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...

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.

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

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

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.

Preview: Kate Tempest

Emma Simpson anticipates a compelling performance by spoken-word poet Kate Tempest

Review: The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable

Emma Hewitt is knocked out by Punchdrunk’s latest production; an innovative extravaganza

Bargain Bin: Osymyso — Rabbit to Rabbit

Cherwell trawls charity shops looking for musical bargains

Review: Warpaint – Warpaint

The latest offering from Warpaint builds a dissonant, dreamy soundscape full of achingly beautiful melody

Review: Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes

The latest offering from The Boss is a mixed blessing, compared to the vision of his politicised work

Review: Of Mice & Men — Restoring Force

Californian metalcore band's latest offering merely asserts the genre's consumer nationalism

2014: Best new musicians to watch

Cherwell's music critics look forward to this year's talented crop of artists

Cherwell Culture Tries… Hot Yoga

Sadie Levy Gale sweats it out with some tubby hippies

Culture Editorial: Quite a Dish

Evy Cavalla is dismayed by lazy objectification in Coriolanus

Culture Editorial: Laydeez Night

Matt Broomfield is upset by nightclub ethics

Review: The Taste

The pilot episode of this new series seems to suggest it is the same as every other cooking show

The Wrath of the Sequels?

Ollie Johnson asks whether sequels are really that bad

Review: American Hustle

Josh Dolphin thinks that some great performances and a comic take on a serious genre make American Hustle well worth seeing

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Claudia Freemantle is touched by a play that combines innovation with loyalty to the novel

Interview: Toby Huelin

Claire Rodwell chats to the creator of In Her Eyes, a new musical

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Claudia Freemantle is blasted away by this West End Production (a whole week before the roof came down)

The Arts and Books guide to Hilary

Get out your diaries for the biggest literary and artistic events

Review: Notice! at Modern Art Oxford

Emma Simpson enjoys a retrospective of MAO’s advertising campaigns

Review: Sherlock episode 3

'His Last Vow' was an infuriating piece of television. Gimmicky and repetitive, Moffat and Gatiss' passion project seems to have run out of steam.

Revisiting ‘La Belle et la Bête’

With the remastered edition of Jean Cocteau's 1946 fairy-tale hitting selected cinemas, James Martin takes a look back at this timeless, magical masterpiece.

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