On the 22nd February, Cellar was the place to be if you wanted to check out some of the best student acts that Oxford has to offer. We sent some reviewers along to check them out:

Liam Howarth:

Concept: Man with beard plays guitar and sings

They say: ‘The best beard in Oxford?’

We say: Soulful tunes delivered with a subtle finesse. Electrifying blues sang in French and Björk covers bring joy to
the world.

Lydia Baylis

Concept: Man with guitar accompanies brilliant singer

They say: ‘Blissful Harmonies Guaranteed’

We say: No kidding. It is the plight of the early acoustic to have to fight the crowd, but after a quiet start, she pulled no punches. Heart-wrenchingly moving cover of Radiohead’s ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’

Claudia Costa

Concept: Girl with guitar looks alot like Joan Baez and plays folk.

They say: ‘Bruce Springsteen/Accordion/ Double Denim’

We say: Owes just as much to Regina Spektor or Baez as she does to the Boss. That’s no bad thing, mind. However, her early slot combined with her popularity meant people tended to talk through her set, or, more disruptively, shush people. Which was a big shame.

Sonny Liston

Concept: Nine-piece folk collective

They say: ‘Formerly Dear Landlord’

We say: Just as good as under the previously ‘John Wesley Harding’ inspired moniker. Beautiful and playful interplay between the (many) instruments, and they’ve written some real gems. 

The Oxford University Light Entertainment Society – I mean no disrespect – is undeniably nerdy. Beards abound, as do comedy German accents, onstage and off, and I’d be surprised if there was a single person in the room who wasn’t au fait with most of the Discworld oeuvre. That said, I am too, and if you know at heart you’re not too cool for Terry Pratchett then Villainy may well be worth a look.

The Society is a charitable organisation and often performs in local schools, and at times I wondered if the brand of humour in this script by Fabienne Styles might work better on a slightly younger, less jaded audience. Nonetheless, there were still a number of genuine laughs; one mad scientist bemoans the state of the graduate job market, claiming to have turned to the powers of evil after being rejected by Glaxo-Smith-Kline; and pose-pulling superhero Captain Protector (Martin Corcoran) describes himself as a ‘defender of the innocent – especially if they’re good-looking’. His assistant Mindy (Sasha McKenna) was quietly hilarious, acquiescing seemingly without objection to a surreal S&M relationship with a man whose previous sidekick asked uncomfortable questions such as ‘why do I have to use the whip?’

I’m told the production features ‘six and a half’ original songs, one of which is a winning adaptation of the traditional folk song ‘Spanish Ladies’ bewailing the loss of a broken death-ray. Chorus number ‘The Good Guys Always Win’ is perhaps best summarised as charmingly rickety, though in their defence many a rhyme between ‘Ivy’ and ‘blithely’ gets a star all by itself. Elsewhere Jonathan Sims as Satan demonstrates the full capacity of his sinister eyebrows, and opens the show with a sympathy-for-the-devil themed tango duet which looks set to be instantly engaging.

Sustaining interest is a possible issue – the jokes have an approximate hit-rate of 50%, and I’m not sure how long it will take for the zaniness to wear slightly thin, but for twenty minutes at least it was more endearing than annoying. A scene about politically correct anarchists (I think) fell quite heavily flat, a victim both of acute standing-in-a-line syndrome and a terrible acronym, but to their credit a later running joke about ‘W.A.N.K.E.R.S.’ succeeds against all the odds.

In preview the plot lacked coherence, but in a full production with scenes in order I imagine this problem will solve itself. The humour would benefit from being more deadpan, and physicality was frequently unfocused and static; but to take this production too seriously as drama would be to miss the point. It’s fun, it’s silly, it’s for charity, and if I was fifteen I’d probably have loved it. But for a post-Pratchett cynic, it still manages to be at least lightly entertaining.

