Wednesday, May 14, 2025
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Review: Yerma

Ami Griffiths
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Review: Yerma

TW: domestic violence, difficulty conceiving

On opening night, a hauntingly lyrical musical refrain in softly-sung Spanish opens Angel in the House’s Yerma, infusing the packed BT Studio with an Andalusían folk-like air on a wintry Tuesday night in Oxford, whisking its audience away to a setting reminiscent of the play’s southern Spanish roots, and breathing a wistful and deeply nostalgic sense of yearning into a dream-like opening sequence, the calm before the storm in this new adaptation of Lorca’s rural tragedy. 

As the eponymous protagonist lies peacefully on the ground, surrounded by flowers and bathed in soft lighting, there is an eerily funereal air to the opening of a play in which the central themes are fertility and unfulfilled desire. 

It is as though a funeral is being thrown for Yerma’s fertility as her hands rest gently atop her hollow belly. Ironically, childless and alone, this is the point at which Yerma (Ceidra Moon Murphy) is most at peace during the play, setting the audience up for the persistent tension throughout the production between life and death, as an inability to conceive renders Yerma’s attempts to be a “real woman” futile in her eyes. This is sense is heightened by the newly pregnant María (Millie Tupper) with whom Yerma has a close friendship, rendered complex by Yerma’s extreme, all-consuming jealousy as María enters into the latter stages of pregnancy. 

I was instantly taken in by the innocent, delicate portrayal of María, a newly pregnant, placid mother-to-be, whose fragility sits in contrast with Yerma’s ardent passions. This innocence, however, is quickly disrupted by Juan (Cameron Forbes) and Yerma’s ongoing and increasingly severe marital disputes, although a slight lack of development in characterisation leaves the audience wondering quite how these domestic disputes result in the violent end which Juan meets. 

However, what the production lacked in character development, it made up for through subtlety and skilful acting, a particular highlight of which is the undercurrent of sexual tension and desire between Yerma and her first love Victor (Alex Fleming-Brown), portrayed more through coy gestures and lustful glances than through words, painting a poignant portrait of unfulfilled lust which sits in stark contrast with the passionless, sexless marriage with Juan that Yerma remains so committed to. 

What the production exceeds itself in is the portrayal of the insidious and pervasive progression of Yerma’s paranoia and growing desperation at her inability to bear children, first, through an eerie soundtrack of the wailing baby which only our titular protagonist appears to be able to hear, and then through the cuttingly cruel voices of townspeople, signalling Yerma as the subject of the vicious attacks of the latest gossip of the town. Credit must be given to Flora Faulk for a set that complements this process of growing frustration.

Whilst some of the lyricism of the Spanish original is undoubtedly lost in translation, the Spanish essence of the original is mostly retained, the distinctly rural setting conveyed effectively through rustic accents and touches, incorporating elements of both fertility and the rural setting. 

Do actions speak louder than words?

Daniya Jawwad
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Do actions speak louder than words?

As the curtains draw in a theatre and a play commences, we, the audience, unconsciously focus on the words being said. It is true that a key aspect of theatrical works is the dialogue, since directors and writers are known to dwell upon scripts for months and sometimes years. However, due to this mindset, the physical aspect of theatre is often side-lined and becomes of secondary importance to us. Given this, what can actions accomplish, where words are limited?

To begin with, one can better understand the relationship and dynamics between characters, through their body language around one another. It is important to note that in the 20th century, there was a shift in focus towards stagecraft and gestures, therefore many examples given in this article will be of modern plays (from the 1940s onwards). An example of a playwright who deliberated on each and every aspect of the stage is Arthur Miller. One of his most famous plays, All My Sons, centres on the gradual degradation of the Keller family and the ‘deposition’ of the family’s patriarch, Joe Keller. In this play, Miller goes as far as to dedicate a whole page to describe the front yard of the Kellers’ house, therefore it must come as no surprise to know that Miller also detailed how characters must behave with one another. From the outset, it is evident that Joe and his son, Chris, are not completely comfortable around one another, though this is not completely obvious from the dialogue. While Joe is offering to hand over his entire company to Chris, he actively [moves away]from his father and Chris’ speech is littered with [slight pauses]. Through physically distancing himself from Joe, the audience can visually perceive Chris’ discomfort, which is also evident through his hesitation around his father, evidenced by his constant pauses. Throughout the play, there are instances where the characters border physical violence, reflecting the underlying tension in the family and their friends. However, no act of physical violence takes place until the final act when Kate, Joe’s wife, [smashes him across his (Joe’s) face]. The spontaneous and surprising nature of the act naturally takes the audience by surprise and we know that whatever will unfold is important. Unsurprisingly, Joe’s secret is subsequently revealed and the climax is reached, leading to Chris storming off. As Chris exits, [he pounds down upon his father’s shoulder], demonstrating the conflict between his anger and love for his father. Chris is devastated to learn of his father’s crime but cannot bring himself to unleash his anger upon Joe because he still loves and respects him as his father, therefore he only strikes his father’s shoulder. 

