Monday, May 19, 2025
Blog Page 1476

Glastonbury 2013: Thursday

Jack Chown
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Glastonbury 2013: Thursday

One things for certain, Glastonbury is the big one, the daddy, and judging by the BBC’s 24/7 coverage this year, the one that everyone wants to watch. But what’s it really like? Cherwell music reports directly from the depths of a muddy field — Ostrich burger and cappuccino in hand — about the greatest festival on earth.

Glastonbury is absolutely humongous. Everyone knows it’s big, but it’s physically HUGE. That romantic festival-goers cliche of coming over the hill to be met by the vast landscape that Glastonbury covers is entirely accurate, and a moment I experienced for the first time yesterday afternoon. But are the idealistic roots of the festival, it’s association with charitable causes, and the ‘true ethos’ of the festival still intact?

Behind the scenes of the pyramid stage stands about 100 Winnebagos and the BBC compound — which is about as big as the main stage area itself! With the popularisation of glamping and hospitality packages, less and less people seem to be slumming it and, with the average age of the festival-goer having hit a record high of 43 this year, it seems as if the age bracket that festivals such as Glastonbury were initially targeted at are being priced out. Cherwell is slightly embarrassed to report that it enjoyed smoked salmon and scrambled egg in the hospitality tent this morning, is this sort of luxurious festival experience undermining the Glastonbury image?

In a recent interview, Michael Eavis (the farmer/founder of the festival) encouraged people to attempt to ‘jump the fence’ and gain free admission to the festival. Whilst this may have just been a throwaway comment, a stunt even, these sort of liberal attitudes are still at the heart of the festivals existence, with multiple Guardian-selling stalls, as well as the ‘healing field’, a feature that has been retained from the original festival in 1971 complete with ‘stone circle’, reinforces this.

However, the thing truly at the heart of Glastonbury is the music. It was evident last night, even before the festival had officially started, just how varied and important music is here. With over 100 stages there’s also something for everyone and Oxford is making a good show for itself with, amongst others, Foals, Lewis Watson, Stornoway and Treetop Flyers making an appearance on the main stages over the weekend. The John Peel stage could easily be renamed the ‘who have Cherwell reviewed this year?’ stage with a fantastic line-up leading to an eternal Glastonbury conundrum: the dreaded clash!

Although I could probably think of worse problems in life, the Glastonbury clash is up there as one of the most excruciating. While the Arctic Monkeys play their headline slot on the Pyramid stage, Portishead grace the Other stage with Chic (feat. Nile Rodgers) over on Silver Hayes. Do I follow the flock? Reflect alternatively? Or boogie on down? Check back tomorrow to find out…

The Other stage has also just played host to Liam Gallagher with Beady Eye in a ‘surprise slot’ that was possibly the festival’s worst kept secret. Having been a huge Oasis fan, I had to leave after three songs — the man can’t sing! But the surprise slot is another Glastonbury feature with fixtures in 2011 including Radiohead and Pulp. Bookies favourites this year include Daft Punk and David Bowie as well as Gallagher but who knows?

To find out more and live the Glastonbury experience check back here daily! Now I’m off to find a pillow. Camping hurts.

A good week for US liberty?

Joe Miles
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A good week for US liberty?

It has not been a good fortnight for the United States. For a good deal of the 20th Century, the USA was admired as a bastion of liberty. Only far left activists would ever suggest the possibility that the USSR could defend freedom more effectively than the USA. The Berlin Wall was the ultimate symbol of this stark divide, and even to this day, when I visited recently, I could not help but feel a little angry at an injustice that ended over two decades ago. This only goes to show just how the US has fallen when a man who has exposed flagrant breaches of individual liberty is rewarded with persecution, and has to seek safety in a nation that we once took to be the world expert on snooping on its own citizens. The increased persecution of whistle-blowers, the growing use of illegal drone strikes, and now the revelation of mass spying on innocent citizens all suggest that civil liberties in the United States are no longer defended as vigorously as they once were.

