Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Blog Page 899

Preview: ‘Tender Napalm’

Emily Lawford
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Preview: ‘Tender Napalm’

“I could squeeze a bullet between those lips. Point first. Press it between those rosebud lips. Prise it between your pearly whites. Gently. I wouldn’t break a single tooth.”
The play opens with man and a woman embracing as they share their disturbingly violent sexual fantasies with each other. They never remain static, at times kissing, at times fighting, even lifting each other in the air. Their words are equally fluid: interwoven monologues and sharp dialogues that sweetly trace their youthful love story of a chance meeting at a party—and then switch to wild fantastic imagery of islands and monkeys and sea monsters.

The time and place are unclear, but there is a sense of apocalyptic disaster happening outside the intimate space of the two lovers. Themes are repeated throughout the shifting monologues: the threat of bombs, the pain of losing a loved one. The characters shift between playful sparring to clutching one another in agony in moments.
Even in the brightly lit Wadham rehearsal room, with the actors in their own clothes and not fully off-book, the emotion and fervour of Tender Napalm was overpowering. Catriona Bolt’s production, set in the round for an added sense of closeness, is both mesmerising and stifling. I felt myself at points wanting to escape from the relentless intensity of the lovers—although perhaps “lovers” is the wrong word, for at times their loathing for each other was palpable.

James Walsh and Hannah Marsters have excellent chemistry and produce varied and captivating performances. He is lustful and yearning as he describes his dark sexual desires, and then wracked with anguish as he sobs for a loss we do not fully understand. She is playful and almost childish as she imagines herself queen of a desert island, and vicious as she describes punishing her lover. She manages, however, to contrast this with moments of acute fragility and tenderness. It will be interesting to see how the production uses sound and lighting to intensify these performances.
Tender Napalm is not performed very often, and it’s easy to see why: the absence of real plot and disquieting nature of the play don’t make it an easy watch. But the visceral power of the performances, and the moving and sometimes shockingly funny commentary on love, loss, fantasy, and violence in a devastated world make it well worth a ticket.

Who will represent France in a new world order?

Emily Dillistone
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Who will represent France in a new world order?

In June 2016 the world was convinced that Britain would remain in the EU and that Hillary Clinton would be the next US President. The pre-Brexit world also probably thought the idea of Marine le Pen winning the 2017 French election a ludicrous idea.

In the past year, the pro-globalisation European centrists have yet to see a political vote go their way. Populist politics and fear-mongering rhetoric have become the norm and experts are now the enemy of the people. The past year has seen the emergence of what some have called a “post-truth era” where facts are no longer of consequence and voters are motivated by fear and prejudice. We are yet to see whether this shall be the case in France.

Alongside the threat of terrorism, the past decade has been a time in which free speech in the West has come into question. Marine le Pen has marketed herself as a pillar of free speech, patriotism, and secularity. When she spoke at the Oxford Union in Hilary 2015 she said she admired the institution for its “open debate and freedom of expression”. Something tells me that Marine le Pen’s campaign is not quite what Evelyn Beatrice Hall had in mind when she said “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, (it’s a commonly misunderstood ‘alternative fact’ that Voltaire was the one who said this).

As we draw ever closer to the French election, it is becoming yet more evident that politics in France are turning the same way as they have in Britain and America. The Macron, Fillon, le Pen trio bears a noticeable resemblance to the Sanders, Clinton, Trump line-up in America in early 2016. Macron, a 39-year-old ex-member of France’s Socialist Party who launched his campaign as part of the movement En Marche ! in November, is the young people’s choice.

Fillon, on the other hand, represents to some extent the ‘old France’, of Catholicism and so-called “family values”. A key policy of his, for example, is retracting the same-sex marriage bill passed in May 2013. Similarly, Marine le Pen has promised a referendum on same-sex marriage. Indeed, it was she who led the manif pour tous (protest for all) movement, the counter-campaign to marriage pour tous (marriage for all) prior to the introduction of same-sex marriage.

