- November 2022
Pushing the boundaries of theatrical expectations, this brand-new production, written by a group of Cambridge students, is an epic journey of the senses.
The Waste Land is one of the first ever theatrical responses to T.S. Eliot's masterpiece and will be staged on its 100th Anniversary. Exploring the broken fragments of our culture, the production examines the nature of human connection and asks what meaning can be taken from the realm of the spiritual.
This amateur production is presented by an arrangement with Faber and Faber.
- November 2022
Do you know who you’re talking to? Who brings a sheep to a party? Are there any lesbians living outside the M25? Could a seagull carry a pug? What is love (baby don’t hurt me)? Are you sure you know who you’re talking to? Cambridge Footlight Izzie H-P explores queerness, rurality and language in her debut solo comedy hour LEECH!. Hold onto your pride - it’s gonna be a wild ride.
- November 2022
I want to dance
I want to dance
I want to heal the world through DANCE
I want to dance
I want to dance
I want to feel alive through DANCE
I want to dance
I want to dance
I want to dance
Somewhere in America, a revolution is brewing. If they dance well enough, they can fix the world. Dance Nation is an electrifying story of ambition, sexuality and power. Harmless dances become sites of ritual. Teeth become fangs. 13-year-old girls become pagan gods, and politicians, and mothers.
- November 2022
N.B. this show has been cancelled
Welcome aboard the Fine Duchess, Fine Line’s finest cross-Channel ferry! Join Charlie, a cynical corporate agent, Kay, a serious-minded young lawyer, and Finlay, a hapless trainee, who’ve been sent aboard to make half of the crew redundant and see that they leave the ship quietly. Bear with us as Fine Line’s crass tactics cause outrage and management lose control of the situation. Conditions may be choppy – but rest assured that the crew will take good care of everyone in their charge. Bon voyage!
Inspired by the mass sacking of P&O Ferries staff in March 2022, Dan Ward’s original satire asks what professionalism means in today’s world and considers what we owe one another as friends, colleagues and strangers.
- November 2022
At the height of the Cold War, a loutish American Grandmaster and an earnest Russian champion clash amongst the influence of lovers, governments, and nations.
With music by ABBA legends Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and lyrics by Sir Tim Rice, Chess features international hits such as 'I Know Him So Well' and 'One Night In Bangkok'
- October 2022
Following the success of Dragtime! Presents: #squadghouls and Dragtime! Presents: Hot Girl Midsommar, Cambridge's premiere drag troupe is back, back, back again and this time they are inviting you to enter their Haunted Haus, full of flying wigs, demon twinks, and razor-sharp nails. :O :O :O
Yes, this autumn Dragtime! is returning to the ADC with their FOURTH Halloween show, treating you to the tricks of the best new drag talent this city has to offer. Hold on to your seats as Dragtime!'s kings, queens, and in-betweens take you on a thrill-inducing ride through the dark side of drag, featuring singing, lip sync, spoken word, burlesque, live music, and more!
- October 2022
- October 2022
‘I will be remembered! I will be remembered! - if not in fame, in infamy…’
Respected composer Antonio Salieri’s unflinching devotion to God comes to an end when he meets a new rival by the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How can a man so trivial, so infantile, so obscene, be blessed with divine talent? Transformed by envy and hatred, Salieri dedicates his life to ruining Mozart's.
Accompanied by a live orchestra onstage, Peter Shaffer’s hard-hitting masterpiece dives into the gravest and most thrilling consequences of greatness, love, and the fear of mediocrity.
- October 2022
Sam is gay, Sam is Catholic, and Sam's mother doesn't think he should be dating his boyfriend. An exploration of the intersection between faith and sexuality, Greater Than Ourselves engages with a mother and son's endeavour to define what love means to them.
- October 2022
Approaching thirty, Johnny is a struggling theatre composer, waiting tables at the local diner and watching his New York life tick by. His best friend is making corporate money and his girlfriend wants to leave the city, but he just can’t give up on his stagnating dream of writing the next great American musical.
