Oxford Playhouse What's On Guide - Summer 2022

Oxford Playhouse

WHAT’S ON GUIDE SUMMER 2022

April – November 2022

#SmileWithOP

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#SmileWithOP

#SmileWithOP

Welcome Welcome to the Playhouse and a magical summer season of wonderful stories and shows full of fun, beauty and joy!

When so many people are struggling, both here and abroad, the need to come together to make sense of our world, and our place in it, has never been greater. Theatre doesn’t win wars or vanquish diseases, but the ability to tell our stories and speak our truths is an essential part of surviving whatever challenges life brings. Sometimes we may go to the theatre to escape ‘real life’ for a couple of hours, but the best theatre (the stuff we like to present at OP) allows us to see, feel and question ‘reality’ in ways which entertain, challenge and comfort in equal measure.

That’s certainly true of Richard Cameron’s modern classic The Glee Club – a riotous celebration of the excitement and brilliant music of the 60s from The Stockroom (the new name for Playhouse regulars Out of Joint). Jane Austen’s Persuasion gets a ‘sparklingly intelligent and very funny’ (The Times) re-imagining in a gloriously playful Oxford Playhouse co-production,

and arrives just as our last 5-star Austen co-production, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), is up for numerous Olivier Awards after a lauded West End season.

OP’s second co-production of the summer brings together two actors at the very top of their powers – multi-award winners Lindsay Duncan and Hilton McRae – in a brilliantly modern version of August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, a forensic examination of human fallibility. Duncan and McRae have committed to tour this summer to help re-build audiences for regional theatres such as the Playhouse, just as Ralph Fiennes did last year in Four Quartets.

It’s a rare chance to see such talents on our stage and promises to be ‘unforgettable’ theatre.

The summer continues with top-class community productions, family work and of course the Playhouse Plays Out Tent, which visits schools and local venues across the county with a free brand new interactive, musicpacked family show Animal Rocks, full of fun, cheer and loveliness. It’s the least we can do.

Wishing us all a good summer.

Louise Chantal

Vanessa Lefrançois Joint Directors / CEOs

These productions have been created here in the county, either by Oxford Playhouse or by local artists, amateur and professional.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Theatre and events especially for families.

Come and play in the foyer area before and after the show.

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Thu 7 to Sat 9 Apr An Oxford Playhouse Young Company production

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISSOCIA

by Anthony Neilson Directed by Jo Noble Like Wonderland, or Oz, Dissocia is surreal, chaotic, witty and mind-changing. Lisa, our troubled heroine takes us on a fantastical journey in search of an hour she has lost.

Punctuated by absurdist characters and situations, a shadow materialises.

Following its acclaimed performances of Nell Gwynn and Jane Eyre, the Oxford Playhouse Young Company (aged 17 to 25) never stopped devising and performing on-line during the pandemic. This production marks the company’s comeback to the main stage.

“The acting was polished, the set imaginative and the ensemble pieces beautifully choreographed.”

The Oxford Times on Jane Eyre

“A rambunctious, energetic cast... it was thrilling to watch the ensemble.”

Evenings Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF THU

A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 14+ Post show talk Thu

OPinion “We are so excited to be welcoming our Young Company back to the Main Stage. The Wonderful World of Dissocia promises to showcase our ensemble of young performers at their best, in one of Anthony Neilson's most popular pieces of writing.”

Paul Simpson Participation Manager

Daily Info on Nell Gwynn

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Wed 13 to Sat 16 Apr Musical Youth Company of Oxford presents

LEGALLY BLONDE The Musical

Music and Lyrics by

Book by

Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin

Heather Hach

Evenings 7.30pm Matinee Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £12.50 Discounts available

Age guideline 8+

Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture “OMG you guys... Legally Blonde The Musical is coming to the Playhouse!”

Director Guy Brigg MBE

This fabulously fun, Olivier award-winning musical follows the transformation of beautiful, popular, expert shopper Elle Woods as she crosses the country on a mission to win back the man who wanted someone “serious.”

Musical Director Julie Todd

Supported by friends (and her dog!) she arrives at Harvard and discovers that not only can being smart be hugely rewarding, but it is necessary to stay true to yourself to achieve real success.

This production is brought to you by Musical Youth Company of Oxford, a talented company of 50 young people, and recent winners of the Flame Award for Inspirational Contribution to Musical Theatre. The company is thrilled to bring their energy, songs and smiles back to the Playhouse stage.

Bend and Snap up your tickets for this witty, infectious (and pink!) production, packed to the brim with memorable music and dynamic dance.

OPinion “It’s a thrill to finally welcome back MYCO to the OP stage. With more than 50 members, this company is made up of some of the best teenage talent Oxfordshire has to offer, showcasing the stars of the future.”

Ashley Bale Technical Director

“Slick, polished and intoxicating.”

Oxfordshire Drama Review on Godspell, 2018 This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe).

All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI Europe. www.mtishows.co.uk Original Production by Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals, Dori Berinstein, James L. Nederlander, Independent Presenters Network, Roy Furman, Amanda Lipitz, Broadway Asia, Barbara Whitman, FWPM Group, Hendel/Wiesenfeld, Goldberg/Binder, Stern/Meyer, Lane/Comley, BartnerJenkins/Nocciolino and Warren Trepp; Produced in association with MGM Onstage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber.

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The Stockroom presents

THE GLEE CLUB

By Richard Cameron

Of all my years of growing up, I grew up in 1962...

Music was on the move, the swing, the shake, the sex of it was comin’ through the airwaves.

Five hard-working, hard-drinking miners and a church organist are rehearsing frantically for the local gala. This is the Glee Club, and though they’ve played their share of working men’s clubs, they’re not exactly the vanguard of a musical revolution.

But this is the summer of ’62. Britain and music are about to change forever. And so are the lives of these six men.

A raucous comedy featuring live music, The Glee Club was first seen at the Bush Theatre in 2002 and soon transferred to the West End. The Stockroom (formerly Out of Joint) bring this 20th Anniversary production to Oxford as part of its first national tour.

Tue 26 to Sat 30 Apr Evenings Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF TUE OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 16+

“A glorious play.”

Daily Telegraph

“Poignant, funny and utterly authentic.”

Mail on Sunday

“A hugely entertaining evening, rich in comic moments.”

Sunday Times

“Riotously funny.”

Daily Express

OPinion “It’s hard to believe it’s 20 years since Richard Cameron’s quietly revolutionary play made West End audiences laugh, cry and feel.

The perfect play?

It’s definitely up there, and this anniversary revival does it justice.”

Louise Chantal Joint Director / CEO

Access performances

See pages 64-65

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Image: Sasha Frost & Fred Fergus in Persuasion. Photography by Seamus Ryan. Design by Muse Creative Communications. Make up & Hair by Grace Hayward.

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Rose Theatre and Alexandra Palace in association with Oxford Playhouse

PERSUASION

By Jane Austen Adapted by Jeff James, with James Yeatman Directed by Jeff James

Jane Austen's romantic comedy is riotously reinvented for the 21st century with an explosive foam party and a soundtrack of Frank Ocean, Dua Lipa, and Cardi B. When Captain Wentworth proposed to Anne Elliot eight years ago, he was penniless and had only love and ambition to offer. Persuaded out of accepting his proposal by her family, Anne’s never quite got over her first love.

But now Wentworth is back. Rich, successful and single, the handsome Captain has been transformed into a serious catch. When circumstances bring the two face to face again, Anne is forced to confront the past. As old wounds reopen, will Wentworth forgive Anne for rejecting him, and will Anne finally learn to trust her desires?

Jeff James (La Musica at Young Vic) and James Yeatman's bold and brilliant adaptation, first seen at the Royal Exchange Manchester, brings all the sharp observation and quick wit of Austen’s novel to the stage, without a bonnet in sight.

★★★★ “Sparklingly intelligent and very funny.

Austen would have loved it.”

The Times

★★★★ “Exhilarating and irreverent Austen adaptation swaps bonnets for bikinis.”

The Guardian

Wed 4 to Sat 14 May Evenings Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Socially distanced performances Thu 5 Mat Thu12 Eve Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF WED4 EVE & SAT 7 MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 12+ Spotlight Thu 12 12.30pm Post show talk Wed 11 OPinion “After OP’s co-production Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), this promises yet more joyful Austenirreverence!”

Louise Chantal Joint Director / CEO

Access performances

See pages 64-65

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University of Oxford Student Company: Founding Fellas Productions

CARRIE: THE MUSICAL

Music by Michael Gore Lyrics by Dean Pitchford Book by Lawrence D. Cohen Based on the novel by Stephen King You ain’t seen nothing yet Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Carrie tells the familiar story of a lonely girl in a cruel teenage world.

Except this isn’t a story we’ve heard before.

Featuring a protagonist with telekinetic powers, a punchy pop-rock score, and a raucous ensemble, this musical sensation is a tale of high school revenge unlike any you’ve witnessed before – think Roald Dahl’s Matilda but with pig’s blood and added gore.

Wed 18 to Sat 21 May Evenings Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF WED OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! members Students/18 & under: Best available seats £11.50 (must be booked

by Sun 15 May)

Age guideline 15+

It’s going to be a night you’ll never forget!

This amateur production of CARRIE: THE MUSICAL is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Kenny Wax Family Entertainment in association with MAST Mayflower Studios

FANTASTICALLY GREAT WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD From the book by Kate Pankhurst adapted by Chris Bush A new kickass-pirational ‘high energy, feel-good pop musical’ (Southern Daily Echo) will burst to life this spring as the Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World take to the stage to tell their stories.

Join our inquisitive heroine Jade as she breaks away from her class to take a peek behind the scenes at the not yet open Gallery of Greatness in the local museum. Along her journey she is surprised to meet the original wonder women: Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie and Emmeline Pankhurst to name just a few.

Wed 25 to Sun 29 May Evenings Wed, Thu, Fri & Sat 7pm Day time Thu 10.30am Sat 2pm Sun 1pm & 5pm Tickets from £10 Family Ticket Thu & Fri £60 (4 Band B tickets, 2 children minimum) Discounts available Wed 25 7pm performance all tickets £15 FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 7+

From explorers to artists, scientists to secret agents, hear the stories of some of history’s strongest mothers, sisters and daughters; all independent icons who really did change the world.

Post show talk Thu 10.30am

Celebrated dramatist Chris Bush (Nine Lessons and Carols, Almeida Theatre) and No. 1 hit songwriter Miranda Cooper (Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue) adapt suffragette descendent Kate Pankhurst’s bestselling picture book with music by Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo (Miley Cyrus, Beth Ditto) and direction by Amy Hodge (Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear, National Theatre).

OPinion "A rollickin’, riotous celebration of Girl Power (and its precursors!) through the ages. This great family show is touted to be the next SIX – get in early before it becomes a phenomenon!"

