Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

Since Walter Benjamin promoted its ‘emancipatory potential’ in 1935, film and video have increasingly become the thinking man’s medium when it comes to contemporary art. Of course it has its technical difficulties, like how to deal with the audience missing the beginning or walking out half way through a painstakingly structured piece. Artist Steve McQueen notably caused a stir at last summer’s Venice Biennale by restricting viewing of his film Gardini to timed slots, but what unfurled was an arrestingly atmospheric, lyrical film, well worth the wait.

Conversely, Andy Warhol’s long still films include Empire, an epic eight-hour study of the Empire State Building, designed so that you could chat, cough or even look away and the slowing moving images would still be there.

It wasn’t really until the late 1960s that artists began manipulating film as an artistic medium in its own right. Since then it has evolved harnessing new technologies and producing its own very unique visual language. Arguably there is an element of mysticism surrounding this genre of art, in that little is known of the workings behind the camera. The viewer is forced to almost work ‘backwards’ from the moving images presented in order to interpret the intent behind video art films. The use of video is a way of both turning the focus onto the behavioural patterns and the cognitive psychology of the viewer. Video art pioneer Peter Campus once said: ‘The screen is like a sedative, it quietens the eye and brainwaves down’.

There is a plethora of places to seek out video art. One is the current show at Raven Row gallery, Against What? Against Whom?, which presents the works by Harun Farocki ranging from as far back as 1995 to 2009’s Immersion, a video piece that uses a dual screen projection to address the treatment of soldiers traumatized by their experiences in Iraq. He has produced films about everything from the prison system in America to the production of bricks, and his work maintains a high level of critical engagement as well as a clear sensitivity to the medium he so adeptly manipulates.

This year, Hugh Grant turns 50, Chekov is 150 and OUDS is 125. But only one of these anniversaries has spurred our supreme commander Roland Singer-Kingsmith into action. First, he drew up a five point plan. Now he’s marshalling his forces with military precision. He was last seen emailing almost anyone who’s ever set foot on the Oxford stage, asking for strategic advice on how to celebrate. A huge campaign fund has been raised, former alumni have been conscripted – even Thelma Holt’s been drafted in to provide backup. The resulting gala event at the Playhouse should feature more big names than Matt Maltby can drop in a week’s worth of Thespionage.

Also at OUDS, plans are under way for a social event, which could be coming soon to a theatre (?) near you. With such regular socials in mind, as well as talk of a large donation in the pipeline, many will view this year as the beginning of a renaissance in Oxford drama. On top of this, there’s a new phenomenon on display: student shows making serious money. First it was West Side Story; now Equus looks like it may have smashed OFS box office records.

Equus had better watch out, however, because there’s more than a whiff of scandal hanging over the OFS at the moment. See Cherwell News for more information about this, but we hear they’ve been handing out serious fines for last minute cancellations of plays. Adding insult to injury, at least one of last term’s OFS shows still hasn’t been paid. When the ageing studio finally closes, few students will mourn its departure.

For all this gossip, the serious business of making plays seems to have been sidelined: in Fourth week, there’s only a single play on. Thankfully, it’s Our Country’s Good, which looks extremely promising. For many audience members this will be the first sight of sawdust Casanova Alex Jeffery, while others familiar already with Rachel Bull will prepare once again to see her dash to the theatre, resplendent in rowing gear, with minutes to spare. The only other play with no competitors will be 8th Week’s Knives in Hens. But as Adam Baghdadi’s involved, we can be sure of one thing: either people are going to be terrifyingly thrilled by this tale of a woman murdering her adulterous husband – or just terrified.