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Year: 2017

UoM Women fall to late defeat

Written by Sam Cooper on . Posted in Sport.

On the first day of the Northern 2A 2017-18 season, UoM faced the visiting Liverpool John Moores at a wet and windy Armitage.

With the rain temporarily halting, the game got underway and Liverpool were the side who started strongest. Lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Liverpool hoped to get in behind the back four of Manchester and were routinely looking for space in the channels.

It was the away side that registered the first attempted goal, a looping effort that went over the bar. Liverpool were enjoying more of the possession but were looking unable to create anything with it, while Manchester were dangerous on the counter.

After absorbing the Liverpool pressure well, Manchester looked to spring a quick counterattack with Daisy Stewart managing to break clear, but her shot was wide of the post.

Despite Liverpool’s retention of the ball in the opening stages, it was Manchester who had the better chances. Stewart’s wide effort was followed by a blocked shot as the hosts looked to get ahead.

These efforts resulted in corners and UoM were finding some joy in these set plays. Aiming for captain Megan Clarkson resulted in a chance for Liv Abbott as Clarkson managed to head the ball towards goal, but Abbott was just unable to reach it before the keeper smothered it.

The first half progressed and the possession stats equalled out as UoM shook off any pre-season lag. They grew into the game and were creating more chances than the visitors. The corner count was rising as they continued to look for Clarkson but a well-timed tackle from Evie Foster stopped a dangerous Liverpool counterattack.

With 26 minutes on the clock, the away side registered their first shot on goal. It was a tame effort that was easily saved, but the away manager was pleased with the build-up play.

Back at the other end, UoM were inches away from being awarded a penalty. The foul was deemed to be just outside of the box and Stewart stepped up. Her effort hit hard but the power on the ball caused it to rise up and over the bar.

The half-hour mark passed and the Liverpool manager decided to swap his wingers in the hope of getting more joy. This was not to be though, as the sides ended the first half level.

The opening of the second half was markedly different for the hosts as they started on the front foot. With more dynamism to their play, they were looking to hurt Liverpool, and four minutes after the restart they got the game’s opening goal.

A beautifully weighted diagonal pass met the run of Elise Scalding who proceeded to calmly take the ball around the keeper and slot the ball into the empty net. It was a goal that UoM deserved in the opening periods of the second half.

A minute later, Manchester had a good chance to double their lead. The ball fell kindly to Stewart who found herself inside the Liverpool box but after controlling the bouncing ball well, she fired the shot over the bar.

After 15 minutes of Manchester being on top, Liverpool clawed their way back into it. The game passed the 65-minute mark with it once again being an even contest between the two sides despite Manchester’s goal advantage.

With it being the first game of the season, there was understandably some fatigue in the players of both sides.

Searching for that two-goal safety cushion, Clarkson looked to find Ester Guerzoni with a great lobbed pass but Guerzoni couldn’t make anything of it.

If Manchester were to get their second goal it was looking like it would come through the work of Guerzoni. A last-ditch tackle was required to stop a counterattack from her and after a questionable offside decision, the referee deemed Guerzoni’s attempt to be a miss rather than a save despite the Liverpool keeper clearly palming the ball away.

With 80 minutes on the clock, Liverpool got their equaliser. A corner not being cleared properly resulted in a goalmouth scramble and number 38 of Liverpool managed to prod the ball into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The Liverpool pressure was building as they decided whether to go for the win or stick with the one point they had.

Their pushing forward resulted in a very soft penalty going their way. More a tangle of legs than a foul but the referee, after much dubitation, pointed to the spot. Liverpool’s number ten set the ball down but saw her effort saved. A centrally hit low effort was grasped by keeper Caroline Strasenburgh as she saved her side from going 2-1 down.

The full time was drawing nearer but there was just time for UoM to be victims to a cruel slice of luck. A tame effort deflected off Katie Newton on its way to the net. The original effort was going to the bottom right of the goal but the deflection saw it change path to the bottom left and resulted in Strasenburgh being completely wrong-footed.

The goal was almost the last touch of the game, and UoM can count themselves hard done by with a 2-1 defeat.

After the game team captain Megan Clarkson said: “It was a difficult one as it was the first game back from summer. Standard wise, I think we’re up to it. It’s just getting to know each other as a team, knowing how each other play. That’s going to take time obviously.”

When asked about the difficult start, Clarkson explained it, saying “it was the first 10, 20 minutes that was really difficult. Just getting on our feet because a lot of the girls, as I said, haven’t played football with each other. It’s just figuring out how each other play and that came quite quickly I thought. Towards the end of the game, fatigue kicked in more than anything else.”

Despite the late defeat, Clarkson was keen to focus on the positives “I wanted to cry, it was really upsetting, but you learn from it. You don’t focus too much on the negatives, just on what you need to improve.”

Being called a Brat has never felt so good

Written by Nicole Lloyd on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

We can now say that our childhood fashion icons are now back, and have taken social media by storm. Bratz are no longer just an inspiration to tiny tots, but to the youngwomen of tomorrow. The brand with the mantra “It’s good to be yourself; It’s good to be Bratz” is back by popular demand, inspiring young girl’s wardrobes everywhere.

The #Bratzchallenge is trending across Instagram and Twitter, girls are trying their hardest to pay homage to the fantastic five-some. The new trend involves girls doing their makeup in the style of Bratz with dramatic eyebrows, full eyelashes, lip liner, glossy lips, and edgy clothing. Even celebrities have been compared to Bratz dolls over the years with the likes of people like kylie Jenner, Rihanna, The Spice Girls etc. Just a bunch of Bratz really. Looking like a doll is no longer just for Halloween.

Bratz is an American product line of fashion dolls and merchandise by MGA, originally consisting of four but later expanding to five dolls in 2015 (Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, Raya, Jade), they took over 40 per cent of the fashion doll market. The dolls rock fashion-forward clothing, always following pop culture trends closely.

The team behind the dolls are real-life fashion designers. They have designed for real people, including many famous faces, such as Cher. They’re commonly associated with big chunky platform boots, flared trousers, glitter and more glitter. Anything trending in fashion pop culture; you name it, Bratz have worn it.

It’s possible to get the Bratz look whilst keeping on the student budget. Brands such as NYX offer an array of high quality pigmented palettes, from Smokey eye to bright popping eyeshadow. Morphes 35 c and 35 b palette offer bright bold colours from greens to pinks if you’re looking to stand out, not to mention Morphe is in the holy grail of makeup bloggers eyeshadow palettes. You can’t forget the glossy lip accompanied by lip liner.

Brands such as Fenty Beauty, NYX, kiko, L.A. colors or even a £1 lip gloss, can get the job done. Glitter, glitter and more glitter cannot be forgotten, that blinding highlight is calling for you. Makeup revolution, Primark, kiko are examples of cheap but dazzling highlighters perfect for that bratz look. Just remember be inventive, be you, just put a little Bratz on it.

Balenciaga’s new meme: the CROC

Written by Ella Searle on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

It appears that Balenciaga’s desires to create the ultimate ‘ugly’ shoe were not fulfilled by the most recent unveiling of the ‘Triple S’ sneaker, and as a result, renegade creative director Demna Gvasalia has since delved further into the mass of forgotten fashion horrors to revive footwear’s equivalent of marmite: the Croc.

