Culture

The return of the surreal 

Mythical, dreamlike, phantasmagorical, and absurd: Surrealism, which took the art world by storm in the early 20th century, has enjoyed a huge resurgence in the past decade.  The original pioneers...
Art Sylvie Quick -

Must theatre be so dire? Thoughts on the “unworthy scaffold”

If 'art est celare artem' (true art is to conceal art), then theatre is pretty poor art. You ain't fooling me into thinking that's a storm.
Culture Saul Grenfell -

Seasonal reads: On childhood hobbies, growing up, and guilt

Reconnecting with reading is something many people tend to do on a summer holiday,...
Books Elizabeth Gammaidoni -

Between beer gardens and picnics: Climate Culture Care at the Ashmolean

When I returned to Oxford this term, just as England teased us with the sixth heat-wave of the year, I found myself at a loose end. With the deadline for two vacation essays still far in the distance, the sun lit up the sign for Soma Surovi Jannat’s Ashmolean Now exhibition, Climate Culture Care.
Art Leo Maudsley-Barton -
Latest

The Oxford Cinema & Café: A profile

"The opening of The Oxford Cinema & Café marks a new chapter in Oxford’s cinema scene: a move further towards independent cinema."

W.H. Auden at the Bus Stop: In Praise of Intellectual Delay

It’s a damp Tuesday afternoon, and W.H. Auden is waiting patiently at the bus stop...

The Case for Reincarnated Romances

"Reincarnation romance films are sometimes silly, mostly melodramatic, but always overlooked as a subgenre."

Review: All My Sons – ‘At the end of the American Dream’

Joe Keller, played by Tristan Hood, represents the American dream. He is a wealthy businessman with a traditional family with a surviving son that...

Review: The Tempest – ‘Power looks good on her’

All the guests arrived and promptly took their seats, as one of the directors (Seb Carrington) announced the play would begin in 5 minutes....

Review: Bush! The Musical – ‘Is our actors singing?’

While the genre of historical musical theatre centred around US politicians may be dominated by Hamilton, Bush! The Musical has earned a place in...

Review: So Far, So Good – ‘Counting down the fall’

Student theatre has always thrived on experimentation, collaboration, and the courage to speak up. So Far, So Good, a new piece of original writing...

The writer behind ‘The Writer’

Tucked away in a room at Worcester College, I sat in on a rehearsal of Ella Hickson’s The Writer (2018), which Fennec Fox Productions...

Reframing Oxford’s controversial portraits

“All art is quite useless,” declared Oscar Wilde in the preface to The Picture of Dorian Grey. It’s a provocative claim, inviting us to...

‘Love in the face of hate’: A closer look at ‘Blood Wedding’

Emma Nihill Alcorta is the director of a new adaptation of the Spanish masterpiece Blood Wedding, running at the Oxford Playhouse. With flamenco rhythms and...

Duplicity, infidelity and loyalty in ‘Crocodile Tears’

“An Italian summer romance that goes wrong” – this is how Crocodile Tears was first pitched to me by its writer, Natascha Norton, when...

Review: The Great Gatsby – ‘Indulge the extravaganza’

Sophia Eiden’s production of Simon Levy’s script of The Great Gatsby is an undoubted triumph. I was, if only for a moment, transported back...

Barry Lyndon – Kubrick’s ultimate antifilm?

Barry Lyndon has always been dismissed within Kubrick’s filmography. While he is a filmmaker known for his versatility across genres, Barry Lyndon still sits...

Cinema’s hidden gems: Daisies (1966)

Whilst mainstream cinema more often favours the safe and the familiar, some of the most remarkable films ever made are those that dismantle the...

Review: Troilus and Cressida – ‘A missed opportunity to appeal to the brain rot generation’

Having heard on the grapevine (and even receiving word from the producer himself) about Troilus and Cressida falling victim to a last-minute casting upheaval,...

CRUSH preview: ‘A chaotic scramble through the teenage years’

I sat down with Hannah Eggleton, Director & Writer of CRUSH, to talk power, performance, and the making of her debut full-length play, premiering...

Telling stories about telling stories: Previewing ‘The Antipodes’

In a windowless room in an abstract part of Oriel, I sat in on a rehearsal for Annie Baker’s The Antipodes (2018), on at...

A Pelican Crossing Somewhere on Green Dragon Lane

"The passage of time is a bloodthirsty hound."

Doctor Zhivago: The banned book the CIA smuggled across the Iron Curtain

“May it make its way around the world. You are hereby invited to watch me face the firing squad.”  These were the words of Boris...

Sally Rooney, a Flaubert for today?

Like millions of other people in recent years, I have fallen victim to the ongoing Sally Rooney craze. The Irish author, whose novels have...
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