Cambridge’s largest student venue is due to reopen later this month.
The ADC Theatre is set to welcome audiences again from May 24 in line with the government’s roadmap for reopening performing arts venues.
Its sister venue, the Corpus Playroom, will also be reopening at the same time.
Both venues will be performing to a socially-distanced auditorium for as long as restrictions persist, with COVID rules hopefully lifted in late June.
Having successfully reopened and performed shows in autumn 2020, the ADC will be livestreaming the majority of its shows for audience members to watch from home if they would prefer.
All performers and technicians will be following the government’s latest social distancing guidelines, and compulsory face masks and increased hygiene measures in the auditorium will help to keep audience members safe.
"We're so excited to be bringing back live performance after such a long absence," said ADC Theatre manager Jamie Rycroft.
"Having reopened in autumn, we know how to produce exciting works of theatre that are safe and follow restrictions.
"Being able to reopen the Corpus Playroom for the first time in a year is also great news, and we have a fantastic season of student-written drama and comedy in the space.
"If you are not quite feeling ready to return to an in-person auditorium, we are livestreaming the majority of our ADC shows for you to watch from home."
Highlights of the upcoming season include Nina Raine’s play Consent, whose original production at the National Theatre received glowing reviews, and a production of the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
In the summer, Ballet Central will be returning to the ADC Theatre to perform a one-off dance show on July 16, and the classic work of Irish theatre The Playboy of the Western World.
Britain’s oldest university playhouse, the ADC is famous for being the starting point of many of Britain’s most famous creatives, from Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen to Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz.
The reopening of the ADC has been assisted through the financial support of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
This support is also allowing the ADC to stage an outdoor production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, which will be performed in a pop-up venue outside the Fitzwilliam Museum between June 16 and June 26.
The ADC presents two shows every evening during university term, as well as a range of other programming outside of term from touring shows to local drama groups.
Tickets for all shows, including to watch a livestream from home, can be booked at adctheatre.com.
The Corpus Playroom is an 80-seat, L-shaped studio space on St Edward’s Passage, just off King’s Parade in the centre of Cambridge.
Opened in 1979 by Caroline Oulten and Mark McCrum, Corpus Christi College’s uniquely-shaped studio venue was run for 22 years by the Fletcher Players solely for student drama.
In that time the theatre has fostered talent such as Hugh Bonneville, Sam Mendes and Stephen Fry.
Since 2011, it has been managed by the University of Cambridge through the ADC Theatre.
You can book tickets by calling the box office on 01223 300085 or online at adctheatre.com
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