Another way actions contribute to our understanding of plays is how they demonstrate the development of characters as people. However this is not an exclusively 20thCentury phenomenon, Shakespeare’s King Lear has various instances where the physical was more expressive than the verbal. Stage directions are not a major part of Shakespeare’s works therefore the selective times the bard explicitly directs actions is significant. As a tragedy, King Lear the tragic hero develops through experiencing his tragic fall from grace. In the exposition, he demands his three daughters to profess their love for him and he would then accordingly divide his kingdom between them. The two elder daughters, Goneril and Regan, shower him with exaggerated and false praise, saying that he is ‘dearer than eyesight’ for them. The king delights in their praise and gives them each a generous share of his kingdom. However, when it comes to his third daughter, Cordelia, she refuses to showcase her affection because she knows her love to be true and believes that to be enough for her and her father. This angers the king and prompts him to exile Cordelia, the one daughter who truly loves him, showing his lack of perceptiveness and superficiality. As the play progresses, both Goneril and Regan alienate Lear and he finds himself shut out in a storm, with nothing to his name. He realises how he should not take things at face value, like his daughters’ exaggerated praise or Cordelia’s refusal to profess her love, when he rips off his robes, to remove any superficiality. The act of ripping off his clothes is especially powerful, given the fact that he is removing his kingly clothes in the midst of a storm and is equating himself to a peasant, in tattered clothing. 

Finally, actions can also help stress upon the central theme and ideas of a play, an example of which is Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Since Waiting for Godot is a play from the Theatre of the Absurd, which centres on the philosophy of absurdism, it naturally has a nonsensical script, pushing the audience to make sense of the plot through the characters’ actions. To put it simply, absurdism is the acceptance that life is meaningless and therefore the struggle of living with that realisation is life. Contradiction lies at the heart of this philosophy and throughout the play, the characters’ dialogue contradicts with the characters’ actions. Estragon, one of the characters, declares, ‘I’m going’ but does not move, showing how we as individuals think we have agency but in reality, we do not. This contradiction in speech and actions is common in Godot.

As shown in the examples above, actions can express and emphasise certain aspects which words often fail to do. When looking at character relationships, for example, words can often be misunderstood or can be used to hide a character’s true feelings. However, body language always reveals how a character feels about the other and thus the truth. Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that words play a vital role in complementing actions; often words mirror actions or deliberately contradict the action, grabbing the attention of the viewer.

To conclude, yes, actions do speak louder than words but both elements are of equal importance in plot development and a viewer’s understanding of a play.

Interview: BOSH!

Emily Capon
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Interview: BOSH!

Ian Theasby and Henry Firth on veganism, sustainability and ‘Peaky Blinders’.

It’s 5pm on a particularly rainy Cheltenham day. The weather, however, doesn’t threaten the busy warmth of Montpellier Gardens, dotted with white tents and brimming with literary energy. I meet Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, better known as ‘BOSH!’, in The Ivy. I’m greeted with a hug by both and a drink, a special concoction of amaretto and bourbon amongst other things; it’s delicious (and strong) and I feel bad for taking out my laptop to begin the interview. It doesn’t quite fit in with the flower arrangements and martini glasses; it’s a little conspicuous, not traditional.

Luckily, though, my embarrassed laptop exposing conundrum isn’t something that worries Henry and Ian. Themselves conspicuous in the food world as we know it, and definitely not traditional in the way they think about lifestyle and cusine, I feel at ease. ‘BOSH!’ are pair of self-confessed ‘food remixers’ passionate about easy, accessible, delicious vegan dishes. The BOSH! partnership began to sprout at the end of 2014, when Ian decided to try out veganism for health reasons. Originally giving up alcohol, then meat, veganism seemed a logical progression: ‘By the end of February 2015, I was like, veganism is the way, so I’m gonna give it a whirl, and it’s turned out to be the best thing I’ve ever done.’ Henry however, who ‘spent a long time mocking Ian’, found his views changed after watching the documentary ‘Cowspiracy’. Its striking statistics about climate change proved the deciding factor in his switch to the plant-based lifestyle. I wondered whether Ian’s reasons for go- ing vegan had changed in the four years since his decision: ‘Initially, the health was fantastic and the animals I really care about, but finding out about how bad animal agriculture is for the environment was a trigger for me… it’s like three pillars, all as important as each other’.

I ask whether they found existing vegan communities after their transition or whether they had to forge their own. ‘There were communities online but they were fairly new’, Ian says, and in the meet- up groups that did exist at the time, ‘the general trend was quite strict, a closed circle with high standards and quite a lot of judgement’. It’s for this reason that BOSH! prides itself on new, innovative ways of being vegan; that kind of attitude’s ‘not their bag’. Henry and Ian laud ‘a new approach to what vegan means’, pushing for acceptance as ‘one of the key tools’ to bring people on the journey to becoming vegan. The ‘BOSH!’ channel, vegan nights in London and ‘Vevolution’, the UK’s ‘leading plant-powered positive change festival’, Henry suggests, are just a small sample of ‘friendly’ vegan community spaces becoming more and more prevalent.

