royal holloway – Page 8 of 23

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...

11Mar

By Amber BrooksNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Punk’s Not Dead

‘It's weird, on TV I see American high school bullies as the outcast punk kid, but every punk I've met has been the opposite of that. Violence is important, but we pick our battles wisely.’ Punk. It’s a movement that comes all the way from the throbbing heart of underground venues, where music becomes more than aesthetic expression. A culture that uses left-wing lyrics as scripture, and from there political presence as progressive change. Punk dwells loudly on the urban streets of anti-fascist, anti-establishment, and anti-consumerist action – the core values in which its anarchy is borne. It’s been fifty years since Punk became a fundamental part of the alternative scene, and still it resonates within contemporary society. Growing from its neo-liberal roots, Punk has now become a...

1942 Recipe: Eggless Sago Pudding – Vintage Cooking (The Student Version)

4Mar

By Leah EdwardsNo Comments

Lifestyle

1942 Recipe: Eggless Sago Pudding – Vintage Cooking (The Student Version)

Women’s magazines from the 1940s are riddled with wartime propaganda. Whilst their husbands, brothers and fathers were fighting overseas, women learnt to effectively hold down the household under wartime restrictions. This isn’t to say that women of the 1940s were exclusively homemakers; there are plenty of ads in the February 1942 issue of Woman that suggest otherwise. There’s even an old Tampax advert with the slogan “Women are winning the war of freedom”, with a picture of a woman in full uniform at work on an army tank. Some other ads shouted about the importance of friendly consumerism of household items. An advert for Parozone (a solution that sterilized clothes in cold water) has the bold slogan, “SAVE FUEL”, a subject Ruth Morgan talked about in her section, dubbed, ‘BARG...

The Rise in Spiking (and Not Just as We Know it)

28Feb

By Beth McCowenNo Comments

News

The Rise in Spiking (and Not Just as We Know it)

What is Spiking? Drinks being spiked on nights out has been an issue for years. According to Better Health, drink spiking is putting alcohol or drugs into somebody’s drink without their knowledge or consent. It is illegal and is often related to other crimes like robbery and sexual assault. As women, we instinctively cover our drinks, never leave them out of our sight, don’t take drinks from strangers, and take every other precaution possible to keep ourselves and our friends safe. In late 2021, there was a frightening development in spiking. People are now being spiked not through drinks, but through injections. Incidents have mainly been reported in Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Edinburgh. This type of spiking carries additional risks because dirty needles can carry infections ...

Repeating History? | ‘Munich’ and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

27Feb

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

Repeating History? | ‘Munich’ and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Netflix recently released 'Munich: The Edge of War', a film adaptation of Robert Harris's book. It centres around the Munich agreement, Chamberlain’s attempt to ensure peace in Europe via the negotiation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. With Vladimir Putin’s Russia waging war on Ukraine, reading this book felt very apt for me, and terrifying. Looking up from the pages to hearing the news at the moment felt like I hadn't left the world of the book at all. Europe is facing one of the largest attacks since World War Two, leading to many people referring to the current events as the prelude to world war three. This is not the first recent Russian threat to Ukraine, but it is it’s most unjustified, violent and daring. Missiles and helicopter attacks began on Thursday resulting in...

26Feb

By Kianna BestNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

GGP Hour Has Arrived!

In a time where everyone has an opinion, and no topic is left ignored, unique content can be hard to find within what is constantly being pushed out into the world. With podcasts popping up here and there full of controversial takes and passion filled rants, the range of voices seem to gain their stamp of individuality from that sole aspect. Cancel-culture continues to run rampant, views and opinions are carefully dissected before being put out into the world, and it has become evident that many would rather follow the trend of thinking and appeal to the masses. Unique voices are far and few between. Will Insanity radio’s newest talk show bring about any change? GGP Hour hosted by second year student Kayla Mae Garcia Fernandes is a laid back hour filled with debates s...

13Feb

By Victoria BurdenNo Comments

Features, Film & TV, News

The Allure of Aristocracy

Dearest Reader, Bingeing season is upon us. It’s time to devour the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s Bridgerton, following the plot of Julia Quinn’s novel The Viscount Who Loved Me. This season sees Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton, who takes the lead role in the storyline. With the new season approaching, we’re going to delve into the many reasons why viewers love period dramas like Bridgerton so much. The Ability to Travel back in Time Period dramas allow viewers to experience a time that they will never get to live through, giving people a means of living vicariously through the characters and embracing the world of the 1800s. Do I really want to learn to knit? No. Would I do it to pretend I’m a debutant for a day? Yes. Fetch my carriage. Am...

6Feb

By Maddy PopeNo Comments

Creative Writing

A Future Nearby

We met in a riot. We stood at the centre of the universe bathed in colours that sang as we sang and fought as we fought. We were proud and wild and angry, at such a young age We had so much to feel And we felt so much. I noticed your fierceness. How your pink hair was held up by the honey sun Your green eyes glared at a world which closed its eyes when we got hurt for Being. We marched for the boy in hospital and for the boy who sat beside him. You brandished your sign to the sky and to God and it asked ‘how can you hate love?’ It was a carnival of pain and beauty. We held hands in the crowd like children Because we were children really. At twenty we had just introduced ourselves...

6Feb

By Rhea PatelNo Comments

Creative Writing

Touch and go

A sunset is ever-changing, Every minute of it revealing a new face, a new colour, a new sight. Oranges, pinks, and reds colour the sky, Merging to create a new painting every evening. Similarly, how sunsets are constantly altering, So are the people in our life. Every stage of our life contains different people compared with the last, It’s hard to understand that everyone isn’t going to stay. People are always passing by. But that’s okay, Because often through these short encounters with people we learn more about ourselves and we learn new lessons. And perhaps that is their only purpose in our life, The sun sets. And when the sun sets, The stars appear. They are now the light, the colours, and the new sight, But the thing is with stars is t...

6Feb

By Max FlemingNo Comments

Creative Writing

Isolation

We watch our friends find love. In a field or classroom, Whilst we sit in our chairs And watch the happiness of others. We watch our parents laugh. At the dinner table, Whilst we stare at our plate Wanting the affection of another. We watch strangers embrace. In the dim lit street, Whilst we hide in our rooms Isolating from the danger of others. We watch our siblings happy. With their normality, Whilst we stare in the mirror Wondering what is wrong with us. Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash