WELCOME to the new Cowley Retreat pub – but you’ll have to retreat more than a mile to reach the Oxford suburb it is named after. The former Hobgoblin in Cowley Road, East Oxford, has renamed itself after Cowley, despite the fact the pub is not in or
IAN HUDSPETH, ejected from the Oxfordshire County Council cabinet last year following a leadership bid, has tonight won the vote to replace Keith Mitchell as head of the ruling Conservative group. Mr Hudspeth has beaten David Robertson in a
ABOUT 100 homes around Milton Heights were without power for almost four hours this afternoon. The lights went out at about 2.15pm and Southern Electric Engineers only managed to restore power by 6pm. Spokesman Ross Easton said: “We would like to apologise
DAMIAN FANTATO enjoys his break in Switzerland’s second city – well, why try to defy convention in Geneva? There’s something about the people of Geneva and their watches. I noticed it as soon as I left the airplane: they’re everywhere.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (12A) Sci-Fi/Action/Comedy. Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgard, Gwyneth Paltrow
KATHERINE MacALISTER meets the actor preparing to play the role of Oxford athlete Sir Roger Bannister Timothy Allsop laughs as we discuss his upcoming part in The Four Minute Mile, a play about Sir Roger Bannister’s famous world record in
As it prepares to mark its 30th anniversary year, SARAH MAYHEW previews some of the attractions coming to Oxfordshire Artweeks, which is bringing creativity to the county throughout next month. Hands up if you’re not exhibiting or attending
Curry Brothers TIM HUGHES and ED NIX, below, continue their quest for spice heaven IT is a truth universally acknowledged that most Indian restaurants are anything but. The chefs at your favourite curry house are more likely than not to be
TIM HUGHES talks to Jackie Singer of Oxford-based folk band Kismet THEIR name, in Turkish, means fate, which seems fairly appropriate considering that, after 10 years, they seem to have found their destiny as one of Oxford’s best-loved groups.
Singer-songwriter Martin Harley is not your average musician. Here he tells TIM HUGHES all about his adventures. IT’s not unusual to hear of a rock star getting high. But 18,000 metres up in the Himalayas? Well, that’s a different story.
TEENAGER John Clent has cooked a meal he hopes will be fit for the Queen. Woodgreen School and Springfield School pupils have entered a competition for the chance to prepare food for the Queen and Duchess of Cornwall. Yesterday, the eight students
BRAZEN burglars knocked a hole in the wall of an Oxford newsagent and then returned three times to fill a suitcase with cigarettes and cash. Despite neighbours in George Street hearing loud banging for about four hours, police were not called until the
11.03: Pennys Lexi 3, Ballistic Ruby, TRUE DAVEY, Lolly For Molly, Call It Paris, Shedfield View 2. 11.19: Lissycasey Shaz, Catunda Pompeii 2, Right Speed 3, ALL BLACK GUS, Royal Apollo, Munster Call. 11.34: Robeen Bound 3, Tiermana Ace, Be My Light
MORE than £9,500 has been raised by generous diners taking their meals for an Oxford charity’s Simply Supper appeal. And nearly a quarter of that total – £2,300 – was raised by a special event at the Leatherne Bottel, Goring. It is the third year Helen
JO JO Leatham discovered she had breast cancer when she was at her lowest ebb. But now cancer free, she and her sister Katharine Cookson are striding out to prove they are back ‘in the pink’. Ms Leatham, 49, and Mrs Cookson, 46, from Great Barrington
A CRICKET team famous for playing in extreme weather conditions were thwarted by the Oxfordshire rain. The Captain Scott Invitation XI have played around the world and their exploits have been chronicled in Penguins Stopped Play, Rain Men and Zimmer
AEA Technology 0.3 BMW 5834 Electrocomponents 224.8 Nationwide Accident Repair 68 Oxford Biomedica 4.1 Oxford Catalysts 49.5 Oxford Instruments 1243.5 Reed Elsevier 507.75 RM 86.25 RPS Group 236.4 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
EVERY best man’s worst nightmare actually happened to Derek Harraway when he dropped the wedding ring down a church grating. Luckily for Mr Harraway’s brother John, and his fiancée Betty Prater, another ring was found so the ceremony could go ahead at
CINEMA bosses at the Corn Exchange in Wallingford have launched a £55,000 appeal to buy a digital projector — and protect the historic building for the future. Since 1980, movies have been shown at the Grade II-listed building, the home of drama group
OXPOTS has been helping blind and visually impaired people enjoy pottery classes for 30 years. But with just enough cash in its coffers to keep going until the autumn, the Oxford group is hoping the Jubilee Fund for Oxfordshire could help protect its