For his Spring/Summer 2018 collection, the Vetements creative sent 10cm platform reconfigurations of the rubber clogs in hot pink and canary yellow, paired with Balenciaga branded Jibbitz in various designs and vibrant colours including European flags, butterflies, and rubber copies of the house’s own logo.

Following a collection Gvasalia admitted he envisioned to be ‘More Demna, less Cristóbal this time’ (Cristóbal Balenciaga being the original founder of the Spanish fashion house). It is apparent that this Balenciaga collection is one that lays much closer to the practices and designs which skyrocketed his own brand Vetements to global popularity, through use of mutilations of archetypal garments and tongue and cheek humour by use of nomcore objects. Yet this season doesn’t only share aesthetical similarities between the two brands, but rather Gvasalia’s use of ‘click bait’ or ‘meme bait’ is prevalent in this Balenciaga collection more than ever.

This isn’t the first time that Crocs have been paraded down the runway to create intentional outrage and ridicule. Christopher Kane collaborated with Crocs for two seasons in 2016. Both owned by the luxury Kering group, one may say that rather than sharing a love for the rubber clog, both houses’ collaborations encapsulate the current shift in fashion where social engagement and shares arguably take precedence to actual design.

Being dubbed ‘a blatant play for social reactions’ by HighSnobiety’s Alex Rakestraw, it is easy to see why this brash ‘ironic’ Croc move by Balenciaga has caused mass frustration throughout the fashion world. The need to create a social stir is for many, turning the design process on its head, trivializing it by making a final product ‘reverse engineered’ from its desired social media reaction and therefore making it ultimately meaningless.

In a fashion age driven by Instagram, ostentatious style drives the need to document it rather than a need to wear it. After uploading an Instagram of a hyped product, there lies its end purpose. There is no after thought to the legacy of such designs. Thus for many, the Balenciaga Croc marks a nail in the coffin for this stagnant street wear aesthetic, and sees a classic house morphing further into a sister of Vetements that subjugate actual products to the mass social hysteria which surrounds it.

On the other hand, Gvasalia is a genius who is challenging what consumers understand as ‘luxury’ in such a capricious industry. But the only thing that can be objectively said about the Balenciaga Croc and Gvasalia’s reimagination of the Balenciaga house is that the conversation fails to die, and by doing so, adds to the mysterious allure that has seen him become a central force in fashion within the last 3 years. Whatever your opinion, it is clear that Gvasalia’s ‘meme bait’ is here to stay.

Top Five: Neo-Noir Films

Written by Lucas Hill-Paul on . Posted in Film.

5. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A surprising entry, yes, but this neo-noir ditches the nihilism of more traditional detective features in favour of an erratic, immature and charming gangster musical with a cast of brilliant kids. Bugsy Malone has to be the best noir comedy readily available, and though Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is arguably funnier, the authentic setting, costumes and accents of Prohibition-era are just too picture perfect to ignore.

Featuring iconic songs that encapsulate the sleazy jazz of speakeasies, gangsters with peculiar quirks (who could forget Fat Sam or Knuckles?) and female characters that somehow embody the femme fatales of the best noirs without it ever becoming creepy.

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Bugsy Malone tributes the texture and setting of noirs, while Pulp Fiction perfects the style of its dialogue, whilst adapting the innuendos and verbal jousting for a modern tone. Though Jackie Brown may be more traditionally noir, taking the Blaxploitation genre so maligned in the 1970s and legitimising it, Tarantino has yet to top his acerbic, narratively complex and darkly hilarious love letter to, well, pulp fiction.

Samuel L Jackson truly emerges as a star during the infamous breakfast scene, but it is Uma Thurman who shines through as a deconstruction of the self-destructive femme fatale. Its direct references to Kiss Me Deadly and classic Hollywood in Jack Rabbit Slim’s only further cement Pulp Fiction as the ideal modern counterpart to traditional film noir.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)

David Lynch loves Hollywood just as much as Tarantino, and, while this is never more obvious in the forever debated Mulholland Drive, it’s hard to argue with Kyle Machlachlan and Laura Dern playing kid detectives (undoubtedly an influence on Rian Johnson’s Brick), a sultry, tragic performance from Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper’s career-defining performance as the chilling, psycho-sexual Frank Booth.

Whilst other films in the genre manage to emulate the noir style authentically, Lynch manages to bring neo-noir back to its German Expressionist roots. Mad lighting and eccentric colour make for challenging viewing, and Lynch’s signature surrealism is at its best and most restrained.

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 5th December 2017.

2. Se7en (1995)

David Fincher has become the king of the modern noir. Though Zodiac and Gone Girl’s places on the list would be well-earned, they lose points for their glossiness and the fact that they’re based on previously existing material. Though I can’t help but notice a similarity between it and The Abominable Dr Phibes, Se7en is wholly original and still just as shocking now as it was 22 years ago.

Despite it leaning less heavily on traditional noir tropes, it’s all the more brave for abandoning its reliance on a conventional Hollywood narrative, taking the classic detectives of the seedy 30s and 40s into an even more bleak modern setting. A neo-noir for sure, but also an evolution of the genre.

The David Fincher produced Mindhunter is now available on Netflix.

1. Oldboy (2003)

If Se7en is the evolution of noir, Oldboy is the culmination. In stark contrast to Bugsy Malone, Park Chan-Wook embraces the nihilism central to the post-war film noir movement and spins it into a twisting and enthralling mystery. Oh Dae-Su becomes a reluctant detective thrust into hopeless entanglement and violence, revealing dark secrets and horrific crime.

Playing out like a deeply cynical and disturbed hardboiled mystery novel, Oldboy features all the elements a noir film should yet relies solely on its own vision, only subtly referring back to the aesthetic, dialogue and tropes of the classic genre. Solidifying South Korea as a hot property for darkly subversive and disturbing cinema, Oldboy defined its era by dragging it through the mud. Troubling and unrelenting, it feels only natural that noir would come to this.

Park Chan-Wook’s The Handmaiden is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Stop trying to sell me feminism

Written by Jacklin Kwan on . Posted in Opinion.

Walk into Harvey Nichols and you will see that Dior has recently released a new line of t-shirts that have the bold slogan: “We Should All Be Feminist” — the t-shirt retails for around £500. Turn on the television and you will see commercials for tampons that make them sound like the new symbols of female liberation. Do a quick search on Google and you will find endless results by Buzzfeed that list “Feminist Items You Need For Your Home Immediately.”

When did things become so ludicrously absurd?

There’s been a dramatic shift in the cultural attitude towards the feminist movement since its first-wave conception in the late 1800s. What used to be a deeply offensive idea, the idea of women being owed political, economic, and social equality, has now taken a spotlight in mainstream consumerist society.

Any product that has any relation to women whatsoever, such as make-up, high heels, household decor, or clothing, is angled and sold as ‘feminist’. It is interesting to note that many of these goods were seen in the late 90s to be tools of patriarchy that were all meant to channel the attention, esteem, and hard-earned capital of women into frivolous hobbies that distracted them from challenging male superiority.

It is clear that the products themselves have not changed, but in a brilliant marketing move, our perceptions of them have.

These consumer products are incredibly problematic in many ways. Firstly, they tend to dilute the feminist message into depoliticised slogans that emphasise individual spiritual liberation rather than structural reform. You will never see advertisements for makeup that depict women being harassed on the street or even in the workplace on the basis of their image.