Le Pen and Fillon also stand united on the supposed ‘trivialisation’ of abortion. Macron, therefore, is the only socialist option of any kind, given that Hollande’s presidency has left the Socialist Party in tatters. And yet, if we assume that he will go the way that Bernie Sanders did at the Democrat Primaries, the choice is realistically right versus ultra far-right.

So why the sudden shift from relatively left-wing government to right-wing extremism? Although there are many factors that influence voters, the past five years have made it clear: the fear of terrorism. France has made the most terror-related arrests, and, after the UK, it has been subject to the second most attempted attacks of all EU countries. France, along with Belgium, has become a target for ISIS attacks since the countries’ decision to ban the burka (full face veil) and niqab (veil with eyes uncovered) in public. France initiated this ban on the basis of the country’s policy of laicité (secularity) that prohibits the wearing of any religious garment or sign in public.

In theory, the wearing of crucifix necklaces is to be dealt with as severely as the wearing of a kippa or hijab is, but this is rarely the case. One does not hear of Catholics being refused entry to banks or having their necklaces ripped from their necks in public. This is, however, a reality for Muslim women who wish to wear the hijab.

France’s secularism is a constant source of bewilderment for its EU neighbours. The country’s Catholics are said to make up to 88 per cent of the population, though this is dropping fast as young people are increasingly coming out as non-religious and defying their religious parents. Fillon’s popularity, therefore, could be seen as a political backlash against this atheism. The campaigns of Fillon and Le Pen could easily have taken the “make France great again” or “Vote X, take control” slogans, if they hadn’t already been taken by other white scare-mongering right- wingers in the Western world.

Marine le Pen’s campaign has had a resurgence in the midst of the widespread fear surrounding the terror attacks. Six years ago, under leader Jean-Marie le Pen, the National Front was a minority party made up of racists and extremists: a taint on French politics. But Marine is so much more than simply a daughter carrying on her father’s long-lost political dream. Now, the party has rebranded itself as the party of the ‘French people’. The people are the same, their marketing has simply got better. Since 2014, the National Front has been France’s largest party and in the 2015 local elections the party won more than 1,500 councillors and 12 cities. Every day it seems that her Presidency is becoming an evermore likely reality.

And so what are the implications for the EU? Now that Britain has voted—its public and its politicians—to trigger Article 50, there is a chance that other European countries will want to follow suit. Who knew Britain was a trend-setter? Greece has already voted to leave the EU, except the government refused. Indeed, the case could be argued that it does not make sense for Greece, whose economy has been failing since 4 B.C., to remain part of the same currency as Germany. France, however, is more concerned with bureaucracy and immigration.

The future for France, no matter what the outcome of the election, looks bleak for the likes of European centrists. If Macron wins, le Pen supporters will potentially rise up in protest against an ‘unfair’ voting system. If Fillon wins, France’s non-religious minorities are in trouble, and in the case where le Pen becomes President, who knows what lies in store.

It is uncertain how the French will vote, and much depends on the weeks leading up to the election. Back in the day of Louis XIV, the more scandalous a leader, the higher his popularity rating, although leaders were not exactly elected back then. And there’s a case to be made that the French of today think similarly; famously, in 2014, President Hollande’s a air with actress Valerie Trierweiler improved his popularity. This could go in Macron’s favour, given his marriage to his former French teacher, a woman 20 years his senior. Fillon looks to be the ‘safe’ option, at least for the Jewish and Muslim citizens of France. But if a terrorist attack takes place within a week of the election, there is almost no stopping le Pen.

OUCD Showcase 2017

Cherwell Broadcasting
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OUCD Showcase 2017

The Oxford University Contemporary Dance Troupe are holding their showcase tonight at St. John’s College auditorium. We went along to their rehearsals to see what Oxford students can look forward to this evening.

Laura Marling: always a woman

Ellen Peirson-Hagger
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Laura Marling: always a woman

In Laura Marling’s ‘Wild Fire’, the second single to be released from her upcoming sixth album Semper Femina, one character is “gonna write a book someday.” For Marling, “the only part that I want to read / is about her time spent with me / Wouldn’t you die to know how you’re seen?”

