Review – Page 2 of 8

26May

By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments

Opinion

The Reality of Sex Work at University

All names have been changed to preserve anonymity. ‘I’ve been very lucky that all of the arrangements I’ve had have been with really genuine people’ – surely it indicates something foul when someone feels lucky to have encountered basic respect? Surely such respect, and ‘genuine people’, should be the norm? Are we so doomed as a society? I would like to believe we are not. However, when it comes to the industry of sex work, and young people entering it, it may be a different story. According to a pre-pandemic stat by Leicester University, an estimated 5% of UK students turn to sex work, and one in five consider it. Remember, that is pre-pandemic. If Covid generated any mainstream student story, it was the...

Trouble in Tahiti: The Gender Troubles of the ‘50s Still Following Us Today

20Mar

By Elena-Teodora ChiujdeaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Trouble in Tahiti: The Gender Troubles of the ‘50s Still Following Us Today

Trouble in Tahiti is a 1952 opera musical composed by Leonard Bernstein. Royal Holloway’s production of this renowned opera showed variety and skill in both acting and vocal performances. In a critique of 1950s patriarchal marriage norms, Jennifer Morafkova and James Gooding interpreted the two protagonists, Dinah and Sam. Accompanist Georgie Andrews, joined by Anna Caron, Zachary Smith, Phoebe Wakefield, Robert Murray, and Sebastian Stone as the chorus enhanced these marital gender inequalities through satire and dark humour. Director Kitty Cassey and Assistant Director Jennifer Hawthorn succeeded in taking their audience back in time to the post World War 2 period for the short seven scenes. The chorus introduces what is supposedly the perfect marriage through Bernstein’s Prelu...

20Mar

By Leah EdwardsNo Comments

Features, Film & TV

Love at first bite

Warning! Spoilers ahead. What initially starts as a romcom, soon transcends into every woman’s worst dating nightmare in Mimi Cave’s Fresh. Released on Hulu and Disney+, the horror comedy follows Noa (Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones), who, after loads of disastrous flings, decides to take a bite at dating again and falls for Steve (I, Tonya’s Sebastian Stan). Their meet-cute happens in a supermarket where he advises her on trying cotton candy grapes because he apparently needs some help with proving to his sister and niece that they taste exactly like cotton candy. This is one of the many references to food in the film. There are further references to food through up close visuals of characters eating food such as crisps or salad, so much so that it is like an upscale mukbang video....

Conversations on Love with writer Chloé Williams

12Feb

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Conversations on Love with writer Chloé Williams

By Olivia Taylor Natasha Lunn’s book Conversations on Love first appeared on my radar a couple of months ago via an Instagram story of book recommendations on New York-based writer Chloé Williams’ account (IG: @chloeinletters). With the rise of ‘BookTok’ and various other social media platforms allowing us to connect with other readers, reviews and recommendations have a newfound significance, especially when they come from respected writers like Williams. Conversations on Love joins Lunn’s own intimate essays with confessional interviews that give readers a beautiful insight into the heart. There is much to be said about relationships, regardless of whether they fall under the form of romantic, familial, or platonic, and Lunn teaches us that everything we feel is in some way universal...

7Dec

By A.L WalesNo Comments

Creative Writing

ET EGO BRUT

REBUTTAL I remember you magenta and idle, hiding in plain sight a fidget of rats in a man-suit. Did you not think I would notice? You tremble in polyester and I have no pity for the moths like you - they know what it is they do I imagine you taut and xeroxed stretched out on linoleum your saline drip defunct chewing on consonants like coaxial cables your world in laminate left-slant font

14Nov

By Lee MillerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

The Premier League Checkpoint

The 2021/22 English Premier League season has well and truly kicked off, but how is it shaping up? Leading the way is Chelsea, who are proving to be a well organised team. With the best defence and second most goals scored so far, it’s going to take a lot to slow this team down, their eyes set on a sixth premier league title. Liverpool remain the only unbeaten team. In close second, Liverpool’s squad are almost fully fit, desperate not to lose out due to injury as they did in previous seasons. Mo Salah, a forward for Liverpool, has been unplayable for the most part but if he makes a solid comeback that could be pivotal, allowing him to haunt his former team, Chelsea, come May 2022. Manchester City won't be happy with their start, having lost twice already. Pep Guardi...

14Nov

By Lee MillerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Reviewed: Joshua vs Usyk

It was a clean sweep from Oleksandr Usyk as the Ukrainian remained undefeated, securing a unanimous final result of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Anthony Joshua's second reign as heavyweight champion came crashing down after a timid and lethargic performance. The first 3 rounds of the fight saw Usyk assert himself more so than Joshua, who was using the opening as a chance to feel out Usyk and gain some reads. Joshua’s process appeared to be paying off, as the pendulum swung during rounds 4-6. The reigning champion upped the pace and took back control of the fight, watched on by 65,000 fans. However, Usyk quickly adjusted and during round 9 Joshua suffered an eye injury that only got worse as the fight went on. The eye kept swelling and consequently Joshua was unable to see, losing t...

Orbital’s Madelaine Gray Covers Royal Holloway’s XR Protest: How It Happened & What Next?

30Oct

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

Features, News

Orbital’s Madelaine Gray Covers Royal Holloway’s XR Protest: How It Happened & What Next?

“Climate change isn’t stopping,” says one of today’s protesters on location at Royal Holloway. “It isn’t slowing down for anyone. There’s no time to delay.” And so it would seem. It’s a chilly day on campus, one of the first on which you’d be hard pressed to find a student without a coat or scarf. There’s been the threat of rain all morning, from both the forecast and the ominous-looking clouds. But the protesters are undeterred. After all, with climate change comes the promise of more rainy days, even in perpetually sodden Britain. Since launching three years ago, Extinction Rebellion has been catapulted to the forefront of British media coverage of climate change. Their bold statements and radical approach, based on the historic practice of civil disobedience, has caused both a hu...

18Oct

By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments

Features

KLKutz: In Review

KLKutz is one of Royal Holloway’s underappreciated gems; too many students either go back home to their local barbershop or pay up to £40 for a sub-par cut on Egham high street. Well, they’re missing out and wasting money. Anthony Gidis started studying computer science at Royal Holloway in 2018. In the summer leading up to Freshers, he had a dilemma: Anthony wanted the university experience, he just didn’t want the university budget. It was either live in frugality or find a way to earn an income outside of maintenance payments. Frugality was the bleaker option. Anthony had been getting weekly haircuts since his early teens; something he realised he’d have to forfeit on his university budget. Rather than mourning his haircuts, that summer he learnt how to barber for himself. ...

Are cinemas going extinct? A Post-Covid Review

16Oct

By Jessica WoodNo Comments

Film & TV, Theatre & Performance

Are cinemas going extinct? A Post-Covid Review

Stale popcorn and half-working escalators, overpriced, too-watery coke and the blue raspberry (what even is that?) slushy that comes with a funny shaped, reusable plastic cup that will sit on your windowsill for months, never to be used again -- there’s nothing quite like the cinema. The first public performance of a film was in 1896, but with the pandemic forcing us to stay at home and the growing popularity of binge-watching culture, the cinema don’t have the same grasp on society as it once did. Growing up, I just about lived in the theatre, taking every chance I could to watch the latest movies; it was my safe space and I enjoyed the shared experience of watching with other people. The final battle scene, where every person in the theatre gasped in shock during Twilight Breaking Da...