- November 2008
"I want you to listen. Because I am trying to unlace all of my life."
Five stars in Varsity. "I really can’t think of a better new play I’ve seen at Cambridge...To say more would be to dissect too far. This play and production truly deserve to be seen." *****
An actress and a journalist. A brother and sister. Set in the hours before dawn and death.
By Freddy Syborn, joint winner of the Other Prize 2008, and writer of Flesh-Eating Jacobean Zombies, Indivisible and Now the late last winter.
- June 2008
On their 125th anniversary, the world famous Cambridge Footlights come charging back with their eagerly anticipated, brand new show, "Devils".
Throughout their long and grand history, Footlights continue to be an unparalleled force in British comedy. The club's luminaries range from Peter Cook and John Cleese to present day stars such as Mitchell and Webb, Sacha Baron Cohen, and last year's if.comedy Best Newcomer, Tom Basden. "Devils" is the culmination of a fantastically successful year for a club, as the finest few comedians have been plucked from one of the largest and hardest-working comedy institutions in the world, to present a stunning mosaic of sketches, monologues, songs and more.
Sharp, exciting and unfailingly hilarious, "Devils" promises to be a sparkling comic treasure, and a landmark event in Footlights's 125-year history.
Edinburgh Festival Sell-Out Show 2007
"A must-have ticket" - The Times
"**** impeccable, excellent, fautless" - Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
"Fast, well-observed, hilarious - lives up to the hype" - Fest Magazine
"I was charmed and delighted - really good" - Simon Amstell
- May 2008
Cambridge's finest comedians in all their shiny glory.
FEATURING: Tom Ovens, Nate Dern, Will Hensher, James Moran, Lucien Young to name a few...
Compered by the dazzling Will McAdam, this will be quite the night.
Please email wpm22 for more information.
- March 2008
Sit down and relax as ICE bring you a series of comedic tales from a world that seems strangely similar, and yet strangely different from our own. Just what is the secret that lurks at Joe's farm? What's in the briefcase that everyone's dying to get hold of? And which stories are actually parts of a greater whole, entangled with each other as the plot threads weave through the night? You decide!
- March 2008
Anatol is a twenty-something who loves women and is equally loved by them. In a loose sequence of six scenes he encounters his many different girlfriends. However, since he loves them all, passionately, forever for the moment, he is haunted by the consequences: deceit, jealousy, clashing dates, rejection and wounded pride.
The production gives consideration to the role Anatol and his girlfriends play in a modern world and time in which compensation for de-individualisation and industrialisation of men (and women) is sought in the worship of the moment. Just as the women are interchangeable, so are the men: Anatol and his friend Max, two extreme poles of sensibility and rationality, highly sexed and asexual, acting and observing, are entangled in this comic and sometimes tragic play of real and false love, of passion and indifference, and maybe a deeper meaning...
The play is entirely in German.
- March 2008
An unnamed man - apparently a war criminal -is being interviewed by a woman possessed by an absolute conviction in her nation's ability to kill history, and her assistant, who tells bad jokes. They discuss Viennese coffee, quantum physics and the multi-world theory, art, advertising, Shakespeare as an infinitely-typing monkey and how best to kill a man with a set of dentures. They also discuss the extermination of a race.
Partially based upon Hannah Arendt's account of Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem, Indivisible is the latest play from the writer/director Freddy Syborn who was responsible for last term's Flesh-Eating Jacobean Zombies, and who is currently co-writing a new sketch show for Tiger Aspect, a comedy and drama production company.
- March 2008
On a Saturday evening in July, Sarah, arrives with her husband Reg, to his mother's home to give Reg's sister, Annie, a weekend off from caring for their cantankerous invalid mother. Norman, Annie's brother-in-law, a scruffy assistant librarian, who dreams of sexual conquests, also arrives. An exploration of deceit, sex and control soon follow with Sarah learning that Norman, having had sex with Annie the previous Christmas, now intends to take her away for a dirty weekend to East Grinstead. That evening, a hilarious scene of false manners ensues. Etiquette and absurdity dominate this brilliant "comic masterpiece".
