Friday 8th May 2026
Blog Page 720

Classical music’s illusions

Lauren Hill
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Classical music’s illusions

I still remember my first experience of hearing classical music live. Amongst other local schools, my class was invited to a summer music festival at Hellens Manor in rural Herefordshire. The Schubert Ensemble performed Dvorak ’s ‘Piano Quartet in E flat’ that evening, and I remember being transfixed. The music was beautiful, and they seemed to play so effortlessly, as though it was something natural within them.

Around me, the audience was immovable, attentive, and lost deep within their own memories and fantasy, as we shared this dream-like, collective experience of live music. Amongst many other moments, I recall that evening as one which affirmed my love of music and, before the onset of the harsher realities of growing up, I used to dream of becoming a concert pianist – a dream which has long since been abandoned at the realisation of sheer impossibility…especially given my aversion to practicing.

On the surface, it is easy to see the allure of classical music performance: the concert hall, the dazzling soloists, and the incredible talent, passion and enjoyment of those who have ‘made it’ – who have succeeded to make a career out of something they love. What we perhaps don’t see, beneath the surface of a polished performance, is the mundane, or even darker side to this: the gruelling hours spent alone in a practice room, the frequent auditions and rejections, perfectionism, self-criticism, crippling performance anxiety, and the intense competition of the industry.

As with many other things in life, we prefer to focus on illusory, surface-level beauty, and ignore what lurks beneath.

It will come as no surprise that classical music has an access problem. Learning an instrument costs a great deal of money and with current cuts to government funding, many state schools are sadly forced to remove music from the curriculum. Despite numerous benefits to the wellbeing and education of children, it just isn’t seen as a priority. Of course, there are many admirable efforts to widen access to classical music. Many outreach initiatives of major orchestras and charities have worked tirelessly to make classical music available to those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to engage with it. There is still a long way to go. To many people, concert hall culture is perceived as an elitist tradition, restricted to wealthy (usually elderly) people who might sneer at you if you say something wrong or fail to sit in complete silence during the performance – heaven forbid you should clap between movements!

The way we think about classical music still very much subscribes to the romantic cult-like idea of an isolated creative genius (think of Beethoven as he gradually became deaf), driven relentlessly forward by the conviction that their artistry must be heard. The idea of a classical ‘canon’ that encompasses a list of unquestionable ‘masterworks’ (by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and so on) and the concept of ‘high art’ itself is problematic and hegemonic; it pushes women, minorities, non-Western cultures, and other genres to the margins, while pretending its values are universal and that ‘pure’ music is not connected to issues of gender, sexuality, politics, and privilege. These ideas have all been challenged in recent music scholarship, but it will take a long time to see change. For example, even today, although there are many talented, living female composers, they are frequently ignored when it comes to programming concerts.

Of course, classical music isn’t all negative. Despite what some may think, it’s still a dynamic, living tradition with exciting works being premiered all the time. While it’s true that careers in classical music are notoriously precarious, this is surely true of all artistic pursuits; worthwhile things in life are rarely easy to attain. This is no reason to give up. Seen from a different perspective, disillusionment with classical music is actually a good thing! Like enlightenment, disillusionment means being set free from untruth, it means seeing through a façade of pretence. Illusions hide the truth, but the truth brings to light all the things which need to be changed, and from that we can move forward. Just please, whatever you do, try not to clap between movements.

Preview – Pirandello’s Henry IV – “a challenging role wonderfully enacted”

Katie Knight
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Preview – Pirandello’s Henry IV – “a challenging role wonderfully enacted”

“I might end it on ‘wankers’” – not quite the directorial call I was expecting to preface this preview. It’s not a phrase I would connect with plays about the English monarchy, but – as I’m soon to find out – this isn’t quite the conventional retelling anyway.

It seems the primary challenge in Omelette Productions’ telling of Henry IV has been convincing the audience this isn’t the Shakespearean play of nearly identical name (though this has largely been avoided through some very effective marketing, playing card kings in sunglasses abound). The short preview I’m granted reveals it to be a very different beast – a Stoppard translation of a 1920s Pirandello play, itself based upon the medieval king. As might be expected, this makes tackling the script no easy task – both for the actors and the audience. The director, Dominic Weatherby, says that it can help to read the synopsis beforehand – although, as I note while watching it, not quite understanding every intricacy of the plot doesn’t detract from the performance before me. The overarching premise is fairly simple – a mad man believes he’s a king, others try to break him out of his delusion – but what I find particularly interesting are the subtle underlying tensions which are made so apparent.

In an effort to showcase the most characters I’m launched straight into Act 2, taking place somewhere between the lengthy exposition of Act 1 (comprising roughly half the run-time) and what I’m informed is a startling denouement. There’s a wonderful quasi-Shakespearean lyricism to the speech (despite the rather more modern profanities) – each actor takes their time over the language, and there’s never a sense of rushing or talking-over, even in a scene with so many underlying disagreements. Some wonderfully meta lines jump out at me – “how wonderful to have history on your side” – which are handled with remarkable subtlety; the lengthy philosophising of the doctor (Luke Malone) is declaimed clearly without coming across as pretentious or unnatural.