Vegan influencers in the calibre of those like Ellen Fisher and other ‘well- ness’ vegans we see in huge number today were few, if around at all, four years ago at the beginning of their journey: ‘there weren’t that many knocking around… more famous people like Woody Harrelson and Natalie Portman.’ It’s hard to believe that such a radical change in approach to this lifestyle in the public psyche has taken less than five years. The growth is exponential, and with guys like ‘BOSH!’ on the vegan scene, there is little evidence of it slowing down any time soon. Ian makes sure to give a shout-out to Kip Andersen, the director of ‘Cowspiracy’ and the creator of a catalyst for many vegans deciding to make their first foray. ‘He wasn’t necessarily a famous vegan, but what he created is special… a really important movie.’

‘BOSH!’’s cooking influences are not, however, restricted to vegans. An enthu- siastic Ian mentions that the two of them have always been inspired by Jamie Oliver:

‘Not because he’s vegan, but because he is a cultural icon and a legend of our times. You can walk into basically anywhere in the UK and say to anyone: ‘have you heard of Jamie Oliver?’ and the answer will be ‘yes’. We think about it like it’s nothing, but it’s incredible what he’s done to normalise home-cooking, and the amount of energy and effort he put into regulating how school dinners are served in the United Kingdom.’

Henry and Ian’s partial brand-modelling on Jamie Oliver is pleasingly evident. They have the same relaxed air of relatability and friendliness; smiley demeanours and obvious passion go a long way in creating the sense that veganism doesn’t have to banish you to the other end of the table pushing around a dry salad with your fork. Vegans like Henry and Ian are just ‘normal guys’, as suited to a pint at the pub with mates as to a vegan cocktail at the Ivy. They are passionate about normalising vegan cooking, and want it to be accessible for the day-to-day home-cook with a 9-5 job.

‘Nowadays everybody is time poor, we live in a really metropolitan society. We’ve got this crazy world of work, and technology that means you’re never less than 30 seconds away from a notification. We commute further, we have to go to the gym now… people have less and less time. A large proportion of people don’t know what they’re having for dinner tonight. So, both food and recipes now need to be quick and easy, and they need to be able to be made with a handful of ingredients… no weird quirky ingredients, no purple sprouting broccoli or blue spirulina. Generally, keep it simple, no nonsense, and not too technical either’.

Henry and Ian are obvious advocates for giving plant-based home cooking a go, whatever your level of talent and experience. I mention to them that my family and I make the mushroom wellington from one of their cookbooks for Christmas, and their reaction is gratifyingly enthusiastic. It’s a recipe that seems technical, but isn’t really. So many of BOSH!’s recipes can look daunting at first glance, but further investigation demonstrates how easy the ingredients are to find and how drama-free following the recipe is. I don’t doubt that a Christmas turkey can be an area of family contention, but the wellington proved a blissfully serene experience in my household, and went down extremely well(ington.)

Ian’s favourite ‘BOSH!’ recipe continues the mushroom-talk. Their ultimate chilli uses mushroom instead of mince: ‘you can have it as a chilli with rice, you can have it on nachos, and it’s absolutely delicious, really hearty flavours.’ Fish tacos made with tofu at Shoreditch’s Club Mexicana get a special mention. Club Mexicana’s website tag-line has a distinctly ‘BOSH!’ feel: ‘if you’re looking for chick peas and chia seeds, you’re in the wrong place.’

Henry has a slightly different answer: ‘I’m bored of hearing myself say lasagne.’ His choice of aquafaba meringue (meringues made from chickpea-can water) is particularly interesting. ‘It’s so bonkers, it looks like a magic trick. You see this brown and murky liquid that looks kind of disgusting, something you’d normally pour away, froth up into a beautiful white foam.’ Henry’s decision to veer away from the classic ‘BOSH!’ brand, choosing an ingredient unheard of by most, threatens to contradict their own philosophy of avoiding exotic, elusive ingredients. However, Henry stresses how easy this recipe is, and the satisfaction of the result. The aquafaba meringues are a paradigm of these recipes that appear complicated but really take minutes.

I ask them how they approach people more resistant to veganism. The night before the interview, I had watched Henry and Ian being interviewed by Piers Morgan on ‘Good Morning Britain’. Morgan ‘debates’ in inflammatory soundbites, often entering the territory of insolence, seemingly for the sake of it. The knee-jerk reaction against veganism by some, whose perception of the lifestyle is restricted to a limited sample size, is something that Henry and Ian are no strangers to.

‘Kill them with kindness is a good motto, but also having a thick skin, and knowing that no one can upset you without your permission… I think just getting used to where people might be coming from. Being kind and respectful of their difference of opinion while being confident in your view without necessarily ramming it down their throat; there’s no such thing as one reality in anything, everything’s shades of grey.’

