- November 2004
From a fractured childhood in the chateaus of the French countryside, to an
old age trapped in the final, brilliant flash of Parisian society, before
war extinguishes its lights. Marcel has spent his life watching. Now is the
time for telling. Telling a tale of glamour and corruption, decadence and
depravity.
It has been a one-hundred year journey from Proust's astonishing memoir,
which blew off the doors of the salons of the privileged, to Harold Pinter
and Di Trevis' final script, which challenged theatregoers around the
world. In the first production since its groundbreaking run at the National
Theatre, BATS production takes the story onwards, marking a new chapter in
cutting edge Cambridge theatre. A night to remember.
- November 2004
How can peace be found in war? How can sanity be found in madness? BATS
present the stage premiere of 'Shooting the Chandelier' written by David
Mercer, named 'foremost political writer of his generation’ by The Theatre
Review. This exciting multimedia production showcases the best new talent
of Cambridge. Set in a ruined mansion from which the ongoing Second World
War is strangely absent, images of memory and a vanished world are used as
the backdrop to an intimate study of jealousy and pain. Conceived as a
television drama, this is a stage transfer not to be missed.
- November 2004
Jessie’s epilepsy prevents her from holding a satisfying job, her marriage
has ended, and her son is a petty thief who isn’t speaking to her. She
lives with her mother, Thelma, in a small house in the American backwoods.
Jessie decides to do something about her unhappy existence and announces
that at the end of the evening, after painting Thelma’s nails, she will
kill herself. What follows is as inevitable as it is heartbreaking, as
Thelma’s increasingly desperate attempts to save her daughter’s life
illuminate their life together. This electrifying, Pulitzer Prize-winning
play is a paragon of twentieth-century tragedy.
- November 2004
After a long and violent conflict, the Spanish and Portuguese are at peace.
As the ghost of the murdered Don Andrea looks on, his killer makes a move
on his wife. When the dead man's friend Horatio becomes involved he is
killed in a brutal attack. Horatio's father - driven to lunacy - vows
vengeance at any cost.
- March 2004
- March 2004
- November 2003
- February–March 2003
Chekhov's magnificent, elegiac and profoundly funny drama, The Three Sisters, is his greatest work and one of the triumphs of twentieth century theatre. A comically subversive look at the disintegration of the Russian monied classes, it reflects life by oscillating violently between tragedy and comedy.
Olga, Masha and Irina watch time pass them by, dreaming of a return to their beloved Moscow. No-one has understood with such sensitivity, and penetration as Chekhov what it is to be human. Do not expect anything heavy or turgid - this play was written and will be performed with a great lightness of touch.
- February 2003
- November 2001