Oxford 20Les Blues, on Monday by following a great performance from last week with a disappointing effort this week. against Wasps, the Blues were ahead after 30 minutes but on Monday a series of defensive lapses saw Harlequins out of sight by half-time before the match descended into a near-brawl by the end. Robin Bridge hanging off his back, powered over the line. Mike Brown’s mazy run deceived every player that came close and after he converted his own try, which made the score 12-0 after only eight minutes, the Blues looked like they might be completely routed. Jon Fennell kicked a decent penalty but Greenwood was soon at it again. england’s current record try scorer performed a gloriously cheeky pass behind his back after another ‘Quins break and only some last-minute defence prevented another try.Dalgleish’s indiscretion. ‘Quins eased off and the Blues had a great period of attacking play. There was still time for two more fights, with Harris and Jones once again at the centre of the action. The game ran into injury time and with the last action of the match, Anthony Knox scored an inspired solo effort. running down the line, Knox played an inventive grubber kick which he scooped up and deposited over the line. Whittingham converted the try to save the Blues’ dignity with a full-time score of 20-43.  NEC  Harlequins 43Oxford’s rugby team mimicked another blue clad rugby team, The inclusion of four internationals in the ‘Quins team was always going to cause the Blues’ defence trouble, but few would have predicted the ease with which they were sliced open by the speed of the visitors. While Harlequins’ backs were formidable, the ability of the Oxford line to react looked woeful and oportunities were gifted at regular intervals. an over-reliance on kicking also put Tom Tombleson and Jonan Boto, the Blues’ wingers, out of the game and gave Harlequins extremely long periods of possession.There were, however, some positives to take from the Blues’ performance. doug abbott was on fine form in the pack and Boto scored another of his trademark tries. However, a lack of discipline was clearly evident, with four fights occurring through the match, one consuming almost all the players and another lasting for at least two minutes. Lock adam Harris was particularly involved and James Jones was also sent to the sin bin. The referee, ed Turnill, struggled to keep control and every ruck looked like it had the potential to combust into a raging fire of aggression.The match started poorly for the home side when Greenwood picked a hole in the Blues’ defence and, despite The first altercation of the match occurred at the mid point of the first half when Harris tussled with Lorne Ward. Ward was the protagonist and was lucky to stay on the pitch but Harris seemed to be able to stir up trouble throughout the night with only a few words. The resulting line out was driven over the line with abbbot officially getting the ball down. Oxford seemed to have contained the opposition but a slow reaction by the Blues let Samoan international George Harder score unopposed. When attacking possession, the team looked promising, but Greenwood and the rest of the ‘Quins backs were causing persistent problems and their pressure paid off when James Inglis scored to leave Oxford trailing 8-26.The Blues came out looking to improve on their first half performance but Tom Guest capitalised on a ruck to score another five points after only two minutes. ‘Quins won a lineout and drove to the line but met a strong Blues pack. However, the visitors simply spun the ruck and Guest only had to fall over the line to score. Boto lead efforts to even up the score and another fantastic run resulted in his third try in two matches.Indiscipline struck again with 25 minutes to go and Oxford’s Jones and Harlequins’ Kiba richards, who had only been on the pitch for a minute, were sent to the sin bin after the touch judge’s intervention. ‘Quins seemed to be the more comfortable team playing with 14 and Tom Williams shot through the Blues to score, converting his own try and giving the visitors a 30 point lead.Oxford needed some points to avoid humiliation and James Whittingham tried to provide them. His fantastic run was spoilt when the resulting penalty and scoring opportunity was lost due to Captain andy It is heartening to hear that Cambridge only put six points past a weaker ‘Quins last week. However, there can be no room for complacency. Steve Hill, director of rugby, described the performance as "disappointing", and so he should. any team that plans on winning must first stop conceding, and the Blues certainly have work to do in this area. If they still can’t deal with pace by next week, the game against Tonga could be an embarrassment.