By Srijanee Bhattacharyya

Is Angels in America, a Pulitzer prize-winning drama by Tony Kushner set during the Reagan era staged at the ‘site-specific’ Oxford Union, (which was itself once graced by Ronald Reagan himself), a match made in heaven?

The play, as ever, remains a fascinating blend of contrasts where fantasy meets gritty reality, stasis interacts with change and humour is irretrievably intertwined with emotion. It creates a harrowing, but worthwhile journey through the lives of the eight unique protagonists who deal with sexuality, identity and relationships with the flawed but understandable approaches of denial and despair. The link between the audience and the characters was enhanced through the intimate nature of the Oxford Union debating chamber, particularly with the highly commendable decision to have the actors already on stage and in character as the audience came in.

All members of the cast managed well the difficult task of acting two different roles and gave solid performances. Charlie Morrison (Roy), Colin Warriner (Prior) and Natasha Kirk (Harper) displayed wonderfully the conflicts that their characters faced.  My favourite performance came from Leo-Marcus Wan, whose Mr. Lies captured the idiosyncrasies of the play but whose portrayal of Belize maintained the gravity and humanity of the circumstances the characters found themselves in.  However, the performance was lacking in some other respects. The show might have benefited from a slower pace and unfortunately during a few crucial points in the performance the actors did seem to be shouting for effect. This combined with the theatre-in-the-round direction where the audience were sometimes behind the actors and the rapidity of the dialogue meant that audibility suffered and much of the nuances carefully built up to that point were lost.

Nevertheless, the staging of the play was impressive as a whole. The juxtaposition of the two confrontational scenes at the same time on stage was inspired, the first where Joe admits his homosexuality to his wife as she is gripped by mental illness and the second where Prior challenges his partner Louis, who has abandoned him while he is being ravaged by AIDS. The particular props chosen gave a distinct flavour to every scene allowing the audience to interpret exactly what was happening.  This avoided confusion and the minimalist set did not distract from the drama of the play and allowed the characters to flow in and out of the scenes without breaking the relentless drive to the climax of the play.

To answer the question posed at the beginning, the show was not so much a match made in heaven but an admirable, grounded performance.  It is worthwhile, especially to see some of the more poignant scenes take place in the unique setting of the Union chamber.

Oxford 12 – 52 Ospreys 

A PACKED house braved the bitterly cold elements on a crisp and clear Monday night to see the Oxford Blues take on welsh giants the Ospreys who currently lie third in the Magners Celtic League. The Ospreys fielded five Welsh Internationals plus one Tongan in their starting line-up while Oxford chose to rest their international star Joe Roff. Despite the greasy conditions, a scintillating, high octane game of rugby ensued providing the fans a welcome distraction from their ever-freezing extremities.

From the first set-play of the game the Ospreys demonstrated their class and wealth of talent in the backline. A nicely timed inside ball saw young Welsh international Aled Brew skip through virtually untouched for the first score within two minutes.

Things looked ominous for Oxford at this stage, but through the lively antics of scrum-half Henry and boot of fly-half McMahon they made their presence felt. Winger Jonan Boto threatened with a couple of half breaks and only some loose passes from the base prevented the Blues levelling up the scores.

As it was, a couple of raking kicks from Connor relieved the pressure for the Ospreys and set up another attacking platform. The Magners League champions succeeded where Oxford had failed in keeping the ball tight and retaining possession, successive phases eventually freeing up winger Phillips to dart over unopposed on the blindside.

As the half progressed, the gulf in class between the two back lines became apparent. The confidence of the Ospreys’ runners allowing them to attack at pace right on the gain line, putting Oxford on the back foot. The Blues, however, chose to attack from deep, allowing the Ospreys’ defence to advance and meet Oxford’s runners with real venom. The pressure this created meant Steve Hill’s side rarely completed set piece moves and attacks often broke down.

Although shaded in the backs, the Blues pack were admirably holding their own up front against a set of forwards whose front row consisted entirely of internationals. The back row worked tirelessly, time and again arriving first at the breakdown and securing turnover ball. Only some dubious calls from the referee prevented Oxford from stealing possession more regularly.

