A Mighty Fine Day in 1860. Why, the Governor's Cotillion was only last week. However, Annabelle and Mary-Lou are now fugitives from the law and must flee for their lives. But frankly, they don’t give a damn.

Get swept up into a world of split loyalties, arms dealing and post office administration. The Dead Secrets offer up their unique scripted comedy washed down with a glass of the finest lemonade in all the Carolinas.

Ages 14+. In the OFS Theatre. £10.

“Scripted comedy of the highest quality” - Buxton Fringe Review

“Surrender to the madness” - The List

Winners, Buxton Fringe Best Comedy Show

★★★★ Three Weeks ★★★★ EdFringe Review

In January 2014 Greg was put into an induced coma. Locked deep inside his own brain he’s trying to get home in his new version of reality. These are his dreams: surprising twists, kidnappings, Waterloo train times, recording sessions, and making friends with Roger Moore. A surreal, uplifting play about the struggle for survival and the need to keep going.

Presented by Leaning House, whose 2017 play Mercutio & Tybalt had the audience gripped.

Ages 10+. In the OFS Loft. £8.

www.leaninghouse.weebly.com

Directed by Kevin Tomlinson, Beneath the Blue Rinse by Tom Glover is an outrageous comedy exposing how society views the elderly.

When an unscrupulous salesman enters sweet but gullible, Flora Parkin’s house, little does he realise he’s been lured into a trap. Simon starts to learn what it is like to be vulnerable, exploited, and subjected to the care of others…who may not care at all. Think ‘Tarantino meets Last of the Summer Wine’.

Ages 14+. £10. In the OFS Theatre.

www.livingthedrama.co.uk
www.kepowtheatre.co.uk

Come and witness some spectacular play readings by some of Oxfordshire's finest professional theatre makers. All of the featured plays have been written by women, local and international. Throwing caution to the wind the theatre makers will take you through an 8 hour event bringing some superb writing to the table.

Pull up a bean bag, pass through, settle in for the long run. Take your pick and be prepared to be enthralled.

Hosted by Oxfordshire Theatre Makers.

In the OFS Gallery. Free - just drop in.

Sea levels have risen, and it’s time for a flooded BBC to make another Blue Planet. But where are all the animals? Put on your polar ice caps and join two idiots in an adventure to repopulate the sea and save the oceans!

“David Attenborough meets clowning” (Broadway Baby) in this children’s comedy show by the “hugely entertaining” (Chortle) Luke Rollason and the “hilarious” (The List) Christian Brighty.

Ages 4+. £5. In the BT Studio.

The Glass Aisle is an astonishing collaboration between two major talents in poetry and music: acclaimed songwriter and singer Brian Briggs, frontman of the Oxfordshire indie-folk band Stornoway and poet Paul Henry.

Paul Henry performs new poems, plus new and old songs with Brian Briggs, including some Stornoway tracks. The pair then perform their musical collaboration The Glass Aisle, a long poem with songs, inspired by the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal close to Henry’s home and its associations with radio pioneer Marconi and an old union workhouse.

£14. In the OFS Theatre. 

Do you like theatre? We know you do, because you’re reading this! Test your knowledge with the theatre quiz - come with friends or join a team (3-5 people per table). There will be questions on such theatrey topics as modern plays, theatre jargon, famous people…and even the sports round!

If you watch theatre, make theatre or just like quizzes, come and compete for our (moderately) grand prize.

In the OFS Bar. Ages 16+. Pay on the door: £3 per head.

Hosted by Oxfordshire Theatre Makers.

Free music sessions in the Old Fire Station's Gallery. Click on the acts below to find out more about who's playing.

Then join us for:

Dom O'Keefe has spent the summer living with Keiko, orca and star of family favourite "Free Willy", learning about secrets of the film, deleted scenes, and backstage Hollywood gossip. Straight from the orca's blowhole.

Multimedia make-believe from acclaimed improviser and actor, Dom O'Keefe. Star of Edinburgh cult-institution Shaken Not Stirred: The Improvised James Bond Film. 

Ages 12+. In the OFS Loft. £5.

★★★★★ "Quite simply the funniest show I have seen at the Fringe" EdFringe Review on Shaken Nor Stirred.

Please note: There is no step-free access to the Loft.

Rachel has just lost her hero. Her uncle Neil has died unexpectedly. In the wake of his death she becomes reclusive, struggling to leave the house. To make sense of her loss she travels back in time and revisits the incredible stories Neil told her as a child, about his adventures around the world. This autobiographical solo show is an honest, often humorous exploration of grief, love and the power of storytelling.

Ages 13+. In the OFS Studio. £8.

www.wolftamershow.com

Mary Prince was born into enslavement in the British Caribbean during 1790's and toiled most of her years. Hers was the first narrative of an enslaved female published by the abolition movement in England.