Instead, makeup advertisements are geared towards messages of ‘feeling confident and empowered’. It boils feminism down from a harsh protest against institutionalised gender discrimination to trivial and patronising affirmations of self-improvement. Sexism goes from being a wide social problem to one centred around the self-esteem of individuals.

This deep misrepresentation of obstacles facing women causes people to trivialise and dismiss the feminist message. And women are taught that their feelings of isolation and alienation from their society are caused by their own shortcomings rather than centuries of exclusion.

Furthermore, this distortion causes an anxiety that can only be solved through consumption. Commercials tell women to realise their desire for equality by buying products, otherwise their empowerment may not be valid. People are told that the most meaningful way they can express their support for feminism is through buying a t-shirt with a slogan on it.

This trend of ‘conspicuous consumption’, i.e. consumption meant to be seen and validated by other people, capitalises on our anxieties to be socially recognised as morally progressive without demanding any profound, impacting change. Every second spent engaging in this spectacle would be a second spent broadcasting reductionist pseudo-feminist values and not demanding deeper reforms.

Also, let us not forget that this feminist re-branding often veil deeply misogynistic institutions. Dove launched a ‘Real Body’ campaign that aimed to increase body positivity amongst women, but Dove is owned Unilever which also objectifies women to sell pubescent boys Axe deodorant.

When this hypocrisy is allowed to exist, there is no pressure for the system of gender inequality to change. Corporations will continue to superficially subvert gender roles with one hand whilst perpetuating those same prejudices with the other simply to turn a profit. The hypocrisy makes it harder to recognise and thus dismantle harmful establishments.

Whilst I am sure that the individual people working at these corporations are not malicious in any way, issues as complex and as insidiously damaging as sexism just do not belong in a 40-second ad that also has the goal of selling you denim jeans.

It is not just feminism that has been affected by unavoidable commodification. Other civil rights groups like the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement rightly condemned a Pepsi ad that starred Kylie Jenner apparently solving centuries of state violence against minorities by giving the police a can of soda. The question then becomes why corporations are allowed to treat female victim-hood in the same condescending and grossly reductionist tone.

It is time that we fiercely reject the watered-down, depoliticised versions of feminism being fed to not only our generation, but to the ones even younger.

Young boys must be taught the gravity of suffering their counterparts encounter, and how to best support the women in their lives. Young girls must be taught that the greatest response to the bigotry of the systematic discrimination they will face is not through what they buy but through who they are, what they want, what they’ve done, and most importantly, what they will do.

 

HOME Cinema Preview: 13th October

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Film.

Films opening at HOME this week:

Happiness

Directed by Aleksandr Medvedkin – Rated 12A

Happiness comes in a variety of strange forms; here a peasant dreams of becoming Czar, eating his fill and spending his time doing nothing. With its bizarre satirical slapstick, Medvedkin’s film offers an unforgettable antidote to the socialist realist style that was developing within Soviet cinema at the time.

Click here to book tickets

The Snowman

Directed by Tomas Alfredson – Rated 15

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit, the policeman must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall. The latest thriller from Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), The Snowman is based on Jo Nesbø’s global bestseller.

Click here to book tickets

The Party

Directed by Sally Potter – Rated 15

Sally Potter’s (Orlando) latest feature is a comedy wrapped around a tragedy which unfolds in real time in an upmarket London house. Janet is hosting an intimate gathering of friends to celebrate her promotion to Shadow Minister of Health in the party of opposition. Her husband, Bill, seems preoccupied. As their friends arrive, the soirée gradually unravels. As people’s illusions about themselves and each other go up in smoke, along with the canapés, The Party becomes a night that began with champagne but ends with blood on the floor.

Click here to book tickets

Loving Vincent

Directed by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman – Rated 12A

Co-directors Kobiela and Welchman explore Vincent van Gogh’s most inspirational paintings to tell the story of his remarkable work, career and his untimely and controversial demise. A synthesis of painting and cinema, this is a lovingly crafted, intelligent and informative work.

Loving Vincent will also be screening as part of Manchester Animation Festival on 15 Nov 20:15.

Click here to book tickets

Films continuing this week:

Blade Runner 2049

Directed by Denis Villeneuve – Rated 15

Thirty years after the events in Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi, a new Blade Runner, LAPD Officer K (Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Deckard (Ford) who has been missing for 30 years. Acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) delivers perhaps the most eagerly anticipated film of the year.

Click here to book tickets

 

Daphne

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns – Rated 15

Scottish filmmaker Peter Mackie Burns marks his transition into features with this tightly focused, remarkably authentic character study of brittle 31-year-old Londoner Daphne (Beecham). Daphne has ‘sort of given up on people’ as she goes through the motions of her busy life, working as a cook in a London restaurant and through a series of drug-fuelled hook-ups. She resists genuine intimacy in her few friendships and rejects her mother attempts to engage. When she witnesses a violent robbery, she’s thrown into chaos and finally begins to confront the person she’s become.

Cut from the same explicit, ironic, confessional cloth as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s internationally successful BBC TV series Fleabag, Daphne offers us a female protagonist who can be as fiercely unlikeable as she is compelling to watch.

Click here to book tickets

In Between

Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud — Rated 15

In director Maysaloun Hamoud’s remarkable feature debut, three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv find themselves doing the same balancing act between tradition and modernity and citizenship and culture.

Click here to book tickets

God’s Own Country

Directed by Francis Lee — Rated 15

Johnny, a young sheep farmer from Yorkshire, has sacrificed his own life choices to run the family farm. As lambing season approaches, much to Johnny’s initial resentment, migrant worker Gheorghe is hired to assist. Gheorghe proves he not only understands this farming life but more importantly, he understands Johnny.

Click here to book tickets

Special Events:

October 14th – Tsar to Lenin

Directed by Herman Axelbank – Rated 15

First released in 1937, Tsar to Lenin ranks among the twentieth century’s greatest film documentaries. Using archive footage assembled over more than a decade, Tsar to Lenin presents an extraordinary cinematic account of the Russian Revolution – from the mass uprising which overthrew the Tsarist regime in February 1917, to the Bolshevik-led insurrection eight months later that established the first socialist workers’ state, and the final victory in 1921 of the new Soviet regime over counter-revolutionary forces after a three-year-long civil war. Tsar to Lenin bears witness to a moment in history when socialist ideals inspired the greatest twentieth century revolutionary movement.

This screening will be introduced by Chris Marsden, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party and writer for the World Socialist Web Site.

Click here to book tickets

October 14th – The Overcoat

Rated 12A

Based on the work of Gogol and directed by Kozintsev and Trauberg, leading lights in FEKS (The Factory of the Eccentric Actor), The Overcoat is a great example of the creative spirit present in 1920s Soviet cinema and fantastically showcases its directors’ delight in revelling in the grotesque.

Click here to book tickets

October 14th – New Babylon

Rated U

Another strikingly original film from the FEKS duo of Kozintsev and Trauberg, New Babylon – named after the department store where its central character works – is a love story set amongst the events of the Paris Commune of 1871.  Jay Leyda called it a ‘consistently magnificent climax to the silent films of Kozintsev and Trauberg’.

Please note, this print has no soundtrack.

Click here to book tickets

October 15th – The End of St. Petersburg + Live Accompaniment

Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Doller – Rated PG

The End of St. Petersburg was planned to grace the 10th anniversary of the Revolution. The director’s plans were ambitious: Pudovkin wanted it to cover the two centuries of the city’s history. In the end, the film is a boots level narrative about a naïve youth who is forced to seek work in the city.

