Oxford Playhouse

Box office

01865 305305
Beaumont Street, Oxford. A map is here. A seating plan is here.

Forever in Your Debt, 4th March, 19:30
With twelve heart-stopping stories of fiscal failure this stark, funny and absurd production, is a must-see for anyone who’s had their cash point card cut up in front of them.

Charlie and Lola’s Best Bestest Play, 5th to 7th March
Based on the characters created by Lauren Child. Will Lola ever tidy her messy room? Will Charlie get Lola to sleep, even though she is not sleepy and will not go to bed? Don’t miss everyone’s favourite brother and sister, Charlie and Lola, in their extremely everso wonderful stage show!

Three Sisters, 9th to 13 March
Frustrated by their small-town existence, the Prozorov family long to return to Moscow. But as relationships, duty and misguided optimism take hold they soon find their dreams drifting further away from them. Fusing imaginative staging, evocative physicality and Filter’s trademark use of sound, this brand new production explores one family’s search for happiness.

The Ministry of Fear, 16th to 20th March
By Graham Greene. With a powerful whiff of Hitchcock and echoes of film noir classic The Third Man, The Ministry of Fear is both a taut espionage thriller and unnerving portrait of a mind in freefall. Renowned for creating exciting and imaginative work, Theatre Alibi brings its unique style to Graham Greene’s surreal masterpiece.

Antigone, 23rd to 27th March
By Jean Anouilh. A searing tale of love, power, and the greater good from Ancient Greece, Jean Anouilh posed questions that still challenge us today, and for which there are no easy answers.

Hedda Gabler, 29th March to 3rd April
By Henrik Ibsen. Rosamund Pike and Tim McInnerny star in the thrilling, enigmatic, and destructive Hedda Gabler. Returning from her honeymoon and already bored with her marriage, Hedda finds herself caught between two men. As a shocking path of destruction unfolds, there can be only one outcome.

Sweet Charity, 7th to 10th April
Book by Neil Simon. Music by Cy Coleman. Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Join Musical Youth Company of Oxford for an evening of music and dance from the 1960s. With classic tunes including Big Spender, Rhythm of Life, If My Friends Could See Me Now and more, this talented group of young people will get fingers and toes tapping.

The Enchanted Pig, 15th to 18th April
When you’re a princess you expect a fairytale wedding. You don’t expect your husband to be hairy, smelly and a genuine pig. A smash hit at London’s Young Vic, The Enchanted Pig is fun for all the family. This hilarious musical tale is packed with brilliant songs, stunning costumes – the perfect Easter treat.

The Glass Menagerie, 20th to 24th April
Tennessee Williams’ autobiographical play is a brilliant and compelling portrait of a family in crisis, and a classic of twentieth century American theatre.

Wife After Death, 26th April to 1st May
By Eric Chappell. Harvey Barrett’s just lost his best friend... It’s time to cash in. Dave Thursby was a hugely successful television comedian, a national treasure loved by the public, a devoted husband to his fragrant wife, a model client for his agent and a staunch friend to his faithful gag writer, Harvey. When Dave unexpectedly pops his clogs, these close companions are left bereft. There’s now a huge, aching void in their lives, and, worse still, some of them may be out of a job. Unless, of course, the repeats, television specials, biographies and newspaper tell-alls can fill the vacuum. As family and friends gather to give Dave a fitting send-off, it turns out they know rather less about him than they’d imagined and a series of revelations uncover some home truths about the much-loved comedy legend. Choking back the tears and protesting their love for Dave, the mourners set about exploiting his comic legacy for all it’s worth.

Oh What a Lovely War!, 18th to 22nd May
A madcap orchestra of musicians, dancers, singers and clowns come armed with musical ingenuity, bawdy squaddie humour and a collection of well known favourites including Pack Up Your Troubles and Keep The Home Fires Burning.

Cinderella, 3rd December to 16th January
Oxford Playhouse pantomime spectacular! One of the best-loved fairytales of all time will be brought to life, like you have never seen it before, in front of your very eyes!

Reviews of Jack and the Beanstalk

4th December 2009 to 17th January 2010.

From the Newbury Weekly News.

A giant spectacular

Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Oxford Playhouse until Sunday, January 17

Peter Duncan's fourth pantomime at the Oxford Playhouse, Jack and the Beanstalk, contains many surprising twists on the fairytale formula.

A seemingly bucolic village is beset with problems. There are economic woes, and in a move that Chancellor Darling would find difficult before an election. Squire Longshanks (Richard Stacey) is forced to put up the rents for a number of audience groups visiting the theatre as well as for his villagers. Locals are disappearing, crimes blamed on an unseen, loud-voiced giant. Despite these problems, the squire's pretty daughter Jill (Laura Pitt-Fulford) falls in love with the teaching assistant's son, Jack (Chris Carswefl). Jack's mother, Dame Trott (Alan French) is a single mother whose only asset is her big-eyed cow, Buttercup.

Matters go from bad to worse when Jill is abducted for the giant's dinner. When the good fairy (operatically-voiced Deborah Crowe) conjures up a magic beanstalk, Jack, his mother, and his dippy brother Willie (Matthew Eraser Holland) set off to rescue Jill. Ranged against them is the raffish Brummie rocker Fleshcreepy (Chris Larner), looking remarkably like Robert Smith of the Cure, and a brilliantly set-stealing one-eyed alien giant, designed by Jag Props. The musical numbers are well-choreographed by Alan Bradshaw while Duncan does not omit crowd-pleasing familiar gags and slapstick routines.

JON LEWIS

Previous productions

Sleeping Beauty, 5th December 2008 to 18th January 2009. See the review in the Archive.
Aladdin, 30th November 2007 to 13th January 2008. See the review in the Archive.
Dick Whittington, 1st December 2006 to 14th January 2007. See the review in the Archive.
Cinderella, December 2005. See the review in the Archive.
Guys and Dolls, by Oxford Operatic Society, 21st to 26th November 2005. See the review in the Archive.
Peter Pan, December 2004. See the review in the Archive.

For more details

see the Playhouse's web site at www.oxfordplayhouse.co.uk.