star of the future’.
The show is a preview for Mohammed's run at the Edinburgh Fringe this August, and is one of four productions being previewed by Footlights alumni in May Week.
"Genuinely funny" - Metro
"Exhilarating...clever and surreal" - Varsity
"Without doubt a star of the future" - Cambridge Evening News
- June 2005
One of the most talked-about British stand-ups to emerge in recent years, former Footlight Mark Watson (winner of four awards in the past three years, published novelist, and international star after the world's first solo 24-hour comedy performance last summer) performs a brand-new show for two nights only. In this rare preview show before a month at the Edinburgh Fringe 2005, Watson faces up to his mortality by attempting to cram his remaining 50 years into one frantic hour of stand-up. A blistering comic assault can be expected.
This production is one of four shows being previewed by Footlights alumni in May Week.
'magnificent, achingly funny' Daily Telegraph
'a scholar, a gentleman and a brilliant stand-up' Evening Standard
'sublime talent and glorious wit' The Scotsman
'the Daddy of young comedians' Maxim
www.markwatsoncomedy.com
- June 2005
"We've reached 'They all lived happily ever after' and we’ve gone past it. Nobody’s ever written that bit before. This is the happy world."
From the author of 'Shopping and F***ing' comes a high-octane slice of violent, sexy, and drug-fuelled theatre. Some Explicit Polaroids explores revenge, love, reconciliation, acceptance, death, sex, and identity, all filtered through the prism of six characters searching for them. Barely a line goes by without a character facing up to their past or their immediate futures.
Take six people: a Glaswegian and a Russian good-time boy addicted to trash culture; a Labour councillor and an ex-con; a lap-dancer and a pinstriped capitalist. Let them meet in a series of snapshot scenes linked by loneliness. Some explicit polaroids are taken. After 15 years inside, political activist Nick emerges to find that the old causes of the 80s have become the lost causes of the 90s. As he struggles to get to grips with this new world, he collides with the new generation. Bonded by a love of pills, parties and therapy-speak, Nadia, Tim, and Victor take Nick on a search for the happy-ever-after.
Journeying through airports, hospitals, homes, lap-dancing clubs, and Parliament, it is a play that will shock and excite its spectators, confronting them with the reality of the past and hopes for the future. As Nick returns from a spell in prison, and Tim buys himself a gay lover from Russia, the pinstripe capitalist and the lap-dancer carry on with their everyday lives, but a series of twists and turns bring them closer than they had ever expected...
- June 2005
An adventure into the hearts and minds of the misfits of our world and the next, taking in fantastic catburglars, garrulous angels and daydreaming aquarium attendants, all bound up in a quest for the forgotten, the mislaid and the yearned-for missing piece of their particular puzzle. Join the Cambridge Footlights as they weave their mysterious way through the afterlife, the lowlife and the good life, in search of the things we often want, but rarely get...
The tour will begin and end with a Cambridge run, taking in the Edinburgh Fringe and a National Tour. Visit the website at www.underthebluebluemoon.co.uk
- May 2005
This show promises a beautiful display of ballet from local dance academy, The Russian Ballet School. Classical dance is set to both traditional and modern music, making for an innovative and interesting performance.
The first act will be a classical ballet, with original story and choreography by Karen Stringer. The Prince Wants a Wife is a fairy tale of love and longing; unable to find a suitable wife at court or in the local village, a prince searches among the local fairy band. He is distraught to find that even among these magical creatures most have fallen into decadent and lazy ways - until he finds one beautiful nymph, both good and beautiful. At the wedding of the happy couple the bride's bouquet comes to life and dances for the happy couple.
The second act, entitled The Modern Age, is danced to music from the 20th and 21st centuries. From Scott Joplin to Jamiroquai and the Spice Girls, this will be a joyous celebration of the versatility of this classical art form.
- May 2005
"There's nothing like mixing with women to bring out all the foolishness in a man of sense."
Rich (and sensible) Horace Vandergelder is planning to get married. After many years of caution and hard work, he feels he has the right to a little risk and adventure. So he employs a matchmaker, one Dolly Levi, who is more than a match for this man of sense. For Dolly knows that the one way to keep human beings from harm is to fill their lives with the small human pleasures that are our right in the world. However, this takes money, and Dolly doesn't have any.
But Dolly does have competition, the millineress Irene Molloy who intends to marry Horace Vandergelder or break out like a fire-engine in the attempt.
Who will win Horace's heart (and wallet)? And who is Ernestina Simple? Find out, in the Robert Sayle Drama Group's hilarious production of The Matchmaker.