Each actor conveys themselves with a sense of regality, in keeping with their positions (I’m informed that everyone will be wearing full period costumes as their in-play disguises – a prospect which I find quite exciting). What I’m most in awe with is how, even without the preceding exposition, subtle tensions are conveyed so effectively. Lucy Mae Humphries as Matilda conveys one of the most convincing performances, displaying the minutae of emotion in wonderful expression, body language, and mumbling (I almost wish I could lipread); there’s a fantastic, horrible dynamic between herself and her husband, Belcredi (Sunny Ramamurthy), who fears he is becoming a “bit-part character” in the entire farce.

What I’m particularly pleased to see is an influx of fresh blood – around half the cast are first years. Being a second year himself, Weatherby notes this to have been a particular point of contention in his own experience, and it’s a hopeful shift in a dramatic landscape notoriously difficult to navigate. There’s also a good amount of gender-swapping, including of the eponymous king himself (Kathryn Cussons), who was so good in audition she was cast on the spot. It’s a challenging role – “I arrive once an act and talk for six straight pages” – but wonderfully enacted. Appearing towards the end of my preview, Cussons commands the stage with the absolute mastery needed for the role, a ‘king’ at once wavering and commanding.

I’m also particularly enamoured with the staging – the BT Studio provides the perfect setting to an intimate ‘court’ life, with the audience on three sides and up close and personal with the actors. The entire space is used effectively throughout – no actors getting bunched together in a single corner – and it’s clear an incredible amount of attention has gone into how it looks. I’d be interested to watch the performance from another side of the audience, just to see if the whole scene were still as powerful as that presented to me here.

With the St Peter’s rehearsal room not allowing for the full vision, I’m given an incredibly detailed account of the scene before we start – throne at one end, table at the other, a portrait of the king and would-be queen – which is incorporated convincingly into the performance. The portrait is gestured to despite its absence, presenting a model of royalty which certain characters both imitate and aspire to. Even the table, already littered with an interesting collection of knick-knacks and wax candles, is said to be incomplete, but already (so close I’m practically sat at the table with them) makes me feel like I’m there. I’m impressed with the clear vision which this team holds, and excited to see how it will be brought to life when it reaches its home in the BT.

NUS Trans and International officers axed amidst bankruptcy cutbacks

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NUS Trans and International officers axed amidst bankruptcy cutbacks

The National Union of Students (NUS) has proposed a series of cuts under the threat of bankruptcy, including selling or renting out the NUS London building and pausing funding for the posts of Trans Officer and International Officer.

The NUS’s proposal for the 2019/2020 year has drawn sharp public criticism from the NUS International and NUS Trans Campaigns.

NUS International, which represents international students living in the UK, tweeted: “we are extremely concerned about @nusuk Trustee Board’s decision of defunding NUS International Students’ Campaign.”

The NUS leadership has defended their decision to undergo “a transition year which re- quires extraordinary action to ensure solvency and deliver a degree of financial stability.”

Responding to the cuts, the NUS LGBTQ+ Campaign issued a statement on the 21st January, stating: “the secrecy with which NUS has chosen to conduct the process of deciding which officer position is worthy of funding suggests that this is a political rather than a financial choice.

“We believe it was wrong for the UK Board to make this decision, as the Trustee Board should not be setting the political direction of the organisation. There is simply nothing democratic or liberatory about this decision happening without a single conversation with a trans student or representative, especially as the VP Union Development is a member of the Turnaround Board.

“We believe that trans students deserve to know how and why this decision was made”.

Speaking to Cherwell, a spokesperson for NUS Transform said: “At the Joint Boards meeting, the NUS UK Board voted to defund the trans campaign.

“We believe that this was politically motivated, not necessarily because there was an anti-trans agenda, but because the decision to defund trans officer as opposed to other officers is an inherently political decision made by a body that is not designed to make those decisions.

“It would have been more appropriate for the UK Board to decide the number of officers and NUS NEC to decide which ones, as a body that is elected by students. Instead the decision was taken in a closed meeting with no consultation from trans students.”

The NUS International Campaign also released a statement on the issue, writing: “Defunding the NUS International Students’ Campaign compounds the concerns of those students who naturally feel reticent about raising issues individually in a country in which they are not citizens, and such a move would have both long-term and short-term implications.

“To lose our voice and visibility in an organisation that claims to speak for all students would be devastating, and there is no confidence that those who do not share our experience could command trust and speak for us on our issues, no matter how well meaning and committed to this work.

“We recognise this is a difficult time but our need to speak for those facing considerable and urgent challenges means we must make clear our concerns and urgent request that the Trustees revise their approach on this issue.”

As the proposed plan has been put into action, many employees have reportedly been offered voluntary redundancy, and the number of staff working for the NUS is expected to fall by half from the year of 2018/19.

The student union is reportedly under severe financial pressure after seeing a £3.6m loss in 2017. The organisation revealed in its last financial statement that it owed £1.8m in bank loans and that it faced a pensions liability of £12.2m.

Trans Officer for the Oxford SU LGBTQ Campaign Tori Mangan told Cherwell: “The Campaign is strongly opposed to the defunding of the NUS Trans Campaign. That this move has been made at a time when trans people are facing increasing vitriol in the mainstream press and individual activists have been targeted is also extremely concerning.

