Culture

New Oxford Windrush generation exhibit opens for Black History Month 

Amidst recent political tension provoked by the government’s refusal of slavery reparations to the Caribbean, this year Black History Month is celebrated uniquely in Oxford. The inaugural exhibition at...

“There’s a play in that”: interview with ‘The Gang of Three’ playwright Robert Khan

It’s Budget Day as I sit in the foyer of the Oxford Playhouse. Down...

‘Celebrity Traitors’ season two: Complex and compelling

Reality TV series The Traitors has returned with its celebrity version and has topped viewing charts for a second time. People are hooked on the show where logical reasoning and random chance are simultaneously at play, in a game full of drama, tension, and cliffhangers.

Oxford’s art scene: A picture still being painted

Who gets to make art, who gets to see it, and whose art history...

Kiss My Genders – Celebrating identity with the Hayward Gallery

The Hayward Gallery's huge curation 'Kiss my Genders' attempts to unite over thirty artists from the LGBTQ+ community in a celebration of gender identity and fluidity. Charlotte Hall gathers her impressions of the exhibitions - how effective is it at breaking down stereotypes and prejudice?

A Tribute to Lewis Capaldi

In defence of the Greggs-serving, sunglasses-wearing, Scottish singer.

Love Island: the breaking point for exploitative television?

"Love Island doesn’t just expose its contestants to the vitriol of the public, it actively encourages it."

A Literary History of the F**kboy

The narrative of resistance and domination in relationships has been the recourse of storytellers since pre-Christian times, with the same lurid, visceral quality evident in Greek myth as in the modern trend of disturbingly violent porn. Yet these primal, animalistic tropes of female subjugation now exist in a ‘civilised’ society, whose vernacular is one of #TimesUp, sex positivity and high-street feminism.

‘The Lost Properties of Love’ by Sophie Ratcliffe

'treads a fine line between a deeply personal memoir [...] and an academic exploration'

If Ever I Stray

Genre devotion in Frank Turner's music - do musicians owe us consistency?

‘Was it written by aliens, or is it about vampires?’: A Q&A with Daniel Wakelin

"Often important texts appear in humble form, and humble forms often tell us more about the humble people who made and used them." Daniel Wakelin talks to Cherwell about medieval manuscripts.

The journey from script to stage

What is the process of staging a student production? We speak to the writer and director of this year's Christ Church garden play to find out.

Love, Lust and Angst

With ruthless contempt for form, clarity, elegance, wholeness, and realism, he paints with intuitive strength of talent the most subtle visions of the soul.” So Arne...

Review: A View from the Bridge – ‘dramatic, gripping and surprisingly funny’

This latest revival of the Arthur Miller classic copes well with its challenging text (and challenging accent).

Preview: The Witch of Edmonton – ‘promises a sufficiently sinister experience’

Hoof and Horn Productions' take on The Witch of Edmonton heads to the BT Studio in Seventh Week

Staging Invisibility

The writer of Week Seven's Hustlers at the BT discusses the concept of the hustler and diversity in theatre

Sensual Absence in Jim Jarmusch

"If there is one thing Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law teach about Jarmusch, it is that he does a disservice to himself every time he makes a film in technicolour"

Boards, Beats and Bros: Mid90s Review

"Following the traditional narrative arc of the coming-of-age tale, the film follows Stevie as he rides out the highs and lows of adolescence, and learns important life lessons along the way."

Sensuality In Strauss’ ‘Salome’

"Salome’s kiss is undoubtedly an extreme example, a sensual climax of an obscene kind, but musically important nonetheless, and a moment that illuminates its preceding pages of music."

Frequencies and what they do to you

A primer to the niche field of "sound art"

Philosophy in the Bookshop – Nigel Warburton in Conversation with Naomi Wolf

Naomi Wolf talks of book blunder and her ties to Oxford.

An Artificial Low

Reviewing Ottessa Moshfegh's 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' (Jonathan Cape, 2018)

Menial Heroics

Reviewing Sayaka Murata's 'Convenience Store Woman' (Granta, 2019)

Review: The Tempest – ‘exploit the comic potential in Shakespeare’s verse’

RJ Productions present an enjoyable rendition of Shakespeare’s last solo-authored play, whose strongest points lie in its subtler elements

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