This semi-autobiographical musical explores Jonathan Larson’s life before ‘Rent’, both the culture and pressures that culminated in his Tony Award winning legacy, and brings a fresh performance following the 2021 hit film.
- October 2022
- October 2022
"The worst slums in Europe. That's where Dublin came from. Out of the shit and into the world."
Life long Dublin docker Patrick has passed away surrounded by his beloved wife Esther, his son and grandchildren. As they remember his life, Esther recounts a tale they are yet to hear. In Our Veins follows their family through 100 year of Dublin, from the notorious madams of the Monto to love in the dark tenements. This is the story of a Dublin City that no longer exists, where it came from and the people that helped build it.
- October 2022
‘I cannot live without my soul’. Cathy and Heathcliff are a pair whose very names are synonymous with passionate desire: the ardent flame of their love, set against Gothic mists and earthy, rugged moorland, effloresces with fresh vibrancy in Andrew Sheridan’s entrancingly poetic rendering of Wuthering Heights. With all of the sustained intensity of the original text, Sheridan’s script conjures a thrilling, dream-like environment in which exterior and interior worlds blur. With inner lives coalescing amidst snatches of song and hauntingly fragmented dialogue, Sheridan’s reformulation of Brontë’s masterpiece lends a classic tale an arrestingly modern edge.
- October 2022
Is all’s well that ends well? For Shakespeare’s characters they have to save a king, run away to war, deceive a married man, disown a son, and kidnap their own soldier before things look brighter. And even then, things end better for some.
All’s Well That Ends Well is one of Shakespeare's problem plays. Crossing between comedy and tragedy the staging of this play will be whimsical, dark and funny. A modern minimalist retelling of Shakespeare's dark comedy. Run by the Production team of the cancelled American Stage Tour.
- September–October 2022
- September 2022
Join us for a celebration of amateur drama – a number of short plays by drama groups from Cambridge and around, and this year from farther afield too! Everyone will be striving to present their best work, which our professional adjudicator will comment upon and judge which is the best overall dramatic achievement. Will you pick the winner? Might you spot up and coming young stars of theatre? Comedy, drama, theatre classics, new writing – the programme is wide and varied! You’ll find a full listing on www.camdramfest.org.uk
Meet your friends in the bar afterwards and exchange opinions over a drink or two . . . . be an adventurous theatregoer and come to the Cambridge Festival of Drama!
- July 2022
A brand-new musical by writers and musicians local to Stamford and Peterborough. Our story follows three sisters who inherit a necklace, The Sparkling Eyes, from their ballerina mother which may or may not have been a gift to her from Russian Tsar. The 1929 financial crash has left the eldest sister impoverished, the youngest dealing with a less than reliable boyfriend and the stable stalwart sister stuck in the middle. Then add in two husbands and a mysterious letter, sisters are divided and their family bond put to the test. What follows are some delightful songs, upbeat tangos and rhumbas, some fabulous 20s dancing, a few misunderstandings and the truth about the story of the mysterious Sparkling Eyes!
- July 2022
Award winning classic British comedy based on the much-loved 1955 film. Crime doesn’t pay – but it can be hilarious! Since 1955, the classic comedy film has entertained audiences worldwide and is now transformed into a multi-award winning play by Graham Linehan, co-creator of Father Ted and The IT crowd. Criminal mastermind, Professor Marcus, and his gang of oddball villains posing as musicians, meet their match when they take up residence in Mrs Wilberforce’s dilapidated house. They figure their sweet-natured old landlady will be easily hoodwinked. But beneath her demure exterior, Mrs Wilberforce is made of sterner stuff and, in the end, she turns the tables on the bogus quintet. Crime doesn’t pay –but it can be hilarious!
- July 2022
Ballet Central presents a programme created by internationally acclaimed choreographers. The works include original pieces created on the company’s dancers which showcase the skills, artistry and versatility of young performers, all on the cusp of professional careers. Mikaela Polley’s new piece is a celebration of the dynamism of the ensemble featuring classical ballet and contemporary dance. New choreography from dance industry influencer Ashley Page is to music by the composer John Adams. Ballet Black’s Mthuthuzeli November has created a new piece which demonstrates his distinctive choreographic voice. Cathy Marston’s 2020 piece Moving, Still is being restaged especially for this year’s tour. This is a chance to see dynamic contemporary dance and the grace and power of classical ballet performed to powerful music.