Speaking last week at a press conference at Goldsmiths University, London, the Hampshire-born musician admits she initially tried to approach this record as a man writes about a woman. The nine tracks were born out of a particularly masculine time in her life, she says, when she was experiencing the physical exertions of touring alone, “dragging three or four guitars around, and throwing them in the back of a car constantly”.

What began, in her own words, as “a self-conscious stumble”, is now fully formed. On the album due 10 March which takes its name from a line of Virgil (“Varium et mutabile semper femina”—“Fickle and changeable always is a woman”), Marling is very much a feminine being.

Semper Femina soon became an attempt to “take some power over the idea that we see women through men’s eyes.” And it is the female pronoun which saturates the record. “She speaks a word and it gently turns to perfect metaphor”, sings Marling on ‘Nouel’, a lilted lullaby, a tale, and ode to “a dear friend”.

As the audience upstairs in the Goldsmiths Student Union have their eyes on Marling, she tells us that Nouel, too, is being watched. Soon, it is “Oh, Nouel, you sit so well / A thousand artists’ muse”. Is this the manner by which Marling fi rst attempted to write just as a man views a woman? Her fight against this is evident in the development of the line, as she grasps back the reins as a woman, closing the verse with the sure-starting “But you’ll be anything you choose”.

Last summer Marling explored lingering ideas of gendered perspective and perception through Reversal of the Muse. The podcast series featured Marling in conversation with a host of music professionals, particularly studio engineers and producers, about experiences of gender and female creativity in the industry.

It’s a series Marling plans to continue, hoping next time to discuss female creativity in the fi lm and television industries. This album marks her directorial debuts in the videos for pre-released tracks ‘Soothing’, ‘Wild Fire’ and ‘Next Time’, and, back at Goldsmiths, Marling tells us “I like talking about the directing more than the music.” A bright, seductive light shines across these videos: is this how the world looks through the eyes of a woman?

Live, ‘Wild Fire’ is a drawn-out affair, fed with all the depth of breath and husk Marling’s voice can muster up. “You always say you love me most when I don’t know I’m being seen / Well maybe someday when God takes me away / I’ll understand what the fuck that means”, she sings with her characteristically calm, dry anger. What a victim of the over-romanticised male gaze Marling must have been.

On ‘The Valley’, Marling sings a charming admittance of her own: “I love you in the morning / My angel of the west / I love you in the evening / And I will do my very best”.

This warm promise of love is a triumph. Amidst the glory of six stellar albums and a whole life of wisdom, Marling admits that she is still trying, like the rest of us, to do her bit in love and friendship. Success in love is no mean feat.

Declarations that this is a record of female prowess and looking outward from her gender still stand, but this is also Marling’s record of querying herself, as a woman. “Semper femina,” she assures Nouel, “So am I.”

An experience of Oxford Women Speak Out

Emily Beswick
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An experience of Oxford Women Speak Out

I’ve always found the thought of political activism slightly intimidating, even if the issues themselves personally interest me. What drew me to Oxford Women Speak Out was the simplicity of it all—it was a one-off moment to communicate a personal message. For a few moments, you express yourself with words written on your skin, before they are wiped off and you can return to a normal day.

It was easier than I thought to think of a message: sometimes the simplest selection of words can be the most powerful. I chose a quote from the author C. JoyBell C. It reads: “I am an entirety, I am not a lack of anything; rather I am a whole of many things.”

For me, her words counter the pressure on mixed race people to identify with one race or another, whilst also applying to any context where society forces people into fixed boxes.

The experience was empowering on an individual level because at every point you were given freedom of choice: the words themselves, the body part, the pose, even the camera angle. So often the female body is objectified, infringed upon and taken from women, so it was liberating to reclaim it and use it as a symbol of female strength. Everyone who took part was doing so on their own terms and with a self-confidence that was beautiful to see.

The best part about the campaign is that each individual photo forms an inspiring, collective portrait of Oxford’s women. There is a real sense of solidarity and support as everyone helps each other with writing messages and arranging the photoshoot. There is also the opportunity just to have a relaxed chat.