Yes, Henry says, the people that argue the unsustainability of avocado farming for farmers in South America have a point. Henry and Ian are strong advocates for local, seasonal food, and are keen to bridge the gaps in these ideological divides with calm, informed conversation: you need to ‘be kind and stay calm.’

As resident vegan oracles, I ask Henry and Ian what they predict about the future of the vegan community. ‘In the last four years, it’s gone from no one thinking about it to so many people thinking about it’, Ian says, ‘and not just thinking about it, doing something about it.’ He’s right, that Google Trends shows the popularity of veganism going up and up with no signs of abating. He adds: ‘If that trend continues, I can see veganism becoming a societal norm.’ As Ian suggests, veganism is the norm for a lot of people already. ‘Think about smoking’, Henry adds. In the not too distant past, smoking was a cultural norm, whereas now, its popularity is minimal in comparison. We’re thinking ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’; it’s interesting to consider something that used to be so commonplace has become a rarity. This, Henry and Ian predict, is the future of meat-eating. ‘We go from nearly everyone smoking to hardly anyone smoking… maybe it’ll look more like that.’ People will definitely still eat eggs, Henry says, and probably meat, but ‘we will see it become normal to eat vegan food a lot of the time.’ This, Ian adds, is facilitated in part by pioneering efforts of companies such as ‘Beyond Meat’, and supermarkets making a concerted effort to produce more and more varied, imaginative plant-based food.

‘BOSH!’ are already making huge leaps on the vegan scene, and their own upward trajectory doesn’t seem to be abating, either. Among a number of other exciting projects, we can look forward to ‘BOSH!’’s food not only on screen and in their hugely successful cookbooks, but also on the shelves: ‘We’re working on getting food on shelves, for everybody. It’ll be affordably priced, delicious, sustainably packaged, all the good stuff.’

Putting a face to the disembodied hands of ‘BOSH!’’s tutorial videos was a delight; Henry and Ian are a shining example of fighting their cause with compassion and love. Their enthusiasm is palpable and inspiring.

Wilberforce Academy returns to Oxford

Ben van der Merwe
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Wilberforce Academy returns to Oxford

A controversial evangelical group with links to the far-right was quietly hosted at Wolfson College this September without the knowledge of the student body, Cherwell can reveal.

The Wilberforce Academy is a week-long residential course which aims to “equip the next generation of Christian leaders in public life.” The course is run by Christian Concern, a right-wing evangelical group whose leader has called for the criminalisation of homosexuality and for members to “stand up to the militant homosexual lobby.”

The group’s ‘Islamic affairs adviser’ Sam Solomon co-wrote ex-UKIP leader Gerard Batten’s notorious ‘Charter of Muslim Understanding’, a proposed loyalty oath for British Muslims.

Another senior member of the group, Paul Diamond, told a Kentucky mega-church that Christians in the US and the UK should stand “shoulder to shoulder” to battle dual enemies of Islam and anti-Christian sentiment, warning: “What’s happening in Europe could be coming to your state.”

Andrea Williams, Paul Diamond and Sam Solomon have all participated in rallies by the Tennessee Freedom Coalition (TFC), an American far-right group which has praised Tommy Robinson as a “brave man” defending his “right to bring truth to light regarding the spread of radical Islam both in the United Kingdom and around the world.”

At one TFC event, Solomon spoke alongside far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who has been banned from the UK for posing, as Home Secretary Theresa May described it, “a genuine, present and significantly serious threat to […] community harmony and therefore public safety.”

At another event, Solomon and Diamond spoke alongside far-right anti-Islam activists Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, both also banned from entering the UK.

Also speaking were Frank Gaffney and John Guandolo, who took to the alt-right Breitbart podcast after the Finsbury Park Mosque attack to blame the attack on Muslim immigration.

In 2013, Williams travelled to Jamaica to campaign against the legalisation of gay sex. According to Buzzfeed, in her speech Williams said: “It is not compassionate and kind to have laws that lead people [to engage] in their sins [that] lead to the obliteration of life, the obliteration of culture, and the obliteration of family.”

Bishop of Chichester, Martin Warner responded to Williams’ comments: “The comments by Andrea Minichiello Williams about the decriminalisation of same sex intercourse in Jamaica have no sanction in the Church of England or the diocese of Chichester. Insofar as such comments incite homophobia, they should be rejected as offensive and unacceptable.”

One Christian Concern publication argues that same-sex couples should not be allowed to raise children due to their “high levels of promiscuity.” Another warns that “Islamic finance” is a conspiracy to promote the “Islamisation” of Britain and the implementation of Sharia Law.

This year’s conference took place from the 9th to the 14th of September, near the end of the long vac.

The college Chair of the General Meeting of the Common Room was first informed that Wolfson had hosted the group on the 23rd October. The issue was raised at a General meeting that same day.

