Reviews by Patrick Pawsey Vale
Will Bartlett and Kate Mullins: ‘Between Us’
Patrick Pawsey Vale
There are some occasions when you go to a show, and you realise you’ve seen the best version of something you’re ever going to. It happened to me with Our Country’s Good at the Burton Taylor, ...
6 years ago
Will Bartlett and Kate Mullins: ‘Between Us’
SHIFT
Patrick Pawsey Vale
How much fun can you have with a massive elastic band? If you're Barely Methodical Troupe, the answer turns out to be rather a lot. Hot on the heels of their last piece of acro-theatre, Shift takes ...
6 years ago
SHIFT
Ballet Black: Triple Bill
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Ballet Black are a company drawn from black and Asian performers, which seeks diversity on the stage, to encourage diversity all the way through the ballet food-chain - from dance school to audience ...
7 years ago
Ballet Black: Triple Bill
Kin
Patrick Pawsey Vale
It's not often that you get to see something that is truly new and fantastically unusual. We are blessed in Oxford with a wide variety of genres and artforms which arrive on our doorstep and, like ...
7 years ago
Kin
North Parade Market
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I've always had a soft spot for North Parade - bizarrely south of South Parade: endearingly narrow and almost always covered with flowers. In fact as a street, it's so narrow that I've often felt it ...
9 years ago
North Parade Market
Cycloanalysts
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I've always found Cycloanalysts to be helpful, friendly and fast. I've bought a bike from them and brought others in to be repaired. I used to think I could surely fix any problem with my bike, and I ...
10 years ago
Cycloanalysts
Valentine's Love Message Board 2015
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Serendipity clicked her heels on the window pane of my soul's greenhouse and
I let her in.
Not knowing the means yet begging the cause her low trailing-dress falling
Softly amongst my petunias. ...
10 years ago
Valentine's Love Message Board 2015
World of Wine - Australia and New Zealand Wine Tasting
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Go to the wine aisle of your local supermarket, and, if you're anything like me, you might well be slightly overwhelmed by the range of styles, regions and prices available. And if you can get over ...
10 years ago
World of Wine - Australia and New Zealand Wine Tasting
The Wind in the Willows
Patrick Pawsey Vale
It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. And there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so ...
10 years ago
The Wind in the Willows
The Anchor Inn
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Good house burgers, and nice lager. Ale apparently also well kept (my co-consumer informs me). Nice location and a lovely place to eat in the early evening with the sun streaming in through the ...
11 years ago
The Anchor Inn
In Her Eyes
Patrick Pawsey Vale
In Her Eyes is a new musical by Toby Huelin. Produced and written by Oxford students, this is an acheivement in and of itself. I am always amazed at what it's possible to fit into the cozy Burton ...
11 years ago
In Her Eyes
Populaire [12A]
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Populaire takes the mundane keyboard and takes it to the lofty heights of excitement, tension and whirl-wind romance to which it rightly belongs.
Who knew touch-typing was so exciting? ...
11 years ago
Populaire [12A]
Out of the Blue
Patrick Pawsey Vale
You know you've been to an infectiously high-spirited gig when you see grown men (well, large students, anyway) singing multi-part harmonies from Britney Spears songs in the local Sainsburys, ...
11 years ago
Out of the Blue
Red Star
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I really like Red Star. It's fast, efficient, good-value and most of all tasty!
They are quick to provide take-aways, and always friendly and helpful when I've eaten in.
I recommend ...
11 years ago
Red Star
Everest Nepalese Restaurant and Bar
Patrick Pawsey Vale
We ordered a home delivery from Everest last night (Thursday). The delivery was reasonably quick, and the driver very friendly.
Bitter gourd was - as ever - delicious, and a really interesting ...
12 years ago
Everest Nepalese Restaurant and Bar
FORK - a cappella electrovocal circus
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Have you ever heard Poker Face by Lady Gaga seamlessly mixed, live, on stage, into Radio Ga Ga (you see what's been done there), using only the human voice to represent - incredibly accurately - ...
12 years ago
FORK - a cappella electrovocal circus
Big Society
Patrick Pawsey Vale
The Zeitgeist has been captured.
12 years ago
Big Society
James Street Tavern
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Jolly nice place with good beer, friendly folk and lots of hops about the place.
12 years ago
James Street Tavern
Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the musical
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Amidst the gently cackling audience stands proud a giant red lipstick, thrusting skywards. Behind it, a neon-pink outline traces the edge of Australia, and the haphazard journey that is to come. ...
12 years ago
Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the musical
All Your Base Conference
Patrick Pawsey Vale
You might not think Oxford was the place to be for the latest, greatest and most interesting conferences about web development.
You'd be wrong.
Local digital agency ...
12 years ago
All Your Base Conference
Threads Of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textiles From Meiji Japan
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Covering the Meiji period of Japanese history (1868 - 1912) and beyond, this fascinating exhibition contains a unique collection of silk artwork, mostly produced for export to the burgeoning European ...