“The findings of our 2018 Trans Report demonstrated comprehensively that trans students are in dire need of support, and this move will significantly reduce the support offered by NUS.”

The financial troubles of the NUS have not been met with sympathy from all commentators. Right-wing political blog Guido Fawkes responded to the reports by writing: “The leftist students running the organisation are learning the lesson that profligate spending leads to both savage cuts AND more borrowing”.

The NUS was contacted for comment.

Review: Eugene Onegin at St John’s College Auditorium

Alice Williams
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Review: Eugene Onegin at St John’s College Auditorium

At risk of deserving serious rebuke, I’ll confess I’ve always found it hard to care about the plot of Eugene Onegin: an arrogant nobleman rejects an infantile, infatuated teenage girl only to fall at her feet years later in her husband’s house. In the meantime, Onegin duels and kills her sister’s fiancé over a disagreement so minor it’s almost infuriating to witness. It’s hard not to feel as if the whole thing’s a bit unnecessary. Whilst Pushkin can draw you into such machinations over the time it takes to read 390 stanzas, a two and a half hour performance is far less of an investment, and thus demands a level of instant commitment that is not always easy to conjure up.

Once I’ve witnessed Onegin shoot his close friend in a duel that escalates from his own banal idiocies, as Act Three progresses I’m not so committed to his sudden passion for Tatiana. All these groanings and moanings, however, dwindle to total irrelevance amidst Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, which needs no elaudations from me. However grinch-like I am, it’s impossible to be irritated by Tatiana’s letter scene, or Lensky’s arioso in Act One, or the horrors of the duel scene. Jack Holton’s deep, rolling baritone carries Onegin’s melodies with warmth and ease, which beautifully plays off Alexandria Wreggelsworth’s mellifluous, soaring soprano voice that was delightfully centred and full. The two together are, gratifyingly, the nexus of the production.

The People’s Opera’s Eugene Onegin was a feat of achievement in challenging circumstances. The St John’s College Auditorium was no friend to the orchestra, which was crammed in with the timpani and harp placed on the edge of the stage itself for want of space; the fact that the opera simply stayed together was an achievement in itself, let alone that it produced a successful performance. The strings playing two to a part (difficult in any case) in that dry, concrete acoustic should have been an impossible task, but despite fortes being significantly easier than pianos they made a lovely sound expertly conducted by Hannah Schneider. The woodwind were particularly impressive, producing the most stunning warm, delicate and tender lines.

One of the most beautiful moments occurred when the singers moved into the aisles of the stalls to sing the chorus at the Larin ball; an inspired decision that allowed the voices to balance so well with the orchestra amidst the otherwise overly-zealous acoustic. Dominic Bevan really came into his own with Lensky’s aria ‘Куда, куда вы удалились…’ and Grace Lovelass’ Olga was gleefully easy in presence and vocal capacity. This semi-abridged version (running for 1 hour 45 minutes) was a little incoherent at times, occasionally involving extended orchestral passages accompanied by an empty stage (the polonaise that opens Act Three is such a gift to inventive, interesting direction on stage that I wondered whether something more could have been done with it). But as I said to begin with, it’s somewhat irrelevant whether or not the narrative makes sense when the score is so glorious. It’s an opera that draws rising joy and deep distress into conversation with each other, throwing both into relief, which The People’s Opera and Oxford Alternative Orchestra inhabited with powerful intelligence.

In full: rich colleges hinder outreach efforts

Fin Kavanagh and Abby Ridsdill-Smith
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In full: rich colleges hinder outreach efforts

Magdalen, Oriel, and New spent less than half a percent of their college budgets on outreach in 2017/18, Cherwell can reveal.

Freedom of Information requests sent by Cherwell also revealed that Magdalen spent £47,000 on college organised outreach in 2017/2018, less than any other college except St Hugh’s. This is despite the fact that Magdalen is the third wealthiest college in Oxford, and boasts assets of £272 million.

On average, colleges spent 0.9% of their annual budgets on outreach. By comparison, New College spent 0.47% of their annual budget historically on outreach, although they have pledged to pay 1% from now on.

Several colleges also provided a breakdown of outreach spending. New College’s ‘Step Up’ programme (which is “designed to inspire and support state school students throughout
Year 11, 12 and 13”) supports 21 schools and colleges. 10 of these schools have been ranked ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Warden of New College, Miles Young told Cherwell: “One needs to be careful in highlighting data such as Ofsted in isolation.  It’s just one data set a College should be looking at, and we look at many.  For instance of our seven schools rated ‘excellent’ these are two schools with a higher than national average of FSM students (one is nearly double the national average).  One of these schools also have over fifty percent of students classified as Black / Mixed Black Heritage

“[These schools also include:] Three schools in under-represented areas (the SW and NW of England), one school where roughly 80% of the school are non-White, and two schools for girls.

“If excluded, Oxford would miss out on these pupils. The lesson is that one should be as holistic as possible when selecting schools for sustained outreach.  The willingness and the enthusiasm of the school is also important.”

