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Image description: Two actors playing Romeo and Juliet kissing on stage in period costume The National Theatre’s new film, Romeo and Juliet, was intended to be a full run theatre production last year. But of course, like most things, it was derailed by the pandemic. With a full (and impressive) cast, a theatre, some set […]
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Image Description: poster used to advertise the production, a tree made out of abstract images of people on a black background Exploring grief through music, Oxford Contemporary Opera Society has commissioned 5 pieces that move through the stages of grief. Throughout the performances, dissonant chords and large ranges in the melody present challenges for the […]
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Image Description: a fading potted plant against a painted red background Didn’t take a good shot of you when I saw you on Thursday. Met you in Sainsbury’s, Enchanted by your beauty, I kept saying “you are so beautiful”, my heart trembled, I kept saying “you are so beautiful”. I held you tightly […]
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Image Description: A warmly lit room with a person sat concentrating and wearing earphones Early 2020 saw the beginning of the UK’s response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and as a result, millions of people being ordered to stay at home. With seemingly endless restrictions on socializing, shared spaces, and attending events, it wasn’t long […]
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Image description: A pen resting on handwritten letters “A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” – Emily Dickinson Last March when we were put into our first lockdown, I sent my friends literary quotes each day online, – often, they would send some back and […]
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Image Description: The DPhil Diaries Can you believe it? We reached 8th week! I’m sure many of you are really excited and relieved to have gotten to this point. I wanted to personally congratulate you all on making it to the end of term. What with lockdown and everything that comes with it, this term […]
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Image Description: Kathryn Bigelow 2019 saw a historic number of women working in the film industry. It was also another year in which women were absent from the nominees for Best Director at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, with films such as Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and Lulu Wang’s The Farewell omitted. The upcoming 78thAnnual […]
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Image description: Two hands clasped together. The hand on the left has had henna applied, a wedding tradition common in India. I still remember calling home to tell my parents about my partner, and my father’s response was “Why are you doing this to us?”. I was hurt by the blunt response, but honestly, I […]
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Image description: A violin resting against a sunlit cupboard For the past year, like many others, my experience of ‘live’ classical music has been confined to a 11” x 13” laptop screen. Initially, I found the virtual version a pale substitute for the very human experience of hearing an orchestra live, feeling the atmosphere created […]
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Image Description: A person in a bucket hat and another in a leopard print jacket sat on stone steps staring earnestly at each other. Alex’s take: Lockdown has thrown up questions of individuality versus consumerist hegemony. Has our fixation with constantly being on top of trends been the instrument of our liberation, or is breaking […]
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Image Description: A crowd in a concert venue, a silhouette of a hand is in focus on a background of yellow lighting. In better times, concerts were easily my favourite night out. There’s something about the ebb and flow of a crowd that makes music that much more thrilling. I have very vivid memories of […]
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Image description: A black and white image of a crowded city One of Amazon’s better ideas in recent years has been the ‘Kindle Deal of the Day’, where you can very cheaply acquire an ebook picked out from the otherwise overpopulated kindle bookstore. Some time ago, a book by Ferenc Karinthy, a Hungarian author, was […]
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Image description: An illustration of Abelard and Heloise kissing while Heloise writes a letter by artist Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale In the past, Abelard and Heloise were names ranked alongside Romeo and Juliet, or Dante and Beatrice, as an everlasting tale of passionate romance and forbidden love. I can imagine most students reading this article, however, are […]
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Image description: Nirvana’s album cover for Nevermind, a baby in a swimming pool reaching for a dollar bill on a hook In 1991, one of the best selling albums of all time was released into the world. Through Nevermind, the follow up to their debut album Bleach, Nirvana both commercialised their sound and brought grunge […]
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Image Description: Nupur Patel’s DPhil Diaries It’s 6th week and my lunchtimes have been particularly busy lately. This term, midday has been the optimal time to get out for some fresh air. Especially this week, the sun has appeared quite often and the warmer weather has meant that I’ve stared out of my window more […]
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Image Description: Nupur Patel’s DPhil Diaries 5th week started off with a bang with the arrival of Valentine’s Day. Admittedly, on a normal year my boyfriend and I aren’t usually the grandest celebrators of the day. That’s not to say that we’re the cynical type, complaining about how ‘commercialised’ it all is (which is probably […]
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Image Description: Lorde on stage wearing a flower crown on a dark blue background Usually, around Valentine’s Day we start to see a lot of those “50 Best Breakup Songs of All Time” and “Perfect Songs to Cry To” lists pop up, and don’t get me wrong, I love those. But this year is different. […]
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Image description: “Direwolves” – an acrylic painting by Marietta Kosma Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, ten years ago, yet it remains one of the most popular shows in the cultural imaginary. Even though it portrays fantasy worlds of the medieval era, it conveys realism through the employment of violence, graphic sex and its unconventional ending. […]
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Image description: Ralph Fiennes playing archaeologist Basil Brown in The Dig The excavation of Sutton Hoo may seem like an odd choice for Netflix’s new movie; archaeology doesn’t really fill people with excitement unless it is Indiana Jones. However, The Dig (2021), directed by Simon Stone, manages to make an exceedingly compelling dramatisation of real-life […]
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