- June 2022
Tony Harrison’s masterpiece in verse theatre, voted one of the best 100 plays of the twentieth century, ‘The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus’ brings Sophocles’ missing satyr play ‘Ichneutae’ to life. This rowdy, riotous comedy begins in the sands of Egypt as Grenfell and Hunt, two Oxford dons, become obsessed with discovering the lost play. Hunt is relegated to reading petitions to governors and receipts for loans, whilst Grenfell becomes possessed by the god Apollo, as he gets closer to finding the fragments. Harrison brings to life the story of the first lyre and the dancing, swearing, unruly satyrs who tracked it down. No sooner had they found it, they were banned by Apollo from ever producing music again. The play asks who controls history and culture? What receives orchestral recitals and what is noise pollution? Who’s allowed to tell their own tragedy?
- June 2022
Welcome to Tomorrow's News: the news tomorrow, today. Now in live-action!
- June 2022
All aboard The Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show 2022: Are We There Yet?
Buckle up as we hit the road for a tour of life itself, visiting more sketch-shaped destinations than a travel agent could dream of. Join five curious tourists for a holiday filled with laughs, quirky characters, and sand in uncomfortable places.
‘The most renowned sketch troupe of them all’ (The Independent) embark on their annual international tour with a brand-new show, travelling to London, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, New York and more! You’d be silly to miss it.
- June 2022
David and Evelyn have the most traditional of marriages- he’s gay and she’s a lesbian- but neither of them know about the other. Oh and it’s 50s America at the height of the Red Scare against communists, accompanied by the lesser known Lavender Scare when anything that varied from heterosexuality was considered inherently dangerous to the populace.
After the whirlwind arrival of new neighbours Angela and Harold, our gay pair scramble to avoid Harold’s investigations while at a dinner party with both of their lovers. As the night descends into burnt chicken, wine and chaos, the noose tightens and everything our definitely-actually-in-love couple has built is put at stake.
- June 2022
- June 2022
‘I’ve looked at all that - marriages and all that - and what do you get for it? What do you get?’
On the night of his 35th birthday, Bobby struggles to think of anything he wants, as a lone bachelor surrounded by his married friends. Over a series of dinner parties, weddings and cocktails, he starts to confront why he is so afraid of being alone, surrounded by a world of ‘crazy’ heteronormativity.
Featuring some of his most iconic songs like The Ladies Who Lunch, Not Getting Married Today, You Could Drive A Person Crazy and Being Alive, Company is one of Sondheim’s groundbreaking musicals - a funny, heartbreaking and poignant look into marriage, vulnerability, loneliness and what it means to be alive.
- June 2022
Based on the 2005 British film Kinky Boots, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth and mostly inspired by true events, the musical tells the story of Charlie Price. Having inherited a shoe factory from his father, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots and save the business. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all.
- May 2022
Desperate to discover the secrets of their business before they get #cancelled, the board of “Pear Music” dive deep into every aspect of their business with the help of “Consultancy Man”. Together they investigate hilarious investments ranging from “Drum and Bassless Conspiracy Theories” to a tragic pair of Sony Headphones.
- May 2022
Cambridge Footlight and stand-up comic Isaac Kean recently lost his mum to a long and painful battle with cancer, and is dealing with the loss the only way he knows how: telling jokes about it to a room full of strangers.
Get your tickets here: https://www.adctheatre.com/whats-on/comedy/how-not-to-cope/
- May 2022
We love and we hate, we lust and we mourn. And in the face of these immensities, do you still care? Do you still want what you want? Time can't stop us, death can't stop us, war can't stop us! The power of Vanity Fair!
Amelia is kind and gentle. Becky is ambitious and rebellious. Amelia longs for love. Becky wants wealth and popularity. Despite all their differences, when both women are swept up by the tides of romance, money, gossip, power, war, and death, they quickly discover that their fortunes can fall just as swiftly as they rise. In the world of Vanity Fair, only one thing is certain: that nothing is certain.
