Daily Info's recommended events for the week ahead, Thursday 16th October - Wednesday 22nd October
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Weird Science! Dolphin Incidents! Time Warps! This week's EP is all about new ideas, alternative genres and unexpected twists...
We are so spoilt in this city with annual festivals. Right now the Song Festival is in full swing, and it’s time to blend in Science and Ideas with IF Oxford. This is the 34th year of IF Oxford, and it’s a huge spread, over 100 events, for all age groups (and we won’t judge you if you, a grown-up, like the look of the kids' events). The phrase “something for everyone” gets overused but with serious talks on Zombie health, online sessions to learn Arduino programming, lego, poetry, the music of moths, forensic science for children, comedy about intellectual property, and most events Pay What You Decide, we defy anyone not to find an event that fires you up!
Three much smaller festivals complete our set. First head to Bampton in West Oxfordshire, whose exquisite village hall plays host to the Autumn Food and Gift Fair this Saturday. Support independent local businesses while satisfying your craving for hot sauces, artisan cheese or gin, really pretty kitchen textiles, and glossy chocolates. We’re resolutely not mentioning any reasons you might be shopping for special things (ten weeks, cough) but suffice to say there are lovely things on offer.
If you venerate books as beautiful objects, the PBFA book fair will be your spiritual home on Saturday, as you can drool over thousands of rare books, maps and printed ephemera (NB no actual drooling allowed). If there’s a rare novel from 1910 that you desperately need to complete your collection, hunt it here.
For a more contemporary look at books, head in the opposite direction for Wolvercote’s very own Literary Festival. Following the success of HeadingtonLitFest, Oxford Independent Authors celebrate the local novelists, poets and illustrators of Wolvercote (there are more than you might think!) with talks, workshops, book stalls and all forms of bibliophilia.
IF Science and Ideas Festival: Oxford City Centre (various venues), Fri 17th Oct - Sun 2nd Nov, see individual events for times and prices.
Bampton Autumn Food and Gift Fair 2025: Bampton Village Hall, OX18 2JH, Sat 18th Oct, 9:30am - 2:00pm. Entry: free.
Oxford PBFA Book Fair: Sir Kenneth Weare Hall, Brookes Gipsy Lane campus, Sat 18th Oct, 10am - 4pm. Entry: £1.
WolvLitFest: Wolvercote Village Hall, Sat 18th Oct, 10am - 4pm. Entry: free.
Who matches the matchmakers? The perennial question at the heart of Jane Austen's comedy of manners is of course answered by Emma herself. We’ve already noted in these pages that Jane Austen is being feted this year, so if you haven’t already indulged, head straight for Theatre Royal Bath’s sumptuous production at the Oxford Playhouse, featuring the headstrong heroine we all need.
With its themes of coercive control, A Doll’s House is not an easy watch. Oxford Theatre Guild never been afraid of the hard stuff, and they've fittingly chosen this intense play to mark their 70th anniversary of making theatre. In the enclosed Fire Station studio the claustrophobia is heightened, in this subtle and complex production revealing the harsh reality under the glossy surface of a successful Victorian marriage.
If you thought Twelfth Night was just a frothy summer play about cocktails, try this. Oxford Rep Company bring you a dark and uneasy production about the fragility of living authentically, centring LGBTQ+ love stories, and putting the cruelty back into the “comedy of cruelty”. Amid the wreckage of the morning after, disguise is vital. We loved OTG’s female Malvolio this summer. Now take things a step further.
Ben Haggarty and Sarah Liisa Wilkinson lure you into the enchanted realm with a retelling of the Baba Yaga fairy-tale. Don’t bring your children! The Crick Crack Club is definitely one for grown-ups and they don’t hold back on the darkness in the wild woods, and in the hut on hen’s legs. Come and be spellbound. Stay on for a concert as part of Oxford Song Festival, entitled Baba Yaga: Songs & Dances of Death if you’d like more stories and a specially commissioned new song cycle.
Emma : Oxford Playhouse, Mon 20th - Sat 25th Oct, 7.30pm (8pm Friday, & 2.30pm matinee Thu and Sat). Tickets from £14.
A Doll’s House: The Old Fire Station, Tue 21st - Sat 25th Oct, 7.30pm (+ Sat matinee 2.30pm). Sun 26th Oct 2.30pm only. Tickets: £13, £15, £17.
Twelfth Night: St Hugh's College, Sat 18th Oct, 7pm. Tickets £10/£8 conc.
Baba Yaga: North Wall Arts Centre, Wed 22nd Oct, 6.15pm. Tickets: £12.