Yet in another way, this week has seen a great step in the direction of personal freedom. It should not even be necessary to defend the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) for ruling against DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), a measure that on all accounts is grossly unfair, discriminatory, and unconstitutional to boot. I used to think that DOMA was religious bigotry enshrined in law. Yet the only theological justification is presumably that marriage is for the purposes of childrearing, and there have been no attempts to bring bills to prevent the old or infertile from marrying. If DOMA and Proposition 8 were the children of theologians, I would be disgusted at the clear breach of the separation of church and state but at least I would respect their proponents’ intellectual honesty.  To put it crudely, in all likelihood DOMA and Proposition 8 only succeeded because some people are still revolted enough by the thought of gay sex to try to prevent any legal requirement to acknowledge that it happens and that it is perfectly okay.

This is at the heart of the rejection of Proposition 8. The judges struck the legislation down precisely because offence cannot be properly classed as harm. Undoubtedly many LGBTQ Americans are fairly offended by the proposition that they were born evil and upon their death will burn forever in a pit of fire. Yet I will defend the right of anyone to argue in favour of such a concept, no matter how revolted I am by it myself. It is the actions of bullies and bigots such as Proposition 8 that present real harm. In the same way, in the highly unlikely event that LGBTQ groups campaigned to shut down churches, I would condemn that in equal measure. The US Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, seeks to prohibit the government- that is, the part of the public with the ability to coerce- from interfering in its subject’s natural liberty except where quantifiable harm has been done.  The whole point of the US Constitution is to stop laws such as DOMA from existing. It is a gross violation of liberty to proscribe an act that, while offensive to a significant minority of the public, does not harm their interests.

Any theological argument against gay marriage is of course completely invalid. Michelle Bachmann, facing investigation for campaign finance irregularities and therefore in need of a refresher course on the Ten Commandments herself, huffed “No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted” upon hearing the rulings. The US constitution, however, does not recognise the holy God. It does, however, recognise the equal protection clause, and that DOMA violated this. Proposition 8 has not been tested against equal protection, and until the Lord himself turns up at Capitol Hill, and quantifiably demonstrates that same sex marriage harms Him greatly, this is not likely to happen- and the Republicans will have more to fear when God finds out just how well they have been adhering to his command to love the poor.

The striking down of both DOMA and Proposition 8 shows that on occasion, the United States does deserve its reputation as the upholder of liberty.  Yet NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s own experiences and the ensuing outcry prove that there are liberties that the USA does not protect sufficiently. The events in the United States as of late demonstrate the necessity of a constitution that upholds liberty to its fullest extent. The actions of the PRISM program must be subject to judicial review; and if what they did was legal, the laws allowing this must be subject to constitutional review. The widespread invasion of privacy indicates to me that the due process clause has been violated. If not, then the American people must take action. Unless they want to hasten the transformation of the USA into a security state, a constitutional amendment must be passed that forbids excessive and unjustifiable government breaches of the right to privacy. It is worth noting a rather sad truth about the DOMA ruling. Aside from the Affordable Care Act, this is one of the few political events of the Obama era that progressives can celebrate, and he did not even have anything to do with it.

Five jailed for life in Oxford child abuse trials

Anna Leszkiewicz
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Five jailed for life in Oxford child abuse trials

Five members of a paedophile ring, who were found guilty of raping and trafficking girls aged as young as 11, have today been sentenced to jail for life.

Two pairs of brothers, Akhtar and Anjum Dogar, and Bassam and Mohammed Karrar, were among the seven men sentenced for “exeptionally grave crimes”.

When sentencing, Judge Peter Rook told the court, “These were sexual crimes of the upmost gravity. The depravity was extreme, each victim was groomed, coerced and intimidated.”

During the setencing, there was discussion from representatives of the defendants around the negative moral influence of the area around Cowley Road.

Sally O’Neill QC, defending Jamil, told the court of a “starling” sub-culture with “no moral compass” that had developed in the area in the early 2000s, that was “apparent and well known” to residents.

Lee Karu QC, defending Dogar also spoke of “the culture of Cowley Road”, and said that Dogar was “caught up with the culture”.

He added, “If he had been fortunate enough not to be brought up in the Cowley Road area things may have been different, but that is where he was.”

The defence also criticised authorities for an “almost wilful blindness” towards crimes happening “under the noses” of Oxford social services and Thames Valley police. Despite being told on several occasions by the girls and their parents about their abuse, the two organisations did not act on reports until 2010. 

A Serious Case Review will look into the failure to stop the gang, which police first encountered in early 2006, but was not stopped until 2012.

