Friday 8th August 2025

Culture

Just like the movies: An American’s notes on her Oxford year

Oxford occupies a mystical, almost fantastical place within the American psyche – so much so that when I told my peers I’d be studying abroad, they had me promise...

Reading Oxford books in Oxford

For those who have not even set foot in Oxford, the city still lives...

Netflix’s city of dreaming Americans: My Oxford Year, reviewed

If not taken too seriously, Netflix’s new movie My Oxford Year is a surprisingly...

Lacking Latin: Ceremonial mistakes in My Oxford Year

My Oxford Year, a new Netflix rom-com, has received considerable attention. Yet as a...

Pablo Neruda’s subtle patterns show us how to feel

The brilliant simplicity of the Chilean poet is his greatest strength

Confusions – Review

More energetic performances were needed to do justice to the subtlety of Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy

Medea – Preview

A production that promises a masterful portrayal of the struggles of integration, womanhood and belonging

Review – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The humour, wit and emotional depth contained within the text are lost to the physicality and slapstick

This brave new world is dark and lonely

America’s Cool Modernism shows us a society terrified of the world it created

Interview – The Unstoppable Rise of the Magic Gang

With guitar bands falling out of favour, The Magic Gang seem an exception to the rule

May I Borrow The Tiger Please?

The history of Tipu Sultan’s Tiger is the history of imperialistic acquisition

Travels with a Cross-Dressing friend: A Personal Biography of China

Michael Bristow, a former BBC Foreign Correspondent, hopes his book will challenge the Chinese government

Post Malone Review – ‘Sticking to the Script’

Little has changed in the rapper/singer's latest album

Underrated Spaces: Jesus College Hall

The Devil is in the detail of this early modern revival

Funny Friends Preview – ‘A roundup of all the best student talent in the country’

Funny friends and frenetic feminisms fuse in this upcoming Playhouse performance

An American Nightmare

The glorification of greed in The Wolf of Wall Street is troubling for Becky Cook

The Lonesome West review – ‘a pressure-cooker of rage and almost-erupting violence’

Practically Peter Production give an impressive rendering of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy

Like A Virgin review – ‘the range of relationship difficulties explored is certainly impressive’

Sam Moore's play about the complexities of relationships finds resonance with audiences of all kinds

Scott Hutchison – ‘he gave expression to the things I could never’

The Frightened Rabbit frontman, who has died aged 36, confided to his listeners the perils of intimacy and loneliness

Beast review – ‘inventive visuals, fine acting, and an original story’

Order and chaos collide in this new, wild independent film

The King of The Fall rises from Starboy’s ashes

Orlaith Fox praises the moody R&B singer's latest offering

Butt Kapinski Review – ‘a masterclass in light-hearted entertainment and audience participation’

Charles Britton is both amazed and horrified by Deanna Fleysher's oddball creation

Does ‘Wellington’s Victory’ deserve Beethoven’s name?

A mixture of Beethoven and Marriner, but is it any good?

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