Don’t miss this empowering new stage show which will be celebrated by anyone who is prepared to move and be moved, with characters and songs that pack a popstar punch!

★★★★ “Incredibly inspirational, a battle call to women everywhere to stand up and be themselves.”

Liverpool Echo www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Louise Chantal Joint Director / CEO Access performances

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Thu 26 to Sat 28 May Evenings 7pm Matinee Sat 2pm Tickets from £5 Student & Access discount only

Age guideline 8+ Location The Master's Garden, University College, High Street, OX1 4BH Post show talks Fri Eve & Sat Mat

Oxford Playhouse, the Cameron Mackintosh Fund and University College present

GEORGE SAND’S GABRIEL In a new version by Clare Bayley Gabriel. Swordsman, scholar, poet – the perfect Renaissance man – is told on their 18th birthday that they are, in fact, a woman.

Queer literary icon and ‘notorious woman’ George Sand's radical tale of a young person navigating the minefield of the gender binary was censored by Victorian audiences.

Clare Bayley (The Enchantment, National Theatre) brings this pioneering play roaring into the present, exploring the cost of challenging the assumptions of a patriarchal society that values men over women.

Directed by Eleanor Warr (Home In Time For Christmas, BT Studio) and performed by students of the University of Oxford.

Award-winning playwright Clare Bayley leads Oxford Playhouse's Writers' Attachment Programme, Playhouse Playmaker.

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BALLET BLACK Double Bill 2022 Celebrating twenty years, Ballet Black is delighted to present two new works in 2022. Black Sun, by acclaimed South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma (Vuyani Dance Theatre) featuring an original score by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante (Boy Blue), is a work that draws energy from the sun and the moon giving rise to descendants of ancestors. These forces only meet to blacken, allowing us to draw from their powers as we prepare for life after life.

The second ballet in this double bill is choreographed and directed by Ballet Black’s Founder and Artistic Director, Cassa Pancho. Say It Loud is a ballet created by Pancho and the BB Company artists that charts the struggles and inspiration behind the formation of this exciting and pioneering company, from the uncomfortable reasons behind the Company’s existence to the frenetic, creative energy that has seen them create an enviable repertoire and build a reputation as a necessary part of the British ballet industry.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Wed 1 Jun 7.30pm

Tickets from £10 Discounts available A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 7+ (Caution: language – fleeting, themes of racism)

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Illustrations Copyright © Kerr-Kneale Productions Ltd 1968

Thu 2 to Sat 4 Jun Thu 2pm & 4pm Fri & Sat 11am & 2pm Tickets £14.50 Group discounts available

Age guideline 3+

OP Picnic Bags are available to pre-order

THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA A musical play adapted and directed by David Wood Based on the book by Judith Kerr Direct from the West End, the Olivier Award nominated smash hit show, The Tiger Who Came to Tea returns to the Playhouse stage.

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don’t expect to see at the door is a big, stripy tiger!

Join the tea-guzzling tiger in this delightful family show; packed with oodles of magic, sing-a-long songs and clumsy chaos. Don’t miss this stunning stage adaptation of the classic tale of teatime mayhem... expect to be surprised!

★★★★ “This Tiger is the cat’s meow.”

The Times

★★★★ “A rare and grreat achievement.”

Mail on Sunday

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Photo credit: Elly Lucas

SPIERS & BODEN Spiers & Boden first rocketed onto the music scene in 2001, quickly winning a clutch of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and going on to form and front the extraordinarily successful Oxford-born folk big band Bellowhead.

Sun 5 Jun 8pm Tickets £24.50 Access discount only

The duo reformed in 2021 after a seven-year hiatus, arriving with a brand new album Fallow Ground which went on to reach number 3 in the Official Folk Chart and was a Mojo top 10 folk album of 2021.

Following on from their 2021 sell-out tour Spiers & Boden hit the road again this June.

“It’s all exquisitely played – the pair are still the dons.”

The Observer

★★★★ “The finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene.”

The Guardian

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An Arcola Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Oxford Playhouse and Theatre Royal Bath Productions co-production Lindsay Duncan, Hilton McRae and Emily Bruni star in August Strindberg’s

THE DANCE OF DEATH Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz Directed by Mehmet Ergen

As their 30th wedding anniversary approaches, Alice and Edgar are locked in a bitter struggle. They’ve driven away their children and their friends. Their relationship is sustained by taunts and recriminations. When a newcomer breaks into the midst of the fray, their insular lives threaten to spin out of control. Laced with biting humour, The Dance of Death is August Strindberg’s landmark drama about a marriage pushed to its limits.

Olivier and Tony Award-winner Lindsay Duncan stars as Alice. One of our best-loved actresses, Lindsay is well-known for her BAFTA nominated performances on screen in Alan Bleasdale’s G.B.H and Stephen Poliakoff’s Shooting The Past. Olivier Award-nominee Hilton McRae’s celebrated stage and screen career has ranged from leading Shakespearean roles at the RSC and National Theatre to iconic films including The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Return of the Jedi and Mansfield Park. Best known for Peep Show, Emily Bruni has recently played leading roles at Shakespeare’s Globe and the RSC. Oscar winning playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Her Naked Skin, National Theatre) reunites with Arcola Theatre’s co-founder and Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen for the world premiere of a thrilling new version.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Tue 7 to Sat 11 Jun Evenings Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF TUE OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 12+

OPinion "We’re delighted to be part of another top-quality world premiere adaptation of a classic text, starring two stellar, award-winning actors at the very top of their game. The drama highlight of the year."

Louise Chantal Joint Director / CEO

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THE PLAY WHAT I WROTE

by Hamish McColl and Sean Foley and, of course, Eddie Braben

When The Play What I Wrote opened in London’s West End, every single review was a rave, every performance a sell-out and it won every major theatre award.

Thom has written a play, an epic set in the French Revolution called A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple. Dennis, on the other hand, wants to continue with their double act. He believes that if they perform a tribute to Morecambe and Wise, Thom’s confidence will be restored and the double act will go on. But first Dennis needs to persuade a guest star to appear in the play what Thom wrote...

With a mystery guest star at every performance, this “recklessly, tear-inducingly funny show” (The Guardian) is “a loving celebration of comic genius which is itself touched with comic genius” (Daily Telegraph).

Previous mystery guest stars have included Ralph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor, Joanna Lumley, Daniel Radcliffe, Kylie Minogue, Nigel Havers, Tom Hiddleston, Sue Holderness, Charles Dance, Dawn French and Sting.

Who will you see when you see The Play What I Wrote?

“A triumph.”

Sunday Times

“Audiences weep with laughter.”

Mon 13 to Sat 18 Jun Evenings Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

25% OFF MON OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! member

Age guideline 12+ Spotlight Thu 12.30pm

OPinion "A glorious homage to Eric & Ernie, a laughout-loud show that's guaranteed to bring sunshine and laughter all the while!"

The Observer

Sarah Jervis-Hill Marketing Director

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Photo credit: © CamillaGreenwell

Tue 21 Jun

Crying Out Loud presents

7.30pm Tickets From £10

KUNDLE CRU’S BLAME GAME

Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

The international members of Kundle Cru share a love of urban dance and circus. Put them in a room together, and something new and different emerges.

By fusing breakdancing, juggling, Chinese pole, Krump and House dance they have created a textured and surprising movement technique.

In their new work, Blame Game, they combine this brilliant physical style with humour and music to explore group dynamics.

Sometimes emotions build up and we let off steam to release the pressure. But what happens when blame rears its ugly head?

In Blame Game, this company of innovators explores the dirty politics of scapegoating that stalks society.

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The Chipping Norton Theatre presents

THE MOUNTAINTOP

By Katori Hall Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, exhausted and self-doubting, returns alone to his Memphis motel room and orders up room service. The charismatic waitress who appears with his coffee takes the evening in unexpected directions, leading him to question the mission he has devoted his life to, and what he will leave behind.

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2010, this tender, stunningly theatrical play explores the conflict between heroism and humanity, and between the public image and the real person.

Instead of the larger-than-life historical icon, this is an intimate side of Dr King, glimpsed in the last hours of his life.

“A strange, wonderful trip about MLK's last day... as audacious as it is inventive.”

Broadwayworld.com

Thu 23 to Sat 25 Jun Evenings Thu, Fri & Sat 7.30pm Matinee Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF THU

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! members

Spotlight Thu 12.30pm Pre show talk Fri 5pm Age guideline 14+

(some moderate bad language, adult themes and racially sensitive language)

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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MCS Drama presents

LEAVE IT TO PUCK!

by John Mann and Alex Thomas

& BIRDLAND

Thu 30 Jun to Sat 2 Jul Evenings 7pm Tickets £15 Discounts available

Age guideline 7+

by Bob Chilcott and Charles Bennett MCS returns to the Playhouse stage with an uplifting double-bill of new works of musical theatre.

Leave it to Puck!

You’d have thought he might have learned his lesson, but four hundred years on, mischief-loving Puck is still causing romantic mayhem in an enchanted wood. One day his magic misfires, leading a young girl, Willow, and her parents into a life they hadn’t bargained for...

This new musical showcases the best of MCS singing and acting talent in a celebration of family, fairy dust and fun!

Birdland Welcome to Birdland, a world in which those with the best voice have the most power. Pip is a young sparrow with a song in his heart and a dream to sing just like his idol, the Golden Nightingale. He’s desperate to join the prestigious Dawn Chorus, but they’ve got other ideas. Will Pip sell his soul to the glamourous Doc Rock Peacocks or lose his way in the Bewilderness? Or will he be able to find his true voice?

Birdland is the result of a collaboration between renowned choral composer Bob Chilcott (‘A contemporary hero of British choral music’ – The Observer) and award-winning poet/librettist Charles Bennett (Soundings, How to make woman out of water). Their work has previously featured in the BBC Proms. This is a specially-commissioned work by Magdalen College School, Young Norfolk Arts Trust and Norfolk Music Hub.

“Utterly beautiful... a theatrical triumph.”

Oxford Times on MCS’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2019

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Tue 5 Jul

Oxford Playhouse Artist Development Programme

11am & 2pm Tickets £10 (one session) £15 (both sessions)

PLAYMAKERS & THE PLOT

Age guideline 14+

Now in its 7th year, OP’s writers attachment programme Playhouse Playmaker supports six writers to write a full-length play with a year of workshops, dramaturgy and mentoring. We also host The Plot, a national network of mid-career writers. This one-day showcase includes extracts from 11 exciting, diverse and original new writers, with guest speakers, discussions and networking sessions.

OPinion "This day brings some incredible playwrights to Oxford. An unmissable bonanza for fans of new writing."

