http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/article en Copyright 2010 2010-03-15T11:46:49+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_dark_clerkenwell_mist/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_dark_clerkenwell_mist/#When:11:46:49Z Avant! Noir happily managed a smooth equilibrium of media and styles, music and words and images all melting into each other, suggesting further shapes and colours, stretching the genre without straining it. Giulia Merlo Theatre, Fiction, Music, 2010-03-15T11:46:49+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/a_manifesto_for_the_imagination/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/a_manifesto_for_the_imagination/#When:17:17:08Z Naturally, the moral of Burton’s story is that freedom and imagination must triumph over conformism. As Alice’s father told her, all the best people are completely bonkers. But the moral is no less appealing for being predictable, and there are a few suprises and twists in the telling of the story. Dolan Cummings Film, 2010-03-13T17:17:08+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/synesthetes_of_us_all/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/synesthetes_of_us_all/#When:13:39:52Z The mode is rigorously spare and yet never sparse. Each piece has a huge depth of tone, thanks to precise attention to atmosphere and, most importantly, rhythm. Lone Twin pitch their pacing deliberately out of sync with the world and, through repetition, force us to abandon everyday timeframes. They draw out sonic textures from movement – footfalls and breath, claps and clicks – and stretch them until you snuggle in and your blood pumps in time. Matt Trueman Theatre, 2010-03-12T13:39:52+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/with_some_scraps_please/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/with_some_scraps_please/#When:16:34:06Z Can we construct a radical politics which takes into account the complexities and contradictions in contemporary culture and does not end up anti-humanist or with a thinly-veiled contempt for ‘the masses’? George Hoare Books, Essays, Radicalism, past, present and future, Intellectuals & the Public, 2010-03-11T16:34:06+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/to_and_of_humanity/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/to_and_of_humanity/#When:16:07:43Z A 1988 essay entitled ‘The University and the Leadership Factor in Nigerian Politics’ perhaps surprisingly offers a message directly applicable to the current moment in British politics. ‘Leadership is a sacred trust, like the priesthood in civilised, humane religions’, Achebe writes. His writings should be on a list of required reading for all those thinking of taking up office; perhaps then we might end up with a political class ready to treat the electorate with the respect it is due. Jo Caird Books, Intellectuals & the Public, World Development, 2010-03-11T16:07:43+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/muslim_cinema_an_introduction/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/muslim_cinema_an_introduction/#When:15:43:58Z An introduction to Muslim Cinema allows Muslims to take a critical reflection about their own beliefs and culture, as well as providing a window for those who are of other faiths to see who Muslims are. Where does one start? Javed Mohammed Film, World Development, 2010-03-11T15:43:58+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/whistling_that_pierces_the_heart/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/whistling_that_pierces_the_heart/#When:14:43:23Z Tom Hughes’ Fritz is heart-breakingly young and puffed out and summons up the atmosphere of a son anticipating a hearty hiding from his dad. It is tricky to tell if any of the characters, despite the promise of a duel between Fritz and harrowed husband, recognise the real danger they face. Indeed, this is what makes Fritzs’ wilful embracing of his fate so hard to witness Miriam Gillinson Theatre, 2010-03-11T14:43:23+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/shiny_red_shoes/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/shiny_red_shoes/#When:13:44:34Z Promises Promises is not at all a play about an issue, nor a tirade against the follies of dumbed-down multiculturalism. Instead, it is a voyage to the centre of Miss Brodie, which moves swiftly and masterfully from comedy to gothic horror story, passing through Miss Brodie’s projection into six-year-old Rosie (or Nadifa), with a definite touch of doppelgänger motives. Giulia Merlo Theatre, 2010-03-09T13:44:34+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/cw_editorial_note_-_4_march_2010/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/cw_editorial_note_-_4_march_2010/#When:17:45:55Z High-rise London, cynicism about heroes, and London theatre Editorial Team Blogs, CW Editorial Notes, 2010-03-04T17:45:55+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/you_either_die_a_hero_or_live_long_enough_to_see_yourself_become_the_villai/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/you_either_die_a_hero_or_live_long_enough_to_see_yourself_become_the_villai/#When:15:12:09Z The virtues the Rocky films portray have a long moral history in Western culture and yet for most of us the narrative which portrays them is one we struggle to take seriously. But contemporary cynicism helps, in a sense, bring about the reality it purports to reflect. Mark Carrigan Essays, Battles in Print, Religion and Humanism, 2010-03-04T15:12:09+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/a_man_most_notoriously_absolved/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/a_man_most_notoriously_absolved/#When:14:33:03Z This is a production driven by canny characterisation rather than design. What it offers, even where some are less persuasive than others, are interesting subversions of classic roles. Matt Trueman Theatre, 2010-03-04T14:33:03+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_not-too-subtle_symbolism_of_the_suitcases/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_not-too-subtle_symbolism_of_the_suitcases/#When:22:33:37Z ‘The Viennese are Jewhaters and will remain Jewhaters to all eternity’; ‘this Austrian stupidity is utterly repulsive’; Austrians are nothing else but ‘six and half million feeble-minded raving mad people/screaming incessantly at the top of their voices for a director’ - and the director, who had already come once, will come again and ‘give them the final push down the abyss’. Giulia Merlo Theatre, 2010-03-02T22:33:37+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_mayor_who_sets_his_sights_low/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/the_mayor_who_sets_his_sights_low/#When:15:02:58Z Boris Johnson has used his powers to galvanise the anti-high-rise sentiment into an object of policy. So far, he has gotten away with this unchallenged. But it is incumbent on us, those who welcome the prospect of transforming London’s skyline into an exciting scene that represents the city’s dynamism, to publicly challenge this short-sighted and un-ambitious policy. Karl Sharro Essays, Battles in Print, Visual Arts, World Development, 2010-02-27T15:02:58+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/youthful_innocent_and_free/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/youthful_innocent_and_free/#When:13:45:15Z Judi Dench’s playfulness is systematic of the light, whimsical feel to Peter Hall’s absorbing Rose Theatre production. The show is underpinned by a desire to have fun with Shakespeare; a quality that is sometimes lost in more ‘complicated’, modern-day productions. Miriam Gillinson Theatre, 2010-02-26T13:45:15+00:00 http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/cw_editorial_note_-_25_february_2010/ http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/cw_editorial_note_-_25_february_2010/#When:17:02:54Z Deliberative democracy, My Name is Khan, and political performance Editorial Team Blogs, CW Editorial Notes, 2010-02-25T17:02:54+00:00