ADC Theatr e INDEPENDENT OF THE MONTH SIOBHAN GODWOOD FINDS OUT ABOUT WHAT MAKES ADC THEATRE ONE OF THE MOST SPECIAL VENUES IN CAMBRIDGE
he ADC is Cambridge’s home of student theatre, showing plays from Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC), who lease the building, as well as Footlights, Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society and The Fletcher Players. It’s the smallest department at Cambridge University and has no academic aim, stating as its purpose: ‘to provide opportunities to learn about and experience all aspects of theatre, while presenting professional standard productions’. The theatre is the oldest university playhouse in the country: plays have been performed there since 1855, when the CUADC was formed. At the time, the building on the site was an inn and the club leased two rooms upstairs so they could rehearse and put on plays. The very first minutes book from the club is stored in the university library. “The theatre continued to be run by students right up until 1973, when it was taken over by the university,” explains Vicky Collins, theatre manager at the ADC. “It’s completely booked out for student productions from the different groups even during term time, apart from during exam time when we aren’t allowed to have student shows as they should all be busy revising!” During term time, the theatre usually presents two shows a night, Tuesday to Saturday, one at 7.45pm and one at 11pm. All the productions during term time are t
entirely student run, from the actors and performers to the stage hands and set builders, and there are six permanent staff members who form the theatre’s management team. The theatre keeps running throughout the university holidays, too, with a range of different companies who come in and put on productions. For example, over Christmas, Ballet Central visited and put on a production of The Nutcracker . Of course, being a university theatre does present challenges. The nature of college life is that students graduate and leave, and new – inexperienced! – ones come along. “That’s definitely something that makes running the ADC different from a commercial theatre,” says Vicky. “But it’s also the entire reason we exist: to be a training theatre for students. It’s so exciting having new faces coming through. At the start of each year, in Michaelmas term, we do Freshers productions, a main show here and one over at the Corpus Playroom. That’s a real baptism of fire for the new students, and a fantastic way for them to learn how to do everything, from staging to producing a play.” Members of the management team help the students with sessions on how to
use tools for building their sets and teach them how to stage manage, but there’s also a lot of peer training involved. “I was an undergraduate here myself and was involved in theatre,” says Vicky, “and it’s fantastic to learn from other students and get their advice when you’re just starting out.” It’s not uncommon for members of the management team to have worked their way through the university theatre system, like Vicky, although not all of them are Cambridge graduates. “We have team members from various universities,” Vicky explains. “Working
“It’s entire reason we exist: to be a training theatre”
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