Theatre
DAYTONA
September 23-28
Box office: 01865 303305 or visit oxfordplayhouse.com
Haunting, funny and poignant, Daytona is a love story full of mystery. Happy in their shared passion for ballroom dancing, Joe and Elli plan to win the next big competition. But the unexpected arrival of a figure from their past threatens to throw everything off balance. When they discover the shocking story behind his sudden return, Joe and Elli must confront a profound moral dilemma. Directed by David Grindley (whose acclaimed Journey’s End and Blackbird visited Oxford Playhouse), Daytona stars Olivier-winning Maureen Lipman, one of the country’s best-loved actresses. Her countless roles on stage and screen include Ladies of Letters, Educating Rita, and Barefoot in the Park. The production also stars Harry Shearer and John Bowe.
Live magic
THE ILLUSIONISTS: WITNESS THE IMPOSSIBLE
New Theatre, Oxford
September 25 at 8pm
Box office: 0844 8713020, atgtickets.com/oxford
Following sell-out runs in Sydney and Mexico City, the world’s greatest live magic show is coming to Oxford. The Illusionists are a collection of seven of the finest magicians on the planet, who perform outrageous, mind bending illusions which literally allow audiences to witness the impossible. The Illusionists: Witness The Impossible, a show for audiences of all ages, will play the New Theatre as part of its first UK tour. Showcasing jaw-dropping acts of grand illusion, levitation, mind- reading, disappearance and for the first time in history, a full view water torture escape, this is a magic show like none other seen before. The cast of The Illusionists is composed of Dan Sperry ‘The Anti Conjurer’, Jinger Leigh ‘The Enchantress’, Andrew Basso ‘The Escapologist’, Mark Kalin ‘The Gentlemen’, Kevin James ‘The Inventor’, Jeff Hobson ‘The Trickster’ and Philip Escoffey ‘The Mentalist’. Each Illusionist is a master in his own field, and with the help of a world-class ensemble cast of 20 assistants, each will perform the most spectacular, mind-blowing acts.
Theatre
WINSTON ON THE RUN
The Theatre, Chipping Norton
September 10 at 7.45pm
Box office: 01608 642 350
This one-man play about Churchill’s little- known early life tells the story of his wartime experiences in South Africa and his astonishing escape across hundreds of miles of savannah to rejoin British lines. The show is co-created by writer and actor Freddie Machin and Fol Espoir’s artistic director, John Walton. It’s 1899 and the 24-year-old Winston is approaching the 20th-century with little to his name but a shambolically unsuccessful election campaign. Neglected by his parents and a failure at school, Winston takes a job as a war correspondent and finds himself posted in South Africa, embroiled in the Boer War. Less than a month later, he is an escaped prisoner-of-war, on the run in the vast savannah, taking cover at the bottom of a deep mineshaft. With nothing but rats for company, his young mind quickly sinks into paranoia and despair. As the moment for a fresh break approaches his sanity teeters on the brink. What will await him at the surface?
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