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Take a trip down Magdalen Road and discover a little cultural gem

A visit to East Oxford is a must for anyone in search of an alternative cultural experience.

Cowley Road has become a hub of diverse entertainment from café's to boutiques but, if you confine yourself to this street alone, you could miss some of Oxford's lesser-known gems.

Walk down Magdalen Road and you'll find The Goldfish Bowl, The Inner Bookshop, The Magic Café and right at the far end Pegasus Theatre.

It's worth the effort as this little arts centre boasts some of the most exciting and thought provoking performances in the city.

Pegasus specialises in a blend of professional touring theatre, new writing for youth theatre, community group performance and the support and development of new artists and companies at the early stages of their careers. All this is crammed into a 123 seater studio where you are never more than 20 feet from the action.

Throughout the year, the theatre hosts 12 weekly ongoing projects with participants aged from 6 years to adult all working towards new theatre productions devised, scripted, choreographed, rehearsed, designed, built and run with the support of teams of professional artists and tutors. This takes place alongside, and often in collaboration with, national and international professional companies presenting inspiring, challenging and highly acclaimed, ground-breaking shows.

Dance, drama, comedy, film, family entertainment and combinations of these can be seen at Pegasus during three seasonal periods February to March, May to July and October to December. Workshops with artists and post-show talks are regular features and the theatre also boasts an Organic Bar where organic and fair trade drinks and snacks can be purchased to enjoy before, during or after events. Visitors regularly comment on the friendly atmosphere, the great shows and their determination to visit again.

Pegasus Theatre was built more than 30 years ago using funds raised by Oxford Youth Theatre (OYT), a youth drama organisation founded in the 1960's and based in a series of temporary post-war buildings that are in use by the theatre today. Oxford Youth Theatre is still based at Pegasus and the scale and scope of its work is much bigger than the dilapidated buildings can accommodate. A recently announced £2.7m grant from the National Lottery via Arts Council England towards a £6.3 m rebuilding and refurbishing project that will massively improve the facilities both backstage and front of house.

Building work will start in 2009, finishing in 2010, so there's still plenty of opportunity until then to enjoy a unique theatrical experience.

You can find out more about Pegasus Theatre its events, activities and opportunities to get involved, including the building plans, at www.pegasustheatre.org.uk

2:00pm Wednesday 2nd January 2008

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