- May 2005
Where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be’
Bound within his mind and bored by all the knowledge he has attained, Dr Faustus is a man struggling to break free. He sells his soul to the devil and flies around the world performing tricks, whilst the other characters struggle to keep up.
Time is running out: twenty-four years translates into the one hour that Faustus has to realise his dreams. The plot speeds up and the stage shrinks as Faustus moves towards the precipice of eternal damnation and the edge of the stage… where we sit, waiting in anticipation.
Dr Faustus is trapped, a prisoner in this world. And his fate is a reflection of our own...
- May 2005
Abby and Martha Brewster enjoy all the leisurely pursuits of the respectable old lady; tea parties, church, crocheting and biscuits - not to mention murder, if one has the time. Their nephew Mortimer, fazed by the stockpile of dead gentlemen inhabiting the cellar, attempts to shift the blame onto his conveniently insane brother Teddy. When the estranged third brother Jonathan, evil and ghastly, returns to his aunts' house with his slimy sidekick Dr. Einstein, the situation - and the body count - spirals out of control.
Set in 1940s Brooklyn in the elegant household of two loveable old darlings, this gory black comedy is as witty as it is unsettling. Combining old-fashioned elegance with sharp humour and shocking wickedness, Kesselring's classic play will make you fear your own grandmother.
- May 2005
Mr Blake kidnaps a family for his annual birthday and tries to swap places with the father. The daughters are angry; the mother doesn't seem to care; and we can't tell what the father thinks because he's bound, gagged and imprisoned somewhere. He’s probably quite annoyed though.
Familiar familial homilies are literally unwrapped and set on fire before your thighs in this new Tragi-comedy; which we prefer to call 'Comedy', taking the 'Com' from 'Comedy' and the '-edy' from 'Tragedy'. Edgy, dark and innovative, this runner-up to the Footlights' Harry Porter Prize was judged by Bill Oddie to be 'err...'. Find out if you agree.
For more information visit www.ourdarkerpurpose.com
- May 2005
'The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember.'
But then what is the present when all you have is a distant past?
Based on Oliver Sack's Awakenings, Pinter brings to life the tale of a woman awakening from a catatonic state, known as sleeping sickness, after 30 years. Sleeping as a child she awakes as an adult, terrified, confused and alone. This beautiful play offers a glimpse into a mind that has been suspended in time and space, examining a woman who has been dreaming a 16 year olds' dream for three decades.
For one night only, come explore memory and the human experience, and witness one of the most delightful and simply beautiful of Pinter's plays.
- May 2005
An exciting mixture of physical theatre, musical and thriller, La Passion d'Alexis (sur-titled in English), written by the renowned French Playwright Jean Gillibert, tells the story of a murder that took place in a playground in 1930. The play starts ten years later, during the period of French history called "The Phoney War". The murderous schoolmates and their fiancées meet again for a last party before the men leave for the front. They come to dance, to forget the evil inside them, but they are consumed by remorse. Alexis is waiting for them. His spectral presence haunts the place, ready to take any form. He drags his old friends into a fantastic and cruel "cops and robbers" game - a dancing and singing game in the vindictive style of an American musical...
- May 2005
"Clap hands for you and me and all of us whose voices count for nothing in this world." As a young boy awaits his release from prison after serving time for the murder of a child, a mother pushes her small daughter into a stage career in which the rule for success is "Talent, Teeth and Tits". Written at the time of the impending release of the Bulger killers, Peter Morris' controversial work was hailed by The Telegraph as "a brilliant play that begins by making you laugh and ends by making you shudder".
- May 2005
The world famous Footlights present their immensely popular Smokers - an hour of stand-up and sketches from the very best of Cambridge comedy talent.
Described by Varsity as 'un-hyped excellence' and by TCS as 'fast and hilariously unrelenting' these are some of the most exciting performances around. The material is always brand new and has proven consistently to be the strongest source of new writing in Cambridge. Displaying a massive range in styles - from the highly absurd to super naturalism - Smokers provide experimental comedy at a very high standard.
Book early to avoid disappointment - these really are not to be missed.
- May 2005
Albee returns to the land of middle class suburban America which he explored to such biting effect in his classic, 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?'. The Pulitzer-Prize winning 'A Delicate Balance' is a caustically funny and moving exploration of love, compassion and the bonds of friendship and family. Agnes and Tobias, a middle-aged couple, are engaged in a battle of wills with Agnes' sister Claire, a self-professed drunk, and their daughter Julia, who has returned home after a fourth failed marriage. Their equilibrium is further jeopardised by the sudden arrival of their best friends, Edna and Harry, a couple seeking refuge in an already threatened home.
