- 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.
- April 2022
Through a series of vignettes and songs, an overall arc of relationships throughout the course of life is suggested – from dating, through the agonies of family to pensioners’ pick-up lines.
This insightful celebration of our drive to connect pays tribute to love and relationships, wherever you may be on that journey.
With book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts, Pied Pipers Musical Theatre Club is delighted to bring this updated version of the longest running off-Broadway revue in history to the ADC.
This amateur production of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is presented by an arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd.
- April 2022
Will Shakespeare has got writer’s block. Looking for a muse to help him complete his new play, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter, he chances upon the lovely and engaged to be married, Viola de Lesseps.
At the same time, Philip Henslowe, owner of the Rose Playhouse is desperate for a new show to get his feet out of the fire and pay off some nagging debts. Will hasn’t finished the play and the actors are on tour. But that won’t stop them - after hilarious auditions, a rag-tag bunch of actors come together, with mysterious new and talented thespian, Thomas Kent.
Will the show go on? Will Viola and Will live happily ever after? Who knows? It’s a mystery!
Based on the Oscar-award winning film starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow. Written by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman and adapted for the stage by Lee Hall.
This amateur production of Shakespeare In Love is presented by an arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd.
- April 2022
Winner of eight Tony Awards®, Once tells the unforgettable story of a Dublin street musician and a piano-playing Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story. With an ensemble cast of local actor-musicians playing their instruments live on stage, Once is an uplifting, modern-day musical that reminds us of the power of music to connect us all. Featuring songs from the critically acclaimed film, including the Oscar-winning song Falling Slowly, this spellbinding score will have you holding your breath from beginning to end.
- March–April 2022
May 1789 - a fleet of eleven ships containing 759 convicts set sail for the other side of the world. The convicts are allowed to perform the first British play ever to be staged in Australia to celebrate George III’s birthday. With only two copies of the text, a cast of disaffected convicts and one leading lady about to be hanged, the rehearsal process is far from straight forward for their inexperienced director, Lieutenant Ralph Clark. Despite the brutality, starvation and hardships the convicts learn to respect and support one another as they work together to create a “memorable” production of The Recruiting Officer.
- March 2022
Tired of all the scripted 'reality' TV?
Keeping Up With the Kimprov is your daily dose of reality TV, but actually unscripted! What minor inconvenience could lead to drama for this tight knit group? You tell us. Will it be a broken nail? A missing golf-club? A yacht that's too small to fit everyone on it? The audience decides!
Each show is a unique creation for and by its audience, and will delight you with drama, love and laughter.
This performance is recommended for audiences aged 15+
Get 25% off tickets if you buy a minimum of 2 tickets for Thursday's performance!
- March 2022
O M Glee its Show Choir!!
In true Show Choir fashion this show is at centre of our cheese loving hearts. Whether you’re a diva like Rachel or a dad dancer like Finn, this show will have you up on your feet belting out your favourite glee classics and more.
With songs to boogie, belt and cry to, this show proves to maintain our reviews of being “the best night out in Cambridge”. To see what everyone’s raving about grab yourself a ticket and buckle up for a night out where every song is an anthem!
- March 2022
Singin’ in the Rain brings you the classic, golden-age movie musical adapted for the stage, featuring some of the best-loved comedy routines, toe-tapping dance numbers, and classic musical theatre songs: “Good Mornin’”, “Make ‘em Laugh”, “Broadway Melody”, and the show-stopping title number “Singin’ in the Rain”. The show captures the Hollywood movie transition from silent pictures to the new ‘talkies’, following film co-stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont. When Monumental Studios turns silent ‘The Dueling Cavalier’ into an all-singing, all-dancing ‘The Dancing Cavalier’, they are faced with a problem – Lina’s shrill and squeaky voice which might just end her career. As Kathy Selden, an aspiring actress, steps in to save the studio, she begins to fall in love, leaving Don Lockwood with difficult decisions both on and off screen. Pouring with laughs, charm, romance, and wit, expect high-energy dance routines and classic songs from the movie, added with its spectacular stage effects for this year’s Lent Term Musical!