Sarah Weatherall New Work Producer

New Voices for a new world - a showcase of new writing from new and mid-career playwrights

Morning: The Plot Writers Rukhsana Ahmad (co-founder/former Artistic Director of Kali) Nicola Baldwin (George Devine and Time Out award winner) Clare Bayley (Fringe First & Amnesty Int. Freedom of Expression Award) Abi Bown (2005 Brian Way Award, BBC Writers' Academy graduate) Neil D’Souza (Actor, Writer - Westway, Small Miracle, Coming Up) Judith Johnson (New Writing Associate, Separate Doors) Sudha Bhuchar (founder Bhuchar Boulevard and co-founder Tamasha Theatre) Afternoon: The Playmakers Extracts of new plays by our current writers on attachment: Anna Angerman, Carla Grauls; Rhianna Ilube; Liz Daramola; Gayathiri Kamalakanthan; and Thomas Ryalls.

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DINOSAUR WORLD LIVE Dare to experience the dangers and delights of Dinosaur World Live in this roarsome interactive show for all the family!

Grab your compass and join our intrepid explorer across uncharted territories to discover a pre-historic world of astonishing (and remarkably life-like) dinosaurs. Meet a host of impressive creatures, including every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor and Segnosaurus!

Don’t miss this entertaining and mind-expanding jurassic adventure, live on stage.

Book now before tickets become extinct!

★★★★★ “Great fun. Highly recommended for all ages.”

Thu 7 to Sat 9 Jul Thu 4.30pm Fri 1.30pm & 4.30pm Sat 11am & 1.30pm Tickets £14.50 School & Group discounts available

Age guideline 3+ OP Picnic Bags are available to pre-order

What’s Good To Do

★★★★ “A spectacular interactive show!”

OK! Magazine

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Playhouse Plays Out Tent Tour

ANIMAL ROCKS Written by Jack Benjamin Come celebrate musical evolution with us! The Playhouse Plays Out Tent is back on tour this Summer, with a fabulous new play for all the family. There’s lots of change in the dinosaur world including new rhythms and a drum kit – and everyone is invited to the party!

Visit www.oxfordplayhouse.com for tour dates and further information

11 to 17 July 2022 It's back!

Offbeat returns with brand-new entertainment brought to the city by Arts at the Old Firestation and Oxford Playhouse

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Scottee & Friends

FAT BLOKES Fat Blokes is the cult, award-winning, sell-out, sort of dance show about trying to fit into a world that says you’re too fat.

Made by five fat friends who have never done this sort of thing before, in collaboration with legendary choreographer Lea Anderson, Fat Blokes subjects you to our pent-up aggression, love for riot grrrl and our ability to burp on command.

Prepare to fall in love with us.

This is fat rebellion.

★★★★ “Angry, lovable and tender show...an act of theatrical consciousness-raising.”

Guardian

★★★★ “A poignant, unsentimental exploration of fat queer masculinity... Excellently interweaves dance and personal memories.”

Fri 29 Jul 7.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available

Age guideline 16+

OPinion "A regular contributor to Radio 4's Loose Ends, Shortcuts and Front Row, Scottee (& Friends) bring a show that straddles rage and beauty, creating something that's deeply personal, fabulously queer and speaks to anyone who has ever felt out of place."

Dan Gilbert Artistic Coordinator

The Stage Fat Blokes is supported using funding from Arts Council England.

Co-commissioned by Southbank Centre and Home, Manchester

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Oxford Operatic Society

CALENDAR GIRLS A Musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth

The death of a much-loved husband prompts a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire village to do an extraordinary thing.

Blasting away all preconceptions of what it is to be in a women's institute, they decide to do an artistic nude calendar to raise money for charity. None of them expect the emotional and personal ramifications, but the making of the fabulous and funny calendar brings each woman unexpectedly into flower.

Based on the much-loved film with unforgettable songs written by Gary Barlow, this heart-warming musical proves that there is no such thing as an ordinary woman.

“They’ve got rhythm, they’ve got music, they are OXOPS; who could ask for anything more?”

Daily Info (On Oxford Operatic Society)

Mon 11 to Sat 16 Jul Evenings 7.30pm Matinee Sat 2.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF MON OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! member

Age guideline 12+

OPinion "There are laughs a plenty, toe-tapping numbers and heartfelt personal journeys in Gary Barlow & Tim Firth’s brilliant collaboration, telling the story of the WI ladies daring to bare all for charity. We’re thrilled to welcome back OXOPS to the Playhouse stage."

Marianne Jacques Marketing Director

Credits Originally Produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and The Shubert Organisation Based on the play CALENDAR GIRLS written by Tim Firth and on the motion picture CALENDAR GIRLS Written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi This amateur production of CALENDAR GIRLS: THE MUSICAL is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Photographer: Kate Bones. Art Director: Louise Richardson

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Shakespeare's Globe in association with Oxford Playhouse and the Oxford Festival of the Arts

JULIUS CAESAR

by William Shakespeare

‘Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins Remorse from power.’ Act II, scene 1 Shakespeare's Globe brings a startlingly relevant new production of epic tragedy Julius Caesar to Oxford this summer.

Conspiracy to kill, public broadcast of cunning rhetoric, a divisive fight for Greatness. Ancient Rome has never felt closer.

When Cassius and Brutus decide Rome’s leader Julius Caesar poses a political threat to their beloved country, there’s only one solution...

Shakespeare's Globe and award-winning Director Diane Page brings this brutal tale of amibition, incursion and revolution to life.

Tue 19 to Sun 24 Jul Evenings Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri & Sat 7.30pm Sun 6pm Matinees Sat 2.30pm Sun 1pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF TUE OR SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! member

Location Magdalen College School Playing Fields Cowley Place OX4 1DX Post show talk Wed

OPinion "After we were so rudely interrupted…

Shakespeare’s Globe is back in a stunning new city centre location on the banks of the River Cherwell.

Summer will be summer once the Globe are back in town – book early!"

Louise Chantal Joint Director / CEO

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Zog and the Flying Doctors. © 2016 Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Published by Alison Green Books, an imprint of Scholastic Children’s Books.

Fri 19 to Sun 21 Aug Fri 4.30pm Sat & Sun 11am, 2pm, 4.30pm Tickets from £15.50 Age guideline 3+ but all ages welcome

OP Picnic Bags are available to pre-order OPinion "Everyone's favourite dragon returns for another adventure full of song and dance complete with comedy villain - what's not to like? I loved it!"

Craig Russell Sales & Marketing Officer

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Freckle Productions in association with Rose Theatre present

ZOG AND THE FLYING DOCTORS Based on the book by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler Zog, super keen student turned air-ambulance, still lands with a crash-bang-thump. Together with his Flying Doctor crew, Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout, they tend to a sunburnt mermaid, a unicorn with one too many horns and a lion with the flu. However, Pearl’s uncle, the King, has other ideas about whether princesses should be doctors, and she’s soon locked up in the castle back in a crown and a silly frilly dress!

With a bit of help from some friends and half a pound of cheese, can Pearl make her uncle better and prove princesses can be doctors too?

Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling sequel, Freckle Productions (Zog, Stick Man, Tiddler & Other Terrific Tales, Tabby McTat) bring the creative team behind Zog, Emma Kilbey and Joe Stilgoe, back together for this truly modern take on the classic fairy tale.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

RUSH: A JOYOUS JAMAICAN JOURNEY Join us as we tell the story of Reggae music and the Windrush Generation and hear how this music took the world by storm.

Narrated by comedian John Simmit and featuring ska, rock steady, calypso, gospel, lovers rock, dancehall and Reggae played live by the JA Reggae Band.

Thu 25 Aug 7.30pm Tickets from £10 Discounts available

Age guideline 11+

Get ready to enjoy the music of Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Millie Small and many more.

“This is a fantastic show, informative, hugely entertaining & the music – WOW!!!... the two vocalists were outstanding & gave me chills with their amazing voices.”

Audience member

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Fri 25 Nov 2022 to Sun 8 Jan 2023 Tickets from £15 Discounts available

Age guideline 5 to 105

Written by Bobby Goulder, Anna Nicholson and Toby Hulse.

Directed by Toby Hulse

OP Picnic Bags are available to pre-order

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An Oxford Playhouse Pantomime

CINDERELLA The shoe must go on!

Don’t miss out on what promises to be the biggest and best party in the land!

Since her Dad remarried, Cinderella has had to work as a maid to her stepmother and two ugly sisters. Meanwhile the handsome prince is looking for a bride. Can Cinders compete with her sisters to win the heart of the land’s most eligible bachelor? Will our Fairy Godmother and ever-loyal Buttons ensure that True Love takes it course?

And who knew getting your feet measured could be so important?

You and your family and friends are guaranteed to have a ball at this year’s Oxford Playhouse pantomime.

Cinderella is one of the best-loved fairy tales of all time, bursting with boos, cheers, songs and laughter.

This is one festive bash you don’t want to be late for!

Get your running shoes on to get your tickets before they disappear!

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

IT’S YOUR PLAYHOUSE BECOME A MEMBER With generous ticket discounts, priority booking and exclusive access to our beautiful Members' Room, membership allows you to enjoy more of the theatre you love, for less.

TH EF LY

Membership starts from £50 a year Find out more at www.oxfordplayhouse.com/membership

IN

G

O RS VE O L

EBSK F VIT

BE OUR FRIEND Oxford Playhouse is for everyone. By becoming a Friend, you can help us show worldclass theatre, keep tickets affordable, nurture the next generation of theatre-makers and provide arts activities for thousands of children across Oxfordshire.

Friendship donations start from £500 a year Find out more at www.oxfordplayhouse.com/support-us For further information, please contact the OP Membership team on 01865 305315 or email membership@oxfordplayhouse.com

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Coming soon:

Mon 10 to Sat 15 Oct Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets From £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF MON & SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 10+

Original Theatre presents

THE MIRROR CRACK'D Adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff Directed by Philip Franks 1960s England and a wind of change is blowing through the land.

It has even reached the sleepy village of St. Mary Mead. There’s a new housing estate to make the villagers curious and fearful.

And even stranger, a rich American film star has bought the Manor House.

Jane Marple, confined to a chair after an accident, is wondering if life has passed her by. Then there is a vicious murder, and Miss Marple must unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger.

This adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famous novel brings real emotional depth and psychological insight to a thrilling story of revenge and the dark secrets that we all hide.

Starring Susie Blake as Miss Marple (Victoria Wood's As Seen on TV, Coronation Street, Mrs Brown's Boys) and Sophie Ward (A Very British Scandal, Holby City, Land Girls).

“Wagstaff finds new depths in Marple.”

The Times

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Coming soon:

Golden Toad Theatre presents Michael Morpurgo's

PIGS MIGHT FLY Based on Michael Morpurgo's Mudpuddle Farm A new farmyard musical about the joy of unlikely friendships This bold and energetic new musical follows the air-raising adventures of Pintsize, the youngest and most daring piglet on Mudpuddle Farm.

