About Us

The Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC) is the oldest student dramatic society in the country. Founded in 1855, the club now supports over 50 productions a year in Cambridge, Edinburgh, London and on tour.

CUADC is the resident company and owner of the ADC Theatre, which is leased to and run by the University. We operate entirely for the benefit of students in Cambridge and aim to provide as many opportunities to you as possible. All of our shows are produced, directed, designed, created and performed exclusively by students and range from one-night stands to month long runs in Edinburgh.

Some well-known figures in the theatre industry have started their careers with CUADC and we try to keep current members in touch with our alumni. As well as producing shows, we host a range of events and workshops over the year to help you learn more about what you love.

Our website should answer any questions you have about CUADC or theatre in Cambridge, but we would love to hear from you. Click on the contact tab to get in touch.

The Committee

The CUADC Committee is made up of 17 students who are elected in Lent term each year. We are here to support our productions and help people get involved with theatre in Cambridge.

The Committee is led by the President and meets weekly, usually on a Sunday afternoon. Each Club Show funded by us is given a Committee member as a “show contact” who is always on hand to help out. If you ever have a question about your shows or how to start getting involved, or want something raised at a meeting, you can get in touch with us here.

• President – Scarlett Clegg – president@cuadc.org
• Vice President – Josh Pritchard – vicepresident@cuadc.org
• Junior Treasurer – Finley Robertson – treasurer@cuadc.org
• Secretary – Dhyan Ruparel – secretary@cuadc.org
• Technical Director – Clotilde Dumont – td@cuadc.org
• Technicians’ Rep – Lochie Mackie – technician@cuadc.org
• Stage Managers’ Rep - Talie Davis – sm@cuadc.org
• Club Publicist – Joseph Hendersion – publicist@cuadc.org
• Directors’ Rep – Chester Chen – director@cuadc.org
• Producers’ Rep – – producer@cuadc.org
• Actors’ Reps – Edward Campbell and Sophia O'Callaghan – actor@cuadc.org
• Designers’ Rep – Eleanor Russel – designer@cuadc.org
• Membership Secretary – Jenna Braban – members@cuadc.org
• Social and Outreach Secretary – Bella Phillips – outreach@cuadc.org
• Writers’ Rep – Thomas Gladstone – writer@cuadc.org
• Webmaster – Kristy Poon – webmaster@cuadc.org
• Welfare Officers' Rep – Caelyn Boey – webmaster@cuadc.org

• Duck – Diana – duck@cuadc.org

The Club’s Senior Treasurer is Dr Richard Barnes.

History

The Amateur Dramatic Club was formed in 1855 by a group of friends a couple of years after the repeal of the University Statute forbidding drama. Originally based in two small upstairs rooms of The Hoop Inn, it wasn’t until 1882 that the club bought the freehold of the building on the same site that the ADC Theatre occupies today. The club began to gain national respect by the early twentieth century, but a disastrous fire in 1933 destroyed much of the theatre and made national headlines. Thanks to the support of alumni (and the King!) it took just 18 months to rebuild what was lost and the present building was reopened. Problems struck once more in 1970 when the club’s finances worsened as they had to fund redevelopment and maintenance to the building. After long negotiations, the University took the leasehold of the building for a small rent in 1973 and paid off the club’s debts.

With the university running the operation of the theatre, now employing four permanent members of staff, the club were free to concentrate on the productions themselves. As the resident company of the theatre, CUADC are given guaranteed slots at the ADC and continue to be the largest drama society in Cambridge.

You can find out more about CUADC by visiting our archives at the University Library, or by contacting the committee.

Alumni

The Amateur Dramatic Club has been the starting place of many well-known figures in the theatre industry both on and off stage. We have a fantastic list of past members – four of seven directors of the National Theatre are CUADC alumni.

We try to keep our alumni up to date with our activity and to put current students in touch with people working in theatre.

If you are an alumnus of Cambridge theatre, then we would love you to join our mailing list here so that we can keep in touch.

Our Alumni include:

Actors:
Morwenna Banks, Simon Russell Beale, Eleanor Bron, David Buck, Jonathon Cake, Tony Church, Christian Coulson, Julie Covingron, Julian Curry, Sam Dastor, Kate Duchene, Robin Ellis, Stephen Fry, John Grilo, Roger Hammond, Phyllida Hancock, Terrence Hardiman, Tom Hollander, Tom Hiddleston, Sir Derek Jacobi, Simon Jones, Richard Kay, Christopher Luscombe, Miriam Margolyes, Daniel Massey, Sir Ian McKellen, Poppy Miller, Michael Pennington, Bryan Pringle, Corin Redgrace, Sir Michael Redgrave, John Shrapnel, Clive Swift, Tilda Swinton, Emma Thompson, Justine Waddell, Ian Wallace, Bill Wallis, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Wing-Davey, Peter Woodthorpe, Sarah Woodward, David Yelland, Hannah Yelland

Directors:
Michael Apted, Annabel Arden, John Barton, John Boorman, Jez Butterworth, Richard Cottrel, Declan Donnellan, Dominic Dromgoole, Mark Elder, Sir Richard Eyre, Stephen Frears, Malcom Griffiths, Sir Peter Hall, Carev Harrison, Nicholas Hytner, David Jones, Jonathon Kent, Nicolas Kent, Jonathon Lynn, John Madden, Simon McBurney, Michael McCaffrey, Sam Mendes, Roger Mitchell, Robin Midgley, Jonathon Miller, Mike Newell, Trevor Nunn, Tony Palmer, Clive Perry, Steven Pimlott, David Poutney, George Rylands, Iain Softley, Tim Supple, John Trademan, Chris Weitz, Peter Wood, Tim Sullivan.

Offstage:
Douglas Adams, Clive Anderson, Mary Allen, William Allen, Cecil Beaton, Timothy Birdsall, Michael Birkett, Howard Brenton, David Brierley, AS Byatt, Alistair Cooke, Margaret Drabble, Sir John Drummond, Anthony Everitt, Julian Fellowes, Peter Fincham, Michael Frayn, Sir David Frost, Bamber Gascoigne, Mel Giedroye, Germaine Greer, Lee Hall, Nick Hancock, Sir David Hare, Norman Hartnell, Peter Hemmings, Clive James, Nathan Joseph, Chris Kelly, Tom Kempinski, Duncan Kenworthy, Raymond Leppard, Graham Marchant, Denis Marks, Matthew Mitchell, Jonathan James Moore, William Nicholson, Timothy O’Brien, Gary O’Connor, Bill Oddie, Nick Ormerod, Sue Perkins, Julian Pettifer, Jan Pienkowski, Sylvia Plath, Simon Relph, Tom Rosenthal, Nick Salmon, Peter Samuelson, James Sargant, Anthony Shaffer, Peter Shaffer, Julian Slade, Philip Steadman, Richard Stilgoe, Guy Woolfenden, Sir John Tooley, John Tusa, Michael Winner