Spotlight on… CAMBRIDGE ARTS THEATRE
As last year’s wonderful in-house production at Cambridge Arts Theatre of Cinderella closed, the venue was prepared for a major refurbishment to overhaul the main auditorium and technical infrastructure while retaining the character of the art deco space. The aim: to improve sight lines and acoustic quality, enhance seat comfort, legroom and physical accessibility and bring the technical infrastructure up to industry standards. The plan: to complete all of the works in plenty of time ahead of next year’s pantomime so that Cambridge audiences can enjoy another super Christmas treat at the end of this year.
Their Cinderella ran for 65 performances from November 2024-January 2025, and was a fresh take on the familiar story but produced in a way that honoured the traditions of pantomime. Al Lockhart-Morley has been the resident panto writer since 2014 and his script this year set the story in Hardup College, giving plenty of scope from local jokes and about the neighbouring university communities. Ian Westbrook’s lovely colourful set design included four iconic Cambridge locations. However, it was Matt Crosby’s masterful performance as Buttons (having played Dame for twelve years and having appeared in 19 Cambridge Arts Theatre pantomimes, over 1,000 performances) that really made the show with his charming stage presence and great comic timing. The large-scale slosh scene on a huge dog grooming parlour truck, with Harry Howle and Steven Roberts as the Wicked sisters was simply hilarious, with no one holding back in the full-on mayhem, yet maintaining control of the routine. Howle and Roberts won ‘Best Sisters’ at the UK Pantomime Association 2025 Award on 13 April. These wonderful routines are less frequently seen these days, we suspect because of the expense, mess and risk of injury, but are a wonderful treat when done this well. It helped too that there was a great relationship between Chloe Gentles and Jack Wilcox as Cinderella and Charming and both can sing and dance well, plus a delightful performance from Julia J Nagle as the Fairy Godmother, twinkling on every appearance.
Cambridge Arts Theatre in the centre of Cambridge was devised under a plan by John Maynard Keynes, the celebrated economist and founding member of the Arts Council, opening on 3 February 1936 with a gala performance by the Vic-Wells Ballet featuring, among others, great ballet performers of the time: Robert Helpmann, Margot Fonteyn and Frederick Ashton. In 1959, Sir Ian McKellen first performed at Cambridge Arts Theatre as an undergraduate in Henry IV and in the 60s, The Footlights revue performances, including John Cleese, Miriam Margolyes, Germaine Greer and Eric Idle. The University Footlights continue to present their work at the venue each year.
For its 50th anniversary, Cambridge Arts Theatre hosted a gala as part of an upcoming fundraising campaign to refurbish the building. Services were given by luminaries of the theatre world including Peggy Ashcroft, Eleanor Bron, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Peter Hall, Ian McKellen, Trevor Nunn, Prunella Scales, and Timothy West. For its 75th anniversary year, Sir Ian McKellen returned to the Arts stage after an absence of many years to perform in The Syndicate. A similar star studded event was held by the Gatsby Foundation this year to promote the fundraising campaign for the next stage refurbishment to philanthropic supporters.
In 2018, the Olivier award-nominated musical SIX premiered at Cambridge Arts Theatre, following its successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2023, the venue presented Rupert Everett in A Voyage Round My Father, Clive Francis and Jane Asher in The Circle, as well as the thriller 2.22 A Ghost Story and the wonderful Charlotte and Theodore with Kris Marshall. Co-production is part of their programming model and has included the wonderful play Pressure with David Haig about the weather forecasting ahead of the D-Day landings, and two tours of 84 Charing Cross Road, the epistolic play about a transatlantic relationship.
Luke Dell explained that the refurbishment of the venue will be in two phases. The first phase has been funded by Lord David and Dame Susie Sainsbury via the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. It will enable the theatre to deliver an exceptional audience experience in the main auditorium, and give greater scope for creating new in-house productions, ensuring the venue can continue to attract the very best touring productions to Cambridge. The boxes have been removed and replaced by new slip seating to improve the sweep of the circle, and the lighting, sound and stage equipment will be upgraded to modern standards. This phase also lays the foundations for an ambitious phase two in the hope that it will deliver a new 200-seat studio theatre on the building’s roof, a versatile space for smaller-scale productions, new work, community events and activities for which funding still needs to be secured. Fundraising for this phase of the redevelopment is ongoing with the expectation that the work can be completed in the next few years. The theatre is delighted with the generosity of the support that has been received so far and looks forward to launching a public appeal later in the year.
Cambridge Arts Theatre is managed by The Cambridge Arts Theatre Trust Limited, a registered charity in England, which was run by Dave Murphy from 2003-2024 until interim Co-Chief Executives Victoria Beechey and Rachel Tackley took over. The accounts for the year to 31 March 2024 showed turnover of £5.4million, with £4.6million from admission fees for performances. They offered a minimum of 4% of capacity at lowest price with over 6000 seats offered to school and community groups for the pantomime. The Panto Wheels project offered nearly 4000 seats to those young people faced with socio-economic barriers to accessing the arts. Overall, the Trust ran a deficit of £245000 in 2024 (having delivered a small surplus in 2022/23) but retained an unrestricted group free reserves of £750,000, sufficient for four months average operating costs. The annual pantomime generates a substantial percentage of annual income and remains a critical element of the theatre’s sustainability.
The imperative to reduce the carbon footprint of the venue also remains a key focus. They are planning to move from all Tungsten lighting equipment to LED fixtures. Dressing Rooms/Green Room lighting will have intelligent motion detection systems installed. There are plans for the roof of their new proposed Studio Space to be either a blue or green roof, as well as proposed solar panels and a new air source heat pump for the theatre.
Cambridge Arts Theatre remains one of the important regional playhouses, an essential visit for any self-respecting touring production alongside the Theatre Royal in Bath, Richmond Theatre in Surrey, Theatre Royal in Brighton, Everyman in Cheltenham and Chichester Festival Theatre. Each has a strong supportive community of theatregoers who support the venue’s work. It must be hoped that this major refurbishment at Cambridge, a strong reopening for next year’s pantomime and the continued benefit of Theatre Tax Relief for touring plays will set the place up to smoothly develop towards its centenary in 2036.
Nick Wayne
Nick has been involved in Producer and Venue Organisations for twenty-five years, seen over 1200 productions, visited over 160 of the UK Venues and invested in over 30 West End Productions.