* It’s no wonder the unlikely tale of 11 WI members posing naked for an annual calendar became a theatrical sensation: Calendar Girls is a modern classic, and for a limited time the rights to the play have been granted to amateur theatre groups across the country. Check out a great rendition by local theatre group Jigsaw Theatre, who will be performing at Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot today and tomorrow. The play starts at 7.45pm and tickets cost £13.50. Visit cornerstone-arts.org or call 01325 515144.

* A 1929 murder story featuring two wealthy and priveleged Oxford undergraduates arrives thrillingly close to home in a performance of Patrick Hamilton’s world famous Rope at Oxford’s Old Fire Station. The gripping play, both philosophically challenging and characteristically captivating, sees the pair of killers serve a dinner party on a makeshift table – the chest in which their victim is concealed. Troika Theatre present this recital, which runs from this evening at 8pm until Saturday. Tickets cost £12. Call the Playhouse box office on 01865 305305 or book online at oldfirestation.org.uk

* Another classic drama is showing at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon. J.M. Barrie’s The Admirable Crichton demonstrates how ingenuity doesn’t always pair up with reputation; it pits a family of haughty British aristocrats on a desert island, shipwrecked and accompanied only by their efficient butler. The satirical play pokes fun at the tightly regulated social structure of Victorian England and is wittily restored by the Studio Theatre Club. It closes on Saturday evening. Tickets are £8.50. Email tickets@studiotheatreclub.com or call 01865 778105.

* Keble Arts Festival continues through this week until Saturday, so be sure to check out a rib-tickling night of live comedy tomorrow evening from 7.30pm. Student stand-ups will talk at you extensively about mermaids, 90s kids TV and aeroplane food in the chilled out confines of Keble College Cafe – it’s a free event and all are welcome.

* To celebrate the beginning of Arts Week in May, the North Wall Theatre in Summertown present a creepy crawly workshop for kids that’s absolutely free. Brilliant Beasties Shadow Puppetry encourages children to explore the ancient art of shadow puppetry by making their own puppets before presenting them in magical shadow shows behind an illuminated screen. Just drop in to the theatre between 10am and 12pm on Saturday, May 4, to join the fun.