Theatre Review: The Lovely Bones @ Birmingham Rep [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~



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The Lovely Bones is a new show produced by the Birmingham REP, the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Northern Stage, in association with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and is directed by Melly Still.

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Tonally, this play was all over the place, as if the it can’t decide whether it wants to indulge the horror of the crime at the core of the play or the whimsical detachment of the protagonist-narrator. Once irony eats the horror-cake, you can’t then have the cake. Jumpscares involving a paedophile (who’s proven to be just a human) marauding our ghostly protagonist (who’s proven to be invulnerable to and separate from the physical world) were pointless in their lack of threat, besides being simplistic and obvious as jumpscares are.

Director Mike Leigh talks Peterloo's increasing relevance, the artist, and democracy [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~




I chatted with Mike Leigh in Leeds, where he was attending the Leeds International Film Festival, hot on the tail of Peterloo’s premiere at the HOME cinema in Manchester. “Yeah it was great. It was part of the London Film Festival – but in Manchester. It was a very inspired move on somebody’s part to do that. It was great.” Leigh’s assistant had been eager to inform me before the interview that the premiere was specially held in Manchester despite being part of the BFI London Film Festival, and that this was no mean feat.

I got the impression that Mike (can I refer to an OBE, promethean figure in British drama by first name only? Hopefully.) was incredibly incisive, with an active mind. Talking to him, perhaps because I had this article in mind at the time, one could hear the punctuation in his speech – dashes, locking onto exciting new thoughts. I’d got a sense from reading other interviews of Mike’s directness, so I asked him quite directly what his film had for young people. He was also pleasingly direct in his response: “What’s it got for young people? Well, what the film is about is the future, how we live and how we’re going to live. … I consider it a film for everybody – plainly it’s about democracy, it’s about people hearing our voice.”

Peterloo review - a beautifully furious film [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

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Verdict: A beautiful, furious film, but if Mike Leigh was hoping to convert viewers to the cause of opposing iniquities in the present day, then the accessibility of this slow, long film may be an issue in converting those other than the choir.

The first thing that strikes you about Peterloo is that aesthetically, this film is lavishly historical, minutely detailed, and so utterly immersed in its setting that you wouldn’t believe for a second that this isn’t an actual slice of history. 

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Beyond the visual, there is also a fascination with rhetoric, and the powerful sway which ideas held over the conflicted time following the French revolution. Huge swathes of the film are given over to eloquent oration from all sides of the debate, delivered from a series of absolutely fantastic performances, such that we the cinema audience are somehow included in the pub- or meeting hall-audience of nineteenth-century workers.

Theatre Review: The Wider Earth @ the Natural History Museum [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~



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The play opens to ethereal music and a low rumbling, with a starscape of slowly scintillating lasers through dry ice – lasers suspended in the air, glints of white light occasionally catching your eye.

There’s an indescribable anticipation for being in one of the Museum’s hallowed halls, and all of the preshow impresses on the audience the immanence of an Event. An indescribable dark shape skulks in the centre of the room, a mysterious part of our discovery.

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Images courtesy of Chloe Nelkin Consulting

This shape turns out to be the set, a hulking structure of wood which at certain angles is part ship, part building. One side is predominantly hills/cliffs/icebergs/coastlines, and the other, hollow, predominantly classroom/ship-deck/living room, giving a nice variety of sets with a minimum of clunky changeovers. The revolution and rotation is used quite cleverly in scenes and montages to create a sense of lateral movement, for example a prehistoric fish swimming as the puppeteer stands still and the background moves. Revolves seem to be very much “in” right now for high-concept theatre (Les Mis, War Horse, Hamilton) but it’s used very well here, particularly when used to create that sense of travel, like those rolling backgrounds in old fashioned film, and it felt quite a fresh innovation in this smaller-scale production.

Johnny English Strikes Again review - finally restores the saga to almost its original heights [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

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Verdict: Rowan Atkinson is hilarious in Johnny Engilsh Strikes Again, if you can look past the film itself.

Johnny English has retired into obscurity as a teacher, when a cyber attack reveals the identity of every secret agent serving the UK, forcing the government to (reluctantly) call on English again. It’s a pretty basic premise which requires one while watching the film to imagine the first idea on a writer’s whiteboard under the question “how do we justify a sequel in canon?”

