2005 Tour

“Much Ado About Nothing”

By William Shakespeare

This Fall, CAST returns to the States with Shakespeare’s finest comedy.

Returning victorious from war, Don Pedro and his officers arrive at the English country home of Leonato, totally unprepared for the scheming, sex and celebration to come. Their rest and relaxation is ruined by beautiful daughters, and jealous, wicked half-brothers, as new passions are born, old flames are re-ignited and plans are made for both marriage and mischief.

With an occasional cricket match, afternoon tea on the lawn and perhaps even jazz, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a witty whirlwind of love and hate, tragedy and happy endings, teaching us that in the “merry war” of the sexes, no-one is safe from Cupid’s darts.

Hailing from the land of Shakespeare and cricket, this slick and professional true-to-life production is guaranteed to leave you mesmerized and yearning for those lazy sunny afternoons.

Off-Broadway Theater, Yale University

41 Broadway, New Haven, CT

Monday 12^th September at 6pm and 9:30pm

Tickets: $15 ($8 students)

For ticket reservation email sjw83@cam.ac.uk

The Schuster Theatre in Scottino Hall, Gannon University, Erie, PA

Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th September at 8pm

Tickets: free to Gannon community with valid ID or $5.00 for all others

Tel: (814) 871-7494.

Supported by the Alex Clemente Fund for Performing and Related Arts

The Theatre, 291 Gay St, Washington VA

Saturday 17^th September at 8pm

Sunday 18^th September at 4pm

Tickets: $20 for adults and $5 for students 18 and under.
Tel: 540-675-1253

F. Perry Smith Studio Theater, Frostburg State University, MD

Wednesday 21^st September at7:30pm

Tickets: $10.00 adults, $5.00 students

Tel: 301-687-4145

Presented by the Department of English, Frostburg State University, with support from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Provost.

Holmes Auditorium, Alfred University, NY

Saturday 24^th September at 7:30pm

Tickets: $5; Under 18s - $3; AU Students - free

Tel: 607 871-2525.

Basil 135, St John Fisher College, Rochester, NY

Monday 26^th September at 7:30pm

Tickets - $5 for the general public

Tel: 585-385-8412

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

566 LaGuardia Place, NY

Wednesday 28th September at 8pm

Tickets - $25 Full Price, $20 NYU faculty, staff, alumnae & seniors, $12 students

Tel: 212-992-8484

Cambridge University American Stage Tour - CAST - is the newest touring student dramatic society of the University of Cambridge, England. It was founded in 1999, with the aims of producing excellent touring student drama and building a foundation that will help future tours find success.

CAST’s summer tours see the finest acting and technical talent from Cambridge University crossing the Atlantic to perform to audiences across North America. By the time CAST reaches America, the tours have been eleven months in the making, with a full cast and crew working to create a thoroughly professional production. Previews are staged in Cambridge prior to the tour to ensure that the company is ready to give every audience a polished and impressive performance.
One of the driving forces behind CAST, a not-for-profit organisation, is the need to make theatre accessible to modern audiences, using innovative methods and interpretations. CAST tours also include the opportunity for American students and young people to participate in workshops, as a way of introducing them to Shakespeare or building on the knowledge that they already have. Working with the director and the actors, CAST hopes these workshops will be fun and entertaining as well as educational.

Our tours have included Hamlet (2000), Romeo and Juliet (2001), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2003) and As You Like It (2004), each of which earned great acclaim at every stop. This year, we are hoping to emulate the success of previous tours with a production of Much Ado About Nothing.

Aims of CAST

CAST has been set up to produce touring student drama of the highest standard. We invest more time and resources in our productions than is possible to do with plays that rehearse and perform during the university term. Our productions are created through intensive and dedicated rehearsal periods in the summer vacation, drawing upon the expertise of Cambridge academics through workshops and talks, before setting off to tour North America during September. We aim to attract the best production, technical and acting talent from the University of Cambridge, and to help these individuals to improve their skills. CAST productions should benefit all those who are involved: actors develop their performance skills, technicians learn from the demands of different venues, designers face the challenge of creating stunning visual effect within practical constraints, and our audiences benefit by seeing a production that has been rigorously prepared by a dedicated company.

In the past, tours to America by Cambridge students were produced and funded by the Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC). CAST was brought into existence to ensure that tours occurred every year and in order to raise the profile of tours from Cambridge in America. It is based upon the highly successful model provided by Cambridge University European Theatre Group (ETG), which has been touring Europe annually since it was launched in 1958 by Sir Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen, and Michael Deakin.

For more information, please contact the Tour Managers:

Elizabeth Bradford on eeb25@cam.ac.uk

Samuel Wring on sjw83@cam.ac.uk