Culture

Alexandra Andrews’s psychological thriller, Who is Maud Dixon?, tests the limits of fiction. Literally. The novel begins in media res: Florence Darrow wakes up...

"These Quicker Elements is a remarkably polished piece of student drama. The acting is captivating throughout, managing to make a very simple set-up consistently captivating, and the script strategically reveals little gems of narrative information throughout its twists and turns while also speaking to bigger questions of memory, self-perception, and relationship dynamics." Ahead of its performance on Friday, 7th May, Katie Kirkpatrick previews "These Quicker Elements" by George Rushton.

"It is prefaced: “What if Beethoven’s Für Elise… Had been written by Ludovico Einaudi?”... ‘Reimagining’ Beethoven in the style of Einaudi would entail a translation of Beethoven’s ‘classical’ harmonies into the more accessible language of modern film/popular music, potentially downsizing the role of melody and musical form in favour of communicating a more homogeneous ‘background’ sound." Yundi Li discusses the role TikTok and other new media play in changing dialogues of genre fusion.

'Ramadan is a highlight of the Islamic calendar and involves a month of self-reflection and improvement as well as abstinence from food and water. Gaining knowledge is hugely celebrated within Islam, and with more time on my hands not eating or drinking, this spiritual month is the perfect opportunity to learn something new.'

"Production is not the greatest sin ‘Holy’ commits. Indeed, I actually really like the gospel piano that kicks the song off, and Justin’s opening verse (“I know a lot about sinners/guess I won’t be a saint”) and pre-chorus (“the way you hold me… feels so holy”), while nothing special, definitely fit and set the mood. Yet, this is immediately ruined by the lyric “Oh God/Running to the altar like a track-star”, which, accompanied by the muddy-too-modern pop bass farting through the timeless instrumentation preceding, wrecks the song beyond all recovery." Raman Handa reviews 'Justice', the latest offering from Justin Bieber.

"There were two questions heading into the night: how much money could the crowd raise, and how well have the comedians adapted their acts to fit the online format? Both questions were answered emphatically, as the audience raised over £3000." Noah Cohen-Greenberg and Owen Foster review the Zoom comedy fundraiser, Oxford Mind Comedy Gala

"Adapting to online technology was a necessity but I also felt that recent events provided a long-due kick in the backside to get narratives about Black experiences into the Oxford drama scene. Sure, we have ‘inclusive casting’, but this inclusivity isn’t currently extending into the voices being produced as far as it should." James Newbery interviews Sam Spencer about his upcoming project.

With cinemas closed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no surprise that many typical filmgoers haven’t seen the nominated films this year. However, as...

The rise of antiheroines stresses essentially the same thing every wave of feminist movement attempts to accentuate, that a woman’s refusal to be suppressed and abused by patriarchy is always less threatening, when what they’re rebelling against is still prevalent

I propose that we start considering animation as the art form it is:one that allows for the pushing of boundaries and the creation of beautiful nonsense.

"Like the portrait tapping into the existence of its sitter in the original Wilde story, so is this year’s Dorian sucked into his online ego." Eleanor Zhang discusses the virtual production of Oscar Wilde’s enduring story of vanity, desire and self-deception.

"One of my favourite parts of Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece, Things Fall Apart, is a ferociously intense public wrestling scene. It buzzes with an ever-moving pulse, choreographed by the beating of drums. They rise with the intensity of the fighting, and older men 'remembered the days when they wrestled to its intoxicating rhythm.'" Jimmy Brewer explores how Kerouac, Proust and Achebe capture the experience of live music in their works.

'I hear you loudly in your echo chamber: ‘We’re in the most tolerant land of them all’ But the least racist is still racist.'

Some hidden gems of the artistic world lay in works that employ multiple languages in a purposeful manner. Algerian singer-songwriter Khaled intertwines both Arabic...

It feels weird to be writing about books again. I used to consider myself a huge bookworm, often getting through multiple books in a...

Trinity 2021 will see at least a significant portion of the student body return to ‘normal Oxford’, a loose collection of memories, activities, and...

In a city where every other person walking down the street is clad in either a Barbour jacket or an overcoat, and seems to...

It has always amused people to produce performances centring on the lives of their rulers – our most famous entertainer, William Shakespeare, wrote ten...

"Is the hit single really a triumph of Korean music and the result of successful diversification of the globalised music industry? Or is it an omen of homogenised world music, blanched and pureed under Anglophone influence?" Coral Kim discusses whether BTS disprove the model of "l'exception française".

"Musicals centred around teenagers are destined to become ‘cult’ shows: their audience is intrinsically niche, and, due to their youth, unlikely to be able to sustain commercially and critically successful runs, leading these shows to fan-centric cult status." Katie Kirkpatrick analyses how teen films are journeying from Hollywood to Broadway and the West End.