I spent this week darting around town on my bicycle to get some of the theatrical fare on offer at Oxfringe and it was well worth the effort. The first show I went to was in the Old Library at the University Church – transformed into galleried theatre space. Neither One Thing Nor The Other, by Rio Fanning, comprised two very contrasting one-act pieces giving a philosophical take on life and death. Hoo’s on First, performed by Gerard Robinson, was a complex exploration of self-discovery, while in I’m Rangers Till I Die, Rio Fanning hilariously played an undertaker covertly listening to the Rangers match while trying to conduct a funeral booking.

Darting round to The Corner Club next, I climbed up many, many stairs to see the Turl Street Story Tellers unravelling the mystery of Brenda Goes Missing – a fun piece of interactive detective work where the audience were allowed to ask questions to get clues and vote on who we thought had done it. I got it wrong. but Ihad a great laugh guessing!

More laughs were to be had at the Old Brewery Gate where The Haunted Moustache (pictured) beguiled and amused as David Bramwell wove a tale of his adventures with clairvoyants, charlatans, freaks, and archivists as he delved into the mystery of why his great aunt had bequeathed him a moustache. With the help of slides, extracts and home-made film this gifted performer kept us riveted by his extraordinary tales.

Back to the Old Library for How to Die in a Domestic Environment which was a properly weird fringe show – and that is meant as a compliment. Written by Nancy Walsh, it was quirky and intriguing. Set in four connected back gardens the cast bring to life Edie the fantasist, sexy Lady Luck who keeps a pet man, a drunk haunted by his past, and a pair of women who sit and eat fairy cakes – all are separate but also somehow connected.

With Isobel’s War we were back to more traditional fare. It’s an evocative telling of life on the canal during the war years, performed and written by Kate Saffin, from the perspective of a young Oxford woman keen to ‘do her bit’ for the war effort. It was a really enjoyable way to learn more about ‘the Cut’.

The festival lasts until Bank Holiday Monday and because of the quality of the shows I have seen so far I definitely will be seeing more.