3 stars

Villainy is at the Wadham Moser Theatre, 9th March- 11th, 7.30pm

The Duchess of Malfi is by no means an easy play to do well – its central character is the most complex of tragic heroines and its message open to much debate. I was thus interested to see what Jack Hackett and Tom Moyser would emphasise in their production. The answer? Very little. When I could hear the dialogue, which was rarely (the actors seemed entirely oblivious to the squeaking floorboards which drowned out much of the speech), it still felt more like a reading of the play than a performance. The actors were not for the most part untalented; they, and their performances, just seemed to lack direction.

Hannah Daly (as the title character) and Robert Williams (Ferdinand) put in the two best performances. Daly managed to endow the duchess with a (later tragic) dignity, even when ravenously devouring apricots in the late stages of pregnancy, and the clarity and passion of Williams’ words was a breath of fresh air for the audience. Though he should probably watch that his performance does not slip into melodrama in an attempt to counter the under-acting of some of those around him. Harriet Lebus’ death scene (as Julia) was also impressive – it was a pity that she had only a relatively minor part, since she could have greatly enhanced the production.

But in any performance of The Duchess of Malfi it is the presentation of the character of Bosola which is most important for the success of the production. Nik Higgins, however, was entirely inaudible for most of the preview, which verged on the comic when he was in conversation with actors who were in fact projecting. This was frustrating enough for someone who knew the plot – for an audience new to the play, being able to hear Bosola is key. Higgins’s quiet monotone was not the only annoying aspect of characterisation. The idea that Antonio (Jari Fawkes) and Delio (Lewis Godfrey) could only express their friendship through overly frequent ‘man hugs’ was slightly laughable. Many of the relationships lacked subtlety and so believability, making me painfully aware at all times that this was a student play.

Performing the play in the Old Dining Room at Teddy Hall also seemed to create problems. There had clearly been little thought as to how to make the setting work to the play’s advantage (as the team behind Samson Agonistes managed so well in Merton chapel last week). It felt as if the play was being put on in a less than ideal space. The centrality of the duchess’s chair, framed by the elaborate panelling, was probably the one good design decision, but much of the time, design and script did not work together. For instance, Ferdinand’s sinister entrance into his sister’s bedroom was weak and anticlimactic, as he had to walk in through the audience, rather than appearing behind her. While limitations on entrances and exits are understandable, Ferdinand’s entrance from behind seemed like a basic and achievable requirement here.

All in all, the directors’ efforts seem to have gone into the mechanical necessities of putting on a play rather than any artistic vision. Some of the actors can obviously act and act well at times, despite a lack of unity, but they are let down by a watery production and one that adds little to the history of Webster in performance.

two stars

The Duchess of Malfi is at Teddy Hall, Sunday 7th March – Wednesday 10th, 7.30pm

Those with their ear to the ground in Oxford will know that The Spring Offensive is one of the city’s most promising up and coming musical outfits. The band has been gigging prolifically in Oxford and London over the last few years, but is developing a following which extends far outside the two cities; the five-piece is getting regular radio airtime, they’ve been chosen to feature on a BBC tribute to Radiohead’s The Bends and in a recent review, BBC 6 Music stated that the outfit ‘restores your faith in the [indie] genre’: all in all, an impressive résumé.

The five-piece is a product of our city. They formed at an Oxfordshire school and two of its members (brothers Lucas and Theo Whitworth) currently study at Catz. However, when I spoke to Lucas, he wasn’t so keen on the ‘Oxford band’ label, acknowledging that ‘it’s shorthand for Radiohead copyists or Foals imitators’; he urges those who hold this view to explore our city’s music more, adding ‘they’d be pleasantly surprised’. The band’s lead singer does however recognise the bright side of Oxford’s musical life, stating that he’s ‘honoured to be active in a brilliantly varied and creative musical community – the level of talent here keeps you on your toes’.

Undoubtedly, The Spring Offensive’s music doesn’t sound like the cheap Radiohead cynics might have hoped for. Instead, interweaving guitar lines underpin Lucas’s anthemic vocals to create an undeniably distinctive sound world. On being asked about the acts that influenced this, Lucas tells me, ‘we listen to a lot of music’ (he strikes me as a man with a vast record collection) making it ‘hard to pinpoint any direct influences’. However, he does say that bands ‘that make better music than we could ever hope to, like Death Cab For Cutie’, have informed their sound.

