Cambridge Arts Theatre

Monday marked the start of the Technical get-in for our Christmas pantomime Aladdin, where our fantastic Tech team work around the clock to fix dozens of lights, build numerous sets and prep the stage ready for 64 panto performances! Once the stage is ready, our cast, in-house band and Panto Babes come flooding in, and that's when our spectacular Christmas panto really comes to life. 

We thought you'd like a sneak peek of how our auditorium looks mid-way through this busy week in the Arts Theatre calendar...  

On Monday our spectacular pantomime cast, company and creatives and Arts Theatre staff joined together for our yearly tradition - the first script read-through! It is a great way to begin the rehearsal process, and a chance to see the beginnings of our magical family panto coming to life. 

Here's some shots of the cast in action...

©Jo Anthony Photography 

We're thrilled to finally show you our Aladdin cast in all their glory! The photographs from our cast photo shoot (see the behind the scenes blog post here!) are back and here is a first look at the cast, ahead of the opening preview performance at the end of November. The costumes look incredible (and very sparkly!) and the cast have well and truly got into the pantomime spirit.

The Autumn school term may only have just begun but the pantomime season officially started for us last week, as we invited some of the wonderful Aladdin cast to the Theatre for a photo shoot! Magical make-up was applied, sparkling costumes were donned and everyone jumped straight into the pantomime spirit.

On Wednesday 6 June, on the 74th anniversary of D-Day, the Arts Theatre team travelled to London to launch our production of David Haig’s fascinating wartime drama Pressure, following its hugely successful UK tour that started in Cambridge earlier in the year.

Pressure is the thrilling play about Group Captain James Stagg, the Scottish meteorologist tasked with predicting the weather conditions for the D-Day Landings. 

Rehearsals are now underway for the national tour of This House, James Graham's smash-hit political comedy examining the 1974 Hung Parliament. 

I was thrilled to travel to central London last Friday to get a first look at the show and to hear from the director, writer and other members of the cast and creative team.

We're extremely excited to be co-producing the intense real-life thriller Pressure, an acclaimed new play centred around the D-Day landings and the most important weather forecast in the history of warfare. 

Written by and starring the award-winning actor and director David Haig, Pressure is the extraordinary and little known story of one man who helped change the course of war, and our lives, forever. 

This week is a very exciting week... Pantomime season is almost upon us and our spectacular family pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, opens on Thursday!

This week marks the start of our in-house tech rehearsals, where our technical and stage team work tirelessly to piece together the stage and set, assemble lights, place instruments in the orchestra pit and bring all of the props and costumes together under the theatre roof. 

On Monday morning Jack and the Beanstalk rehearsals kicked off with a bang! The cast, crew, production team and Arts Theatre staff joined together for the first read through of the script - a favourite date in the pantomime calendar for many of us!

The script read through begins rehearsals every year, and it's a great chance for the whole Arts Theatre pantomime company to meet (over some classic panto jokes!) before a busy, fun and joyful festive period!

If there's one sure-fire way to get the Arts Theatre team well and truly geared up for the festive season... it's the annual pantomime photo shoot! 

Last week we invited a few of the brilliant Jack and the Beanstalk cast to the theatre, stitched them into (very sparkly) costumes and our photographer, Tony Meehan, snapped away.