Culture

A jarring Mann: ‘Fatherland’ (2026) in review

Fatherland, which recounts celebrated Modernist author Thomas Mann’s return to a Germany in wreck and rubble, deals with great personal malaise against a backdrop of great political unease.

Why does everyone like East of Eden so much?

A beautiful book, written in a determinedly readable style, is bound to become popular, not to mention the endless power of nostalgia.

The return of the surreal 

Mythical, dreamlike, phantasmagorical, and absurd: Surrealism, which took the art world by storm in...

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.

Milestones: Isaac Levitan

Naomi Polonsky examines the influential Russian landscape artist

Top 3… Climbs

Luke Barratt rounds up the greatest ascents in culture

Green and pleasant lands

Anna Zanetti looks at changing artistic attitudes to landscape

Review: Vico

Naomi Polonsky is entertained and disturbed by this student-written play about insanity

Review: Surprise

Kurien Parel feels this play has a surprising moral message

Review: A History of Falling Things

George Grylls feels that the ending lets down this engaging production

Review: Man of Mode

Libby Wicks feels this production has its highs and lows

Review: Timon of Athens

Zoe Slater ponders immersive theatre in this production at Magdalen

Preview: Frankenstein

Vicky Holley explores this new take on the weird world of monsters

Review: Father God

Fergus Morgan doesn't receive the religious experience he had hoped for

Review: Into The Woods

Jordan Reed is disenchanted by this magical woodland tale

Review: The Wind Rises

Hayao Miyazaki's farewell masterpiece is stunningly beautiful, moving and profound

Review: Godzilla

Godzilla is ultimately more preoccupied with CGI flash than with emotional depth

Loading the Canon: Rabbi Sacks

Cherwell's weekly call for new additions to the literary establishment highlights the ex-Chief Rabbi's remarkable work

Review: Martin Creed at the Hayward Gallery

Joel Nelson hates Martin Creed’s latest exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank

Live Review: Augustines – O2 Academy

Kieran Vaghela reviews Augustines unforgettable show at the O2

Interview: Gabriel Prokofiev

Stephen Bradshaw talks to composer Gabriel Prokofiev about 'Nonclassical'

Top 3… Foreign Words

Emma Simpson takes a look at some ideas which the English language can't express

Milestones: The dictionary

Emma Simpson charts the development of this now-commonplace collection of words

The Internet and the changing power of words

As our audiences grow, we must be mindful of the effect of our words, warns Luke Barratt

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