HarmonieBand have an international reputation for presenting specially composed scores for silent films. Paul Robinson’s score for this silent classic was presented in September in Eindhoven’s Plaza Futura and the Amsterdam ‘Eye’.

Click here to book tickets

October 15th – Chapayev

Directed by Georgi Vasilyev, Sergey Vasilyev – Rated PG

Produced by the Lenfilm studio, this legendary account of the heroics of a Red Army Chapayev is both an intense story of sacrifice and a clear example of Soviet propaganda. Upon its release it became something of a cultural phenomenon and was described as a ‘genuine and very fruitful experiment in film art’ by the critic Roger Manvell.

Click here to book tickets

October 16th – The Night of Truth

Directed by Fanta Regina Nacro – Rated 18

In her poetic and visually stunning feature debut, director Fanta Régina Nacro has no qualms about portraying extreme violence while leading her story to an unexpected bid for peace. Set in an unnamed country racked by a decade-long genocidal civil war, The Night of Truth tells the story of the efforts of the opposing community leaders to overcome their differences.

Come the Revolution is a collective of curators, programmers and creatives from Bristol and Birmingham committed to exploring and challenging black life, experience and cultural expression through cinema.

Click here to book tickets

October 17th – Made in Hong Kong

Directed by Fruit Chan – Rated 15

This sensitive remastering of writer and director Fruit Chan’s landmark 1997 Hong Kong independent film retains all of its style and impact. With a career-making central performance from Sam Lee as Moon, a down on his luck teenager trying to make ends meet in the marginalised neighbourhoods of a Hong Kong on the cusp of great change, Made in Hong Kong offers a sobering alternative to the slick genre films the city was renowned for.  Winner of Best film at the Hong Kong film awards.

Click here to book tickets

October 18th/19th – My Pure Land

Directed by Sarmad Masud – Rated 15

This impressive first feature from Sarmad Masud is based on a remarkable true story. Told in told in partial flashbacks it reveals how a mother and her two daughters try to protect their remote Pakistan home, picking up machine guns to fight off a virtual army of armed men.

Click here to book tickets

October 19th – Ordinary Heroes

Directed by Ann Hui – Rated 15

One of the most original voices to emerge from the Hong Kong new wave of the late the 1970s, Ann Hui is now a major figure in global cinema. Ordinary Heroes is one of her most engaging works, utilising a challenging formal style to explore the history of Hong Kong’s political activists since 1970s. Winner of Best Film at the Hong Kong film awards and at Taiwan’s Golden Horse awards.

Click here to book tickets

Album Review: Liam Gallagher – As You Were

Written by Yasmin Duggal on . Posted in Music.

The first listen of Liam Gallagher’s album feels more like a highly anticipated cultural event than an album release. Social media has magnified speculation and excelled expectation, heightened by the Britpop star’s curious Twitter ramblings. There was much anticipation as to whether the album would be a half-arsed, rehashed Oasis or a replica of less successful Beady Eye material.

Good news: it’s neither.

People may have expected the ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’, larger-than-life Liam to dominate the record with brazen lyrics, and a hard-faced attitude. The 90’s lad-about-town persona does saturate the undertones of the album, though this record does more than cling onto the audacity of Definitely Maybe. Rather, it reflects upon this, demonstrating maturity and nostalgia, sometimes reminiscent of 90’s neo-psychedelia.

‘Wall of Glass’ and ‘Greedy Soul’ show off Liam’s raspy tones, a nod to his former self but a breath of fresh air on the album, in amongst ‘Champagne Supernova’ – esque apologies in the form of the beautifully sentimental ‘For What It’s Worth’. On first reflection it seems to be an expression of regret to Noel and their relationship, but when read deeper seems to address two decades of apologies for being Liam Gallagher.

“Look for the girl, the world is surreal” begins ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ style track, ‘When I’m In Need’, as Liam himself strums away on the acoustic. It’s a sign of the latter half of the album which draws upon country, Rolling Stonesy blues elements, like the upbeat ‘You Better Run’ and ‘I Get By’, the originality of which compliment the brilliant Gallagher-ness of other tracks.

Lyrics are questionable at times, despite Liam seeking help for the record — we don’t blame you Liam — you never claimed to be the brains behind Wonderwall. ‘Chinatown’, though drawing us into Liam’s captivating world, borders on the ridiculous with rhymes including ‘Telephonic doses, eliminate neurosis’. There’s a few instances of reusing age-old Oasis metaphors usually relating to the sun and sky, but the music is spot on and the vocals cannot be faulted.

As a cohesive piece of listening it flows remarkably well, the tracks arranged in a form which undulates between mellow acoustic and rumbling electric, experimenting with genres and dabbling in unexplored forms. Credit to you Liam Gallagher — you’ve lived up to your ‘Bold’ roots, whilst appealing to more than niche Oasis fans with thought-provoking tracks.

We love you Liam. Don’t ever change.

 

8/10

Live: The Howl and The Hum at NBHD Festival

Written by Olivia White on . Posted in Music.

The Howl & The Hum are a York-based alt-rock quartet who opened Neighbourhood Festival 2017. They were the first performers at the Deaf Institute, and I genuinely could not have chosen a better band to begin the day myself.

I find it very difficult to compare the Hum to any other modern band that I have seen, as their live performances are second to none. Intense, compelling, and atmospheric are the three words that I would use to describe this potent quartet. Frontman Sam Griffith’s vocals ooze warmth and safety yet are underpinned by a curious element of insanity which comes to light in songs such as ‘Manea’ and ‘Murder’ coupled with his impulsive and impassioned body flinches.

Griffiths is accompanied by the musical efforts of his fellow band members, fusing together to create a spine-tingling and extremely emotive composition. Given the intimacy of the gig, this resounded off each wall to create a thick sweeping blanket of emotion, infusing the air with what I can only describe as electrifying nostalgia. T

he unfeigned lyrical style of The Howl and the Hum accompanied with the progressive structure of their songs is really where the treasures of this band can be found. The 4-piece utterly submerged themselves in the pure, raw and gritty ambience that radiated from their combined efforts and this could be seen in their perfectly synchronised movements which filled the stage. To quote a friend I met there, “I can’t tell whether the pounding in my chest is from the drums or if it’s my own heartbeat.”

This leads me onto their single ‘Godmanchester Chinese Bridge’, Which features on their newest EP (also named after the single). Honestly, I could have written my entire review on The Howl and the Hum’s performance of this song alone as it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I will never forget the day I stumbled across them and heard it for the first time, with lyrics that parallel a heart to heart exchanged between two old lovers. Sam guided the audience through an intensely profound journey of heartbreak and sentimentality before dropping an explosion of guitar laced with Sam’s eerie repetition of “and if you’re lost, I will be waiting.” ‘Godmanchester Chinese Bridge’ is an incredibly evocative, nostalgic and melancholic song that leaves you missing someone you’ve never even met.

Words can’t begin to convey just how special The Howl and the Hum are live, don’t miss out on the next big upcoming modern band.

 

9/10

Review: Impractical Jokers

Written by Tara Bharadia on . Posted in Arts.

Comedy group, The Tenderloins — more commonly known as the Impractical Jokers — have returned to Manchester to kick off their tour after mere months since their UK debut back in January. Sal, Murr, Joe and Q delighted the audience again and again with their own special brand of improvised humour.