- February 2008
This powerful thriller sees two Oxbridge students, Brandon and Granillo, first deciding to murder a fellow student, and then to hide him in a chest in their flat, justifying their actions as "intellectual pursuit". Before disposing of the body, however, they decide that inviting the boy's father and aunt around for a party would provide their actions with a fitting denouement. Cue suspicions and sexual tensions in this dark, but striking 1920s drama.
- November 2007
Four young men embark on a three-year course of study with the noblest of intentions. In fact, they are so well meaning that they swear never to see a woman until their studies are over with.
And that's all fine until the Princess of France arrives…
Love, banter, Spanish princes, this hilarious but rarely seen comedy is not to be missed. ESPECIALLY because it's set in the 80s.
Book online to avoid disappointment at www.pembrokeplayers.org or get your tickets at the door.
- October 2007
Of all the names it is possible to give a man (and there are many - Watkins, Smith and so on) there is one in particular which seems to hold a strange and profound significance; a name that seems to declaim itself from the rooftops, and from the peaks of mountains, and the cry echoes through the valleys of the ages like the bellow of a frustrated hilltop gorilla, resounding from one end of the rainbow to the other and washing back in the whisper of the tide… "Lancelot Sebastian von Ludendorff…"
This is the winner of the first year of Pembroke Players' New Writing Initiative. The Initiative was set up to encourage and draw attention to new theatrical writing from Cambridge students. We will be open to new applications at the end of Lent Term 2008. For more information visit www.pembrokeplayers.org.
- October 2007
Newcomers to the Cambridge comedy scene and old Footlights favourites join together for a night of stand-up, sketches and a bit of singing. 100% of ticket price goes to Oxfam, as part of the nationwide Oxjam Music Festival.
- May 2007
Escape revision, chill out and chuckle in the company of Cambridge's coolest comedians... Friday 4th May, 8:00 for an 8:30 start Pembroke New Cellars Drinks served To reserve tickets, or to arrange an audition, email comedy @ pembrokeplayers.org.uk or visit www.pembrokeplayers.org.
- March 2007
On his travels, and eminent British writer stumbles across a set of memoirs, which he concedes might make a good play. Even this 'provincial' story could be saved from obscurity by an 'artistic' adaptation that he is quite willing to provide.
In the white heat of the afternoon, the residents of the tiny village of Perdido await he arrival of the Guagua. As the play unravels, the paradoxes of the writer's heavy-handed interventions compete with the tragi-comic stories of the villagers. Intrigues of love, power and betrayal unfold, and somewhere in the play the original author of the memoirs is growing impatient...
- March 2007
“How long have you been here?”
Experience the surreal figures of the bitter “Thump,” the glutton “Guzzle,” the vain “Gazer,” the medicated “Gloom,” the chatterbox “Gossip,” and the indecisive “Twittering,” with their respective inner worlds of entrapment and illusion.
Enter their cage and “home”.
Watch as their bizarre characters unfold, and then how their deluded inner worlds are threatened with the entrance of “The Wild One:” their newest “cage companion;” bent on escape.
Will the Wild One succeed in her aim of breaking free from the cage?
Or are all the Cagebirds destined to remain trapped, oppressed by the authoritative “mistress” who rules over them?
Campton’s play presents a poignant exploration of freedom and oppression; considering what happens when one individual attempts to initiate change; and subsequently posing serious questions as to the kinds of self-imposed mental and physical “bird-cages” we may all entrap ourselves in.
- February 2007
Come along and see what we do best - improv! As ever we don't know exactly what'll be happening, but the likelihood is we'll be trying out a couple of the new games we've been working on at the workshops and in private rehearsals. We're an improvised comedy group, so everything we do will be made up on the spot. Games, songs, sketches - you name and (quite literally) we'll do it. Why not come along and see something new? Check us out at http://www.srcf.ucam.org/alcock for more info.
- February 2007
Charley loves Amy and Jack loves Kitty. The boys are on the point of proposal - but it must be done quickly. This being the 1890's, to get the ladies away from their dour guardian a chaperon is required. Enter Charley's Aunt - a millionairess from Brazil, visiting Oxford and her nephew that day. However, events take an unforeseen turn when the real Aunt is delayed. Undeterred, the boys press in a thespy friend to impersonate the real Aunt - who then manages to arrive on time after all...
