- February 2015
An exercise in uncomfortable conversations, Talking Out Loud throws us into the worlds of four individual – yet interconnected – people, as they navigate life in modern Britain. Told through monologues, this show tackles some of the most important issues of our time: identity, race, love, gender, and how to get away with not doing your science homework.
Sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, and always honest, Talking Out Loud presents the importance of saying what’s on your mind.
- January 2015
Ever thought the comedy scene was lacking in women? Think again! To mark the 30 year anniversary of women at Pembroke, The Pembroke Players are hosting an exclusively female smoker for one night only, in the renowned comedy venue The New Cellars.
- November 2014
In February 1599, Shakespeare sat down in a grotty Thames-side inn. “Hmm,” he thought to himself. “Should I write a sketch show, or the greatest tragedy of all time?”.
He choose the latter.
This is what would have happened if he hadn’t.
- November 2014
Jess loves David. Jess loves credit. Believing happiness can be bought in a world of easy finance and materialism, possessions become irresistible. But at what cost? Their love and money are killing their relationship, their future, and them. We trace back to the past to find out what went wrong, from the happiest bride in the world smiling in happiness by the just-received marriage proposal to the distraught husband feeding Smirnoff to his wife. Funny yet heart wrenching, Kelly’s dark comedy portrays a dislocated view of the world we live in, the risks we face, and the lengths we go to in search of happiness.
- November 2014
Oh yes, it's that time of year again. The stickiest floor of them all is back.
A glowing roster of Cambridge's funniest acts will, once again, make you laugh so much your feet stick to the floor. Laughter. It's what binds us together.
Reviews of last year:
"Excellent. Loved the floor." - Tab
"Help me. I'm still stuck." - TCS
"I haven't laughed so much in years." - Gadaffi
- November 2014
Pembroke Freshers' Play 2014
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
The assassination of Julius Caesar has brought chaos to the Roman Empire. Persuaded by scheming politicians and his brother-in-law Cassius, Brutus has helped murder Caesar for the good of Rome, for freedom. But freedom does not come. Brutus and Cassius are called to arms: Mark Antony and Octavius are out to avenge Caesar’s death, and civil war rages across the land. Guilt-haunted, Brutus, “the noblest Roman of them all”, marches on the enemy.
Human error and ambition clash in Shakespeare’s visceral play. With only one week’s rehearsal, this production captures the raw, fiery, and impulsive nature of the text. Succinctly adapted and performed by Pembroke freshers, the staging brings youth and vigor to Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of patriotism, power, and betrayal in Ancient Rome.
- November 2014
Lane's plans for the Yale game are interrupted over lunch by the inconvenience of his girlfriend Franny Glass's spiritual breakdown. A few weeks later, at the Glass family's apartment, Zooey Glass tries to straighten things out with his sister, with the help of their dead and living brothers, a 19th Century pilgrim, and Christ himself.
After Seymour is a bittersweet look at the Glasses, a family plagued with questions about art, education, death, and religion, striving towards a very real, very human kind of Enlightenment.
- October–November 2014
Bafflesmash will see regular Footlights Smoker-ers creating laughter through the means of an hour long sketch show. There will be Dolphins and reggae.
- October–November 2014
'Know that I am a king – O, at that name, I feel a hell of grief. Where is my crown? Gone, gone. And do I remain alive?'
The King of England is in love, and the nobles are none too happy about it. The last and arguably most mature of Christopher Marlowe's works, Edward II deals with the brutal struggles and betrayals leading to the downfall of one of England's most notorious kings. Taking full advantage of Pembroke's New Cellars, this production aims to use innovative staging to evoke the full intensity and high stakes of Marlowe's tragedy.
- September 2014
For the eighth consecutive year the Cambridge University Japan Tour will be visiting Tokyo and Yokohama to perform a Shakespeare play and give educational workshops in schools, theatres and universities.
With generous sponsorship from Seikei University, the Tour this year is excited to present "The Merchant of Venice".