The show was opened by comedian and actor, Steve Bryne. Aside from his previous accolades — such as opening for Kanye West — Byrne has also been friends with the Jokers for many years so it seemed the obvious choice that he should open for them on the UK leg of their tour.

It is fair to say that crowd wasn’t exactly with him at the start, with a few scattered titters from the audience. This may be because of the cultural differences and his Trump jokes not exactly causing stir, however he soon cottoned on and realised that audience participation was the way to our hearts and laughs. The picking of audience members to join him on stage as part of his ‘boy band’ was a delight to watch and his trademark to-the-point humour came into light here — as well as the 4 men giving a lady the best lap dance of her life!

The moments before we get to see the Jokers, a clip of all their best moments from the show is played and then we are welcomed a group who seem honoured to be welcomed by a standing ovation, before they’ve even said anything. Even if this is not your type of humour, you are sure to be amazed by the connection between the Jokers and their fans. Part of this definitely comes from the fact they come across as exactly the same as they do in their show, and therefore when you see the joy they bring their fans, you realise the connection is very rare.

The show as a whole is brilliantly concocted of a mixture of moments: from rehearsed anecdotes, improvised grilling’s of begrudging audience members and behind the scenes clips of the show. The video clips were a sure favourite of mine and everyone else, if anything it allowed us to see how the friendships of The Tenderloins has remained the same over the years only to be lovingly put under the spotlight by Comedy Central.

When they asked the audience how many of them had been to a show of theirs before, a lot of hands went up, much to the surprise of first-timers — like myself. They used this to segue into moments in previous live performances where people have seen them before and then began to tell elaborate and almost unbelievable tales about fans that became friends — however all of these were backed up with photo evidence, making the stories all the funnier.

The second of the two standing ovations that the Jokers received came nearer the end of the show, when they said that they were donating all proceeds made tonight back into our great city via the We Love Manchester Fund — set up following the Manchester Arena bombings to support the victims and the families.

This humbling moment from the group really touched everyone in the audience and you could tell that every word about how they loved our city, was true. This emphasised the clear value they have to preserving the joy of live entertainment and performance, and was a testament to their showmanship.

It was clear to see everyone enjoyed the night however if shows that don’t follow a particular structure, aren’t your cup of tea, this is not the one for you. What makes the Jokers special is the fact that their minds are racing towards several ideas at once and those moments are unique to each show.

The show as a whole was certainly one of pure energy and excitement; seeing their own brand of comedy, live and evolving in front of my eyes was a real treat, and the energy that they brought out was electric and instantly mirrored by the audience.

How to detox after a heavy weekend

Written by Sophia Macpherson on . Posted in Lifestyle.

As I’m sure is the case with many, I approach the weekend with a positive and productive attitude towards studying, only to wake up on the Monday still wallowing in the pits of a hangover having completed virtually nothing. Having reached my final year of university, I find that there is no way of avoiding those weekends. They are bound to happen being a student, being young, and being in Manchester — arguably, the best city for nightlife in the UK. And so, as much as you tell yourself you won’t do it again, the best solution is just to find a solution to those impending hangovers.

Realistically, when hungover, there is very little that you want to do and that you will do. Luckily, you don’t have to endure that head-pounding hangover more than once. To all those out there, like me, who want to feel better whilst making minimal effort, here are some tips for your road to recovery.

 

Keep the drinks flowing! And by drinks — I mean water. Seems simple but I am a victim to forgetting how important it is. All alcohol does is dehydrate you and so the easy answer is to go where you get the most hydration — H20!

Cleanse with herbal teas. Teas like camomile, fennel, mint will help when you feel your tummy is churning. For smokers out there who suffer that dry throat the next morning — lemon, ginger and manuka honey will get your voice back and that cough going.

Sweat, sweat, sweat! Whether this means going for a run or whatever it is people do in the gyms, getting your body going and your blood pumping means more circulation of oxygen to your brain. The more you sweat — the more you get rid of those toxins. Tip: my personal favourite is going to the steam room and just sweating it all out there.

Let your body rest. Whilst this seems like the last thing you should do when you have countless of things unfinished, it is vital. Even a short 20-minute nap can sort you out for the rest of the day and then make sure to get an early night later on.

Ice green tea. Although this is a personal remedy, it has never failed me. Two glasses of ice-cold green tea will make you feel reborn — green tea helps with nausea and headaches and the cold temperature wakes you up.

Do I have to pay council tax?

Written by Rebekah Ollerenshaw on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Renting a house for the first time is exciting, but there can be lots of different bills to deal with. One bill you might not have to pay is your council tax bill.

Council tax is a fee charged by local councils to help fund their services. However, not everyone is obliged to pay it. If you are a full-time student, then you do not have to pay council tax. This includes periods when you are on interruption, providing you intend to return to the course.

But just because you’re exempt, doesn’t mean you don’t need to tell the council. If you live in one of the following postcodes: M1, M4, M8, M9, M11, M12, M13, M14, M15, M16, M18, M19, M20, M21, M22, M23 and M40, then search for council tax on this website and complete the online form for students.

Some students will need to collect a paper exemption certificate from the university. If you live in a postcode that is not listed, you are an international student with dependents living with you, or if you are a postgraduate research student awaiting your visa, then visit the Student Services Centre (number 57 on the campus map) for an exemption certificate.

Unfortunately, part-time students and non-students do have to pay council tax. However, if you live with full-time students and are the only person in the house that is liable to pay council tax, then you will receive a 25% discount. The full-time students you live with do not have to contribute towards this cost.

If you are a part-time student on a low income or if you are entitled to government benefits, then you might be eligible for council tax support to help you pay for it. Contact the Students’ Union Advice Service for more information on this and any other housing issues.

Squatter hell for Salford students

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News, Opinion.

A group of students in Salford have been forced to share their home with a squatter in a nightmare housing dilemma.

The close-knit group of friends had received confirmation that three tenants would be staying in their Mildred street property over the summer, however, plans were complicated when one male tenant refused to vacate the property.

The man, who has been described as “very defensive” was first noticed by students who were moving back into the property at the start of September.

The individual has declined to pay rent, yet remains in the house, seemingly indefinitely.

The ordeal has meant a second year International Business student has been unable to move in and is now resigned to living at home in Eccles.

Although the student’s rent has been waived, the group of friends are understandably frustrated at being split up.

One of the flatmates’ told The Tab,“I just think it’s disgusting. He knows full well that the five of us all found the house to live together as a five.”

Due to the current terms of the law, the man cannot be pressured to leave at any time, despite the possibility of a 6-month prison sentence.

There have been consistent calls to modify what many see as inconsistent and ineffective laws on squatting rights.

The group have reported the issue to their lettings agents, but in the meantime cannot hope to have any influence over the man himself, who remains in their home.

As reported in The Tab, the group of friends attempted to question him over his situation but said he began shouting and behaving in a defensive manner.

The risk of squatting is a worry for many students moving into housing for the first time, especially in Manchester, where the presence of three universities sees an annual rush for houses, usually beginning as early as November.

And finding alternative arrangements is increasingly difficult, with a scarcity of options available – especially as renting in a group is fundamental to finding affordable accommodation options.

Free speech needs to be protected at universities

Written by Will Phillips on . Posted in Opinion.

Free speech has certainly proved to be a contentious issue over recent years and this is especially true on university campuses.

