Wednesday 27th August 2025
Blog Page 684

Oxford Union officers revolt against Steve Bannon invite

Jack Hunter
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Oxford Union officers revolt against Steve Bannon invite

A row has erupted at the top of the Oxford Union over President Stephen Horvath’s last-minute announcement to host Donald Trump’s former right-hand man Steve Bannon.

Union secretary Nick Brown has called an emergency meeting of Standing Committee – the society’s governing body – to vote on cancelling the event on Friday, which has already prompted several student protests calling on the invite to be withdrawn.

The move follows claims that the Bannon event had been kept under wraps by the President for several weeks in advance. Three Union insiders told Cherwell that a majority of Standing Committee were not informed of the decision to host Bannon until the event was made public on Wednesday morning.

Following Wednesday’s announcement, student campaign groups announced demonstrations against the decision to host Bannon, who has been accused of promoting populism, anti-Semitism, and white supremacy. By Wednesday afternoon, over 170 people had marked themselves as “going” to a protest outside the Union on Friday.

Brown’s motion reads: “I, Nick Brown, hereby requisition an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee for 3pm on 15 November in the Macmillan Room. The purpose of the emergency meeting will be to discuss and vote on whether the Standing Committee should direct the President to disinvite Steve Bannon.”

The motion was signed by Brown, the Union’s treasurer-elect Amy Gregg, and Standing Committee member Anisha Faruk.

Earlier in the term, German far-right leader Alice Weidel cancelled her Union event, after widespread opposition from student groups.

Announcing the Bannon event earlier today, Horvath said: “I am sure there will be people who challenge the value of free speech in relation to this invitation. The event with Mr Bannon provides an opportunity for our members to hear from an individual who has been at the centre of a rise in right-wing populism, as well as to critically question and debate the ideas and rhetoric of Mr Bannon.

“It is only through listening to the opinions of others that we can fully understand those opinions. Whether we are inclined to agree or disagree with them, there is a profound intellectual value in critically thinking through why we agree or disagree instead of just rejecting them out of hand.”

Oxford-based anti-racism groups quickly condemned the event. In a statement, Ian McKendrick from Oxford Stand Up to Racism said: “We condemn the Oxford Union invitation to Alt-Right guru Steve Bannon to speak on 16 November.  The Oxford Union is once again giving a platform to a far right speaker, and by doing so legitimising racism.

“Bannon is attempting to build an Islamophobic international of far-right groups and is looking to fascist Tommy Robinson here in Britain as a key figure for his movement.”

He added: “We call on the Oxford Union to stop giving credibility to racism and fascism and cancel the invitation to Steve Bannon.”

The Union’s Facebook event page was flooded with criticism from students. One wrote: “Absolutely no words!!! What next? You will be inviting Hitler too??”

On Twitter, one student said he would resign his Union membership over the Bannon event.

Stephen Horvath told Cherwell: “I briefed all staff members and committee members necessary for the running of this event. For example, The Chair of the Consultative Committee (as the person in charge of logistics), the President-Elect (as the person with the most experience of security and logistics), the Junior Treasurer (as the person with the most experience of successfully inviting American political figures to the Union), and the Director of Press were made aware of this event in advance so that appropriate security measures could be put in place for the benefit of those members wishing to attend this event.

“On the advice of our security team, the announcement was scheduled for Wednesday morning. This is consistent with other high-profile speaker announcements such as Secretary Kerry or President Nixon, and it is worth noting that, unlike these figures, Mr Bannon does not have government funded security.”

He added: “At the end of October, all sitting Officers (including Nick Brown) were notified that an event would probably be taking place on Friday 16 November with a high-profile American political figure. No Officer used a motion of Standing Committee to direct me to reveal their name.”

