Comedy

FLANDERS AND SWANN Oxford Playhouse January 19, 7.30pm Box office: 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com Back by popular demand, Tim, Duncan, the Hippo and the words and music of Flanders and Swann return to Oxford for one night only. Flanders and Swann’s brand of inoffensive, gentle but witty and often satirical humour has stood the test of time, remaining popular with all ages. Join multi-award winning Tim FitzHigham and Radio 4 musical maestro Duncan Walsh-Atkins as they tune the madeira decanter, polish the dinner jackets and iron the piano, breathing life into all the favourites from the greatest comedy songsmiths ever.

Dance

BALLET THEATRE UK: A CHRISTMAS CAROL Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury December 21 (7.30pm), 22 (2.30 and 7.30pm) and 23 (2.30pm).

Box office: 01635 244246 Ballet Theatre UK celebrates 200 years since the birth of Britain’s greatest novelist, Charles Dickens. Ballet Theatre UK is one of the country’s newest professional touring ballet companies receiving five-star praise from audiences and critics alike. Performed to a wonderful classical score with beautifully hand-crafted costumes and sets that conjure up Dickensian London to be enjoyed by everyone, young and old. It is a show not only for those already fans of dance, but also newcomers. Ballet Theatre UK was founded in 2008 by artistic director Christopher Moore and has fast become one of the best-loved touring companies in the UK.

Opera

CARMEN AND TOSCA The New Theatre, Oxford February 14 at 7.30pm (Tosca); February 15 and 16 at 7.30pm (Carmen) Box office: 0844 871 3020 atgtickets.com/oxford Director Ellen Kent of Opera & Ballet International offers two of the most popular works in the repertoire performed by international soloists and the full Chisinau National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. Bizet’s Carmen, featuring international mezzo-soprano Nadia Stoionova, is given in a dazzling new production where the Seville setting reflects a Goya painting, complete with fountain, flowers, orange trees and a majestic, real-life Andalucian stallion. This passionate and romantic opera is sung in French with subtitles. International soprano Elena Dee takes the title role in Puccini’s melody-packed drama Tosca, a tale of twisted lust and bloody revenge. Here the Roman setting is suggested in spectacular sets and costumes. This time the language is Italian, again with surtitles.

Comedy

GLEE CLUB NEW YEAR’S EVE Glee Club, Oxford December 31, 7.15pm Box office: 0871 472 0400 glee.co.uk/oxford Oxford’s top comedy club features the best live comics, hand-picked from the cream of the circuit, on stage in a setting where having a great time is the order of the day for audiences and comics alike. New Year’s Eve will bring together four headline comics for an unforgettable night of live stand-up comedy. This year hosts the exuberant Charlie Baker, effortlessly engaging Andrew Bird, the multi-talented Andrew O’Neill and highly energetic Mickey Sharma. Naturally there will be the big midnight countdown followed by an after-show party until 2am. The club is laid out with theatre-style seating and tables offering the best possible view of the show, with a fully-stocked bar and a tempting food menu, you can really make a night of it.