At once horribly tragic and wonderfully funny, the play further explores the American drama ideas of truth, illusion and secrecy. Fueled by alcohol and pure vitriol the characters embark on a tirade of accusation and humiliation, revealing the emotional savagery of suburbia and the psychological terror of empty lives.
- March 2005
My Fair Lady charts the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from a Cockney street-urchin into a genuine Edwardian lady. Starting as a bet between Higgins, an opinionated linguistics professor, and the affable Colonel Pickering, Eliza’s journey takes her into the lives and homes of the English upper class, to Ascot and to the Embassy Ball. But after all the beautiful dresses, the elegant parties and the handsome suitors, perhaps all she really wants is a little kindness.
This fresh and exciting revival capitalises upon Cambridge’s finest talent to combine the vibrancy of London’s East End with the refined world of the Edwardian aristocracy. Including musical classics such as ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’, ‘On the Street Where You Live’ and ‘Get Me To the Church on Time’, My Fair Lady is one of the best-loved musicals of all time.
- March 2005
The world-famous Cambridge Footlights are proud to present the winner of the Harry Porter Prize, awarded annually to a new comic play. Established three years ago to celebrate the contribtion to Footlights of the Club’s Senior Archivist, the Harry Porter Prize gives Cambridge’s stickiest comic spiders a chance to spin their web on the ADC stage.
This year's winner is 'Evelyn Budden; Auctioneer', a comic tale about an auctioneer who accidentally kills the people he loves. Told in flashback with auctioneering interludes and a musical finale, it will prove to be a real one-off.
- March 2005
This year’s Medics Revue returns home from a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe with another fast-paced comedy sketch show, ready to maintain the long tradition and excellent reputation that it enjoys in Cambridge. This is high quality entertainment with wide-ranging appeal, taking you from current affairs to the completely surreal with almost everything in between.
The revue has a distinguished history of selling out the ADC Theatre and this show, with its fresh faces and new material, promises nothing less. The cast is made up of Cambridge undergraduate medics and vets, but the 60 minutes of slick, professional and downright hilarious comedy is entirely non-medical.
Come and get another dose of comedy from the people who brought you Fibula on the Roof and Lawrence of the Labia. You’ll find it’s just what the doctor ordered.
- March 2005
A mouth-watering selection box of dramatic treats; monologues by the likes of Bennett and Kane interspersed with work devised by some of the university’s most imaginative performers. These short pieces come in comedy, tragedy, tragi-comedy and strawberry cream flavours.
- March 2005
A group of blundering actors are about to embark on a touring production of 'Nothing On' - a classic British farce. But on the night before the first performance, the play is far from ready to perform. Fluffed lines, misplaced sardines and the tension of backstage romances all contribute to the uproarious troubles of the production team. As the tour continues, events behind the scenes spiral out of control, and the predicament of the actors and crew becomes even more farcical than the play they are performing.
'Noises Off' firmly established Michael Frayn's position as an exceptional and perceptive dramatist, with its first production winning both the Evening Standard and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy of the Year. One of the truly great comedies of recent times, this frenzied farce is an unmissable piece of theatre from one of Britain's finest and most popular playwrights.
- March 2005
‘Beautiful, oh she’s beautiful. Who is she waiting for- no one for me-? Her neck soft as a baby’s thigh. I could bite valleys out of it. I could…’
A play that will revel and delight in the spectacular performance that is the drudgery of daily life. A play that will highlight the actor in all of us before wooing it out of the stage. While a man searches for someone to be honest to.
- March 2005
In 1529 two worlds collided – lands were colonised, people were enslaved and thousands upon thousands were slaughtered.
Francisco Pizarro is a man disillusioned by life. Jaded, faithless and cynical, he is driven only by his hope of achieving lasting fame, and so recruits a motley group of no-hopers to join his last voyage to the New World in search of gold, prestige and a place in the annals of history. Instead of the primitive communities they anticipate however, they encounter the Incas – an empire of millions, subjugated by their divine ruler, Atahuallpa; the god-king, the son of the Sun. As the fate of the two men becomes intertwined, Pizarro’s personal confl ict between his hubris and his new-found faith reaches a captivating and ultimately tragic climax.
Based on factual historical accounts, this is the story of the first contact between the Spanish conquistadors and the Incas of Peru, given life by Shaffer’s compelling play. A true spectacle, involving ‘not only words, but rites, mimes, masks and magics’, this production captures the thrilling allure of the empires of the New World – and the harrowing consequences of conflict and conquest.
