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When a couple of years ago I heard that there had once been a musical focusing on the world’s most famous web-slinging superhero, I remember thinking it was a weird choice for a show subject, but then thought of it no further. This remained the case until I was contacted to review student writers Caleb […]
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Image: Dick Whittington, The Oxford Playhouse. Credit: Geraint Lewis. Description: A Pantomime Dame. Acting, singing, dancing, and, perhaps most importantly, joking around; the Pantomime, a staple of the British festive theatre season, seemingly has it all. With that being said, I’ve always found myself wondering how the Pantomime got to become so popular, and why they […]
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Image credit: Pixabay How to Save a Rock With A Circle is exploratory. It has a think about individual versus collective action, about whether the last polar bear should stay in its natural habitat or be confined to a zoo, about how one piece of information (the carbon footprint generated by having a child) can […]
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Image Credit: Quangpraha (CC0) By the time I get a chance to talk to Michael, The Fishermen has already made the long journey down from Edinburgh to London. It’s where both Michael Ajao and Valentine Olukoga, the stars of the award-winning stage performance, come from, and the difference in energy there is apparently palpable – with […]
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Life meets death meets virtual life in Hereafter, a new play by Chloë Taylor exploring the inhumane and even inhuman treatment of bereavement in the world of work. Eva (Martha Harlan) is grieving her dead husband when she is called in to work and asked by her boss with a sickening faux empathy to be […]
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Nestled away unassumingly behind the Oxford Playhouse, the Burton Taylor Studio can feel remarkably untheatrical. Seating a mere 50 people in a black box theatre, it may go overlooked in a Trinity term full of garden plays and thespian extravaganzas. What, after all, can such a minimalist setting offer to a drama scene full of […]
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The Oxford Imps have been a fixture of the Oxford art scene since 2004, putting on a new performance each week at the Wheatsheaf on Oxford’s High Street, as well as a show each year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Profile caught up with performers Dan Squire (DS) and Megan Morgan (MM) – who also […]
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Based on Robin Robertson’s translation of the Greek tragedy by Euripides, Khameleon Productions’ presentation of Medea was nothing short of brilliant. The all-BAME cast and crew brought new life to the myth. The revenge plot of the play, following Medea whose husband, Jason, has abandoned her and their children to marry the princess of the […]
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It is difficult to fault Lucy Kirkwood’s NSFW, a play that probes the depths of misogyny with an astute awareness of the painful sexism that journalism perpetuates, but also of the human action behind it. TheatreGoose’s production of the show at the Pilch treats its subject with flawlessly executed precision, wit and sensitivity, unpeeling layers […]
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Stepping into the shadows of Jesus College’s candlelit hall on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the audience find themselves plunged into the equally shadowy world of 17th century Italy, the setting of Webster’s revenge-tragedy The White Devil. Vittoria Corombona, passionately played by Sophie Claypole, falls in love with the Duke of Bracciano (Basil Bowdler) and in […]
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Hamilton, a musical so loved it kept its namesake on the 10 dollar bill, is as much a success of musical theatre in the UK as in the US. A musical that all theatre lovers have been hoping to come over to our ‘island across the sea’ have finally had their dreams come true at […]
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In the aisle of Jesus College chapel a few chairs, paintings, table and wine bottles invoke domesticity, setting the scene for Amy’s View by David Hare, this year’s Jesus College production. For a play in which the forces between theatre, television and reality are constantly negotiated it may not be surprising that the set is […]
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Brasenose presents ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, a transfixing production of Shakespeare’s most magical tale, staged in the beautiful New Quad for the college’s annual Arts Week. The performance has an airy touch, and a sense of genuine enjoyment underlies the play through the boundless energy of some astoundingly good actors, who shift seamlessly from scene […]
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A Berlin Kabaret advertises itself as ‘Lady Gaga meets Brecht’ and a ‘Response to the Refugee Crisis’. It is underselling itself. It is neither of those things but something far more poignant. It is not a ‘response’ or a ‘reaction’ to one specific event. Even with its energy and vibrancy, the performance is never pushed […]
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Ruby Nicholson Interview The House if Improv, the creators behind the improvisational comedy show Death By Murder. With the Oxford imps usually dominating this niche scene, Jack Lawrence and Emma Hinnells talk through the ups and downs of putting on their murder mystery show. How long have you been rehearsing for? Jack: Probably about 6 […]
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(Spoilers ahead) Confusions… confusions? Sitting in the front row as the first of three one-act plays began to unfold in front of me, everyone on stage certainly seemed confused. Opening night nerves perhaps? Or more likely the beginning of a consistently engaging and hilarious portrayal of one of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘greatest works’, or so I’m […]
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Thoroughly Modern Millie is as thoroughly delightful as ever. Now on tour, and having just graced Oxford’s New Theatre with a whole lot of jazz and sequins, it appears the classic Broadway show is still on top form. It is hardly surprising that this musical won six Tony awards, including best musical, as it is […]
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Emma Bentley stars in What Goes on in Front of Closed Doors, a short and intense one-woman production depicting how commonplace and inescapable events in life transform Molly, a young woman in her early twenties, from a happy child in a stable home to a socially ostracised woman forced to live on the streets. Bentley […]
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Hailed as ‘the funniest show in the West End’ by the Telegraph, A Comedy About a Bank Robbery certainly lives up to expectation. Set to a lush A Capella soundtrack and amidst dynamic physical theatre, this performance is an absolute standout. A Comedy About a Bank Robbery is Mischief Theatre’s latest contribution to the comedy […]
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