Mojo Preview – ‘gloriously worded script but male dominated’

Cesca Echlin
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Mojo Preview – ‘gloriously worded script but male dominated’

Jez Butterworth’s play Mojo first opened in 1995 at the Royal Court in London. Set in Soho in 1958, at the heart of London’s club culture, the plot follows Ezra Atlantic Club’s dispute with competing Camden clubs over rising star ‘Silver Johnny’ (Stevie Polywka) and its catastrophic consequences.

Playing Dumb Productions are bringing Mojo to the BT this week with dynamism and flair. In this preview, I watch from the start of the play and it opens with real oomph. The addition of a live drum set (played by Josh Jones) on stage sets scenes with urgency and proves valuable for later transitions. In my mind there is nothing worse than a rickety scene change, and the ongoing beat of the drums keeps the energy going from one scene to the next.

Director Louis Beer has set the BT in traverse for this production. As such, the actors are forced to work hard, moving consistently as to vary the audience’s sight lines. This was achieved particularly well in the first scene – a duologue between nightclub employees Potts (Harold Serero) and Sweets (Henry Wyard). The two form a hilarious comic duo as they chat, at times anxiously and at times delightedly, about the club they work at. Butterworth’s writing shines here, with some great lines – Sweets is mortified when he hears that star Silver Johnny has been seen without his signature silver jacket, but Potts declares it ‘a jacket-off atmosphere.’ Butterworth’s most successful comic writing thrives off of pedantry and word play such as this. These two characterisations work well together; with Serero’s self-important Potts counteracting Wyard’s blissfully dim Sweets. Both have developed particularly sophisticated physicalities, and the addition of physical tics reveal the drug-fuelled dark side to London’s club culture.

Like in so many of his other plays, Butterworth’s luxuriously worded comic scenes counteract a much darker plot line. This is partially revealed in the preview by way of nightclub senior manager Mickey’s (Dom Weatherby) entrance. He brings with him catastrophic news affecting the state of the nightclub. As such, I left the preview edging to know what happens next.

Butterworth’s plays prove a great opportunity for students, the sophistication and layered nature of its writing allowing one to bring out particular details. This Playing Dumb Productions has certainly done with consideration. One thing I think is important to discuss – the male-dominated nature of this play is palpable. The six characters in this production are originally male, with Amelia Holt being cast gender-blind as Baby. Jerusalem, Butterworth’s most famous play, is similar in this regard. Whilst I think it is true to say that Butterworth is fascinated specifically by the nature of masculinity, and perhaps, this is thinking optimistically, even the consequences of an absence of women, I think it is important we continue to reflect in this way. Perhaps I would have encouraged more actors to be cast in a gender-blind way.

What Playing Dumb Productions has created is a popping and witty rendition of gloriously worded script. Comedy done well can be a real treat and, as such, I encourage you to go and see this, running at the Burton-Taylor Studio until Saturday.

Merlin: The magic of kindness

Simone Fraser
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Merlin: The magic of kindness

In 2008, a new fantasy-drama premiered on BBC One. Starring Colin Morgan as a young Merlin, serving and eventually befriending Arthur Pendragon, Merlin is loosely based on the English legend of Camelot and Arthurian mythology. It was popular, and for good reason. For five years, Merlin was a semi-regular part of the Saturday night routine of countless children, teenagers, and adults – including me.

I enjoyed it for a lot of reasons – it had exciting fantasy scenes and creatures, the leads were charismatic and likeable, and the witty and sarcastic exchanges made the show genuinely funny for people of all ages. Admittedly though, a lot of the key themes went over my head – but in retrospect, Merlin was not simply a generic show, but one with an important and pertinent message, especially relevant in the modern day.

A key feature of all five seasons is how Merlin hides his ability to practice magic from all but his primary confidant and mentor, Gaius. Even though Arthur is his closest friend, it isn’t until the climax of the entire show that Merlin is finally able to reveal his true self.  Until then he had to hide a key part of his identity to avoid persecution and punishment caused by the prejudices of Arthur, and more importantly his father, King Uther. It’s difficult to look at this as anything but allegorical when you consider the parallels between this kind of treatment and the kind of struggles that LGBTQ, ethnic minorities, and other oppressed groups go through in many places in the modern day.