Colleges who have hosted the Wilberforce Academy in previous years have faced uproar from their students. Exeter was forced by students to donate all proceeds from the conference to LGBTQ+ charities and issue an apology after hosting the conference in 2012, where members of the group distributed anti-abortion leaflets in communal areas.

At the time, Exeter students also alleged that members of Christian Concern had made homophobic remarks about one gay student, comparing his sexuality to that of a paedophile and labelling him “immoral”. Students described Trinity’s decision to host the group the following year as a “slap in the face to LGBTQ members of the college.”

Trinity later issued an apology and, like Exeter, pledged to donate all proceeds to LGBTQ+ charities.

Last Michaelmas, Cherwell revealed that Jesus had hosted the Wilberforce Academy over the long vac and had deliberately kept its students in the dark, which students described as causing “immeasurable hurt”. As before, students demanded an apology and that proceeds be donated to LGBTQ+ charities.

Shortly after the events at Jesus, students at Lady Margaret Hall voted against allowing the group to use their college for the group’s 2019 event, on the grounds that it would threaten their “physical and mental safety”.

SU VP Welfare Róison McCallion called on colleges and University to be more responsible when taking bookings, telling Cherwell: “The University of Oxford should be a safe and welcoming space for all people.”

A spokesperson for Wolfson College told Cherwell: “The College is committed to ensure that nothing gives rise to an environment in which people will experience, or could reasonably fear, discrimination, harassment, intimidation.”

OULC pulls out of Three Party Debate

Simon Hunt
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OULC pulls out of Three Party Debate

The Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) has withdrawn from a Three Party Debate organised by the Oxford Forum following a row over which motions were to be discussed at the debate.

Yesterday, the Oxford University Liberal Democrats (OULD) released a statement accusing the OULC of refusing to debate the motion, ‘This house is ready for Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime Minister.’

“We are surprised and disturbed that the Labour Club do not wish to defend Jeremy Corbyn who they are actively campaigning to be Prime Minister,” the OULD said.

Cherwell understands that OULD refused to debate OULC unless the motion centred on Jeremy Corbyn.

OULC said in a statement: “As is customary during the motion negotiations around the Three Party Debates, OULC proposed our own motion which was ‘This House Is Ready For A Labour Government’.

“We proposed this motion as we wished to focus on policies, not personalities.”

The OULD alleged that the OULC had initially agreed to debate the motion, before reversing this decision – an allegation denied by OULC.

“The extensive list of possible explanations for our decision is entirely false and malicious; none of these allegations played a part in our decision.”

In response to the OULC statement, the OULD commented, “Now OULC have revealed an apparent preference for policy debates, we would be delighted to debate the motion ‘This House believes Liberal Democrat policies are more progressive than Labour’s’.”

An OULC source told Cherwell that that motion had not been put to them.

President of the Oxford Forum Julia Hussain commented: “The Oxford Forum is disappointed that a debate which is the only chance for Oxford students to hear the three main parties debate, has ended up at such odds and with one of the parties dropping out entirely.

“We are still looking forward to a spirited event, with the potential for a different group representing the left in Oxford.”

The Three Party Debate is scheduled to take place on the 12th of November.

OULC votes to abolish private schools

Luke Dunne
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OULC votes to abolish private schools

At their General Meeting this evening, Oxford University Labour Club voted in favour of a motion to support the Abolish Eton campaign, also known as the Labour Campaign Against Private Schools.

The motion resolved to “support Abolish Eton’s fundamental aim of ending the private education sector and bringing private schools under public administration.”

This comes a month after the group successfully persuaded delegates at the Labour Party conference to vote in favour of adopting the abolition of private schools as official party policy. Shadow cabinet ministers later hinted that the policy would not be included in the party’s 2019 election manifesto, which has yet to be released.

Recognising this, the club resolved to mandate the co-chairs to petition Angela Rayner MP, the Shadow Education Secretary, to support the policy’s inclusion in Labour’s official election platform. A friendly amendment was also added to call on club members to individually submit the proposal to the Labour party’s manifesto crowdsourcing website.

The motion, proposed by co-chairs Meg Howells and Jay Staker, states that “we, as an Oxbridge Labour Club have a special responsibility to speak out against institutionalised privilege in education.”

Responding a concern from the floor that the motion could impact the club’s inclusiveness, Howells said: “It’s nothing personal. We’re not going after individuals. Our issue is with the system and the positions of privilege it creates, not the people who were put in those positions through no fault of their own.”

Asked whether the club would be supporting the Abolish Eton campaign’s call for a 7% cap on private school students at top universities, Staker said the motion deliberately avoided specifics and instead expressed support for the campaign’s fundamental aims.

