The Penguin Club works in many different venues in and around Cambridge. Below is a list of venues we frequently use and some handy hints on what to expect:
The ADC has a main auditorium, a small studio space (The Larkum Studio), and a bar. It also has a small workshop for building and painting scenery. It has large quantities of stock flats and decking for use in sets. It has a fly tower. The forestage can be manually removed to reveal a small orchestra pit, or lowered to create a stepped effect.
The theatre allows its dressing rooms, the Larkum Studio, and even the stage to be booked for rehearsals and production meetings when they are not in use (free of charge if it's for a show taking place at the venue). This is a very useful facility, but conversely you should always make sure that any show you are working on has booked all the spaces it needs during its production week!
The Arts Theatre is a fully professional theatre, and is the only theatre in Cambridge to have a reasonable number of dressing rooms and a proper Green Room. It has a fly tower and a large orchestra pit, and a reasonable, if not excessive, amount of wing space. There is some storage available in a small building across the road from the theatre, but access to this is not guaranteed, and you may have to negotiate with the theatre staff in advance if you really need to use it.
The Corpus Playroom is a studio space managed by the ADC Theatre. The auditorium is L-shaped, with the audience split into two groups at either end of the L, and the performance space between them. There is a small dressing room/green room area, but no facilities for storing set offstage.
The Howard Theatre offers a small performance space in a building that is also used for conferences. There are no set storage or workshop facilities.
The Larkum Studio is a small studio space at the ADC Theatre, seating up to 40 people. It is used for both performances and rehearsals. When using the space for shows, you have access to all of the ADC's facilities, including the workshop and stock scenery, but you will almost certainly have to work around the show performing in the main auditorium.
The Mumford Theatre has the largest stage in Cambridge, lots of wing space, and a large orchestra pit. It has no fly tower, and no workshop or off-stage storage facilities. The theatre works on a different schedule to e.g. the ADC Theatre, time can be limited - remember to check when your production has access to the venue.
The Robinson Theatre is a studio-style space at Hills Road Sixth Form College, with no fly tower, and a fixed solid cyc at the back of the stage. There is only one dressing room, and very little space for scenery in the wings. There are no workshop or storage facilities.
This is a concert hall not a theatre but it is used for a number of productions throughout the year.
