WHAT’S ON GUIDE SPRING 2022
Welcome Hello and welcome to the BT Spring 22 Season, which has a plethora of fantastic new plays for you to enjoy. Kicking off the season is Mugabe, My Dad and Me, an electric piece of storytelling, taken from true life experience of family and personal relationships, while living under one of the most controversial regimes of the 20th century. Creator of cult fringe shows and BT favourite John Osbourne returns with My Car Plays Tapes, a new piece about minimum wage jobs, getting older and being reunited with your old cassette collection. If you love new plays, then be sure to catch A Partnership, Stop Trying To Be Fantastic and Everything I Didn’t Say. For something a bit different, why not try Little Soldier’s Nothing Happens (Twice) directed by Olivier Award-winner Ursula Martinez. For younger theatre goers, we have our beautiful home-produced production of The Flower as an Easter holiday treat, as well Pinocchio and Oldilocks and the Three Bears. We hope to see you for this exciting new work in the coolest, smallest theatre in Oxford! Robert Bristow, Burton Taylor Studio Manager
THEATRE ETT, York Theatre Royal & Brixton House, in association with Alison Holder presents
MUGABE, MY DAD AND ME
Tue 15 to Sat 19 Mar 7.30pm
April, 1980. The British colony of Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zimbabwe. A born free, Tonderai Munyevu is part of the hopeful next generation from a country with a new leader, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe, My Dad & Me charts the rise and fall of one of the most controversial politicians of the 20th century through the personal story of Tonderai’s family.
MCS Drama presents
THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE
Tickets £10 Discounts £8
Age guideline 14+
★★★★
“Enlightening.” The Guardian
Tue 22 & Wed 23 Mar 7.30pm
By Christopher Durang
Picture this: you’re told that you have to perform in a play that you’ve never rehearsed, with dialogue you’ve never spoken, for a story you’ve never read. Oh, and you’re on in a matter of minutes. That is the actor’s nightmare. Having casually wandered backstage, accountant George Spelvin is mistaken as an actor’s understudy, and forced to replace him immediately. Fumbling their way through various texts at the audience’s expense, will the company be able to salvage any applause as the curtain falls?
Tickets £10 Discounts £8
Age guideline 12+
The coolest, smallest place to see theatre, comedy and family shows in Oxford
Thu 24 & Fri 25 Mar 7.30pm
Paper Mug Theatre presents
A PARTNERSHIP
Can two men in modern-day London maintain a long-lasting, monogamous relationship?
Tickets £10
As Zach’s internalised homophobia finally erupts on the eve of Ally’s 30th birthday, the couple find their relationship tested to the limit, forcing them into a conversation - five years in the making - to finally decide their future.
Age guideline 16+
Discounts £8
Sat 26 Mar 11am & 2pm
Norwich Puppet Theatre
PINOCCHIO Join our puppet Pinocchio on a fast-paced adventure of self-discovery, as they try, fail, and try again to find their heart and become a real person.
Tickets £8 Discounts £6
Age guideline 4+
A playful story exploring what it means to love - with hints of danger, slapstick humour and a very big fish! Featuring puppetry, illusion and a mesmerising soundtrack. Molly Naylor presents
STOP TRYING TO BE FANTASTIC
Tue 29 & Wed 30 Mar 7.30pm
One day, a magpie comes into a little girl’s house by mistake. It decides it likes her. She spends the next twenty-five years trying to get away from it. A story about suffering, saviour-complex, self-acceptance, and a magpie who refuses to quit. Produced in association with Inn Crowd, Co-commissioned by Norwich Arts Centre, Supported by Arts Council England.
John Osborne presents
MY CAR PLAYS TAPES A new play about minimum wage jobs, getting older and being reunited with your old cassette collection. Performed at this year’s Edinburgh Festival with glowing reviews. My Car Plays Tapes focusses on John’s life as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, and his five years working with Mencap.
Tickets £10 Discounts £8
Age guideline 12+ “Brave, funny, tough and beautiful writing.” The Guardian
Thu 31 Mar 7.30pm Tickets £10 Discounts £8
Age guideline 14+
★★★★
“A charmingly idiosyncratic mix of wistfulness and wonder.” The Stage
The coolest, smallest place to see theatre, comedy and family shows in Oxford
Sat 2 Apr 11am, 2pm & 4pm
Garlic Theatre
OLDILOCKS AND THE 3 BEARS
One winter, Oldilocks finds a teddy bear in the park and remembers a delicious bowl of porridge she tasted years ago in the woods. Something else happened but she can’t quite remember what... so she sets off for the forest.