- February 2005
A chorus of actors. A century-defining poem. A genre defining drama. Innovative and exiting, Wasteland offers a visual-vocal invigoration of T S Eliot’s magnificent poetic creation. Sometimes words speak louder than actions as this energetic new drama demonstrates, bringing the unique power of spoken verse to the ADC Theatre. In a spectacle of voice, movement, music and iconic visuals, Eliot’s poetic vision and narrative thread are drawn out and rendered in sight and sound.
Including music especially commissioned for the piece and composed by one of Cambridge’s most talented aspiring young musicians, as well as additional new writing from 2004 young poet of the year, this is a remarkable bringing together of the complex strands which have defined nearly a century of modern thought.
Watch and listen as Wasteland stamps its bold impression on the Cambridge drama scene. We will show you fear in a handful of dust…
- February 2005
The Comedy Iceberg and ICE present four brand new, made up on the spot, TV shows (punctuated by commercial breaks, news flashes and even government information films), offering you the opportunity to vote off the worst of the dross. Lifestyle makeover? Fly-on-the-wall documentary? Police drama? You decide...
- February 2005
From Footlights regulars Joe Thomas and Raph Shirley comes this hilarious comment on modern insecurities and inadequacies. Featuring a sensitive mix of realist and surrealist writing, this new take on the sketch show promises to be the most innovative and laugh packed production of the year.
Building on the success of their past shows – Raph starred in this year’s tour show, Beyond A Joke, and Joe co-wrote this year’s hilarious pantomime Great Expectations – and the illustrious history of the Cambridge Footlights, this show promises to showcase the very best comic talent in the University.
- February 2005
The Amateur Dramatic Club preposterously offers you 24 Hour Drama. Devised, scripted, rehearsed and performed in just one day.
Join us in the ADC Theatre bar at the 23rd hour...
- February 2005
If a part-time waiter and retired wrestler came to your front door, completely uninvited, and started to load the attic with enormous tanks of petrol, shamelessly explaining their plan to destroy the neighbourhood, you’d probably think they were joking. But this is exactly the situation thrust upon Herr Biedermann, a typically narrow-minded and unexciting bourgeois gentleman, who just happens to have a ‘very favourably situated’ house.
A comic allegory of the appeasement of Hitler, The Fire Raisers is a colourful tapestry of paradox. It deals with delusion, persuasion, political blindness, the folly of mankind, and yet all in such a darkly hilarious way that you won’t know what to feel.
Comedy, original music and lots of mind warping psychology: this show is guaranteed to blow you away.
- February 2005
This gothic adaptation of a classic play, refreshed for the modern generation, offers a satire on contemporary life and current news, asking the questions we’re too afraid to ask. Examining the corruption of wealth, the exploitation of power and the commodification of the sexes through the medium of the media, this show promises to transform the ADC into a live news room! Volpone, the protagonist, endeavours to trick his ‘friends’ out of money by pretending to be at death’s door, upon receiving the gifts he wants more…the wife of one of his friends, to save him from death and fall into his grace. His humble servant Mosca aids his master all he can, but his intentions are far from innocent… With all the farce of the original play, but with the politics and lust of the 21st century, come witness the humour and the horror, come deceive and be deceived.
- February 2005
Relax with nibbles, jazz, and your favourite monologues performed to the
highest degree. From Shakespeare to Pinter, from Marlowe to Kane, old
favourites and modern classics alike – sit back, relax and watch some of
the funniest and most poignant monologues ever written.
This is a laid back event that’s bound to delight thesps and non-thesps
alike, and a great way to end your week.
Visit http://www.hatsdrama.co.uk for further details.
- February 2005
"…his death was uncalled for, but our generation just became intolerably bored. We are the STILLBORN generation! Rise up, young fellows. Jump off the bridge. We have nothing to lose but our mediocrity…"
The place: here. The time: now. The world: ours… and something parallel. A cultural revolution, the end of a rancid era. Assassinations, riots, the bloodsucking vampire generation finally brought to its scabby knees. Power the only currency, circumstance the only government. Into this terrifying anarchy stumble professors and students, lovers and leeches, intellectuals and rude boys. Let the games begin…
- February 2005
Alex isn’t very nice. Alex says things like ‘If a butterfly flaps it’s wings here, a series of knock on reactions make a hurricane happen in Tokyo.’ When he’s feeling angry, Alex sticks his hairdryer out the window and thinks of Tokyo. Martin spends his time sitting on the lino talking to matchsticks. Xavier says he always empathised with matchsticks (passively). Jackie is not feeling too happy. Jackie says her son is probably the antichrist. Kate says it’s just as likely to be Jesus; which would, I think we can agree, be lovely.
Written by Luke Roberts, this is a series of short conversations where people talk at each other and things go wrong...
