Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, Wycombe Swan, Tues 12 – Sat 16 May
Really looking forward to this. Described as ‘Bizet’s Carmen re-imagined’, Matthew Bourne plays with the original plot, bringing 19th century Spain into a greasy American 60s diner and as you’d expect (remember the male swans in Bourne’s take on Swan Lake?), the results will no doubt be sensational and um, easy on the eye too. Catch The Car Man next week from Tuesday to Saturday.
Wycombe Swan, St Mary Street, High Wycombe, wycombeswan.co.uk
Oxfordshire Artweeks 2015 Festival, across Oxon, now ’til Thurs 25 May
Have you visited Oxford Art Weeks yet? We’re well into the first week, with artists across the county showcasing their skill in everything from painting, photography, textiles, sculpture and ceramics, to furniture, glass, mosaics, jewellery to digital art and more. Muddy faves iwantaportrait.co.uk (pictured, above) are exhibiting next week in Summertown and Best Art gallery finalist Sarah Wiseman Gallery are both involved but check out the full schedule here.
Symphonia Academia, St Mary’s Church, Haddenham, Fri 8 May
If I want to go to a really good classical concert I usually head into Oxford, but this week I can be lazzzzzyyyyyyy, and skip across the road from Muddy HQ, because Symphonia Academica is rocking up at St Mary’s Church in Haddenham tomorrow (Friday). The musicians have jobs in many of Britain’s leading symphony orchestras and chamber groups, and are playing crowd-pleasers including Vivaldi’s’ Four Seasons, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Handel’s Arrival of The Queen of Sheeba. Even better there’s a bar and fish and chips from 6.30 outside the church. Performance at 7.30.
Tickets are £10 and available in local Haddenham shops Parminter the Butcher, White Hart Studio and Blooming Fruity or through St Mary’s School website.
Danny the Champion of the World, Chipping Norton Theatre , Sun 10 – Mon 11 May
Looking for somewhere to take the kids? Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World is adapted for the stage by David Wood at the lovely Chippy Theatre in Chipping Norton, and follows the adventures of Danny and his dad as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime. For kids 5+
The King’s Speech, Oxford Playhouse, Mon 11 – Sat 16 May
Jason Donovan isn’t going to be pushing for a Olivier Award any time soon, but at least he’ll get the accent perfect in this play! He stars as Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue in this stage production of The King’s Speech, the story King George VI (Raymond Coulthard), who tries to overcome his stammer before he addresses the nation approaching the outbreak of the second world war. Age 12+.
oxford playhouse.com
Marks of Genius, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, now until 20 Sept
I haven’t made it to this yet but am desperate to go. A free exhibition at the Bodliean’s new Weston Library that’s happily been extended to September, it features a frankly jaw-dropping collection of ‘genius’ exhibits such as Shakespeare’s first folios, manuscripts by Mendelssohn and Handel, the Magna Carta of 1217, pages from the orignal draft of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein amongst many more. Massively worth checking out.
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Live Friday ‘Social Animals’, Late Night Opening at The Ashmolean, Oxford, Fri 15 May
An early heads up for this fab event next week. It’s been a while since the Ashmolean has put on one of its brilliant Live Fridays (yup, cuts to the arts) but these are massively worth going to, not least because it’s FREE! Tonight’s topic is Social Animals – that’s us, n’est pas?! – and looks at what makes people and societies tick through music, talks, art and performance, and when all that culture makes you thirsty, up you go to the rooftop dining room for drinkies and dinner.
7 – 10.30pm. ashmolean.org