Review: Our House (Oxford Playhouse)

Our House is a musical, written by Tim Firth, with music and lyrics by Madness. This production is by Cross Keys Productions, a University of Oxford theatre company. I was interested to see it at Oxford Playhouse, and went along to review on opening night.

The show opens with a medley of Madness music. This was a good chance to hear the band playing without distraction, and the musicians were superb. It was also good to see the musicians onstage when the curtain rose.

I personally did not have any prior knowledge of the plot in the show. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues with the sound, my theatre partner and I both missed important plot elements near the start that left us puzzling things out as the show went on and discussing them afterwards.

To begin with the sound felt a bit unbalanced as the music drowned out the vocals. But as time went on there were also frequent instances of mics not being on at the right times. Being near the front we did hear what was going on during some of these occasions, however I do wonder how people at the middle or back would have fared hearing some of the speech and song vocals, particularly during solo or duet moments. During one song there was also some quite loud interference. I suspect later in the run these issues would have been ironed out.

The vocals were helped when more cast members were on stage as any muted mics did not have so much of an impact. At times there were some gorgeous harmonies during the ensemble songs.  However, when the majority of the cast were on stage it was a bit chaotic, which can be distracting when there is too much going on. I feel like the choreography was perhaps slightly too ambitious at times. However when there were fewer people involved the movement was more coherent. There was a section in the first half where seven dancers were involved at this did look impressive.

With all of the above said, this is a student production, which has been created alongside studying at Oxford University, which is an achievement in itself. The energy and enthusiasm of everyone on the stage was maintained throughout the show, and it is good to see cast members clearly enjoying themselves.

My personal highlights included the following:

The music!

The early scene with dad (Tristan Hood) and Kath (Harriet Wilson) which brought to mind Blood Brothers, (an instant win for me). This felt authentic, the actors worked well together and these were two of my favourite characters in the show as a result of their performances. I have also read an interview on the The Oxford Student website and discovered that Harriet took on the role of Kath at short notice. This was a huge surprise to me as this was an accomplished performance.

Abbie Nott, Mia Pitts and Maisie Saunders (curtain call photo)

I loved seeing three actor-musicians (Abbie Nott, Mia Pitts and Maisie Saunders) on stage, even though they had minor roles in this show they all have great potential for an actor-muso show in future.

Alex Innes, who played Joe Casey, had the youthful energy befitting of the 16 year old character. He was on stage for the majority of the show, never once looking like he had run out of energy, whilst also managing frequent costume changes. I do not envy a two show day in that role! The way he dealt with a slight wardrobe malfunction towards the end of the show was slick.

Alex Innes in Our House (production photograph by Freddie Houlahan)

Maya Flint played Sarah effectively, her performance was strong and this character showed particularly good chemistry with Callum (Samuel Gosmore).

But for me the star of this show without any shadow of a doubt was Tristan Hood. Having seen him perform at Oxford Playhouse before, I was so pleased when he first walked on stage – and every time he appeared after that. With reliably strong vocals, and great acting skills, he held our attention every time he was visible on stage.

Curtain call photo of some of the cast of Our House.

We have a really strong programme of student theatre here in Oxford and at times I have been delighted by some of these productions. Sadly, this one fell flat for me, not helped by the sound issues and failing to grasp a key part of the plot as a result. However, it is obvious all of the performers have worked really hard and are having the best time on stage, and there is a lot to be said for that.

Curtain call photo

⭐⭐⭐

This production of Our House ran at Oxford Playhouse from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 May 2026.

If you would like to see more of my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted tickets for this show in exchange for an honest review.