- June 2014
Just as May Week is quieting down, in Pembroke's New Cellars a brigade of sketch comedy talent will hot the night back up again, with Pembroke Players' new sketch night - THE NIGHT OF THE AMOROUS PRAWN.
Be there. It'll be amazing.
- May 2014
The most golden, godliest smoker of all - come to Pembroke's New Cellars for an intimate audience with Cambridge's finest comic talent. I've heard it's going to be good. And it's a hell of a lot funnier than revision.
- March 2014
White. Orange. Pink. Brown. Blue. Blonde. Six perfect strangers, assembled to pull off the perfect crime – a diamond heist where nothing can go wrong. Then simple robbery explodes into bloody ambush, and the ruthless killers realise that one of them must be a police informer. But which one?
Critically acclaimed for its raw power and breathtaking ferocity, the brilliant American gangster movie classic from writer-director Quentin Tarantino is brought to the Cambridge stage for the first time.
"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"
- March 2014
Coelio has fallen in love with Marianne, who is married to old Claudio. But he doesn’t dare speak to her, instead asking his friend Octave to plead for him. We are at the heart of the Neapolitan carnival and personas might change quickly… The play, written by the poet Alfred de Musset, is one of the masterpieces of French theatre and will be performed in its original language. Yet our focus on physical theatre will make it accessible to everyone.
- February 2014
COMING SOON TO CINEMAS NEAR YOU
Acclaimed actor/director Cymbeline plays a British King resisting the might of the Roman Empire in his latest blockbuster. Come behind the scenes as he attempts to hold his media empire together in the face of lies, rivalry and infighting among the cast and crew.
The Pembroke Freshers present this classic tale of sex, power and deception, combining Shakespeare’s own language with a powerful new interpretation.
An empire will fall. The question is: whose will it be?
Tickets: £5 on the door. To reserve tickets please email ci229@cam.ac.uk. Email early to avoid disappointment.
Cymbeline is a key text in the second year of the English tripos.
- February 2014
We’ve known that the world was going to end for a few weeks, but it’s here now. It’s really here. The telephone lines have fallen dead, the televisions aren’t broadcasting anymore, the police have been told to go home and spend time with their families and the streets belong to the looters. Five people have come together to live out their very last hour, and turn to one another to find a reason to laugh one more time before the end. The third play from Eli Keren, Pompeii asks ‘The world’s about to end; What would you do?’
- February 2014
Manipulation. Lies. This is the Children’s Hour, where a brief moment can entangle you in a web of deceit and shame.
Karen and Martha have spent years saving up enough money to set up a girl’s boarding school on a farm. But in such a close-knit environment, a simple lie gets out of control, triggering a chain of events with devastating consequences.
Written by acclaimed and controversial playwright Lillian Hellman, the 1934 play 'The Children's Hour' had an initial run of over 600 performances, and still continues to be relevant today.
- November 2013
The Pembroke Sticky Floor Smoker is a great showcase for the most exciting new comedy talent in Cambridge. Taking place in the intimate setting of the Pembroke New Cellars, this is not a smoker to be missed. Whether you snigger, howl with laughter or are merely slightly disgusted at how sticky the floor is, this is not a Smoker to miss.
- November 2013
Enter the courtroom and witness first-hand the gripping action of the landmark trial in the fight for marriage equality in America. Pembroke Players, in association with Broadway Impact and AFER, present a staged reading of ‘8’, a documentary play about the ‘Perry vs. Schwarzenegger’ trial, written by Academy Award-Winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar). Following the performance, stick around for a discussion about ongoing developments in this debate at home and abroad.
‘8’ is based on the actual words of the court transcripts, first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families. Performed as a documentary play, it sits at the intersection of art and politics and uses pre-existing documentary material as source material for the script. Breaking down the perceived barriers between the personal and the political, ‘8’ attempts to bring the audience into the real-life courtroom of the landmark trial that changed American history.