- May 2022
Bunker is a brand new comedy by Jonathan Neary and winner of the Footlights Harry Porter Prize, being staged as an ADC late show from Wednesday 18th May.
'While hosting a party to usher in the final New Year before the end of the world, Vincent and Julie are posed with an uncomfortable and inconvenient question: Which of their guests do they want to take the third space in their underground bunker? Weighing factors of ethics, merit, and general personability, Vincent and Julie spend the evening attempting to navigate the tricky ethical questions and social mores that come with the imminent apocalypse. As tensions rise and new information is revealed, Vincent and Julie discover that their guests have opinions of their own on the matter.'
- May 2022
It is a truth universally acknowledged that sketch comedy is the favourite child of the Cambridge comic. Well, not anymore. Enter: This Is Not A Sketch Show, the ensemble comedy hour spotlighting the best alternative belly-laughs from across the University scene! Whether it's the eager youngster (puppetry), the edgy cousin (mime), or the weird uncle (clowning) of comedy you're after - WE'VE GOT 'EM! So, come on down to the ADC for a show (quite literally) like no other.
- May 2022
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was a glorified story about an American navy boy in Japan, failing his oriental love for his soon-to-be wife, Butterfly.
In an alternative universe of 1960s China, amidst the rise of the cultural revolution, Rene Gallimard, a French diplomat newly tasked with high-profile intelligence, falls in love with a mystical Beijing Opera singer, Song Liling, in his attempts to escape the expatriate circles. Restraining physical contact, Song cites Confucian modesty, but Rene is dissatisfied — he must create his fantasies — of Song, of the Orient, and even of his motherland, France, to live through the next two decades.
Welfare form: https://forms.gle/pwr3iBmbom1Rrk8a6
- May 2022
The origin story of the Pied Piper - the classic folklore as a Mime. The Pied piper was once a troubled child. Their mischievous nature got them attention they didn’t want. In adulthood, the piper is now famous for their tunes. The piper learns about the issues at Hamelin and decides to pay a visit. The mayor at Hamelin explains the problem and promises a reward. The piper accepts and they lure the rats. The mayor decides to not pay the piper. The piper swears revenge. Will their plan work out? Happily ever after or never after?
Mime is finally here at Cambridge. Come experience the extravagance and magic this form of silent comedy brings to a dark tale.
- May 2022
“You don’t want another Enron? Here’s your law: If a company can’t explain, in one sentence, what it does… it’s illegal”
Think Wolf of Wall Street. Think Margin Call. Think The Big Short.
Now think… theatre. And you’ve got Lucy Prebble’s Enron.
The story of Enron, the biggest bankruptcy filing in the history of the United States that shook Wall Street to its core. Regulators fooled, lawyers hoodwinked, profits faked and share-prices rising, falling and rising and falling again.
But this play is not all about numbers. It’s about the people behind the numbers, arguably more complex and cryptic than the intricate economics. Individual greed born from an atmosphere of market euphoria and corporate arrogance.
But how did the men branded as “the smartest guys in the room” become the financial world’s biggest examples of exactly what not to do?
“All humanity is here. There’s Greed, there’s Fear, Joy, Faith, Hope… And the greatest of these… is Money”
- May 2022
In the face of lost rights, missing actors and broken lights, a show's technical team - the Blue Workers - must learn to work together to save their flagging production. Can they overcome their differences before the play opens house?
Join the Blue Workers as they bring the backstage to the forestage in this toe-tapping musical extravaganza!
- May 2022
"I'm telling you. I don't understand what is happening to me."
Just a couple of years ago, Nicolas was a smiling, happy boy. But now, nearly 18 and struggling with his parent's divorce he's the opposite: listless, skipping classes, and lying. He hopes moving in with his father will help; a new school and a chance for a fresh start. But he feels unwanted with his father's new wife and decides that returning to his mother's may be the answer. What happens when the options run out?
Florian Zeller's The Son is a touching portrayal of teenage depression and the effect it has on those around. It doesn't offer solutions but is sure to provoke conversations.