Pintsize loves nothing more than playing with his nextfarm-neighbour and best friend Diana the sheep. But one day he wakes up to discover a tall fence built between their two farms. Devastated by the loss of playtime with his best pal and the fact that pigs can't jump over fences, Pintsize resolves that he will figure out how to fly over it instead.

Can his determination and ingenuity defy the laws of physics? Will crotchety Farmer Rafferty finally make peace with his neighbour, Farmer Brightwell? Can Albertine the clever goose keep Pintsize from hurting himself as he tries to fly?

Mon 24 to Sat 29 Oct Mon 4pm Tue to Sat 11am & 2pm Tickets £14.50 Group discounts available

Age guideline 3+

Musical adaptation by Caroline Wigmore & Jen Green Directed by Kate Golledge

Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, Pigs Might Fly features catchy songs, puppetry and slapstick humour to bring the farmyard to life.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Coming soon:

Tue 8 to Sat 12 Nov

A Frantic Assembly Production, co-produced with Curve

Evenings Tue, Wed, Thu & Sat 7.30pm Fri 8pm

OTHELLO

Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets From £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF TUE & SAT MAT

A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Post show talk Thu Eve

Shakespeare’s Frantic Assembly presents its award-winning, electrifying take on Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder.

Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.

This ground-breaking company takes Shakespeare’s muscular and beautiful text, combines its own bruising physicality, and presents an Othello firmly rooted in a volatile 21st century.

This is a world of broken glass and broken promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence.

As relevant today as it ever was, Othello exposes the tension, fear and paranoia buried beneath the veneer of our relationships and how easily that can be maliciously exploited.

“A fierce re-imagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy, tense and highly watchable.”

Access performances

The Times

See pages 64-65

“A pulsating production that hurls Othello well and truly into our times.”

The Independent

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Quotes from 2014 production

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Coming soon:

Image: Chris Nash

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company presents

CLORINDA AGONISTES (CLORINDA THE WARRIOR)

Clorinda Agonistes is a dramatic and powerful work weaving contemporary dance and film with baroque and new music to create a story of resistance, resilience and rebellion across the boundaries of culture and time.

It is inspired by the heroine of Claudio Monteverdi’s celebrated work Il Combattimento, the proud and fiery Muslim warrior Clorinda who refuses to reveal her name.

In Shobana Jeyasingh’s bold, visceral and surprising retelling of Clorinda’s story, the heroine becomes symbolic of women engaged and caught up in the struggles of the Middle East today.

Tue 15 & Wed 16 Nov 7.30pm Tickets From £10 Discounts available FULL CIRCLE AND ENJOY

50%OFF TUE

A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Post show talk Wed

In this bravura act of time travel, the baroque beauty of Monteverdi’s score gives way to music by the celebrated Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom, whose specially commissioned score is played live with the haunting voice of Syrian soprano Dima Orsho.

“When Shobana Jeyasingh is firing on all cylinders, there is hardly another UK choreographer who can touch her.”

The Times

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Co-produced by Sadler’s Wells.

Supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society with funding from the RPS Drummond Fund.

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Watch this space...

On sale soon…

For the best seats at the best prices join as an Oxford Playhouse Member today, and enjoy priority booking along with a range of other benefits.

Visit oxfordplayhouse.com for details.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE* (*sort of)

By Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen

★★★★★ THE FIVE STAR COMEDY SENSATION DIRECT FROM THE WEST END A unique and audacious retelling of Jane Austen’s most iconic love story. Men, money and microphones will be fought over in this irreverent but affectionate adaptation, where the stakes couldn’t be higher when it comes to romance.

It’s the 1800s.

It’s party time.

Let the ruthless matchmaking begin.

“Deserves the standing ovations it’s getting nightly.”

Domenic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph

“Hilarity, romance, madness, and utter theatrical joy. The whole house rose to its feet and cheered and cheered.”

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Watch this space...

Karl Sydow, Trademark Films and Anthology Theatre present the Watermill Theatre production

SPIKE A new comedy by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman “I’m not acting crazy. I’m the genuine article.”

It’s the booming fifties, and Britain is in the clutches of Goon mania as men, women and children across the country scramble to get their ear to a wireless for another instalment of The Goon Show. While Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers get down to the serious business of becoming overnight celebrities, fellow Goon and chief writer Spike Milligan finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy, and testing the patience of the BBC.

On sale soon…

For the best seats at the best prices join as an Oxford Playhouse Member today, and enjoy priority booking along with a range of other benefits.

Visit oxfordplayhouse.com for details.

Will Spike’s dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?

SPIKE is an absurdly funny new play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman (The Wipers Times, Trial By Laughter, A Bunch of Amateurs) that delves into the inner workings of one of our most unique and brilliantly irreverent comedy minds.

★★★★ “A fast-paced, capering production.”

The Guardian www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Extracts from The Goons used with the kind permission of Spike Milligan Productions.

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COMEDY & TALKS Avalon UK presents

PAUL CHOWDHRY: FAMILY-FRIENDLY (NO CHILDREN) Following a complete sell-out 2021 tour, star of global smash hit ‘Live Innit’, Taskmaster and the first British-Asian stand-up to sell-out London’s Wembley Arena adds extra 2022 dates!

After barely surviving the pandemic, and with two years of pent-up killer material, Paul is back to tackle the UK’s handling of the pandemic to why the rule of six only worked for white people.

Presented by Mick Perrin Worldwide Ltd

PAUL MERTON’S IMPRO CHUMS Paul Merton, Richard Vranch, Suki Webster, Mike McShane and accompanist Kirsty Newton are back on the road in 2022 to visit some of their favourite parts of the UK with another evening of mind-blowing improvisation.

The collective improvisational experience embodied in the Chums is a joy to behold.

They flex their improvisational muscles to delight and entertain audiences in this country and abroad.

Photo: Steve Ullathorne

SANDI TOKSVIG LIVE! NEXT SLIDE PLEASE...

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Tickets from £27.50 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+ ★★★★★ “It’s a rare and joyous thing to see a standup so vibrant and imperiously on top of his game.”

Mail on Sunday

Sun 1 May 8pm Tickets £25.50 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+ May contain some swearing and adult themes.

“Merton's chums are some of the most seasoned performers in this field... pure hilarity.”

British Theatre Guide

Mon 23 May 7.30pm

Following the sell-out 2019 tour of National Trevor, the comedian, broadcaster, writer, campaigner and all-round good egg, returns to over 35 UK theatres with her brand-new show, Next Slide Please ...

SOLD OUT

Fri 22 Apr 8pm

In an evening of warmth, love and laughter, Sandi will explore reasons to be cheerful after many long months of coronacoaster gloom.

Tickets £32 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+

“A breath of fresh air... lots of fun.”

The Times

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

COMEDY & TALKS CAREY PERLOFF & HERMIONE LEE IN CONVERSATION The renowned theatre director Carey Perloff (Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater, A.C.T., in San Francisco from 1992 to 2018) will be talking about her exciting new book, on her lifetime experience of working with Pinter and Stoppard, published by Bloomsbury.

Carey will be in conversation with Hermione Lee, whose most recent book is the acclaimed authorised biography of Tom Stoppard.

ALICE AS A STYLE ICON: THROUGH

THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT FASHION FOUND THERE

Kiera Vaclavik (QMC, University of London) leads a myth-busting discussion on Alice as a style icon, from follower of fashion to international trend setter.

Explore how, when and why Alice in Wonderland has become such a rich source of inspiration for the fashion industry. Suitable for academics, fashionistas, and anyone who loves dressing up.

Chambers Touring proudly presents

SARAH MILLICAN: BOBBY DAZZLER In this, Sarah’s Bobby Dazzler of a new stand-up show, you’ll learn about what happens when your mouth seals shut, how to throw poo over a wall, trying to lose weight but only losing the tip of your finger, a surprisingly funny smear test, and how truly awful a floatation tank can actually be.

SOLD OUT www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Thu 26 May 4pm Tickets £7.50 Access discount only

In partnership with the Oxford Centre for LifeWriting at Wolfson College

Sat 2 Jul 6.30pm Tickets £5 Age guideline 12+ Burton Taylor Studio

Wed 6 Jul 8pm Tickets £32 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+

Sarah has spent the last year writing jokes and growing her backside.

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COMEDY & TALKS HARRY HILL: EXPERIMENTS IN ENTERTAINMENT 3 – WORK IN PROGRESS

Sun 2 Oct 7.30pm Tickets £22.50 Access discount only

Join Harry Hill as he test drives his latest idea of what a joke is.

Age guideline 14+

Laugh with him as he succeeds, distance yourself from him as he fails, track him down in the bar and get a selfie, ask him if he’s bringing TV Burp back, phone your mum and get him to wish her a happy birthday. Let’s Mattress!

DAVID O’DOHERTY: WHOA IS ME Here he comes again, trotting onto the stage with all the misplaced confidence of a waiter with no pad. There'll be lots of talking, some apologising and some songs on a glued together plastic keyboard from 1986.

Sun 16 Oct 7.30pm Tickets £25.50 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+

As seen on Channel 4's Along for the Ride with David O'Doherty, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and BBC's Live At the Apollo.

Thu 27 Oct 7.30pm

Avalon UK presents

ED GAMBLE: ELECTRIC After a sell-out tour of his house in 2020 (extended for 2021!) Ol’ Broken Pancreas is charged up and ready to flick the switch on another night of attention seeking.

Co-host of the mega-hit podcast Off Menu, Taskmaster champion, and has his own special Blood Sugar available worldwide on Amazon Prime. Seen and heard on the BBC’s Mock the Week, Live At the Apollo, QI, Would I Lie To You, The Russell Howard Hour and on Radio X.

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Tickets £20.50 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+ “An ability to open his mouth and spontaneously say something hysterically funny.”

James Kettle, The Guardian

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

COMEDY & TALKS SIMON EVANS: THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

Fri 28 Oct 8pm

Simon Evans’ (Live at the Apollo, Mock The Week, The News Quiz) last show, Genius 2.0 was described by The Scotsman as ‘A Masterclass.’ and provided an hilarious analysis of the departure of any visible sign of intelligence from modern life. But his new show raises the stakes, with his usual excoriating views of a world on fire given a perspective shift from personal revelations that turned his world upside down this year.

AUSTENTATIOUS: THE IMPROVISED JANE AUSTEN NOVEL An improvised comedy play starring a cast of the country’s quickest comic performers. In each show the cast conjures up a brand new ‘lost’ Jane Austen novel based on nothing more than a title suggested by the audience. Previous ‘lost’ masterpieces have included Double 0 Darcy, Game of Scones and The Wickham Man. Performed in period costume with live musical accompaniment, this is a Regency treat guaranteed to delight Austen novices and die-hard fans alike.

