Coming Soon
The Music Box
Tue 13 - Sat 17 Mar @ 21.30 at Corpus Playroom
“It’s just a game...” Like notes trickling from a music box, this play's events unfold from a single centre: the rumpled bed in a sick-room. The Music Box weaves narrative threads together; two lovers hurtle through an epic tragic affair, and three fantastical siblings encounter a strange young man who challenges the reality of their dreams. The music box’s repetitive tune has haunting implications for the exploration of corrupted innocence, loneliness, and desire.
Never Have I Ever
Tue 13 - Sat 17 Mar @ 21.30 at Pembroke New Cellars
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)
Andromaque
Tue 13 - Sat 17 Mar @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
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.
The Bacchae
Tue 28 Feb - Sat 3 Mar @ 21.30 at Pembroke New Cellars
A stranger has come to the city of Thebes, claiming to be Dionysus, god of wine, and the women of the city have begun flocking to join him in his wild rites on the hillsides. Pentheus, the newly crowned king, thinks the man a charlatan and will do anything in his power to crush this new cult. But he is about to learn that gods - especially drunk ones - rarely take criticism well. This production will be a powerful, physically demanding interpretation of Euripides' masterpiece: the horrific majesty and sublime cruelty of the god of wine will be fully explored, and the audience will be immersed in a world of sex, alcohol and violence.
Unconditional
Tue 28 Feb - Sat 3 Mar @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
‘You are tricking a little girl into loving you.’ As a married couple prepare for a rare night alone, a simple mistake provokes a confession that threatens to devastate their family. Forced to face up to an uncomfortable reality, accusations and apologies are exchanged as the pair find themselves desperate to both understand and hide the truth. Innovatively staged in an intimate setting, Unconditional is a by turns moving and unnerving play that considers what happens when our most fundamental expectations go unfulfilled. ‘This is the point where it gets better.’ ‘Only for you.’
Audience
Tue 14 - Sat 18 Feb @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
'You take your eyes off a show for two minutes, and the next thing you know the theatre's half empty and all the laughs have gone.' Keith is at the theatre watching his play. So is everyone else. Allegedly. But what with upholstery, understudies and unwelcome birthday treats, is it any surprise no one's paying attention? From Michael Frayn, two times winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy and writer of ‘Noises Off’ comes ‘Audience’, a one-act comedy about how the real spectacle can be found in the stalls, even if the drama is on stage.
Past Shows
PLAY (and Other Plays)
Tue 22 - Sat 26 Nov @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
Don't miss a rare opportunity to see three short plays by Samuel Beckett at the Pembroke New Cellars next week. The Pembroke Players Freshers' Show (Tuesday 22nd-Saturday 26th, 7pm) puts together a trio spanning his career as a playwright in "PLAY AND OTHER PLAYS" (The other two being "Rough for Theatre 2" and the monologue "Not I"). It promises to be an electrifying evening - and when I say evening, we're talking less than an hour - showcasing some of the finest Fresher theatrical talent Cambridge has to offer.
YOU'VE BURNT THE PARSNIPS
Tue 15 - Sat 19 Nov @ 21.30 at Pembroke New Cellars
Susan, a positively obnoxious snob, is fretting over the last-minute preparations for the dinner party she is holding for her brother's twenty-fifth birthday. While she panics and perfects every minute detail, all her husband, Simon, does is dance along to his only remaining record, after the mysterious disappearance of his collection. Simon - a long-suffering and downtrodden man - yearns to escape his marriage but is too weak to oppose his tyrannical wife. As the guests arrive, the underlying tensions surface all too easily: Susan's bitter competition with her "common" sister, Brenda; a not-so-subtle affair between Susan and Brenda’s husband; and Susan’s overbearing mollycoddling of her wimp of a younger brother. Will the evening's events finally set Simon free?
FRESHER: THE MUSICAL
Tue 15 - Sat 19 Nov @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
Freshers' Week: we've all been there. This time with songs... Follow the lives of five freshers as they attempt to navigate the highs and lows of that first week of university life. Nervous Hayley is finding it difficult being away from home but there is hope that cheeky chappy Tuc will help her overcome her fears. Posh boy Rupert enjoys playing croquet, but his female counterpart Ally seems less than impressed by his advances. And shy Basil is struggling to find out who he really is... Will rapping about your cat really win you friends? Is Frankenstein or Flo Rida a more appropriate costume for the fancy-dress party? And why are all romantic encounters fraught with complications? With the ‘best years of our lives’- and some of the worst mornings after - re-imagined in musical form, FRESHER! will take you back to those first days of university you wish you could forget.
THE REAL THING
Tue 25 - Sat 29 Oct @ 19.00 at Corpus Playroom
Tom Stoppard’s THE REAL THING, already a classic in modern drama, is an unforgettable exploration of love, art and reality. Winner of the Tony Award, Critics’ Circle Award and Evening Standard Award for Best Play, it has delighted audiences the world over and established Stoppard as one of the greatest writers of our time. At its heart, Henry—a playwright with high romantic ideals—aims at true love in both his life and writing. His relationship with the strong-minded actress Annie comes at a price he struggles to afford, but it affords us ‘two of the finest [roles] in modern drama’ (The Independent). Sparklingly witty yet profoundly moving, Stoppard's play muses and amuses as it asks us whether we can ever find true love, express love truly or capture 'the real thing'. This new staging for the all-new Corpus Playroom comes from the production team that brought you SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO and MARGOT DE SADE, and looks set to be a highlight on the theatrical termcard this Michaelmas. Find out more at TheRealThing.org.uk.
ART
Tue 25 - Sat 29 Oct @ 19.00 at Pembroke New Cellars
Serge has bought a painting. A very expensive, totally white painting. Marc hates it. Yvan is caught in the middle. Marc is a cynical know-it-all. Serge is a proud name-dropping showoff. Yvan is just trying to be a good friend and mediator. If your friendship is based on tacit mutual agreement, what happens when one person does something completely different and unexpected? The question is: Are you who you think you are, or who your friends think you are? Multiple Comedy Awards. The Tony Award for Best Play. Who'd have thought it was all about a "white piece of shit"?