This event is being run as a fundraiser for PACE, a LGBT+ mental health charity.
- March 2013
Fifteen years ago Una and Ray had a relationship. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again.
An evocative presentation of an award winning modern play dealing with the darker sides of familial and sexual relationships and the deeds that lie underneath. Presented in frank proximity to an intimate audience in the closeted space of Pembroke New Cellars, the productions promise an intense, raw experience focusing on honest and open presentations by actors of the delicate subjects of sex and abuse.
David Harrower's Olivier award winning play dealing with the emotional trauma and experiences in pedophilia. Trapped in a single room, the two actor piece deals intimately and frankly with the experiences of those concerned.
- March 2013
Four Cambridge comics come together for an hour of sketches to give you an insight into the dark recesses of their minds, all in the intimate setting of the Pembroke New Cellars.
No costumes. Few props. Some mercy.
It's about to get tough, but not especially crowded.
- March 2013
Mental health issues: myth or fact? Based on interviews and correspondence we bring together verbatim, immersive and physical theatre in a bid to hand the stage back to those at the heart of the matter.
- February 2013
Inspired by the song by Regina Spektor
"Don't make frowns, you silly clown..." Invisible waves whispering. Something hidden. Slippers, sand-filling. An old man sits. "Come and open up your folding chair next to me..."
- February 2013
A play of language, translated and translated again. A non sequitur made in passing by the Local fire Chief sends the Smith's and Martin's dinner party out of control.
"We've eaten well this evening. That's because we live in the suburbs of London and because our name is Smith.''
An absurd and hilarious parody of life.
- February 2013
Two half hour long dark comedies, to be played by the same small cast, about how often we mistake what is said for what is true.
No Comment by Guy Clark - "an impressive piece about a very current issue" Nick Hytner
Overworked and underpaid, young journalist Sam Taylor is desperate for a break. But when a scandal breaks that Sam finds himself in a unique position to exploit, it's sell the the story first and ask questions later.
A Civilised Society by Ellen Robertson
In a desolate, Beckett-esque, environment four homeless people attempt to brainstorm a solution to the problem of homelessness by imagining themselves into the corridors of power of a range of potential regimes. A theatrical and experimental piece.
- November 2012
THE CLASS / EIGHTH QUARTER / PAPERCLIP MAXIMISER
Three experimental short plays from New Word Order
Oh! What a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! Take note, you innocent, you naïve, The price that freedom will aggrieve.
A teacher struggles to define freedom to a class that does not care. A man with a plastic straw and a sore arm exists for another day in a dimly lit room. An anxious surveillance robot wonders what to do with itself now that it is alone.
Three new plays about liberty from the experimental drama group New Word Order in the modes of naturalism, surrealism and theatre of the absurd, and German expressionism. Written and directed by Jess Moor (Arthur Cotterell prize winner 2010), David Rattigan ("Extremely funny," Varsity; "Terrific energy," TCS), and Scott Aandrasden-Banach ("real talent ... moving and thought-provoking," TCS; "Punchy and succinct," Varsity).
- November 2012
'Luck of the Draw'. Five friends, three lottery tickets, one fortune. As cut-throat as it sounds.
- November 2012
The comfortable Berkshire home of the Bliss family is playing host to a tragedy this summer. Unbeknownst to the rest, all four members have invited separate guests to stay for the same quiet weekend! The calm atmosphere had better brace itself, for the Bliss family may not be as peaceful by nature as by name...
Watch as the unfortunate callers suffer humiliation and ridicule at the hands of their eccentric hosts, whose self-dramatising and outlandish behaviour turns a quiet weekend into a raucous menagerie of squabbling, rudeness and the outright ridiculous.
A comedy with the greatest taste in bad manners, catching Hay Fever in the heart of winter is sure to have you spluttering in your seat long after the final curtain.