Although at the time I had no idea of my own status as an LGBTQ person (although looking back I definitely had a crush on Katie McGrath, who plays Morgana), when I did begin to realise, looking back at shows like this definitely helped me to be kinder and more understanding – both to others and to myself. Ultimately, the key message of Merlin is that friendship and acceptance are far more powerful and important than division, and he forms important and loving bonds with a range of characters completely different from himself.

Yet Morgana’s tale also cautions the watcher about the negative consequences of failing to be compassionate. In the first season and most of the second, she is kind, loyal and loving to Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin. However, during the second season she discovers that she has magic – something that King Uther would destroy her for if he knew. Unlike Merlin, who is able to operate under a system of concealment, Morgana breaks from those she loves, going on to be the primary villain of the show. The real tragedy is that had Morgana been treated with benevolence, instead of hated for something she couldn’t control, the vast majority of the devastation and heartbreak throughout the show would not have occurred.

Consequently, Merlin did not just entertain me and countless other children and adults for five years, it also taught us to be kinder, more accepting people. Through highlighting the pain and destruction caused by prejudice to people with something they can’t control- in this case magical ability- Merlin warns us of the harm attitudes like this can have to individuals and society as a whole. Possibly the most powerful line comes from Morgana: “you don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider! To be ashamed of how you were born, to have to hide who you are.” Yet the reality is that many people watching the show really did know what it was like to be an outsider.

Maybe the real magic of Merlin was that without ever discussing the complex issues permeating society, it gave everyone who watched it a very clear message – to be kind.

Bake-sale held in protest against Oxford’s gender pay gap

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Bake-sale held in protest against Oxford’s gender pay gap

The Oxford University College Union held a bake sale and women’s non-working lunch, to raise awareness of the pay gap within the university.

Due to the gender wage discrepancies at the university, from today onwards women in the university are ‘effectively unpaid’ until the end of the year. 

University staff, students and the public were invited to engage in discussion on the gender pay gap and learn more about the issue at the University.

The bake sale charged women 13.7% less than men, to symbolise the 13.7% gender pay gap faced by staff.

Oxford’s median gender pay gap is comparable to the national average which is estimated at 17.9%.

However, there is significant variation between colleges, with the gap reaching 24.3% at New College. 

Speaking to Cherwell, a spokesperson for the event, Laura Paterson, emphasised the need for dialogue and “more conversation” around the pay gap at Oxford saying that “the increased casualisation of academic work disproportionately targets women’”.

She also noted that more women than men are working additional hours without pay. 

She emphasised that the students are “wonderful” supporters of pay equality adding that it is rather University hiring policy that is at fault and more women are needed in senior roles. 

When asked, whether the bake sale’s premise that men pay more than women for the same product was reductive of such a complex issue, she replied that the price difference was meant to be “symbolic” of the disadvantage most women face, and that it was intended partly as an homage to previous feminist organisations which had used the same strategy to highlight the unfair treatment of women

The UCU is engaging in continuing collaboration with Oxford to combat the gender pay gap.

The university has committed to increasing the proportion of female professors every year aiming for 30% representation by 2020. 

It is also aiming for around a third of University leadership roles to be held by women. 

Speaking to Cherwell, a lecturer, Alejandra Costa, emphasised the need for increased openness about pay grades for men and women, saying that the issue needed to be discussed at greater length in university committees.

Ms Costa also pointed to the need to raise greater awareness, commenting that many of her students were “shocked” to discover the extent of the pay gap at the university. 

She suggested that students wanting to show their support for the union could wear UCU badges. 

