Press
The Taming of the Snow!
The Cambridge University European Theatre Group battle through blizzards to make it home in time for Christmas.
With snow blizzards raging across Europe, closing airports and bringing the continent's cities to a grinding halt, one of Cambridge's oldest theatre groups began to fear that they might not return in time to toast the New Year. Contrary to all expectations, the 24-strong group performed successfully in Paris, Gent, Montreux, Sursee, Geneva, Zurich, Berne and Bremen - largely unaffected by the erratic weather.
Convinced that if snowy Switzerland could not bring the tour to a halt, nothing could, they proceeded along icy roads to Amsterdam, their final venue. There they were greeted by blizzards, the like of which have not been seen in Europe for many years. As flights were cancelled, friends and family members were left stranded and disappointed. The city ground to a standstill, and the audiences vanished: everyone was snowed in at home!
The tour certainly faced other problems along the way. Our leading lady, struck by a sudden illness, spent one performance in hospital. Bianca was left to frantically learn lines and pull off a fabulous performance as Kate, while a member of the technical team stepped up to play Bianca. And this understudy had herself only been drafted in a week before the tour departed, filling in for a Cambridge "fresher techie" struck down by flu and unable to travel.
But, as Shakespeare would have been quick to point out, all's well that ends well and the company are refreshed, invigorated, full of mince pies and can't wait to bring The Taming of the Shrew to its home run in the ADC Theatre from the 18th - 22nd January.
After receiving an astounding reception from over 2700 people at nine venues across Europe, European Theatre Group's fifty-third consecutive winter spectacle is definitely not to be missed. We hope we'll be seeing you there.
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