HENNING WHEN: IT’LL ALL COME OUT IN THE WASH

Access discount only

Age guideline 14+ ★★★★ “A gripping and, ultimately heartwarming tale... rich with Evans' wit and caustic observation.”

The Scotsman

Sat 29 Oct 8pm Tickets £21 Access discount only

Age guideline 14+ ★★★★★ “Ridiculously silly... wickedly funny.”

The Times

★★★★ “A joy to behold.”

The Guardian

Thu 17 & Fri 18 Nov 7.30pm

Watch German Comedy Ambassador Henning Wehn give everything a good rinse and witness him wring sense out of the nonsensical. An unbiased look at a certain virus might be inevitable but Henning has no agenda; he just happens to be always spot on. It’s a curse.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Tickets £19.50

Tickets from £24.50 Access discount only

Age guideline 16+ “A master at using his outsider status.

Dazzlingly funny.”

The Times

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DIGITAL STAGE COMEDY DRAMA FAMILY

Interesting times call for creative approaches Oxford Playhouse continues to programme digital work for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home.

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DIGITAL STAGE

Parabolic Theatre

ENGLAND EXPECTS It’s September 1940, and history has come adrift.

You are the cream of the Royal Navy’s officers in the Mediterranean. Once dominant, you now face a German Navy that has doubled in size after the seizure of the French fleet.

Wed 20 to Sat 23 Apr 7.30pm Tickets £15 Age guideline 14+

A joint German/Italian task force is making its way to Britain to begin the invasion, codenamed Operation Sea Lion.

Pinned down in the middle of the Med, you are outnumbered and it’s going to take every ounce of military coordination, tactics, and intelligence to get out.

Captain, what are your orders?

England Expects is experienced over Zoom from the comfort of your own home. An immersive theatre game for the current conditions. A team of actors and games masters, all operating remotely, will facilitate your participation guiding you through tasks, missions, and battles in the naval war that never was.

The experience lasts approximately 2hrs 30mins and is played over a computer or laptop. Tablets and phones just won't cut the mustard.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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DIGITAL STAGE

Photo credit: Chris Vaughan Photography

Thu 2 Jun 4pm & 8pm Tickets £14 (per computer, recommend 1-3 people per computer)

Age guideline 8+ A limited number of £5 tickets available for OPTin! member

A Co-Production Between Sharp Teeth Theatre & The Wardrobe Theatre

SHERLOCK IN HOMES 3: MURDER AT THE GAMES Sharp Teeth Theatre is back online following its runaway global hits, Sherlock In Homes I: Murder at The Circus and Sherlock In Homes II: Murder On Ice (★★★★★ The Stage), with a brand new and better-than-ever online interactive murder mystery!

On your marks, get set, go... to 1960 to solve a crime that will make your heart race. Could it be the chill of the cold war or the heat of the Italian sun? Zoom into Rome’s Olympic village to find out.

You’ll interrogate the suspects and attempt to unmask a murder with your fellow audience members as you pit your wits against some of the UK’s most talented performers and improvisers.

Only you can solve this case!

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DIGITAL STAGE

Oxford Playhouse and ThisEgg present

ME & MY BEE Climate change is massive. Bees aren’t.

Me and My Bee is a fun, family-friendly take on saving the bees and saving the world. Oxford Playhouse and ThisEgg's brilliant show returns in a brand-new digital adaptation.

Albert Einstein said that without the bees, humans would have 4 years left to live. We rely on bees to pollinate 1/3 of the crops we use as food. There's only one problem. The bees are dying.

Mon 1 to Sun 14 Aug On demand Tickets £5 A limited number of £5 tickets are available for OPTin! members

Age guideline 4+

Our fuzzy little friends need our help, so Hetty and Seffy are starting a political party; disguised as a party party; disguised as a show!

Following its success in the Playhouse Plays Out Tent last summer, Me and My Bee has been imaginatively recreated as a light-hearted short film perfect for children and families.

This fresh, funny take on the play tackles the big issues of climate change and bee depopulation in a charming and approachable style, giving kids the tools to help save the world, one bee at a time.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

01865 305305

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BURTON TAYLOR STUDIO

DRAMA FAMILY MUSIC SPOKEN WORD The studio is accessed by two flights of stairs.

We have a stair climber for wheelchair users.

If you would like to use this facility, please book with the Box Office in advance and inform them while booking.

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Tue 5 Apr 7.30pm

Little Soldier presents

NOTHING HAPPENS (TWICE)

Photography by Pau Ros

Mercè and Patricia always knew that making theatre would be hard work, but when they had to dress up as flamingos in a shopping centre to make ends meet, they seriously considered giving up.

Tickets £10 Discounts £8

Age guideline 14+

Will their shared dream of staging Waiting for Godot get them back on track?

On the Run Theatre presents

EVERYTHING I DIDN’T SAY

Wed 6 & Thu 7 Apr 7.30pm

Photography by Alex Brenner

Meadow Rain would like to say sorry.

Sorry for disappearing. Sorry for being a bad friend. She’s also sorry for keeping secrets. Secrets she is now ready to reveal...

A show that seeks to change perceptions of what coercive control is and what a victim can look like.

MONTMORENCY IN CONCERT Montmorency (named after the loveable dog from the timeless English novel, Three Men in a Boat) are a Cotswold based four-piece Folk Rock Band. With Andy Roughton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Stuart Homer on lead guitar, Steve Kendall on double-bass, and Teresa Hembrey-Hatton on percussion, Montmorency play upbeat music from the UK, Ireland, & America.

Produced by ARC Stockton

THESE HILLS ARE OURS

by Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley

Dan and Boff have run a series of routes from the city centre in which they’ve found themselves, to the top of the peak overlooking that city. Award-winning Daniel Bye, and Chumbawamba founder member, Boff Whalley, bring together story and song in a collaboration about escaping it all by running to wild places.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Tickets £10 Discounts £8

Age guideline 16+ “Blew me away... moving, intimate and expertly performed.”

Scottish Women's Aid

Sat 9 Apr 8pm Tickets £10 Discounts £8

Age guideline 12+

Tue 21 Jun 7.30pm Tickets £10 Discounts £8

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Leo & Hyde

DOUBLE LIFE A VR MUSICAL

Wed 22 to Sun 26 Jun Wed to Fri 1pm, 5.30pm, 7pm & 8.30pm Sat & Sun 1pm, 3pm, 5.30pm, 7pm & 8.30pm

Guy is gay. Guy is a gamer. And Guy is looking for love - in virtual reality.

Double Life is a cutting-edge fusion of live musical theatre and VR and returns updated with more songs and more VR than ever before.

Tickets £12.50 Age guideline 14+

Tue 28 & Wed 29 Jun 7.30pm SPEAKING OUT AND FITTING IN Alice D'Lumiere

A solo show in striking performance poetry and disarming comedy, with flashes of cabaret and burlesque, in which Alice d'Lumiere playfully explores the wonderful, if occasionally counter-intuitive, position of the gender-fluid individual striving to both fit in to another gender whilst yearning to establish a unique, personal voice for themselves.

LIZARD KING

THE BAG THAT WENT BOO!

Discounts £8

Age guideline 16+

*do not attend if you do not want to develop inappropriate feelings towards a lizard.

Sat 2 Jul 11am, 2pm & 4pm

The delightfully comic story of a little red bag that jumps out of a brown paper bag – what in the world is it? and where is it going?

Join us for a fantastical journey of paper bag proportions, dive into the sea and travel to the land of snow. Watch out for a giant paper bag wandering about making strange noises...

01865 305305

Age guideline 12+

Tickets £10

An hour of surreal comedy from Serena Flynn. Drag as you've never seen it before: in the form of an absurdly powerful reptilian. The sexiest, scaliest goddam Lizard you’ll ever set your tiny human eyes on*. For anyone who has ever seen a lizard, owned a lizard, been to Pizza Express Woking with a lizard.

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Discounts £8

Thu 30 Jun & Fri 1 Jul 7.30pm

Serena Flynn

Garlic Theatre

Tickets £10

Tickets £8 Discounts £6

Age guideline 3-8

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Wed 13 to Sat 23 Apr

Wed 13 to Sat 23 April

A Daniel Naddafy and Oxford Playhouse co-production

THE FLOWER From the tiniest of seeds to the biggest of changes.

Brigg lives in a small room in a big city. A city with no flowers, where everything is grey. But one day Brigg comes across a picture of a flower and some tiny seeds in an old junk shop.

11am & 2pm No performance Wed 13 at 11am and Sun 17

Tickets £10 Discounts £8 Age guideline 3 to 7

Full of hope, Brigg plants the seeds and waters them, setting off a chain of events which changes the world Brigg lives in forever.

Oxford Playhouse Artist on Attachment Daniel Naddafy (Glisten) brings John Light’s magical children’s story to life in this enchanting and heart-warming production for young audiences.

“Entrancing.”

Children's Theatre Review on Glisten All dates/times are relaxed performances

R

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

01865 305305

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TAKE PART @ OXFORD PLAYHOUSE YOUNG PEOPLE FAMILIES & HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS ADULTS SCHOOLS To book a place on any workshop, course or young company, call the Box Office 01865 305305.

Oxford Playhouse offers a bursary scheme for anyone who wants to take part but may need help with fees.

To apply, email participation@oxfordplayhouse.com

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YOUNG PEOPLE

PLAYHOUSE YOUTH THEATRE Tue 26 Apr to Tue 12 Jul (no session Tue 31 May) The Playhouse Youth Theatre is our platform for 12 to 16 year olds to develop their passion for performance, learn brand new skills, and build friendships in a supportive setting.

Participants will spend the Summer Term rehearsing a scripted performance to be presented in the BT Studio at the end of term, alongside our older Playhouse Young Company, whilst building skills in voice, movement and expression.

For more information on our Playhouse Youth Theatre Summer Term sessions, please email our workshop leaders, Alice Jessop & Beth Sedgwick: participation@oxfordplayhouse.com When you sign up for our Summer Term, you will receive a Participant Welcome Pack, to be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Time 5pm to 7pm

CINDERELLA PANTO YOUNG COMPANY AUDITIONS Mon 30 May Every year we invite young people from across Oxfordshire to audition to join our professional cast on stage to bring the magic of pantomime to over 36,000 people each Christmas.

If you’re passionate about acting, singing and dancing, then why not audition for this year’s pantomime, Cinderella? Our group auditions take place on Mon 30 May, where auditionees will be put through their paces by members of our pantomime creative team.

If selected, auditionees must be between ages 11 and 15, and must be available throughout the whole period from Mon 3 Oct to Sun 8 Jan for rehearsals and performances.

Please note audition places are limited so early booking is recommended.

