What's in the Cinema this week? (Oct 26-Nov01)

Opening in Oxford this week is Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. When a young midwife looks into the suspicious death of young girl, she gets dragged into London’s sordid underworld of sex trafficking and the Russian mafia, where she encounters gangster Nikolai – but is he what he seems? This film contains strong bloody violence. (18)

Also out this week is Mr. Brooks, starring Kevin Costner, William Hurt and Demi Moore. Kevin Costner plays a loving family man with a murderous alter-ego (William Hurt). After committing his final murder, he plays out an increasingly elaborate game with a blackmailer and a detective. This film contains strong bloody violence. (18)

Showing at the Odeon on Magdalen Street this week is Saw IV, starring Tobin Bell and Lyriq Bent. As two seasoned FBI profilers sift through Jigsaw’s remains, a SWAT Commander is abducted, and the last officer has ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps, revealing Jigsaws plans for the past, present and future. This film contains strong horror, violence and gory images. (18)

At the Phoenix this week is Sicko, Michael Moore's latest documentary. Following his BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FAHRENHEIT 9/11, activist filmmaker Michael Moore turns his attention to the topic of healthcare in the United States. SICKO weighs the plight of the uninsured (and the insured who must deal with abuse from insurance companies) against the record-breaking profits of the pharmaceutical industry. Moore interviews a number of people who have been left bereft by medical bills even though they were fully insured, and explains how the corporate drive for profits has left numerous people in financial and medical disarray. After hearing that detainees at Guantanamo Bay have access to free healthcare, Moore assembles a group of World Trade Center rescue workers to travel to Cuba in order to get the medical help they need for ailments they incurred in 2001. (15)

Advanced screenings of 30 Days of Night can be seen at The Vue and the Odeon George Street on Wednesday and Thursday. As the sun disappears for a month, a gang of vampires invades a remote Alaskan town. Josh Hartnett stars as the local sheriff desperately trying to stop the residents being eaten. This film contains strong bloody horror violence and language. (15)

Get showtimes for all the cinemas in Oxford

What's in the Theatre this week? (Oct 26-Nov01)

Oxford Playhouse:

Mischief - An exciting collaboration between Theatre-Rites, the award-winning company that has been stirring the imagination of children and adults alike for the past decade, and the innovative choreographer Arthur Pita. Dancers create mayhem in a thrilling, colourful and unpredictable world where the bottom line is always mischief. With 8 performers including composer, Mischief mixes up dance moves with visual art, playful clowning, brilliantly physical theatre, puppetry, live music and song. Bursting with energy, creative play and magical silliness, this brand new show for children aged 7+ is perfect for families and friends to share together.

Sylvia Plath Symposium Gala Evening - In celebration of American poet Sylvia Plath’s birth seventy-five years ago, beloved actresses Eve Best, Susannah Harker, Lynn Farleigh and Diana Quick lead an all-star evening of Plath-inspired performances- including song, dance, cartoon animation, and original music.

Citizenship/Chatroom - Two short, sharp and provocative plays in a double-bill where the drama of teenagers’ lives takes centre stage. Direct and honest, they are intensely alive to the possibilities and pressures we face on the verge of adulthood.

Chatroom By Enda Walsh - In cyberspace six 15-year-olds type and chat. A chilling and powerful tale of manipulation and the ultimate act of teenage rebellion.

Citizenship By Mark Ravenhill - A bittersweet comedy about growing up, following a boy’s frank and messy search to discover his sexual identity.

Old Fire Station:

King John - ’King John’, one of Shakespeare’s less-performed works, is a gripping tale of battles over a kingdom as kings, queens, princes, cardinals, nobles and Bastards try to keep their feet, and their heads, in the slippery world of thirteenth-century politics.

