If January seems a bit bleak and pennies are lacking, then you should be frothing at the mouth to enter the New Theatre Golden Ticket competition, where one lucky reader can win a pair of tickets to five, yes five, of the upcoming season’s biggest shows.

Just think five nights out for free, where you can see some of the best nights out on the planet.

So, just to tickle your taste buds, here are the shows on offer:

  • Two tickets to English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty on Tuesday, February 19, at 7.30pm.
  • Two tickets to Soul Sister on Monday, March 4, at 7.30pm. Straight from a sensational West End season, Emi Wokoma stars in this new musical inspired by the life and times of Ike and Tina Turner where she belts out classics like What’s Love Got To Do With It, Private Dancer and, of course, Simply the Best.
  • Two tickets to Boogie Nights on Tuesday, March 26, at 7.30pm. The West End’s original and favourite 70s musical is back, telling the hilarious and heart-warming story of Roddy O’Neil, set in a provincial British town in the height of the Disco Seventies, for one night only.
  • Two tickets to New Jersey Nights on Thursday, April 18, at 7.30pm. Celebrating the greatest hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
  • Two tickets to Hormonal Housewives on Monday, April 29, at 7.30pm. Coming to Oxford for the very first time, starring Toyah Wilcox, this show features hilarious sketches looking at everything that makes today’s women tick, from the joys of teenagers to the challenge of IKEA and the madness of holiday reps.

And how, you ask, do you get the opportunity for such a fantastic Golden ticket, easily the match of Willy Wonka's famous offering?

Just buy Thursday's Oxford Mail and look in our entertainment section, The Guide, for details on how to enter our great competition.