Time Daytime – your slot will be allocated at the point of booking

Location Top Room

Location Top Room

Course Fee £50

Course Fee Free (please book through our Box Office)

Age 12 to 16

Age 11 to 15 Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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YOUNG PEOPLE

PLAYHOUSE YOUNG COMPANY

KEEN DRAMA WORKSHOPS

Wed 27 Apr to Wed 13 Jul (no session Wed 1 Jun)

In partnership with KEEN Oxford, our free, inclusive drama workshops return for the Summer Term at KEEN’s base at St Clement’s Centre, Oxford.

This Summer Term the Playhouse Young Company will work collaboratively to devise and perform an original piece of theatre, to be shared in the BT Studio at the end of term, alongside the younger members of our Playhouse Youth Theatre.

Widening their vocabulary of skills in voice and movement, as well as exploring techniques and devices for building bold and daring characters, participants will work together in each session to shape and nurture their own individual creativity.

For more information on our Playhouse Young Company Summer Term sessions, please email our workshop leader, Jo Noble: jo.noble@oxfordplayhouse.com When you sign up for our Summer Term, you will receive a Participant Welcome Pack, to be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Mon 9 May to Mon 27 Jun

Our 8-week scheme of sessions, led by Beth Sedgwick, provides a supportive opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to have fun and be expressive through performance. This term our participants will create new scenes and explore imaginary worlds, in preparation for an exciting performance to friends and family at the end of term. Sessions are accessible to disabled and non-disabled participants to ensure everyone can comfortably get involved.

To sign up to our free, inclusive drama workshops, email KEEN Oxford at: keen@keenoxford.org To find out more about KEEN Oxford, and the important work they do to provide inclusive activities for people across Oxford, please visit their website: www.keenoxford.org

Time 5pm to 7.30pm

Time 6.30pm to 7.15pm

Location Top Room

Location KEEN (St Clement’s Centre)

Course Fee £50

Course Fee Free (booking is essential)

Age 17to25

Age 11+ Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

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© Illustration: www.korkypaul.com

FAMILIES AND HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS

HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE Mon 25 Apr to Mon 11 Jul (no session Mon 2 & 30 May)

PLAY IN A WEEK: THE FLOWER Mon 11 Apr to Thu 14 Apr

Monday morning musical fun!

Easter holiday fun and creativity!

Our free sing-along sessions for toddlers and their adults introduce music, dance and performance skills to early years children, to kick-start their excitement for creativity and imagination. With a new theme each week, you and your child are invited to play, laugh and learn in our fun and friendly sessions, conducted by our own musical maestra, Becki Reed.

Join us for our high-energy week, where our participants will work together to create their own performance, inspired by our production The Flower.

Space will be provided in our foyer for buggies and pushchairs, and parents are welcome to stay and play after the session has finished.

The course fee includes a visit to watch the dress rehearsal performance of The Flower in the BT Studio.

To book tickets please visit www.oxfordplayhouse.com or telephone the Box Office on 01865 305305

Participants will play games, explore physical theatre and improvisation, and have lots of fun with song and dance, to create a performance ready to share with friends and family at the end of the week.

For more information on our Play in a Week scheme, please email: participation@oxfordplayhouse.com Upon signing up for our course, bookers will receive a Participant Welcome Pack via email, which must be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Time 11am to 11.30am

Time 10am to 1pm

Location Top Room

Location Top Room

Tickets £3 (1 parent + 1 child)

Tickets £100

Age 5 and under

Age 8 to 11 Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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FAMILIES & HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS

PLAY IN A WEEK: CINDERELLA

COMEDY & CLOWNING

Mon 8 Aug to Fri 12 Aug

During this fun-filled week, where mistakes are an absolute must, Mark Curtis will be your guide through improvisation, gameplay and slap-stick skills as you discover your silly self.

Spend the week with us being creative, playing games and making new friends.

Participants will be exploring the magic tale of Cinderella, breaking down the story and rebuilding it in their own way, ready to present to parents and families in the BT Studio at the end of the week. Sessions will involve working together through exercises and activities, where everyone’s ideas are shared and celebrated.

For more information on our Play in a Week scheme, please email: participation@oxfordplayhouse.com Upon signing up for our course, bookers will receive a Participant Welcome Pack via email, which must be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Mon 15 Aug to Fri 19 Aug

Be prepared to work hard, play hard and laugh hard, discover new things about yourself and make new friends. There will be an informal sharing at the end of the week for family and friends.

For more information on our Comedy & Clowning workshop week, please email: participation@oxfordplayhouse.com Upon signing up for our course, participants will receive a Participant Welcome Pack via email, which must be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Time 10am to 1pm

Time 10am to 3pm

Location BT Studio

Location BT Studio

Tickets £125

Tickets £125

Age 8 to 11

Age 12 to 16 Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

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ADULTS

PLAYHOUSE ADULT COMPANY

ADULT SKILLS MASTERCLASSES

Thu 28 Apr to Thu 14 Jul (no session Thu 2 Jun)

Mon 15 Aug to Fri 19 Aug

The Playhouse Adult Company welcomes anyone aged 26 and over with a passion for performance, and an excitement for joining a friendly, multi-generational company.

Devising their own piece across the term, the Adult Company will work towards an exciting presentation to be performed in the BT Studio to a public audience, all the while building a foundation of key performance skills in voice, movement and expression.

For more information on our Playhouse Adult Company Summer Term sessions, please email our workshop leader, Jo Noble: jo.noble@oxfordplayhouse.com Upon signing up for our Summer Term, participants will receive a Participant Welcome Pack via email, which must be completed and returned ahead of the first session.

Whether you’re keen to develop a life-long passion or spark a new curiosity, our Adult Skills Masterclasses provide an in-depth guide to professional skills used by creatives across the theatre industry. Something to learn for stage performance, in the rehearsal room or in the theatre workshop, each Masterclass is delivered by an exciting practitioner working in the industry today.

Join us for just one or enjoy five across the course of the week.

Puppetry – Mon 15 Aug Directing – Tue 16 Aug Theatre Design – Wed 17 Aug (Set, Props & Costume) Movement – Thu 18 Aug Playwriting – Fri 19 Aug

Time 5.30pm to 7.30pm

Time 10am to 4pm

Location Top Room

Location Top Room

Tickets £50

Tickets £25 per workshop (£100 for the week)

Age 26+

Age 18+ Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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ADULTS

SPOTLIGHT Thu 12 May, Thu 16 Jun and Thu 23 Jun Our lunchtime Spotlight sessions return this Summer, ready to welcome passionate theatregoers eager to learn more about our main stage productions. Spotlight is a friendly discussion forum for people aged 50 and over, where participants join us to explore relevant themes and topics with special guest speakers, with the additional provision of sandwiches and refreshments.

Our upcoming Spotlight sessions: Thursday 12 May: Persuasion Thursday 16 June: The Play What I Wrote Thursday 23 June: The Mountaintop To book a place at an upcoming Spotlight session, please call our Box Office on 01865 305305. Please let us know any dietary requirements when you book.

Don’t forget to book your ticket to the matinee or any of the other performances taking place following each Spotlight session.

For more information on our Spotlight sessions, email: participation@oxfordplayhouse.com

Time 12.30pm to 2pm Location Lucy Room Cost £7 (Includes a Sandwich lunch) Age 50+ Please note, the Top Room, Circle Bar and Burton Taylor Studio are not accessible in a wheelchair.

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SCHOOLS

PRIMARY PLAYMAKER

ASSOCIATE SCHOOLS

Recruiting for September 2022

Memberships begin September 2022

A series of in-school workshops, Primary Playmaker is designed to support literacy learning, develop storytelling skills and fire children’s imaginations. This is an exciting opportunity for pupils to learn how to conceive and write their own short play and understand the development process which leads to a professional production.

Working year-round with your school to collaboratively build an exciting, creative environment for pupils and teachers to thrive, Oxford Playhouse is launching a new membership scheme for Oxfordshire primary schools. This new bespoke one-year membership package includes:

A selection of your pupils’ plays will be performed on the Oxford Playhouse main stage by professional actors as part of our Young Players’ Festival in April 2023.

If you’re interested in signing up or learning more about our Primary Playmaker scheme, please email: learning@oxfordplayhouse.com using the subject heading ‘Primary Playmaker’.

- Workshops in the classroom and at Oxford Playhouse - Access to professional artists and practitioners - Support with creative resources and curriculum planning - Teacher CPD opportunities - Tickets to select OP performances and tours of the theatre This is a perfect opportunity for primary schools looking to embed creativity more thoroughly across the academic curriculum and within the personal development of pupils and staff.

Location In-school workshops Age Year 5 & 6 pupils

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

If you’re interested in signing up or learning more about our Associate Schools membership, please email: learning@oxfordplayhouse.com using the subject heading ‘Associate Schools’

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ACCESS FACILITIES Oxford Playhouse offers a range of access facilities.

To find out more call the Box Office on 01865 305305 or email access@oxfordplayhouse.com Sennheiser infrared headset system for those who are hard of hearing.

Please ask the Box Office staff at the time of booking to advise you on the best places to sit for using the Sennheiser headsets.

Level access from the street to the auditorium.

Low level counters at the Box Office and Bar. Wheelchair spaces (Stalls end of rows E and L and centre of row T).

Unfortunately the Top Room and Circle Bar cannot be accessed by wheelchair users. The BT Studio is accessed via two flights of stairs.

If you require a stair climber please let the Box Office know at least three days in advance.

Captioned performances for those who are deaf, deafened and hard of hearing, or who find it useful to follow the text during a show.

British Sign Language (BSL) signed performances where an interpreter stands at the side of the stage for people who use BSL. Audio described performances where (via headphones) a live narrator describes the action in the pauses between the onstage dialogue for those are blind or partially sighted.

Free touch tours accompany audio described performances and are a chance to explore the set before the show begins.

What's On Guides are available as audio recordings and large-print copies on request. Please email access@oxfordplayhouse.com.

Relaxed performances are aimed at anyone who would benefit from a laid-back environment, including people with Autistic Spectrum condition, a learning disability or young children. The house lights will be partially on, audience members can come and go as they please and make noise if they want to.

Dementia Friendly Performances These performances are carefully tailored for those living with dementia and their friends, family or carers. They’re designed so everyone can enjoy the show in a supportive, comfortable, and relaxed environment. Adaptations include reduced volume of music when dialogue is taking place.

