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Footlights

December 29, 2022

For the theatrical equipment, see Footlight. For the 1921 American silent film, see Footlights (film).

Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883[1] and run by the students of Cambridge University.

Footlights
The ADC Theatre is the home of the Footlights.
Formation1883; 139 years ago (1883)
TypeTheatre group
PurposeAmateur theatrical club
Location

History

Footlights' inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name "Footlights" was chosen, the group had performed to local audiences in the Cambridge area (once, with a cricket match included, at the "pauper lunatic asylum"). They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC), founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College, and its theatre seating only 100. They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the club's appeal to the "general public, the many different classes of which life in Cambridge is made up".[1]

The club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established a permanent home in the basement of the Cambridge Union.[2] Having established a tradition of performing at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the club entered the mainstream when its members formed half of Beyond the Fringe, the hugely popular stage revue which toured Britain and America in 1960. The 1963 revue then followed in the footsteps of Beyond the Fringe, appearing in Edinburgh and London's West End, before travelling to New Zealand and the United States, where it made appearances on Broadway and The Ed Sullivan Show and received a full-page review in Time.

The first woman to be given full membership was Germaine Greer. She joined in October 1964 on the same day as Clive James and Russell Davies.[3] There had been women before that time who had been allowed to join in, including Eleanor Bron in the late 1950s, but Greer was the first to be billed as a full member.[4] Apparently Tim Brooke-Taylor was instrumental in having women admitted.[5] She was part of the Footlights' 1965 revue My Girl Herbert.[4]

Over the next decade, Footlights members came to dominate British comedy, creating and starring in shows such as Not Only... But Also, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, At Last the 1948 Show, That Was the Week That Was and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, forming comedy groups such as Monty Python, and The Goodies, and generally fuelling the satire boom.[6][7][8] During the 1980s, Footlights reinforced its position at the heart of British comedy. The 1981 revue, featuring Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery, Penny Dwyer and Paul Shearer,[9] won the inaugural Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and spawned Fry and Laurie, the first in a long line of popular and successful double acts formed at the club including Armstrong and Miller and Mitchell and Webb.[10][11][12] Their revue, The Cellar Tapes,[13] at St Mary Street Hall was billed as "the annual revue: one of the strongest casts for several years, has already toured in southern England with great success."[14]

Former members have gone on to win Oscars, BAFTAs and other awards and enjoy success in the entertainment industry.[15]

Activities

During term, Footlights produce the regular "Smokers"—an informal mixture of sketches and stand-up—at the ADC Theatre. The club also produces the annual Pantomime (in collaboration with CUADC) and the Spring Revue, as well as staging the winning entry of the Footlights Harry Porter Prize; a competition in which any student at the university may enter a one-hour comic play. The Footlights International Tour Show takes place from June until October, and travels to Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and venues across the USA. For information about individual Footlights revues, see Cambridge Footlights Revue.

Former members

Main article: List of former Footlights members

This is a list of former members of Footlights who achieved notability after graduating from Cambridge University.

Presidents

The elected leader of Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club is known as the president, who is assisted by a vice-president, treasurer, archivist and several other posts to form the committee.

Notable past presidents have included the following:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b . Footlights.org. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  2. ^ "The Cambridge Footlights: First steps in comedy". The Independent. 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Pete & Clive", BBC Radio 4, 9 November 2015, from 00:06:43.
  4. ^ a b Wallace, Christine (1999). Germaine Greer: Untamed Shrew. London: Faber and Faber. pp. 123–124.
  5. ^ Boston, Richard (3 June 1983). "From the archive, 3 June 1983: Cambridge Footlights celebrate 100 years of comedy", The Guardian.
  6. ^ Hewison, Robert (1983). Footlights! – A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. Foreword by Eric Idle. Methuen London Ltd. ISBN 978-0-413-51150-8.
  7. ^ From Fringe to Flying Circus – 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980' – Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.
  8. ^ The Broadway League. "Cambridge Circus". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Talents who sparkled in comedy's Hall of Fame". BBC News. 24 August 1998. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts". BBC News. 6 December 2010.
  11. ^ "The South Bank Show: The Cambridge Footlights". University of Cambridge. 30 January 2009.
  12. ^ "The Cambridge Footlights: First steps into comedy". The Independent. 28 January 2009.
  13. ^ A 1982 televised version of the "Cellar Tapes" revue show, originally performed in 1981 - Part 1/5, Part 2/5, Part 3/5, Part 4/5, and Part 5/5 - retrieved 17.3.2018
  14. ^ Venables, Ben (22 July 2017). . Fest. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  15. ^ Rebecca Flint Marx (2013). . Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.

External links

  • Official website
  • Official International Tour website
  • Past members and shows
  • The Cambridge Footlights Review, 1982

