Culture & Literature – Page 19 of 35

6Mar

By Beth CarrNo Comments

The Heartbreak of Molly Hooper

SPOILERS FOR THE LATEST SERIES OF SHERLOCK An opinion on the emotional repercussions of the Sherlock series finale. Sherlock Series Four concluded last month and frankly I wasn’t a fan. One thing that captured my attention was THAT Molly Hooper scene, in which Sherlock is told to make Molly say ‘I love you’ so that the bomb supposedly planted in her kitchen would not blow up and kill her. On the plus side it reflects Sherlock’s emotions: he clearly struggles with the situation. He knows that making Molly say this will hurt her, yet he desperately wants to prevent the irreversible damage of her death. Nevertheless, we have all known about Molly’s love for our protagonist since the show began. Even Sherlock knew that she loved him but never truly confronted this, allowing it to be a...

6Mar

By Georgia BeithNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Literature

Historical Fact or Fiction?

Georgia Beith discusses whether historical fiction should be more accurate. A piece of historical fiction, whether that be in the form of a book or a period drama, is one of life’s ultimate guilty pleasures. And as a student, especially a history student like myself, it’s not the most respectable thing in the world to admit that you like them. They’re riddled with anachronisms and inaccuracies that make a lot of people look down on them but that doesn’t diminish their entertainment factor. Perhaps as someone who studies the past it should bother me that Anne Boleyn probably didn’t consider sleeping with her brother in order to produce a child, or that Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ wasn’t likely to be heard at medieval jousting tournaments. But it doesn’t, though there are a number of p...

The Student Workshop presents ‘Doctor Faustus’

24Feb

By Rosalie FallaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

The Student Workshop presents ‘Doctor Faustus’

Rosalie Falla reviews The Student Workshop's newest production. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is not a play usually considered a comedy, but Rafael Aptroot and Saxon Rose’s production manages to swing from raucous laughter to deeply dark moments. The Elizabethan tragedy follows the demise of Faustus as he takes up the dark art of necromancy, selling his soul to Lucifer in exchange for 24 years of life with a devil as his servant, Mephistopheles. Faustus, played by the wonderful Jack Read, does not use his magic for anything worthwhile, instead playing practical jokes on powerful people. The oft-left out Pope scene had the audience in fits of laughter, with Eleanor Cobb’s papal figure stealing the scene with some outstanding facial expressions. Another comedic moment was the entrance of t...

21Feb

By Rhona ReedNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Music

‘La La Land’ and The Vintage Revival

Rhona Reed delves into ‘La La Land’ and the controversial topic of modern-day jazz. Should it be an experimental reinvention, or purely replicate the past? If La La Land proves anything – beyond the fact that Linus Sandgren’s cinematography is genius – it is that we cannot frown at today’s reinterpretations of classic trends. Purchasing a remastered vinyl or an overpriced imitation of a vintage dress may make many purists grimace. Yet, every season reinvents a classic trend from past decades. Do we really want to just repeat history, rather than alter it? The predicted revival of 2017 is the controversial kitten heel and, while you may scorn now, this is the perfect opportunity to see how our reinvention of a retro trend may actually make a dated style fashionable and enjoyable. T...

Reviewed: Great Gatsby at the Vault Festival

20Feb

By Joanne ArcherNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Reviewed: Great Gatsby at the Vault Festival

Ever since I was introduced to the concept of time travel, from spending my Saturday nights as a boy watching Doctor Who and Back to the Future marathons, I've always wondered which time periods I'd travel back to. But after attending The Guild of Misrule’s immersive Great Gatsby play at Vault Festival, the Roaring 1920s will definitely be added to my list. My experience began by knocking on a door with a sign reading ‘’Drugstore closed, knock for deliveries’’ at which point I was greeted by a doorman asking if I was here for the drugstore, to which I replied, ’Yes, Sir, I’am’, in my GCSE Drama level American accent. I was then led into a dance hall filled with audience members in their best 1920s attire and characters from The Great Gatsby like Daisy, George, Mr Buchanan and Mr Gatsby...

17Feb

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffee House Sessions: Mark Sullivan

Beth Carr chats to Mark Sullivan after the first Coffee House Session of the term. Mark Sullivan brought a mellow and mature feel to the first Coffee House after Christmas with what he deems “funky acoustic soul rock”. It has always been his dream to do music full time and I wanted to find out more about how this came about. In early life, Sullivan was surprisingly not into music at all but that all changed after seeing Oasis unplugged on MTV. He obtained a guitar at the age of 14 and soon was choosing to play it over the classic teenage pastime of computer games. He also started to sing but in his own opinion he was bad at it, giving up for a period of time to concentrate on his band. 7 years ago he started singing again properly and has been solo for 3-4 years. However the guitar a...

7Feb

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffee House Sessions: Matt Wills

Beth Carr reviews the final Coffee House Session of last term. With November almost over, Matt Wills brought last term’s Coffee House Tour to a close with an edgy acoustic set of original music melded with familiar samples of popular songs such as ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘No Scrubs’. I asked Matt how he decided to add those tracks into his set: “When I do songs there’s always like a space that I leave like a little space and I’ll throw a random song in, it probably won’t originally fit and it’ll probably be a different key or probably a different vibe but I’ll throw it in”. He prefers sampling to doing indie covers of mainstream songs, and it really works. He got into music from a young age, writing music as an awkward thirteen year-old who wanted to impress a girl through songwritin...

7Feb

By Nebiu SamuelNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Turn Off Your Phone

Nebiu Samuel discusses the possibility of a theatre mode for iPhones and his take on cinema etiquette. We’ve all been there sitting in a darkly lit room, waiting to lose ourselves in a film when suddenly a light appears a few feet away shining someone’s face so brightly you’d almost think they’d seen the face of God. But sadly, no it’s someone using their phone while in a cinema. Considering how long mobile phones have existed you would have thought that this would have stopped but people still do it. However, it has recently been leaked that Apple may have a solution to this problem. Among some of the rumoured new features in the next iPhone update set for January 10th is a theatre mode which would disable sounds, block calls, messages, and reduce screen brightness. Now, as appeali...

2Feb

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Can our technology be predicted?

One thing is clear in the society that we live in, and that is technology is increasingly pervading our everyday lives. Seemingly everywhere you go, you will witness people of all ages in public, blank-faced and glued to their phone screens (and I can’t say that I’m not guilty of this). The television show Black Mirror somewhat prophetically explores the intricate ways in which technology affects human relationships and interaction. Every single episode has its own individual story line and they seem to be at different points of technological progress. Some display the technology that is very similar to what we currently have, but other episodes provide a bleak view of what our future has to offer. *Spoiler alert* In episode one of the newest series, people give each other ratings in th...

31Jan

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

UnScene Festival: A Review

The 10 short pieces that made up Drama Socs UnScene Festival certainly packed a punch. Emma Halahan reviews a night of laughter, tears and tender moments. Ranging from spoken word to a brief improvisation by The Holloway Players, the 2016 UnScene Festival had something for everyone. Original writing at RHUL doesn’t have much of a platform: if you are a drama or creative writing student there are opportunities with the Student Workshop and Musical Theatre Society’s Variations offers the opportunity to write an original musical, although it’s first years only. UnScene plugs this gap in the market by allowing a plethora of original writing styles to gain stage time and I can attest, the results were simply magical. Guided by two wonderful co-hosts, Ellie Cozens and Azan Ahmed, the night pr...