News Story

Save the date! Thu 15 to Sat 17 June 2023

Offbeat Festival announces summer programme 2023:

Offbeat 2023 will take place from 15-17 June with a jam-packed, three-day festival of theatre, dance, spoken word, sound art and creative workshops.

With shows at the Old Fire Station, Oxford Playhouse and the New Theatre, as well as on Broad Street, and a whole host of workshops to join on Gloucester Green, there’s lots of ways to get involved and join the fun!

Thursday 15 June

The festival kicks off on Thursday, June 15 with Boxes, a wonderful sensory performance for babies and toddlers at the New Theatre, followed that evening by Shallow Resting Place, a tender, queer short play at the BT Studio, a double dance act at the Old Fire Station, and Electric Daisy a multi-sensory performance where you’ll be invited to taste an infusion that will make your mouth vibrate in sync with the soundscape at the Old Fire Station Studio.

Friday 16 June

On Friday, rock up to the Old Fire Station for a new feminist reimagining of humanity’s fall from grace in a highly physical and visual adaptation of Milton’s classic Paradise Lost by Mandala Young Company, followed by a Q&A, or head to the BT Studio for A Caravan Named Desire – an exploration of desire and sex work in the UK. You’ll also find a whole host of creative workshops happening on Gloucester Green during the day.

Saturday 17 June

It’s a busy line up on Saturday with a children’s climate change musical at the Old Fire Station Studio, Look Mum No Hands! a performance of theatre, movement and acrobatics on Broad Street, a story of miraculous reunions in an adaptation for Pericles at the Old Fire Station (with a second autism-friendly performance), This House Believes a musical tale of a young man from Tottenham in Oxford at the BT Studio, and a spoken-word set by local legend Rawz at the Old Fire Station.

Free Creative Workshops, 16 & 17 June

Head on down to Gloucester Green to get your creative kicks with free workshops running from 10am to 3pm on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June. You can try your hand at making a cyanotype (sun print) or paper zine, design a postcard, or join a world of unexcepted conversation, a performative workshop on migration and diaspora, or a grow-your-own puppet show!