Culture

‘Celebrity Traitors’ season two: Complex and compelling

Reality TV series The Traitors has returned with its celebrity version and has topped viewing charts for a second time. People are hooked on the show where logical reasoning and random chance are simultaneously at play, in a game full of drama, tension, and cliffhangers.

Oxford’s art scene: A picture still being painted

Who gets to make art, who gets to see it, and whose art history...

Behind glass: Lighthouse Productions’ ‘The Seagull’

The thematic potency and the overall success of Lighthouse Productions’ iteration of Anton Chekhov’s 'The Seagull' all came together in a great and terrible revelation.

The paradox of uniformity: Who do we dress for?

Walking to chapel on a mid-winter Wednesday morning, you could almost be certain to...

The problem with Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Nolan had all the tools for greatness. Instead, to my eternal frustration, his 'Odyssey' will always only be just alright.

‘One Night Only’ (2026) and the death of romance

Romance movies are, on the whole, my favourite movie genre. But good romance movies, like good romantic relationships, are hard to find, and easy to mess up.

Caught between grief and hope: ‘On Some Far Shore’ reviewed

Fresh off the back of 'Our House' and 'Macbeth', Cross Key Productions presents an original three-hander focused on the complexities of grief and young love.

The road to reckoning: ‘The Slip’ reviewed

Sharp, unsettling, and emotionally intelligent, 'The Slip' is a striking showcase of the ambition and talent behind Wide Eyes Productions, while establishing Wyatt as a writer-director to watch.

How an Oxford undergraduate made a name in choral music

When he arrived at Oxford, he expected his future to lie primarily in orchestral music. Instead, it was choral music that transformed his direction.

‘Scenes With Girls’ and complicated female friendships

'Scenes with Girls' deserves to be seen as one of Labyrinth Productions’ (Rosie Morgan-Males and Emily Cullinan) most impressive accolades.

‘The Moro Affair’: Astonishingly original, but not quite a story

The acting in 'The Moro Affair' was superb across the board, with Harriet Wilson’s Pope as a standout, and Rosie Sutton’s direction was flawless.

‘Music can be everything’: Aurora Orchestra’s Jane Mitchell on the narratives around classical music

The Aurora Orchestra, who are playing at Oxford’s Schwarzman Centre on the 19th June, are best known for performing their orchestral repertoire from memory.

The ‘Obsession’ Obsession

'Obsession' is a taste of what the next generation of filmmakers looks like.

Slow down, you crazy child: What Oxford student theatre can learn from garden plays

Student theatre strives to be as professional as possible, but the annual garden play offers something unique: permission to have fun.

Rap as poetry: ‘The Odyssey’ and the breakdown of the medium

When interviewed on his decision to cast Travis Scott as a bard figure in his upcoming The Odyssey adaptation, set to release on 17th...

Hag, Nag, Harpy, Hen: Olivia Plender’s ‘Little Fennel’s Complaint’

It is the examination of archaic methods and attitudes surrounding women’s bodies, and the idea of the ‘nagging’ woman, which runs through Olivia Plender’s exhibition.

Nonsense and sensibility: Adapting Austen for the screen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that not all Jane Austen adaptations are created equal.

‘Our House’ in the middle of Beaumont Street

'Our House' ultimately becomes not just a story about crime or morality, but about the vulnerability of growing up and the frightening uncertainty of trying to decide who you are.

Is the dancefloor really dead?

Tongue-in-cheek as it may be, Charli xcx’s ‘Rock Music’ speaks to the structural issues actively decimating nightlife across the world, even if her motivations may be more aesthetic than political.

Testing my patients: ‘The Effect’ at the BT Studio reviewed

Necessarily navigating the difference between ‘side effects’ and reality, the play strikes a fine balance between what one thinks and what one feels.

‘The Harrowing of Hell.26’ reviewed

Fundamentally, The Harrowing of Hell.26 is a finely acted, well-produced play which was enjoyable enough to watch, but its conclusion is unsatisfying.

Circadian Renaissance

Clara Leonard Davies writes about the beauty of summer light and the memories that we associate it with.

YA Thrills: Escapism and disguise

An issue that has been encountered by authors since the dawn of time, perhaps one that feels too obvious to even state, is that some readers will not enjoy their books.

The death of the male novelist or the birth of the feminist?

The death of the male novelist, as a concept exaggerated by the dramaticisms of its name, fails to stand up under investigation.

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