Oxford Playhouse is thrilled to host Ruby Wax as she takes the Main Stage in her rawest, darkest, funniest and most compelling show yet, in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Cultural Programme. After a sell-out first run, Ruby will tour to Oxford on Thursday 10 October.

This performance marks the first collaboration between the leading regional venue and the Cultural Programme and is the opening event in an eclectic 'Adventures in Consciousness' Season produced by the Cultural Programme. The team has been presenting events across the city building anticipation for the opening of their new home, The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, next year.

In I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was, Ruby reflects back on a series of life-changing journeys she took in search of meaning – swimming with humpback whales; embarking on a 30-day silent retreat in California; joining a Christian monastery – that ended up taking her in a very different direction. After ten years, Ruby’s depression resurfaced, and at the start of 2022 she was admitted to a mental health clinic.

“The original idea behind this show was based on the extreme journeys that I wanted to take in order to find an antidote to living a frazzled life. Along the way I wanted to find meaning, peace, happiness – the stuff we’re all chasing. However, after some transcendent experiences, I ended up in a mental institution. Obviously, I didn’t find what I was looking for.”

Directed by Alison Summers, the show sees Ruby subvert our stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding mental health and happiness in her most honest, compelling and vulnerable performance yet.

Ruby Wax is a successful comedian, TV writer and performer of over 25 years. Ruby additionally holds a Masters’ degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy from the University of Oxford and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her services to mental health. To date, Ruby has sold over one million copies of her books worldwide. She is the author of books Sane New World and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled and has toured all over the world with the accompanying one-woman shows. Both books have reached the number one spot on the Sunday Times bestsellers list, along with a third book, How to Be Human: The Manual. In March 2017 she launched Frazzled café in partnership with Marks & Spencer and held daily sessions online at Frazzled.org during the coronavirus lockdown.

I’m Not as Well as I Thought I Was is produced by Impatient Productions, with set design by Bob Crowley, sound design by Eleanor Isherwood, and lighting design by Matt Eagland.

Based in the performance and public spaces in the new Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, The Cultural Programme brings together local, university and global cultural communities in a physical and digital cultural offer, inspired by the University of Oxford’s research.