NI abortion rights must be a UK policy

Eimer McAuley
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NI abortion rights must be a UK policy

Last month in a historical moment of change, the House of Commons voted in favour of legalising abortion in Northern Ireland, by 208 votes to 123. Tory ministers broke ranks to vote in favour of the bill introduced by Labour MP Diana Johnson. But crucially, Theresa may’s government is not on side, because they our currently propped up by the Northern Irish DUP party, who are staunchly anti-abortion. May’s spokesperson has deflected the issue repeating once again that it is a ‘devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive’. But Northern Ireland has gone without devolved government since January 2017.

Over a year ago I wrote an article for Cherwell titled ‘Northern Ireland’s abortion law is shameful. More must be done’. Since then the law has not changed, and neither has the struggle. Northern Irish women have to go through turmoil when they are dealing with unwanted pregnancy. They face the horrible decision between travelling overseas to have an abortion, or seek out potentially dangerous abortion pills online and face possible criminal prosecution.

In 2016, a 21 year old who couldn’t afford to travel so bought these pills was given a three months suspended prison sentence in court. Elise O’Brien, a Northern Irish student here, makes the point that “the law discriminates against women from low socio-economic backgrounds, because those who can’t afford the expensive trip to England can’t access abortion.” For those who can afford to travel (approximately 800 women a year), they have to go through the abortion procedure away from home, away from their families, sometimes in secrecy, and without support.

Many young women in Northern Ireland who come from religiously conservative families are put in the dangerous position of trying to find the money elsewhere. We believe that in 2018 it isn’t good enough for the abortion laws in Northern Ireland hail from a time when Queen Victoria was on the throne, and 57 years behind the rest of the UK. When Theresa May’s government currently has the power to change this, it needs to be at the forefront of the UK’s political agenda.

UK universities offered amazing support to Irish students during the Repeal referendum, and we believe that that level of support and awareness needs to be extended to Northern Ireland. Sarah Duffy, a student here from Dublin, says that during the referendum “the support of British and Northern Irish feminists” meant a great deal to her and that “we owe that same backing to women in the North, especially when we have the power to lobby Westminster and make a change”.

In order to raise awareness and start an impactful conversation here at Oxford we need the support of the wider student community, but this is also crucial to the issue at large. Westminster’s detached approach to the social issues in Northern Ireland is no longer good enough. Through the Tory parties alliance with the DUP they have violated the terms of the Good Friday agreement and destabilised the foundations of devolved government in Northern Ireland. Theresa May’s government must now recognize a duty to change its abortion law, which the Supreme Court has previously declared to be incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights. Aideen Duffy from St. Peter’s college adds that there’s a sense that “Northern Ireland has been somewhat forgotten about in Britain – there is the sense that oh, all Irish women have access to abortion, the job’s done.”

That’s why next Thursday a group of Northern Irish women here in Oxford, myself included, will be hosting an informative exhibition on Northern Irish women’s rights. SU campaigns WomCam and Class Act are also supporting us. At the end of the event, you will have the option to sign a template letter to lobby your MP on this issue, or write your own, and we’ll send it for you. There will be drinks provided and the option to mix and socialise, or, if you’re pressed for time, simply come and sign a letter. Equally, if you don’t want to sign a letter you don’t have to – making yourself aware of the issue through the exhibition is still a valuable form of action.

The exhibition will be held in the C. Day Lewis room at Wadham College on Thursday 15th November from 6-8pm.

The Band Review – ‘heartwarming and nostalgic fun’

Maxim Mower
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The Band Review – ‘heartwarming and nostalgic fun’

It is perhaps unsurprising that the success of a musical depends largely on the music. Tim Firth arguably had half his work done for him when he was handed a free, all-you-can-listen-to pass to the Take That vault. It’s difficult for a band to enjoy nearly 30 years atop the charts without a glittering array of hits to accompany them. But despite The Band being publicised as Take That’s attempt at a ‘Mamma Mia’, the lovable fivepiece-cum-fourpiece-cum-threepiece’s contributions are largely overshadowed by Tim Firth’s stunning script.

