Sexual Perversity in Chicago, 18 to 22 October, Burton Theatre: Mamet doesn’t do unusual. This is normality sped up, with young people loathing each other, needing each other, fucking each other. The only really perverse aspect of this show is its understated quality, a too rare demonstration that student drama can excite, not simply depress. This isn’t perfect stuff, but it is tight. It also contains great sunglasses. Bernie (Michael Lesslie) and Dannie (Nick Bishop) are ordinary guys who like to talk about girls and sex. Sometimes they meet girls, and occasionally they have sex. It is a study of territoriality on the smallest of patches. Dannie’s affair with Deborah (Charlotte Cox) lends him a quiet authority that soon undercuts the brashness of his buddy’s bragging. A surprising world of human empathy is briefly uncovered, along with the superficiality and hypersensitivity of macho bravado. There are times in this production when Mamet’s notoriously rhythmical dialogue sings. Lesslie, in particular, has an ear for Mamet-speak: he coaxes his lines, but coaxes at pace, and wrenches you open with the simplest of words. Upon introduction, Deborah asks Bernie what compliments Dannie has paid her. “All the usual things,” comes the reply. This is not a production afraid to extrapolate complexity. Lesslie exploits Bernie’s language, aggressively deploying jargon and trivia in everyday conversation to assert authority over his pal. Director Sarah Branthwaite has emphasised human frailty and jealousy: friendship is clung to at the expense of friend, and mutual understanding is rare. Bernie and Joan (Charlie Covell) undermine their friends’ relationship, an affair finally reduced to a barrage of anatomical expletives. Things could have been pushed further: perhaps they will, by second week. The Bernie/Dannie relationship seems occasionally oversimplified. The early scenes offer no answer as to why Dannie tolerates his friend’s bravado; hanging onto Bernie’s every word while the latter holds forth about his latest conquest. In fairness, that episode is possibly the greatest depiction of kinky sex and pyromania ever written, but nonetheless there does not seem to be much shared history, or at least much mutuality in their friendship. This is a shame, as the studied development of the relationship later in the play is one of this production’s highlights. Deborah’s presence, whether physical or actual, provokes anxiety and suspicion in both men as they renegotiate their friendship. Their spiritual reunion in the closing scene, babe-spotting at the beach, presents male bonding at its embarrassing finest. Mamet has been criticised as a writer of men only, and the play does sometimes feel like a two-hander with women added on. Nevertheless both Cox and Covell are strong and find substance in possibly tricky material. In bed, Deborah and Dannie discover an intimacy that makes the later disintegration of their relationship bathetic and awful. It also provides an informative contrast to Joan and Bernie’s mutual incomprehension during the latter’s slack, violent attempt at a pick-up. This is undoubtedly a play that places the pithy one-liner above narrative complexity, but this company has squeezed Mamet for almost everything he has got. Productions like this show what the BT is capable of: not just freshers taking part in a first and wobbly theatrical outing, but also plays that move and enthuse, and remind us of why we go to the theatre.ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

Boston Marriage, 18 to 22 October, Burton Taylor: As a playwright noted for his modern masculine writing, Edward Mamet changes direction in Boston Marriage with a tale of a turn of the century lesbian relationship from across the pond. Don’t expect countless explicit scenes of woman-on-woman passion though, because apart from a final steamy clinch, this is almost strictly an affair of sharp-tongued dialogue characterized by tense and witty interactions.Anna and Claire are two women living together, whose connection is put under pressure during a number of revealing exchanges, exposing the complicated nature of an undefined and ambiguous relationship. Both clearly have different expectations of their domestic arrangement, which means that when Claire discloses an association with a younger girl, the balance is tipped, as each grapples to regain control over the situation.Set solely in the front room of their house, the claustrophobic space contrasts dramatically with the openness with which the two women talk, as a mixture of thoughtful and utterly brutal discussion provides an honest commentary to their state of affairs. The waves of tension are evident, and though they are something which is recognizable in many relationships, here the setting gives them a different resonance. Director Tom Littler has deliberately manipulated and stylised the rhythms within the play, lending the piece a rather unnatural overall feeling, and while this can be momentarily distracting, it pleasingly mirrors the contrived nature of the scene itself. It actually comes a relief when the maid (Lily Sykes) provides some instances of obvious humour, during which the audience can relax before returning to the friction of the bickering couple.  Mamet’s script is undeniably compelling. The speech is generally old-fashioned, but it is punctuated with unanticipated modern interjections which break up the rapid and unabating conversation. Caroline Dyott and Victoria Ross both put in fine performances, capturing the essence of a relationship in crisis. Although he has few obstacles to overcome, given the script and the performances, Littler has acquitted himself well.ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