THE family of father-of-three Stephen James paid tribute to him last night following his death in a car crash near Witney. Mr James, 47, from Brize Norton, died after his Vauxhall Vectra was in a collision with a Skoda Octavia on the A40 at Barnard Gate
ARTWORK by budding Kandinskys, Picassos and Banksys has gone on display at a Bicester school. Children aged five to seven from Brookside School, in Bucknell Road, were inspired by the work of famous artists to produce their own ideas. Children learned
A CHARITY helping injured servicemen and women is to receive a boost with a night at a top Oxford nightspot. The Lodge Gentlemans Club, in Oxpens Road, is holding a fundraising night tomorrow (Friday)for Help For Heroes, which works with members
WORK could soon begin on revamping a housing block which has sat empty for nearly a decade. Marywood House in Wood Farm, Oxford, was closed by Oxfordshire County Council in 2003 and residents have been frustrated it has remained unused for
Claire Lewis’s friendship with Colin Firth survived the day she poured coffee over his head and when she covered Radiohead’s Thom Yorke in chocolate the frontman remained sweet. Ms Lewis is the woman responsible for overseeing Oxfam’s campaigns with
An award-winning eco house in Oxford is first and foremost a lovely family home, according to its owner. Barbara Hammond, director of Low Carbon Oxford and architect husband David bought the end-of-terrace house in East Street, Osney Island, in 2000
A rare chance to own a riverside property in a historic market town is now available. Anyone wondering why Abingdon recently changed its name to Abingdon-on-Thames can find out when they view Riverside House. For the Grade II-listed property has 48ft
A man grabbed a buggy carrying a four-month-old baby during an argument with a 21-year-old man. The incident happened at about 3.30pm on Friday at Pegasus First School in Field Avenue, Blackbird Leys, Oxford. The father took hold of the buggy and left
Oxford City got their promotion challenge right back on track in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win at rain-soaked Frome Town. The victory sent Mike Ford’s men soaring up the table into second place behind
HARWELL head coach Lonsdale Gayle said hard work and responsiveness were the keys to their 100 per cent league campaign. The BB&O Championship winners recorded 22 victories out of 22 and Gayle now expects to do well in the Premnier Division. Gayle,
OXFORD Cavaliers will begin their Rugby League Conference West of England Division season with a trip to Gloucester. Cavaliers visit Gloucestershire Warriors on Saturday, May 12 before hosting Wiltshire Wyverns the following week. “It’s great for us
A Conservative MP has called on the Government to consider the use of subsidies in creating a “level playing field” to help Britain’s under pressure local press. Louise Mensch, the MP for Corby, said during a Westminister hall debate yesterday local
PENSIONERS John and Ruby Vinall were the first to use a new congestion-busting link road – on their bicycles. The pair waited patiently as the chairman of Countryside Properties Bicester, Lord Borwick, and county council leader Keith Mitchell
THE early opening of the new link road for Bicester is a great metaphor for the town. It may only be a mile and comparatively short in length, but it is the first in a series of infrastructure projects that have long been waited for. We have
FLANKER Derek Asbun was named Oxford University’s player of the year at their annual dinner. The American was consistently excellent in Oxford’s successful Varsity campaign. Scrum half Sam Egerton collected the most improved player award, while Heewon
A bid to create a free school at Heyford Park, Upper Heyford, near Bicester has gone onto the second stage of the application process. Representatives from the Heyfordian School Trust have been invited to the Department for Education on Wednesday to
FRILFORD Heath returned to winning ways at Burford in Section 1 of the Shaw Gibbs Oxfordshire Foursomes League. The closely-fought match saw Frilford recover from their defeat by Drayton Park with a 2½-½ win to go top. In the opening
THE funeral of hip-hop artist Aaron Buron will take place tomorrow, at James Street Church in East Oxford. Mr Buron, 29, known as AZ, died on March 31, after being stabbed in St Martin’s Road, Rose Hill. The 29-year-old’s funeral will
MORE than 60 members turned out to see Waterstock GC's four new captains drive into office. Geoff Aitken, the men's captain, was joined on the tee by Liz Styles (ladies), Ray Meyer (seniors) and James Mcgraw (juniors), where they were met by head professional
A PAINTER and decorator fought off two armed robbers before jumping out of a bedroom window to escape. Philip Walker, 53, was upstairs in his Didcot home when two hooded robbers with foreign accents burst into the room, demanding cash and drugs
DEBUTANTS Toyi Durotoye and Ashley Johnson were the stars as Radley won their opening match in the new joint Southern Athletics League at Horspath. Radley clinched their Division 2C clash by more than 50 points, with Durotoye and former Oxford City man
