Katherine MacAlister's pick of Oxford's artistic fun

Pinter

  • BETRAYAL
  • Cornerstone, Didcot
  • Saturday, November 30 at 7.30pm
  • cornerstone-arts.org

Fill your boots because with the panto season approaching there’s a cultural desert looming, and this is the last serious drama on until the New Year. Pinter’s classic play shares married Emma’s secret; a seven-year affair with her husband’s best friend. One of Pinter’s best.

An Evening With...

  • GYLES BRANDRETH: LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS
  • The Theatre, Chipping Norton
  • Monday, December 2
  • Box office: 01608 642359 chippingnorton -theatre.com

Love him or hate him, it’s an interesting premise which started in Las Vegas and ended up in the psychiatrist’s chair.

Part self-help, part comedy, Gyles Brandreth’s unique one-man show should make you laugh and could change your life in the process.

Christmas Experience

  • THE SNOW FACTORY
  • Castle Quarter, Oxford
  • Every 45 minutes from 6pm-10pm daily until December 8
  • Visit oxfordcastle unlocked.co.uk

It’s a long story that starts 1.8 million years ago and involves snow, elves and a global warning crisis until one clever elf decides to save Christmas 2013 from the depths of doom and gloom, by revealing the Snow Factory HQ to the world, curiously located in the Oxford Castle Quarter. What it means is that if you venture down there in the next few weeks the snow factory will be in operation where you can watch a five-minute animation of one amazing elf’s story on the wall of Malmaison, accompanied by a glass of mulled wine, as fires will burn around the Castle Quarter. This will complete the story of the elf breaking through the cloud cover to harvest the sparkle from the moon to create snow and save Christmas.

Science

This exhibition tells the story of Oxford’s place in the history of medicine from the medieval period to its current position at the fore-front of medical research and clinical practice, charting the city’s astonish-ing history, showcasing discoveries that have shaped medical science over the centuries and their worldwide impact on science and medicine by featuring original manu-scripts including prescript-ions, letters and laboratory notebooks, alongside rare books and artefacts.