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But it does the job, and then we’re away.

The first thing that deserves mentioning is the excellent slapstick. Rowan Atkinson’s comedic instincts continue to amaze, and his performance in this film is wonderfully, gloriously silly. It’s not quite as thoroughly funny as the original film, and yet it’s still enjoyable in itself, and there are moments which are more laugh-out-loud funny than the original, so it evens out. I won’t spoil my favourite gag, because it’s brilliant, but watch out for the green and red pills. The joke you’ll see coming from a mile away – Johnny English is always great at planting hints of future hilarity – but the pay-off is even better than you could imagine.

2036 Origin Unknown review - poor, lazy scifi, clearly lacking the polish of its great ancestors [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

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Verdict: a solid effort, but just watch the good sci-fi it's emulating instead.

2036 Origin Unknown is a fairly experimental sci-fi film which loosely can be said to tell the story of a Mars mission with an AI controller and human assistant (hello, 2001: A Space Odyssey), which finds a monolith of unknown origin where one has no right to be, on the surface of an alien planet (ditto).

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This review must be prefaced with an acknowledgement that this film is a diamond in the rough.  For one thing, it comes from a fairly new director (this is Hasraf Dullul’s second feature) and was shot in 11 days on a fairly modest budget. However, these things do not excuse that this is a poor film with clear issues in its pacing, plotting, internal logic, and acting.

Theatre Tourism: we thespians and theatre-watchers need to get out more [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

We thespians and theatre-watchers need to get out more.

I don’t mean to say that theatre is an inadequate pastime, quite the opposite; I just mean that we’re too narrow in our selection of local theatre closer to us, or in obsessing over London theatre, often heinously so. Instead, I argue we need to view regional theatre as the nerd version of the football away-day. It’s a way to see great theatre and to see the country at the same time.

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There isn’t one hegemonic theatre in the UK, despite what ATG tickets might make you think, and travelling around means you can see the wonderfully varied things people are doing on stage. Not only that, but local theatre can combine seeing unique theatre with learning more about a new area when it tries to tell local stories.

Foreign Film Friday: Sicilian Ghost Story review - a beautiful Italian crime-story-with-a-twist you need to see [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

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Verdict: an absolute must see.

Sicilian Ghost Story is in Italian with subtitles, but don’t let that put you off - this is a truly marvellous, heart-wrenching watch. It’s based on a true story which I recommend not looking up before you see it for the full impact of the ending.

In short, it tells the story of Giuseppe, a Sicilian boy who was abducted in 1996 by the mafia as leverage over his father, who was co-operating with the police. It’s also about Giuseppe’s girlfriend, Luna, and her quest to get to the bottom of his unexplained disappearance.

Why a student debt TV game show is a sad sign of our anti-intellectual times [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~




This week we found out that Michael Torpey, most famously CO Thomas Humphreys from Orange is the New Black, has started a new cash-prize game show.

However, rather than winning tonnes of money for the speedboat you’ve always wanted, being successful simply clears your cripplingly large student debt.

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Just for a moment, let’s put this phenomenon in the context of other game shows like Pointless, Deal or No Deal, or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire where all the prizes are a tidy sum of at least thousands of pounds, sometimes even a million.

In comparison, on Paid Off you don’t win a million pounds, you win freedom from a gigantic debt.

Put on a number line stretching from minus $40,000 (CNBC’s figure for the average debt of an American when they graduating) to positive $1,000,000 on the other end, the difference is striking; Instead of going from zero to positive you go from negative to zero.

How It Ends review - a post-apocalyptic, ultra-macho road-trip that's more worthwhile than you think [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

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Verdict: This post-apocalyptic Netflix film is a surprising departure from genre expectations and an enjoyable watch, despite a disappointing ending. 

How It Ends (2018) is a post-apocalyptic road-trip movie released straight to Netflix. The first thing a British audience will notice is that it’s as American as apple pie – or rather, as American as absurdly long car journeys and Call of Duty. It certainly has the same gritty, muted colour palette as the latter, with the browns and grey-blues, and orange washes to show unnatural heat. It’s orange and blue, orange and blue, like Michael Bay with less explosions. You might not think it from the look of it, but the film has more going on than its aesthetic and its premise would suggest.