Although the supergroup’s versatile repertoire is awash with both moving ballads and celebratory anthems, it is no mean feat to balance the authenticity of the plot-line with the audience’s thirst to hear all the hits. Inevitably, The Band suffers somewhat from the fact that the necessary inclusion of ‘Shine’, ‘Never Forget’, ‘These Days’, and ’Greatest Day’ create consistent crescendos along the way, making it a struggle to reach an even greater climax for the grand finale. By the same token, though, the abundance of carpe diem tracks serves to make the downcast moments even more touching, with ‘A Million Love Songs’ producing one of the most striking sequences of the play.

After a rather hectic beginning, the story settles down and draws the audience along through all of its elegant twists and turns. The characters could be established more vibrantly, so that we really root for them, especially given the stark change in dynamic after the time warp. But as a whole the plot wraps itself nicely around its leading ladies, maintaining a sense of pace whilst not leaving the audience behind.

Firth wrote in his introduction to the programme that he was inspired to write ‘The Band’ because ‘music makes time travellers of us all’, and this play acts as his convincing case study in favour of this. We join a group of teenage girls as they embark on a memorable journey to see the band they all adore, making plans to be Olympic gold medallists and top fashion designers, before a tragedy throws us jarringly 25 years in the future, and we get to see where they are now. The time switch is prefaced by a monologue from starlet Faye Christall (Rachel), in which she recalls her grandma’s cynical words, ‘If you truly want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans’. The group somehow get back in touch and head out to Prague in an attempt to rekindle – or maybe more appropriately, relight – the fire of their youth. It’s heartwarming, without being too on-the-nose.

Anyone who was lucky enough to see Take That’s Circus tour will know that Gary Barlow has a knack for putting on a spectacle. However involved he actually was in this production, the group’s flair has clearly been translated into it by directors Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder. The visuals for The Band are fantastic – in one sequence the boys break out from a fountain as statues into a flurry of shimmering confetti; in another they chomp at the bit of a chariot, donning gladiator helmets, flames angrily curling up and lashing out of the scenery; and in a particularly memorable scene they wheel their troupe of fans round on aeroplane stairs, with everyone on stage looking as though they’re enjoying themselves just as much as the audience.

With all of the hype surrounding Barlow’s 2017 talent show, ‘Let It Shine’, which was designed to find the four band-members for this show, and with the play being called The Band, you could be forgiven for presuming the boys are the stars. This is far from the case, with the plot being centred firmly around the story of the teenage girls and how their lives develop. Having said that, what gives this musical life is the way the boyband are integrated into the girls’ everyday activities. They help Rachel get ready for school, they are there singing words of encouragement when she then cannot decide whether to follow her heart or her head, and they even, bless them, help her wash her dirty socks. One thing’s for sure, you wouldn’t get Oasis doing that. Their smooth integration into the storyline is a delight to watch, and adds a homely tinge of charm to the overall production.

The Band is full of nostalgic fun and pivots upon an apt mantra about the pervasiveness of music in people’s lives, and underlines how hearing a simple melody or riff can transport you back to your youth. It will be appreciated more directly by those who have been around to witness the entirety of Take That’s illustrious career, with various 80s and 90s references peppering the plot, along with a pointed Ceefax newsflash wryly telling us of the creation of the EU. Nonetheless, it is a testament to the UK supergroup’s longevity that they have so many songs that are loved across all generations.

The Witching Hour

Cherwell Fashion
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The Witching Hour

Have you ever been to a séance? Candles, half-light, incense, the smoky air encouraging you to see spirits in the shadows… There is no better setting for seductive silks, delicate lace, trailing scarves and softly textured furs.

The act of deliberately placing yourself in a liminal space, allowing yourself to (quite literally) be in touch with the best of both worlds – there is an allure to the other-worldly that has long been a fascination of creatives everywhere, and the fashion industry is no exception.

