What's in the Theatre this week? (April 18-24)

Oxford Playhouse:

Plaza Suite - 1968. Three couples, Suite 719, The Plaza Hotel, New York. A failing marriage, a smooth-talking ladies' man and a bride locked in a bathroom all come together in this wry, witty and entertaining comedy.

An Evening With Blowers - Henry Blofeld - This side splitting one man show is a quintessentially British affair in which 'Blowers' (Henry Blofeld) trawls through his extraordinary life.

The Oxford Revue
- An unmissable night of sketch comedy from the country's three best and brightest student revues.

Blackbird
- Guilt and raw emotions run high as Ray and Una recollect the passionate affair they had 15 years ago.

Old Fire Station:

The Stand-Up Economist - Yoram Bauman PhD has performed at comedy clubs and colleges around the world, and his jokes about economics and politics have over 400,000 hits on YouTube. He's thrilled to be coming to Oxford for his first performance in the UK!

Volpone - Volpone (or The Fox) is a hilarious comedy of corruption, immorality and the grotesque. A play about power, greed, seduction and lust (all the good stuff) - the satire is as biting now as when it was first performed in the 17th Century. Packed with fantastical characters behaving very badly, this is certain to make you laugh and think.

Burton Taylor Studio:

Funeral Games - A tale of tea stains, stiffs and brotherly love. Keith, the estranged son, has returned, bringing a whole lot of trouble with him for his longsuffering brother Henry. Dad, the head of funeral directors Hall and Son, looks set to need his own services very soon and, to Henry, it seems a little white lie might be enough to get rid of his short tempered, live-wire brother. Unfortunately, nothing goes quite how he planned as the interloper decides he wants to join the family business. Disaster ensues.

New Theatre:

James - Few bands can claim to have been instrumental in 20 years of musical history. Well, James are one of them. From their early EPs for a youthful Factory records, through their pivotal place in the '80s indie scene, the early '90s Manc-centric baggy scene and the mid '90s era of guitar bands breaking the top 10 and playing arenas.

Childish Things 4 - For the fourth year running Helen & Douglas House is proud to present Childish Things with a whole host of comedians who will have you roaring until it hurts. The evening is for charity. More details of the line up will follow soon. For more information about the Helen & Douglas House.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) - The Compleat Wrks Of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) embodies one of comedy's most essential impulses: the adolescent urge to take a baseball bat to the culturally revered. A mix of pratfalls, puns, willful misreadings of names and dialogue, clunky female impersonations, clean-cut ribaldry, and broad burlesque. The gung-ho vitality is impossible to resist. The conversion of the histories into a football game is very funny. So is a rap version of Othello. Hamlet truly soars and allows the actors to come into their own as manic clowns. At its giddiest, its tone recalls the fabled Bullwinkle cartoon shows.

Buena Vista Social Club Presents - Mirabal, Cachaito, Aguaje & Galban - An internationally renowned eighteen piece big band who are the true and original veterans of Cuban music. Led by Guajiro Mirabal, Cachaito Lopez, Manuel Galban and Aguaje Ramos, the band was rediscovered in 1996 and have gone on to win a Grammy Award in 1997.

Miscellaneous Theatre:

Hull Truck presents "Two" - Hull Truck, one of the UK's great touring theatre companies and founded by the legendary John Godber (Bouncers, Teechers, Up 'N' Under), will be at the North Wall on April 21st for a single performance of Jim Cartwright's 'Two' - a sharply observed, comic portrayal of Northern pub life.

For all theatre information, times and dates, click here