A comedy of the American Dream
	10:00am Thu 28 Aug 08
	A.S.H. SMYTH talks to Loudon Wainwright III who has written the music for the stage version of Lucky You at the Oxford Playhouse "Two crazed rednecks, one long-legged waitress, A sexy veterinarian, $28m. People will believe anything (. . . and they did)"

	High School Musical: New Theatre
	3:15pm Wed 27 Aug 08
	Disney's High School Musical has a big reputation to live up to hereabouts. Last summer, 200 local youngsters took part in a highly successful Stage Experience production of the show at the New Theatre. Five performances (the maximum allowed by law) sold out immediately, and those lucky enough to get tickets are unlikely to forget the magic buzz that was created between performers and audience. Now a professional touring production has arrived in town - most unusually, Disney allowed amateurs first bite at the cherry.

	The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare's Globe, Bodleian Quad,
	4:45pm Wed 20 Aug 08
	On a scale of one to ten of spectacular venues, the Bodleian Library Quad has to score 11. It is known that Shakespeare's company played in Oxford (though probably in tavern yards rather than the Bodleian!) so there was a real sense of history about the evening, especially as the library had put on display editions of Shakespeare's First Folio. Part of the Playhouse Plays Out season, Shakespeare's Globe production of The Winter's Tale (until tonight) must be one of the jewels of this excellent project.

	The Wind in the Willows: OFS Studio, Oxford
	3:52pm Wed 13 Aug 08
	It's too politically incorrect for many people to risk championing the joys of the motor car these days. If Jeremy Clarkson is too busy, it may be necessary to call upon the services of a hyperactive cross-dressing toad on the run from the law.

	Plaza Suite, The Mill at Sonning
	3:46pm Wed 13 Aug 08
	Playwright Neil Simon was still in the first of his five marriages when he penned this bitter-sweet triptych, set in a New York hotel, so perhaps not all the world-weariness of this 1968 work about the pitfalls of relationships can be attributed to his own experience.

	Bugsy Malone, New Theatre
	2:33pm Wed 13 Aug 08
	If only, instead of letting rip with an Uzi amid a flurry of four-letter curses, gangsters these days would squirt each other with splurge guns', uttering epithets no stronger than "You dumb salami!" In this Stage Experience production, the guns lacked the gloopy firepower of the 1976 film by Alan Parker - they sprayed a fine mist of foam, accompanied by a demure 'fizz' - but the performances more than made up for the weapons' weak calibre. While the theatre was, inevitably, packed with relatives for the opening night, the cast deserved the whoops and applause.

	Born in the Gardens: The Oxford Playhouse
	2:22pm Wed 13 Aug 08
	'Hallo Les," says Maud to the small television screen. "How are you? Do you like my hair? You've got to keep it up, that's the only trouble with this aphrodisiac style." Maud has long been in the habit of aiming her malapropisms at those who appear on the goggle box in front of her.

	Gertrude's Secret: The Oxford Playhouse
	4:04pm Wed 6 Aug 08
	Ragbag: my dictionary defines the word as "a collection of widely different things". The description fits Gertrude's Secret, a collection of ten monologues written by Benedick West. Presented by Pure Bedlam Productions and directed by Andrew Loudon, the monologues staged vary from performance to performance, so you may not necessarily see all those described below.
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	David Tennant stars as Hamlet, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
	4:00pm Wed 6 Aug 08
	Gregory Doran's productions are always distinguished for visual elegance and narrative clarity. Both virtues are in evidence in Hamlet, his most ambitious and high-profile work to date. The resources of the cavernous Courtyard Theatre are exploited to the full. Surround sound, astonishing light effects and unexpected movement are combined with often surprising, but always audible, delivery of familiar lines and words, all put to the service of large scale dramatic effect. As a theatrical experience it is magnificent. The starry cast all live up their reputations, and there are many fresh 'takes' on familiar lines and speeches, yielding new insights. Earlier placement of "To be, or not to be", and Claudius's physical siezing of huge lamps even as he calls for 'Lights' are just two among many examples.

	Playwright Peter Nichols on revival of his Born in the Gardens at the Oxford Playhouse
	3:45pm Wed 6 Aug 08
	'They're glad to see the back of him," playwright Peter Nichols explained cheerfully, as he described the recently deceased father figure in his comedy Born in the Gardens. "He built and ran a business called Cleansweep, it was a brush company like Kleeneze. It became a very successful local business, so they live in this great fake Tudor house in Bristol.

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