New Theatre

Tuesday 9th – Friday 12th March; 7.15pm & Saturday 13th March 2pm and 8pm

“Highlights of the show most notably included a dramatic kick-back to the Seventies, with an impressive rendition of ‘Car Wash’ opening the set and culminating in a spectacular display of costumes, dance, and lighting effects, not to mention some stellar soloists.” Jennifer Kratz ★★★★★

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The Oxfordshire Gang Show ★★★★★

Review by Jennifer Kratz

The choreography was beautiful and professionally executed. The lighting effects were brilliant, and the costumes astounding. The songs were familiar and were delivered with spirit, if not always in tune. And one thing’s for certain: audience participation was at its height.

Highlights of the show most notably included a dramatic kick-back to the Seventies, with an impressive rendition of ‘Car Wash’ opening the set and culminating in a spectacular display of costumes, dance, and lighting effects, not to mention some stellar soloists.

In spite of its excellence in so many other areas, the show struggled with what is arguably one of theatre’s most basic elements: sound. Trouble with microphones was a running theme of the evening, and as a consequence not only were the voices of the chorus often faint and their words unintelligible, but often during solos several minutes passed before the singer’s voice actually broke through the sound system. Many of the spoken lines were, unfortunately, lost. Granted, there were a lot of performers on stage—in scenes such as the first major set, in which so many short lines are being tossed about chaotically among various interspersed players, efficiency with microphones is next to impossible—but it did make for a frustrating evening when, at times, whole clusters of lines were dropped.

Other technical difficulties included a screen closing down on the head of a soloist, but she recovered gracefully and still managed to finish out strong (and in tune).

But it’s all about the youth, really. There have been some exceptional performances by several of the young actors, who demonstrated the breadth of their talent through an impressive variety of acts. From Indian tribes to ‘Disco Inferno’, from ‘authentic’ Greek theatre to the modern-day musical, the Oxfordshire Gang Show promises a diversely fun, family-friendly evening for children and adults alike.

Be prepared, though: the show is fantastic, but it does run for about three hours.