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Design for Living,dir Sarah Branthwaite,8 – 12 Nnovember,OFS: Noel Coward’s Design for Living caused a scandal at its 1932 premiere, with its candid view of the incestuous relationships between three sophisticated Bohemian artists in the 1930s.Sarah Branthwaite’s exciting production has a distinctly cynical edge to it – beneath the fast-moving, witty dialogue the undercurrent of desperationin the three main characters is tangible. The sexuality of the piece is even played down to focus more intently on commenting on the subtleties of each relationship. The cast rise to Coward’s challenge admirably, and Branthwaite teases out the rhythms extremely well: you are struck by the efficacy of each pause, and each change in tone and pace has a distinct purpose. The exchanges between Gilda (Charlie Covell) and Otto (Nnicholas Bishop) are particularly impressive, both able to shift subtly between levels of emotion,without ever seeming to give any of themselves away. Covell effortlessly creates character-defining moments with a mischievous smile or wave of a cigarette, and Bishop gives a deliciously flamboyant performance. The disapproving housekeeper, played with relishby Jessica Hammett, provides some hilarious moments.The drawback, as so often with such glossy, intellectual writing, is that it does tend to distance the audience (as Branthwaite says, “the audience are invited to study the lives of these characters, almost like a sociological experiment”). The problem with this is that the audience needs to be drawn in on some level, to feel linked to these characters, for the action to hold any lasting meaning. Luckily there were flashes of this in the play, notably from Jack Farthing as Leo. The part of Leo is often overplayed to get more laughs, but Farthing’s understated, often quite awkward performance is the most human of the three. The shifting dynamic of his relationship with Otto is fascinating – the suggestion of sexual attraction between them visible but not forced, and his struggle to come to terms with such a bizarre triangle is engaging and at some points quite moving.Overall, the production tends towards underplaying and tragicomedy, which often sharpens the dark humour inherent the play. If you’re wondering if you can take another play meditating profoundly on love and relationships, this, despite its age, provides a breath of fresh air.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

This autumn the BBC is laying on a lavish feast. Aas Rradio 3 announces a four year project to dramatise seventeen of the bard’s best, BBC Ddrama launches its Shakespeareseason on television.In much the same vein as last Christmas’ adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, the TV series puts a contemporary spin on the major texts: Much Aado migrates to the less rarified atmosphere of the regional newsroom; The Taming of the Shrew is transposed into the high-powered register of Westminster politics. Such reworkings are nothing new: indeed the continued appeal of Shakespeare’s plays arises partly from their unparalleledapplicability to different social and historical settings. What the BBC’s approach indicates, however, is the modern readiness to absorb and appropriate aspects of the bard’s outputfor personal artistic ends which is so endemic: “60 second Shakespeare”, devised to complement the TV series, is marketed as “your chance to give the world your interpretation of the great man in sixty seconds”, and represents the logical extreme of the trend for “potted Shakespeare” which has spawned endless reinterpretations across the gamut of the arts.The manner in which his works have diffused through our cultural consciousness is something, one suspects, the bard himself would have approved of – the plays delight in toyingwith and breaking down generic boundaries. However, in this frenzy of reinterpretation one cannot help worrying that we risk losing sight of the essential theatricality of Shakespeare. TV and film offer myriad new perspectives, but while it is stimulating and exciting to witness such a proliferation of new readings and interpretations, we should not lose sight of the fact that the plays were conceived not just as texts but as pieces of theatre: all the world’s a stage, rather than a screen. Historically, Shakespeare stands apart from his Rrenaissance contemporariesin bridging the gap between actor and playwright with ability and agility, being the only writer of the Eelizabethan stage to be the equivalent of a fully paid-up Equity member at the same time. Consequently he puts much into the dramaturgy of his plays – though directions such as “exit pursued by a bear” may prompt a smile, such details take on immense significanceelsewhere.This is not to insist upon tedious faithfulness to text or stage direction,however. The traditional is still very much in evidence: Stratford does a roaring trade in period-costume productions, but while the prospect of Sir Ian McKellan’s Lear as part of the RSC’s forthcoming all-star cast, no-holds-barred “Shakespeare retrospective”has luvvies up and down the country