Tuesday 16th December 2025

Culture

Graceful and self-assured: Circle Mirror Transformation reviewed

Boulevard Productions’ Circle Mirror Transformation is a faithful and competent take on Annie Baker’s 2009 tragicomedy.  The play follows a group of people of different ages taking a beginners’ drama...

‘We’re all mad here’: Alice in Won-DRE-Land at Tingewick 2025

When I wandered into Tingewick Hall on a cold, dark evening in seventh week,...

A comical approach to a classic text: ‘Hedda Gabler’ reviewed

Tiptoe Productions’ Hedda Gabler, co-directed by Ollie Gillam and Gilon Fox, delivered a strong...

‘Lux’ by Rosalía review: A breath of fresh air

'The Latin title ‘Lux’ perfectly embodies the concept and overall aesthetic of divine femininity, as well as the multilingual aspects that run throughout the work. With complex and meaningful lyrics written in 13 languages, and split into four movements, the record is a breath of fresh air for the pop scene'.

pandemic

Who’ll ask if it’s too brave to dream again?

Friday Favourite: The Neapolitan Quartet

In a rare interview with LA Times in 2018, Elena Ferrante, universally-celebrated, elusive (the name is a pseudonym) author of the Neapolitan novels, was...

The Court Painter: The Exclusivity of the ‘Popular’ Artist

For the casual modern art admirer, it might initially be difficult to comprehend the business of art in the 17th-century; a time in which...

Album Review: Rina Sawayama’s ‘SAWAYAMA’

Sofia Henderson celebrates a dynamic but thoughtful debut

The intimacy of isolation: reflections on performing alone

“Lights up. The actor is alone” - type aspiring playwrights all over the world, unconsciously in unison. I anticipate reading this line (or something similar) over...

Review: Lovecraft Country

I bought Lovecraft Country back in term time, and, as with far too many books, didn’t get around to reading it until much later....

A City Without Music?

Mila Ottevanger explores Oxford's place in music history...

The Star Wars Prequels: Too Easily Dismissed?

These days, with nowhere to go and no-one to see, movie-watching is as good a way as any to pass the time: suddenly a...

‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’: Big Read

‘The guests are met, the feast is set’ and the Ancient Mariner Big Read has begun. On 18th April, the project released its first instalment:...

Study music: ambience over annoyance

Jazz, techno, or lo-fi hip-hop beats, Emmaleigh Eaves asks what music best gets you into a productive zone and why...

STOP USING MAX RICHTER’S “ON THE NATURE OF DAYLIGHT” IN EVERYTHING

Our favorite songs are fecund pleasures, increasing in affectivity and growing with us over time, like a reliable friendship. But, if you dilute the...

Diversity, waste, and travel: what globalisation means for food

For many people, being at home during lockdown means that there is an abundance of time to spend preparing, eating, and thinking about food. Combined with...

Mad Dogs and Englishmen: 50 years on

In the spring of 1970, 50 years ago, a collection of musicians underwent the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, which came to be immortalised in a...

Reading ‘Neurotribes’ in Autism Acceptance Month

This Autism Awareness Month, I decided to become more aware of the history of the condition I’ve lived with my entire life but was only diagnosed...

“I am together”: Love and loneliness in the work of Wim Wenders

In the quasi-apocalyptic gloom of these days, we desperately seek ways to pass the time, to numb our loneliness, to move on. The German...

Why Tiger King is the antithesis, not the antidote, to the Coronavirus

There are under 3500 tigers remaining in the wild globally. There are anywhere between 5000-10,000 tigers currently in captivity in the United States. This...

Friday Favourite: A Month in the Country

Sometimes you reread a book because it is beautiful; sometimes you do it because a mysterious benefactor on your flight gave you a concerning...

A Taste of Honey Today

A Taste of Honey, a play by the Salford-born writer Shelagh Delaney, debuted in 1958 and is widely considered to be a landmark work...

Say So, TikTok, and the ‘Viral Sleeper Hit’

William McCathie examines TikTok's hit-making capabilities

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