Some have suggested that the Labour Party are unlikely to wholeheartedly adopt the policy in their manifesto, despite the support of conference delegates. The New Statesman‘s Patrick Maguire reported during Labour conference: “The policy prescription drafted by campaigners is, it is unlikely to be adopted in full. This is partly because of its radicalism. The suggestion that a Labour government would expropriate the assets of private schools alarms some of those who will ultimately be responsible for translating last night’s vote into a workable programme of policy.”

However, Holly Rigby, coordinator of the Abolish Eton campaign, recently told the Guardian: “There is no justification for the fact that young people’s opportunity to flourish and fulfil their potential is still determined by the size of their parents’ bank balance.”

Speaking from the floor, one member quoted OULC’s founding chair on the reason for establishing the club: “That those who have more to lose than their chains may stand in solidarity with those who do not.”

South Africa victorious in the year the World Cup reached new heights

Alice Bruce
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South Africa victorious in the year the World Cup reached new heights

South Africa’s victory in the 2019 world cup has ended a magnificent tournament, marking a new, exciting chapter for world rugby. South Africa’s third world cup win, their last against England in 2007, was a true triumph for the Springboks who brought renewed energy and power to their play after a narrow victory against Wales in the Semi-final. This win is particularly important to the trajectory of South African Rugby with Siya Kolisi leading the side as their first black captain. A month prior to the start of the world cup Springbok legend Chester Williams, the only person of colour in the famous 1995 winning side, passed away. This final and the tournament as a whole can be seen as reflecting the progress made in world rugby since that match, both in terms of the diversity in the South African team and the tournament as a whole. Whilst the globally connected rugby family of supporters will remember and cherish the lives of many rugby greats, including Williams, Lomu, van der Westhuizen and Small who have all passed away since the last world cup, the future of the game has been showed to be in safe hands, and moving in an exciting direction.

For England, the final was a sour ending to their near perfect tournament, after last week displaying one of their best ever performances to beat New Zealand. Coming into the final the young side seemed primed and ready, with an unchanged starting fifteen appearing to be perfectly reaching their apex after four years of hard work and transformation. Star performer Ben Curry was supported by twin Tom who was allowed by his club Sale Sharks to fly out at the last minute, but it was another Shark’s star playing in green, Faf de Klerk, who stole the show on Saturday. With Farrell missing an important penalty and mistakes creeping into England’s play, the occasion of the game seemed to rattle the players, particularly after Kyle Sinckler was knocked out in the opening minutes of the match. Despite this loss England managed to reach their first final in 12 years and many of the players visibly upped their game in this tournament, with the likes of Itoje and Underhill showing themselves to be up there with the best in the world.

One of the most important reflections on this world cup has to be that the decision ten years ago to hold the Rugby World Cup in Japan, the first in Asia, has been completely vindicated and an unqualified success. Japan has been the perfect host for this world cup, we’ve seen respect, compassion and international friendship reinjected into the game, thanks in large part to the incredible atmosphere brought by the host nation’s fans. Bowing at the end of games in recognition of the crowd’s support has been just one example of the best of rugby which has been brought out this autumn. Whilst everyone wants to win it is a great inevitable, invaluable life experience to learn to lose or fail with dignity and good grace – which the teams in this competition have clearly expressed. Rugby has captured a new national fan base, with half of the Japanese population watching their team’s games as they skilfully made their way to the quarter finals for the first time. With a tragic typhoon hitting during the end of the qualifying round matches, the Japanese have handled with great skill and expertise an almost unmanageable set of tragic circumstances. Despite this they have ensured the safety of the players, the international supporters and also safeguarded and maintained the integrity of the competition. It may be years before the full impact of this tournament is fully known and appreciated but hopefully we can look forward to many years of top class, global rugby to come. Ex-Welsh rugby International Gareth Thomas believes that the increasingly multicultural tournament has proved an invaluable vehicle for improving and enriching diversity in general. The warmth of the welcome, the generosity of the Japanese people, the indomitable spirit will live long in the collective memory.

First round of football cuppers launches

Lucy Tansley
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First round of football cuppers launches

The first round of football cuppers matches have taken place this week, with exciting matches and surprising results across the board. Cuppers, an Oxbridge-specific name for inter-collegiate competitions, takes place every year in a variety of sports, and for many, the football tournament is the pinnacle of inter-college rivalry. Last season New College clinched victory from Christ Church in the final, with a 2-1 victory that made up for 2018’s disappointment, when they lost in the final to Worcester. As the four semi-finalists from last year, New College, Worcester, Christ Church and Wadham are given a bye, meaning they will head straight into the second round of the tournament.

The opening fixture of the tournament saw Keble face off against the Corpus Christi/Linacre combined squad. Keble, who play in the JCR second division, were ultimately too strong for their opponents, and scored five goals with none in reply. Fresher Angus Lochrane scored a hat-trick on his debut for the team, and goals from Freddie Freeman and Arthur ‘Frube’ Fooks, propelling them with ease into the second round.