St. Anne’s spent £93,000 on two five-day summer schools in Hong Kong and Singapore in 2017/2018. The summer schools helped fund around £120,000 of domestic outreach resources and activities overall.

Queen’s also cited a poetry translation exchange as one of their main access programmes. The exchange promised to host events “including an international literature book club, […] international writers visiting Oxford, and a residency for an international writer.”

However, some colleges have spent a consistently high amount on access and outreach. Of the 30 undergraduate colleges, Christ Church and Wadham have budgeted the most on outreach for the past three years. Both spent over five times as much as Magdalen in 2017/2018. Pembroke had the third highest level of spending at £217,000.

The majority of colleges are also set to increase their access budgets in 2018/2019. Trinity and Magdalen will more than double outreach spending in this period, while Jesus will increase spending by £56,000.

College outreach spending 2017-18

St. Hilda’s is the only college which expects to spend less in 2018/19.

Lord Adonis recently called for radical new access initiatives, encouraging the University to create new colleges for disadvantaged students. Speaking on Cherwell’s findings, Lord Adonis said: “It unfortunately does not surprise me that some Oxford and Cambridge colleges, particularly the richest ones, are not doing enough to ‘widening access’ since there is a deep seated culture of complacency.

“These findings show that incremental change at existing colleges is a limited solution, and we now need a new generation of “access” colleges with an exclusive focus on recruiting disadvantaged young people from the 3000 “non-Oxbridge” schools and colleges.

“This research shows that there is huge scope and resources at Oxford and Cambridge throughout to make this kind of transformational change on access happen – what is needed is the impetus colleges with a dedicated access mission would provide.”

The findings follow comments made by VC Louise Richardson in November 2018. She noted that as colleges are responsible for recruiting students, they should also be responsible for access and outreach initiatives.

These comments were met with frustration by students, including then Mansfield JCR president, Daria Lyskyakova, who said it was the role of the Vice Chancellor to “effectively encourage colleges to prioritise access and allocate their resources in ways which would best aid students in need”.

James Turner, CEO of the Sutton Trust, also spoke on Cherwell’s findings, noting: “Our research has found big variances in the proportion of state school students admitted to different Oxbridge colleges.  We want very college to put widening access at the heart of their admissions policies, by investing in the most effective outreach activities and by setting ambitious plans to address social inequalities.

“While committing financial resources is an important part of this – and it is disappointing to see rich colleges spending a lower proportion of their budgets than their peers – what is also important is evaluating the impact of access activities to make sure every penny makes a difference.”

Lucas Bertholdi-Saad, VP Access & Academic Affairs at Oxford SU, added: “It is quite depressing to see such stark figures and the continued inaction to increase access across the University. Colleges should be leading the vanguard on access issues but they are sadly lacking behind.”

A spokesperson for Magdalen college told Cherwell that:“the combined total of Magdalen’s access and outreach including Student Support Fund grants was £456,000. The figure [quoted] of £47,000 for college organised outreach work in that year was lower than intended because of discontinuities in staffing. However, a comparative figure for 2018-2019 is expected to be over £115,000, and an overall spend on Access and Outreach
to be over £550,000.”

A spokesperson from St. Anne’s college said: “St Anne’s College is committed to being a diverse and inclusive community and works hard to encourage and support students from under-represented backgrounds to make successful applications to the University of Oxford.

“As a College with a comparatively small endowment, this work is only possible because of the support of donors and because of other income-generating activities run by the College.

These include our international summer schools, which have proved to be a means by which the College can generate income. No funding has been diverted from UK outreach to undertake international summer schools, which have all more than covered
their costs through charges to participants or by donations given specifically for this purpose.

“St Anne’s has always been and remains proud of its international relationships and we believe that these continue to be vital for our staff and students.”

On occasion where colleges did not provide expenditure for 2017-18, estimates and averages were calculated based on figures from the previous two years.St Hugh’s, Queen’s, Oriel, LMH and New were contacted for comment. Comments received from colleges will be updated online.

* In our printed copy of this article, a spokesperson from St. Anne’s is misquoted with comment that should be attributed to the Sutton Trust. Lord Adonis is also partially misquoted. We apologise for any confusion caused.

Government announces new measures to improve access

Angus Brown
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Government announces new measures to improve access

The government’s Universities Minister, Chris Skidmore, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, David Lidington, have announced new regulations requiring universities to publish a record of their efforts to tackle ethnic inequality in the university admissions.

The new measures, organised by the Office for Students (OfS), will also hold universities to account on how they improve outcomes for under-represented students from all backgrounds.

Amongst the data which universities must now publish publicly are statistics on admissions and attainment, broken down by ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic background. League table providers will also be encouraged to take this data into account in future university rankings.

According to the OfS’ Race Disparity Audit, although record numbers of BAME students are attending university, only 56% achieve a First or 2:1, compared to 80% of their white peers, and that black students were the most likely to drop out of university.

David Lidington told members of the press that “I am determined that nobody experiences a worse outcome solely on the grounds of their ethnicity, which is why the Government is making a clear and concerted effort, alongside higher education partners to tackle these injustices.”

