Trinity term in the spotlight
Like a runaway train, another term has passed in Oxford drama. Some productions have fallen flaming by the wayside while others have emerged smiling and unharmed from the debris. Notable disasters have included Meghna Jayanth’s carnival of dramatic carnage Wyrd Sisters, an Othello played by Henry Oliver, a man whose foppish, white ride is desperately in need of pimping, and Poppy Burton Morgan’s aviary of squawking pashminas.
One play, in true London Underground style, even got cancelled, this was I think due to lack of interest — public transport tends to have the opposite problem. On the other hand there have been some excellent productions. Beckett shorts began the term doing what Hilary did but bigger and better, the ever-popular Burlesk gang continued to delight and disturb in equal measure, and Jane Austen was miraculously revived as the narrator of Emma for audiences at the OFS.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a worthy rival to any West End show and proved that handsome undergraduates are just as good as handsome Hollywood actors. And the Oxford Revue and As You Like It promise to end the term on a high note, showing off Oxford comedy and drama at their best. So the train has reached the station, the plays have gone on and the curtain has come down on Trinity.
8th Jun 2006