Thursday, May 15, 2025

Culture

Review: As You Like It – ‘What’s not to like?’

At last, the sun is coming out to play, and the Mansfield Players’ staging of As You Like It has given this summer’s outdoor theatre season a merry welcome....

From cloisters to concrete: Oxford’s architectural evolution

As a proud member of one of Oxford’s younger colleges – one that didn’t...

Adolescence: Can TV spark radical change in young men?

Adolescence is just another example of art acting as a conversation piece. The recent...

Hand over Heart

"So bite the heel that walked you home in the rain"

Review: Playboi Carti’s ‘Whole Lotta Red’

The most interesting thing about Playboi Carti is that despite the immense attention and hype he draws, he remains a relative mystery. Past projects...

Bodleian Bangers: Alan Rusbridger

"If you want 45 minutes of music to die to, surely it's last bit of Act I of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro - as good as any 45 minutes of music." Alan Rusbridger, LMH Principal and former Guardian Editor-In-Chief, is the first to feature in Music's new series, Bodleian Bangers.

Time Alone

"The echo in the chapel chimes as I take my unlikely seat."

The Potter

"Did you ever meet the man, Who lived once in this place?"

The Crown’s Unspoken Words

'I think, when it comes to any biopic, "real history" has to be deprioritised. If an accurate and chronological rendering of history is what you're looking for, watch a documentary!' Maebh Howell writes on the dichotomies of the biopic, asking which is to be prioritised; accurate truth-telling or entertaining story-telling.

The Beginning of the End

Maybe we like the idea of being the protagonist of a gritty Doomsday story?

Atonement

'I rue the lost hours and days: a finite life, this one'

A Love Letter to Living With Scientists/An Apology to My Housemates

'I am not sure what broke me. I think it's a close tie between the discussion around NaCl when I asked for the salt to be passed down the table or when someone genuinely asked the group what their favourite way to measure the centre of mass was.'

Drawing Attention

'I'm making mistakes I'm crossing them out I'm making it ugly I'm making it shout'

Review: Mischief Movie Night

"Mischief Movie Night is a funny and engaging show that is sure to brighten up even the darkest lockdown night."

Reinvention: rethinking gender and race on stage

"Marginalised actors should not just be shoehorned into pre-existing plays without any respect or provision for the stories they have to tell. To do so is to package diversity into commercially successful morsels that are digestible for largely white, middle-class audiences."

Little Giveaways

"Jazz was being played over the stereo like theme music, as if they were acting in a television drama where each character had some essential trait, some crucial role."

Mother

"I waltzed in her arms down the high street"

Specks

"From a space we might call "above", an Entity watches - gargantuan, unfathomable, other."

A Quick Trip Far Away

"One summer, a summer which now seems to have passed by long ago, I slept and dreamt for the first time on the mainland."

Rules to Live By in Your New Home

"No 1. Label your collar to avoid feeling ornamental."

21st Century Midas

"‘Look, you have drunk £3.15. You fool, that’s £3.15 you’ve eaten.’ Clink, the cup on the saucer, the coins sliding down my throat."

Uneven Sideburns

"Empty time lent shape by the weekly rites Of chiselling the stubble away"

Wings and Words: why you should read Grief Is The Thing With Feathers

Recalling the first time I read Grief, on a thankfully empty train, I’m very glad no one was present to witness what must have been a harrowing and confusing parade of expressions as I progressed. It’s a few hours I will never regret.

Best Reads of 2020

Hamnet — Maggie O’Farrell The subtle majesty of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s eighth novel,would have been welcome in any year, but it was a particular blessing...

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