Le Navet Bete presents King Arthur, as part of a Summer of Family Fun at Oxford Playhouse

Oxford Playhouse is pleased to welcome award-winning company Le Navet Bete for their legendary comedy, King Arthur which headlines a summer of onstage family fun.

The show plays on the Main Stage from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 July, joining a line-up of family entertainment featuring Zog and the Flying Doctors, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and Pinocchio.

For those audiences who enjoy the silliness and theatricality of panto, they’re in for a real treat with the Panto Award-nominated physical theatre company’s King Arthur. Internationally acclaimed Le Navet Bete – made up of theatremakers Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman – have earned a reputation as one of the UK’s leading theatre companies, creating work for all ages that showcase their creative and engaging storytelling.

Following their smash hits Dracula: The Bloody Truth, The Three Musketeers: A Comedy Adventure and numerous much-loved pantomimes, they are now back with King Arthur, which has been touring to packed out houses at some of the UK’s most prominent theatres.

Teaming up with one of the UK theatre’s best comedy writers and directors, Olivier Award-nominated John Nicholson (The Time Machine: A Comedy), this brand-new show is a laugh-out-loud retelling of the Arthurian legends. A comedy for the whole family, Le Navet Bete will have audiences crying with laughter and becoming part of the legend themselves!

Camelot is in trouble. King Arthur knows that if he doesn’t turn things around, this civilisation will be forgotten and be known as nothing more than a rather dull time in British history. But when three hapless squires approach him about changing that legacy…a legend is born.

More family delights can be found on The Playhouse stage this summer with Freckle Productions’ adaptation of Zog and the Flying Doctors, the bestselling sequel from esteemed picture book duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Returning to the Main Stage after roar-some success, Zog and his crew are back with their irresistible offering of toe-tapping tunes and vivid storytelling.

The loveable dragon joins his Flying Doctor crew, Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout as they go on an adventure across the land tending to a sunburnt mermaid, a unicorn with one too many horns and a lion with the flu. Proving princesses can be doctors too, this modern take on a beloved book is brought to life with vibrant music from internationally acclaimed Joe Stilgoe (Zog, The Jungle Book)

Multi-rolling as Gadabout and Doctor, Zog and the Flying Doctors includes Oxford-born actor Edward Conroy. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and NYMT. Credits include Dick Whittington (The Attic Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon), Legend Trippers (The Other Palace), The Beautiful Game (The Other Palace), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK Tour), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour).

Judith Kerr’s celebrated big cat is also back on the Oxford Playhouse stage this summer in the Olivier Award-nominated show The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Direct from entertaining West End audiences, everybody’s favourite tea-guzzling tiger makes a surprise visit to Sophie and her mum in this delightful musical play adapted and directed by renowned children’s dramatist David Wood. Packed with oodles of magic, sing-along songs and clumsy chaos, this stunning smash-hit show is not to be missed.

A big show for small people, Stuff and Nonsense presents their adaptation of Pinocchio. Taking the charming classic tale, the theatre company have va va voomed it into a hugely entertaining theatrical treat, full of new twists and surprises. Expect hilarity, skilled puppetry, original music, fantastic staging, and extraordinary physical tricks. Directed by Niki McCretton, with music by Dom Coyote and additional music by Tim Dalling, the creative team has created a fun show to be enjoyed by all ages. Pinocchio follows in the footsteps of the company’s previous successes: The Gingerbread Man, The Man Who Wanted to be a Penguin, The Little Red Hen, The Enormous Turnip, 3 Little Pigs, and Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.

Tickets at Oxford Playhouse start from £14 and are available from Box Office: 01865 305305 or book online at www.oxfordplayhouse.com

ENDS