Quartet
Quartet is musical in style and substance, with all the range and tempo of a chamber piece. The action falls into four chronological ‘movements', and the actors move and interact with an almost tuneful rhythm. Writer Tom Littler has conjured up dialogue of slick naturalism – his sharp music students could have been plucked straight from a table at the King's Arms. The play opens in a rush of ‘studenty' chatter.
Drama: Some Sort of Beautiful
New writing by Oxford students about Oxford students is as variable as it is abundant. Whilst writing about the university can involve witty and delicate observations into the inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies of the place, it can also fall badly into cliché.
Drama: Mating Rituals of the Urban Duck
Mating Rituals… ends with a beginning, and begins with an ending – which is also a beginning of sorts. Confused? Well that could plausibly be the director's (Will Robertson) intention, because this funny little play is all about people being confused themselves.
Drama: Graceland
The setting of Aled Roberts's Graceland couldn't be further from the rock and roll glamour its name evokes. Set in a South Wales factory canteen, Roberts' original writing deals with two night shifts of workers who thrash out life and love – and eat trifles – whilst ruled by the buzzerbreaks that dominate their working lives.