The pack’s efforts were rewarded on 26 minutes when a catch and drive saw fresher Chris Davies bundle over and reduce the deficit to just one score.

Any hopes of reigning in the Welshmen were quickly dashed however, as slick interplay in the backs saw the Ospreys reassert their authority over the game. A second try from winger Brew followed by a try from fly-half Connor brought the half-time score to 24-5.

The half-time substitution of Sam Humphrey-Baker into the centre injected some much needed physicality and aggression into the Oxford backline. He met the Ospreys’ attacks head on with bone crunching hits that seemed to lift those around him. With the ball in hand he also posed a real threat; unafraid to take on the Ospreys’ ferocious defence and running with steely determination.

Unfortunately he could do nothing about a wickedly bouncing cross field kick from Connor that gave the Ospreys the first score of the half. He was however, instrumental in the construction of Oxford’s reply. His driving run through the heart of the Ospreys’ midfield setting up the ruck from which Henry dummied and dived over for the Blues’ second score.

With ten minutes to go Oxford were drawing the second half, but some tired legs began to give way and allowed the Ospreys to rack up a slightly flattering scoreline. A push over try from hooker Hibbard was followed by a blistering finish from rapid replacement winger Ryan Bayliss. Substitute Ashley Beck completed the scoring after some silky offloading in the Osprey backline.

Director of rugby Steve Hill remained upbeat despite the heavy scoreline. "We competed well up front against quality opposition. If we can do that in Varsity we’ll have an excellent platform from which to play."He did concede that there are still problems to address, "We must make our first up tackles and try to show some of the ruthlessness in attack that the Ospreys displayed today."

CHERWELL school pitches are often the venue for hard fought conker fights, although they have rarely witnessed a battle of this intensity.

Before the game, both sides were eager to climb up the table, having dropped points in their first two games. In reality, this determination resulted in a scrappy affair, with neither side content with the eventual 2-2 score line.

The match was played with an astounding physicality, with Teddy Hall’s eager midfield assuming early dominance over their opponents. Following a strong tackle from Hall captain John Waldron, Mike Sopp was able to put the away side in to the lead, capitalising on a moment of hesitancy from the Wadham keeper. Despite the home side maintaining possession, Hall continued to pose difficulties, with Frost and Clarfelt missing well-crafted opportunities on the counter attack.

At the other end Hall’s goalkeeper, Nicola Ielpo, was proving to be a greater obstacle than his size would suggest. His commanding presence dominated his modest surroundings, and his full stretch dive saved a powerful shot from Bruno Versailles, only minutes after Hall had earned the lead.

Ielpo is comparatively small for a goalkeeper, although he is undoubtedly used to the bigger stage, having once played in the San Siro Stadium in Milan. With the experienced pairing of Waldron and Lefanu in front of him, he will not expect to concede too many goals this season, providing his team do not fall foul of the complacency that led to Wadham equalising before half time.

Teddy Hall restored their lead quickly after the break, when a well weighted through ball awoke sleeping giant, Wilfred Frost. The hit man responded with a perfect finish, tapping the ball passed the Wadham keeper to make it 2-1.

Having gained the lead once again, captain John Waldron will bemoan the second wave of complacency that broke over Hall. Instead of pushing forward for another goal, the Hall players allowed Wadham to gain momentum, before proving incapable of preventing Bruno Versailles from poking the ball over Ielpo’s outstretched arms.

Following Wadham’s goal, the tension between the two sides heightened, with neither willing to accept a point apiece. In between a series of fouls (most of which were committed by Hall’s right back), there were further chances at either end. Wadham’s keeper was fortunate in seeing the ball bounce off his crossbar and on to his head, before going out of play, whilst Versailles’ long range effort came perilously close to clinching the lead in the dying seconds. Wadham will regret wasting late opportunities to gain all three points, particularly as are set to face a very confident St. Anne’s on Friday. Teddy Hall, on the other hand, will hope to hang on to their keeper for all college fixtures, although it seems likely that he will abandon college level sport to appear in a university shirt before too long.