Book tickets at: www.pembrokeplayers.org
- November 2006
- August 2006
A psychological drama exploring the relationship between director and actress at an audition where the normal rules and etiquettes have all been dispensed with. This new drama is hard-hitting and spiky, both suggestive and revealing. An insight into the mindsets of the examiner and the examined. please visit www.the-audition.co.uk; [The Venue260 is right in the heart of Edinburgh Royal Mile, our shared-between-6 3-rooms-flat is only 50m away from the venue and see all shows free at Venue260 and 45!]
- March 2006
- February 2006
Bound by circumstance, a father and daughter find themselves boarded up in a bed. She's got polio, and he's obsessed with furniture sales. Join us for arse-licking, murder, and arson: an extraordinary adventure stretching from Dublin to Gay Paree, as they rage down their twisted memory lane with toxic humour. In a fragile nightmare bordering on breakdown, father and daughter exorcise their pasts, and struggle towards tenderness: a misplaced bedtime story.
- February 2006
On 22nd July 1928 in the dusty heat of Andalusia, a young bride flees with her ex-lover on her wedding night to a dank forest where death waits.
Based on a true story, one of the 20th century's most celebrated writers, F.G Lorca, uses the 'crime of Nijar' to investigate illicit desire, repression, ritual, and constraints of the community. Using a bold new translation, a large cast fuse music, drama, poetry and electro-tango to present a dark and poetic vision of love as a precursor to betrayal and violence.
- November 2005
The enigmatic figure known to the world of mad science only as ‘The Doctor’ and his gormless assistant, Arthur Nice, are hungry little moles. And they’re certainly going to gobble up lots of worms. Such worms as: human decency, basic morality and rigorous, empirical scientific research. A comedy extravaganza of top-hatted frock-coated mad science not to be missed.
In his underground lair (in the murky depths of the Pembroke new cellars) the doctor has called together the greatest cracked pots of his generation to partake in the 1st annual symposium of the association of crazed, reprehensible, odious and neurotic young men or A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. His aim? To bring to an end the all-to-long reign of good science and to usher in a new era of malignant, horror-inducing insane science. Or, failing that, do something really cool with acids.
But be warned. Enter his world and you enter a world of genetically spliced grotesques, a monstrous arena where mammals are forced to do battle armed with weapons they should never have got hold of in the first place, a place in which the greatest experiment ever conducted will take place, perhaps with uncontrollable results. You certainly aren’t in Kansas no more, folks, and Toto’s got a BB-gun.
This comic, chemically fuelled explosion is brought to you by two of Britain’s best young comedians. Adam Terry and Fred Crawley are recent graduates of Cambridge University (and were founding members of the Cambridge Comedy Club). Currently both are living in London and making their intrepid way onto the national comedy circuit. Come and see their critically acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe tour show in its last three performances back in Cambridge. See them now, so you can say you saw them then.
“It is really funny. The script is so packed with one liners and throw away dry wit that you don't care it's late, you don't care that some idiot is drunkenly shouting "Gangster!" you just laugh.”
Three Weeks
“This is a fantastic show with a couple of guys who are seriously funny.”
www.edfringe.com
- November 2005
At the dark heart of master playwright Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts lies the tortured fate of a woman denied any chance of fulfilment by a male dominated world. In Ghosts Ibsen damningly exposes the hypocrisy and limitations of a self-righteous society, and his subversive treatment of marriage, infidelity, incest and venereal disease provoked scandalized outcry when first performed. Yet ultimately it is the eternal question of the individual’s right to self expression and freedom which drives this powerful tragedy – a question voiced by Ghosts as shockingly and vibrantly now as it ever was.
- November 2005
ALL MY SONS opens on a Sunday morning in a garden in the Mid-West in August 1947. The day is to be burning hot but now it is cool as Joe Keller reads the want ads in the paper. The silence of mundanity hangs in the air as he, his wife and neighbours go about their weekend leisure. But his son has arrived home to marry the childhood sweetheart of his brother whose jet went missing over the South China Seas in the war. What follows is a devastating and tragic deconstruction of the American way of life- family, morality and community are all held to trial in Arthur Miller’s first great play:
“What was Larry to you? A stone that fell into the water? It’s not enough for him to be sorry.”