Viewing the whole group of images afterwards on social media was uplifting, with each college being a small but integral part of a more powerful, university-wide female community.

All in all, the campaign is a great, informal way to make your voice heard in a supportive environment, and this is something which is, in the current climate, seemingly increasingly important. In the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day—“Be Bold For Change”.

Left-wing academics are sexier than right-wingers, study suggests

Rachel Collett
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Left-wing academics are sexier than right-wingers, study suggests

A study has suggested that left-wing academics may be more attractive than right-wingers, according to a recent article in Times Higher Education (THE).

In the study, ‘Just because you look good, doesn’t mean you’re right’, Professor Lönnqvist, and colleagues from the University of Helsinki, researched whether left-wing or right-wing scholars are considered to be more attractive.

In a previous international study led by the Research Institute of Industrial Economics in Sweden, it was suggested that attractiveness of political candidates correlated with their politics, with right-wingers supposedly found more attractive that their left counterparts.

The study suggested that right-wing people tend to be richer, and therefore more concerned with personal grooming and appearance. When asked to rate attractiveness of a range of politicians, voters assumed those who were better looking were more likely to be conservative.

Lönnqvist’s follow-up study examined whether the same was true for academics, collecting photographs of 400 scholars from both left- and right-leaning journals and asking participants to rate physical attractiveness and what they believed to be their political orientation.

The findings showed that while people identified the more well-groomed scholars as being from right-wing publications, the scholars perceived as the most attractive wrote in more left-wing journals.

Prof Lönnqvist told THE: “One could speculate that scholars, given that they tend to be less [concerned with] conforming…do care less about their physical attractiveness.”

The study’s findings were supported by first-year Rozen Whitworth who said: “[in academia] the work overtakes the physical attractiveness, and admiration for ideas and work are considered more important than how they look.”

She added: “This study is hardly surprising considering the majority of students are left-wing – there seems to be something inherent in finding someone who holds similar views attractive because of ideological identification. It also works both ways and attraction can fall away upon finding out someone holds opposing views.”

Alfie Steer, a first-year at University College, said he believes left-wing academics’ attractive lies in them embodying the “cool socialist rebel cliché, taking the system down from the inside and challenging old bourgeois ideas”.

A 2014 article on the site Versa declared that Oxford’s “sexiest tutor” was the Wadham Russian fellow Dr Phillip Bullock. Bullock specialises in Revolutionary Soviet music and literature, but his ideological affiliation remains unclear.

Government plans announced for two-year university courses

Katherine Pye
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Government plans announced for two-year university courses

Universities Minister Jo Johnson told university leaders today that universities in England will be able to charge more than £14,000 per year for a new two-year degree.

Whilst the plans, to be introduced before 2020, would reduce overall accommodation costs, the new degrees would mean students would be expected to work harder throughout the year with shorter holidays. There are additional plans to make moving between universities or courses easier for students.

In a speech in London the Minister announced: “We know that accelerated courses appeal especially to students who may not otherwise choose to pursue a degree…this includes mature students who want to retrain and enter the workplace faster than a traditional full-time three-year degree would permit, those from non-traditional or disadvantaged backgrounds, or those who want to get into the workplace faster.”

Johnson further added that two year courses would contribute to “increasing choice in our system, and opening up opportunities to more people than ever before.”

The plans constitute a further amendment to the government’s Higher Education and Research Bill, which is half way through its reading at the House of Lords.

Previously there has been no incentive for universities to introduce fast-track degrees as the fees received would also be reduced, however the rise in fees permitted would mean annual fees in England could be as high as in some US state universities.

Labour MP Gordon Marsden commented: “Is it yet another example of their using their new higher education legislation as a Trojan Horse to let tuition fees rip?”

The Russell Group have comment that the proposal would need “careful consideration” so that the shorter courses “don’t negatively affect student learning or compromise the overall undergraduate experience”. But Universities UK said it would be “a good thing” if regulations over tuition fee limit could be changed.

Oxford University have been contacted for comment.

Medical student uses unborn baby’s brain for research without parents’ permission

Jack Hunter
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Medical student uses unborn baby’s brain for research without parents’ permission

An unborn baby’s brain was used by an Oxford medical student without its parents’ permission.

