Bucks &amp; Oxon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="600" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-119261" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308-360x216.jpg 360w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308-720x432.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308-150x90.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-the-set--e1628749998308-875x525.jpg 875w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Just back from taking my children into the Oxfordshire countryside for a picnic performance of Mr Stink, courtesy of <a href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Chipping Norton Theatre (opens in a new tab)">Chipping Norton Theatre</a>. I&#8217;d forgotten just how fantastic it is to watch live theatre (well, there&#8217;s been no reviewing for 18 months!) and be a passenger in something creative. 



Chipping Norton Theatre, like so many other brilliant regional spaces, has had to battle massively during Covid to keep going, and inventive outdoor performances like this will be an early godsend in the battle to fill the box office coffers. 



The show is really aimed at younger kids (my 12 year old was very much at the tipping point of the scale) and the venue choice was perfect for them &#8211; a stunning valley at Cornbury Park, near Charlbury, where they could bomb around during the interval and roly-poly down the hill while their parents sat in deck chairs and nursed a coffee or beer. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-119259" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside-360x270.jpg 360w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside-667x500.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-kids-runnking-in-countryside-700x525.jpg 700w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



A cast of five sang, acted and occasionally battled with the odd technical difficulty like intermittent microphones on a simple stage in a fast-paced show that told the story of the friendship between a tramp called Mr Stink and a lonely 12 year old girl Chloe Crumb, ignored by her mother and sister and bullied at school. The production comes via Leamington-based <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk/about-company/" target="_blank">Heartbreak Productions </a>whose mantra is to &#8216;tell stories that inspire, entertain, challenge and help us come to a better understanding of&#8230; how we can live together&#8217; so there was an element of lesson learning too &#8211; what it meant to be a bully and why they might act that way; why people are wary of homeless people and why they shouldn&#8217;t be; how a family needs to support and love each other, no matter their differences. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set-.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-119264" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set-.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set--360x270.jpg 360w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set--667x500.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set--150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Mr-Stink-set--700x525.jpg 700w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



The trick to any show like this, with so many youngsters in the audience, is the participation so &#8216;Mr Stink&#8217; mingled with the kids in the picnic space before the show started, and there was almost a panto vibe with questions cast directly at the kids &#8211; &#8216;Do you want Chloe to read what&#8217;s in her diary?&#8217; 



The show wasn&#8217;t seamless &#8211; my experience is that outdoor theatre never is &#8211; but it was a charming, inventive way to while away a beautiful evening in the countryside. 



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As a touring production, Mr Stink is now <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="zipping off around the country (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk/show/mr-stink/" target="_blank">zipping off around the country</a> (next stop London, then Sussex, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire Cornwall&#8230;), but if this has whetted your appetite for live performance, check out Chipping Norton Theatre&#8217;s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="upcoming shows (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on" target="_blank">upcoming shows</a>. Highlights for me are <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Curtain Raisers (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/curtain-raisers" target="_blank">Curtain Raisers</a> (28-29 Aug) by Opera della Luna, a double bill of two short operettas by Sullivan and Offenbach; my favourite comedian <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Phil Wang (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/phil-wang" target="_blank">Phil Wang</a> (9 Sept); <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/dear-zoo" target="_blank">Dear Zoo</a> (22-23 Sept); <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Not Lady Chatterley's Lover (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/not-lady-chatterleys-lover" target="_blank">Not Lady Chatterley&#8217;s Lover</a> (26 Sept; a parody of the DH Lawrence novel &#8211; unsurprisingly 16+!); and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Richard Osman (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/the-man-who-died-twice" target="_blank">Richard Osman</a> talking about The Man Who Died Twice at ChipLipFest&#8230;. and I could go on. 



Most of the shows are two nights max so there&#8217;s a huge rolling feast of theatrics. And don&#8217;t worry, as Autumn weather rolls in, you can ditch your blanket and deckchair for the comfort of your Chippy Theatre sprung chair. 



More about <a href="https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/whats-on/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="What's On (opens in a new tab)">What&#8217;s On</a> at Chipping Norton Theatre.

The sweet smell of success for Mr Stink

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