Comedy

SARA PASCOE AND MARY BOURKE Tonight 8pm The Mill Theatre, Banbury Call 01295 279002 or visit themillart centre.co.uk If you want to escape Christmas for a while, here’s a double bill of female comics. Sara, regular star of Channel 4’s Stand Up For The Week, is an accomplished writer, gifted actress and original comic who aims to have you in hysterics as part of the Mill’s new comedy club night in which she’s: “a master at fusing silliness and intelligence.” Mary, the award-winning Irish comic who presents her ‘contrarians’ guide to 21st-century life’, covers it all from Mumsnet to Fifty Shades of Grey with her no-holds-barred humour.

Puppetry/poetry

HIDDEN SPIRE Tonight and tomorrow Old Fire Station, Oxford Call 01865 263988 or visit oldfirestation.org.uk On a more benevolent note, Crisis Skylight Oxford and Arts at the Old Fire Station stage Hidden Spire to mark the first birthday of the newly-refurbished Old Fire Station in George Street.

The show involves performers and homeless people in a groundbreaking new piece with acting, puppetry, dance, poetry and music.

Drama

WHAT THE DICKENS?

Until December 30 Pegasus, Oxford Call 01865 812150 or visit pegasustheatre.org Pegasus’ Dickens experience begins as soon as you enter, with audiences immersed in an interactive Victorian world of historical and fictional characters as prelude. The show itself features a young Dickens, a rookie reporter investigating a world of pocked pickpockets, cobwebby convicts, teeming slums, dark secrets and lots and lots of fog.

Pantomime

DICK WHITTINGTON Oxford Playhouse Until January 13 Call 01865 305305 or visit oxfordplayhouse.com A must-see if you haven’t booked Christmas theatre tickets yet. Packed with mischief, colourful characters and toe-tapping tunes, I can vouch for this hilarious performance, thanks to the brilliant Dame Doris Donut, King Rat and The Dictator. Haphazard and charming.

Pantomime

CINDERELLA The Theatre, Chipping Norton Until January 6 Call 01608 642 350 or chippingnortontheatre.com It’s all go as The Theatre marks 40 years of world-famous Chipping Norton panto, with a sumptuous Cinderella. Set in Venice, this rags-to-riches tale has lost none of its magic as the theatre is transformed in its entirety for the lavish production. But don’t panic, all the traditions are still in place, from the fairytale storyline with ugly sisters, handsome princes and glass slippers, to the dose of laughter, sweets and songs.

Pantomime

WHERE’S FATHER CHRISTMAS?

Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford Until December 30 Call 01865 305305 or visit oxfordplayhouse.com If you take your little ones to anything, take them to this interactive show to join Father Christmas in the wrapping room for stories and activities… if you can find him! That’s right, the big man has gone AWOL so help find him! For children aged three to six and families, book now because this is selling out fast.