licking their chops, the zany also has its place.While Stephen Ddillane’s new one-man Macbeth at the Aalmeida may have traditionalists tutting into their pre-show gin and tonics, what it does demonstrate is that there are rich and original veins of Shakespeare interpretation yet to be mined in theatre. Dillane’sdeft drawing out of the sense of “a mind diseas’d” highlights the need to see Shakespeare’s plays not simply as stories subject to multiple retellings, but as imaginative acts requiringthe participation of the audience: “Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts”, asks the prologue to Henry V, and while Ddillane’s performance represents an extreme, leaving one slightly dazed by the level of concentration it requires, this is an aspect of drama we should not neglect. It is not only his spatial sense which sets Shakespeare apart, but his acute aware of the artificiality of his medium – his plays are intensely alive to and indeed comment upon the limits of dramatic representation, and there is a danger that in the new emphasis on the naturalistic,we may neglect not only the physicality, but also the imaginative suggestiveness of the staged performance. While new media may make valuable additions to the cult of the bard, we must remain alive to the challenge of the theatrical that Shakespeare offers the modern audience.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Masqueradedir Rrimas Tuminas25 – 29 OctoberThe Oxford PlayhouseMikhail Lermontov, the great Rrussian playwright, had a fatal penchant for duelling. Fuelled with vodka, the duels would usually take place with good cheer and plenty of friends. On a day on which he had arranged a duel – the duel that would turn out to be his last – Lermontov was caught in a huge snowstorm. Through the whirling snow he didn’t notice his approachingopponent who took aim, fired and killed him.It is this extravagant lifestyle of high-society Russia that Masquerade, performed by the Lithuanian Small State Theatre as part of Oxford’s Eevolving City Festival, evidently takes inspiration from. Set in the 1830s, a bracelet lost at a masque ball begins the Othello-like tragedy of love and jealousy. Prince Zvevditch is given the lost bracelet by a disguised woman. Aabernin suspects his beautiful young wife, Nina, to whom the bracelet belongs, of having an affair with the Prince. Consumed with jealousy, Abernin poisons his wife only to discover that the bracelet was given to the prince by the Baroness, who has all along been secretly in love with him.Reflecting this fascination with mystery and intrigue, the musical and visual ensemble has a strange illusory quality. The clouds of snow, the wistful music, the solemn female statue peering down upon the characters all combine to transform the tragedy into an eerie fairytale. Ever-growing snowballs, occasionally rolled onto the stage, provide a physical manifestationof how events are quickly spiralling out of control. The chilling visual scene points to the emotional coldness that lies beneath the surface of the characters.The director, Rimas Tuminas, brings quirky touches to the play which lift the tale out of unmitigated heartache. Tuminas depicts aristocrats turned animals when they are shown barking, yelping and being led off stage on a leash, deflating the pomp of 19th century nobility with comic ingenuity. The sense of humour is charmingly surreal: the main action is punctuated by the impromptu appearance of a giant fish and a snorkelerappearing from the water. The play revels in farcical absurdity, but avoids seeming senseless or gratuitous.The real pleasure lies in watching the energetic Vytautas Rrumsas, who plays the Prince. The object of the Baroness’ earnest affections, the so-called “dangerous seducer”, is played as a puffed-up, brazen buffoon, thrusting his groin and flouncing like a Flamenco dancer to woo the angelic Nnina. The way in which this idiotic character is placed in the middle of the disastrous deception is just another twist of the play’s bizarre humour.On the first night, the theme of disguise took on a very literal sense when the surtitles were barely legible through the fake fog and snow. Second time round, it seemed that the production hadn’t quite shed all its translation problems. Occasionally awkwardly phrased, the translation never quite lives up to the exuberance on stage. Nevertheless, Masquerade is performed well enough never to be entirely ?atthemercyofthescript.at the mercy of the script. Buoyantly directed, with an accomplished cast, the visual spectacle and vivid characters mean that the play is able to overcome the language barrier. The play’s hybrid of slightly eccentric comedy and serious tragedy is daring but carried off with charm. It is perhaps an expression of the optimism of this particular theatre group; as the first municipal theatre in Lithuania, the recognition and state subsidies they have received since 1997 have allowed them the freedom to conceive this playful production.The most admirable thing about Masquerade is that it does not take itself too seriously. It’s not too snobbish to spurn the morbidly stern for the occasional bout of frivolous comedy.For Tuminas, instilling a sense of fun into his rendering of this Rrussian classic is an essential part of the Lithuanian package deal.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