Oxfordshire County Council said, “The council hopes these sentences send out a strong message that child sexual exploitation will not be tolerated in Oxfordshire.

“We would like to praise the courage of the victims for giving evidence in court that has led to these sentences, and we are sorry we did not stop it sooner.

“We have learned a great deal about how to prevent and disrupt child sexual exploitation, and are working closely with other agencies to root it out in Oxfordshire.”

Andy Dipper, from OXCAT (Oxford Community Against Trafficking) said, “Lessons need to be learnt and quickly. We want to make sure other victims understand we will listen, and we will believe them. Victims are being stigmatised and discouraged from reporting their horrific abuse because of a system which is ponderous, accusatory and further traumatises them.

“The community, police and social services need to provide a safe haven for anyone – young or old, male or female – who is a victim of this horrendous crime.”

Brothers Akhtar Dogar, 32, and Anjum Dogar, 31, were convicted of several counts of of rape, child prostitution and trafficking, and were both jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years at the Old Bailey.

Mohammed Karrar, 38, will serve a minimum of 20 years after being found guilty of 18 offences including rape of a child, trafficking, using an instrument to procure a miscarriage and child prostitution.

His brother, Bassam Karrar, 34, was sentenced with minimum of 15 years after being found guilty of nine charges including rape of a child, child prostitution and trafficking.

Kamar Jamil, 27, was found guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to rape and one count of arranging child prostitution He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years.

Assad Hussain, 32, and Zeeshan Ahmed, 28, were both jailed for seven years after they were found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child.

The Kingfisher helpline for child protection, established as a result of the Operation Bullfish findings, can be contacted on 01865 335276.

Review: Holloway – Robert Macfarlane

Max Long
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Review: Holloway – Robert Macfarlane

★★★★☆
Four Stars

In 2004, Robert Macfarlane travelled to the Chideock Valley in South Dorset with Roger Deakin, a fellow writer and mentor, to find a “holloway” as described in Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. A holloway is a deep, sunken track, lined with trees, dug into the ground by the monotonous continuity of human passage, now generally overgrown and forgotten. But centuries ago, these paths were crucial to communication and transport, and formed the very backbone of our national network of roads.  

Robert Macfarlane is the torch bearer of a new generation of nature writers who are rediscovering, and indeed retreating into our countryside. His elegant prose and his deep insight, touching on the importance of time, place and personality, and in particular musing on the philosophical nuances of paths, is a breath of fresh air, and perhaps even hope.

There is something a little sinister about this latest book by Macfarlane, in which the author’s relationship with Roger Deakin, author of Waterlog, features prominently. Much in the same way as in his previous works – most notably The Wild Places, where an entire chapter is also dedicated to their travels along Holloways, Roger Deakin appears as a wise, experienced traveler offering both insight and support. One gets the feeling that Macfarlane has not yet got over Deakin’s untimely death in 2006, and in a sense this book is both a heart wrenching reminder of his absence, as well as a eulogy to his life.

However, Holloway also shows Macfarlane at his most poetic, and indeed philosophical. His writing still encompasses the best of history, geography and deep philosophical insight. Perhaps a highlight is his realisation that, after feeling Roger’s presence when he walks along the same path in 2011 with fellow writer  Dan Richards and artist Stanley Donwood: 

“I now understand it certainly to be the case, although I have long imagined it to be true, that stretches of a path might carry memories of a person just as a person might of a path”

It is comments like these, charged with meaning, yet also in many ways haunting, which capture the general tone of the book; Macfarlane manages to capture both the sinister and the beautiful in a unique synthesis of both elements. This is reflected by Stanley Donwood’s sketches, which are such an integral part to the book, perfectly illustrating the sinuous whirlpool of tress and bark of the holloway. They are cold, dark and black, whilst also having an air of warmth and comfort. Perhaps that is the point of nature itself, both inviting yet at the same time harsh. 

The book also features new poems by Dan Richards, which, synthesised with Macfarlane’s almost poetic prose, gives the book an extra dynamism, a third person’s perspective which creates an interesting balance. Both authors have very different styles, and yet also seem to coincide on a number of aspects, most notably the mist through which they ride as they follow the holloway, hiding them from each other yet eventually leading them to a point of convergence. 

