All by Sacha Crowther
As Brits, we complain about the cold weather at every opportunity but, let’s face it, our little island comes to a standstill when faced with snow or ice. As such, we’re not much cop when it comes to the Winter Olympic and Paralympic games. But, perhaps things aren’t so bleak as they first appear…
Plunged into darkness, with a crash and a flash, we are on Captain Walton’s ship, trapped amidst the ice. 200 years after Mary Shelley’s iconic novel was published, April de Angelis and the Royal Exchange Theatre reignite life into the pages of Frankenstein.
Covering every event in London’s history, from prehistoric flint tools, through the Black Death, Great Fire, all the way to the 2017 ‘FatBerg’, the Museum of London offers a comprehensive overview. In amongst all of this history, and notably sitting alongside the outbreak of the First World War, the Suffragette movement is importantly and proudly highlighted.
Adapting E.M. Forster’s classic novel, the latest simple8 production, A Passage to India, is an “us vs. them” tale, between Englishmen and Indians, Muslims and Hindus, men and women. Championing the oppressed parties, as positive, progressive forces for good, this production enacts the coming together of all sides as an ensemble, to creative, colourful, transportive effect.
It’s that time of year again, when the chic elite stomp the pavements like a catwalk and, for the first time in months, the weather is not permitted to dictate one’s outfit: it’s London Fashion Week. Like any magazine writer worth their salt, I consider it an obligation to comment. But my fashion-conscious musings for the week don’t focus inside the hallowed halls of sequined glamour; I would rather give a shout-out to clothes that can make me feel my most fabulous...
Her Not Him speaks to deep-set issues surrounding fidelity, age, gender, sexuality and, ultimately, acceptance. From ‘Lughnacy Productions’, a recently formed, female-led theatre group, this play epitomises the company’s ‘female and LGBTQ focus’. Her Not Him balances humour with some touching moments of resonating honesty. ...
The indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia, can easily be spotted walking the streets of La Paz, and neighbouring El Alto, in their traditional, and eye-catching, style of dress. They are the ‘Cholitas’: strong women, now known internationally for their resilience, their fashion, and even their wrestling!
‘Snapper Theatre’ brand themselves as ‘feminist theatre-makers and storytellers embracing the universal and specific’. Aiming to delve deeper into this provocative and inclusive claim, I caught up with one of the founding collaborators, Lucy Foster, to learn more about ‘Snapper’s theatrical and political aims, and their latest venture: Lobster.
In their latest gimmick, Channel 5 confirmed that the most recent series of Celebrity Big Brother would begin with a female-only household, in celebration of 100 years of women having the vote. Call me old-fashioned, but it seems rather at odds to mark a milestone in the pursuit of equality by reintroducing segregation!
Of late, my entertainment and social channels have been somewhat bombarded by a bizarre media frenzy surrounding the phenomenon of the "armpit vagina": yet another indictment on a society that feels compulsively obliged to comment upon the female body.
I recently found myself in the peculiar position of trying to explain the undefined, yet pretty unanimously agreed upon, ranking of English swear words. From 'bloody hell', through 'crap', 'bollocks', 'wanker', all the way up to the infamous trio: 'shit', 'fuck' and 'cunt'.
