| Hang on Mr Bugson | ADC Theatre, Tuesday 13th Feb - Saturday 17th Feb at 7.45pm, 01223 359547, adctheatre.com |
 | | Find out what tickled Tom - see the vid! |
The Cambridge Footlights have had a vibrant start to the academic year under the presidency of 20 year old Tom Sharpe. The national tour show 'Niceties' came back to Cambridge for a final home run in October, followed by the sell-out comedy festival at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in November (featuring guest performances from the Oxford and Durham comedy reviews) and the return of the ever popular Footlights pantomime in December.  | | Get her! |
With these, plus fortnightly 'Smokers' (hour long comedy performances) never failing to sell out, Footlights seems to be rocketing higher than ever before. Is there a young John Cleese in our midst? A would-be Sacha Baron Cohen? or an aspiring Emma Thompson? Who knows... but Footlights remains a nest where comedy is born, nurtured, developed and delivered to an increasingly diverse audience.  | | A little guitar action! |
But what happens when Footlights president Tom Sharpe steps out of the 'funny' box and attempts something slightly more 'worthy'? On February 13th 2007 'Hang on Mr Bugson' (written and directed by Tom) hits the ADC stage. Based on a play Tom wrote as a teenager, he's reworked the story to fit the cast of seven Cambridge University undergraduates. Labelled in the early creative process a 'tragi-comedy', the play lies somewhere on the boundaries of reality and illusion, true and false, self and other, tomato and tomato. Here we follow the trials and tribulations of the Bugson team as Tom brings his creation to reality. Hang on Mr Bugson | | Check out the braces! |
...a NEW play by Footlights President Tom Sharpe. After a string of successful comic centures (Our Darker Purpose, Circus, Grow Up etc), it's time for something a little more worthy, it'll be funny, sure, but not just funny. Peter is instructed by a spirit to imagine some people for slaughter. Seems pointless, but he finds it hard to stop himself. Things get out of hand - they're not all particularly easy house guests. Characters mingle and emerge, but it isn't clear who are the mundane and who are the supernatural. There must be something very obvious we are missing - some magical, cheeky, glorious answer. The line though, where is the line? Diary entries for cast and crew of Hang on Mr BugsonDecember 2006 | | Shades of blue... |
Casting - three extra auditions are put on the cope with demand as young actors flood in to read Tom's pre-prepared monologues for characters that are currently nothing more than figments of his imagination. After an extensive casting and recall process the final eight actors and actresses accept their roles and Tom goes home over Christmas to rewrite the play to suit the strengths of each individual. A production team is appointed and everyone goes home to eat mince pies and wonder over what creation Tom will provide us with. 1 January 2007The first draft of the script is sent out - it's twice the length it should be and features a well, rain on stage, a running bath, staging that's 6 foot high and a couple of songs, just for good measure! 14 January 2007First production team meetings, a second draft of the script and the first full read through all prove surprisingly problem-free. With one month until the first night, degrees are put on hold as an intense rehearsal schedule is rolled out.. Watch this space for more... | 
