Review – Page 4 of 8

19Mar

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

Setting sail with HMS Pinafore

Savoy Opera’s production of ‘HMS Pinafore’ set sail last night amidst a sea of laughter. Niamh Dunne did a brilliant job directing the show, successfully combining the heart wrenching with the hilarious. Gilbert and Sullivan’s comedic Operetta is set on board HMS Pinafore. The story follows the plight of Josephine Corcoran and her forbidden love for the sailor Ralph Rackstraw. Tasha Crossley played Josephine convincingly, successfully conveying the false innocence of the character. The contrast of sweet naivety with awareness of sexual humour was delivered with capability. Will Maxwell brilliantly played Josephine’s unfortunate lover Ralph. He brought to the stage the injustice of their separation. I was particularly struck by his solo ‘The Nightingale Sighed’ in which the character’s e...

5Mar

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

An evening with the King himself

Having never seen a Shakespeare Society production before, I was unsure of what to expect of Director Bethany Wilkinson’s adaptation of the infamous tragedy, King Lear. King Lear is one of my favourite plays in the world and, being quite a traditionalist with regards to Shakespeare plays, I hoped that the play would do it justice. In some ways, it definitely did. In others, it did not. Before the play officially starts, as audience members file in, the play has clearly already started, introducing us to Lear from the beginning. Jack Davies as King Lear, epitomises the idea of a ‘mad King’ by trailing around the hall, mumbling nonsense and cackling maniacally. He moves into audience members’ personal space, balling up paper and throwing it at key targets - me included. He is mad, obvious...

22Feb

By George WhiteNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Three Fish in a Tree: Review

“If you forever judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its life thinking that it's stupid”- Albert Einstein. This quotation is the foundation on which the Student Workshop’s recent production, Three Fish in a Tree, is based. I’m not normally one to endorse the use of Instagram-bio pseudo-philosophical quotes, however I would argue that in the context of this production the quotation is actually quite profound. Three Fish in a Tree is a celebration of originality: following the story of three characters whose lives have been affected by Dyslexia, Autism and ADD. The charming nuisances were at first completely lost upon an uncultured swine such as myself, as the abstract script is ambiguous towards the concept of time and space, which was somewhat confusing. However, onc...

19Feb

By George WhiteNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

A Comedic Break from Valentines Day

The Comedy Society has put on a number of shows since the start of the year: having tested the waters with early shows, they’ve definitely had the chance to improve over time. However, there is certainly still plenty of room for further improvement - I look forward to seeing said improvement. But, for now, they’re still quite rough around the edges. Despite this, every performer did manage a couple of laughs from me, at the very least. This isn’t the Apollo, the odd awkward silence or distastefully joke is to be expected and it’s safe to say there were certainly significant peaks and troughs. However, after a somewhat slow start, things began to pick up, and it was pretty much all uphill from there. There was however a small collection of significant blunders, most of which were, t...

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...

“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...

31Oct

By Josip MartincicNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

The Nether – Review

Bethany Wilkinson set herself a very difficult challenge – to direct a complicated, dark play in a very limited rehearsal period and present it in the, frankly, bare setting of the rehearsal room in the Drama department. She succeeded in completing this challenge and this can be vouched by the audience members who were lucky enough to witness this show (only 30 tickets per show for 2 performances were available). The Nether by Jennifer Haley is a look at a dystopian not-too-distant future where the internet grew into what is referred to as The Nether, a virtual reality system where users can live a consequence free existence and they can choose to transition into Shadows, living out a fantasy while their actual bodies wither away. The lead character, Detective Morris, is after a specifi...

4Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Losing It: Reshaping Sex Education

CONTENT WARNING: Rape. Beth Carr shines a spotlight on alumna Nina Lemon and her play ‘Losing It’. Watching a musical about sex education isn’t the most usual Friday activity for students, but that is exactly the theme of the latest play by Peer Productions, written and directed by Royal Holloway alumni Nina Lemon. ‘Losing It’ follows a group of school friends as they look back on their seven years at secondary school and the questions they had about sex and relationships, as well as examining what went well and what went wrong in their love lives. The play fits with Peer Productions’ vision “to use theatre to genuinely change young people’s lives” and is being toured around 30 local schools to tell pupils what they really want to know about sex and relationships. It was develop...

6Apr

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

Features

PC Gamer Weekender 2017 – Review

The PC Gamer Weekender has appeared once more and was something of a surprise success. The marketing for the event was ever present and something Insanity Radio 103.2FM assisted with. However, the event’s success was due in part to the large amount of games on show, as well how well it was run with different talks and discussions occurring at regular intervals. The organisation of the event was done in way where you could weave in and out of different areas with ease, allowing you to know where certain places were and how to get to them. There were several virtual headset demos on display. I had the chance to try out the 'Killing Floor: Incursion' which is a game taking place in the Killing Floor universe and is a side story of sorts. However, they used the Oculus in way that allowed yo...