Holloway is a pleasant half-hour read which comes across as something of an experiment; whilst the combination of art, poetry and prose is an interesting concept, there seems to be little new on offer, except perhaps evidence of Macfarlane’s philosophical maturity. Hopefully his next book, on the underworld of sewers and pipes in urban landscapes, will employ a similar style from an entirely different, and indeed refreshening perspective. 

Holloway is published by Faber and Faber, and is available for £12.99 on their website

Also listen to James Bulley’s ‘Holloway Soundscape’:

Oxford University’s largest private donor found dead

Esther Hodges
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Oxford University’s largest private donor found dead

Martin’s lifeless body was discovered by a kayaker, floating in the waters of the Great Sound near Agar’s Island on Monday evening. On Tuesday, Bermuda police formally identified his body, and have since confirmed that his death is not viewed as suspicious.

The island was owned by Martin, who bought it in 1997 along with his third wife Lillian.

The English-born multi-millionaire, who was seventy-nine years old when he died, was a globally renowned speaker and expert on the computer revolution. He amassed his fortune from his many books, one of which, ‘The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow’, was nominated for the Pulitzer prize.

Martin has a degree in physics from Oxford’s Keble College. After graduating, he went on to set up several IT consultancy firms and became the biggest ever private donor to the university. In 2005, he gave £65 million to Oxford to set up a school to study the problems of the 21st century.

The idea for what became the Oxford Martin School was inspired by the events of 9/11, with Martin telling the Independent in 2011 that he was “getting more and more concerned about the problems of the planet.” The school examines subjects ranging from ageing and ethics to energy materials and particle therapy.

The school’s director, Professor Ian Goldin, paid tribute to Martin, saying, “Oxford Martin School embodies Jim’s concern for humanity, his creativity, his curiosity, and his optimism.

“Jim provided not only the founding vision but was intimately involved with the school and our many programmes. We have lost a towering intellect, guiding visionary and a wonderful close friend.”

In total, donations made by Martin to Oxford University greatly exceed £100 million, with the 2005 donation breaking records as being the largest ever. Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton, had this to say on the university’s most generous benefactor.

“James Martin was a true visionary whose exceptional generosity established the Oxford Martin School, allowing researchers from across the disciplines to work together on the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing humanity,” he said.

“His impact will be felt for generations to come, as through the school he has enabled researchers to address the biggest questions of the 21st century.”

Boat race protester told to leave UK

Darcey Murphy
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Boat race protester told to leave UK

Trenton Oldfield, an Australian national, was ordered to leave the country this week after the Home Office decided that Oldfield’s presence in the UK was not ‘conducive to the public good’.

Oldfield has lived in the UK for ten years and is expecting a child with his British wife this week. He was released from prison in December after serving two months of the sixth month sentence that was given to him after he interrupted the 158th boat race on the Thames.

Oldfield interrupted the boat race as a protest against elitism. He has publically justified his actions, claiming that, “People tell me that on the day of the race, 500,000 people looked up the word ‘elitism’ on Google. It sparked a debate.”

Oldfield plans to appeal against the judgement. He has argued, “No one was expecting this. I have a tier one visa, as a highly skilled migrant, and I was sentenced to less than a year. The lawyer said I had nothing to worry about because it was less than a year. It feels to me that this is a very vindictive decision, very political and very much an overreaction.”

The Home Office has stated in response, “Those who come to the UK must abide by our laws.”

The protest last year saw Oldfield swim into the path of the crews, halting the race for 25 minutes. Oxford had initially been in the lead before they had to stop, although Cambridge eventually won the race after it was re-started.

The decision to force Oldfield to leave the UK has sparked controversy. Mitch Mitchell, a member of the campaign group Defend the Right to Protest, opined: “The authorities are cracking down harder and harder against anyone who raises a voice.”

A petition to reverse the decision has been launched on change.org and had received over 1800 supporters by Tuesday.

One Oxford student agreed with the Home Office’s decision however, commenting, “I think it’s a great example of why you shouldn’t mess with Oxford – we’ll have you deported if you do.”

Keble hall manager bows out

Esther Hodges
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Keble hall manager bows out

Well known around college for his unchanging  attire of bowtie and waistcoat, McHugh was given a fond farewell by Keble students in the college’s inaugural Summer Hall. James Newton, the then JCR President, presented him with a framed bowtie and waistcoat as a token of the JCR’s appreciation.