- March 2005
On Christmas Eve, two strangers arrive in the Irish village of Bochtan. The crops are blighted, and all must prepare for another year of poverty. But in the face of their misfortunes, the villagers begin a laughing contest... Years later, Mommo tells the story of this night of mirth, repeating it time and again without ever reaching its tragic conclusion. Every evening her tale intrudes on her granddaughters' modern lives, and its repetition seems to hide the secret of their broken family. But tonight, things turn out differently...
Tom Murphy´s unique combination of drama and storytelling has made him one of the most acclaimed contemporary Irish dramatists. In this grotesque Christmas tale, he addresses the haunting past of Ireland's poverty with all the fierceness of satire and the black humour of tragi-comedy. When bedtime stories go wrong, and families are torn apart by misfortune, what else can we do... but laugh?
- March 2005
"This is the game of life as we all have to play it." The devious Mrs. Chevely gatecrashes the party of Sir Robert Chiltern, MP, to inform him that unless he supports her fraudulent schemes she will reveal to the press that he made his fortune by selling a government secret. Trapped in the glittering, steely and unforgiving world of Victorian politics, Sir Robert, with the help of his suave, sophisticated friend Lord Goring, must walk the tightrope between corruption and disaster, and above all, prevent his secret from ever reaching the ears of his perfect wife, Gertrude. But Lord Goring has problems of his own. His irascible father keeps insisting that he marry, or do something else useful with his life. Mabel, Sir Robert's pretty and vivacious younger sister, is of the same opinion. Mrs Chevely is openly trying to blackmail him into marriage. But all he wants to do is... nothing.
- February 2005
'Inspired by a true story of a young black con man, Paul, who insinuates himself into the lives of wealthy New York couple, Ouisa and Flan Kittridge, claiming he knows their son at Harvard. They are captivated by Paul's fascinating conversation and allow him to stay with them, but discover him in bed with a young male hustler. They discover friends of theirs have had a similar run-in with Paul. Intrigued, they piece together the connections that gave Paul access to their lives. Meanwhile, Paul's cons unexpectedly lead him into darker territory. As the final events of the play unfold Ouisa suddenly finds herself caring for Paul, feeling that he gave them far more than he took, and that her once idyllic life was not what it seemed to be...' An exciting and engaging piece of contemporary theatre. A tight, stylized production, focussing on isolation, paralysis, social responsibility, and how we are only ever separated by 6 degrees from any other person in the world.
- November 2004
After his mother runs off with a bisexual trainee dentist and his American cousin leaps unceremoniously out of the closet, David is forced to confront difficult issues about his own sexuality. As his best friend Jane tries to get her mother to understand what a lesbian is and his father Derek is keen to ensure he doesn't let the family down by becoming an uphill gardener, this new comedy proves that from chaos can come a happy conclusion!
- November 2004
Born a slip of a girlyboy named Hansel in commmunist East Berlin, escape was only possible via a dodgy sex-change operation, a marriage to a lecherous American GI, displacement to a Kansas trailerpark and a quest to become America's biggest rock star. But the newly-christened Hedwig didn't count on meeting Tommy Gnosis - the love of her life, who stole her songs and became a star without her. Tonight, Hedwig is about to exorcise a few demons, tell us a few home truths, and play the most raucous, raunchy rock show Cambridge has ever seen, whilst Tommy himself plays at the Corn Exchange nearby.
A cult hit across the Atlantic, this is its first ever amateur student outing. Douse yourselves in blood and glitter for a unique rock musical. You'll laugh You'll cry. You'll get Hed.
- November 2004
The Bacchae is the ultimate Greek tragedy, combining tense dialogue, unforgetable characters, matricide, mass slaughter and a little bit of lesbianism to keep everyone's attention. This brand new re-working combines original text with modern langauge to create a new and exciting play set in the world of the 1920's, featuring sex, violence, unbelievable magic and "all that jazz"!
