Thursday 28th May 2026

Culture

‘Would you mind if I asked you a troubling question?’:  ‘Ulster American’ in review

Arun Lewis reviews Grá Productions' staging of David Ireland's 'Ulster American', and finds fault in an otherwise fascinating performance.

Subs, dubs, and AI flubs: Lost in film translation

How hard could it be to watch an entire film in German when I could not even introduce myself in the language? Quite hard, it turns out.

Barker & Co. Booksellers: Oxford’s newest independent bookshop

A new secondhand bookstore opened in Oxford city centre last week. Located in the Golden Cross shopping centre, just off Cornmarket Street, the bookstore stocks hundreds of secondhand books, ranging from accessibly priced paperbacks to rare and expensive antiquarian first-editions.

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ in review

The Harris Manchester Players immersed Oxford’s inhabitants in the delightful world of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest this May.

Preview: Made in Dagenham

A cheerful rendition of 'Payday' and some impressive character analysis make for a stunningly professional fifth week production.

The Crisis of Creon

'Peripeteia', reversal of fortune, for Sophocles' Creon in 'Antigone' is a wincingly fatal consequence of his tragic decision.

Review: The Oxford Revue Newcomers’ Show ‘Scrapped’ – ‘ridiculous, witty, and hilarious’

"No description, no plot summary can do justice to this highly eclectic and wonderfully unpredictable piece of theatre"

Review: Pirandello’s Henry IV – ‘earnest production let down by a dull script’

A Tom Stoppard translation of an Italian play is convincing and confusing in equal measure

Review: How to Make Friends and then Kill Them – ‘brilliantly toes the line between laughing and crying’

Coningsby Productions' three-woman production impresses with its relentless movement and convincing performances

Skin a Cat Review – ‘rethinks simplistic sexual narratives’

Britomart Productions' honest exploration of female sexuality is on at the BT Studio until Saturday.

How To Make Friends and then Kill Them Preview – ‘promises to be entertaining and unsettling’

A preview of Coningsby Productions' play at the Pilch this week.

Numbers Review – commendable but difficult to feel nuance

The play was particularly successful in its exploration of masculinity

Review: Shostakovich 7 with the Oxford University Orchestra

Peter Stark conducts a moving performance of Shostakovich 7 with the Oxford University Orchestra

Interview: renowned opera singer Iestyn Davies

Cambridge, choirs, colleges and everything else

Classical music’s illusions

Lauren Hill discusses the captivating, and yet illusory effects of performing music at a point where music education is under threat

Preview – Pirandello’s Henry IV – “a challenging role wonderfully enacted”

Omelette Productions presents an unconventional take on a Tom Stoppard translation

Review: Eugene Onegin at St John’s College Auditorium

The People's Opera's production of Eugene Onegin is a great achievement against the odds

The Pitchfork Disney Review – ‘reality and morality is blown apart to become a nightmare’

"From the moment you step into this play the direct ‘in-yer-face’ nature of the performance is abundantly clear."

Who’s direction is it anyway? An interview with the director of How to Make Friends and then Kill Them

Charlie Rogers talks black-box theatre and responds to recent Oxfess controversy

Sex Education review: exuberantly explicit

It refuses to conform to the tiring tradition of sugar-coating anything that sits outside the realm of the PG-13

The illusion of reality television

Reality television is, then, in many ways a fiction. They tell us they are depicting something akin to an authentic reality, but flatten and stabilise the randomness and contingency of actual life, while refusing to overtly acknowledge the authorial voice behind it.

Cracked Actors: Invention and Reinvention in Music

A change of persona can yield new creative space and energy.

Review: ENRON – “absolutely captivating”

“Although he and Enron fall, the people who fall with it fall more” – Sour Peach Productions present a compelling and absurd take on the real-life financial scandal

The Long Con: The fine art of deception

It is very easy to be lulled into a false empowerment by the critical process, believing that the role can be as creative as can be observational.

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