Oxford Panto 2026: Snow White, 20 Nov to 3 Jan

Oxford’s pantomime this year is Snow White at Oxford Playhouse, running from Friday 20 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. It is written by Sarah Henley and directed by the Playhouse’s artistic director, Mike Tweddle. It runs 2 hours 20 minutes including an interval, and is billed for ages 5 to 105.

There are 69 performances, and they are not priced the same. Which night you pick is the single biggest lever on what you pay, so the full schedule with its price bands is below.

Is there a panto at the New Theatre too

No. The New Theatre Oxford has no pantomime this year. Its Christmas run is Annie, from 15 December 2026 to 2 January 2027, which is a musical rather than a panto: no dame, no audience boos. The rest of its December is one-night shows, including Anton at Christmas on 11 December and Greg Davies on 12 and 13 December.

So if you want an actual pantomime in the city, the Playhouse is it.

The story

Snow is up against Queen Narcissa and her all-knowing mirror, MiRi. The Playhouse has set it in “the enchanted West Oxford Wood”, where “ancient forest magic meets a world of image-enhancing technology”, and the queen wants to mine the forest for a magical resource that preserves her beauty. Cast has not been announced.

Price bands, and the cheap nights

The Playhouse sorts performances into four bands. It does not publish a fixed price table, and prices move with demand, but the band tells you which direction they move in.

• Off-Peak is the cheapest public band. There are only 12 of them: the last weekend in November, three weekday evenings in early December, and all four performances in the first weekend of January.
• Peak covers 32 performances, which is every weekend in December and the whole Christmas and New Year week.
• Seasonal Special covers the 4 early performances, 20, 21 and 25 November plus the dementia friendly matinee on 9 December.
• Schools Performance covers 21 daytime shows and is not a general public band.

The pattern is simple. If you can go before the end of November or after New Year, you are in the cheap half of the run. If you want a Saturday in December, you are paying peak.

Access performances

Two of the eight are schools performances, so the general-public options are narrower than the list looks. Touch tours are booked separately and are meant for visually impaired or neurodivergent customers.

Booking, fees and discounts

• Box office: 01865 305305, or boxoffice@oxfordplayhouse.com. In person Monday to Saturday, 12pm to 6pm, plus an hour before curtain on performance days. Closed Sundays and bank holidays except before a performance.
• Booking fee: £2.75 per transaction on the main stage, not per ticket, and not refundable. Waived for Friends, Patrons, 14-25 members, access patrons and school or group bookings.
• Concessions: under 18s, full-time university students, NHS staff, Equity members and Universal Credit claimants.
• Groups: 10 per cent off for 10 or more tickets, 20 per cent off for 40 or more.
• Schools: £15 a ticket, with one free teacher place per 10 booked.
• Babies: free lap tickets for under 18 months, maximum two per booking, bookable online or through the box office.
• Exchanges: same show only, seven days’ notice, £2.50 a ticket. Tickets are not refundable unless the show is cancelled or postponed.

The group discount is worth checking against the band. Ten tickets at 10 per cent off a peak Saturday will still cost more than ten full-price seats on an off-peak Friday.

Every performance, with its band

Getting there

Oxford Playhouse is on Beaumont Street, OX1 2LW, a few minutes’ walk from Gloucester Green and about 10 minutes from the station. Beaumont Street parking is metered and scarce, and the Christmas market on Broad Street pulls the same crowds into the same streets from 21 November, so a matinee on a December Saturday is the worst possible combination for driving in. Park and ride tariffs are on our parking page, and live closures are on our roadworks and travel page.

Sources

• Oxford Playhouse, Panto 2026: Snow White, run dates, age guidance, running time, creative team and access performances
• Oxford Playhouse performance schedule and price bands, read from the theatre’s own live booking data, 5 September 2026
• Oxford Playhouse, booking information, fees, concessions and group rates
• New Theatre Oxford what’s on, checked 5 September 2026