The dress code for the evening was ‘smart with a hint of Gerard’,  and as such many students, male and female, attended wearing the hall manager’s preferred neck wear.

McHugh, who attended Exeter College (matriculating in 1975), said he intends to do very little in his retirement. “I have some trips abroad planned, but other than that I think I’ll just relax and listen to some cricket on the wireless.”

He will also return to Keble on occasion to host his quiz nights, planning one for Freshers’ Week. As the new JCR President, Sean Ford, said, “Gerard has made a fantastic contribution to college life, but his retirement is not the end. Gerard will still be returning for the quizzes, hopefully for years to come.”

Despite being an Exeter alumnus, McHugh waxed lyrical about his time at Keble. When asked for his favourite memories, he explained, “From the minute I walked in, in 2002, I’ve been made to feel so welcome, so part of the place, it’s just been a delight. I can’t think of anything particular, except for maybe last Friday when you all made that big fuss!”

The ‘big fuss’ refers to the several minutes of applause and cheering that followed Newton’s short speech of farewell and thanks at Summer Hall. One student even knocked over a lamp in his enthusiasm, having stood up to toast the popular hall manager.

Despite several assertions to the contrary by Keble students, McHugh expects Keble to manage very well without him in the coming years. “It will cope perfectly well. It got along for 132 years without me after all!”

An Exercise In Spin

James Tozer
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An Exercise In Spin

Wimbledon has arrived, and with it, the annual dawning of the great British summer. ‘Tis the season of knockabout tennis games, Test Match Special on the radio, and I’m catching up with the transfer gossip in some corner of a foreign beach that is forever Arsenal. It’s almost impossible to stifle a grin flicking through the programme for the next couple of months: Lions matches, Ashes tests, golf majors and F1 races are popping up all over the place, like rabbits on amphetamines. The festivities at the All England Club are always the first sign of the sporting Eden just on the horizon; there’s something peculiarly uplifting about punnets of creamy strawberries and the soft thudding of felt on string, hinting at the bliss of a whole summer that lies ahead.

And, of course, no Wimbledon fortnight is complete without a good old moan about the state of British tennis; rather sportingly, most of our lot have already packed their bags, obliging us all with plenty to gripe about, and temporarily placating the French. Naturally, the two that are left in are going to cop all manner of flak – just wait until Laura Robson’s gutsy streak eventually comes to an end – with some of the criticism thrown at Andy Murray reaching all-time record levels of silliness. The latest grumble doing the rounds is that his ruthless habit of winning is inherently un-British – as if he has crassly forgotten to throw in the odd five-set nerve-shredder against a qualifier, or ought to be more foppishly self-effacing in victory. (This has to be up there in the league table of daft complaints with that of a slightly batty lady yesterday, who enquired, on learning that my friend and I were supporting Argentinian Martin Alund against David Ferrer, whether we had forgotten what they had done to our ships. Just wait until she finds out about the Armada.)

 It was no doubt this sort of misguided Muzza-bashing that Jo McCusker of the BBC had in her sights when she made her recent documentary about the British no. 1; airing it on the eve of Wimbledon fortnight, apart from making obvious scheduling sense, was surely part of a plan to improve, and perhaps even rehabilitate, his relationship with the public. The hour-long programme points to the 2006 World Cup prediction incident as a noticeable scar on Murray’s image – Tim Henman’s recollection of the gentle Anglo-Scottish ribbing as “just banter” provokes a giggle – and as just one of the many mountainous tensions that have arisen out of circumstantial molehills. Likewise, Andy’s supposedly “surly” demeanour is shown to be the product of two forces within him: a mean competitive streak, and a reluctance to put himself on display after the vitriol hurled in his direction in 2006.

