Cambridge University Light Entertainment Society

The Cambridge University Light Entertainment Society (CULES) is a student drama society at Cambridge University. Notable alumni include Douglas Adams, John Cleese, HRH The Prince Edward, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden.

CULES is a non-profit society, and emphasises 'non-serious' theatre, comic pun-filled scripts, and including those who do not wish to become 'serious' actors.

CULES was founded in 1958. In its heyday in the early 1960s, it was considered a drama society on par with the legendary Footlights. Performing revues and comic sketches, it could boast such future celebrities as John Cleese and Graeme Garden amongst its members (with Flanders and Swann as honorary presidents of the society).

In the 1970s, the focus shifted to more music-hall shows, often performed in homes for the elderly. During this period, the likes of Andy Hamilton and Douglas Adams were members (the latter, having found Footlights "aloof and rather pleased with themselves", joined CULES instead). These were complemented by musicals and revues in the 1980s, with members such as Sandi Toksvig and HRH The Prince Edward.

The society returned to comedy and pantomime in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), interpreting stories such as Dick Whittington, Wind in the Willows and Snow White. After a brief lull in the early 2000s (decade), when membership was down to just a handful of students, CULES was revived in 2002 after a successful pantomime of Little Red Riding Hood. Since then, there have been two parallel productions for each term. 2003 saw the introduction of an Easter term production of four short plays around a common theme (for example, in 2003, Shakespeare was parodied in CULES productions of Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest and Macbeth).

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