TOUTED as potential winners of the Premier Division at the start of term, New College have since struggled to pull off an uninspiring draw against newly promoted Wadham and suffered a league-cup double defeat by Worcester. Brasenose, on the other hand, went into this fixture undefeated, with the prospect of a lengthy cup run still a possibility. With the New team weakened by "Freshers’ Flu", it was easy to see which side was the more relaxed.

The opening exchanges were scrappy, but not without incident at either end of the park. First, a deflected free kick gave Brasenose successive corners with New struggling to clear their lines, but soon after they started asking questions of the Brasenose defence. A speedy break by James Sutton on the left wing was ended only by a trip on the edge of the area. Much to the dismay of the New players, who thought they had a good shout for a penalty, the referee awarded a free kick which skipper Tom Howell could only drill into the wall.

As the game settled down Brasenose’s own brand of attractive football started to fashion openings, but they still failed to take advantage of them. As the interval approached, however, Brasenose broke the deadlock. A cross from the left hand side was met by Elliot Kelly, who made no mistake in beating his marker and heading past New keeper, Simon Nowell.

But Brasenose weren’t going to wait until the second half to double their lead. McCormick chipped the ball beyond the New full-back for scorer Kelly to turn provider, with a brilliant cross that picked out Leviseur, whose header across goal gave the keeper no chance. It was was probably the move of the match, and left New staring down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat.

If New had doubts, they didn’t show at the restart, as the Brasenose defence was immediately under pressure. When they failed to clear the ball far enough upfield a New throw led to a brilliant cross from the right flank across the six yards box, leaving a simple tap in for John Cordle to give New a lifeline.

Brasenose kept playing the better football, but it was New who had the ball where it mattered and began to test the home side’s keeper. Tom Howell was proving a handfull up front, with a tight angle shot palmed at the near post for a corner followed by a a close range header which found the keeper’s hands.As the final whistle neared, New were unwilling to commit players forward and they seemed headed for defeat. Howell took the game into his own hands, latching onto a speculative ball up field by the New keeper. He bundled past the last defender before beating the keeper to the ball and slotted home to break Brasenose hearts and claim a hard-earned point against more skilled opponents.

NINE hundred years of heritage. A century of lacrosse. A dark blue side which has lost half its winning varsity squad. This was the position of OULC at the start of this term and I would be lying if I denied being apprehensive about assuming the captaincy of the women’s team.

However, respecting the consistently high standards that the crosse-wielding females of Oxford have achieved in past years, my vice captains (Oli Valner at Teddy Hall and Alex Carruthers of Univ) and I were determined that this year should be no different.

With a depleted yet strong body of players, we had high hopes that this year’s set of freshers would turn out in full force to replenish our squad, and to reverse last season’s situation when only six first years were competing for places. Our hopes were not misplaced; if any of you were wandering the streets of Oxford last Wednesday night, you might have been lucky enough to encounter a large rabble of rowdy animals being shepherded by their zoo keepers from Cowley to the town centre. This was, in fact, the 18-strong group of freshers being initiated into the lacrosse squad.

Whilst the coordination of the fresher group on that particular night might lead people to doubt the aptitude of this year’s squad, if you were to frequent the Iffley Road Astroturf on a Sunday evening, or stroll through Parks on a Friday afternoon (or even sunrise on Mondays morning if you are so inclined), a very different situation becomes apparent. Not only would you be able to see that the newcomers bring with them a great deal of talent and commitment, but, even more excitingly, a great deal of potential. With such a healthy influx of new players and a good start to the season, there is nothing to suggest that a defining memory of second year will not be another Varsity victory and, even better, this time at home.

IN a thrilling game against their main division two rivals, played with plenty of aggression and no small measure of skill, the Christ Church XV emerged resoundingly victorious. This win means that they have secured promotion for the third successive season.