The Caucasian Chalk Circledir Lily Sykes9 – 12 NovemberThe Oxford PlayhouseThe Caucasian Chalk Circle is Bertolt Brecht’s epic tale of the struggle for sympathetic reconciliation in a world ravaged by repressive ideology and bloody warfare. The play begins deceptively with a dispute over land in a wartorn Caucasian village between the Galinsk Kolchos, who identify with the land both culturally and ideologically, and the Rrosa Luxemburg Kolchos, who fought for the survival of the valley and now wish to implement modern farming innovations. The illusion of social realism given by this prologue is soon punctuated by the arrival of Singer (Basher Savage), the enigmatic story teller. What follows is Singer’s narration, which shapes the staging of two complementary parables investigating the conflict between reason and emotion which underpins the questions of ownership on which both the stories and the prologue hang.Despite dealing with such weighty concerns, the plays-within-the-play never lose sight of their carnivalesque theatricality. The folk aesthetic of the piece allows the tales to be told through song and live music, as well as giving the actors plenty of room to play up the comic moments. The comedy also has the added function of bringing the audience into sympathy with the characters, a deliberate move which adds poignancy to the serious roles which they later undertake. Of particular note is Mayeni Smart’s impressive Oxford debut as Grusha, whose feisty bawdy of her early verbal sparring with Simon Shashava (Mischa Foster Poole) gives way to a tender humanity as she takes on the role of adoptive mother to the abandoned baby prince Michael. Aazdak also undergoes a similar transformation in the following story, mutating from acerbic goader into compassionate justice, a role which benefits from Basher Savage’s magnetic stage presence.The stories are enacted on a raised stage which creates a division betweenthe narrative space of the stories and the equally fictional outside world. This deliberate highlighting of the fictionality of the stories we see, coupled with the play’s indefinite historicalsetting (which appears to be an amalgamation of several different revolutionary episodes in the history of Tsarist Rrussia, as well as the anonymous Sovietesque committee of the prologue), invites the audience to read the play allegorically. Brecht wrote the play as an alienated émigré from Hitler’s Rreich, and the return to what Brecht termed “the sweet reason of mankind” which the play promotes is a reaction against the irrational and inhuman era of Nnational Socialism.In this ambitious production, director Lily Sykes suggests that The Caucasian Chalk Circle has a more universal appeal. The artful use of a pre-set montage in which footage of Hitler’s Germany is interspersed with images from the major wars of our own age, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, suggests that we are to perhaps draw parallels between the stories we see staged before us and conflicts in our own lifetime.This is a complex play whose staged folk narratives may serve to alienate some first time audiences who are unfamiliar with this mode of drama, while Brecht’s didactic Marxist ideologyin which the rich are portrayed as arrogant and materialistic, with sympathy invariable lying with the peasants, may seem naive to post-Communist audiences. There is also a tendency amongst some of the more minor characters to ham up the play’s comic moments which can underminethe more nuanced work of the main actors. Nnevertheless, strong central performances from Savage, Smart and Tom Lachford carry the play’s message, making for a moving and sophisticated production which is well worth seeing.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Fabric 25Carl Craigout 7 NovemberThink you don’t like techno? Have a listen to this release and you’ll think again. It’s strangely accessible and challenging, with something for those new to techno as well as aficionados.This new party mix ekes out the paradox that is Carl Craig, a musical genius. He sees himself as a producer first, but he’s celebrated as pure techno’s number one DdJ. He wanted to mix this record in an empty Fabric, although he himself is a banging club man. He’s unafraid of eclectic experiments and radical sounds, but has a serious careerist attitude to his profession. It doesn’t seem to make sense, yet somehow it comes together as a perfect whole.Looking at the track listing you’d think his diverse sources would make for a rough