A trailer for a film on the notorious Peterloo massacre just dropped [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~


Peterloo is a new historical drama from Mike Leigh, director of Mr. Turner (2014), and the attention to detail in presenting the 19th century seems to have carried over, in a film with a clearly linked “look” with 2012’s Les Miserables.

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The film comes from the production studios of Film4 and the BFI, both renowned for great British cinema, as well Mike Leigh’s own company, Thin Man Films.

The November falls within the 199th year since the Manchester Yeomanry charged a crowd listening to a parliamentary-reformist speaker in St. Peter’s Field, outside Manchester.

Manchester Uni officers have painted over 'racist' Rudyard Kipling poem [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~



On Thursday, elected officers at Manchester uni painted over a Rudyard Kipling poem displayed in the student union building with Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise.'  

Sara Khan, the SU’s Liberation and Access Officer explained in a post that the original mural arose from 'a failure to consult students during the process of adding art to the newly renovated SU building,' and that the Executive team 'believe that Kipling stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment, and human rights.'

The SU has since apologised for the mural saying that it was 'inappropriate.'

In response to social media backlash, the SU issued a further statement defending the students’ action from accusations of 'vandalism,' saying they were 'breathing life into a project to make it truly student-led.'

'We're all struggling' says campaigner who started a petition to pay student nurses a minimum wage [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~

Nursing students currently have to do seven placements totalling 2,300 hours of unpaid work.

This is equivalent to 60 unpaid weeks, over the 3-year course. The petition claims that since scrapping of NHS bursaries, nursing students have been forced to take up part-time work on top of a 37.5-hour-a-week placement just to make ends meet.

The petition is addressed to the Prime Minister, the Minister of State for Universities, and Matt Hancock MP, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

It turns out that employers don't actually care about your uni grades that much [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~



New research suggests that employees value experience over education.

Indeed.co.uk, the job site used by more than 200 million people, has released new research about the decision-making of small businesses during the employment process.

Unfortunately, some of the findings may come as a shock to those who have invested 3 years and over £27,000 of debt into their degrees.

A survey of 1,000 small business employers found that 81% place a higher premium on a candidate's experience rather than on their education.

Philip Reeve releases new 'Mortal Engines' short stories and we're so excited [National Student archive]

~~~THIS ARTICLE was originally written for THE NATIONAL STUDENT it has been archived on my personal blog anticipating the TERMINATION of that VENERABLE ESTABLISHMENT~~~


Philip Reeve has brought out a collection of three short stories in the universe of the Mortal Engines quartet, to tie in with the film adaption of Mortal Engines coming out later this year. As if fans of the original series didn’t have enough to lose their minds over already.

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The collection, entitled ‘Night Flights’, is centred around Anna Fang, the Anti-Tractionist aviatrix supporting-character from the original quartet. It’s essentially a prequel to the main saga which, as Reeve says in his 2018 Book News update, ‘adds a bit of detail to the stories of Anna Fang’s early life which are hinted at in Mortal Engines’. The middle story in the collection is based on ‘Traction City’, Reeve’s World Book Day novella release from 2011, refocussing the events on Anna who in that book was more of a deuteragonist, while, excitingly, the first and last stories are wholly new creations. 

Vote Leave Breaking the Law Won't Stop Us Leaving the EU

An edited version of this article was published on the National Student website on the 18th Jul 18

Leave may have broken the law. Specifically, electoral law. That’s not a good look for a campaign who were supposed to be all about the sovereignty of British democracy.

To get everyone caught up: the Electoral Commission has referred Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, to the police, for breaking their campaign spending limit to the tune of almost £500,000 over the £7m cap. They allegedly did this not through direct spending, but made a donation to another Leave group, BeLeave, which the Electoral Commission consider significant evidence of coordination, joint spending which goes over the spending cap. The Commission also levelled several fines against several people and organisations, including a £20,000 fine against Vote Leave for ‘failure to cooperate … because we found it so difficult to get Vote Leave to work with us in this investigation’ – that’s the Electoral Commission’s chief executive, Claire Bassett, speaking.

'Tau' - Film review

An edited version of this review was published on the National Student website on the 11th Jul 18

'Tau' is a surprising film of two halves – or rather an out-of-place-20%, if that’s a thing, but it’s a rewardingly intelligent film if you can get through the first 20 minutes without eye-rolling too hard.

The film establishes itself in such a strange way. Maybe it’s an intentional misdirect, but that would still make it intentionally derivative. It starts of as 'Ex Machina' meets 'Saw'. The opening nightclub and city scenes look like budget ‘San Junipero’, though the camera following Julia, our protagonist, home is quite creepy. Plus, in the baddy’s mansion (who naturally listens to classical piano), you get the obligatory minor jump-scare at something which shouldn’t actually be scary, namely, on seeing the other prisoners. 

Trains Over Planes: A cheaper, greener way to travel

An edited version of this article was published on the National Student website on the 9th Jul 18

Trains are greener than planes, they can also be cheaper, even affordable. This may be surprising to a British reader, but I’ve done the 200-mile journey from Florence to Milan in only an hour and a half, faster than any British train, for £18. To holiday train-travel is actually viable once you leave our island nation, in fact it’s often cleaner, comfier, faster, more punctual and crucially cheaper.

Unfortuately of course, trains practically reduce your range, probably to just western and central Europe. Plus, you’ve got to get to the continent first, which depending on where you live could mean an expensive (British) train journey to the coast, but the whole point of this train-over-plane method is that getting there is half the fun. I recommend getting a coach to the coast and then a ferry – the north-east and east coast can get you to Germany and Holland, and the south coast can get you to France. Thisismoney.co.uk recommend SeaFrance for getting you from Dover to Calais for £50. Don’t worry landlubbers, the crossing’s only 90 minutes.

Theatre review: 'SS Mendi Dancing the Death Drill' @ Nuffield Southampton Theatres 09/07/18

An edited version of this review was published on the National Student website on the 9th Jul 18

'SS Mendi Dancing the Death Drill' is the Isango Ensemble’s retelling of the negligent wrecking of the SS Mendi, a steam ship bringing black labourers from South Africa in 1917 to assist in the trench-building, latrine-digging and cooking of the Western Front. The play was commissioned by Now14-18, the national arts programme to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, to play at the Nuffield Southampton’s new downtown NST City. For NST, this show is also designed to coincide with their Now-Here theatre festival, supported by Black History Month South, which explores the theme of Southampton’s hidden of migrants and refugees (and accidently became an excellent pun on Theresa May’s “citizens of the world are citizens of Now-Here”).

Sam Hodges, artist director of NST, said that ‘For a story of this magnitude to have been whitewashed from the history books beggars belief’, and this is certainly true. I’m a local and I never learnt about this at school, and for the Southampton audience, the repetition of the phrase ‘12 miles off the Isle of Wight’ is a stark condemnation of the priorities of white, western, US-eurocentric historiography. The play’s paratext is vital in this regard, with a very informative programme and a supplementary booklet free to pick up from the Maritime Archeology Trust, a 43-page history of the ‘Black and Asian Seamen of the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War’.

Unpack the secrets of your hometown on a microadventure

An edited version of this review was published on the National Student website on the 7th Jul 18

Popularity can have negative impacts on tourist honeypots, as one can see in Venice and other tourist honeypots fighting back against AirBnB’s hostile takeovers and resultant gentrification, and the ecological damage that overcrowding can cause sites of natural beauty. Instead of crowding into Florence, Ho Chi Mihn City, and New York, there is an alternative which is less damaging to tourist hotspots, your wallet, and the planet - especially the latter two when you don’t have to fly! I’m referring to micro-adventures, taking the time to explore your locale as if it were a holiday destination.

Now, I know that you can’t cloy the hungry edge of appetite by bare imagination of a feast, and that’s not what this is about. However, it’s worth remembering that the people in the far-flung cities that we find so exciting are just people pottering about their day like people anywhere else (and a smattering of tourists of course, as you’ll know if you ever tried using a pavement in London), and with the right frame of mind you can make your own hometown feel far-flung.