The writing process is very much a group effort: ‘Matt and Theo (the guitarists) come up with ideas, Joe and Pelham (bass and drums) make it into a song and I flit around the two pairs making tea’. Lucas stresses the importance of lyric writing to the band, telling me that they spend ‘a disproportionate amount’ of their lives on these. The meaning behind the songs is clearly a big deal for him: ‘it simply has to have something to say. Otherwise you might as well hum a melody’.

This ethos is certainly manifested in the band’s new album, Pull Us Apart, which was officially launched with a gig at The Wheatsheaf last Saturday night. Upon listening, it’s evident that a lot of time is spent on every detail of the songs, which are all connected by the central theme of obsession. Lucas is quick to point out that while the subject permeates each track, the opus isn’t a concept album. ‘The tracks work on their own, though do sound much better in context.’ He recalls that ‘last year, being in a band almost consumed our lives entirely. The record’s about longing to escape when you can’t because you’re too invested’.

Pull Us Apart was recorded over Christmas in what Lucas describes as a ‘ridiculously good couple of weeks’. The boys decamped to Courtyard Studios (where Radiohead’s Pablo Honey was recorded) and completely shut themselves off from the rest of the world ‘to focus entirely upon the record’. The band produced the work themselves (‘which is a lot less impressive than it sounds’) but had recording help from Ian Davenport (think Supergrass and Band of Skulls) who mainly did nuts and bolts work.

On being asked about the outcome of the album, Lucas tells me that, ‘Overall, we’re very proud of it, but it’s an artefact that relates to us last year, so now it’s up to other people, not us, to take things from it’. The band has evidently moved on already, focusing on a ‘quite different’ next record that will be out before Summer. Why the hurry to work again so soon? ‘The point is that you write a song that suits you perfectly at that time, but things change and it no longer matches you’.

I wondered about what the band hoped to achieve with its music, and Lucas states honestly that they want to ‘keep growing and growing and making better and better music’, but realises ‘it’s up to other people to take an interest and believe in what we’re doing’. If The Spring Offensive continue making music as good as they are now, they needn’t worry about people losing interest; they’re truly one of the most exciting musical outfits to emerge from Oxford in a long time, and as Lucas puts it simply, ‘Anything could happen’.  

In brief, this play comprises: a ploughman who has a somewhat intimate relationship with his horses; a silver tongued miller as adept with wordplay as he is flour grinding; and a nameless field woman caught in the middle, caught somewhere between wordless ignorance and an aching desire to name all of the wonders of the world. Unsurprisingly this makes for compelling viewing all the more so because each character is realised by strong, competent actors who maintain the intensity and intrigue that the play demands. 

As is always the case with previews I was only allowed a brief glimpse of things to come. However, what I saw was a surprisingly polished performance, given the cast have over a week left of rehearsals, and the beginning of a story that charts a young woman’s education as she opens her eyes to a world rife with expression and knowledge. 

Jennifer Hyde’s performance as the Young Woman was particularly skilled; her portrayal convincingly switched from thoughtful contemplator of nature and its beauties to naïve and crude sceptic of modernisation. Griffith Rees’s Miller is both devilishly intelligent and worryingly sinister. It is not surprising that the Young Woman is wary of this man who clicks his tongue and frequently bursts out into fits of manic laughter. Meanwhile, foil to the wit of the Miller and the blossoming intelligence of the Young Woman is William, the ploughman. Jeremy Jones’ brooding presence fits his role perfectly. He represents an almost elemental force, one which does not question the world around it and accepts its place with forceful determination. He often refers to his wife in the third person, implying a sense of ownership, coupled with his clear yet odd preference for the company of his mares over the company of his wife. He delights in the simple things like ploughing and sex, and is keen to rebuke his wife if she appears to be asking too many questions, questions which in themselves are perfectly innocent.

