THEATRE: The Nutcracker and The Mouse King

By ETA Hoffman Presented by Cornerstone in association with Goblin At Cornerstone, Didcot until Saturday 30th December 2017 From the white cubist gallery alongside the theatre where you can see costume and set designs, you head into Cornerstone’s intimate theatre space for a magical journey within a colourful toyshop, tones beautifully with both Christmas cheer …

Where the Grass is Greener: December 2017

The Significant Other is building a Significant collection of whiskies – to the slight consternation of my parents who fear that this may precipitate a dastardly downward spiral of depression, mean-drunkenness and incurable liver disease. However, I think it’s the lack of a collection that could lend itself to this kind of downfall. Last week, …

ART: An Artweeks Advent: churches, wonders, and a wheel for a wild child

As part of the Artweeks Christmas season, artist studios and Christmas art offer you the chance to choose unique and inventive gifts without any risk of duplication. In Shipton-on-Cherwell, for example, the canal-side Holy Cross Church near Kidlington is hosting an art event (11:00am-4:00pm; 2nd & 3rd Dec) with ceramics, jewellery, painting, photography, and other …

THEATRE: A Christmas Carol

by Creation Theatre, Directed by Gari Jones At The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford until 6th January 2018 A Christmas Carol is a story we all think we know, a story that catapulted the Christmas we know today from Dickens’ pen into popular culture, or in part at least, and woe betide anyone who changes …

FAMILY: Tasty temptations at Christmas time

Think Christmas market and you’re instantly transported to Bavarian wooden stalls with the scent of mulled wine, sausages on rolls and gingerbread wafting between the candles and Christmas decorations that adorn each stall beneath magical fairy-lights. And from the 7th to the 17th of December, you can enjoy the festive cheer and spice of a …

FAMILY: A literary Christmas in Oxford

We expect your children have written to Father Christmas with suggestions about the toy or two which would make them most happy later in their stockings later this month and you’ve watched them send these missives letters to Santa, left overnight on the hearth, despatched via Royal Mail to the polar post-box or using the …

FAMILY: Christmas Escapism – from beneath the floorboards to the clouds above

Whilst our children are excitedly dreaming about what they’ll find at the end of their beds on Christmas morning, we’re dreaming up way to keep them entertained in the days between the end of the school term and Christmas itself – other than the annual trip to Uncle Graham’s and the daunting task of The …

TEENS: When Christmas was Cancelled

After the death of King Charles the First during the civil war in the seventeenth century, England was ruled by a strict Puritan government led by Oliver Cromwell. His ‘Roundhead’ supporters were anti-royalist and fought against monarchy and the absolute right of a king over his people. They wanted instead to install a parliamentary democracy. …

TEENS: Christmas Island

Is Christmas Island A magical place lit by colourful Northern Lights, where elves in warm red and green suits work all year round in toy factories, wrapping and minding Santa’s reindeer. An icy island close to the North Pole where it snows 300 days of the year, which can be reached only by ship in …

KIDS: The Story of the Nutcracker

Once upon a Christmas Eve, a little girl called Clara was at a party at home in her grand house. The room was decorated with sparkling lights, a fire burnt brightly and colourful presents were piled high beneath the Christmas tree. There was a knock at the door and one more guest came in from …