A report by Spiked earlier this year highlighted the astonishing levels of censorship existing across universities all over the country. The study showed that at most universities, ideas and free speech have been actively censored on campuses.

Here at Manchester, we have had our own issues with prohibition of free expression, with the Charlie Hebdo magazine being banned from the Refreshers’ Fair in 2015. In the current climate, a satirical, albeit controversial publication should be heralded as fundamental for the liberal cause against growing extremism over the world, not cited as offensive.

This week, Balliol College at the University of Oxford banned Christian Union representatives from having a stall at its freshers’ fair, due to concerns over the harm it could inflict on freshers. This was a clear violation of religious freedom and freedom of expression and did nothing to dispel the myth that students cannot tolerate diversity of thought.

Linda Bellos, a lifelong equal rights campaigner and key figure during the 1980’s feminist movement, was last week uninvited from speaking at Cambridge university because of her views on transgender politics. If an equal rights campaigner, who for decades has fought for the defence of minority rights cannot discuss potentially contentious views, then we really have reached a troubling level of censorship.

The list is endless and is a disappointing indictment of the current culture of ‘safe-spaces’, no-platforming and banning-frenzies that appear to have taken hold at some of the top universities in the world. After all, if you can’t discuss controversial issues at an institution designed to foster the free exchange of ideas, then where can you?

Freedom of speech is of course not an excuse to allow hate speech, but a regrettable conflation of hate speech and offence has occurred. Offence is subjective, what one may find offensive, others may find enlightening, perhaps even amusing. The sooner we treat students as individuals who are capable of forming their own opinions and not as belonging to certain groups who take offence as a collective, the better.

As students we should be objecting to such blatant denial of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. Whether we agree with a view or not, it is not down to the will of a small group to prevent a debate from being held. As a politics student I was in fact pleasantly surprised to see that a large portion of fellow students believe in uncensored free speech and the right to espouse even provocative views.

This suggests that the problem of censorship is not necessarily an issue of a monolithic ‘snowflake’ student bloc, rather, controlling and out of touch Students’ Unions.

It is not just Students’ Unions though that actively seek to undermine liberal values, it is also clear that universities themselves have engaged in active censorship of unpalatable ideas. It was here at Manchester that a Jewish Holocaust survivor had the title of her speech censored upon order by the Israeli embassy.

Facilitated by the University of Manchester, the speech entitled: ‘You’re doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to me’ was labelled “unduly provocative” and the speaker Marika Sherwood was forced to alter the title and tone of her address.

Problems of political correctness ultimately pose a threat to academia. Recently, Bath Spa University’s ethics committee prohibited James Caspian from writing a potentially significant thesis on transgender people who had undergone surgery and then regretted the decision, due to its potential to cause offence.

In circumstances like this it is not just free expression which is threatened, but also the welfare of the transgender community. No one knows as of yet whether this research could prove to be a vital step in preventing post-surgical suicide, but because of pressure within universities to avoid offence at all costs, it is unlikely any advances will be made.

Such a state of affairs in educational institutions is worrying. We come to university to debate, to be challenged and to expose ourselves to new ways of understanding society. We may even concede that our preconceptions about the world before we came to university were mistaken. The motivations behind safe spaces well may have been out of an admirable cause to protect students, however, when we ban, dis-invite or censor opinions out of fear of causing offence, what we are doing is not protecting student welfare, but sheltering adults from views that exist in wider society.

By preventing ideas from being discussed, we are not eradicating them from existence and from people’s consciousness. All we achieve is a stifling of their visible presence. Ideas cannot be removed through bans, no-platforms and the premise of being offended, they manifest whether being expressed or not.

We defeat ignorant ideas by challenging them and crucially, by winning the debate. I don’t recall the accusations of racism preventing Brexit, or the no-platforming of speakers sympathetic to Trump stopping him from becoming president.

As potentially the next generation of leaders in this country, we cannot ignore problems of intolerance and ill-liberalism forever. Why not confront them now and show wider society that students can be a positive and capable force for challenging ideas out in the open? It would certainly be a legacy that students of the 1960’s would be proud of.

We will win the war against intolerance through debate, not avoiding it.

Live Review: This Feeling Alive

Written by Ethan Davies on . Posted in Music.

This Feeling is a promotions company for new and upcoming bands, and have recently signed a deal with Radio X to boost the audience for their featured acts.

They also have a ringing endorsement from none other than Noel Gallagher, who says “what This Feeling is doing at the moment is vital”. That’s a pretty big deal for a small act tour, as is the £12 admission. I went down to Club Academy to see if the acts This Feeling had chosen were really worth the admission.

First up was BlackWaters, whose previous tour has taken them to Truck Festival and Kendal Calling — the Guildford four-piece certainly have a lot of momentum in their favour, and it shows. What begins as an alcohol-laden punk set soon grows into an exuberant, energetic, and frenetic experience. T-shirts are removed, drinks fly about, and the sweat drips off Max Tanner’s nose.

This is very reminiscent of an early LIFE performance, meaning BlackWaters made a lasting impression in my mind. If they continue performing like this and having singles produced by the likes of Carl Barat (as was So Far Out), then they’ll easily be making the jump from Club Academy to larger venues.

Our next act was Doncaster’s Bang Bang Romeo. Their lead singer, Anastasia Walker, is a powerful front woman. Her vocals boom through the mic whilst goading the audience into making the most of their presence, gathering the core audience around her and building tension to their final song.

As a set, Bang Bang Romeo is pretty likeable. However, Walker’s voice is soulful, and with reverb offers something different than a normal soul act — she also has a punk on-stage persona, which would be fine, if it wasn’t for the musical style of Bang Bang Romeo. It doesn’t quite fit into either category, with parts being dark and brooding and others being upbeat. I’m a big fan of genre-hoppers, but this time it just seems confused. The reverb vocals really suit Walker, as does her onstage persona. Unfortunately, it seems the music doesn’t quite fit.

Our headline act is The Shimmer Band. First impressions count. My first, and lasting, impression are that the band are wearing different versions of the same Liam Gallagher hairstyle. Lead singer Tom Newman comes in a cagoule, hood up, and wearing sunglasses that I last saw in the “D’you know what I mean?” video.

Their set is explosive, and it’s certainly wrong to say the Bristol band lack talent. However, it seems that not only are they wearing four versions of the same haircut but also that they’ve written four versions of the same song. It’s forgivable for a band just starting out, and The Shimmer Band certainly have a place in music – but some fresh ideas are needed to take them up a level.

This Feeling Alive have managed to find some genuine talent then — all the artists performed admirably and most punters went home happy. I do feel though that for a venue of that size, £12 per ticket is simply too pricey.

It shows; at best, Club Academy was two-thirds full. If This Feeling wants to really support new acts, then they’ll need to lower the admission prices to give more fans a chance to see what they’ve unearthed.

7/10.

England: same story, different competition

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Sport.

Another international break over but the same old headlines are plastered on the back pages of newspapers: “England seek out another unconvincing victory”. Supporters know this all too well, telling themselves this game will be different, this game we will thrash whatever lower tier Eastern European side we are up against.

Lithuania and Slovenia were the sides, 1-0 wins in each, both goals by Harry Kane. It is obvious from these games that when faced with a better team such as France or Germany, we will have enormous difficulty in breaking the defence down. England do have a good record in qualification though. In fact since the disastrous 2008 failure we have only lost one game. That sounds phenomenal, so why doesn’t it feel it?