Meanwhile Chris Skidmore said “I fully expect access and participation plans, which universities will be drawing up this year for implementation in 2020-21, to contain ambitious and significant actions to make sure we are seeing material progress in this space in the next few years.

“It is one of my key priorities as the universities minister to ensure that I work with universities to highlight examples of best practice in widening not only access, but also that we redouble our efforts to tackle student dropout rates.”

The Office for Students, which was formed in January last year, has previously threatened Oxford with sanctions if they fail to improve their access outcomes, making them one of just three higher educational institutions to have conditions placed on their registration with the OfS.

The University was contacted for comment.

Selection of Will Pucovski: a triumph from the unlikeliest of sources

Cal Flintoff
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Selection of Will Pucovski: a triumph from the unlikeliest of sources

It’s fair to say that Australian cricket is experiencing one of its more turbulent periods, a series of fallouts and fracas, bans and bust-ups like those normally reserved for the game on these shores. When Ed Smith announced an unchanged England squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies, it was a reflection of the equanimity of the current side; Australian test selection has never felt so quite so contrived and impulsive, and most of the absorbing plot lines centre perpetually around the characters who instead will not take the field, or those that are simply banned from doing so, but nonetheless so self-assured of their return come March anyway.

The antithesis of a well-run sporting board, Cricket Australia has navigated the fallout from the ball tampering crisis like a proud admiral continuing his voyage despite the ravaged sails but charting his course straight into the heart of the Bermuda triangle. The new-look power dynamic of Justin Langer and Tim Paine are desperately attempting to re-write years of unfettered aggression and withering mental disintegration with their personal flavour of elite mateship and earnest stump-mic-ship, but occasionally the mask slips, and the brash interventions of Michael Clarke, the toying with Glenn Maxwell, the ceaseless booing of Mitchell Marsh in the MCG at Christmas, and even the apathy towards a bloated Big Bash point to a more permanent rupture through the heart of the game.

There have been two recent interviews in particular that stand out, the juxtaposition between making it tempting to cast the two as potential precursors for the culture Australian cricket ultimately wishes to adopt and mould: a cricketing Bandersnatch decision but with real-world ramifications.

The first stars Cameron Bancroft, fresh from exile and scoring sizeable runs back for the Perth Scorchers. Interviewed by Adam Gilchrist, a fellow Western Australian, Bancroft discusses the saga, revealing his pride in being held accountable in the immediate aftermath and a fascination at the public clamor for every forensic detail. What becomes apparent is that Bancroft does not understand the ugly winning culture that his comparably minor actions willingly betrayed in the public eye, or the desperate need for change that would be directly at odds with his own immediate re-installation.

Or, perhaps more appositely, he does not want to understand: he is remorseful, but only for his dastardly naivety, not for the brazen mentality that bred the very existence of the sandpaper in the first place. It is an attitude underlined by his very public cravings to open the batting with David Warner once more; a re-coupling of the duo would smack of superficial rather than systemic lessons learnt. Bancroft might well be the fall guy, but he is all too happy to play the role.

Which brings us to the second interview: a genuinely refreshing and progressive discussion from… hang on… a young Australian cricketer, about… something non-yellow, non-abrasive, and on a topic of magnitude that has plagued so many in the past, none of whom have found quite the same courage nor insightful articulacy to front up to their demons so willingly, never mind in the embryonic phase of a career, at a time of national tumult.

Will Pucovski was 20 years and 256 days old when he scored 243 in a Sheffield Shield match for Victoria at the WACA, earmarking his huge potential; he has played just one match since but is in line to make an Australian test debut before the age of 21, less than 100 days older in number but a whole lot more in character and wisdom.

Resuming on 64* overnight, Pucovski arrived at the ground the following morning for a routine net, but things were so amiss that he felt compelled to confront the issue and pulled his coach aside. After compiling the mammoth innings, the right-hander was forced to leave the field of play during day the Western Australian reply: post-match it was announced he would be taking an indefinite break from cricket due to a mental-health related issue.

For a player who usually recalls his stroke-making “vividly”, the innings that inducted him into the pantheon of greats – Bradman, Ponting, Ian Chappell – to register a double-century at such a young age is much of a blur, the situation a “cheat code” out in the middle, but a crippling vice in the field, alone in his own thoughts and intensely fearful of the ball arriving  in case his team-mates were let down. It is a neat encapsulation of this selfless character, intent on offering true transparency, not for himself, but for the benefit of others.

Speaking on Fox Sports’ Follow-On podcast for the first time, Pucovski said he aimed to lift the “dark cloud” that had been cast over his sudden sabbatical: to get it all out into the open and positively channel his own challenges and coping mechanisms to help the litany of others who deal with the same issues, too often too privately.

The discussion is admirable, the individual even more impressive, and the widespread reaction, although I say this tentatively, suggests that the taboo over mental health in sport is being broken down willingly. Mental health issues are indelible and widespread throughout myriad frontiers in life, but for so long the held perception of sports stars has been synonymous with strength, endurance, resilience; their image has been of deities who are immune to the afflictions of others. Depression is being debunked and there is a clear understanding that accepting, and battling ‘weakness’ is a supreme show of strength in itself.

