Friday 1st May 2026

Culture

In sickness, health, and wrongdoing: ‘The Drama’ in review

CW: Gun violence. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” is the driving question of Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama. The film centres around a couple whose otherwise perfect relationship is...

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s theatre: Defining the ill-defined

It has been 93 years since the first performance of Bertolt Brecht’s The Good...

Authenticity and the pop genre: Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’

Originality could be dead in pop music. The genre is so self-referential that it...

Why you should spring clean your bookshelf this Trinity

In the Northern Hemisphere, astronomers mark the beginning of spring on the date of...

Is it possible to release too much music?

Maxim Mower discusses the current trend of constant releases in Hip-Hop

In conversation with Matt Maltese

Ollie Braddy discusses 'brexit pop' and the London music scene with singer-songwriter Matt Maltese

Pinocchio review – “a visual and acoustic marvel”

Charles Britton was impressed with the thoughtful alterations and expansions to Walt Disney’s beloved classic

The Twilight Zone – ‘dizzyingly strange’

The Almeida’s adaptation of the hit TV show is baffling and brilliant in equal measure, writes John Livesey

War Horse – ‘Technically brilliant, but lacks the acting to match’

El Port enjoys a decadent press night for War Horse but is entertained rather than moved

Parliament Square – ‘an assemblage of half-formed thoughts’

The Bush Theatre’s production of James Fritz’s new play fails to live up to its full potential, writes John Livesey

‘Cat Person’ — how does literature survive in a viral age?

Online commentators have transformed a piece of fiction into a relatable thinkpiece, at the expense of its status as literature

Evidence of magic at the British Library

Harry Potter: a History of Magic wonderfully illuminates the inspirations behind a cultural icon, writes Raffaella Sero

A woman weaving herself into history

Hypnotising acidic colours scream out for Anoushka Kavanagh’s attention

The legend of Sherlock Holmes

Erin O'Neill explores the iconic status of Arthur Conan Doyle's literary creation

The Christie Mystery

Raffaella Sero considers why Agatha Christie's characters still enthral us in the present day

We need diverse books now more than ever

Sally Christmas reflects on the importance of diverse literature in the current political climate

Spike Lee Doesn’t Have It

Imogen Edwards-Lawrence finds fault with the Netflix reimagining of Spike Lee's classic film

Blockbuster bust-up?

This might be the year when mainstream movies shake up awards season

The Death of Stalin review – ‘it straddles that oh-so-narrow line between repellent and comic’

Christopher Goring enjoys the satire of Iannucci’s warped world behind the Iron Curtain

Poirot’s enduring appeal

Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express reminds us why the detective remains so intriguing, writes Raffaella Sero

All That Fall review – ‘Powerful and perturbing, with something of the uncanny about it’

Sam Rice immerses himself in a stage adaptation of Beckett's radio play

The strange death of Constable’s rural idyll

Daniel Villar explores how the English countryside has changed since John Constable painted The Cornfield

Five minutes with… Sos Eltis

This week, we chat to Sos Eltis, vice principal of Brasenose College and senior member of OUDS

Adolescent queer love in ‘Call Me By Your Name’

Angelica De Vido finds the rich exoticism of Italy a perfect compliment to this tale of summer homoeroticism

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