Katherine MacAlister picks the best of the best in 2016’s local theatrical line-up

The view ahead to 2016 is staggering, Oxford’s theatres pulling out all the stops to entertain and dazzle you with their line-up of musicals, comedies, dramas, festivals, plays and dance.

We start with King Charles III, hailed as “Play of the Year” by critics, and given a right royal welcome by Oxford Playhouse from February 22 to 27. Playwright Mike Bartlett presents a bold and brilliant insight into Britain’s royalty in this jubilant and unmissable drama.

The story commences with the Queen dying. After a lifetime of watching from the sidelines, Princes Charles steps up to receive his crown and begin his rule, with Camilla by his side. As William, Kate and Harry look on, Charles prepares for the future of power that lies before him, but how to rule?

Winner of both the Olivier Award and Critics Circle Award for Best New Play 2015, book your tickets now. Go to oxfordplayhouse.com or call 01865 305305.

Another award-winner then hits the New Theatre, this time in the form of Green Day’s explosive, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical American Idiot, which comes here following its hugely successful and critically acclaimed West End run, from May 3 to 7. It tells the story of three boyhood friends, each searching for meaning in a post 9/11 world and set to the music of punk band Green Day. Tickets from atgtickets.com/oxford.

The worldwide comic theatre sensation – Stones In His Pockets – will celebrate its 20th anniversary year at The Theatre Chipping Norton, to present this latest version of the Olivier Award-winning play.

Performed at a breakneck pace, two actors play a vast array of eccentric and lovable characters in this universally loved play about the arrival of a Hollywood film crew looking for the ‘real’ Ireland for their latest schmaltzy blockbuster from April 5-16. Go to chippingnortontheatre.com

It’s much more bloodthirsty down at OFS in March when The Devil Speaks True reveals a chilling, visceral auditory interactive adventure. You are cast as Banquo from Macbeth, tracing the character’s journey from bloody battlefield to spectral banquet table. Sitting in a pitch-black space and wearing wireless headphones, you will be surrounded by a world created through binaural sound, video projection and a solo performer. Ages 14 and over. Go to ticketsoxford.com or call 01865 305305.

Opera Up Close presents Shakespeare at the opera at the North Wall in April to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, with a performance of songs, operatic arias and ensembles inspired by his plays and poetry, as part of Oxford’s Shakespeare 2016 festival. Go to thenorthwall.com 01865 319450.

Jacqueline Wilson, David Baddiel, Dr Simon Sebag Montefiore, Levison Wood, Alan Ayckbourn , Melvyn Bragg, Julian Clary, Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate, Liz Pichon and Tracy Chevalier are the first runners out of the starting blocks at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival from April 2-10 – this year celebrating its 20th anniversary. The remaining speakers will be announced in the new year when more than 500 speakers will be confirmed. Go to oxfordliteraryfestival.org

And finally Creation is staging King Lear in Blackwell’s from February 12-March 19. Set in a basement among towering book stacks, follow Shakespeare’s ageing monarch and his three daughters in a tale of power, madness and betrayal.

Go to creationtheatre.co.uk

Where and when
For further information on listed shows see all box office details in the highlights