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ACCESS DIARY Date

Production

Time(s)

Venue

Access Page

All performances

BT Studio

55

April 13 to 23 The Flower

Please check website for full schedule

27 Wed

The Glee Club

7.30pm

Main Stage

7

11 Wed

Persuasion

7.30pm

Main Stage

9

12 Thu

Persuasion

2.30pm

Main Stage

9

14 Sat

Persuasion

2.30pm

Main Stage

9

29 Sun

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

1pm

Main Stage

13

May

November 9 Wed

Othello

7.30pm

Main Stage

40

12 Sat

Othello

2.30pm

Main Stage

40

December 4 Sun

Cinderella

11am

Main Stage

36

4 Sun

Cinderella

4pm

Main Stage

36

15 Thu

Cinderella

6pm

Main Stage

36

January 3 Tue

Cinderella

11am

Main Stage

36

4 Wed

Cinderella

6pm

Main Stage

36

7 Sat

Cinderella

7pm

Main Stage

36

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THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS Trusts and Foundations The Atlas Fund Backstage Trust Doris Field Charitable Trust Dr T M N Salvesen's Charitable Trust The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation The Garrick Charitable Trust The Lord Faringdon Charitable Trust Mactaggart Third Fund Mr & Mrs J A Pye's Charitable Settlement The Schuster Charitable Trust Still Point Fund Theatres Trust The Thompson Family Charitable Trust Anonymous - but appreciated!

Platinum

University of Oxford College Members All Souls College Campion Hall Green Templeton College Lincoln College Pembroke College St Cross College as supported by a private donation St Hilda’s College St John's College The Queen’s College

OP Business Club members

Gold

Silver

Building, Equipment and Technical Support

Learning and Productions Support

Oxford Playhouse Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of its core funders:

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THANK YOU By coming to the Playhouse, you help to keep theatre thriving – thank you. As a charity we also rely on the generosity of friends, members and donors to put productions on stage, reach out to the local community and develop local artists. If you can, please consider making a gift so our work can continue to flourish in future. For further information, contact development@oxfordplayhouse.com Friends of Oxford Playhouse Applause Friends Rev Charlotte & William Bannister-Parker David & Marie-Jane Barnett Danby & Sandy Bloch Prof Sir Clive & Lady Margaret Booth John Peter H Bradley Brian Buchan Antony W Budgen Matthew Derbyshire Alex Duncan Marion Frostick Simon & Alison Jeffreys Greg Lovett Keith McCullagh Elizabeth Paris Sue Staunton Timothy & Marion Stevenson Jens Tholstrup Dr Trudy Watt Ovation Friends Prof Sir Richard and Lady Elizabeth Brook Debbie Dance Dr Sos Eltis Richard Gladstone John & Margaret Leighfield Prof Colin & Annette Mayer John Parrott Will Schreiber Anonymous Standing Ovation Edward & Anna Bernard David & Sue Jackson Anonymous

Donors £250+: 00Productions Louise Armstrong Lady Helen Baker Sir Christopher and Lady Wendy Ball Pauline F Beighton Edward & Anna Bernard B J Birch Valerie Boasten John Peter H Bradley Lesley Brown Antony W Budgen Prof John Carey Martin Cattermole Mark Charter Dr Mark Crane Karen David David Dunne Prof Raymond and Sandra Dwek CBE Kathleen Emmens Miss Patricia Freestone Cllr. Dr James Fry Alan Grafen Kevin Green Brian Griffiths Guy Grimsley Dr Sophie Hague James Hammond Nigel Harper Alan Hodgetts Simon Inch Dr Jane Jackson Sarah Jones Sue Ledwith Geoffrey Lescott Kathryn Lewin Peter Mackridge John May

M J Morris Elizabeth Paris Brian W Plater Diana B Renton Steve Rumford Prof John Simons Sue Staunton Michael Tappin Jens Tholstrup Dr Louise Upton J Willis St Aloysius First School

Alison Townsend Alan Trinder Joyce Wales Edward Whinney Dr Trudy Watt Corporate Donations Carter Jonas Designers Guild Lucy Group Nicholsons

Donors £1,000+: Diana Acland Saphié Ashtiany & Prof Paul Davies Rev Charlotte & William Bannister-Parker Prof Sir Clive & Lady Margaret Booth Prof Sir Richard & Lady Elizabeth Brook His Hon John Quentin and Her Hon Ann Campbell Keith Crawford Dr Cecile Deer James Del Favero Richard and Felicity Dick Alex Duncan Liesl Elder Dr Sos Eltis Richard Gladstone David and Sue Jackson Paul James John & Margaret Leighfield Jack Macpherson Greg Lovett John Parrott Dr Michael Peagram Timothy & Marion Stevenson

We are also incredibly grateful to those who prefer to remain anonymous and anyone who has supported us during the past year, but who we are unable to list here. Your help and solidarity has made an enormous difference during these most challenging of times. Thank you.

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TICKETS AND DISCOUNTS All week-long professional company productions have an allocation of £10 tickets to ensure that everyone can experience our programme, but these seats may sell quickly. We always recommend that you book early to secure the best seats. To ensure the best experience for our audiences and performers, some seats are not offered for sale until the rows nearest the stage are full. If you have any specific access requirements please contact our Box Office, who will do their best to ensure you get the seat you require.

To exchange your tickets for another event you must inform the Box Office and the tickets must be returned so that the Box Office have the tickets in hand at least 24 hours (7 days for group bookings) prior to the advertised start time of the event.

Please note, tickets are non-refundable. If an event is sold out we can try to resell any unwanted tickets (on the day of the performance only), but resale is not guaranteed. Please let the Box Office know as soon as possible before the start of the event. We do not run advance waiting lists for sold out shows.

Discount Group

Ticket Price

Conditions

Up to 50% off opening Available on up to two tickets, on either the night or Saturday opening night or the Saturday matinee, for almost matinees for week-long every production, for all Full Circle & Enjoy shows. Bonus discounts members. Membership starts from £50 a year. of 25% or 50% on most

For more information, visit shorter runs. www.oxfordplayhouse.com/membership

£5 tickets available in You must be aged 14 to 25 and a member of OPTin! advance for selected Membership costs £5. Join at the Box Office or visit shows, subject to www.oxfordplayhouse.com/membership availability.

In Advance

£4 off each ticket. Available for most shows on full priced tickets of more than £10 for people 18 and under, Full Time University/College Students (must provide ID on collection), those in receipt of Universal Credit, NHS Staff and Equity, BECTU and Stage Directors UK members. No further discounts available. £11.50 tickets for students and under 18s are available for student shows, and must be booked by the Sunday before the show starts.

Access Users

£11.50 or £15 per ticket. Available for most shows for access facility users, wheelchair users and one companion.

Schools & Colleges

£11.50 or £15 per ticket plus one free teacher seat for every 10 seats booked.

An allocation of tickets is available Monday to Thursday for most shows. School tickets for Cinderella are from £13.

Group Rate

10% off for groups of For all groups of 10 or more. Not available online, 10 or more and 20% for email boxoffice@oxfordplayhouse.com for group groups of 40 or more. bookings. Payment must be made as one transaction.

(Available Mon to Thu & Sat Matinee performances only)

Over 60s Matinee £4 off the full price.

Limited number available to anyone over 60 for most

Thursday and Saturday matinee performances.

Must be booked before the week of the show.

Max 4 tickets per booking.

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BOOKING INFORMATION Seating Plan Possible limited view. Please call the Box Office for further information.

These seats can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs.

Please call the Box Office for further information.

Rows AA to C are sometimes removed for staging and are therefore not always available – please check with the Box Office when booking.

G23 G27

FIRST FLOOR

G5 G1

F27

F1

E27

E1

D27

D1

C27

C1

B27

B1

A27

A1

View from Row A, Circle

W22 W27

U23

U26

GROUND FLOOR

U18

U6 U7

U1

T27

T1

S27

S1

R26

R1

Q27

Q1

P26

P1

N27

N1

M26

M1

L27

L1

K26

K1

J27

J1

H26

View from Row K, Stalls

H1

G26

G2

F25

F3

E25

E4

D24

D5

C23

C6

B22

B7

A21 AA20

A8 AA9

View from Row A, Stalls

Conditions: All discounts are subject to availability and at the discretion of the Duty Box Office Manager and may not be available for all shows. Discounted tickets cannot be booked in conjunction with any other reductions or offers. Proof of status is required. Please note that not all discounts are available with online booking.

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USEFUL INFORMATION Our address Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW Box Office: 01865 305305 www.oxfordplayhouse.com Opening Hours Monday to Saturday 12noon until the start of the evening performance.

When there is no evening performance we close at 6pm. Sundays and Bank Holidays we are closed unless we have a performance scheduled, in which case we open two hours before the start. We open one hour before the start of morning performances.

Our foyer bar opens an hour before afternoon and evening performances, with the Kiosk and Circle Bar opening 45 minutes before performances.

How to get to us Park and Ride: Using one of Oxford’s five Park and Ride services is probably the easiest way to get around the city. For more information visit www.parkandride.net.

Car Parking: Nearby car parks include Gloucester Green (closest), Worcester Street, Abbey Place, Oxpens and Oxford Rail Station. There are on-street pay-and-display meters on Broad Street, St Giles and in Jericho.

Train: Oxford Rail Station is a 10 minute walk. For Oxford Parkway use the Park and Ride.

Bus and Coach: The main Bus and Coach Station is two minutes’ walk away on Gloucester Green.

Family Friendly Shows and activities designed especially for families, plus: Free booster seats.

Free toys and games in the circle bar.

Baby change on ground floor.

Babies are welcome to family shows for free. To book, please call the Box Office on 01865 305 305 or email boxoffice@oxfordplayhouse.com Lap tickets are available for children age 24 months or under for Mainstage shows and 12 months or under for BT Studio shows.

Picnic bags available for many family shows, so your little ones can enjoy lunch whilst watching the show. Book in advance.

Made in Oxford Shows which have been created here in the county.

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Access Read more about the access facilities available at the Playhouse on page 64.

Age guidelines Age guidelines are listed against as many events as possible. The suggested minimum ages are recommendations only based on potential content and information available at the time of printing. If you are booking tickets for other people you are to take responsibility for whether a show is appropriate for everyone within your party. If you would like any more details about any production, please contact the Box Office.

12+ May include themes of a more adult nature and/or occasional mild swearing.

14+ May include violent scenes, swearing, sexual innuendo and/or partial nudity.

16+ May include graphic scenes of violence, nudity, drugs imagery and/or prolific swearing.

18+ Content will contain scenes which may be disturbing and are unsuitable for children.

Stay in touch Be the first to find out what's happening at the Playhouse.

• Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

• Sign up to our weekly e-newsletter at www.oxfordplayhouse.com • Tell us what you think! We welcome all feedback, it's your theatre.

Email admin@oxfordplayhouse.com Data Protection: Oxford Playhouse is committed to being transparent about the information we hold on our audiences and users and making sure it is safe. Oxford Playhouse Privacy Policy has been written with reference to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law 2016, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation (PECR), 2003.

Please see www.oxfordplayhouse.com/customer-privacy-policy/ for full information.

