ADC Theatre
The ADC Theatre (Amateur Dramatic Club Theatre) is the main student theatre in Cambridge, a white and blue building near close to Jesus College. Officially the building is owned by CUADC and held under trust, but is managed as a department of the University itself. The auditorium has a capacity of 228 and usually hosts two shows a night during University Term, at 7.45pm (mainshow) and 11.00pm (lateshow). The Larkum Studio (capacity 40) and ADC Bar (capacity 50) can also be used for performances. Show Applications for student productions open about half-way through the term before. Hirers are charged on a box office split system, with the theatre taking 37% (+VAT) of gross income and an additional 9% (+VAT) as ticket commission.
The majority of technical info about the ADC can be found on the theatre's website, and it would be silly to duplicate it here (since that would just mean that one place or the other would be likely to become out of date the next time there is a change). But the theatre's website only contains "hard" specifications and so on, not hints and tips on how to achieve things.
- https://www.adctheatre.com/productionresources
- https://www.adctheatre.com/production/technical-information/
General Information
- The proscenium arch is 6.67m wide and 3.8m high.
- The maximum stage depth is 11.1m.
- The fly tower is 12m high with a maximum flying height of 11.4m.
- The underside of the counterweight and hemp galleries is 5440mm high.
- The load-in doors are 762mm x 2045mm and are on the first floor.
- The stage traps section is 3.55m x 1.03m in dimensions.
- The auditorium seats a maximum of 228 (221 in standard configuration) and has disabled access.
- There is eduroam Wi-Fi provided throughout the building.
- There are two backstage dressing rooms:
- Dressing Room 1 (DR1) which is used by the Mainshow
- Dressing Room 2 (DR2) which is used by the Lateshow.
The access to stage from the dressing rooms is to stage left. Entrances can be made directly onto the main stage, or onto the forestage through a Juliet. Similar entrances can be made from Stage Right if a get-round is created behind the stage backdrop.
Load-in access is via a straight staircase from the theatre yard up to the stage left wing. You may also take a 90-degree left turn at the top in order to pass into the front row of the auditorium. Particularly large items of set can either be taken into the front row of the auditorium by a 90-degree left turn at the top of the get-in stairs, or can be be flown onto stage through the stage traps. Access should be checked carefully if large items of set are being used.
The ADC has a fly tower with counterweight & hemp systems for flown set and owns a wide selection of flying equipment and lifting accessories. There is a fully-equipped workshop for building set, which ADC Theatre and Corpus Playroom shows can use for free.
It is customary at the ADC to refer to stage left as prompt side (PS) and stage right as off/opposite prompt (OP).
Security
Much of the theatre is restricted access for safety and security reasons. If you wish to gain access to more areas—to attend an audition, for example—go through the yard and knock on the door of the Management Office. You can activate your University Card (often called a CAMCard although this is a common misconception) for use on the theatre's codelocks by tapping it on a machine in the Management Office. If you don't have a University Card then the Theatre's Management can issue temporary access cards. If unsure, knock on doors loudly and ask someone who's around the theatre - they should be happy to help you out!
In addition to regular card access, you can sign out keys to more unusual parts of the building; speak to Management.
Rooms and Spaces
Box Office
Where you buy tickets and collect pre-paid tickets before a performance. The box office may offer to re-sell tickets on behalf of the ticket-holder for sold-out shows.The Box Office opening hours are typically 1pm-7pm Monday-Saturday.
Bar
A great social place for Cambridge Theatre Community with relatively cheap drinks and cocktails that are specially tailored to the Mainshow that week. Located on the first floor of the theatre. It is occasionally booked out for bar performances or society events. The bar is usually closed on a Saturday night and only opens to the company of a show after the get-out has finished.
Upper Bar Store
A small storage room and preperation area located behind the bar. Connected to the Lower Bar Store via a dumbwaiter.
