Culture & Literature – Page 15 of 35

What Can the Royal Opera House Do For You?

17Dec

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

What Can the Royal Opera House Do For You?

Situated in Covent Garden, the current Royal Opera House is the third building to stand in the area after the two previous theatres burned down in a fire. The second re-opening kicked off with the royal seal of approval and a new name ‘the Royal Italian Opera House’. After hosting composers such as Handel and Michael Costa, the Royal Opera House was growing in both audience and repertoire. It was renamed once again to what we know now as ‘the Royal Opera House’ after it sadly burned down for the second time. However this has not affected its popularity as it now covers over two acres – from main stage to rehearsal studio… But over the years words such as ‘Elitist’, ‘snobby’ and ‘highbrow’ have been used to describe ballet, opera and other art forms on display at the Royal Ope...

16Dec

By Karolina SchallerNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

The two extremes of tolerance

Some ideas and controversial social concepts are treated rather unevenly today with them being either completely ignored or actively imposed upon the people. Covering all of these issues and their controversial treatment will definitely take more than one article, so I would like to focus your attention on one of the most versatile and sensitive of them all – on tolerance. Before we begin, let us look at that term with a little more depth. Theoretically saying that tolerance means to be patient about something or someone different would be right. But would it socially? Would you love to live in a society built on bare patience that can run out any minute? That definitely makes you feel less stable than a society where everyone respects each other, so let us stick to that: tolerance is...

12Dec

By George WhiteNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

The Strangest Thing about Season Two

*Mild Spoilers ahead* Unless you live your life as a certified hermit crab, you’ve likely heard at least whispers of the latest phenomenon of popular culture, Stranger Things. The greatly anticipated second season of the Netflix Original was released on 27 October, to both critical and commercial acclaim. This season certainly lives up to the formidable legacy left by the first, possibly even surpassing it in terms of quality. And while the narrative of this season feels completely fresh, the lasting effects of last season’s trauma are still very much present. The captivating opening scene to the series broadens the immersive universe of the show, yet there is a lasting impression that this season only scratches the surface of the immense backstory of the ST universe. This scene, acc...

8Dec

By Helena KeebleNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

The Nobel Writer

This month, the University of East Anglia welcomed previous student Kazuo Ishiguro, the most recent winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, as the seventh winner to talk at UEA. Since receiving his Masters degree in Creative Writing at UEA, Ishiguro has received four Man Booker Prize nominations and won the award in 1989 for his novel ‘The Remains of the Day’. His 2005 novel, ‘Never Let Me Go’, was named by “The Times” as the best novel of 2005 and this year the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature. They described him as a writer ‘who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world’. In conversation with Professor Christopher Bigsby, Ishiguro admitted his shock at receiving the Nobel award. He cla...

To Kill a Mockingbird: Necessary Discomfort

5Dec

By Bethany GoodingNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

To Kill a Mockingbird: Necessary Discomfort

Set during the 1930s Great Depression in Alabama, the classic American novel tells the story of a white lawyer, Atticus Finch, who helps to defend a black man who has been falsely accused of raping a white woman. The racial theme has made To Kill a Mockingbird one of the most banned classics in America. The recent banning of the book from a public school in Mississippi is simply one in a long line of challenges the book has faced since being published in 1960. The book has been banned for various reasons including the use of language in the book such as ‘nigger’ and ‘whore’, for containing adult themes such as sexual intercourse and rape and for ‘conflicting with the values of the community’. However, the most recent reasoning for the banning of the novel certainly deserved the backlash...

28Nov

By Kyriakos KostaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Les Miserables…Today!

Les Miserables...Today! (‘…Ι give you back to god!’) It’s unbelievable how one book can change your life with the magical quality that only literature has. Especially when that book is also a well-known musical! Les Miserables, from the great novelist Victor Hugo, was first published in 1862, and was followed by many re-publications and big screen adaptations. In 1980, it was first presented as a musical, with the music composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg, with French and English lyrics-libretto written by Alain Boublin, Jean Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer respectively. Since then, this musical phenomenon was presented to over 75 million people in 42 different countries worldwide, a truly special honor for the book, which is an achievement in modern literature...

19Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

The Devil is loose in Royal Holloway

The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller in the 1950s as a comment on mass hysteria and the dangers of false accusation and is based on true events. Drama Society attempted to transport us to the small and suffocating town of Salem, Massachusetts where Miller’s plot of witchery and paranoia takes place - and it did not disappoint. Before it even begins, Tom Williams’ direction sets the erie tone with Tituba, played by Anna Tamela, on stage as the audience file in singing a quiet tune and mixing what we can only assume is a witch’s brew. Act One begins with ‘the girls’ emotive interpretive movement piece to Hozier’s Arsonist’s Lullaby setting the scene perfectly. The hysteria and screams start early and continually make several appearances, intensifying as they go on and effective in s...

18Nov

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Worth Every Penny

Last night saw the opening performance of the Savoy Opera Society’s ‘The Threepenny Opera.’ The show took on a unique and thought-provoking perspective, brilliantly interpreted and directed by Rafael Aptroot. Aptroot set the show in a Post-Brexit world, moving away from Bertholt Brecht’s original Victorian setting. This modernised form was used to deliberately convey how our values have returned to those exercised by the Victorians. The story follows the anti-heroic actions of the notorious gang-leader Macheath (Mack the Knife) and his relationship with naive and determined Polly Peachum, played by Abi Smith. The wrath of her father, Mr Peachum, leads to the imprisonment of Mack. Peachum’s attempts to have him hanged are stalled by chief of police Tiger Brown, played by Barney Nunn and ...

“boys wear their hats backwards so they can kiss other boys” – Review

14Nov

By Rachel McDermottNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

“boys wear their hats backwards so they can kiss other boys” – Review

I did not know what to expect going into “boys wear their hats backwards so they can kiss other boys”. A theatre piece based around the collective ideas and experiences of the LGBTQ+ community; it was so perfectly shown in the selected music and pieces of writing on the strengths and pitfalls of emotional relationships. It was a wonderful and emotional piece and all the more impressive for how quickly it was put together. The slightly scattered quality of the performance only added to the overall feeling, embodying the idea of how no form of love is quite a straight road. The setting, though sparse, took a backseat in comparison to the clear amount of effort from the actors, chosen music, and writing. Intersecting with dance was an interesting way to show different emotions. In particu...

14Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Overshadowed

In the previous issue of Orbital Magazine, I wrote an article condemning the issues with Netflix’ portrayal of anorexia in To The Bone. I disagreed with how it glorified eating disorders in many ways and acted like a how-to guide for sufferers. Where Netflix failed though, BBC Three seems to have succeeded with showing people the truth about anorexia – that it is a debilitating illness - without glorifying it or using a romantic storyline to further the plot of recovery. Michelle Fox plays Imogene (Imo), a 17-year-old girl living in Leeds who decides to ‘vlog’ her daily life. It is through the perspective of her camera that the audience are seeing Imogene becoming more and more affected by her anorexia. She becomes more and more withdrawn from her family and friends as well as extremely...