Culture

The ideals of rugged American individualism are a powerful national myth, so much so that when they are questioned, it can feel like an...

"Why stage Romeo and Juliet a year into a global pandemic? Godwin’s primary response to the pandemic appears to be the focus on touch in the production: it reminds us of the power of human contact, and the depth of feeling that can only be experienced in person." Katie Kirkpatrick reviews the new National Theatre production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.

'After a report in 2020 revealed that only 5% of British children’s books featured a Black or minority ethnic main character, other titles are providing much needed representation.'

Art personalises and humanises the cold calculated figures, gives a face and a story to the numbers we are so used to seeing.

“I promise that one day everything’s going to be better for you.”

'Unpack-repack. That recurring dream that you only have in your Home Bed...'

"In Being Mr Wickham, Lukis and Curzon have had relatively free reign to develop the titular character, given that Austen doesn’t reveal much about Wickham’s past other than his involvement with Darcy." Beth Proctor discusses the latest left-field adaptation of Jane Austen's classic.

'In Klara, Ishiguro crafts a memorable first-person narrative voice, simultaneously robotic and infantile, scrupulous yet naïve.'

Nowadays, most people think of translation as an impartial, disinterested profession of fluent polyglots. Its history shows otherwise. In 1915, the renowned American poet...

As lockdowns were imposed across the globe, most of us turned to the internet to maintain some semblance of sanity. Within these conditions Hyperpop was able to thrive.

Think of each Census like a point of data on an ever-growing Graph, the more accurate the data and the more standard the points of data, then the more accurate the conclusion can be drawn.

"In a year with little to no available theatrical resources, the production team of Spoon River managed to create a magical experience of many intersecting forms of artistic talent telling important stories. From the editing of the audio file to the curation of the journal, the performance flowed seamlessly from sense to sense."

Literary awards and prizes have been around for centuries, with the first British Award for Literature established in 1919 (The James Tait Black Memorial...

this new canon shall – by learning to load and fire itself – exile us from even counting as its projectile or target

CW: Addiction, rape, homophobia, conversion therapy, depression. "While the apparent lack of original musicals can feel disheartening, there’s actually a lot of original work out there." Katie Kirkpatrick looks at the state of new musical theatre.

Imagine, then, that we are surrounded by an endless field of noise- every person, whether they can ‘hear’ or not, is moving through this field of non-musical sound, the raw chaos of natural existence, and that although this chaos may not offer itself as pleasurable, it is necessary, and, for that matter, does not care what people think about it, with the moment of experiencing noise music itself being exposed to a natal image of transcendent noise.

"Ultimately, the album is about the human experience: the joys and monotonies; the passions and anxieties; the connection and solitude". Karan Chandra reviews Weezer's latest record, OK Human.

"Dawson’s lyrics aren’t poems; the music is too important to the cadence and stress of the lines for the words to retain their power without it. Still, they do pass that age-old test which can be used upon a line of verse to distinguish the animating spirit of poetry: they’re often almost impossible to gloss in prose." Oscar Jelley tries to unravel the complexities of Geordie folk singer-songwriter, Richard Dawson.

Promotion of self-love for all and checking in on your friends (UK Hun?) truly transforms this camp bop into a feel-good anthem

On the dancefloor is where you find your people in the deepest sense