"Simon Evans’ version of The Bacchae is an assured and vigorous performance
text. The writing is sharp and urgent, giving a contemporary feel without
ever seeming self-conscious. None of the play’s challenges were ducked – in fact, several were given illuminating interpretations... The theatrical concept was extremely effective... There was a highly unified feel to the piece, and in terms of writing, directing, design and acting."
Dr Peter Raby (editor of numerous Cambridge Companions, including Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter)
"This was a very exciting piece of theatre – coherent, original and
theatrical... Simon Evans’ version is vivid and playable and his ensemble highly talented."
Simon Waters, author of “World Music” (Donmar Theatre, 2004) and “After the Gods”
- November 2004
When divorced couple Elyot and Amanda discover they are occupying adjacent apartments on the French Riviera, there is potential for sparks to fly. The fact they are both there on honeymoon with their new respective partners sets the scene for Coward's wittiest comedy.
Coward assesses the farcical and the serious; the passionate and the plain, in an hilarious presentation of man's ever-conflicting desires.
- October 2004
BLUE HUG'S WIDELY ACCLAIMED EDINBURGH FRINGE SHOW RETURNS TO CAMBRIDGE!
Come to Elsie’s, where Teddy’s ready for Secret Sports. Tonight, Doris will be ‘Billy’, knickerbocker-clad and eager to please. Dressing up, drumming, murder and marriage - the widely acclaimed revival of Stanley Eveling’s tale of nothingness and prostitution.
What the Press Said:
"Madness has never been so appealing." - Awarded Best of Festival Theatre in List Magazine (Issue 503)
'A glimpse of triumph' - The Times (17/08)
'The epitome of the Fringe' - Scotsman (28/08)
'More tightly layered with meaning than a goon show.' -
Guardian
'Eveling is the most fascinating playwright since Pinter.' - Boston Globe
'This play is, without a doubt, a masterpiece.' - TES
Constellations from the Festival Rags:
* - edfringe.com
1/2 - Edinburgh Guide
**** - Threeweeks Magazine
PEMBROKE RUN: Tickets £5, and 20% discount for college families of five or more!
- May 2004
Nick and Mick are rivals competing for the rights to produce an explosive new reality game show. Beneath the shroud of constructive and friendly instruction, the Director of the company manipulates and deceives them from day one, creating a tension between self-belief and teamwork. Implicated in this web of deceit is the Director’s shy but obedient secretary, Meg, who finds herself in the hands of all she encounters, used as a tool in their own self-advancement and corrupt dealings. When the Director’s wife, Debbie, asks Meg to seduce her boss to test his love and faithfulness, the barrier between business and pleasure is crossed and inner anxieties and desires revealed.
The debut performance of new writing within Cambridge promises to be a comic and diverse portrayal of stereotypical scenarios, with a tragic twist to boot. Expect everything except your expectations!
- March 2004
"What we're trying to do is write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might...travel..."
Art within life ... life within art ... Stoppard's "The Real Thing" explores relationships, life and love in a complex and witty web of playful theatrical games. Henry, a playwright and intellectual, weaves his words for a living, but where does the boundary between writing and living lie? Why does a man so engaged with his art find it so hard to express his love for Annie? ...And just what is it about cricket?
- February 2004
Five Night Stand will comprise five nights of stand-up comedy with a different comedian each night. It offers comedians the rare opportunity to experiment with sustained stand-up in Cambridge.
- November 2003
"Shall I tell you what you heard just now? Nothing in the world but your own terrors calling"
Locked in a cellar during the Red Terror in St Petersburg, 5 British people are held captive, unsure of their future. After 6 weeks as the strain is starting to show, each individual responds to the pressure in different ways: one focuses on maintaining her beautiful image, another resorts to British stiff upper lip, a third survives through exaggerated concern for others. Into this situation steps a small man, Derry Moore, "the Irish Hans
Andersen", who has been mistakenly captured in place of his
counter-revolutionary brother. Derry relieves the tension by helping the captives to get lost in a tale of leprechauns and wonderful colours - the fairy tale of the title.