Fashion and magic have much in common. They both deal in enchantment, in visual spectacle, in pushing the boundaries of what is seen as acceptable or everyday. Both have an element of performance, and both – when carried out successfully – result in a sly confidence that you are tapping in to something others don’t know about. Secrecy and exclusivity go hand in hand; it is no surprise that many rituals demand specific ensembles of clothing, so that the outfit makes up half of the occasion. For any kind of magic to work, you need to look and feel the part. After all, what is a witch without her pointy hat and billowing robe? Symbols of power are as important as the power itself, and surely there is a hint of witchery in how a certain item of clothing – a fix-all dress, or a lucky piece of underwear – can alter your mood, like holding a secret spell in your pocket.

And in each type of act – the rituals of magic and the art of getting dressed – it is important to embrace the irrational. One person’s best look will be anathema to another, even someone with the same body shape, height, and hair colour; nothing stands to reason. Style and taste are intangible, just as difficult to pin down as the tricks of a conjuror.

Which is yet another cross-over between the two spheres: the infinite possibilities of illusion. Clothes are a way of transformation, allowing you to be anyone you want to be: to mask, to disguise, even to masquerade as another. Everyone who has ever learnt a magic trick knows that it is all in the confidence, in how you carry it off – and the same applies for clothes. You don’t need magical powers to shape-shift.

Journey’s End Review – ‘powerful commemoration of the centenary’

Adam Radford
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Journey’s End Review – ‘powerful commemoration of the centenary’

One of the key justifications for so many of the past four years’ commemorative events, marking the centenary of the First World War, has been that today’s younger generations must not be allowed to forget both the tremendous amount of suffering, and numbers of lives lost in that harrowing conflict. This would seem an uphill task when barely any of us will have known anyone who lived through that war, or indeed many who served in the Second. It is, therefore, all the more impressive to see millennials not merely engaging with acts of commemoration this seminal weekend, but leading and enacting them.

The commemorative potency of Cosmic Arts’ production of R.C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End this weekend at St Mary Mag’s church is unquestionable. The play follows the officers of one British company of soldiers over the course of four days in 1918 while positioned on the front line of the Western Front at St. Quentin.

Performed in a church, this production invites the audience’s faith and trust that the massive loss of life in the Great War was of some ultimate worth and that those who fought and died deserve not only our respect and honour but our gratitude. The action of all three acts remains within one trench dugout, serving as an officers’ mess. With the stage positioned at the east end of the church, the central dining table evokes both an altar and the tomb of the unknown soldier, adorned with candles as if for a commemorative vigil.

Theatre can serve as a potent instrument for commemoration, but the latter, emphasising the historicity of its subject, will always be in some tension with the immediacy on which the force of most naturalistic drama depends. In her programme notes, director Agnes Pethers acknowledges the consequent fine line between “remembrance” and “vivid realism”, but her production does not consistently manage to tread it.

Partly, this is a result of the unavoidable restrictions of amateur theatre. The impressive costumes, presumably hired, were notably unsoiled, suggesting more readily that the cast were preparing to embark on parade, not coming to the end of a gruelling winter amidst the notorious mud of Flanders. More substantively, the production gives only a limited sense of the daily, hourly horrors of life in the trenches. Flinn Andreae gives a strong performance as the terrified officer, Hibbert, who feigns neuralgia in the hope of being sent “down the line” for medical attention. However, having been compelled to remain with his company and see out a major German offensive, his reluctance then to engage in what history now remembers as the Battle of St. Quentin is presented as the result more of teenage obstreperousness than of mortal terror.

Perhaps a reason for this rosy depiction of morale in the trenches is Pethers’s stated aim of presenting the soldiers as romantics, “who fought, and died for a belief, for love in its many forms, for us now.” Most of the cast share a tendency to stare out and upwards as if in wide-eyed rapture when recounting what is most dear to them – whether this be their home, their sweetheart, or their garden. Whilst there can be no doubt that millions of soldiers in World War One were spurred on by love of country and family, to play this up so pointedly risks presenting their heroism as an insincere, assumed pose.