The student at the John Radcliffe Hospital used the foetal brain in a research project despite no consent for such use being in place.

Permission had only been given for “education, medical record and genetics”.

The mistake, made in August last year, has only just been published by the national regulator, the Human Tissue Authority (HTA).

It came in response to a Freedom of Information request asking for details of “reportable incidents” across the country in 2016.

The information also listed another incident last July, where “human error resulted in the mix-up of brains”.

The HTA said it released the details of the incidents because they “could result in adverse publicity that may lead to damage in public confidence.”

Allan Marriott-Smith, Chief Executive of the HTA, told Cherwell: “Mistakes such as these should never happen, but when they do the Human Tissue Authority works with establishments to ensure that any risks to the dignity of the deceased are identified through a thorough investigation of the incident, and are addressed through effective changes to mortuary procedures and training of staff.”

“Incidents usually happen as a result of error, and our focus is on ensuring that staff are competent to undertake their duties,” he added.

The incident was one of 83 “reportable incidents” from last year, released by the HTA.

The John Radcliffe Hospital is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University, Brookes, and the Oxford Medical School. It was founded in 1973.

Revealed: Oxford’s use of controversial ‘gagging clauses’

Jack Hunter
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Revealed: Oxford’s use of controversial ‘gagging clauses’

Oxford University has repeatedly used so-called “gagging clauses” in redundancy settlements with former employees, figures obtained by Cherwell reveal.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request found that the University has signed 18 “confidentiality clauses” with former staff members in the last five years.

It showed that the University has paid out £735,988 in severance payments to departing employees during the period.

Confidentiality clauses typically form part of “compromise” or “settlement” agreements, which tend to struck between an employee and employer when a former staff member accepts a severance payment for waiving the right to sue an organisation.

The figures show that out of 106 voluntary redundancy settlements made by the University of Oxford in the past five years, 26 have included compromise agreements, of which just under 70 per cent included a promise of confidentiality on behalf of the former employee.

The use of such compromise agreements in higher education has come under fire in recent weeks.

Speaking to Cherwell, Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, described their use across the sector as “simply outrageous”, with the risk of stifling debate.

“Universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech and forthright opinions, yet our research has shown that confidentiality clauses may have been used not only to avoid dirty laundry being aired in public but now are just common practice in higher education.

“These gagging orders have a deterrent effect, employers seem to think that employees will just sign away the right to whistleblow,” he said.

Oxford University insisted that “whistleblowing is not covered by the clauses, should that need arise”.

The figures reveal that Oxford’s use of such clauses is lower than that of other UK universities.

Previous FOI requests showed 48 universities have paid out £146 million in severance cash to staff over the past five years and 3,722 people were asked to sign compromise agreements.

They revealed Cambridge had used 237 settlement agreements in recent years. London Metropolitan University was shown to have signed the highest number, with 894 signed since 2011/12.

A spokesperson for London Metropolitan said it was “common practice in higher education, and other sectors, to include compromise agreements in any voluntary redundancy settlements made”.

President of the Oxford branch of the University and College Union (UCU), Garrick Taylor, told Cherwell that the Union was not opposed to the “justified” use of confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements with its members in certain circumstances.

He described them as “an appropriate way to register acceptance on both sides that disagreements have formally been laid to rest.”

However, Taylor raised concern at the potential misuse of settlement agreements, saying: “We oppose the ‘hushing up’ of malpractice in any circumstances, and the use of ‘gagging clauses’ to achieve that.”

Taylor added: “We would not condone the use of settlement agreements to sidestep compulsory redundancy procedures, although in some situations we recognise that voluntary severance arrangements may be acceptable.”

Speaking on confidentiality clauses in redundancy settlements, an Oxford University spokesperson said: “Confidentiality clauses are often used by employers in settlement agreements documenting voluntary severance agreements.

“Although we cannot comment on individual cases, the University might use a confidentiality clause placing an obligation on both the employee and the University which generally covers the terms of the agreement itself.”

