Monday 19th January 2026

Culture

‘Songs, skits, and a third thing beginning with S’: Jack McMinn in conversation

If there’s one thing I believe Oxford’s theatre scene is missing, it’s a button-down-shirt-wearing ex-zoology student with a penchant for writing songs about Pret A Manger.

The Oxford art calendar: Hilary 2026

Oxford’s frosty Hilary term is best spent looking at new exhibitions. This art calendar will guide you through some of the upcoming highlights.

‘Beautifully we may rot’: ‘Madame La Mort’ in review

In a small, black-painted room on the top floor of a pub in Islington, known as The Hope Theatre, Madame La Mort was staged for the public for the first time.

Damaging detachment: Reflections on the Booker Prize 

This Christmas vac, I made up my mind to get out of my reading slump using the Booker Prize shortlist, revealing toxic masculinity as a key theme.

‘A Familiar Friend’ review: “a masterful intensity”

Shamika Tamhane highly recommends 'A Familiar Friend' at the Michael Pilch studio

Lady in the Sheets review – ‘powerful and horrible but comic for all the wrong reasons’

Amber Sidney-Woollett says 'Lady in The Sheets' should leave the laughs at the door and stick to emotional impact

Intruder and Seven Princesses review -‘Twisted and ghoulish delight’

Charles Britton is won over by the plays' disturbing horror

The right production but the wrong play

The production is imaginative but the choice of play is inappropriate and bizarre, writes Susannah Goldsbrough

The Lieutenant of Inishmore review – ‘fast moving and extremely funny’

Whip-smart dialogue ensures this black comedy leaves its mark

An improbable journey to the East

Sam Dalrymple reflects on mundanity and self-discovery in Bouvier’s The Way of the World

‘Lights Over Tesco Carpark’ review – “equal parts inspired and bonkers”

Charles Britton is abducted by laughter in 'Lights Over Tesco Carpark'

Reconsidering the Lobster: Wallace’s Dostoyevsky

David Foster Wallace cuts to the core of what makes Dostoyevsky invaluable, writes Barney Pite.

Five Minutes With… John Livesey

This week we chat to John Livesey, the manager of Klaxon Productions

Confessions of a Drama Queen 4: I meet my Romeo

In the next instalment of 'Confessions of a Drama Queen', our eponymous diarist becomes infatuated with a fellow thespian

The opening of a closed cultural world

One combative poem has a lot to reveal about the place of artists under Soviet rule, Charlie Baker writes

Preview: Lady in the Sheets – “chaotic, hilarious, uncomfortable”

Jimi Cullen is excited by the potential of 'Lady in the Sheets'

Project 1917: The revolution will be tweeted

The historical Project 1917 is bringing new life to the Russian Revolution, writes Lucy Enderby

A beautiful, entrancing mess of an album – with a piercing social critique

Clementine produces an sophomore album far from easy listening, writes Clara Dijkstra

‘Random’ review – ‘Nuanced and fresh’

Kitty Horsfall admires the cohesion of the different elements of this performance

‘Death and the Maiden’ – ‘Intimately, excruciatingly personal’

As part of our look back on the Russian Revolution, Izzy Smith admires Dorfman’s complex but visceral examination of the aftermath of revolution in his play Death and the Maiden

In search of originality? Retreat into cinema’s monochrome past

It is a truth universally acknowledged that commercial filmmaking has recently entered a new phase of life. Countless articles and blogs bemoan the lack...

Confessions of a Drama Queen: A Change of Career

Under-appreciated in her own time not only as an actress but also as a reviewer, our melodramatic fresher is driven to desperation, even considering writing for Cherwell.

Assassination attempts amid the violence that tore Kingston apart

The first book written by a Jamaican to win the Man Booker Prize is an epic in the truest sense of the word, writes Jacob Cheli

Touch, tenderness, and technology in Cloud of Petals

Sarah Meyohas’ new exhibition embraces electronic form in its exploration of beauty, writes Eleanor Birdsall-Smith

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