Regardless of manager the style of play has always been so uninspiring, these last two games perhaps among the very worst of them. In the second game in Vilnius, Southgate played a 3-4-3 formation. One that he has since chosen for the World Cup, and therefore the problems we saw could be attributed to players learning the system. The typical 4-4-2 being scrapped in favour of a formation that will “help us play out the back”, but the problem I feel isn’t the formation, it’s the squad of players we have to choose from.

Gone are the days of Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Scholes, Owen and Rooney. We no longer have a large selection of world class players and most of the players in the current squad don’t even start for their clubs. Clubs in a league which frankly isn’t the best in the world anymore, who can’t reach the latter stages of the Champions League.

To perform on the world stage we need a creative spark, someone that drives England forward, risking those passes into small space. The only player who fits the bill is Adam Lallana who is currently in Qatar recovering from a thigh injury. I personally don’t think he is a good enough player to warrant the hopes of the country being pinned upon him but there are worryingly few alternatives.

When you watch the football that we played in these two games there were two different plans of attack going on. Firstly, they would try to pass through the centre but would not try any risky passes and so retreat back to the defence and try again. The second method was to pass it out wide to Rashford, who isn’t actually a wide player he’s a striker, or Sterling in the hopes that they could use their pace to beat defenders and create something that way. Both Slovenia and Lithuania are not good teams by any means yet even they very quickly found England out and put a stop to those wide attacks. What is left after that? Well nothing and that is the problem Gareth Southgate has to work out.

Henderson, as much of a solid, reliable footballer that he is, refuses to make those through balls or passes into smaller spaces for our forward players. The sheer amount of runs Rashford and Sterling made that, if they received the ball, would have led to 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 situations was incredible. They are talented footballers that can score goals given the service. As a result of this England will almost certainly either scrape through the group by the skin of their teeth and lose in the next round or not make it out at all. The failure to create chances will be the core reason for this.

Harry Winks did come into the side against Lithuania and was one of the better performers, showing he does have the intelligence to drive England further up the pitch with good passing, but he’s still very young and inexperienced. He’s the sort of player that, more so in the next competitions than this one, England should build their team around.

Imagination and creativity are traits that we desperately need to have any impact beyond qualifying and there is hope on the horizon. This summer the Under-19’s won the Euros and the Under-20’s won the World Cup. What is important is those players get nurtured, coached to make intelligent passes and not necessarily the easy passes. In the next 4-12 years I think we can reach the latter stages of a World Cup or Euros, just don’t expect anything in Russia.

Manchester International Festival enjoys record-breaking success

Written by Max Brimelow on . Posted in News.

This year Manchester’s biennial International Festival enjoyed success as the 18-day event brought a record-breaking £40.2 million into the local economy, up from just under £39 million at its last outing in 2015.

The 2017 event was seen by bigger audiences than ever before with over 300,000 spectators attending the festival, which featured over 380 performances of 32 different commissions and special events.

This year was the sixth edition of MIF since it was first established in 2007, and the first under its new artistic director John McGrath. It included a more productions than ever before and an increased amount of free events, which is thought to have been a major contributor in drawing its largest ever crowds.

Perhaps most gratifying of all for the festival’s organisers was the unparalleled level of engagement from the local community, as Manchester’s residents pitched in to help cement the event’s status as fundamentally rooted in its Mancunian setting.

The festival opened with a celebration of Manchester, with over 100 residents invited to walk a huge catwalk in Piccadilly Gardens. Local engagement in MIF productions grew dramatically this year, with over 28,000 hours logged, a three-fold increase on 2015. Programmes such as Jerwood Fellows and Creative50 helped emerging Manchester artists stake a real claim in this year’s event.

Working with 68 different education partners, more than 4000 people also participated in the Festival’s Creative Learning programme, which was expanded significantly.

John McGrath, Artistic Director and CEO of MIF recognised the city’s central role in the event’s success: “Everyone has spoken of how special Manchester felt… This engagement with place and local stories was often cited by our international visitors most as one of the things they most appreciated about MIF17.”

Whilst the festival is firmly embedded in Manchester, it remains a truly international celebration. Artists came from a wide array of nations, from China to Iceland to Germany. At least 11 of the shows featured at MIF will go on tour to destinations as far-flung as Sydney, Vienna and Hong Kong.

The festival’s international reputation as an incubator for new, up and coming emerging talent continues to grow – part of this year’s success was the significantly stronger online imprint it made. Digital engagement with creative content from the MIF reached 1.5 million people around the world.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, was buoyed with the festival’s success. “Manchester takes centre-stage at the heart of a cultural revolution that will be unrivalled in the UK and beyond.”

“The maths alone confirms our belief that cities need culture, as much as culture needs cities like ours that continue to support, nurture, and positively embrace all that the arts have to offer.”

After a fantastic year in 2017, Mancunions can be very excited about the festival’s next outing, which takes place from 4 – 21 July 2019.

Review: Instructions For Border Crossing

Written by Anuli Changa on . Posted in Theatre.

“Does anyone want to come and play Jenga with me?” A thoroughly unorthodox beginning to Instructions for Border Crossing. As I sat across from Daniel Bye, playing a civilised game of Jenga and discussing fear and Harry Potter, I had a feeling this show would be unpredictable.

Written and performed by Bye and impressively directed by Alex Swift, the work of Edward Shorter is reimagined into a thought-provoking and interactive performance piece. Shorter is an internationally-recognized historian of psychiatry and the author of numerous books, including those that explore psychiatry and asylum. Bye explains how a simple game of Jenga can be so much more when played either side of a guarded border.

Intertwined with fascinating audience volunteers (almost as eloquent as Bye himself), we learn about a girl who is sneaking across a border after destroying her British passport. The story is cleverly portrayed with lighting changes and seamless voice and accent modulations. Each audience participant aided the next section of the story by exploring the properties of an electric fan with a microphone, or creatively lighting the Jenga tower with a torch. These seemingly random actions become the sounds of a train and a helicopter circling a block of flats. Bye surprised me with his care in listening to the words of each volunteer and remembering them by name and their comments throughout.

This performance was meticulous and well thought out, from the minimal set of a table and chairs to microphoned airport barriers enhancing the sound of borders being opened and closed as each new volunteer entered the space. The audience is taken on a journey through raucous laughter and quiet contemplation as we are asked to raise our hands if we agree that we are courageous, tenacious, willing to rebel (or not). The underlying question seems not only to ask how one might cross a country’s border, but how to cross borders of ‘the norm’ and rebel against conformity.

The climax of the performance built as we were engrossed in short sketches in which the audience played opposite Bye, following words on a projection. Sometimes the audience played the border guards and sometimes the ‘victim’. A strange kinship seemed to form in the audience with this powerful performer, as we conformed for the sake of a dramatic piece, seeming to dip in and out of reality.

Bye was both a piercing — to the point of intimidating — character, as well as surprisingly comforting, as we discovered the fears and courage we share in this self-selecting audience. What do you fear? Failure? Brexit? The sharp, well-executed transitions between dramatic sketches and conversation left you wondering if you felt at ease or deeply uncomfortable.

Bye illuminated numerous glitches in the fabric of society in a decidedly brave way, dependent on the audience’s participation. I was left questioning everyday conformity and in awe of Bye’s ability to relate to an audience made up of such different people, uniting us with his performance.