The latter is compellingly argued, with footage uncovered of a cheeky 18-year-old Murray running rings around an American journo in 2005; and the programme takes great pains to showcase his acerbic wit. For all of the fawning tributes from the ubiquitous James Corden, none speak quite as loud as Murray’s whoop of joy at hitting coach Ivan Lendl with a forehand at a recent Queen’s exhibition game, or wicked grin as his yelping physio Andy Ireland actually tries out an ice-bath. There is a certain irony in the way that the BBC programme pokes fun at Murray’s recent PR drive – complete with an editor of Vogue who has more than a hint of the Edna Mode‘s about her – but for the most part, he is shown as a refreshingly normal bloke with his feet squarely on the floor. That you have to dig a little below the surface to discover this is only a credit to the British no. 1; there’s always something a bit disingenuous about the superstars that go well out of their way to publicly assert their normalcy – the retirement of “Freddie” Flintoff was an interesting example – like that one friend who’s always trying to flog a couple of queue jumps for Camera on the back of being good company. 

Murray comes across as an ordinary guy – albeit with pretty decent hand-eye co-ordination – quite simply because he distances himself from efforts to humanize his image. In the great professional era of sport, in which cynicism is pervasive, the harder you try to appear genuine, the more manufactured you look; ordinariness is something that can only be glimpsed by accident, like a mischievous smirk, or a tear hastily blinked away (or in Murray’s case, the superb biographical detail that he likes to research things on Wikipedia). This is perhaps one of the reasons why the portion of the programme in which Andy was interviewed about the Dunblane massacre made for uncomfortable viewing: because we have learned to associate the heart-to-heart interview with Lance Armstrong’s confession and Tiger Woods’ apology – with artificial attempts to repair damaged sporting portfolios. Sue Barker dealt with the issue very respectfully and delicately, and it was important to show how influential the event has been in shaping Andy’s life, and why Dunblane has rallied around him; but we could also see how uncomfortable he was in displaying his very genuine grief publicly, in an interview that had been staged to provoke it. Tim Henman states later on in the documentary how sad it was that it took Murray’s emotional response to his defeat in the 2012 Wimbledon final for the public to identify with him; yet The Man Behind the Racquet was made precisely to further that identification, and was advertised on BBC Sport’s website on Sunday night with the unique selling point that its subject had cried during his recollections of this terrible and traumatic incident.

This, then, is the Catch-22 of the humanizing documentary: that being “genuine”, like being modest or being economical with words, is not something that you can insist on. The BBC’s programme, though made with the admirable intention of normalizing the British no. 1, cannot escape our cynical attitude towards the media; it is the spontaneous things that really allow us to identify with our sporting heroes. 

Review: RSC’s A Mad World My Masters

Evy Cavalla
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Review: RSC’s A Mad World My Masters

★★★★☆
Four Stars

Thomas Middleton, the Jacobean playwright, joins Evelyn Waugh in the ranks of Oxford-educated literary figures who matriculated but never quite made it to graduation. T.S. Eliot deemed Middleton second only to Shakespeare and some argue he even had a hand in All’s Well That Ends Well. Given that his name will forever follow that of the Bard along the corridors of history, it is fitting that the Royal Shakespeare Company will stage Middleton’s city comedy A Mad World My Masters for the next three months (sadly the Royal Middleton Company does not exist and thus is in no real position to perform the farce itself).

The play is a bawdy romp through a debauched 17th century London, but it has been brought up to date and recast as a bawdy romp through 1950s Soho. My 88-year-old granddad, who was born in Soho in 1925, was interested by the extent to which the far the West End of his youth had been romanticised for the purpose of the production. The programme describes Soho as possessing a ‘Technicolor vibrancy that could either delight or repel’. An outsider may well have been repulsed or perhaps delighted by the ‘prostitutes who prowled the streets’ amidst ‘exotic aromas’ and ‘fragments of jazz and blues’. For my granddad, though, a prostitute was a slightly sordid everyday detail, a lady hanging around outside the school gates whom they learned to know by sight (and hopefully sight alone).

In A Mad World, the lead is a hooker as beautiful as she is wily, and her ruses to make an honest – and rich – woman of herself bring the play to a head. Her name is Truly Kidman, and she is both mistress to Sir Bounteous Peersucker, a rich and impressionable old fool, and lover to his nephew, Dick Follywit. The names hint at the characters’ roles but mainly draw on the proud and venerable English tradition of smut for comic effect. Middleton named Sir Bounteous’ old and sexually frustrated butler ‘Gunwater’, but he has been here rechristened as ‘Spunky’ in a less-than-subtle updating of Jacobean slang.