It may also be this romanticisation that has led this production to an under-appreciation of the importance of humour and role-playing as strategies by which soldiers tried to lighten their otherwise unremitting gloom and anxiety. Dialogue about onion-flavoured cups of tea and the proportion of lean to fat in the supplied bacon are played in this production at face-value as banal, mundane conversation.

Greater consciousness of the context of perpetual fear and discomfort would, I feel, have revealed these exchanges as the superhuman efforts of men, standing on the brink of hell, to try and block out the reality of their situation with gallows humour and some attempt at play-acting a reassuring domestic, normality. Nevertheless, moments of such quasi-tongue-in-cheek roleplay as when the company officer drunkenly asks his second-in-command to tuck him up in bed and kiss him goodnight are still pulled off with stomach-churning pathos.

Cutting through the slight hints of sentimentalisation, two central performances stand out in the production for their particular sensitivity. Joe Woodman as the new arrival, Raleiegh, initially takes as much delight in the prospect of a raid behind enemy lines as he does at the thought of playing ‘rugger’ for England. Yet, with devastating credibility, he then depicts Raleigh’s utter deflation and disaffection after the avuncular Osborne is killed in action, movingly revealing the inability of public school notions of honour and sportsmanship to withstand the sheer, indiscriminate brutality of trench warfare.

The second is by Albert McIntosh in the leading role of the Company Officer, Captain Stanhope, whom Raleigh has known and idolised since childhood. McIntosh brings a compelling ferocity to the part and shows how the ravages of war have transformed and embittered him. With his aquiline features and patrician delivery, McIntosh conjures a flavour of Olivier, who famously created the role of Stanhope in 1928. However, amidst the snarling and barking, there was little sign of Stanhope’s fundamental humanity and decency, for which Raleigh first so admired him and for which the men in his company still hold him in such high regard.

Whilst disagreement may still rage about whether the First World War was necessary, just, or served any beneficial purpose, there can be no dispute that many millions of combatants displayed extraordinary heroism during the course of the war, not only through courage and valour but in the compassion and selfless devotion to their fellow soldiers. Sherriff’s Stanhope stands high amongst literary depictions of just such characteristically modern war heroes – flawed, anguished but human.

Although greater volume and projection would benefit audience members sitting further back, this show boasts a strong ensemble cast. Joe Stanton and Louis Cunningham both do exceedingly well with parts intended for older (and rounder!) actors, the former imbuing ‘Uncle’ Osborne with both wisdom and kindness, the latter injecting some much-needed moments of light-relief in his portrayal of the salt-of-the-earth Trotter.

Audience members already familiar with Journey’s End may be disappointed that this production does not attempt to conclude the play with the technical coup-de-theatre, envisaged in the script. However, the coda to this performance, unique to this student production in Oxford, is more than sufficient compensation.

One would have struggled to find a more affecting or powerful commemoration of the centenary of the 1918 armistice in Oxford last weekend.

Overlord combines fun, gore, and flaws galore

Molly Chell
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Overlord combines fun, gore, and flaws galore

Combining Nazis with zombies is not exactly a novel idea at this point, but Overlord brings the concept to the big screen in ways that will have you laughing one minute and peeking between your fingers the next.

The story follows a plucky team of American soldiers who go behind enemy lines in France to destroy a Nazi radio tower. Stakes are immediately set at maximum as D-day’s success hinges on their mission, which is quickly complicated by the discovery of secret Nazi experiments that turn local inhabitants into zombies in a grisly laboratory under the village’s Church.

This tension is never lost for a moment. A nail-biting sequence opens the film, as the team are packed like sardines in their transport plane that is being destroyed around them. Viewers are so submerged you feel like you’re trapped with them, plummeting out of the sky and straight into hell. Director Julius Avery has created a well-paced film that lives up to its dramatic opening and will keep you on the edge of you seat for the whole runtime. Even more generic tropes like jump scares are used with careful economy, so they genuinely take you by surprise.