Pucovski is an unknowing trailblazer in that regard. That his on-field masterclass coincided with an off-field nadir may have been difficult to reconcile, not least to himself, and taking time away from the game to understand his own condition and seek out specialists such as a mindfulness coach was the paramount concern. His inclination to detail the process so readily is a breath of fresh air, and the youthful nonchalance through which he conveys the battle is hopefully a lead that many others can follow.

Clearly, his immediate absence thereafter only serves to accentuate the incredible character shown to compile the mammoth score. When you consider the potential predisposition to developing depression that his string of cricketing concussions gave him, the respect heightens. It would be oh so easy for Pucovski to bite the hand that feeds him, to be angry at Sean Abbott’s bouncer and develop a distaste for the game on the back of rotten luck; instead, he embraces the sport that has given him a fledgling career but also affected his mental state. Previously it may have been highly embarrassing to admit in the public eye, too caught up in the notion of providing the opposition a stick with which to beat, to pick at the frayed edges as David Warner launched into Jonathan Trott down under in 2014. As a generation though, maybe we are beginning to see honesty and openness as the virtues a steely sheen may once have been.

As the excellent Sky Sports series ‘Mind Games’ showed this summer, cricket is now a pursuit at the forefront of treating the mental side of the game with the same forensic detail as extensive sport science teams view the physical aspect. Figures such as Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick have been excellent ambassadors and key figures in that development as they have stepped away from the intensity and rigors of the international game.

Trescothick initially found it difficult to speak his mind, and perhaps the perceived ignominy of leaving two England tours as an already entrenched member of the squad naturally hindered his clarity, the spotlight that bit brighter. In that sense, it could be a blessing in disguise that Pucovski has stood up to his mind so young.

Still, it feels incongruous that such a triumph has come from the unlikeliest of sources. Andy Murray has always said that his Wimbledon tears were a rare moment he let “the mask slip”, but also the first time he felt truly respected for his endeavours; with Pucovski, it feels like there is no mask: staring Australian cricket right in the face is a vision of how they should want to play the game, rid of toxic masculinity and masquerading as macho. Allowed to flourish, Will Pucovski can be a bellwether for their future.

Timing has been key for both of each interview’s protagonists, but only once has it been employed with good intention. It was hardly a coincidence that news of Jonny Bairstow’s headbutt filtered into consciousness as the self-titled heaviest head in the locker-room cruised to a red-ink score and a maiden 10-wicket Ashes victory, smug and sanctimonious. It is likely no coincidence either that the day after the Follow-On podcast aired, Pucovski was named in the Australian test squad.

SU creates survey for “vulnerable” student sex-workers

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SU creates survey for “vulnerable” student sex-workers

Oxford’s student sex workers are being asked whether the University is doing enough to ensure their safety and wellbeing in a new survey initiated by the Students’ Union.

SU VP Women Katt Walton, who wrote the survey, told Cherwell: “There is a demographic of students at this University who are engaging in sex work. I want to get information on how many there are, whether they felt that the University currently supports them, and if the University not providing enough financial support was a factor.

“There’s obviously a massive stigma around sex work, and I wanted students to feel like if they needed to access University support through, for example, through the Sexual Violence Support Service or through the counselling service that they wouldn’t be met with hostility or judgement if they disclosed that they were sex workers.”

The 43-question survey was sent out last week and asks about a multitude of aspects of sex work, from how it has affected the respondents’ self-esteem and their perception of the attitude towards sex work to the intricacies of their safe sex practices, how they advertise, and what services they provide.

Walton told Cherwell: “I was worried students might feel uncomfortable filling the survey in and might not want to engage with it, but it has been really successful. Hopefully it will give us an image of what sex work is like in the University.”

The survey also examines the demographics of student sex workers, including what college at which they study. Walton said: “Some colleges have a lot more money than others, so I think it might come out that students are having to fund their time as a student through sex work.”

Anna (not her real name) agreed to speak to Cherwell about her experience as a student sex worker. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to cover her living costs in Oxford, she entered the sex industry during her Masters out of financial necessity: “I spoke to a friend who had experience as a sex worker and it seemed like an option that could suit me.”

She has engaged in a number of types of sex work, primarily escorting and ‘girlfriend experience’- when a client pays for a sex-worker to pretend to be in a relationship with them during the session.

She told Cherwell: “The reality is that I definitely like sex, but sex as a sex worker is absolutely a chore. The cost of student living though seems to be ever increasing, so sex work is one of my main means of survival at the moment.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous type of work to be involved with and in the past, I have felt threatened and at risk with clients, which has caused significant mental and emotional obstacles in my life to overcome that have impacted on all sorts of relationships.

“I was unable to have sex with my partner without crying for quite a while during my first summer as a sex worker.

“The job is very risky – I was employed by a company one summer as an intern on the condition that I had sex with the boss whenever he wanted.

“To be honest, that job really fucked with me because I had to be constantly aware that he could want sex at any time and I had to be prepared to give it regardless of how I was feeling in case I lost the job or he withheld my wages (even if I was
tired, ill, didn’t want, etc.).

“Being cautious about what pictures I share anywhere on social media is something I’m always alert about in case a client finds it somehow.”

