There could hardly be a better city to lend itself to a bit of gothic spookiness than Oxford, and director Abigail Anderson, a graduate of Oxford University, knows that well. As she says: "The Victorian Gothic architecture of Mansfield Chapel is the ideal setting to get people in the mood for tales of gravesides, crypts, madness and murder."

She also believes that it is an opportunity to showcase some great women writers. "Women seem to have been particularly inspired by the gothic genre. We've chosen a very wide range of work, some from famous authors such as Christina Rossetti and E.Nesbit, but others, such as Joanna Baillie, are largely unknown. This will probably be the first time in 150 years that Joanna Baillie's plays will have been performed by professional actors - not since Sarah Siddons starred in them, in fact."

The show is a mixture of poetry and prose readings, songs and extracts from plays - as well as a couple of unusual ghost stories. Anderson is one of the most exciting and eclectic young directors in the UK at the moment. Recently returned from working off-Broadway, she has also worked for the RSC, the National Theatre, the Globe Theatre and Oxford's Creation Theatre Company.

Also assembled on the project are a very experienced cast. Kath Burlinson, who was recently seen in Thatcher the Musical, also boasts a PhD for work on Christina Rossetti. The rest of the cast - John Grick, Katherine Kerrow and Rebecca Mordan - have done extremely exciting work from Shakespeare to sci-fi! As Mordan says: "The unique combination of the theme, the people involved and highly atmospheric surroundings will make this a hugely memorable event."

To the credit of all involved, the proceeds from this spine-tingling show are going towards to making real life less frightening for women. The company feel strongly that rape and domestic violence are terrifyingly common occurrences today, so they are donating the profits from this production to support the London Feminist Network, in particular the Reclaim the Night march at the end of November.

Sweet Witchery is at Mansfield College Chapel at 8pm tomorrow.