‘Its Never too Early to Book for Panto’ Cinderella Fri 25 Nov 2022 – Sun 8 Jan 2023 www.oxfordplayhouse.com Registered Company No. 2397373 • Registered Charity No. 900039 • VAT No. 282538973

Printed March 2022. All details correct at time of printing. Design: www.dnal.co.uk

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ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

Oxford Playhouse is committed to discovering, nurturing and promoting the best emerging talent from Oxfordshire and beyond.

Artists are at heart of everything we do at the Playhouse.

OPEN SESSIONS 1:1 Advice Sessions OP offers 1:1 Advice Sessions tailored to individual needs for Oxfordshire based artists, led by a member of our team.

Skills Sessions Evolve your practice and share learning through OP’s regular skills session for artists.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS Evolve OP’s annual Evolve Artists in Residence scheme supports three to four emerging/ mid-career artists/companies by providing seed funding for projects, research and development, rehearsal space and mentoring.

Playhouse Playmaker Up to six writers are invited to be a part of OP's annual writers’ attachment programme, led by award-winning playwright, Clare Bayley.

The Plot Hosted by OP, The Plot is a group of later-career playwrights, which has met informally since 2015 to develop its own voices and practice, and to support each other in an exchange of culture and community.

Visit www.oxfordplayhouse.com for further information, to sign up to OP’s regular Artists’ newsletter and to see how you can get involved.

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DIARY Date

Day

Production

Time(s)

Venue

Info

Page

April 5

Tue

Nothing Happens (Twice)

7.30pm

BT Studio

53

6

Wed

Everything I Didn't Say

7.30pm

BT Studio

53

7

Thu

Everything I Didn't Say

7.30pm

BT Studio

53

7

Thu

The Wonderful World of Dissocia

7.30pm

Main Stage

3

8

Fri

The Wonderful World of Dissocia

8pm

Main Stage

3

9

Sat

The Wonderful World of Dissocia

7.30pm

Main Stage

3

9

Sat

Montmorency in Concert

8pm

BT Studio

53

Please check website for full schedule

BT Studio

55

13 to 23 The Flower

13

Wed

Legally Blonde The Musical

7.30pm

Main Stage

5

14

Thu

Legally Blonde The Musical

7.30pm

Main Stage

5

15

Fri

Legally Blonde The Musical

7.30pm

Main Stage

5

16

Sat

Legally Blonde The Musical

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

5

20

Wed

England Expects

7.30pm

Digital Stage

49

21

Thu

England Expects

7.30pm

Digital Stage

49

22

Fri

England Expects

7.30pm

Digital Stage

49

Paul Chowdhry: Family-friendly (No Children)

8pm

Main Stage

44 49

22 Fri

23

Sat

England Expects

7.30pm

Digital Stage

26

Tue

The Glee Club

7.30pm

Main Stage

7

27

Wed

The Glee Club

7.30pm

Main Stage

7

28

Thu

The Glee Club

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

7

29

Fri

The Glee Club

8pm

Main Stage

7

30

Sat

The Glee Club

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

7

May 1

Sun

Paul Merton's Impro Chums

8pm

Main Stage

44

4

Wed

Persuasion

7.30pm

Main Stage

9

5

Thu

Persuasion

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

2.30pm

9

6

Fri

Persuasion

8pm

Main Stage

9

7

Sat

Persuasion

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

9

10

Tue

Persuasion

7.30pm

Main Stage

9

11

Wed

Persuasion

7.30pm

Main Stage

9

12

Thu

Persuasion

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

13

Fri

Persuasion

8pm

Main Stage

9

14

Sat

Persuasion

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

9

18

Wed

Carrie: The Musical

7.30pm

Main Stage

11

19

Thu

Carrie: The Musical

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

11

20

Fri

Carrie: The Musical

8pm

Main Stage

11

21

Sat

Carrie: The Musical

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

11

23

Mon

2.30pm 2.30pm

SOLD OUT

7.30pm

9

Sandi Toksvig Live: Next Slide Please... 7.30pm

Main Stage

25 Wed

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

7pm

Main Stage

13

26 Thu

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

10.30am & 7pm

Main Stage

13

26 Thu

Carey Perloff and Hermione Lee: In Conversation

4pm

Main Stage

45

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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DIARY Date Day

Production

Time(s)

Venue

Info

Page

May (cont) 26 Thu George Sand's Gabriel 7pm Plays Out

The Master's Garden, University College

14

27 Fri George Sand's Gabriel 7pm Plays Out

The Master's Garden, University College

14

27 Fri Fantastically Great Women 7pm Main Stage

Who Changed the World 28 Sat George Sand's Gabriel 2pm & 7pm Plays Out The Master's Garden,

University College

13

28 Sat

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

2pm & 7pm

Main Stage

13

29 Sun

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

1pm & 5pm

Main Stage

1pm

13

Ballet Black: Double Bill

7.30pm

Main Stage

15

Sherlock in Homes 3: Murder at the Games

4pm & 8pm

Digital Stage

50

14

June 1

Wed

2 Thu

2

Thu

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

2pm & 4pm

Main Stage

16

3

Fri

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

16

4

Sat

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

16

5

Sun

Spiers and Boden

8pm

Main Stage

17

7

Tue

The Dance of Death

7.30pm

Main Stage

19

8

Wed

The Dance of Death

7.30pm

Main Stage

19

9

Thu

The Dance of Death

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

19

10

Fri

The Dance of Death

8pm

Main Stage

19

11

Sat

The Dance of Death

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

19

13

Mon

The Play What I Wrote

7.30pm

Main Stage

21

14

Tue

The Play What I Wrote

7.30pm

Main Stage

21

15

Wed

The Play What I Wrote

7.30pm

Main Stage

21

16

Thu

The Play What I Wrote

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

21

17

Fri

The Play What I Wrote

8pm

Main Stage

21

18

Sat

The Play What I Wrote

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

21

21

Tue

Blame Game

7.30pm

Main Stage

22

21

Tue

These Hills Are Ours

7.30pm

BT Studio

53

Please check website for full schedule

BT Studio

54

22 to 26 Double Life

74

23

Thu

The Mountaintop

7.30pm

Main Stage

23

24

Fri

The Mountaintop

7.30pm

Main Stage

23

25

Sat

The Mountaintop

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

23

28

Tue

Speaking Out and Fitting In

7.30pm

BT Studio

54

29

Wed

Speaking Out and Fitting In

7.30pm

BT Studio

54

30

Thu

Leave it to Puck! & Birdland

7pm

Main Stage

25

30

Thu

Lizard King

7.30pm

BT Studio

54

01865 305305

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DIARY Date Day

Production

Time(s)

Venue

Info

Page

July 1

Fri

Leave it to Puck! & Birdland

7pm

Main Stage

25

1

Fri

Lizard King

7.30pm

BT Studio

54

2

Sat

Leave it to Puck! & Birdland

7pm

Main Stage

25

2

Sat

The Bag That Went Boo!

11am, 2pm & 4pm

BT Studio

54

2 Sat

Alice as Style Icon: Through the Looking-Glass and What Fashion Found There

6.30pm

BT Studio

45

5 Tue

Playhouse Playmakers and The Plot: 11am & 2pm New Voices for a New World

Main Stage

26

6

Wed

Sarah Millican: Bobby Dazzler

8pm

Main Stage

SOLD OUT

45

7

Thu

Dinosaur World Live

4.30pm

Main Stage

27

8

Fri

Dinosaur World Live

1.30pm & 4.30pm

Main Stage

27

9

Sat

Dinosaur World Live

11am & 1.30pm

Main Stage

27

11

Mon

Calendar Girls

7.30pm

Main Stage

31

12

Tue

Calendar Girls

7.30pm

Main Stage

31

13

Wed

Calendar Girls

7.30pm

Main Stage

31

14

Thu

Calendar Girls

7.30pm

Main Stage

31

15

Fri

Calendar Girls

7.30pm

Main Stage

31

16

Sat

Calendar Girls

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

31

19

Tue

Julius Caesar

7.30pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

20

Wed

Julius Caesar

7.30pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

21

Thu

Julius Caesar

7.30pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

22

Fri

Julius Caesar

7.30pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

23

Sat

Julius Caesar

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

24

Sun

Julius Caesar

1pm & 6pm

Plays Out

Magdalen College School

33

29

Fri

Fat Blokes

7.30pm

Main Stage

29

Aug 1 to 14

Me & My Bee

On Demand

Digital Stage

51

19

Fri

Zog and The Flying Doctors

4.30pm

Main Stage

34

20

Sat

Zog and The Flying Doctors

11am, 2pm & 4.30pm

Main Stage

34

21

Sun

Zog and The Flying Doctors

11am, 2pm & 4.30pm

Main Stage

34

25

Thu

RUSH: A Joyous Jamaican Journey

7.30pm

Main Stage

35

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

01865 305305

75

DIARY Date Day

Production

Time(s)

Venue

Info

Page

Oct 2 Sun

Harry Hill: Experiment in Entertainment 3 – Work in Progress

7.30pm

Main Stage

46

38

10

Mon

The Mirror Crack'd

7.30pm

Main Stage

11

Tue

The Mirror Crack'd

7.30pm

Main Stage

38

12

Wed

The Mirror Crack'd

7.30pm

Main Stage

38

13

Thu

The Mirror Crack'd

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

38

14

Fri

The Mirror Crack'd

8pm

Main Stage

38

15

Sat

The Mirror Crack'd

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

38

16

Sun

David O'Doherty: whoa is me

7.30pm

Main Stage

46

24

Mon

Pigs Might Fly

4pm

Main Stage

39

25

Tue

Pigs Might Fly

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

39

26

Wed

Pigs Might Fly

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

39

27

Thu

Pigs Might Fly

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

39

27

Thu

Ed Gamble: Electric

7.30pm

Main Stage

46

28

Fri

Pigs Might Fly

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

39

28

Fri

Simon Evans

8pm

Main Stage

47

29

Sat

Pigs Might Fly

11am & 2pm

Main Stage

39

29

Sat

Austentactious

8pm

Main Stage

47

40

Nov 8

Tue

Othello

7.30pm

Main Stage

9

Wed

Othello

7.30pm

Main Stage

40

10

Thu

Othello

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

40

11

Fri

Othello

8pm

Main Stage

40

12

Sat

Othello

2.30pm & 7.30pm

Main Stage

2.30pm

40

15

Tue

Clorinda Agonistes

7.30pm

Main Stage

41

16

Wed

Clorinda Agonistes

7.30pm

Main Stage

41

17 Thu

Henning Wehn: It'll All Come Out in The Wash

7.30pm

Main Stage

47

18 Fri

Henning Wehn: It'll All Come Out in The Wash

7.30pm

Main Stage

47

Christmas 25 Nov to Cinderella 8 Jan 23

Please check website for full schedule

R

76

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See pages 64-65

R

36

Socially Distanced performance

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

inside back cover

www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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77

#SmileWithOP

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