by Raghav Arora and Samanwita Sen Spring Awakening is a bold take on teenage sexuality. It follows the experiences of various adolescents,’ sexuality coming to full bloom, with a major focus on Wendla Bergmann as she forays into the unfamiliar territory of lustful passion in her relationship with Melchior Gabor. The play strikes a fine […]
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by Michael Angerer The self-described dark comedy You Are Frogs, put on by Practically Peter Productions, is above all a baffling play: perhaps the most baffling theatrical experience to come out of this term. Having ascended the steps up to the Burton Taylor studio, the unsuspecting playgoer intrudes into the depressingly bright-coloured kitchen of two frogs, […]
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by Monim Wains Bandages is not a play that covers up or protects. It is designed to rip off the mask and question you directly. With an intense and emotional exploration of control, image, abuse and violence, Bandages will leave you genuinely disturbed and uncomfortable, which is exactly what it wants to do. The clearly heartfelt issues […]
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by Michael Angerer As you step into the small dark space of the Burton Taylor Studio to watch Selma Dimitrijevic’s Gods Are Fallen And All Safety Gone, you enter a strangely surreal place: a place in which all eyes rest on two similar figures who sit facing each other, silently staring each other down. The […]
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by Michael Angerer A kitchen in the west of Ireland, home to two ill-compatible brothers, haunted by the alcoholic parish priest and supplied with booze by an enterprising schoolgirl: such is the scene that unfolds to the audience in the current production of The Lonesome West at the Burton Taylor Studio. The atmosphere of this […]
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Review by Amanda Higgin Photos by Luke Wintour A Romanian, an Irishman, a Russian and an Englishman walk into a public library in 1917 Zurich. What ensues is a beautifully crafted work, skilfully derived from complex and challenging source material. The design is fascinating, the performances are superb, but most of all my respect must […]
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Poignant, dark, and fun – Ishtar is proof that age does not matter, and that some stories are timeless. Bringing to life of one of the oldest poems in the world from Ancient Mesopotamia, Ishtar tells the story of the eponymous Goddess of Love and War (Leela Jadhav) as she ventures into the underworld to […]
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by Chloe Whitehead ‘Let the Bride awake!’ Intrigue and betrayal reigns in this adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s 1930s classic, Blood Wedding. The Burton Taylor Studio provides an intimate and compelling venue for the drama, with only two rows of seats before the scandal-riven world of rural Spain encroaches upon the audience. Despite only watching […]
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Review by Amanda Higgin Photos by Georgia Crowther Oriel’s College’s own Poor Print had the first set of eyes on this much-anticipated Playhouse production in dress rehearsal. Even without making allowances for the adjustments and polishing that will take place before opening night, Hedda was excellent. A carefully curated, visually stunning, compelling masterwork – it […]
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by Chloe Whitehead Five English students, a medic and some wholesome Shakespeare – a day out made in heaven? We thought so. On a rainy Thursday in January we went to see Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, and on the whole witnessed a brilliant performance. Despite being an English student, I’d […]
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by Amanda Higgin It is often said that simple things are beautiful, and this show was certainly a Beautiful Thing. This straightforward but delicately told story brings its audience to three neighbouring flats in a London council estate. Jamie lives with his mother, Sandra, and her boyfriend, Tony. On one side lives Leah, who has […]
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by Matthew Hull Maenads – or Bacchants, as they are often known – have for years captivated the very artists who have captivated us; their raw, unadulterated frenzy presents a vision of sheer human nature which is at once seductive and horrific. So as I sat in Exeter Chapel on Thursday evening for a double-bill […]
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by Jacob Warn You should consider going here. It’s the Oxford International Art Fair. There is, of course, a wealth of exhibitions, museums and showcases across Oxford, so all I’m doing is offering another suggestion. I hope for you too it’s still Sunday afternoon. If not, you’ll be too late to enjoy this event, and […]
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by Matthew Hull William Butler Yeats once described Oxford in such terms: “So beautiful one almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking.” “It is like an opera,” he said, and on Wednesday evening (4th February) his words were realised somewhat with the St Peter’s Music Society production of Dido & Aeneas. St Peter’s […]
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by Jacob Warn As the darkening sky pretends to put a curtaining end to the day, so do the lights keep burning – on and on – at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It was the final Friday of January, and at the termination of the William Blake festival that has raged around Oxford for the […]
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The Poor Print 