Angus Hodder (director) has very adeptly brought to life David Harrower’s intriguing script. The emphasis on wordplay and vocabulary is given due weight, and Hodder has ensured that a gently simmering environment soon gives way to one of bubbling menace. Even a bizarre and somewhat unsubtle dream sequence is rendered captivating as the Miller blows flour over the Young Woman’s body. This play will most definitely lend itself to the restricted size of the Burton Taylor, adding to the ominous sense of claustrophobia. This is the last BT play of the term and it most definitely deserves to be seen. It is thought provoking without being pretentious and at the entry price of £4 is clearly going to be worth it.

4 stars

Knives in Hens is at the BT Studio, Tuesday-Saturday of 8th Week, 7.30pm

The refrain ‘I don’t have time for museums’ is common amongst Oxford students, and certainly one I have used myself. The enormous number of things to do here tends to push museum visits pretty low down on the list, and anyway, it’s easy to forget about the cultural attractions of somewhere you live and experience daily. However, a new initiative spanning several of the museums here might be the right incentive to start exploring them.

In collaboration with museums across the county, BBC Oxford has created a list of ten objects which tell part of Oxfordshire’s history and suggest its relationship to the wider world. The objects are on display at the relevant museums, all of which are within walking or cycling distance except for the Oxfordshire Museum at Woodstock, which is a bus ride away. The objects form part of a wider project called ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ – a unique joint venture between the BBC, the British Museum and 350 museums and institutions across the UK, selecting objects of international provenance to create a multimedia impression of the development of global culture.

The strength of this initiative is that it appeals to an audience that otherwise might not visit museums much. The objects are all in permanent collections, rather than special exhibitions, so they’re not going to be whisked away any time soon, and visiting them is completely free.

Most of the objects aren’t the obvious treasures of their respective collections, so you’re likely to discover something you haven’t seen before, even if you are a frequent museum-goer. Millais’s 1851 painting The Return of the Dove to the Ark is one such example: it’s relatively unknown now, but it incorporates a stark tonal contrast, atypical in Pre-Raphaelite works, between the sombre background and the brilliant white drapery of one of the figures. It was also the first painting of this movement to be seen by William Morris, and seems to have profoundly influenced his later career in textile design and other decorative arts. If you walked into the Ashmolean’s nineteenth century rooms looking for a famous Millais painting, you would probably miss this one – yet on a closer look, it’s a beautifully simple composition rendered with immense technical skill, especially given the difficult textures included like straw, cloth and feathers.

Similarly hidden away in a basement room of the Museum of the History of Science on Broad Street is a model of the structure of penicillin. The leading contributor in the research of X-ray crystallography used to work out the structure was Oxford scientist Dorothy Hodgkin, awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964. The model isn’t much to look at for the uninitiated, but it’s another reminder of the astounding achievements of centuries of Oxford academia. Also, it’s surrounded by an array of the Museum’s elegant, slightly-rusted oddities that make the room look like a Tim Burton science experiment.
Oxford in Ten Objects’s emphasis seems to be on the relevance of these objects to the modern day, which makes a change from the idea that visiting museums must be undertaken as a sort of cultural medicine. Dr John Hobart of Oxford University Museums described the project as ‘a fantastic opportunity for the museums and the people of Oxfordshire to focus on local objects and show how our county has contributed in many and diverse ways to the wider world’.

As such, the fact that the Pitt Rivers’s listed object is a tiny, unpainted, wooden ‘whit horn’, in a cabinet full of exotic painted flutes, needn’t seem a strange choice. Made in the 1890s, it was a musical instrument used to call Oxfordshire villagers to a hunt to kill a stag on Whit-Monday. Seamus Boyd, BBC Project Manager for the Nations and English Regions, said ‘some of [the objects] may have great monetary value, others little or none, but they’re priceless in how they bring to life moments in history.’

