Fifth Week blues are a cliché, but a reality for many of us. While others drown them in a night at Shark End, or shun them altogether on the first train home, Oxford’s thesps would rather beguile them with a trip to the theatre. You may already have done so at The Invention Of Love. Now renowned as the most expensive student production ever, it’s also had the largest ever amount of private funding. With a cast that seems to originate entirely from a (fairly) comprehensive school near Slough, this may not come as a surprise, but did they live up to the hype? You have until Saturday night to find out.
If you’re reading this in 6th Week, however, there are far more chances to improve your mood. Oxford comedy giants go head to head, as the Imps and the Revue take a double slot at the Burton Taylor. We’ll have to wait and see whether Imps producer Chris Turner will combine his backstage support with onstage success, but we hear he’s surprisingly funny. The Revue’s Jess Edwards, on the other hand, will doubtless come blinking into the stage lights after a week locked in darkened rooms editing this term’s edition of The Isis.
Where did all these journo-thesps come from? Cherwell’s Antonia Tam, Theo Merz and Harry Phillips have been associated with some of the biggest shows in Oxford theatre, while OxStu deputies Anoosh Chakelian and Adam Bouyamourn have notched up five Shakespearean roles between them. Their actual Drama editor seem to be a different breed altogether, defined by an inner conflict between the actor and the journalist: to miss out on James Corrigan’s trip to the Bahamas, Mr. Maltby, may be regarded as misfortune; to print his holiday diary looks like vicariousness.
Another holiday destination, Spain, is the source of Blood Wedding, a 7th week show for which directors Brittany ‘Catherine Tate’ Ashworth and Ellen ‘very sad’ Jones have secured the services of music hack Genevieve Dawson composer. After playing Anita in Michaelmas term’s West Side Story, Dawson was last seen at the Globe Theatre handing out business cards. What this talented trio will do to Lorca’s tale of honour, grief and rebellion is anyone’s guess, but Alex Khosla’s appearance should ensure a female rush for tickets – even if he isn’t getting topless this time.