Review: The Believers Are But Brothers

Written by Orla Quilligan on . Posted in Theatre.

Isis — it’s a huge and controversial topic to cover. Upon first reading the premise of Javaad Alipoor’s The Believers Are But Brothers, BBC’s recent miniseries The State sprang to mind. I was certainly anxious that a one-man show would struggle to match such a captivating portrayal of Islamic State but I soon realised these fears were completely unfounded.

Alipoor was clear from the beginning that this show wasn’t in fact trying to tackle Islamic State as a whole but was focusing strictly on young men today and the way in which they can be radicalised online: “It’s about men. It’s about politics. It’s about the internet.”

Alipoor split the show between direct audience address and pre-recorded projection on the screen where he told the stories of the four young men the play centred on, often interspersed with online videos. During these projections, Alipoor sat with his back towards the audience, leaving him as an anonymous figure; a clear and striking symbol for all the young men he spoke about.

In turn, when Alipoor spoke directly to us it was off the cuff and familiar. There was no illusion here of there being anything fictional about the play; he was simply relaying to us his experience online and the people he had discovered. By the end of the show the audience had certainly warmed to Alipoor, undoubtedly due to his candid and frank delivery about both very funny and very sombre topics.

It’s definitely worth mentioning too that the show featured a really innovative feature; we were all added to a WhatsApp group before the show which Alipoor communicated to us via throughout the show. One could easily dismiss this as an unnecessary gimmick but in practice it seemed entirely fitting that a play highlighting how easily young men can be sucked into radical settings, should do the exact same to us, constantly lighting up our faces with notifications of alt-right memes and death threats sent to feminists online. It was particularly when Alipoor then used the WhatsApp chat as a narrative force, speaking to us from the standpoint of someone radicalising us, that the method really came into its own.

The set was minimal but effective in creating an underlying feeling of threat throughout, as a man sat behind a projection screen throughout the entire show, staring at his computer screen, faintly lit by the red glow of his mouse.

Overall, the show never really broke out of its feeling of tension even though we were frequently able to laugh along with Alipoor. At the end, we read aloud messages on the group chat which left us with a feeling of doom.

Although Alipoor was careful to mention the obvious positives of the internet, the message was clear: ‘Now, we lose ourselves in the inky blackness of our screens’.

I’d suggest you lose yourself for an hour at HOME to experience this work in all its horror, relevance and ingenuity.

Live Review: JP Cooper

Written by Tobias Soar on . Posted in Music.

They say honesty is the best policy, so I’ll go by that saying. I answered a last-minute call to action a couple hours before the show. I’d heard of JP Cooper but I couldn’t name a single song of his off the top of my head. Instantly, I started my research and listened to his work. ‘September Song’ and ‘Perfect Strangers’ were instantly recognisable to me and I expected a pop show with dance beats, not my area of expertise. It was also the first show I photographed so I was also unprepared for that part of the night.

As JP Cooper stepped on the stage of the O2 Ritz, I stepped into the photography pit with two other photographers who were very kind and gave me space to work. Our man, JP’s vocals were instantly hypnotising, I knew I was in for a good show. While doing my thing with my camera JP was cool, calm and a bit cheeky, looking straight into the lens of my camera as I snapped away.

Once I got back into the crowd as a spectator, Cooper, of course, sang his hits ‘September Song’, ‘She’s On My Mind’ and ‘Perfect Strangers’ which he introduced by saying that many people, myself included, expected him to be a dance/pop artist but he was clearly an acoustic pop type of guy. The crowd at The Ritz were treated to the first live performances of his new songs from his recently released debut album ‘Raised Under Grey Skies’. Always on key and with an envious vocal range, the songs were well received by the audience who sang back the words and clapped in time to the beat when prompted.

Between songs, JP would address the crowd and repeatedly expressed his gratitude for everyone there. He also explained that he’d been sick and unable to speak for a couple days before the show but was soldiering on. To be honest, he may as well have been in perfect health because his vocals did not show his sub-optimal state. The good vibes were practically palpable in the air thanks to the chemistry between JP, his band, and the crowd. The latter was composed of people of all ages, proving that good music clearly transcends generations.

After the show, Cooper stood behind the counter to meet his fans. I decided to stay with my friend to shake his hand and thank him for the show and the photos. His handshake was firm and his look was warm and friendly. As he autographed my photo pass he said: “Here’s to many more, you’ll go far.” An absolutely charming man, to say the least.

JP Cooper deserves the praise he gets and much more. The man is a sublime showman, a fantastic singer with an astounding vocal range. He’s humble, charismatic and genuine, qualities that seem rare in the modern music scene dominated by egomaniacs. This show definitely goes down in my books as one of the most pleasant concerts I’ve had the pleasure of attending.

Review: The Reagan Show

Written by Tobias Soar on . Posted in Film.

A celebrity president who enjoys distracting journalists sits in the White House while the threat of an impending nuclear war looms… You may assume we’re talking about Donald J. Trump but, alas, the subject of The Reagan Show is, of course, Ronald Reagan.

This documentary, composed entirely of news reports and footage from the White House archives, is directed by Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez. It’s a 78 minute peek into the man, the persona, the character that was Ronald Reagan, rather than the seemingly steely-eyed 40th president of the United States of America.

The presentation is refreshing; the film maintains a 4:3 aspect ratio akin to that of cathode ray tube television sets, with clever editing that is accompanied by a great soundtrack. No, the music isn’t memorable, but that’s perfect for a documentary. Crescendos allude to a greater sense of drama or urgency in certain moments, while a playful melody will underline comedic moments scattered thoroughly throughout the film.

Due to Ronald Reagan’s background as a star on the silver screen, many saw him unfit for presidency. Unfazed, he stands his ground when queried about this in interviews, by declaring that being president is merely an act, a show if you will, hence the title of the documentary. The focus on the PR war waged between the USA and the USSR only goes on to further reinforce the idea of Reagan being the star of the world’s most watched reality television show.

The writers, Josh Alexander, Francisco Bello, and Pacho Velez, don’t shy away from depicting Reagan as a bit of a buffoon, and make it clear as to why many disapproved of his leadership. Reagan’s defensive Cold War policies essentially ended the period of detente between the USA and the USSR, pushing the Arms Race forward instead of slowing it down or bringing it to a halt.

The pacing of the film, as noted previously, is set by the great soundtrack and editing. However, these elements can’t save the serious dip at around 50 minutes into the runtime of the documentary. It’s almost as if the whole thing runs into some quicksand and struggles to get out before the credits roll.

Watching Ronald attempt to deliver a statement, looking down in frustration and repeating it multiple times while trying to pronounce a senator’s name to no avail, serves a greater purpose than being comedic relief; it’s a charming, humanising look at Ronald Reagan the man, not the president.

Nancy Reagan, of course, is omnipresent as the driving force behind the presidency. From her prompting whispers to her husband when he forgets his words in the middle of a speech to her stating “I thought I married an actor!” in an interview, she helps to reinforce the foolishness of her husband while simultaneously conveying the human aspects of the film.

Despite losing its footing two thirds into its runtime, The Reagan Show is an enjoyable documentary that offers a different insight into the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan during the former’s presidential term. However, if politics, particularly world or American politics, during the 70s and 80s aren’t your cup of tea, this documentary will provide nothing but boredom for you during its brief runtime.

 

Rating: 3/5