Reviews by Sean Maclachlan
The War of the Worlds
Sean Maclachlan
Let’s get one thing clear – this is not a straight-up stage adaptation of the sci-fi classic, H.G. Wells’ quaintly localised novel that saw Martians ransacking Woking and Leatherhead. Nor is ...
4 years ago
The War of the Worlds
Fofoulah
Sean Maclachlan
London-based six-man outfit Fofoulah have a unique sound: it's deeply rooted in West African musical traditions and yet simultaneously futurist, even dystopian. It's also, frankly, bloody good. The ...
5 years ago
Fofoulah
Trojan Horse
Sean Maclachlan
Good theatre can do lots of things: it can delight, amuse, and amaze. Far, far less common are the plays that make you sit up in your seat, that pull the wool from your eyes, that leave you angry and ...
5 years ago
Trojan Horse
The Comedy Room
Sean Maclachlan
The Comedy Room, the Old Fire Station's stand-up showcase, is a great way to see talented comedians with whom you may not be familiar, and this riotous instalment was no exception. The MCs are ...
5 years ago
The Comedy Room
Johanna Unzueta: Tools for Life
Sean Maclachlan
Johanna Unzueta's journey as an artist is an intriguing one. Born in Chile, Unzueta studied art at Santiago's Universidad Católica, but just as important as her formal training was her upbringing: ...
5 years ago
Johanna Unzueta: Tools for Life
Bleak House, A Musical Adaptation
Sean Maclachlan
It's almost as if the team at Creation Theatre enjoy giving themselves a hard time. They've untangled Dickens' Bleak House, condensed twenty-three hours of reading time into two hours of playtime, ...
5 years ago
Bleak House, A Musical Adaptation
One Million Tiny Plays About Britain
Sean Maclachlan
One Million Tiny Plays About Britain is the brainchild of writer Craig Taylor, a footloose Canadian who arrived in London and kept up an old habit of recording everyday episodes and snippets of ...
5 years ago
One Million Tiny Plays About Britain
Alice in Typhoidland
Sean Maclachlan
Alice in Typhoidland is an audacious new exhibition co-hosted by the Bodleian's Weston Library and the History of Science Museum, exploring the history of typhoid in Oxford and its continued threat ...
5 years ago
Alice in Typhoidland
DRY
Sean Maclachlan
Alcohol plays a crucial role in the way we socialise, relax, grieve and celebrate. But at what point does casual drinking become something more worrying, and do those affected know how to seek help? ...
5 years ago
DRY
1917 [15]
Sean Maclachlan
Director Sam Mendes has kicked off the new decade with a landmark piece of cinema. 1917 has already been well-received at the Golden Globes, snagging Best Picture and Best Director, and more garlands ...
5 years ago
1917 [15]
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker [12A]
Sean Maclachlan
With so much teaser trailer talk, rumours of scripts on sale on eBay and directorial to-ing and fro-ing, it was easy to lose track of the fact that there was an actual film at the centre of it all. ...
5 years ago
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker [12A]
Einstein on the run: Oxford, Britain and Nazi Germany
Sean Maclachlan
Andrew Robinson, the prolific writer and journalist, has written twenty-five books, in fields as diverse as the history of science, Indian culture, and archaeology. In his most recent release, ...
5 years ago
Einstein on the run: Oxford, Britain and Nazi Germany
Oxford Christmas Market
Sean Maclachlan
The Chipsmyth at Oxford Christmas Market
On the grapevine I had heard whispers of a food stall at the Christmas Market that had been drawing in the crowds and causing quite a stir. Intrigued, I ...
5 years ago
Oxford Christmas Market
Upcycled Sounds & Tandem present: Paddy Steer + Knobblehead
Sean Maclachlan
Wednesday night was dark and cold and gritty, so it made perfect sense to trek off to a Botley industrial estate for some live music we didn't know anything about. Somehow, Tap Social is arguably as ...
5 years ago
Upcycled Sounds & Tandem present: Paddy Steer + Knobblehead
Yerma
Sean Maclachlan
It speaks volumes of the ambitions of this student production that they dared to take on Yerma. Federico García Lorca's play is dark, fraught and tricky to stage, requiring an exceptional emotional ...
5 years ago
Yerma
The Pardoner's Tale
Sean Maclachlan
The Creation Theatre Company have always had a knack for producing a little bit of magic. This perhaps stems from the company’s penchant for turning day-to-day places into theatre spaces: a recent, ...
5 years ago
The Pardoner's Tale
Richard Herring
Sean Maclachlan
Richard Herring's Leicester Square Podcast (RHLSTP) has been running since 2012 and shows no signs of slowing up any time soon. Herring, formerly one half of a comedy double act with the lesser-known ...
5 years ago
Richard Herring
Monos [15]
Sean Maclachlan
Apocalypse Now meets Lord of the Flies in Alejandro Landes’ Monos, a striking picture recently crowned Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival. The ‘Monos’ of the title are a unit of child ...
5 years ago
Monos [15]
Everything I See I Swallow
Sean Maclachlan
Shibari is not a word that many will have seen or heard before. I confess I'd neglected to carry out research before attending the show, concerned about what an innocent Google might dredge up on my ...
5 years ago
Everything I See I Swallow
Barber Shop Chronicles
Sean Maclachlan
There were early signs that Barber Shop Chronicles was going to be far from ordinary. Entering the theatre, cast members were strolling about, chatting in groups with loud music blaring, and soon ...
5 years ago
Barber Shop Chronicles
Neither Wolf Nor Dog [12A]
Sean Maclachlan
Kent Nerburn’s 1994 cult novel, Neither Wolf Nor Dog, spent a number of years ricocheting around various Hollywood studios. It seemed that it would be one of those screenplays: much-lauded, but ...
5 years ago
Neither Wolf Nor Dog [12A]
Happy Even After
Sean Maclachlan
With Theresa May's landmark domestic abuse bill now back on the parliamentary agenda, Human Story Theatre's most recent production, Happy Even After, could not be more timely. The theatre company has ...
5 years ago
Happy Even After
If Not Now, When?
Sean Maclachlan
Another year, another sold-out edition of If Not Now, When?, the all-day festival at Cowley’s East Oxford Community Centre and Fusion Arts. Three stages of talent curated by regular promoters Idiot ...
5 years ago
If Not Now, When?
Rojo [15]
Sean Maclachlan
Rojo opens with a fixed shot of an attractive villa on a leafy suburban street, the burble of morning activity faintly audible in the background. Several inhabitants leave, each with some item or ...
5 years ago
Rojo [15]
Skylight
Sean Maclachlan
Frost licks at the corners of the windows and the bars of the electric heater onstage glow red-hot. It feels as if you could see your own breath in the auditorium. The play is Skylight, the latest ...
5 years ago
Skylight
Queering Spires Exhibition
Sean Maclachlan
Since its inception, the Museum of Oxford has sought to "tell the story of Oxford and its people", but as Community Engagement and Exhibitions Officer Marta Lomza admits, this has not always been ...
5 years ago
Queering Spires Exhibition