December 29, 2022
footlights, theatrical, equipment, footlight, 1921, american, silent, film, film, cambridge, university, dramatic, club, commonly, referred, simply, amateur, theatrical, club, cambridge, england, founded, 1883, students, cambridge, university, theatre, home, f. For the theatrical equipment see Footlight For the 1921 American silent film see Footlights film Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club commonly referred to simply as the Footlights is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge England founded in 1883 1 and run by the students of Cambridge University FootlightsThe ADC Theatre is the home of the Footlights Formation1883 139 years ago 1883 TypeTheatre groupPurposeAmateur theatrical clubLocationCambridge University Cambridge England Contents 1 History 2 Activities 3 Former members 4 Presidents 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditFootlights inaugural performance took place in June 1883 For some months before the name Footlights was chosen the group had performed to local audiences in the Cambridge area once with a cricket match included at the pauper lunatic asylum They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club ADC founded in 1855 with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College and its theatre seating only 100 They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal Barnwell Cambridge the shows soon open to the public A local paper commended the club s appeal to the general public the many different classes of which life in Cambridge is made up 1 The club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire and established a permanent home in the basement of the Cambridge Union 2 Having established a tradition of performing at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe the club entered the mainstream when its members formed half of Beyond the Fringe the hugely popular stage revue which toured Britain and America in 1960 The 1963 revue then followed in the footsteps of Beyond the Fringe appearing in Edinburgh and London s West End before travelling to New Zealand and the United States where it made appearances on Broadway and The Ed Sullivan Show and received a full page review in Time The first woman to be given full membership was Germaine Greer She joined in October 1964 on the same day as Clive James and Russell Davies 3 There had been women before that time who had been allowed to join in including Eleanor Bron in the late 1950s but Greer was the first to be billed as a full member 4 Apparently Tim Brooke Taylor was instrumental in having women admitted 5 She was part of the Footlights 1965 revue My Girl Herbert 4 Over the next decade Footlights members came to dominate British comedy creating and starring in shows such as Not Only But Also I m Sorry I ll Read That Again At Last the 1948 Show That Was the Week That Was and The Hitchhiker s Guide To The Galaxy forming comedy groups such as Monty Python and The Goodies and generally fuelling the satire boom 6 7 8 During the 1980s Footlights reinforced its position at the heart of British comedy The 1981 revue featuring Emma Thompson Hugh Laurie Stephen Fry Tony Slattery Penny Dwyer and Paul Shearer 9 won the inaugural Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and spawned Fry and Laurie the first in a long line of popular and successful double acts formed at the club including Armstrong and Miller and Mitchell and Webb 10 11 12 Their revue The Cellar Tapes 13 at St Mary Street Hall was billed as the annual revue one of the strongest casts for several years has already toured in southern England with great success 14 Former members have gone on to win Oscars BAFTAs and other awards and enjoy success in the entertainment industry 15 Activities EditDuring term Footlights produce the regular Smokers an informal mixture of sketches and stand up at the ADC Theatre The club also produces the annual Pantomime in collaboration with CUADC and the Spring Revue as well as staging the winning entry of the Footlights Harry Porter Prize a competition in which any student at the university may enter a one hour comic play The Footlights International Tour Show takes place from June until October and travels to Cambridge London Edinburgh and venues across the USA For information about individual Footlights revues see Cambridge Footlights Revue Former members EditMain article List of former Footlights members This is a list of former members of Footlights who achieved notability after graduating from Cambridge University Presidents EditThe elected leader of Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club is known as the president who is assisted by a vice president treasurer archivist and several other posts to form the committee Notable past presidents have included the following Peter Cook of Beyond the Fringe Pete and Dud and Not Only But Also Tim Brooke Taylor of The Goodies I m Sorry I ll Read That Again and I m Sorry I Haven t a Clue Graeme Garden of The Goodies I m Sorry I ll Read That Again and I m Sorry I Haven t a Clue Eric Idle of Monty Python Clive James author of Cultural Amnesia and Unreliable Memoirs Clive Anderson of Whose Line Is It Anyway Jan Ravens of Dead Ringers the first woman president Hugh Laurie of Fry and Laurie Jeeves and Wooster and House Douglas Adams author of The Hitchhiker s Guide To The Galaxy Tony Slattery of Whose Line Is It Anyway Neil Mullarkey of Austin Powers Sue Perkins of The Great British Bake Off and Mel and Sue David Mitchell of That Mitchell and Webb Look and Peep Show Robert Thorogood creator of BBC1 s Death in Paradise Richard Ayoade of Garth Marenghi s Darkplace and The IT Crowd Simon Bird of The Inbetweeners and Friday Night Dinner See also EditCambridge University Light Entertainment Society The Oxford RevueReferences Edit a b Footlights history Footlights org Archived from the original on 22 September 2013 Retrieved 16 September 2013 The Cambridge Footlights First steps in comedy The Independent 22 October 2011 Pete amp Clive BBC Radio 4 9 November 2015 from 00 06 43 a b Wallace Christine 1999 Germaine Greer Untamed Shrew London Faber and Faber pp 123 124 Boston Richard 3 June 1983 From the archive 3 June 1983 Cambridge Footlights celebrate 100 years of comedy The Guardian Hewison Robert 1983 Footlights A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy Foreword by Eric Idle Methuen London Ltd ISBN 978 0 413 51150 8 From Fringe to Flying Circus Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960 1980 Roger Wilmut Eyre Methuen Ltd 1980 The Broadway League Cambridge Circus Internet Broadway Database Retrieved 16 September 2013 Talents who sparkled in comedy s Hall of Fame BBC News 24 August 1998 Retrieved 11 March 2016 Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts BBC News 6 December 2010 The South Bank Show The Cambridge Footlights University of Cambridge 30 January 2009 The Cambridge Footlights First steps into comedy The Independent 28 January 2009 A 1982 televised version of the Cellar Tapes revue show originally performed in 1981 Part 1 5 Part 2 5 Part 3 5 Part 4 5 and Part 5 5 retrieved 17 3 2018 Venables Ben 22 July 2017 The Edinburgh Fringe or The Great Big Comedy Takeover Fest Archived from the original on 14 October 2017 Retrieved 13 October 2017 Rebecca Flint Marx 2013 Emma Thompson Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times Archived from the original on 16 October 2013 Retrieved 12 October 2013 External links EditOfficial website Official International Tour website Past members and shows Footlights Alumni Association The Cambridge Footlights Review 1982 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Footlights amp oldid 1128730493, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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