The line-up of acts is extensive and so is the range of performances - from Friday June 22 to Sunday 30 June Offbeat Festival will be hosting an array of productions including theatre, comedy, dance, storytelling, music, circus acts, and even some politics thrown in there. Hitting the Oxford scene in 2016 Oxford Playhouse and Old Fire Station are once again revving up for a weekend of high profile names and up and coming acts.
Ahead of the festival the various theatre companies, directors, writers, and performers got together to talk about what’s on. The Ocelot got the low-down on some of the performances to look out for.
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Last Words - Anna Glynn[/caption]
Last Words is new piece of theatre about the experiences of real people. Based on a series of interviews with local people about r loved ones they’ve memorialised, this intimate and surprising little show will play in Oxford for two days prior to a tour of outdoor arts festivals next year.
Traffik is an immersive, one on one experience set in a nail bar, concerning the issue of human trafficking. In a personalised 15 minute appointment, the girls at Abdul’s Nails will give you a glimpse of their not-so-glossy lives and the stories that bought them here.
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Beneath the Blue Rinse[/caption]
This outrageous new comedy exposes how our society views and treats older people, exploding stereotypes and questioning our so-called ‘care system’. The play centres around the charismatic, passionate, 75 year old Flora, her gentle, yet determined 72 year old toy boy George, and an unscrupulous salesman, Simon Sudgebury.
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Victim[/caption]
A dangerously alluring power struggle in a women’s prison. Each time you think you know where you’re going the rug is swept out from under you. Dark but with compelling humour
A real life story of Greg who was put into an induced coma for over two weeks. As part of his rehab, he wrote down his dreams and experiences, which have been turned into a play by Oxford based writer/director Miriam Higgins. Dreamscape is a surreal, uplifting play about the struggle for survival and trying to catch a train home. Saturday, 30 June at 4pm at Old Fire Station.
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Everything Is Going To Be KO[/caption]
Everything Is Going To Be KO is a one-woman show exploring dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD. When Kaiya Stone was studying at Oxford University, she failed an exam and discovered she had specific learning difficulties. This is a call to arms for a movement that questions the way we are “supposed” to think and demand we do better for everyone.
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Hoot Owl Master of Disguise c. Proon Productions[/caption]
Hoot Owl Master of Disguise is a celebration of the award-winning book of the same name which tells the story of a mischievous bird with a talon to amuse. He plans to use his cunning disguised to gobble up some tiny animals and thus gain entry to the esteemed Owl Parliament. The show has interactive humour for children and adults, impressive puppets, animation and an original score of toe-tapping tunes to get you on your feet - including one show-stopper performed by a pigeon-headed Elvis.
Mandala Company’s production is full of dance, song, martial arts and live music and is deep, moving and entertaining. In a world where gang violence, knife crime, betrayal, loss and power are so current – Mandala Young Company embody this world, they are migrants, immigrants, refugees as well as British born and bred, they reflect it and challenge it. They are young people who know what it means to be outsiders, to be watched, searched, put under surveillance 24/7 by the God’s of today - CCTV. You wouldn’t want to miss it!!
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Free Willy[/caption]
As a child, Oxford-based writer and comedian, Dom O’Keefe loved Free Willy (the film). Around the same time Dom’s family adopted their cousin, now his brother, and the story of a little boy who gets adopted while returning a killer whale to his family in the ocean really resonated. Now Dom is retelling the story through hilarious sketches, multimedia projections, and edge-of-your-seat audience interaction from the perspective of the whale.
For further information, the full line-up and to purchase tickets, click here.