- March 2022
Second Generations: Ice-cream Tubs and Tupperware - a night full of spicy surprises!
Tell your parents you’re in the library and join us in the third space, where cultures can clash and aunties are on the lash. Introducing the freshest comedians of colour on the block, this sketch show will make you laugh harder than a burnt roti. Brought to you by Bread, the company behind Second Generation and Second Generation: Integrated (the titles are getting progressively more snappy, I suppose).
- March 2022
The Marlowe Society's annual BME Shakespeare is Much Ado About Nothing, and will take place in Week 7 of Lent! This year's production will be a joyful celebration of BME talent, including acting, dance and music!
- March 2022
Spring Revue is one of the biggest events in the Cambridge comedy calendar, showcasing the talents of comedians within the current Footlights membership. And this year, the Footlights want to bring you the most exciting and audacious sketch show Cambridge has ever seen. As the creative culmination of the 2021-22 Footlights membership, expect a show bursting at the seams with wicked wit, unforgettable characters, and even non-complimentary ice cream at the interval.
- February 2022
The CUMTS gala night is a one-hour show all-singing, all-dancing celebration of musical theatre! With the band on stage we perform polished choreo with stunning vocals. We will select a range of classic MT songs, songs from lesser known productions, and some student-written numbers
- February 2022
You can’t be what you can’t see. Teetering on the edge of manhood, 18 year old Jonno spends his summer days playing footy with his best mate Sol. He’s desperate for a role model but on Holly Grove council estate, a decent father figure is hard to come by, and the only heroes he’s ever known wear football boots. He’s never met his dad and normally this doesn't cross his mind. Except on days like today. One fateful Father’s Day in East London, Jonno finally comes face-to-face with the dad he’s always wanted. New bonds are formed whilst others come crashing down and Jonno has to learn that there is more than one way to be a "good man.”
Winner of the 2021 Marlowe Other Prize and the inaugural Mustapha Matura Award.
- February 2022
Have you ever wondered what a silent character might be thinking? One that is denied a voice, or pushed so strongly to fit a designed role that they lose most of their individuality? The new and exciting (Re)Present Monologue Night, in tandem with the Marlowe society, hopes to give voice to these previously underrepresented characters, with student-written monologues championing those not given the chance to fully speak. Either revising from what a Renaissance author has written, or completely re-characterising a figure with new contexts and ideas, the (Re)Present night will be a fascinating experiment in adaptation and re-configuration.
- February 2022
Leontes, the crazed ringmaster, succumbs to a deluded idea that his wife, Hermione is having an affair. Their infant daughter is banished to the land of Bohemia where she is adopted by a Shepherd and his son a clown. In this vibrant and dangerous world, we see an exploration of new and exciting experiences through curious movement within the world of the circus.
- February 2022
Tired of Tinder? Bored of Bumble? Ground down by Grindr? This Valentine's come and meet someone the old fashioned way, in a dark room surrounded by 200 strangers... Dragtime!'s kings, queens and inbetweens are back again and this time they've got love on the brain. Prepare to swoon as Cambridge's premiere drag troupe tease you, titillate you and tug on your heart strings, with acts featuring singing, lip sync, spoken word, pole dance, burlesque, live music and more!
- February 2022
When a deranged boy, Alan Strang, blinds six horses with a metal spike he is sentenced to psychiatric treatment. Dr Dysart is the man given the task of uncovering what happened the night Strang committed his crime, but in doing so will open up his own wounds. Dysart struggles in secret to define sanity, to justify his marriage, to account for his career, and finds himself questioning the 'normality' of his way of life. Ultimately, he must ask himself: is it patient or psychiatrist whose life is being laid bare? The most shocking play of its day, Equus uses an act of violence to explore faith, insanity and how the materialism of modern life can destroy humanity's capacity for pain and passion.
- February 2022