The match was electric from the start, with a powerful run from the kick off by Christ Church prop Chris Hughes setting the tone for a solid forward display from his side. At the beginning of the game the Worcester fringe defence was tested to the limit by the strength and dynamic running of the Christ Church pack. However, despite this period of dominance, points were hard to come by as Worcester tackled hard, with plenty of committment. Their first real scare came when the Worcester wing dealt poorly with fly half Ashley Gillard’s kick, allowing his opposite number Chris Cole to steal the ball and make nearly 70 metres before being hauled down. Cole continued to look dangerous, and it was his menacing running that brought the first breakthrough, a score touched down by full-back Jamie Holdoway on the left touchline after an excellent break. When this was converted by sure-footed Gillard, Christ Church felt they had gained just reward for their dominance.

Worcester came back strongly however, exerting pressure on the Christ Church line, but some excellent tackling right on the line by open-side Ian Horn denied them a try. The importance of this missed opportunity was heightened when Christ Church captain Christopher Perfect finished off a period of sustained pressure to bring the scoreline to 12-0. However, the effort being put in by the Christ Church side was starting to tell, and when a couple of sloppy penalties were conceded, Blues footballer Lucian Weston stepped up to show off the full range of his skills. He converted both, and suddenly the game was right back in the balance. The Christ Church try-line was under siege, and when Worcester scrum-half Ben Battcock finally burrowed over on the stroke of half time, the successfully struck conversion gave them a lead of a single point. The momentum seemed to have swung Worcester’s way, and when Ian Horn was sent to the sin-bin for persistent infringement the game looked to be Worcester’s for the taking.

However, the Christ Church forwards dug in for a supreme effort, and when Dan Barnes went over for his team’s third try while they were still down to 14 men, it seemed to change the complexion of the game. It was at this point a Christ Church victory was secured. Despite the loss of inside-centre Duncan Chiah to a nasty head wound, the controlled rugby that they played during the last twenty minutes allowed them two more tries, including a second for Dan Barnes, securing their victory.Captain Chris Perfect was pleased with his side’s performance, telling reporters "It was a good win against a good side, and we will look forward to playing them again next season" He appeared enthusiastic about his side’s prospects for the next season, and looks forward to testing his side against the very best in college rugby. The disappointed Worcester side will be looking for a solid performance next week in order to secure their own promotion hopes, however Christ Church can start to plan their assault on the top flight of college rugby.

ON a sunny October afternoon in the University Parks, newly promoted Magdalen showed the first division that they are here to stay with a solid victory over a disappointing Teddy Hall side that was lacking structure and composure.

Magdalen, fresh from a convincing victory over St. Hugh’s, were looking to make it three wins out of four in their first season in the top division for some time; and their opponents, Teddy Hall, after two poor losses to Keble and Catz, had last week shown glimpses of the Hall sides of old, ripping St. Peter’s to shreds with quality running rugby.

The visitors started the strongest; with South African fly half Andrew Barnes putting Teddy Hall under pressure with a series of long probing kicks. Fifteen minutes in, their territorial advantage told when Hall conceded a penalty for holding on under the shadow of their own posts, which Barnes slotted to make it 3-0.

Teddy Hall responded brightly, fly half Will Stevens drifted off a pass, dummied and then cut through a hole in the midfield defence. Drawing the fullback, he floated an inviting pass to winger Pete Cay, who stormed onto it only to be dragged down inches from the line by a great covering tackle. This was a defining moment of the game as Hall’s pressure was not converted into points, and Magdalen were able to clear their lines.

Barnes then began to completely dominate the game, scything breaks through desperate Hall tackles were interspersed with two sublime penalties to make it 9-0, one of which was struck from the half way line and chillingly reminiscent of Francois Steyn’s kick in Stade de France a few weeks ago.

The increasingly confident fly half then ghosted through the Hall defence to release David Williams who touched down under the posts. A solitary Stevens penalty was all Hall could reply with, trailing 19-3 at the break.

A more spirited Hall emerged after half time, but again could not convert possession and territory into points, lacking consistency and ruthlessness all over the pitch. Magdalen looked comfortable in defence, and after a kick by Stevens failed to reach touch, counter attacked clinically to touch down in the corner, scored and converted by their dominant fly half.

Again, all Hall could reply with was another Stevens penalty to make the final score 24-6 to Magdalen.

The first division new boys took their chances and were deserved winners, being superior in most facets of the game; a point grudgingly admitted by Hall captain Phil Satterhwaite. "We were second all over the park", he said.

