ADC Theatre

The ADC Theatre is a theatre in Cambridge, England and also a department of the University of Cambridge. It is located in Park Street, north off Jesus Lane. The theatre is owned by the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC), but is currently run as the smallest department of the university, with four permanent staff. It is a producing theatre with the CUADC as its resident company.

The auditorium seats 228 audience members. The auditorium seating was replaced in summer 2008, and the rows are fairly evenly stepped from row A up to row P (with entrances at row A — step-free from the street, via a passenger lift — and row J). The theatre has a bar, which opens 45 minutes before shows, and often stays open until approximately 2am.

History

When the CUADC was formed in 1855, its performances took place in rented rooms in the Hoop Hotel on Jesus Lane. By 1882, the club members had raised sufficient funds to buy the freehold. This building was subsequently developed into the ADC Theatre over an extended period of time. In 1933, there was a disastrous fire, which gutted the building. The theatre was quickly rebuilt to a design by Harold Tomlinson and W.P. Dyson, reopening in 1935.TheNew A.D.C. Theatre, Cambridge. Harold Tomlinson and W.P. Dyson,architects. The Architect and Building News, vol. 141, pages 134–136, 25 January 1935. The building was not changed again substantially until the redevelopment programme that...
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