Recent times have seen seismic movement in the music industry. Mergers, job losses, reductions in artist numbers all point to a fundamental failure in the music industry’s business model. And why?  Technological change, both recording and the Internet, have changed everything, and threaten the industry’s four big players in ways they don’t care to admit. Of course the familiar issue is thatof piracy. Illegal music is shared in vast quantities, with some estimates of around a billion tracks downloaded in the first half of 2005. This obviously has been of great distress to the larger international record labels, and they have deployed PR companies and lawyers to attack first websites and program makers, and then individual file sharers. The real turnaround, however, is coming with legal downloads. While illegal downloads are thought to be at fairly stable levels, legal download revenues have tripled in the first half of the year. They now represent six percent of industry revenues, while CD sales are in secular decline and music revenues are slowly but steadily falling. This success can only continue with more and more people using the Internet and with the ever-diversifying selection of gadgets to play music, including iPods and mobile phones. So, the big labels may ask themselves, is this it? Will we see a turnaround back to the good old days of high sales, albeit in a different form? Maybe sales will recover somewhat. But there is a more fundamental challenge to the status quo on the horizon. This comes not from consumers, but from individual artists. The traditional idea of a record label is a large firm, hiring young talent, providing recording, distribution and promotion, and in return receiving a considerable part of the revenue. The greatest ambition for many young artists was to be signed, because it let them access vast audiences, unimaginable for the sole trader musician. Throw in a load of cheap, home computer technology for production, marketing and distribution, and suddenly it all becomes feasible. Anyone can set up a website and sell their own music, with tiny overheads and complete creative freedom.Mercury nominee Seth Lakeman followed this route. For three hundred pounds he recorded his album of Cornish folk songs in his kitchen (after unplugging the fridge), set up his own label and website, and sold his album to the masses. This type of achievement is by no means confined to the technology- savvy world of Cornish folk music: in the newer industry surrounding rap and R&B the same is true. The winner of the Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO awards, Sway Dasafo, remains unsigned and chooses to distribute his music himself. While the Internet isn’t as important for distribution, cheap production technology allows him to produce thousands of copies of a mix tape, essentially cutting out the corporate middle man. These two musicians have proved the extent of what you can achieve without the backing of a large and powerful label.At the same time amateurs and new artists are able to put up free downloads and be heard by as many people as can find their site. Already commercial ventures such as amazon.com run free download pages, aware of the value of such a service. The quality of the free downloads available varies widely from the ludicrous to the sublime and from experimental to retro, but it means that anyone can explore different genres of music like never before. Of course taking this direct route to fans has its limitations. There is no vast marketing machine available to reach every single music lover in the land. But then is there ever? Most of the successful artists (outside pure saccharine pop) tour to make their name. They rely on word of mouth advertising, slowly increasing sales and a good reputation. It’s just how quickly they get up the ladder.It is not just the artists who could benefit from this. Music fans now have arguably their greatest ever choice. Already there is a vast reduction in pop sales, lost to rock, jazz and folk-styled artists. Why should we continue to watch Top of the Pops when we can access whatever we want at the touch of a button? With the live scene on an unprecedented high, there is no shortage of dynamism and creativity in Britain. For the first time these artists have the opportunity to pursue this for themselves. Even if the industry faces challenges, we stand at the beginning of an extraordinary time of opportunity for the young and talented, which can be only be good news for the music-loving public.ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

The Zodiac8 October4/5Non-stop is certainly a word that could be used to describe the lifestyle of this team of four from the Midlands. Having carried out one tour around the country back in late spring, Editors just couldn’t resist the draw of continental festivals and other large-scale events, including Oxfordshire’s very own Truck Festival. Now the touring continues as sales of debut album, The Back Room, are turning heads and stirring up murmurs of interest throughout the indie scene.A drizzly, chilly night saw a capacity crowd huddled inside the questionably moodily lit Zodiac. Although upstairs, make no mistake: this was a big one. Even New York pop punk trio We Are Scientists, the main support act for the evening, have been vying for attention from the media all over Britain in recent weeks. There would certainly appear to be some pent-up energy available for release from them at least. The half an hour we were treated to had fun, jokes and laughter fused with schizophrenic lead guitar, jerky drums and varied bass lines; from reggae styles to high paced funk. One certainly cannot deny their live presence. These boys created the buzz around the venue that everybody had hoped for. Come nine o’clock and all thoughts turned to the four well turned outnear-Brummies that are Editors. Upon their arrival on stage, there was less of a cheer, more of an anxious expectancy. Could they live up to the critical acclaim they have been receiving these last few months after Leeds, Reading and sold out shows thus far? Of course they could. Opening track Lights began with barren looking spotlighting and frontman Tom Smith strumming sullenly, belting his voice out over an echoing Zodiac, perhaps thanks to some aid from a particular soundman. But before the audience had a chance to wipe any welling tears from their eyes, the rhythmic bass of Russell Leetch carried them through to an all crashing, all flashing chorus, containing the beautifully self-deprecating line, “If fortune favours the brave, I am as poor as they come”. Fantastic. The song moved through several moods, speeds and rhythms before finally ringing out and soaking up the crowd’s applause and cheers. This theme continued throughout the night, with each track the boys pulled out of their bag of tricks making the crowd shake, move and bounce that little bit more. Even celebrity visitor, Radio 1’s Edith Bowman, was dancing uncontrollably over in the corner, all eyes on Tom. This man could be the next Chris Martin, attracting a wealth of interest with his spasms of energy: a good contrast with the calm collectedness of bassist Leetch, his distinctive guitar swinging style and limitless passion in his lyrics. Slower keyboard number Camera was a clear enough place to draw parallels, and whilst his lyrics are ambiguous at best, his facial expressions and attention to detail show just how much he cares. The singles Bullets, Blood and Munich allstirred up frenzy as expected, led by a ringing lead from Chris Urbanowicz. The only downside was a relative pit thrashing about in front of the stage.Between set ballad Fall, which ended in an engulfing crescendo, and closing track Fingers in the Factories, Editors proved that they can do all aspects of their genre with aplomb. A night that will leave an impression on Zodiac visitors for some time.ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