Magdalen, looking forward to their final game of the league season, now know that if their forwards do not get out-muscled by the Keble pack, they could produce an upset. Hall, with three defeats out of four, now face the task of beating St Hugh’s next week or making history by being the first Hall side to be relegated from the first division. After the surprsie relegation of St. Peter’s this time last year, could the unthinkable be about to happen again?

THE Oxford Women’s Blues Football team took on Bedford Women’s Firsts on Wednesday afternoon at their home pitches of Marston. After only losses so far this season, the Blues were looking to kick start their season with ‘third-time lucky’ starting this match with renewed determination.

The game got off to a slow start with Oxford keeping firm possession of the ball, winning everything in the air and outplaying the opposition. Oxford played well up front, and managed to launch convincing attacks on their opposition’s defence. Despite a number of opportunities on goal, however, Oxford was unable to finish and each attempt ended up in the hands of Bedford’s strong keeper. The first half wound down with the Oxford side looking anxious. No doubt the memory of their two prior losses was still stinging, and the Bedford team, who responded well despite the home side’s pressure, was going to be hard to beat.

Bedford came out strong in the second half, having a breakaway opportunity at goal, but the Blues’ talented keeper Stephanie McGowan shut down any hope Bedford had of scoring, and asserted her dominating presence in goal. The Blues, a bit shaken, mustered their spirits and begin pushing hard for that goal that had so far evaded them. Finally, ten minutes into the second half, Worcester fresher Lucie Bowden cleaned up a powerfully shot ball from left wing Sarah Rouse that the Bedford keeper had fumbled. Bowden’s effort gave Oxford their first and much needed goal of the season, spurring the Blues to new efforts and putting victory in their sights. With the scoring drought finally ended, Oxford found form and intensified the pressure on Bedford. At last, the the goals started to flow. In the last twenty-five minutes of the match, the Oxford women saw two more goals from visiting student Brett Burns, which were powerfully struck from outside the penalty box. The expert placing of the shots left Bedford’s keeper without any hope of redeeming the scoreline. Although Bedford countered with good pressure and fresh players tested the Blues’ fitness towards the end of the game, Oxford held strong, determined to redeem the disappointment of a bad start to the season. The display of skill and composure showed by Oxford during the match more than accomplished this aspiration, and should give the team the confidence to build on this performance for further victories.

Results

Blues 2-2 Worcester

Women’s Blues 3-0 Bedford

Results

Worcester 3-0 Oriel

Wadham 1-2 St Anne’s

Jesus 2-1 Lincoln

Brasenose 2-2 New

Jesus 2-1 New

Brasenose 1-1 Oriel

Wednesday 7th November

New v Lincoln

Oriel v Jesus

St Anne’s v Brasenose

Teddy Hall v Worcester

Results

St Hugh’s 4-1 Exeter

St Catz 1-0 LMH

Christ Church 3-0 Hertford

Balliol 1-2 Keble

2pm

Hertford v Exeter

Keble v Christ Church

LMH v Balliol

Magdalen v St Catz

Somerville v St Hugh’s

BLUES RUGBY

Results

Blues 15-52 Ospreys

Greyhounds 33-31 Univ of

West England

7pm

Blues v Exeter Chiefs

(at Sandy Lane)

COLLEGE RUGBY

Results

Keble 56-0 St Peter’s

St Catz 80-10 St Hugh’s

Teddy Hall 6-24 Magdalen

Magdalen v Keble

St Peter’s v St Catz

St Hugh’s v Teddy Hall

Results

Christ Church 33-13 Worcester

CCC/Some 13-24 Trinity/LMH

Wadham 34-29 Exeter

Tuesday 6th November

Worcester v Exeter

CCC/Some v Christ Church

Trinity/LMH v Wadham

Wednesday 7th November

At Iffley Road

Men’s Badminton v Portsmouth

Women’s Badminton v Coventry (1pm)

Women’s Basketball v Wolverhampton (3pm)

Men’s Volleyball v Cambridge (7pm)

Women’s Volleyball v Cambridge (5pm)

Men’s Squash v Warwick (1pm)

