Culture

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.

“What is a good life?”: The Standard of Living in review 

“What is a good life?” This axiological question, asked earnestly in the opening lines of James Graham’s The Standard of Living – playing at Theatre Royal Haymarket until December 12 – is often overlooked by the fractured and hyper-specialised discipline of economics.

Diverse voices: ‘Inshallah, Madonna, Inshallah’ by Miljenko Jergović 

‘When he created Earth and these lands upon it, when he divided people into...

Art as protest on university campuses

CW: rape. This week, Cornell University has made headlines as prosecutors reopened an investigation into...

How has the internet shaped modern poetry?

When you type “poetry” into the YouTube search bar, an unexpected number of the results that come up are not what we...

More than Pixels

The internet has changed the way we experience art

Shakespeare Done to Death?

In the wake of the Emma Rice 'scandal' at the Globe, we examine why we keep treading old boards.

Review: Allotment – ‘as if the audience is intruding upon the sisters’ realm’

MuckyOven Productions present an intriguing play about gardening, sisterhood and the passing of time.

Review: Twelfth Night – ‘dispels the myth that Shakespeare isn’t funny’

Brasenose Arts Week puts a contemporary spin on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

The Sweet Smell of Excess

"While the social implications of excessive behaviour seem real and uncomfortable, then, the extent to which films tend to deal with these is, we surely have to admit, limited."

In Defence of Excess

"You feel attacked, but you also feel seen – and really, is that not one of the most important things people look for when watching a film – to feel seen? "

‘Carry-On’ Excess-ing?

The dated views of the Carry-On films may offer their own entertainment

Troy Story Revisited

Reviewing Pat Barker’s ‘The Silence of the Girls’ (Penguin, 2018).

Going Wilde in America

“Audiences deserted his lectures, Harvard students mocked his outfits, and his failures left him drunk and dejected." Reviewing Michele Mendelssohn's 'Making Oscar Wilde'.

Morrissey: a musician of excess?

"Why do we call certain people 'excessive,' and allow others to escape from this label?" A discussion of the controversial front-man of The Smiths.

Excess of Expression: John Lennon 1969-72

'Why was it that, in putting self- expression, politics and philosophical substance at the forefront of his artistic agenda, Lennon’s music ended up failing to express both himself and everyday concerns with the same force as his work from the sixties?' A comparison of John Lennon's music from his solo career with his work in The Beatles.

Review: A Little Night Music – ‘a sophisticated and pleasant performance’

Despite some minor setbacks on the opening night, A Little Night Music delivers a confident performance, including some moments of hilarity

Review: (The Wings of the) Seagull – ‘leaves you frozen’

This one-actor show from mealspiel easily wins over its audience, with laugh-out-loud moments interspersed with stomach-churning horror.

Review: A Woman of No Importance – ‘the best Wilde production I’ve ever seen’

With a terrific cast, a splendid setting, and a deft handling of the script, Magdalen Players' take on A Woman of No Importance proves to be a fourth week delight

Ted Bundy Reinvented

Joe Bertlinger’s Ted Bundy biopic, released to Sky Cinema on Friday, seemed to be just one more of the latest string of films blatantly...

Review: Four Men in Their Respective Cells – ‘a whistle-stop psychological drama’

Though hitting the right notes thematically, Four Men in Their Respective Cells lacks polish and a conclusive ending

Bart van Es and the ripple effect of trauma

Bart van Es' new memoir reminds its readers that the aftermath of trauma is as much about inherited damage as it is about triumph and liberation.

Preview: Your Little Play – ‘your life is defined by the choices you make’

A piece of new writing about sexual misconduct and power feels particularly timely as it heads to the Pilch in 4th week.

Preview: My Mother Runs in Zig-Zags – ‘shapes the lived experience of war and migration’

A poetic performance about migration, war and family, with an all-BAME cast and crew, heads to the North Wall in fifth week

Follow us