Baba Yaga: Songs & Dances of Death: The Olivier Hall, St Edward’s, Wed 22nd Oct, 8pm.
Whether you’re moving your feet or your funny bone, here are the gigs we’ve got our eye on this week. Alternative punk night Whiplash shakes the room at The Nest with a lineup ready to get loud, extreme, and unapologetically radical; look out for sets from Byford Dolphin Incident (maybe our favourite band name we’ve ever seen), Third Kulture and Temple.
At the Bullingdon it’s all about bringing people together, as Oh, Community! host another legendary all dayer music event. Across the Bullingdon and the Library Pub, see 15 of the area’s hottest local acts including Junk Whale, Live Aquatic Band and Gay Skeleton Club, curated to perfection by Divine Schism. If you don’t have a favourite underground band yet, you will before the day is out.
From amps to Imps, famed local improvisers the Oxford Imps kick off their first show of Michaelmas Term at the Jericho Tavern on Monday. After another acclaimed Edinburgh run, they’re rested and ready to bring their Whose Line Is It Anyway style mix of short and long-form improv to you. All they need is a suggestion from the audience…
And Ed Patrick comes to the Old Fire Station with Catch Your Breath. He might be an anaesthetist but don’t let that fool you; Patrick’s set will wake you up with a hysterical and hard-hitting account of life on the NHS through the eyes of a junior doctor, facing the challenges of our current medical system with nothing but his wits and some laughing gas to hand.
Whiplash - Byford Dolphin Incident, Third Kulture, Temple: The Nest, Little Clarendon Street, Sat 18th Oct, 7:30pm. Tickets £5-15.
Oh, Community! All Dayer: The Library and The Bullingdon, Sun 19th Oct, 1:30 - 11pm. Tickets £12-15.
The Oxford Imps: Jericho Tavern, Mon 20th Oct, 8pm. Tickets from £5.
Ed Patrick: Catch Your Breath : Old Fire Station, Fri 17th Oct, 8pm. Tickets £19.
The Ultimate Picture Palace continues its Fright’s Out season of queer horror with a spooky and sultry 1936 bloodsucker. Dracula’s Daughter follows the arresting and enigmatic Countess Marya Zeleska as she holds the women of London in her thrall while grappling with her father’s vampiric curse, in a tale that drips with both blood and homoerotic tension.
Then we have an uplifting and uproarious tale of resilience in I Swear, a new biopic centred on Tourette’s Syndrome visibility campaigner John Davidson. The film takes us from Davidson’s difficult childhood through to his present day activism with sensitivity and charm, bolstered by a stellar supporting cast in Maxine Peake and Shirley Henderson.
Next, an unlikely love story as Channing Tatum stars in Roofman. Loosely based on the real life story of spree robber Jeffrey Manchester, our charming criminal is forced to hole up in a Toys R Us to evade the long arm of the law, while longing to fall into the arms of unsuspecting employee Leigh - how long can his double life last?
And it wouldn’t be October without everyone’s favourite sweet transvestite. The Oxford Cinema and Café screens 1970s cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and they’ve pulled out all the stops, with custom cocktails, prop sets and live hosting. The BBFC's rating might be 15, but this event is strictly 18+. Come up to Dr. Frank N. Furter’s lab - costumes strongly encouraged, so get the fishnets and platforms out of the closet…
Dracula's Daughter: Ultimate Picture Palace
I Swear: Vue, Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford Cinema and Cafe
Roofman: Vue, Curzon, Oxford Cinema and Cafe
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Oxford Cinema and Cafe, Sat 18th Oct, 8pm (doors 7pm). Tickets £11.99.
Do you have the skills to help two fantastic Oxford initiatives thrive? Cycling advocacy group Cyclox and Pegasus Theatre are both currently recruiting new trustees.
If you have any experience in fundraising or finance, you can use your skills as a trustee to contribute to a safer, more welcoming environment for cyclists and other road users alike, as part of Cyclox’s mission to get the community on their bikes. Send a copy of your CV to honsec@cyclox.org with 200 words on why you want to join the Cyclox board of trustees before Friday 31 October; take a look at the job description here.
And if you want to contribute to a thriving centre of youth and community theatre, Pegasus Theatre are on the lookout for those with entrepreneurial savvy, finance and fundraising expertise and strong communication skills to advise their joint CEOs and staff team. To apply, you can submit a short CV or video together with a covering letter to executivedirector@pegasustheatre.org.uk.
Image credits: IF Oxford, Oxford Playhouse (Simon Annand), The Oxford Imps, Pegasus Theatre, Cyclox Oxford