The soldiers’ ability to retain their sense of humour despite the horrific revelations of the Nazi’s perverse experiments, renders Overlord as much a war film as a horror flick, as it captures the natural human response when faced with terror. The majority of the humour is dark so that at no point does Overlord dip into becoming a full comedy-horror movie, but the inclusion of this levity renders it a genuinely enjoyable watch.

Jovan Adepo makes a likable protagonist as Private Boyce and acts as the moral centre throughout the film. His commanding Officer Corporeal Ford (Wyatt Russel) determines that the only way for the team to succeed is to be as depraved as the Nazis, a status he achieves with ease when he proves himself a dab hand at torturing a German officer in sequences of seat-gripping horror. Overlord raises important moral questions about how far you can go to deal with an evil, before becoming that same evil yourself.

At times it feels like Ed is wearing invisible armour gifted by the screenwriter, as he manages to sneak in and out of the Nazi’s compound whilst sentries watch, and escape situations of overwhelming peril in fantastically unlikely fashion. No matter how many times he is body slammed against a wall, our indomitable hero jumps right back up for more. But rather than have you rolling your eyes when the film stretches the bounds of believability to breaking point, scenes like these feel deliberately funny.

Horror fans will not be disappointed by the amount of violence and gore that Overlord has to offer. I’d advise viewing on an empty stomach. Convincing zombie makeup, impalings accompanied with grisly sound effects of metal tearing flesh and bones puncturing skin will have you grimacing in your seat, especially if like me you’re not a regular viewer of horror movies. Overlord’s premise may not be unique but it approaches the genre with a fresh perspective and entertains its audience in a way that many horror movies fail to do.

Sufjan Stevens: Saying is believing

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Sufjan Stevens: Saying is believing

To Sufjan Stevens, a Detroit-originating singer-songwriter, believing in God is no different to loving anyone else. He feels the same when it comes his lovers, to his best friends, and even his mother.

Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than in his song ‘Beloved My John’, from his 2015 record Carrie and Lowell, which received an incredibly high rating from Pitchfork under ‘Best New Music’.

Both faith and love require intense devotion against all odds; Sufjan knows he will doubt, viewing it as integral to his faith. “Still I pray to what I cannot see”, he sings in ‘Eugene’, knowing that the entities to whom he sings – God, his mother – might not ever even hear his words. He knows that, eventually, he will be forsaken by someone.

Sufjan needs to put his love, his faith, into words. In ‘Beloved My John’, his need to put devotion into words is accompanied by intense anxiety – “Beloved of John, I get it all wrong”. In the same way as prayer is a way of performing faith, a way of believing in itself, professing your love is a way of loving in itself.

Beyond the question of how to express his feelings of love and devotion, Stevens also wonders whether saying ‘I love you’ is the same as loving. Does one have to say ‘I love you’ to be loving at all? And can saying it bring back the moment in which you loved? Can saying that you love turn back time?

In ‘The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us’ on his fifth studio album, Illinois, Sufjan sings “I can tell you, I love him each day”. He tells the audience what he could never tell his childhood best friend. He loves and he loves, and he tries anew each morning.

Everything about Stevens’ work is an attempt to love right, to believe right, to ‘Get Real, Get Right’, and, ultimately, to vocalise this in music. He asks continually whether a choir, or an orchestra, or centuries-old Christmas carols, or Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’, or even just the voices of three Sufjans can say what one can’t.

There is so much air in his voice, creating a space in which his lyrics sound like a whispered confession. Space in which to try and speak his faith. The thing about faith and love, is that it always happens in the attempt. Sometimes he fails – Stevens ends ‘Futile Devices’ knowing that, even if he had spoken his love aloud, he’d probably “sound dumb”.

Words don’t have to work for his devotion to be real, but in the attempt, they are sanctified. We, are sanctified. To Sufjan Stevens, saying is believing.

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