HENLEY led the way as more than 1,300 youngsters took part in the Oxfordshire Mini Rugby Festival at Wallingford. The under 9 to 12 competition featured a record 93 teams, with Henley taking the top titles in three age groups. CUP WINNERS Under 9A:
BICESTER secured promotion to Division 1 of the Oxon, Berks & Bucks Colts League after a 24-19 victory at Bracknell. Centre Charlie Nohre’s last-minute try sealed a bonus-point win, which guaranteed Bicester second place. Flanker Jack Horwod opened
Aston Rowant trainer Alan Hill reeled off a treble at the Kimblewick Hunt meeting at Kingston Blount, near Chinnor – with his 16-year-old son, Joe, landing a first double on two of the winners. It formed part of an across-the-card four-timer
OXFORDSHIRE got drenched yesterday as half-a-month’s rain fell on the county in one day. Met Office spokesman Sarah Holland said up to 25mm – about an inch – was predicted to fall on Oxfordshire by midnight last night. The monthly average is 51mm. More
OXFORDSHIRE’S Pauline Withey won the British Isles Ladies Open Championship without dropping a leg. She captured the crown by defeating Sussex’s Sandra Race 2-0 with an aggregate score of 10,650-5,890 in the final. In the earlier rounds, she beat Oxfordshire
AMERICANS living in Oxford who helped bring Barack Obama to power are again being invited to cast their votes. For the second time, Oxford will be one of the few locations in the UK where American Democrats will be able to physically cast their votes
POLISH war hero and long-standing Summertown resident Kazimierz Michalski, who has died at the age of 104, lived through some of the most turbulent events in recent history. Mr Michalski, of Thorncliffe Road, who died on April 12 on a visit to Poland
Rail passengers were greeted with free books on Monday night as part of Oxford’s World Book Night celebration. The tale on offer was Joe Simpson’s celebrated account of survival Touching The Void. The book recounts the mountaineer’s remarkable descent
I WRITE this letter on behalf of the residents living in Bayswater Road on Barton estate, who signed a petition against having 20 lorries a day going up and down Bayswater Road for the next 10 years, unless the council took out the humps. The council
PAUL Fernandez has no plans to take it easy after being Oxfordshire’s first man home in the Virgin London Marathon. The Abingdon Amblers star recorded a personal best time of 2hrs 33mins 43secs to finish in 80th place. But instead of
Today we talk to DrTaj Hargey, who is Imam of the Oxford Islamic Congregation WHAT I’M CALLED: Non-family people call me either Dr Hargey or Dr Taj. The latter name is commonly used by members of the Oxford Islamic Congregation and by students at the
Close your eyes and think of one well-known April phrase. It’s a wild stab in the dark but could ‘SHOWERS’ possibly be the answer? I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here (mainly because we are supposed to be saving it for our vegetables
OXFORD CITY St Georges Trophy: 1 N Giles +3, 2 D Callaghan +2 (cb), 3 C Keely +2. OXFORD LADIES Par Div 1: 1 C Whittle level, 2 J Glover -1. Div 2: 1 S Sadler level, 2 H Pennick -1. Allin Cup: 1 C Whittle level, 2 J Glover
I WOULD like to say a sincere thank you to a couple who, when I was in Witney on February 27, asked me if they could help. I was rather laden with shopping and asked if I was going far. I told them I was visiting my sister-in-law at Cedar Court care
Are we officially into the wettest drought on record? Has the person who instigated the hosepipe ban been sacked yet for misconduct? ALAN CROWDER Fruitlands Eynsham
AS FAR as the Kidlington High Street pedestrianisation is concerned, the lack of consideration by councillors will make High Street businesses suffer. The Lib/Labour controlled Kidlington Parish Council has made a financial blunder in pedestrianising
I COLLECT stories about sailors. If I say ‘HMS Collingwood’, many of your readers will show an interest. Commissioned in January 1940 when things were getting tough in the Second World War, Hitler claimed to have sunk it four times over the next few
IT IS impossible to feel lonely in Oxford. Today I have been called to the telephone five times by people who want to insulate my loft, three times by agents who will reclaim the payment protection insurance I never bought and once by someone who wants
PLANS for a 400-student international academy in Oxford have sparked calls for tighter controls on such institutions. Residents have pledged to fight the newly unveiled scheme, which would see three blocks built in Pullens Lane, Headington. Plans to
CHINNOR head coach Jason Bowers spoke of his pride at the campaign so far as he looked ahead to Saturday’s play-off. Bowers’s side host National 3 London runners-up Tonbridge Juddians for the right to play in National 2 South next season. Chinnor won
Manager Ady Fuller has called for no slip-ups as Banbury United seek the point at bottom club Cirencester Town tomorrow, which will secure their Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division status. He said: “We have got to make sure we are professional
YARNTON won the Inter-League Competition with a 2-1 victory over Kidlington in the final at General Foods Sports & Social Club, Banbury. Oxford’s hopes of a seventh successive crown ended with a 2-0 defeat by Kidlington in the semi-finals, while
BELIEF in Oxford United’s push for promotion is mounting across the world ahead of Saturday’s crucial match. The U’s take on Southend in the final scheduled home game of the season knowing that a win is desperately needed in the pursuit of
AJ Brown captured four titles at the Oxfordshire Short Mat Bowling Association’s finals day at the Regal Centre, Wallingford. He beat Roger Wiggins 9-7 in the singles final, and teamed up with Geoff Cross to take the pairs 9-8 against Les Woodward
HALLOWEEN may be six months away, but an Oxfordshire landmark has a scary new addition reflecting its spooky past. Legend has it a would-be king and his men were turned to stone by a witch and remain as The Rollright Stones, north of Chipping Norton.
A man arrested for allegedly defrauding Help for Heroes of up to £7,000 has had his bail extended. Thomas Richards, 25, of Witney, was arrested after money collected for the forces charity in Oxford allegedly did not reach its donations account. Yesterday
The Duchess of Cornwall will attend a freedom parade in Thame on Wednesday for forces personnel from RAF Halton. As their Honorary Air Commodore, the Duchess will receive the Freedom Scroll on behalf of the base, near Aylesbury. The event starts at 10.30am
Donations continued to soar yesterday in memory of a London Marathon competitor who was running for a Banbury charity. Some £677,444 had been pledged by more than 60,000 people to honour Claire Squires, 30, from Leicestershire as the Oxford Mail went
HOW are those fingernails? Oxford United face two tense weekends in the hope of keeping their play-off, and therefore promotion, dreams alive. The club has launched its #oufcbelieve campaign, asking people to put up their distinctive yellow posters
There’s something about the people of Geneva and their watches. I noticed it as soon as I stepped off the aeroplane: they’re everywhere. Most of the advertising space seems to be taken up by expensive watch brands (the rest is taken up by companies
TODAY’S battle to decide Oxfordshire County Council’s next leader was too close to call last night, according to insiders. Last night, backbench candidate Pete Handley dropped out of the election to replace outgoing leader Keith Mitchell.
Chris Wilder is looking for a hero on Saturday to keep Oxford United’s promotion hopes alive with a win against Southend United. A run of five games without a victory has seen the U’s drop out of the play-off places in npower League Two, meaning they
Rare butterfly species are winging their way back to Oxfordshire because of last year’s warm spring. Butterfly experts say the conditions last spring were perfect for the insects, which emerged weeks earlier than normal, as they appealed for people
My earliest memory of Watch Club, the junior branch of The Wildlife Trusts, was a pond dipping expedition. We sifted through handfuls of hairy, green weed to find creatures for the viewing tank: vigorous water boatmen and poised pond skaters
This picture of the old ferry of Bablockythe appears in Ferries of the Upper Thames by Joan Tucker (Amberley, £19.99. She has drawn from local history journals, websites and books to produce an account of the long- abandoned ferries, which played a vital
MORE THAN COWBOYS by Tim Slessor (Signal, £12.99) This book is subtitled Travels Through the History of the American West and Slessor knows the territory, writes Shelby Tucker. The BBC sent him there filming in 1961 and 1963, when he was “completely
Sir — Re the proposed new Pembroke College bridge (Report, April 12). Trinity College Dublin also has a glass-sided bridge which crosses a busy street. It is known as The Bridge of Thighs. Alison Bond, Boars Hill
Sir – I was interested to read your article (April 19) on the plan to extend the powers of the council wardens’ team. I agree with the city police commander that this is a good move. But could we go further? I would like the city council and the county
Sir – The plan to spend £100,000 on Witney town centre (Report, April 12) completely leaves out the High Street, where the paving slabs are very uneven. Money is wasted on places that are not as bad. The majority of people walk up and down High Street
Sir – It is true that Baron de Coubertin, who is credited with reviving the modern Olympic Games, came to England to learn about sport at English public schools (Weekend, April 19) about the link with Thomas Hughes who wrote Tom Brown’s Schooldays.
Sir – Bicester Village is a lovely shopping centre of high standards. Unfortunately, the adjacent Tesco store is a disgrace externally, with dead shrubs, seating areas a disgrace with cigarette ends; lovely trees in planters withering for want of irrigating
Sir – What no photograph of the egregious (Obs.) Mr Toady hobnobbing with Head Boy? Dining with right (sic) sort? (Gray Matters, April 19). Colin Prower, Radford
Sir – I wonder if your readers know of any local authority in the country that makes a better job of rubbish collection and recycling than West Oxfordshire? There certainly can’t be many! Bob Forster, Shipton-under-Wychwood
Sir – I am writing to highlight the escalating problem of parking cars in Abingdon. I work full time in the town, and have to park down by the river near the marina. I was horrified this morning, as I arrived at 8.30 and only just found space the other
Sir – Having read Daniel Emlyn-Jones’ letter (April 19), I am raising my head above the parapet to demonstrate my solidarity. I would sincerely hope that Christian marriage is not fundamentally based on procreation, I have been happily married for 30
Residents of a homeless hostel in Oxford City Centre are benefitting from free Internet and computer skills tuition, thanks to the dedication of volunteers. Homeless people usually have restricted access to computers and the Internet and so are extremely
Sir – I listened with interest to the parliamentary discussion about the possible re-location of our beloved railway station. However, nobody has yet to mention the obvious site for such a move. Surely it should be constructed next to the Bodleian Library
Sir – It seems a shame that The Oxford Times chose to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic with the loss of over 1500 lives by giving the oxygen of publicity to Robin Gardiner and his theory that the ship at the bottom of the Atlantic
Sir – Victor Brown, whose death was reported in The Oxford Times (April 12), was originally a volunteer with 252 (City of Oxford) ITAA Battery RA, TA, which was being raised in late 1938. He transferred to the OBLI somtimes after war was declared. In
Sir – In your update of the ‘Occupy Brookes’ action you report that the group is opposed to the ‘marketisation’ of education. Education has always had to be paid for so that lecturers such as Dr Lucy Ford, who apparently supports the protesters, are
Sir – It has been pointed out to me that my previous letter (April 5) might have given the impression that the museum authorities were at fault in not seeking planning permission for the various objects on the lawn in front. In fact they
Sir – While Mr Newhofer's letter in last week's edition may not have provided the illumination on the argument about academies he hoped for, he is absolutely right in concluding that, however a school is categorised, the learning and teaching within it
Sir – Readers can certainly cope with Frank Newhofer’s timely reference (Letters, April 19) to the educational works of Professor John Hattie, notably Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement’ (2008) and, hot off
Sir – On Thursday, April 19, I was travelling through the Hendreds on the A417 road between Wantage and Didcot. At a constant throttle setting of 40mph, the approved limit, I entered the dip between the two villages. Lo and behold at the bottom of the
Sir — I hope to add a bit of symmetry and reality into the debate which has become very polar. There are good drivers and good cyclists; on the other hand there are stupid drivers and stupid cyclists. What is not symmetrical is that when I am behind
Sir — While attempting to entertain some family members from Yorkshire this weekend I discovered how difficult it is to walk round Oxford and to reach the museums. Ignoring the ridiculous car parking arrangements in the city centre, we parked and rode
‘For the past decade and a half, if you spotted a poster offering a flashy-looking opera or ballet with an eastern European cast, in lavishly traditional costumes, with a real horse or a bare-breasted chorus… it’s probably her show.” This is The Scotsman
Drama group the Sinodun Players, which runs the Corn Exchange in Wallingford, relies heavily on the cinema to boost funds covering the cost of repairs. Now the Players face paying out £55,000 for a new digital projector and spending this lump
The improvements made to the night scene in George Street, Oxford, are welcome. It is not so many years ago that it was branded “vomit alley” in a national report on public health by Lord Krebs. Many older people were deterred from coming into that part
It is clear that when police officers put their minds to targeting a specific problem, that they can come up with some impressive results. So Chief Inspector Colin Paine deserves credit for the work he has done to reduce crime in West Oxfordshire. He
Where to begin? Dame Helen Mirren’s bra or how Claire Lewis’s friendship with Colin Firth somehow survived the day she poured coffee over his head. Given that we are not talking a mug but pints of the stuff, let’s go with the coffee.
Regular readers of this column (in both its print and online incarnations) may recall the bi-annual visits taken to the archives of the Russian Film Council. In the past, interested cineastes could purchase classic pictures via the company website. Now
Adapted from 19 year-old Matthew Lewis's 1796 anti-clerical Gothic masterpiece, The Monk takes director Dominik Moll into territory previously explored by Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière in a script that written in the 1960s but abandoned through
AN OXFORDSHIRE scientist is attracting international attention with his new theories about the world’s most famous maritime disaster. Richard Corfield, from Long Hanborough, has advanced new ideas about the role of science in the sinking of the Titanic
CYCLING around Oxford, Jessica Friend knows first hand the dangers faced from lorries. So she hit on an idea that the 22-year-old hopes will keep two-wheelers safe on the UK’s roads. The organisation behind the How’s My Driving? signs is backing her
The Ligeti Quartet is a group of young musicians dedicated to the performance of 20th- and 21st-century works. Their recital on Friday at the Jacqueline du Pré Building offered a generous and varied programme and showed why they are rapidly making a name
It was obvious from the word go that Avenue Q was something special, such was the expectant hush as the curtain went up and I realised I was definitely seated next to someone who’d been before, an ardent fan digging her nails into the seat in excitement
‘You’re going to another gathering of 60s oldies?” friends say, aghast. Yes, and, having been to a fair few, I can genuinely say that this was the best I’ve seen. The mixture of artists was less predictable than usual and all four of the main acts
The wonderful thing about eggs is that they are so versatile and can be turned into a tasty meal in no time at all. The eggs on sale at the new West Oxford Community and Farmers’ Market will be supplied by Gordon and Joy Lyall, from Mayfield Farm
Oxford dons decided not to be hustled and bustled about by it in the 19th century — and instead went on using their old Oxford Time when the rest of the nation accepted the introduction of Greenwich Mean Time. Even today Oxford’s largest college, Christ
A new Community and Farmers’ Market opens at 1pm on Friday week at the West Oxford Community centre, off Botley Road, thanks to the enterprising Caroline Casey, who is determined to stage an event that fulfils the need of another local community
More is less in Avengers Assemble, the special effects-laden amalgamation of four Marvel Comics franchises. Bringing together characters from Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk, Joss Whedon’s frenetic romp deftly knits together plot
Barbara Mercer has woven together a cornucopia of pictures, sculptures and videos to develop her twin themes in this very interactive installation. The themes are redemption and salvation through suffering and self-awareness, and Leonardo’s concept
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s hugely entertaining — and gleefully irreverent — revival of the rarely seen King John is a production full of surprises. Not the least of them is to find the eponymous monarch (Alex Waldmann) shaking a leg with King
It’s night time. It’s rainy. A gang of hooded youths race on bikes round their concrete jungle, run and leap over ledges, menacingly circle a pair of white-robed people walking mesmerically past. Lumps of rock glow on the pavement. Lumps of sugar
This is Piper at his best. More than 50 works spanning his career — quality loans besides — and the Abbey the perfect setting for John Piper and the Church, a show celebrating Piper’s great contribution to the development of modern art in British
William Golding’s morality tale Lord of the Flies is brought to the stage by new Oxford-based theatre company Eat My Box. The novel’s canonical status makes it a brave choice of first production, and the group have an even braver choice of locale
Not to be confused with the same composer’s On the Town, Leonard Bernstein’s musical Wonderful Town is surely a criminally neglected show. With razor-sharp, witty lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the story is of sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood
Neil Simon’s ‘breakthrough’ comedy Barefoot in the Park remains well-known for the 1967 film version starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford but is revived with surprising infrequency on the stage. ‘Surprising’ because it is a first-class play —
