Features

As another year passes, it is with a fond farewell we wave goodbye to 2013. I feel it's only right to have a cursory backward glance at some highlights of ‘yesteryear'. In January we had the horsemeat scandal, to be fair I didn't really notice the change in the Tesco burgers, then again I normally prefer my Lidl pony (sorry I had to). Then in February the Pope resigned and as 2013 gained momentum, we saw a real-life, low budget Russian remake of Armageddon, complete with shattered windows and hysterical drunk members of the public – it was then that the meteor hit. As well as this, America broke for a little while, with millions of employees put on leave until Obama turned the economy off, then on again (which obviously fixed everything). But I do think that for me, the defining cultural ...

It is only sometimes when I stop and glance at the majestic, snow-capped mountains outside my bedroom window that I remember how lucky I am to be living abroad. Caught between the French Pyrenees and the Mediterranean beaches, my home away from home is a French-Catalan town in the South of France, called Perpignan. Not many people can just pack their bags and jet off to another country to live for a year. But as a modern languages student, this opportunity is actually compulsory. Forced to go abroad to meet new people, explore new cultures and enjoy weather that is evidently going to beat the gloomy UK any time of the year? Go on then. But is the year abroad as easy and fun-filled as jumping on a plane and living a life of luxury for a whole year? If someone asked me this question about t...

For Beyoncé: Beyoncé, in the simplest terms, is the epitome of the modern feminist. With songs that speak to women across the world and voice feminist issues, she has slowly become somewhat an idol to many. Whilst building her career she has managed to maintain a successful marriage and given birth to a child; a feat admired by me personally and I am sure by many others. Though, she hasn't always had the support of some women through singing (on some albums) solely about men and sex. According to some this means that she isn't a true feminist- but not in my opinion. In modern society the media creates our understanding of the world and how we see it, this means that artists must now go further than creating music, they must become a role model, sex icon or both- why is that a bad thing w...

The thing at the forefront of everyone's minds right now is the Summer Ball and we will be covering a lot of what's going on. Through exclusive content from the SU, these are the facts. The Summer Ball is an exclusively SU event, organised by the Commercial Services Management Team, and exclusively RoHo, sponsored only from within the University. A relationship has been built up with Luke from LFXEvents, who knows exactly how to put on a Uni Ball, just the way we like it. The staff are pretty much all students too, although 3rd years are given the day off to enjoy. Yet, some partake in any case because it's such a great event to be a part of. The students that you have been seeing all year around campus, serving you in all SU buildings, will be the ones at the Summer Ball. Outside caterer...

I'll make myself a mask of your face. I've been training a long time for this Complete with puppet stick in hand I'll dance your name across the land Until we hit the floor, Exhaust sets in And I'm to cradle you once more. I'll take your mask and place it over my brittle skin That waits for yours. I'll press our masks together. Nobody can tell us apart Like this. I remember looking up at you from my bed Your lips shaping the words from a storybook as you read And I watch you Barely listening Barely hearing anything. It's been 15 years And still I cannot make your mask quite right The dreams are fading Details collapse each time I have to recreate You In the shaping of this mask… The task is near impossible some days I awake as puppeteer and still you are not operational I am unprofessiona...

The Caryl Churchill Theatre – named in tribute to the feminist playwright – has been broken in this summer with a series of plays from the Drama and Theatre department. But who is Caryl Churchill? Considered by many to be one of the foremost British playwrights alive today, Churchill's work spans six decades with influences of Brecht and Artaud's ‘Theatre of Cruelty'. Her most recent play, Love and Information, was held at the Royal Court theatre last autumn. Churchill was born in London in 1938, though moved to Montreal, Canada for much of her childhood. She returned to England in 1960 to study English literature at Oxford University where she began writing for student theatre. Churchill later moved into radio dramas and television plays at the BBC before dedicating herself to stage play...