Anna also said that student sex workers are especially vulnerable because clients know they need money: “I once had a client ‘forget’ to pay me after 3 hours of sex, and another who requested that I go to his house to do incredibly hard-core bondage overnight for only £200.”

She told Cherwell that the University should do more to support sex workers: “It’s hard to access support without outing yourself as a sex worker unnecessarily. The University could provide or at least sign-post sex workers to Hepatitis B vaccines (of which there’s a national shortage), regular blood tests, and free condoms, lube, and other forms of contraception.

“In addition, supporting student sex
workers emotionally, with counselling and therapy, is something the University certainly has the resources to offer potentially through the Counselling or Student Welfare Services.”

Anna spoke positively about the SU initiative, telling Cherwell: “We’re a very vulnerable group in many ways – we’re often anonymous, and do our work secretly which entails huge risks. The University has the capacity to protect and support all of its students – even invisible minorities.

“The SU’s survey of sex workers I think can hugely benefit sex workers as a community because we would no longer need to be as isolated or hidden as before. That can only be a good thing.”

Sex work is currently legal in England, Wales, and Scotland. However, almost all activities surrounding prostitution other than buying sexual services are illegal.
A University spokesperson said: “We strongly discourage students from taking part in any activity like this which exposes them to dangerous situations.

“We encourage any students facing financial difficulties to talk to the hardship officer in their college or the central university’s hardship fund. All students should also feel comfort-
able to approach their college welfare team or the central services team if they have
any welfare issues.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) conducted a similar survey in 2016. One of the insights that survey provided was that more than half of students sex workers identified as LGBTQ+, and over half stated that they had a learning disability, other disability, long-term health condition, or impairment.The National Union of Students (NUS) conducted a similar survey in 2016.

One of the insights that survey provided was that more than half of students sex workers identified as LGBTQ+, and over half stated that they had a learning disability, other disability, long-term health condition, or impairment.

The Pitchfork Disney Review – ‘reality and morality is blown apart to become a nightmare’

Imogen Harter-Jones
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The Pitchfork Disney Review – ‘reality and morality is blown apart to become a nightmare’

Hoof and Horn’s production of Philip Ridley’s seminal play, The Pitchfork Disney embarks upon a drug and chocolate fuelled trip “on the ghost train” into the deepest, darkest and most disturbing realms of human imagination and fear. There are many deeply twisted fairy-tale elements to this surreal, intense and shockingly grotesque story of two claustrophobic 28-year-old Hansel and Gretel-like twins who are trapped in both the physical filthy house where they were abandoned at the age of 18 and their own mental prisons of childlike confused terror. When the deeply sexually repressed Presley (Alex Fleming-Brown) invites Cosmo Disney (Alasdair Linn), a perfect and manipulative stranger “with blond hair and a menacing angelic beauty” and psychotic tendencies into their flat – the twins’ contorted conception of reality and morality is blown apart to become a nightmare.

From the moment you step into this play the direct ‘in-yer-face’ nature of the performance is abundantly clear- the fourth wall is well and truly broken, which is ironic considering that the dysfunctional twins Hayley (Lou Lou Curry) and Presley Stray blockade themselves from the real world; like strays, they are truly lost. Cyrus Larcome-Moore’s Pitchfork Cavalier successfully sets the tone of the play, prowling around the theatre menacingly mixing malevolent laughter with mock-innocent childlike interaction. Lingering at the back of the stage with periodic musical interludes, Pitch is an ever-present symbol of darker evil whose true intent is hidden by a threatening black mask with his diabolical energy penetrating other characters’ psyche.

Alex Fleming-Brown and Lou Lou Curry artfully capture Presley and Haley’s irrational and incessant mood-swings shifting from vulnerable child to wily manipulator. In the early stages of the play Curry’s direct and powerful emotion reflected the true childlike fear and instability of Haley’s mind. Although Ridley’s writing stunts Haley’s character growth by limiting her to an unconscious doll which the male characters play with, this is itself a reflection of how women are perceived in society. Fleming-Brown’s portrayal of Presley was impressive especially his many powerfully delivered monologues which blurred the lines of reality and fiction, dream and nightmare. I was equally struck by his fastidious attention to tiny character tics. Cosmo is a sinister, sexual, serpentine and oddly-charismatic insect-eating showman shrewdly and terrifyingly played by Alastair Linn: he turns their home into his performance area. When he and Haley are explicitly homophobic in their interrogations of Presley’s sexuality, Fleming-Brown plays furtively with his t-shirt and his momentary glances betray his true desires which he too is running away from.

Equally noteworthy are the physical manifestations of the themes and preoccupations of the characters on stage through symbols and scenery, such as the large rug with motifs of the play scrawled across it, resembling a primary school child’s drawing, reflecting Presley and Haley’s key obsessions and childlike mentality. Chocolate wrappers litter the stage and are compulsively consumed in conjunction with “Mummy and Daddy’s medicine” – an addict’s mania – leading to Presley’s nickname, “Mr Chocolate”. Like Tracy Emin’s ‘My Bed’ Felix Morrison’s carefully crafted but subtly understated set-design mirrors the inner psychological chaos and transforms the twins’ existence into a physical reality.