With Love and SqualorWe are Scientistsout 17 October2/5Do not be surprised if by the end of the noughties music critics suggest that the greatest invention of the decade is rock music you can dance to. For years this has been the music world’s equivalent of the Rubik cube: it looks easy, but the only simple solution is to cheat and swap the stickers around. This is what we saw in the nineties when, after the charm of pogoing on a stomach of Skol beer to the school disco charm of Girls and Boys and Roll With It went flat, millions of rock fans flooded to dance music and bought Prodigy and Chemical Brothers records. But it just wasn’t quite the same.Now in 2005 we can’t move for rock bands that want to shake your booty. When Franz Ferdinand arrived on the scene eighteen months ago the floodgates opened, and now all the kids are getting down to “Future Dogs Die in Kaiser Ferdinand’s Hot Hot Car Party”, as Andy Partridge from XTC recently remarked. Add to this the already existing American wave, Interpol, The Bravery and The Rapture, and you  have to feel slight pity towards the latest New York band to try and make it big on this side of the Atlantic, We Are Scientists. The Scientists certainly look the part, in the sense that they look exactly like most of the other bands mentioned above who are all equally guilty of stealing the geek chic look from Seth off The OC.The first track on this, their debut LP, is also their first single, Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt which sounds so much like the watereddown glam of nineties nearly-band King Adora that the lawsuit must be in the post. Things fail to pick up with This Scene Is Dead as immaculately coiffed singer frontman Keith Murray sings in a bored voice, “I shouldn’t even be here/much less drinking myself into excess”. For posturing and lyrics, hang out with Morrissey. What quickly becomes inescapable about With Love and Squalor is simply its enormous derivativeness.The album could be neatly autopsied and the composite elements of this hybrid given back to their original owners. Such is the way with scenes in music that an idea develops which is recycled into something vaguely new, in this case Franz Ferdinand updating XTC and Orange Juice’s spiky pop for the modern dancefloor.Then what seemed exciting quickly goes cold through the horrendous number of parasitic bands that follow. This, sadly, is the fate of thisband. There are some neat touches: Can’t Lose has a good slap bass and Lousy Reputation plateaus nicely to create the sort ofgiant sugar rush that Bloc Party have perfected. It’s A Hit has the album’s best chorus, but the bassline has been shamelessly  pilfered from Queens of the Stone Age’s Feel Good Hit of the Summer. If there was ever an original idea on this album, it was soon embarrassedly replaced by another bouncy Franz bassline to fill the quota. Ultimately whether We Are Scientists make it or not depends on how much more of this stuff listeners can stand. Their recent sell-out tour with Editors suggests they’ll be around for a while, but as Murray himself predicts, this scene is dead and soon his clairvoyance may be in greater demand than his music. ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

A digital edition of the oldest surviving manuscript of Euclid’s Elements, the founding document of Mathematics, will now be available to the public on the internet. The manuscript has been displayed in the Bodleian Library since 1804. When asked whether such developments may result in fewer visitors, Martin Kauffman, a curator at the Bodleian said “for rare things, digitisation is unlikely to make a dramatic difference to visitor numbers, and could even help to whip up interest.”ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

St Edmund Hall have launched an investigation after an attempt made to kick down the Junior Dean’s door following the college bop on Saturday of Freshers’ Week. Teddy Hall JCR President, Celine Tricard, confirmed that “after the Golf Pro’s and Tennis Ho’s Bop on Saturday evening, the Junior Dean came back to college to find that her door had been broken.” In an email to the JCR, Tricard warned that “[the Decanal Team] are threatening to cancel any future social events until the person/ group responsible has been found.” Tricard added “I genuinely believe that it was due to a student(s) over-drinking and simply taking a rash decision,” rather than direct agression against the Junior Dean.ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005

Oxford has received three grants to fund research into the influences and effects of civil resistance movements of the 20th century. The project is a joint venture between the University’s Centre for International Studies and the European Studies Centre of St Anthony’s College, and will be holding workshops and a conference over the next two years. Professor Sir Adam Roberts of Balliol college, who is chairing the project, said “it’s an interesting subject because the question of whether, and if so how, major change can be brought about without war has been a central concern of writers on politics and international relations for centuries.”ARCHIVE: 1st week MT 2005