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? - It’s about relationships, and involves a goat… Edward Albee’s latest play is both comic and deeply tragic, exploring the social limitations placed on love and what happens when they are broken. Winner of 2002 Tony Award for Best Play and nominated for Best New Play at the 2005 Olivier awards

Burton Taylor Theatre:

Alice - A Peep Through The Looking Glass - Peek behind the looking glass to see the exciting process of taking ‘Through The Looking Glass’ from page to stage, as the script develops ahead of its Playhouse transfer.

Roussos! - Five nights only: the fabulous fat falsetto Demis Roussos will rock the BT! With special guest appearances from Beckett, Bassey, Kafka and Elton. The real Roussos will not be appearing.

Living Together - by Alan Ayckbourn. Sex, marriage and family relationships collide in this raucous comedy. One of Ayckbourn’s early masterpieces, a weekend getaway turns into an hilarious farce, prompted by the appearance of unexpected guests.

The One That Got Away - Henry has lost his hat. Oh dear. He’s none to happy about this. Witness his quest to retrieve said hat, set in the hollowing auspices of his local park. A tragi-comic story of hope, friendship and...hats

New Theatre:

Charlie Landsborough - Three times winner of the Best Male Vocalist at the British Country Music Awards, Charlie Landsborough’s career has spanned 30 years, and he is now more successful than ever. Country music fans of UK and Eire will no doubt cite Charlie’s witty, personal brand of folkish blues ballads as one of the most remarkable talents around.

The Snow Queen - English National Ballet - The Snow Queen is a touching, gothic fairytale which will be lavishly retold by English National Ballet’s full Company of dancers with live music from the full Orchestra of English National Ballet. English National Ballet is one of the world’s great ballet companies. The original 1950s vision for the Company - to take classical ballet of the highest quality to the widest geographical audience, at a price everyone can afford - remains the cornerstone of the Company’s philosophy today.

College Theatre:

Small Change - O’Reilly Theatre.
Small Change is a poetic evocation of love and loss, the tricks memory plays, and the stories we tell ourselves: the endless repeat of what might have been, and what was. Spanning time and taking it apart, its subject is love: complicated, equivocal, but unwavering and unconditional.

For all theatre information, times and dates, click here

This Week's Music Highlights (Oct 26 - Nov01)

This Week's Music Highlights

Friday:

• Oxford Chamber Orchestra - Sheldonian Theatre
• Evan Parker / Stephen Grew / Philip Wachsmann / Dominic Lash / Bruno Guastalla - Jacqueline du Pre Music Building
• Oxford Lieder: Stephen Loges (baritone) Eugene Asti (piano) - Holywell Music Room
• Super Furry Animals - Carling Academy
• Sam Kelly's Station House - Backroom at the Bully

Saturday:

• New Music for Steel Pan and Chinese Fiddle - Jacqueline du Pre Music Building
• Oxford Sinfonia perform Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Ives and Part -University Church of St Mary
• Music at Oxford - Sheldonian Theatre
• Oxford Lieder: Lisa Milne (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano) - Holywell Music Room
• Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor - New College Chapel
• Coo Coo Club with The Long Insiders + Ox + The Relationships - Jericho Tavern

Sunday:

• Coffee Concert with Aronowitz Ensemble - Holywell Music Room
• Music for Autism - Jacqueline du Pre Music Building

Monday:

• Famous Monday Night Blues - featuring The Robi Zonca Band (Italy) - Backroom at the Bully
• Harrison’s Clocks: Birtwistle in Oxford - Holywell Music Room
• Finality Jack, a duet of bazooki and bassoon - St Michael at the North Gate

Tuesday:

• Alex Hawkins with Paul Jordanous - The Big Bang
• The Oxford Jazz Club featuring The Oxford Jazz Orchestra - Backroom at the Bully
• The Eastside Rhythm Kings - Gladiator's Hall

Wednesday:

• Boy Kill Boy - Carling Academy (Zodiac)
• Joe Allen - Oxford Folk Club / Port Mahon

Thursday:

• St Hilda’s Music Society Recital - Jacqueline du Pre Music Building

Get a complete list of Music Events in Oxford: Classical, Gig Guide, Folk, Jazz