Our actress takes us on a journey through Mary's life. Using movement, song, storytelling and drama. We see realities and horrors of this recent past; implications and resonances the transatlantic slave trade still has for us all today. Followed by Q&A.

Ages 11+. In the BT Studio. £10.

www.kuumbaniaarts.com

★★★★ "..effective, exuberant, and moving...Edmead sings,she dances,and she has found away to make important points without hectoring the room." - The Scotsman on The Backside Monologues

This intense work delves into the recent traumatic events of Chechnya, Russia and challenges the way societies create conformity.

Using contemporary dance infused with the virtuosic stylings of Vogue and Contortion this mesmerising performance creates a powerful reflection on the reality of today’s society. It will make you question “Is being normal really worth it?”

Ages 14+. In the OFS Theatre. £10.

www.thomaspagedances.com

Mandala presents Roy Williams' contemporary version of Antigone, an epic story of power, corruption and warring families, set in contemporary gang culture.

The gang is kinship, but they are also soldiers at war, fighting for their place in the world. A world of pervading, omnipresent surveillance, where the gods see all and choose to act or not. One young woman makes a stand, despite the odds stacked against her.

Ages 13+. £10. In the OFS Theatre.

"Bold and powerful" - Daily Info on Night Light, 2016

www.mandalatheatre.co.uk

In a small coastal village, the women wait for their men to return from the sea. When one man doesn't, Claire is left neither a wife nor a widow.

SOLE is a moving and funny account of life inland, of belonging and not, of the shipping forecast. Told through original songs composed by Matt Winkworth and delightful movement by Emma Webb, SOLE features a cast of a dozen women, a puppet and 13 transistor radios.

Ages 12+. In the OFS Theatre. £10.

https://www.tangledwemove.co.uk/ 

Join Oxford Playhouse in celebrating the end of this year's Playhouse Playmaker programme, our writers attachment programme led by John Retallack in collaboration with Oxford Playmaker.

Excerpts of plays written by seven writers will be performed in the Burton Taylor Studio, followed by an opportunity to meet each writer and feedback on their plays. This year's Playmakers are Julian Armistead, Doug Crossley, Jodi Gray, Sorcha Kurian-Walsh, Nick O’Dwyer, Rowan Padmore and Padraic Walsh.

Ages 16+. In the BT Studio. £5.

oxfordplaymaker.co.uk

Free music sessions in the Old Fire Station's Gallery. Click on the acts below to find out more about who's playing.

10.30am, 11.15am, 12pm, 12.45pm, 2.15pm.

Blue plaques, benches, trees…memorials to our loved ones aim to encapsulate an entire personality with the shortest word count possible via dates, a name and a carefully selected comment. But what are the stories behind these tributes? Would we recognise the last words written about us or would we want to keep the last word for ourselves?

Based on the testimony of Oxford residents, this intimate ten-minute play from Flintlock Theatre explores loss, personality and remembering, celebrating the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Ages 10+. On Gloucester Green. Free - please book.

www.flintlocktheatre.com

The R&D for Last Words is supported by Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund. Without Walls is the UK’s largest commissioner of outdoor arts shows, taking inspiring new work to audiences all over the country and beyond. For more information on the work of Without Walls, please visit www.withoutwalls.uk.com

Recent search history:

“Why is Eleanor Colville so funny?”
“How could I possibly not go see her show?”
“How to write a good press release?”

Following sell out runs at Offbeat 2017, Edinburgh Fringe and The Vaults, character comedian Eleanor Colville returns with her brand new one-woman show: Google Me.

Join her as she browses through browsers and searches histories for an hour of characters, sketches and some real dark-web material.

£8. In the OFS Studio. Ages 16+.

“Undoubtedly a comic to keep an eye on. Clear comedic talent and a willingness to be unique…Catch her while you have the chance.” - Broadway Baby.

10.30am, 11.15am, 12pm, 12.45pm, 2.15pm.

Blue plaques, benches, trees…memorials to our loved ones aim to encapsulate an entire personality with the shortest word count possible via dates, a name and a carefully selected comment. But what are the stories behind these tributes? Would we recognise the last words written about us or would we want to keep the last word for ourselves?

Based on the testimony of Oxford residents, this intimate ten-minute play from Flintlock Theatre explores loss, personality and remembering, celebrating the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Ages 10+. On Gloucester Green. Free - please book.

www.flintlocktheatre.com

The R&D for Last Words is supported by Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund. Without Walls is the UK’s largest commissioner of outdoor arts shows, taking inspiring new work to audiences all over the country and beyond. For more information on the work of Without Walls, please visit www.withoutwalls.uk.com