The play is an extended farce filled with dirty Jacobean jokes, some of which have faded into obscurity with time: these gags were coupled with inventive and often hilarious staging to keep a modern audience entertained. The men’s knowing looks and saucy references to female characters became a little wearing after a while, but were counter-balanced by Truly Kidman’s complex and absorbing lead prostitute (played with aplomb by Sarah Ridgeway). Her most captivating solo was a rendition of ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business’, in which she circled slowly round foggy London streetlamps and told us charmingly that she really didn’t care what society thought of her ancient profession.

The astute audience member may suspect that ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business’, a classic blues number, was not included by Middleton in his 1605 script. The vigorous and sustained musical departure from Middleton’s original vision, though, is for me the highlight of the show. A singer with an impressive coiffure in a purple sparkly fishtail dress sashayed around to a live jazz band as the show started: the addition of musical (and sequinned) numbers would revitalise the text throughout, especially at points where it had lost some of its original bite. The production was kept light on its feet by the irresistable pull of showbiz and the glamour of trombones. A Mad World My Masters is a triumph of theatrical experience, a visual spectacle and an aural delight.

A Mad World My Masters is on from 6 June – 25 October 2013 at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/a-mad-world-my-masters/

Varsity Cricket: Success So Far

Samuele Volpe
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Varsity Cricket: Success So Far

As the last dregs of the academic year disappeared down the metaphorical plughole, it’d have been easy to miss the series of cricketing varsity matches which have been – weather not withstanding – providing the University’s sporting summer with a final flourish. With a 50-over match that took place in the grand arena at Lords, as well as a 20-20 game and a four-day match, it’d be impossible to accuse our cricketers of laziness in the face of exams.

The weather however has so far proved harder to tame, with the men’s 20-20 game which took place at Fenner’s in Cambridge falling victim to heavy rain, whilst the women’s one-day game was another casualty. Luckily Saturday June 15th saw our Blues make a successful start in between the showers. Eventually winning the match by seven wickets after making a twice-reduced target of 89 off 20 overs. This was a great reversal of recent history, as the Oxford squad hadn’t managed to win the 50-over episode of the Varsity series in any of the last three years.

Key to the victory were the opening spells of bowlers Johny Marsden and Freddie Johnson (who ended with fantastic figures of 2 wickets for the concession of just 10 runs.) Both enabled the Oxford team to hold the initiative from the very beginning. Their restriction of the Cambridge top order to 24-1 after 12 overs left them facing an uphill battle, and with observers expecting 250 to be an approximate par score – in the unlikely event either side was able to play their full allocation of overs – the game always looked within the capabilities of an Oxford side which has looked impressive all Summer.

In particular the batting line-up made the run-chase look easy. Despite a shaky beginning, soon the Blues were motoring, and by the time the scoreboard read 70-1, the only threat to an Oxford victory was the weather, with the sodden skies appearing ominous. In the end though, the rain held off and Gus Kennedy’s quickfire 43 (from only 49 balls) was central to a strong performance. Another notable effort with the willow was from Sam Agarwal who made a crucial 16 to help stabilize the innings after the potentially problematic early dismissal of Ben Jeffery.

Although the crowd at Lords was hardly full, those who did make the trip to London were thoroughly entertained by the Oxford team at least. Peter Ladd commented that “it probably wasn’t a great game for the neutral, but then I wasn’t going as a neutral!” He then added that he really hadn’t been “convinced by the Cambridge top order, with the obvious exceptions of Paul Best and Tom Elliot.” Those two batsmen made over 90 runs between them, and in Ladd’s opinion the Tabs could have done with more of their ilk. Best was in fact a surprise starter, having been slated to be 13th man for Warwickshire during the same week. 

The one-day match has not been the only Varsity success so far though. The Women’s team won their 20-20 tie, and are also 1-0 up in their series. All in all, this year has looked he best for quite some time for our cricketers.

The beginning of July will see the last part of the series as the game’s longer form game takes centre stage, again at Fenner’s, on the 2nd. As the oldest first-class cricket fixture still in existence – it dates back to 1827 – we all hope that the Oxford side can make another historic contribution to a lengthy tradition of sporting success, and all things being equal we’d have to see our side as favourites to win both the match and the series. Expect an update on the team’s progress soon after.

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