Universities’ contracts are coming under increasing scrutiny, amid claims that they are becoming more casualised and wages are stagnating.

Last May, Oxford academics and other staff members went on strike after a dispute over low pay.

Jacob Williams, Editor of the libertarian magazine No Offence, described the interest in confidentiality clauses as “an attempt by the Liberal Democrats to seem relevant.”

He told Cherwell: “Compromise agreements mainly concern the internal administration of universities, not substantive opinions held by academics, and frankly aren’t interesting.

“More important is the culture of intolerance towards any views that contradict secular liberalism and its faddish offshoots.”

Councillor John Tanner apologises for calling Oxford homeless “a disgrace”

Katherine Pye
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Councillor John Tanner apologises for calling Oxford homeless “a disgrace”

Oxford city councillor John Tanner has been forced to apologise after deeming homeless people “a disgrace”.

A formal complaint has been launched by East Oxford Conservative Association.

Speaking on BBC Radio Oxford on Monday morning, discussing Oxford’s homelessness crisis the Labour councillor said: “I would like to go to some of these rough sleepers and say you are a disgrace. I don’t think it would do any good but they ought to have more respect.”

These comments led the Green Party in Oxford to threaten launching a Standards Board complaint against him for allegedly breaching the code of council member conduct.

In response, the Councillor issued a public apology on Tuesday: “I unreservedly apologise for the remarks I made on local radio about beggars in Oxford. It is a disgrace that we have beggars on the streets of Oxford but I do not blame the beggars for this situation.

“My comments were very ill-advised and do not reflect what I really think. Beggars often have mental health, drug or drink problems and deserve our support. I am sorry for the offence I have caused by my remarks.

“Oxford City Council plays a leading role in helping the street homeless on the streets. I recognise that only some beggars are also street homeless. I encourage everyone not to give money directly to beggars but to support charities like Oxford Poverty Action Trust.”

These comments come amid a homelessness crisis in Oxford, where numbers have risen by 50 per cent from 2014-15, when the council counted 39 rough sleepers.

Oxford City Council currently works with St Mungo’s Broadway on Oxford Street Population Outreach Team (SPOT), a seven-day service helping Oxford’s homeless by providing assessments and reconnection, as well as emergency shelters.

However on Wednesday an official complaint was launched against Tanner by Oxford East Conservative Association concerning formal code of conduct complaint to the city council.

The complaint, submitted by Conservative Association Deputy Chairman Councillor Alex Curtis commented that Councillor Tanner’s remarks were “deeply concerning.”

“Not only are they insensitive, they betray an appalling lack of compassion and concern for vulnerable residents the council are supposed to be protecting. I believe Oxford’s residents have the right to demand answers for this attitude. The Labour-led city council, of which Cllr. Tanner is a leading member, has not led the way with constructive solutions to the substantial numbers of rough sleepers in Oxford.”

Alex Curtis further commented: “Measures to criminalise rough sleepers with on the spot new of £100 demonstrate a shocking lack of regard for the plight of the homeless. The city frankly deserves better leadership on this issue than Cllr. Tanner and his party colleagues have provided.”

John Tanner is a Councillor for Littlemore parish, near Cowley.

Neo, a homeless man who works to improve the lives of people living on the streets in Oxford commented that the Councillors “do not have a clue about why people do what they do. People need to be educated more in the different types of homelessness”.

The issue of homelessness in Oxford has been brought to increased attention in recent weeks, following the public campaign by a group of squatters to continue using a former garage owned by Wadham as a homeless shelter. Around 20 people are believed to have been living in the space since New Years Eve.

The group—Iffley Open House (IOH)—have been ordered by Wadham to vacate the site by the end of the month. An eviction notice was issued at a court hearing last Friday. The college intends to go ahead with pre-demolition work to turn the site into student accommodation.

An open letter and petition, calling on the University and Wadham not to evict IOH residents until they have found alternative accommodation and to make available vacant university buildings to the homeless, were published this week by the OUSU homelessness campaign, On Your Doorstep. It reads: “Oxford—please don’t stand on the wrong side of history.”

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