One notable clash from the first-round fixtures came in the match between St Hilda’s and Univ. The latter may have six hundred-odd more years of history over their opponents, but after failing to get past the first round last year, St Hilda’s were the favourites going into the clash, which was held at Univ’s sports ground, shared with Corpus Christi. From the outset, St Hilda’s were dominant, and at half-time the score was 6-0, with the home side failing to get a foothold in the match. The second half continued in the same way, and although University College managed to secure one goal on the score-line, St Hilda’s continued to rack up an impressive set of goals, scoring seven more before the final whistle and bringing their overall tally to 13. Goals included hat-tricks from Angus Wright and Jake Jackson, as well as individual goals from players including Thomas Barnes, Henry Bushell, Luke Pitman, Will Bentley and Kamran Sharifi.

Lincoln took on Pembroke over the weekend in another hotly-contested match. Neither team made it past the first round of the tournament last year, and it was reflected in the closely fought game. The score at half time was 2-2, with all to play for for both teams. However, Pembroke, who play in the Premier division, were ultimately too strong for Lincoln, who play in the third division, and they managed to net another goal, bringing the final score to a 3-2 victory for the visiting side.

Meanwhile, Trinity took on the Merton/ Mansfield combined side at the Trinity grounds last week. Similarly to Lincoln and Pembroke’s fixture, neither team made it out of the first round in last year’s tournament, so the possibility of a second-round spot was an attractive prospect. Merton/Mansfield proved the stronger force in the first half, going into the break with a score-line of 4-1 to the visitors. However, the goal difference only extended as the match went on, and the Merton/Mansfield team scored a further five goals in the second half, leading to a final score of 9-3, meaning Merton/Mansfield came away with their first 1st team victory since March 2018. Matthew Feaster and Trajan Halvorsen both scored hat-tricks for their winning side, with further goals from Adam Austin, Kaiyang Song and Nick Ridpath, while Trinity’s three goals came from Jack Cross and a brace from Otis Brankin-Frisby.

St Hugh’s took on Brasenose on Sunday; both teams play in the JCR second division, so the sides looked evenly matched. The St Hugh’s side, who were playing away at Brasenose’s sports ground, largely controlled the game, particularly in midfield, and despite a resurgence in the second half from the host side, were ultimately victorious, coming away with a score of 3-2, and securing their place in the next round. Fresher Patrick Robinson, a new addition to the Hugh’s team, scored a goal, and MCR student Barney Poznansky scored two to cement the win. Arguably, there was scope for a wider margin of victory, and the Hugh’s attack were left bemoaning their shots on goal as Brasenose increased the pressure in the final minutes of the game. However, overall, the visiting side were deserved winners and defended resolutely throughout.

First round fixtures continue in the coming days, with LMH set to take on St Catz, who topped the JCR Premier division last season, and third division side Oriel take on will take on St John’s.

While the men’s competition has got underway, first round matches have also been taking place in the women’s cuppers tournament, and Saturday’s fixtures went ahead with enthusiasm despite the less than ideal weather conditions. Last year’s title was taken by St Catz, who won 4-1 in the final against a Keble/Hertford combined side, and they, along with the other semi-finalists, got a bye for the first round of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Christ Church and Oriel’s combined team beat St Hugh’s 8-3, and the latter will now be placed in the Hassan’s Cup tournament after their triumphant journey to the final last year. The Foxes, an amalgamated team of various graduate colleges, stormed to a 9-0 victory against LMH & Trinity’s combined team, and the former will be hungry for more success after taking the Hassan’s Cup trophy in March. A similar landslide victory befell Teddy Hall’s away fixture against Lincoln, in which the visitors scored twelve goals in keeping with the college’s reputation for sporting dominance, to progress to the next round with a win of 12-0.

Jesus’ women’s team faced off against St Hilda’s and St Peter’s combined team, and came away with a hard-fought 6-4 victory to take them to the next round. The final fixture of the weekend was Worcester’s clash against Exeter, in which Exeter held their own against a strong side to take a 4-2 victory for the club. The reserves cuppers tournament, for college’s second and third teams, is also getting underway this week.

Review: Section Two

Phoebe Hennell
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Review: Section Two

… you’re walking home and you can’t shake the feeling that that guy — there! in the orange beanie, him! — is like, following you from a distance… 

Teenage Chris’ psyche is like a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the floor. Some memory pieces are seemingly irretrievably lost behind the sofa, while others can be deduced from the surrounding picture: a life picture revealed to be akin to a Munch painting. The audience, alongside his doctors, solve step-by-step what sequence of events led to pivotal moment where the jigsaw was dropped and shattered – his descent into psychosis – and if the pieces can ever be slotted back into place.