On the other hand, the validity of defining one object as ‘bringing to life a moment in history’ and discounting thousands of others is questionable. Why should one painting, sculpture, or antique plate be preserved and placed behind glass, and another left to moulder away? You could even argue that there is no longer a place for the institutional preservation of works of art, in a world where things such as giant comic strip paintings and a piles of dust can be valued at millions of pounds and put on display to the public. The French Dadaist Marcel Duchamp once said in an interview that he hadn’t been to the Louvre for over twenty years, ‘because I have these doubts about the value of the judgements which decided that these pictures should be presented to the Louvre, instead of others which weren’t even considered, and which might have been there’.

However, the crucial difference of this project compared to previous attempts to pinpoint specific cultural monuments in history (Kenneth Clark’s huge series Civilizations springs to mind) is its interaction with the museum-goers themselves. Anyone can suggest an object with local or global appeal to the ‘History of the World’ website, and the organizers hope that each BBC Local website will have a second list of the People’s 10 Objects by the end of February.

Some of the objects on the original list are hard to track down – I couldn’t find the ‘Domitianus Coin from the Chalgrove Hoard’, and nor could the Ashmolean staff – but this doesn’t really matter. If you’ve gone into a museum and search its display cases intrepidly, you’re bound to discover new things anyway. Dr Hobart agrees, saying the ten objects are ‘only a starting point for discussion’. Organizers seem more concerned in promoting Oxford’s museum collections generally than in enshrining the ten objects as cultural artefacts. Whether or not you use the list, published in full on the BBC’s website, Oxford in Ten Objects is a reminder of the wealth of history available to explore here, and is as good a reason as any to visit one of Oxford’s excellent museums.

It’s a sad time of year for one third of Oxford’s thesps. They’ve been buried in the library for a term already – and the ordeal isn’t half finished yet. By way of a break, some have already braved the first round of drama school auditions; a few, a happy few, will reach the second. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: I’m referring to our beleaguered finalists. As a tribute to these poor souls, going from stage to page in a sort of reverse New Writing Festival, we’ve picked out ten likely stars of the future. In no particular order –

1. Matt Maltby: if his performance in The Bacchae was anything to go by, the OxStu‘s drama editor is actually a rather good actor – or else just naturally sinister. But that’s not why he’ll be famous. No – I think we’ve found this great hack-tor’s true vocation: Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Culture. Look out for him on your TV screens in 2025.

2. Chelsea Walker: last year’s OUDS president, Walker seems to have a promising future ahead as a director. This is absolutely terrible news for anyone with a sensitive disposition, but great for the rest of us, who can look forward to seeing her violent, twisted and disturbing creations on stage for years to come.

3. Jacob Lloyd: best known for playing Henry V in last year’s OUDS International Tour, Lloyd has won praise from all quarters for his intense performances, most recently in Roland-Singer Kingsmith’s Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me.

4. Will Maynard: renowned for grinding down his actors with insane rehearsal demands, Maynard struck gold last year with Don Carlos. Sceptics may doubt his almost paranormal approach to rehearsal, but few can doubt his results.

5. Rosie Frascona: faces a huge anticlimax if she makes it into the RSC, because she seems to have played every conceivable Shakespearean lead already. Audiences, however, will be delighted with her fiery and individual yet charming performances.

6. Ed Chalk: being called “better than Derek Jacobi” in this very paper last year may not have done his ego any good, but at his best, this actor is always worth watching.

7. Krishna Omkar: this ever-smiling actor, director and producer has been bringing all things quaint and old-fashioned to Oxford for a while now, with endless Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare productions. Looking to capitalise on the success of last year’s The Importance of Being Earnest, he will be going to London again this year with An Ideal Husband.

8. Lindsay Dukes: a talented actress who’s known for her ability to play Shakespearean leads and modern understated roles with equal ease. In Oxford, she’ll be remembered for last year’s Much Ado About Nothing.

9. Ellen Davnall: this text-driven director is never afraid to experiment. Her production of Macbeth, in which the actors surrounded the audience from all sides, raised a few eyebrows – but there’s no stopping her boundless creativity.

10. Thea Warren: a less familiar figure on the Oxford stage, Warren will be best remembered for her role as Agave in Asia Osborne’s production of Euripides’ Bacchae. Less known, but no less talented – if she does go into acting professionally, she has a bright future ahead of her.