12 years ago
Threads Of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textiles From Meiji Japan
Jee Saheb
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I do like Jee Saheb. Although I don't eat in often, it's on the route home for my partner and I, and we get takeaway when the idea of cooking doesn't appeal.
All of their menu that ...
12 years ago
Jee Saheb
Red Star
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Red star has the best sweet chilli sauce I've ever tasted! Loads of chilli and still nicely sweet!Mmmmmmm.
13 years ago
Red Star
The Canal and River Trust
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Few have lived in Oxford for very long without noticing at least one of the many waterways that travel through this very watery city. Perhaps it was punting down the Cherwell, perhaps a jog along the ...
13 years ago
The Canal and River Trust
The Debt [15]
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Try making a large bowl of porridge, adding the tiniest sprinkling of something vaguely tasy like cranberries, and then a much larger quantity of something foul, like earwax. ...
13 years ago
The Debt [15]
Oxfam (Headington)
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Headington is the charity shop capital of the world! It's like my local shopping centre, without the rubbish I don't want! Oxfam is a staple of my trawls through this rich seam of good quality, well ...
13 years ago
Oxfam (Headington)
Oxfam Book Shop
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I love going to the Oxfam bookshop. When I was small, it was huge and the shelves towered over me with more information than I thought possible to keep in one place. Fortunately, they kept the comic ...
13 years ago
Oxfam Book Shop
Vita Burst
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Freshly squashed fruits and veg in a cup! Very tasty when waiting for a train, especially recommended are the ginger and lemongrass concoctions. They also serve decent porridge which was a nice ...
13 years ago
Vita Burst
Oxey Mead
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Oxey Mead is one of the most beautiful wild meadows that remain on the outskirts of Oxford. A marvellous place to stumble upon, especially if accessed by the atmospheric walk from the Oxford Canal, ...
13 years ago
Oxey Mead
Moya
Patrick Pawsey Vale
I absolutely adore going to Moya. It's like a friend you can always rely on to feed you well, give you just the right drinks and send you on your way happy. Even though I've been more times than I ...
13 years ago
Moya
Organic Deli Café
Patrick Pawsey Vale
They have a very light and airy room upstairs which is perfect for a quick meet-up for lunch with friends. And they do any of their sandwich fillings on gluten-free bread. This alone will ...
13 years ago
Organic Deli Café
Valentine's Day Poetry Competition 2011
Patrick Pawsey Vale
to my val entine i'd mix you with wine but then i'd pine because your just fine in wine most of the time but then i'd restort to crime to fill my listless mind which wends and winds through the ...
14 years ago
Valentine's Day Poetry Competition 2011
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest [15] (Swedish original)
Patrick Pawsey Vale
This is obviously the season for final(ish) installments of epic and long-running series. While Harry Potter and co. have been at it longer, they don't have the monopoly: Stieg Larsson's third in his ...
14 years ago
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest [15] (Swedish original)
Pride and Prejudice
Patrick Pawsey Vale
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' It is also a truth universally acknowledged that any adaptation of a Jane ...
15 years ago
Pride and Prejudice
Go Back For Murder
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Last night's Go Back For Murder was a committed performance by an enthusiastic bunch of players with varying experience. This perhaps showed through in the nature of some interactions between ...
15 years ago
Go Back For Murder
Justitia
Patrick Pawsey Vale
A revolving stage, dancers in high heels and a very clouded view of an apparently 'simple' situation bring together the many elements of this dynamic, exciting dance/stage play. If you've not seen ...
15 years ago
Justitia
Richard Alston Dance Company
Patrick Pawsey Vale
You wouldn't know it's been choreographed, it seems so natural. Perfectly synchronised, powerful bodies do exactly what you want them to do, weaving in and out of the music. Lighting changes and ...
15 years ago
Richard Alston Dance Company
AK City (CLOSED)
Patrick Pawsey Vale
AK City - by far and away the best oriental take-away on the Cowley Road, both in terms of the tastiness of the food and quality of the cooking. Go for the specials - so good for you too!The rice box ...
16 years ago
AK City (CLOSED)
The Mason Arms (South Leigh)
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Bonkers! This place is wholeheartedy mad. The food is excellent (if you like lots of meat) and the wine list is, appropriately, top notch. Try their dry martinis, £15 a go but well worth it. Not ...
16 years ago
The Mason Arms (South Leigh)
Lies On Their Lips
Patrick Pawsey Vale
'I do love a good hanging!' cackled cheery Clara Basden (Lynne Smith), in this world premiere of Lies on their Lips written by Joel Kaye and Gwilym Scourfield for the Abingdon Drama ...
16 years ago
Lies On Their Lips
Dancin' Oxford Festival 2009
Patrick Pawsey Vale
Dance meets Bladerunner. A dark, crushing institiution where clothes are removed to imprison, but actually free the inmates, gives way to flashes of individual creativity and release, fluidly mixed ...
16 years ago
Dancin' Oxford Festival 2009