In University Parks

Rugby League v Staffordshire

Away Matches

Men’s Badminton v Cambridge

Women’s Badminton v Lincoln

Men’s Basketball v Marjons

Women’s Basketball v Cambridge

Netball Blues v Cambridge

Men’s Hockey v Warwick

Women’s Hockey v Bristol

Men’s Squash v Nott Trent

Men’s T Tennis v Nottingham

Rugby League v Loughborough

Women’s Football v NottinghamWomen’s Rugby v UWIC

Despite being 12 days into his second bid for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, with the odds already stacked heavily against him, Chris Huhne appears unperturbed as he poses for photographs on the gallery of the Oxford Union library. His assistant, Charity, isn’t so calm. She’s only been working for Chris for a couple of months, so this campaign is something of a baptism of fire for her.

Did the MP handle the pressure so well in the 2006 contest, or was he more like his apprehensive apprentice? “I’m certainly much more prepared than I was last time. The experience of a leadership campaign is like nothing else in politics: suddenly there are journalists waiting outside your front door, hoping to doorstep you in case there are a few words that they might be able to feed back to their newsdesks. So there’s a level of attention that you’re completely unprepared for unless you’ve done it before, and it can take you by surprise.”

Huhne had a slow start securing endorsements, but things are picking up for him. He’s keen to point out that the race has only really just begun: the party won’t reveal its decision until December 17. “It’s quite a long campaign, so it’s important to pace yourself.”

Not that his opponent, Nick Clegg, has been pacing himself. While Huhne was at pains to deny an impending challenge during the most recent party conference, Clegg announced he “probably would” run for leadership. But Huhne doesn’t think that the contest has to result in the fragmentation of the party. “Providing the contest is conducted in an amicable manner, which we did last time…it’s quite possible to turn it to the party’s advantage.” He seems keen on the idea that the press – Tony Blair’s “feral beast” – can boost the Lib Dem cause in the coming weeks.

But isn’t he ignoring the problem that Sir Menzies suffered through his time at the head of the party – a problem that came to a head in Brighton this summer? “There is an awful lot of triviality in the way the media cover anything, but that’s because people like to relate to things that give some hint of one’s character, which may be whether you have sock suspenders or whatever it happens to be…With someone as serious as Ming, it irritated him a lot.”

His 19 years as a journalist haven’t left him, and he remembers what drives the trade: “I do understand the interest in ‘what is your favourite band?’ and so on. There is a desperate desire for people in politics to be authentic, to have real people with real views which aren’t just confected in a focus group.” Is that a jibe at David Cameron? “I don’t know him well enough and I wouldn’t want to disparage him to that extent, but his interest for example in the green agenda is a pretty recent one…If you study the articles he wrote for Guardian Unlimited when he was a backbencher, before he stood for leadership, he hardly ever mentioned the environment or climate change.

“In fact, there are only three mentions of the word ‘green’ in his articles. One was Damian Green, MP for Ashford in Kent. The other was how he wasn’t to blame for Norman Lamont’s phrase about the ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery. The third was about the difficulties of speaking as a new MP from the ‘green benches’ of the House of Commons.”

There is one way in which Huhne can relate to Cameron, though. Both have had their Oxford lives picked to pieces by the press. With the Conservative leader it was his Bullingdon Club antics; and last week it came to light that Huhne penned an Isis article advocating drug use. “I don’t think it’s relevant, to be honest…I think you have to learn things and do things before politics and you’re not a real human being if you haven’t. I had lots of experiences which have formed me, and things which I would never dream of recommending, and things that are clearly part of my experience. But it was a long, long time ago – we’re talking about 1973. More than 30 years, for crying out loud!”

Finally, the question that has to be asked: when does he honestly believe that the Liberal Democrats will be in a position to win a General Election? “I wouldn’t have given up a safe seat in the European Parliament to take on a much more marginal seat if we weren’t very close to a tipping point. If it’s going to be this election or the next, I don’t know, but I’m convinced that we’re close to that tipping point where we’re going to remake the whole structure of British politics. After all, we’re a radical party. We’re not just about changing the government. We’re about changing the whole system of government.”