Tickets £8 Discounts £6
Age guideline 3 to 7
Garlic Theatre hold their young audience spellbound with lovingly crafted puppets, music and some steaming bowls of porridge.
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.
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 Photography by Alex Brenner
Tickets £10
Wed 6 & Thu 7 Apr 7.30pm
Meadow Rain would like to say sorry. Sorry for disappearing. Sorry for being a bad friend. And sorry for calling her best friend a rude word. She’s also sorry for keeping secrets. Secrets about Terry. Secrets she is now ready to reveal... Seeks to change perceptions of coercive control 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 fourpiece 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.
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
DIGITAL STAGE Interesting times call for creative approaches Oxford Playhouse continues to programme digital work for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home. Riptide
THE LUCKY ONES
Mon 21 to Mon 28 Feb On demand
Riptide’s ground-breaking, genre-shattering experience is back - a digital interactive experience, comes to you through your phone, your laptop and your letterbox.
Tickets £15 Age guideline 14+
Starting with a letter, The Lucky Ones takes you on a journey from your home to a secret location halfway across the world. The Lucky Ones is unlike anything you have seen before - part theatre, part video game, and part escape room. You can participate alone or in teams of up to 4, and you can expect to play for 10-30 minutes each day for 7 days.
Parabolic Theatre
ENGLAND EXPECTS
Mon 21 to Mon 28 Feb 7.30pm
It’s September 1940, and history has come adrift. Captain, what are your orders? You must protect the naval fleet and stay afloat. It’s going to take every ounce of military coordination, tactics and intelligence from you and your shipmates to put history back on an even keel. England Expects is experienced over Zoom from the comfort of your own home. Characters and games masters, will facilitate, guiding you through tasks, missions and battles as you interact and shape the storyline. Lasts approximately 2 hours 30 minutes and is played over a computer or laptop. Tablets and phones just won’t cut the mustard!
Tickets £15 Age guideline 14+
Wed 13 to Sat 23 Apr no performance Sun 17
11am & 2pm Tickets £10 Discounts £8 Age guideline 3 to 7
A Daniel Naddafy and Oxford Playhouse 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. 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
Around the corner at OP Jonathan Church Theatre Productions presents The Nottingham Playhouse production.
Wed 23 to Sat 26 Mar
PRIVATE PEACEFUL The Peaceful brothers, Tommo and Charlie, have a tough rural childhood facing the loss of their father, financial hardship and a cruel landlord.
Tickets from £10 Discounts available
Age guideline 9+
Set against the epic backdrop of WW1, we join 18-year-old Private Tommo Peaceful in the trenches as he takes us on a journey through his most cherished memories and tells his story of courage, devotion, family and friendship.
Royal and Derngate, Northampton presents
THE WELLSPRING
Tue 29 & Wed 30 Mar
A study of fathers and sons and the stories we don’t always tell one another. This timely and intimate work in progress from award-winning playwright Barney Norris (The Remains Of The Day) and his father, the internationally acclaimed pianist and broadcaster David Owen Norris, examines that age-old story of a boy and his dad, and how they can relate to one another, in every sense of the word.
The Stockroom presents
THE GLEE CLUB
Tickets from £10 Discounts available
Age guideline 14+
Tue 26 to Sat 30 Apr A raucous comedy featuring live music. Five hard-working, hard-drinking miners and a church organist are rehearsing frantically for the local gala. This is the Glee Club, and the summer of ’62. Britain and music are about to change forever. And so are the lives of these six men.
Tickets from £10 Discounts available
Age guideline 14+
Coming soon Tue 21 Jun 7.30pm
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. But what are they really running from?
Tickets £10 Discounts £8
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.
YOUR VISIT Top reasons to visit the BT: 1. Most tickets are still £10 or under 2. Oxford’s most intimate theatre space 3. See the most exciting new and emerging artists 4. And the best touring fringe shows from Edinburgh, London and beyond
5. Regular family gems, plus a playroom for little people 6. A new (bigger!) well-stocked bar – beer, wine, soft drinks and ice cream that you can take into the show.
Box Office: 01865 305305 • www.oxfordplayhouse.com Tickets are available to purchase from our website or on the door of the studio up until the show start time, subject to ticket availability. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone during OP Box Office opening times. Discounts are available on most shows for under 18s, full-time students, Universal Credit, NHS Staff, BECTU and Equity members and those with access requirements. These shows have been created here in the county, either by Oxford Playhouse or by local artists, amateur and professional.
Theatre and events especially for families. Come and play in the foyer area before and after the show.
ACCESS FACILITIES The studio is accessed via two flights of stairs. We have a stair climber for wheelchair users. If you require this facility, please book with the Box Office at least three days in advance and inform them while booking.