Given The Pitchfork Disney’s reputation for shocking audiences and its direct treatment of homophobia, racism, sexual assault, violence and extreme erotic desire, Bertie Harrison-Broninski astutely avoids directorial temptation to portray these sensitive issues in a hyper-graphic way. Be left in no doubt, this production definitely is bold – it disturbs, shocks and takes us on an emotional journey. However, Harrison-Broninski also allows for subtler actions, including the twins’ uncomfortably intimate touches over chocolate-stained white pyjamas, which are just over the line of typical familial boundaries, to provoke questions about love, family and wider sexuality.

Step on “the ghost train” and see this sensational, exhilarating and swift-paced play which is impossible to ignore.

Who’s direction is it anyway? An interview with the director of How to Make Friends and then Kill Them

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Who’s direction is it anyway? An interview with the director of How to Make Friends and then Kill Them

How To Make Friends and then Kill Them is an all-female play about friendship, growing up, and three-sided relationships, written by American playwright Halley Feiffer. Having premiered in an off-Broadway production in 2013, this term Oxford will see its first performance in Europe – and at none other than our very own Michael Pilch Studio.

I sit down with the play’s director, Charlie Rogers, to discuss the play in greater depth. He tells me that the play is set in rural New York, following three women from childhood to adulthood and the friendships they forge with one other. Sisters Ada (Simone Norowzian) and Sam (Imogen Front) form a dramatic duo, but soon draw the quieter Dorrie (Saraniya Tharmarajah) into the equation. The play traces how this three way dynamic shifts as they each drift into adulthood: ultimately, Rogers says, revealing “how they ruin each other’s lives”.

I go on to ask Rogers more about his intentions behind staging the play – what drew him to it initially? He explains that he thought a lot about space when considering the play, and How To Make Friends and then Kill Them is a text well suited to the blackbox framework that Oxford does best. I find myself agreeing that the space of the venue should be at the forefront of a director’s mind when putting on a production, and look forward to seeing how it’s reimagined here in the UK.

However, Rogers and I’s agreement to discuss this production together was to an extent precipitated by the publication of an Oxfess, which appeared around the time of Coningsby Productions’ audition process last term.

#Oxfess26477 read: “What the f**k is up with male directors in Oxford taking plays with all female specified casts, with themes that are explicitly about the female experience and then deciding its appropriate to direct them? Don’t take expressions of women’s experiences and behave as if you have any right to interpret, let alone f**king DIRECT them. Honestly, the arrogance of some people here astounds me.”

The anonymous writer of the Oxfess raises a clearly topical point around the ethics of theatre production – that we should not partake in direction outside the scope of our own personal experience. It’s an increasingly common opinion on a contentious subject – but is such a viewpoint justified?

Rogers tells me that he first became interested in the work of Hayley Feiffer whilst working for the Finborough Theatre’s Literary Department over last summer. He explains that Coningsby Productions were successful in obtaining the rights, after a long process, primarily due to his work at the theatre. With the writer’s backing, Rogers questions, surely a director should feel that they are able to successfully put on a show?

Rogers remarks that the play, of course, deals with a number of “sensitive issues” and that many of these are interwoven into the experience of being female, simply because the characters happen to be women. Overall, he says, How To Make Friends and then Kill Them deals with themes “relatable to all,” such as addiction, friendship, and how things both change and stay the same as one grows from childhood into adulthood.

But, crucially, Rogers outlines his role of the director. He emphasizes the fact that a director serves simply as a facilitator, and that their job is “to make them [the actors] as good as they can be.” The rehearsal process is a wholly “collaborative” experience, he continues, and in this way the characters fleshed out on-stage are not simply realisations of the director – they are products of a process which incorporates multiple influences and perspectives.

Rogers goes on to argue that if we were to place restrictions on what certain people could direct and what they couldn’t, we would have a “literal vision of theatre” by which only those who have experienced something can attempt to understand it. He offers the example of William Shakespeare’s King Lear – can one only direct this play if they have suffered through madness? If we want to “redress the imbalances of theatre,” Rogers continues, we need to attempt to tell stories that are not identical to our own.

In this play’s case, I do not align myself with the views of the anonymous Oxfess-er. To argue that only a female director should direct How To Make Friends and then Kill Them is to foreground the issue of gender without concern for the play’s other themes. Equally, if we are to insist that such a play only be directed by a female director, I think there is a danger we ignore the fact that humans have quite a lot in common after all. If we are to immediately distrust a male director who wants to put on a play with an all-female cast, are we inadvertently suggesting a man shouldn’t have any interest in the female experience at all? – because that sounds like a very ominous vision for the future of theatre.

That being said, I find myself thinking that, for certain productions, directorial experience with a subject matter can be important, particularly those which are intersectional or have been historically silenced. For example, a play about the black female experience would most likely prove more authentic and effective if it were to have a black female director who could preserve the authenticity of the final product. And of course, at all stages of the directorial process, communication with the represented group is key. But, crucially, each play should be considered individually and judged as a final product. The audience has the ability to decide if a production is successful, and I very much look forward to seeing Coningsby Productions’ How To Make Friends and then Kill Them in fifth week.

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