ride, but this record is highly structured. It opens with the Yang Yang Twins’ Wait [The Whisper Song] and Craig’s intense stage-whispering “Fabric 25”. Aand that’s all the introduction we’re teased with until track seven. You’ve got to love any DdJ who sculpts a party soundtrack like this for you, and then bids you a polite farewell at the end. It’s not perfect of course. The heavy urban-industrial feel to D’Malicious’ Alive is hard to listen to thanks to the massive amplification of Craig’s breathy whisper.You get the feeling that Craig is toying with you as you listen. In Soundstream’s 3rd Movement there’s a heavy western beat, with snatches of Indian melodies on top. Then Bar A Thym from Kerri Chandler is given an intense cowbell backing with rhythms that challenge you to sing along. With a lot of the tracks here you can feel a rhythm pumping them along and you want to find a natural groove to dance to. Detroit techno has no natural rhythm – it’s electrical, synthetic, artificial. But that’s not the same as fake. This is true music with real feeling.The real success of this mix is its vision and imagination. Techno is moving on from the days of horror flick samples and sci-fi quotes to expose modern life and technology. There’s still the paradox of celebrating and fearing modernity, but thanks to globalisation now the scope is worldwide.A couple of tracks have clear samba appeal. This way Craig can take today’s technological world and this season’s cinema, so now suddenly we’re in Delhi, or Bollywood, Brazil, Africa or the Holy Land.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

#1’sdestiny’s ChildOut nowDo Destiny’s Child really need to bother with another album? Beyoncé Knowles is Rr‘n’B’s undeniable queen, hunted down for her services in fashion,film and as a “gangsta” accessory. With Kelly Rrowland giving her solo career a very decent go, even dabbling in the French hip-hop market with Monsieur Stomy Bugsy (yes him), and Michelle Williams just, well, existing on previously accrued money stacks, it would seem unnecessary and fundamentally egotistical to bring out a Nno.1’s album, wouldn’t it?Nope. Here it is, sixteen tracks, thirteen of which pay homage to over six years of hard graft, and the remainder mix it up with some fresh sounds. The album opens up with one of the three new tracks, an audacious move indeed, but one that ultimately pays off. Stand Up For Love is a touching and uplifting ballad that claims to be the 2005 World Children’s Dday Aanthem. It definitely shows as the lyrics are all too familiar, and if it weren’t loaded with the girls’ powerful and versatile voices the songwriting could well have been lifted from Westlife’s disgraceful Nno.1’s offering. Though the chords are predictable, the vocals certainly aren’t, reaching melodic tones that the Irish boys could only daydream of, and after four and a half minutes, you end up feeling pretty positive about the world. Infectious pop indeed.Second track Independent Women Part 1 bounces off with its shameless Charlie’s Angels plugs, and we’re away on our almost hour-long adventure through the favourites, all songs reaping in the cash in their day, but sticking in our minds to varying extents.However, even the lesser classics have quite a bit to offer.Mid-listings tracks Soldier and Check On It, featuring Lil’ Wayne and Slim Thug respectively, have the sort of slow-paced, bass centred production that the real hard boys like 50 Cent would be proud of. Once they have mixed their guests’ gravelled seduction with Beyoncé and Kelly’s piercing yet overwhelming lead vocals, they are onto a winner without doubt. Say My Name has the staccato, complex beats of its pre-chorus fused with its smooth verses and chorus, using every girl to her full potential, and it’s a good re-acquaintance with a track that marked out a lot of teenage angst-filled years. Of course, Bills, Bills, Bills is an even more popular case of exactly the same phenomenon.The ladies are only human of course, and Girl falls by the wayside, with no remarkable features, and its female independence lyrics lacking conviction, leading to a trundling bore. Emotion has got an unplugged bluesy backing track, but isn’t particularly memorable. However, No, No, No Part 2, which guest vocalist Wyclef Jean is determined to reiterate is a remix, really steps up the funk level, and even sceptical listeners will be tapping their feet.The final two new tracks are very disappointing, and just don’t have anything as distinctive about them, which will worry any die-hard fans for the future. They are far too lethargic, and even reproduce elements of others’ contemporary tracks, not what we’d expect from these three influential girls. However on the whole the 1’s collection is a very successful arrangement of some forgotten classics and more recent winners, and a welcome addition to the Rr‘n’B dabbler’slibrary.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005