This fun venue offers stellar shows and the perfect spot to patch up old city rivalries
The Town and Gown is a thriving pub in central Cambridge, with a professional fringe theatre at its heart. Over the years, the building has taken on many different roles: it started its life as Cambridge’s Conservative Club in 1866, later becoming the Cosmopolitan Cinema and then Cambridge’s Arts Cinema from 1979 to 1999. In more recent years, it played host to many a wild night as a buzzing cocktail bar. The venue has now returned to its arts roots, offering a diverse programme of theatre that brings a taste of the Edinburgh Fringe to Cambridge.
The references to the Town and Gown’s arts heritage are in abundance, from the stage door that lures you down Market Passage towards its main entrance, to the Escher-like configuration of staircases and sharply staggered floors that hint to the building’s days as a cinema. Downstairs boasts a magnificent space with lofty ceilings, enormous barrel booths and one of the longest bars you’ll come across in the city, while upstairs is an altogether more intimate affair; dark walls, candlelit tables and cosy booths framed with plush curtains. Up another, smaller flight of steps is a black box theatre bathed in purple light. This is the beating heart of the Town and Gown, where an ever-changing programme of unique and innovative shows unfolds each month. On show nights, the upstairs bar is sectioned off for ticket holders only, turning it into an exclusive theatre bar – a space of encounter, discussion and shared experience. Audiences can congregate before and after a show, to meet with the acts and unpack what they’ve just seen.
The idea of providing a space for mixing is central to what the Town and Gown hopes to contribute to the local theatre scene. In particular, it’s on a mission to unite the two communities after which it is named. It’s a well-known fact that Cambridge locals (colloquially referred to as ‘townies’) and members of the university (the so-called ‘gownies’) are like oil and water: they simply don’t mix. The division even extends to theatre venue preferences. According to Karl, who runs the Town and Gown with his partner Paul, ask any student where they go for their dose of theatre and the answer is likely to be the ADC. By contrast, Cambridge locals and tourists prefer the Cambridge Arts Theatre or the Junction.
“I’ve never been in a city where town and gown was prevalent before, and I didn’t really know what it was,” says Karl. “Then I started to uncover this whole historical side – the two feuding communities of a city – which, for me, is totally the opposite of how things should be in the art world. Art and theatre are meant to create a common ground for people, promoting conversation, debate and joy. So, we decided to call ourselves the Town and Gown, because we really wanted to represent how theatre can bring those two together.”
Through careful programming, Karl aims to offer output that will appeal to each group, from student productions to touring shows – while always ensuring that there’s something to bring town and gown together. Musicals have proved a sure-fire hit for merging the two. There’s also rich pickings for fans of drag and queer theatre, with Disco Bingo nights led by drag artist Fatt Butcher, as well as killer cabaret and tribute acts. The end result is a packed programme that looks as if it’s been based on a selection of flyers picked at random along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile – and for fans of fringe, what’s not to like about that?
It’s clear that the venue deserves a place as one of the main providers of quality theatre in Cambridge. But its role in offering a common ground for the two divided communities is what really sets it apart. The Town and Gown is not just a name, but a modus operandi.
