By Zeke Wallis I was so excited during those opening seconds: just a TV, but damn, it was stylish. Through a short series of clips, it established the date (1986), the location (Santa Cruz), our protagonist (reflected in the screen) and a central motif with ease and flare… Only for the very next shot to repeat half that information as superimposed text, like the film had immediately lost confidence in itself and in its audience. My boyfriend and I exchanged a look then and th

By Connie Blach Night two of SLAP Festival came to a rousing, emotional end with a performance of Softcore Boundaries, created and brought to life by Antonio Branco and Riccardo T. This multifaceted, interactive piece fascinates in the way it fluently witches between alienating and welcoming its audience. Moreover, it challenges the viewer to question why such a response has been elicited. Take, for example, the repetitive movement of hastily stripping naked, only to re-dress

By James McCrea On Friday 22 February, the John Cooper Studio on Monkgate appeared less like a performance space and more like an abandoned laboratory, in preparation for Samir Kennedy’s solo performance, Looks Like God. As such, the audience was presented with no context aside from Kennedy’s still body—mostly bare—in a nearly pitch-black room. A low-lying table separated him from the viewers, cordoned off by bright-yellow hazard tape. The air trembled with the sound of an am

By Catherine Kirkham-Sandy “A little nonsense now and then/ is relished by the wisest men.” The proverb actually predates Gilbert and Sullivan, but it sounds like something they had in mind. Like all the best nonsense, The Pirates of Penzance has a lot of intelligence behind it. Anyone with an interest in Victorian Britain, even without an interest in opera, would enjoy two Victorians making fun of their fellow Victorians for the same reasons we make fun of the Victorians. An

By Malin Nilssen I enter the Drama Barn to the smell of smoke and the sound of a female rapper producing a chill ambience. As I round the corner I feel as though I have walked into a student flat after everyone has left a party. This set the tone well for the cacophony of emotions and outbursts that were to follow in four people’s drunken, late-night talks. After a while, the play starts to feel like an extended sketch. I do not mean this in a negative way: it’s like someone

By Chloe D’Arcy Polly Stenham’s That Face first hit the stage in 2007 to great acclaim,  especially impressive considering it was Stenham’s debut. Now DramaSoc’s Ashley Milne has taken on the play for this weekend’s showcase (15-17 February). That Face is a play centred around family dynamics: Martha (Lucia Rimini) is the alcoholic mother spiralling into mental decline; Henry (James Chetwood) is the adoring son who drops out of school to care for his sick mother and gradually

By Zara Stubbs Laura Wade’s Breathing Corpses opens in a hotel room, where a body is found tucked inside the bed. With the entrance of Amy, played by Jessy Roberts, the black humour that permeates the play is dramatically unveiled. Yet, the combination of a fantastic script and talented actors ensured a genuine thread of emotional vitality underpinned every interaction. The narrative then swings backwards, its non-linear structure excellently managed as multiple strands inter

The intricate collagraphic pieces by the late artist Belkis Ayón captured my attention recently, and the more I read about them the more unknowable they become. Her work is instantly recognisable, for its deeply symbolic and often monochromatic composition. From Cuba herself, Ayón’s work reflects an interest in the urban mythology surrounding the secret Afro-Cuban society Abakuá; the society is all male, and, from reading interviews with Ayón, I still feel I know very little.

By Lucy Harte We Will Need Courage is a diverse debut album from London-based singer-songwriter Lauren Ray. From an international background, Ray has previously worked in the music industry with songwriters for well-known artists such as Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. Her own work, however, has been compared to the likes of Norah Jones – though perhaps a little less country. Short and sweet with a runtime of just 35 minutes, We Will Need Courage manages to still encompass a mixe

By Lucy Harte If Moulettes’ sound could be described in one word, it would be ‘intricate.’ Constantly challenging themselves, each song is vividly elaborate, from the detailed meaning behind every lyric to their harmonic, polished sound. Though previously compared to artists like Pink Floyd and Pentangle, the Brighton-based band encompass elements of folk, progressive rock and pop with their own unique style. All five members multi-task with multiple instruments: cello, basso

York Theatre Royal played host last night to the Birmingham Royal Ballet, performing their three-part piece paying homage to the work of Shakespeare in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death. Combining contemporary with classical, the evening showcased the range and beauty of ballet; consisting of traditional pieces with some modern twists, as well as a brand new work focusing on Shakespeare’s sonnets, titled Wink, the world premiere of which opened in Durha

The Black Box Studio in the University of York’s Theatre, Film and TV department was a suitably intimate venue for last night’s performance of 9 Million and Counting: a political documentary trilogy based around the Syrian refugee crisis. Intense and at points gruelling, the pieces successfully created a coherent and hard-hitting evening of theatre. The three-part show opened with Where The Heart Is, dedicated to the impact that the refugee crisis has had on children: not onl