Lower Bar Store
Room located in the management corridor immediately before the door into the Box Office. Among other things it contains the kegs, BIBs, carbonation and drink mixing equipment for the bar and is connected to the Upper Bar Store via a dumbwaiter.
Auditorium
The auditorium seats an absolute maximum of 228 people, though typically the actual number is less depending on the seating configuration and wheelchair seating. Often has 2 performances every night: a Mainshow starting from 7:45pm and a Lateshow starting from 11:00pm.
Larkum Studio
A performance space which can also be used for rehearsal and audition. To access the studio, go upstairs from the box office to the first floor, go through the bar and turn left. Keep going forward and you'll see the entrance on your right hand side.
Management Office
The office for the theatre management team. Office hours are generally 11am-6pm Monday-Sunday.
Clubroom
Another social space for the theatre community with comfy sofas, stuffed toys and a collection of past show posters. Can be used for production meetings, casual meetings, relaxing, etc.
There are two ways to access the Clubroom:
- Tap your card on the reader to open the door in the corner of the box office and go through the narrow corridor.
- Enter the theatre through the back gate, go through the yard, and enter through the door with 'Student Clubroom'. Knock on the door or tap your card on the reader to enter.
There is also a small kitchen just off the Clubroom. Please write your name or the show name on any food stuff you leave in the fridge and please help keep it tidy! One part of the get-out is to clean the kitchen.
Production Office
Located next to the Clubroom. Has four computers available for use by anyone putting on a show at the ADC Theatre. All have Adobe Photoshop and InDesign installed. A folder will be created for your show which you should use for storing all files related to your show. These files are accessible from any of the computers. Please do not store files anywhere else on the computers as they are liable to get deleted.
You can print documents from those computers using a "show code". Ask your producer if you need to print something show-related.
A space for production meetings and paper techs if it's hard to book a room.
Workshop
Where all the sets are built. To access this room, enter through the back gate of the theatre or through the production office.
Backstage
The back stage area contains two dressing room:
- Dressing Room 1 (DR1) which is typically used by the Mainshow
- Dressing Room 2 (DR2) which is typically used by the Lateshow.
The Dressing Room are separated by a Green Room with some seating, an audiovisual stage relay, and three toilets. Each dressing room has a shower located off it, as well as two sinks with electric shaver sockets. DR1 also has a washing machine and tumble drier, which are available for use with permission of the Duty Manager. During the day, they can be booked for auditions, rehearsals and meetings. You can access the backstage area through a door written "Stage Door" in the yard.
Voids
The theatre contains an assortment of voids: these are rooms that are too small, oddly shaped, or hazardous to be called a room. They include:
Rake void
The space under the seating of the auditorium. It's high enough to stand in at the rear end, but too low even to crawl in by the front. It contains the step bins. Formerly—before the 2018 renovation—used as an informal instrument store, the area is now kept locked as it is the plenum of the air-conditioning system.
PS roof void
The space above the PS wing. As of late 2018, used to store trunking, confetti drops, and some lighting equipment. Accessed from half-way hemps. Mostly lacking a floor; walking on anything other than the proper areas might result in you crashing through the ceiling of the PS wing onto the floor below!
PS floor void
Below the PS wing, and accessed through a small trapdoor over which the Genie is sometimes parked. Mainly used to store spare carpet tiles for the Clubroom. There is an adjacent diagonally-slanted stage dip which contains the safety hand rails used when Trap flying.
OP quad roof void
Notoriously cramped and somewhat purposeless, it's mainly used for service access when carrying out maintenance.
Bar roof void
Above the bar, and accessed from the Sound Box. Used to store the Yamaha Rio racks, headphone amp racks, drum acoustic screen and auditorium sound desk table when not in use. Also home to various bits of speaker flying hardware and projector lenses. Do not step off the designated wooden floor!
Workshop compressor void
Above the workshop extractor cupboard, and accessed via the small padlocked door near the ceiling.
Safety curtain void
A small void formed adjacent to the brick wall between the scene dock and paint dock corridor when the safety curtain is wound out.
Management garden
A tiny triangular area that's located on the other side of the door in the room with the laminator. It serves no useful purpose but is the source of frequent jokes.
Basements
These are believed to be among the oldest rooms in the theatre. Unfortunately they are accessible by ladder only.
The vault
Storage area underneath the Production Office that's accessed from a trapdoor in the Tech Office. Used by Management to store theatre maintenance spares.
The museum
A small dungeon-like area located just off the scene pit underneath the workshop floor. Used to store old parts of sets that are thought to be worth keeping. There is also a selection of (theoretically) fire-retardant fabrics that have been purchased by previous shows, a spiral staircase, staircase banister spindles, a sink with requisite plumbing, and more.
Room Booking
The Larkum Studio, bar, dressing rooms and stage area may be used for rehearsals or meetings dependent upon availability. There is an online booking diary at https://roombooking.adctheatre.com/ which can be used to check availability and book rooms for your show. This facility is only available for productions taking place at the ADC Theatre and you must be listed as an admin of your show on Camdram in order to use it.
Productions are allocated 12 hours per week for rehearsals. If you require extra time you should contact the Theatre's Production Manager.
Theatre Management and Staff
Technical Details
A reminder that technical specifications can be found at https://www.adctheatre.com/production/technical-information/
Lighting
The ADC Theatre has over 200 lanterns of various description, being of both the LED and conventional tungsten type. Control for these is provided through an ETC Gio @5 console with an ETCnomad Puck running tracking backup. A two port ETC Net3 gateway is situated in the patchbay and provides two universes of DMX connectivity from the lighting control network. There are 114 permanently-installed dimmer circuits and 4 switch circuits which all terminate on a PowerCON patch panel in the patchbay, allowing them to be routed anywhere on or around stage. An additional 6 Strand Act 6 dimmer packs are available from the Technical Manager, making a total of 150 available channels using in-house equipment. Additional dimmers can be added using DMX or network-based control.
Sound
The main auditorium has a fixed FoH sound rig of paired D&B Ci90 Tops and C7 Sub-bass speakers, mounted either side of the proscenium arch. The mixing position is a control box at the rear of the auditorium, and control is given though a Yamaha CL3. Tie lines are installed to all areas of the stage and auditorium, as well as the Larkum Studio, the dressing rooms & green room, FoH areas and the bar. These terminate in a Bantam patch pannel in the sound control box. Amplifiers are located in the patchbay and can be patched to various Speakon outlets around the stage. The Theatre also owns a selection of microphones for instrument and vocal use, several DI boxes and a stage piano. There are 16 Sennheiser EW300 G3 Radio Microphone receivers (with 16 wireless beltpacks, and 2 handheld wireless mics).
Production Resources
The Theatre has a sundries store that keeps a stock of useful consumable items that can be purchased by productions. A full stock list and price list can be found on their website.
The ADC has four computers available for use by anyone putting on a show at the ADC Theatre. All have Adobe Photoshop and InDesign installed. A folder will be created for your show which you should use for storing all files related to your show. These files are accessible from any of the computers. Please do not store files anywhere else on the computers as they are liable to get deleted.
The Theatre has a photocopier that productions are welcome to use. You should have received a four-digit photocopier code, which will allow you to photocopy, print and scan documents as necessary. The printer can produce A5 and A4 booklets as well as A4 and A3 sheets. The user code tracks how many sheets have been printed and we will charge the cost through to the show settlement. We also have a large format printer that produces the A1 posters we use around our Front of House. Productions are welcome to make use of it if needed.
There is a laminator that can be used to laminate posters to be put up around town. It will laminate from anything up to A3. Cable ties for attaching posters to railings can be purchased from Sundries.
The Theatre has a credit account with a number of different companies, including timber merchants and print houses. You can order goods on account by getting an order number from us and inform one of the management team. The Theatre will then pay the company from which you have purchased and deduct the relevant amount from your settlement. Deliveries to the theatre should be made between 11am and 7pm any day.