A new eco-fairytale pantomime that reimagines Snow White for the digital age, with dance, song and comedy for ages 5 and over.
Snow White opens at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday 20 November and runs through to Sunday 3 January 2027. It's a brand-new pantomime written by Sarah Henley — her first for the Playhouse — and directed by Artistic Director Mike Tweddle, who's also directing the venue's panto for the first time. The music is by Caolan McCarthy.
It's not the fairy tale you'll remember from childhood. The story is set in West Oxford Wood, the kingdom's last remaining enchanted forest, and reimagines the tale for the digital age: the vain Queen Narcissa controls a world of image-enhancing technology, and her daughter Snow stands against her, aided by her AI mirror assistant MiRi. It's billed as an eco-fairytale that swaps dusty tropes for lively, locally rooted comedy, with a scene-stealing pig, a glamorous villain and a rebellious eco-warrior heroine.
The cast is Eliza Bowden as Snow White, Corrina Buchan as Queen Narcissa, Duane Gooden as Panto Dame Marigold, Niyi Bammodu as Hunter, Elliot Gooch as Elijah, Alex Roberts as MiRi, and Izzie Winter as Ivy, with Jay Albray and Erin Dallas in the ensemble. A Panto Young Company of local 11-15-year-olds also stars, and the cast was partly recruited through a local actors' call-out that drew 260 applications. The stage management and the band are Oxfordshire locals too.
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It runs on the Main Stage for two hours and twenty minutes with an interval, and is recommended for ages five and over. Opening night is 7:00pm on 20 November, and there's a captioned performance on Saturday 2 January at 6:00pm.