- November 2012
INDELIBLE ACTS is three short plays by Tom Powell, Jack Gamble and Stephen Bermingham.
A pair of tired traders unravel in a desolate bar. / 3.47 AM. Twitching hour. Three mellow revellers are being followed back from an unspeakable party. / You’re told not to speak ill of the dead, but some acts are far worse.
Previous work: ‘One to watch’ (Varsity), ‘Funny and fascinating’ (TCS), ‘Truly great’ (CTR), Winner (National Radio Drama Award). See http://slippersandrum.com/.
- November 2012
Pembroke Players presents an interpretative and immersive production based off of Tennessee Williams' Tony Award winning comedy "The Rose Tattoo". Music, puppetry, audience interaction and movement combine to create an original take on Williams comic love story set in an Italian-American village in Louisiana.
Telling the story of a lost love, sexual repression and expression, social conventions and the trials of faith, the play centers around Serafina Delle Rose's loss of her husband and the interplay with the curious characters of the other residents in her insular community.
A talented cast leaps between various roles both comic and tragic using audience interaction, physicality and laughter to spin a magical tale.
“Everybody is nothing until you love them.”
- November 2012
The Pembroke Sticky Floor Smoker is a great showcase for the most exciting new comedy talent in Cambridge. Taking place in the intimate setting of the Pembroke New Cellars, this is not a smoker to be missed. Whether you snigger, Howl with laughter or are merely slightly disgusted at how sticky the floor is, this is a Smoker not to miss
- October 2012
A daring and innovative production of Fay Weldon's adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's groundbreaking masterpiece Madame Bovary - the story of a woman, constrained by boredom and suffocating social etiquette, who follows her desires and passions to a tragic conclusion.
Pembroke Players invite you to join Emma Bovary on her last day alive as she sits down for breakfast with her trusting and talentless husband Charles and reminisces about a marriage spent trying desperately to escape from everything he represents, calling to mind a lifetime of forbidden lusts, unfulfilled dreams and ill-fated love affairs.
- October 2012
A fast paced and witty new tragicomedy from the team behind "It's Complicated", "Guido!", and the Graduate Smokers.
The year is 2080 AD. The Oblivion Virus has brought civilization to its arthritic knees. All but the youngest in society are infected with dementia. Below the city, an aging couple, young scientist and priest hide in the basement morgue of London Bridge Hospital from the virus and youths, looking for something (anything!) to save off the boredom... The year is 2080 AD. Wait, did I already say that?!
- May 2012
- March 2012
Have you? No, neither have I. But he has. Yes, he has. He so has. Look at him. Having it.
Phil Liebman and Jamie Mathieson, as seen at the Edinburgh Fringe, Footlights Smokers and the County Arms, present a brand spanking new sketch show like no other that takes the rulebook for student comedy and does such bad things to it that our mothers would be ashamed.
Praise for the writers:
Phil: ‘Delightful’ (The Tab), ‘Vigorous’ (New Current), ‘His essays aren’t perfect but there are no major issues.’ (Dr. Jonathan Birch)
Jamie: ‘Marvellous’ (Varsity), ‘Lovely’ (The Tab), ‘The lateness of many of his essays have precluded me from writing detailed feedback on his work.’ (Dr. Isabel DiVanna)
- March 2012
The French classical tragedy par excellence: passion, jealousy, revenge, politics and gallantry ending in bloodshed.
Oreste loves Hermione who loves Pyrrhus who loves Andromaque, who is torn between her fidelity to her late husband Hector, killed by Pyrrhus’ father, and her attempt to save their son. Disappointed love turns into hatred as the frantic quadrangle dissolves. Each of the protagonists either kill, or die; the survivor descends into madness.
Racine’s Andromaque, as transcendent as Shakespeare’s tragedies, blooms some of the most beautiful verses ever heard on stage. As every translation would betray this intimate union of poetry and drama, the text will be performed in French; but the bodies carried away by violence and desire will speak a language everybody can understand.
