Monday 19th January 2026

Culture

‘Beautifully we may rot’: ‘Madame La Mort’ in review

In a small, black-painted room on the top floor of a pub in Islington, known as The Hope Theatre, Madame La Mort was staged for the public for the first time.

Damaging detachment: Reflections on the Booker Prize 

This Christmas vac, I made up my mind to get out of my reading slump using the Booker Prize shortlist, revealing toxic masculinity as a key theme.

In defence of the theatrical release

If film, like all art, nourishes itself on its own œuvre, I don’t think we can afford to sever the association between the cinema and the film.

Falling out of Louvre

In spite of recent events, the expected heightened security was nowhere evident.

Eight LGBTQ+ Musical Theatre Songs to Listen to this Pride

As we face the prospect of another six months spent watching Star Wars and ‘sport’ (?) with heterosexual relatives, now more than ever we...

Review: Bridge Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Set in the mystical woodlands surrounding Athens, with its cocktail of magic, love triangles, and donkey-human hybrids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has always...

On my white window ledge

'Now I see them yield to the light, papery and, with old age, translucent.'

Ode to an empty Oxford

"The quads no longer echo with passing, light-hearted exchanges or 3am stumbling returns from Hassan's."

Review: Repeat Attenders

In Repeat Attenders (2020), a legion of loyalists to musical theatre take their turn in the spotlight. The documentary introduces us to repeat attenders of theatre...

Review: The Radio Show at the End of the World

"An exceptionally entertaining listen"

Review: Florence Given’s debut book Women Don’t Owe You Pretty

Florence Given sells feminism as what it is: freeing and utterly delicious. She affirms and articulates precisely the points it feels so hard to put your finger on sometimes.

Fact and Fiction: Where Should the Boundary Lie?

Novels, TV shows, films. They are a form of art. And in art there is no wrong answer. Yet this becomes more complex for historical...

Classic Letdowns: Proust

Disclaimer – I have not read the full 3000 pages of this story, nor do I intend to. The reasons for this will become...

Comfort Films: Catching Fire

The end of Hilary term was chaotic – just a few days ago I’d been worrying about essays and pre-ing with friends, fully immersed...

The Sick Worm

Thy earthy tendrils long to prick The burgeoning bud.

KitKat

Lying down like an upset wine bottle, smeared across the floor

cry, tears

cry the way you cry when you reach the shore again

Fresh old stuff that hurts in the right places

New period drama forces us to rethink what we want from history.

Comfort Films: A Good Year

A charming British Rom-Com set in the idyllic Provence countryside, what more could you want? Sign me up, sign yourself up, sign everyone up....

Returning to my favourite play: Dancing at Lughnasa

If we’re not watching Saoirse Ronan star in her latest feature film, we’re quoting Derry Girls from memory or fetishing Connell’s chain and fan-girling...

Friday Favourite: David Harsent

There is something about poetry that makes it more potent than fiction in times of need. With its raw, brash and yet strangely beautiful...

Hard Pressed

Why do I need to pick those flowers that are screaming, “I am alive!” to kill between the pages of a heavy book?

Movement

The energy in the trees was palpable- at once pulsating and swirling

Conversations with my Lover

The fat little curves of cats’ bellies, and stiff white peaks of egg.

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