Throughout Tom Gould’s original play Section Two, there is constant flickering between two alternating hemispheres telling stories running parallel to one another. One is set in a numbing in-patient psychiatric ward, which feels more like a high-surveillance prison than a sanctuary of healing. Here, he falls into both heartwarming friendship and chilling life-threatening situations. The other nostalgically portrays his homosexual first love blossoming with Frankie (Max Penrose), alongside the gradual crumbling of his mental health. This parallel story of flashbacks eventually catches up with the other, revealing the breaking point which landed in Chris (Cameron Forbes) being ‘sectioned’ under the Mental Health Act. These two timelines are riddled with contrasts. The tense exchange of interview-like questions of first dates at coffee shops, juxtaposed with the one-sided interviewing by psychiatrists; the awkwardness of first-time sex on a familiar childhood bed, juxtaposed with the sterile white bed where privacy is but a distant memory; freshly hatched stomach butterflies of adolescent romance juxtaposed with blaring panic alarms set off in hospital; innocent chitchat about favourite beers juxtaposed with a cacophony of murderous voices and intrusive thoughts urging him towards suicide.

Yet with these contrasts also comes a balance between despair and hope. The appropriately named Doctor Frost’s (Joseph Byrne) disrespectful, unsympathetic attitude does little to spur on Chris’ progress, but thankfully the far kinder nurse Joan (Harriet Thomas) redeems confidence in the NHS. Bringing laughter back into his days is Emmie (Abby Ferraro), a cheerful eating disorder patient nearing her release. Ferraro’s performance had particular resonance. This prospect that recovery is possible shines a ray of hope into Chris’ life, although the question of rebound patients is left open.

At the forefront of the play, although implicitly, is the issue of societal attitudes towards abnormality, both mental and sexual. Frankie, upon coming “out of the closet” to his mother, is met with hostility; but Chris’ mental illness is met with similar wariness by Frankie. Essentially, coming “out of the closet”, either with homosexuality or mental health issues, to friends and family can throw similar obstacles in your path. Homosexuality was until relatively recently condemned as itself a mental illness; and much like using “gay” as an insult, “psycho” is used daily without a thought to its potential for offence.

Addressing mental illness in a realist, gritty manner, Section Two is much needed. With the sweeping under the mat with a cocktail of antidepressants and anti-psychotics, and the keeping behind clinics’ closed doors, it begs the question of whether we are healing mentally ill people or shielding society from them. This is especially during a time of cuts to mental health services, and with the dramatic prevalence of mental health problems as both a cause and consequence of homelessness. 

Artistic creations like this are crucial for re-humanising those with severe mental health problems. Despite the welcomed recent publicity on supporting mental health, the focus is mainly on the more common disorders: depression and anxiety. Given the tendency to oversimplify mental illness, I was impressed by how Section Two insightfully pins down the internally coherent, yet externally incoherent, system in the heads of those suffering from psychosis. 

Review: Life of Galileo

Coral Kim
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Review: Life of Galileo

“I’ll explain it to you,” says Marianne James’s Galileo to the Little Monk (Hanna Brock) at the end of a scene, in which he—despite the gender blind casting, the play sticks to the script’s original pronouns—has convinced the cleric of his frequently rhapsodized “truth” and “reason.” 

And this act of explanation, along with the play’s evident themes of truth and science, is what Life of Galileoseems to be all about. Marianne James as Galileo is a natural teacher: the play begins with Galileo explaining the heliocentric theory to young Andrea (Alasdair Linn) in a way most endearing and dependable, as James makes great use of her low-pitched, steady voice. 

Galileo’s life, according to this production, is a life of explaining things—truths—to the world. As a leading character, he almost always keeps his place firmly onstage, as firmly as he tirelessly spells out his discoveries and reason to his friends, Ludovico, the church, the court, and the truth-blind 17thcentury society he inhabits. So it is fitting that both his life and the play Life of Galileoend with explanation, as he describes his motives and life to the grown-up Andrea, to whom the torch has been passed on, and who goes on to tell others of science and its possibilities, in a final scene reminiscent of the opening with Galileo as his teacher.

Interestingly, this theme of explanation extends to the physical stage and its visuals: the production’s structure overall reminds us of the classroom, or, as the university students in the audience find more fitting, the lecture theatre. The narrative is clearly explained and delineated through captioned slides projected on the stage backdrop, which give us not only a summary, but also an idea of the time frame of each scene, as a teacher or lecturer’s presentation slides would. This didactic, or explanatory, effect is reinforced by the colored orb lamps and the pieces of related art projected during select scenes, all of which are classroom-like devices that lead the audience to feel instructed first by Galileo on his truth, then by the production on Galileo’s life.

Life of Galileo is a play about big questions and big truths, about un-blinding people and explaining away to willfully deaf ears. Some audience members may initially flinch from its didactic features. Yet, as the play progresses, it is this glaring didacticism that provokes us not only to be taught of Galileo’s life story, but to think it over and question his duties as a scientist—not only to know and accept truths, but to feel their weight on our heads and ask ourselves: are we seeing with our reason, or our social dispositions? Or, in Life of Galileo fashion: are we not perchance being “criminal,” as was the Roman church in Galileo’s time, in our deliberate blindness to facts, breaking news, and the world we live in?

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