Review by Elis Doyle The Rocky Horror Show, a musical performance which explores the peculiar and outrageous, with a dash of B-Movie Horror and Sci-fi thrown into the melting pot, is quite the spectacle to behold. In the show, newly-weds Janet and Brad are stranded in the middle of nowhere, and are forced to take refuge in a nearby castle owned by a certain … Continue reading Review: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, New Theatre
Reviewed by Thomas Edwards This book of unpublished essays frequently reiterates itself as the concluding collection of Christopher HitchensÔÇÖ work. It states in the inner jacket how it is the ÔÇÿfinal volumeÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿthe last of the lastÔÇÖ. As a book that is the final product of collecting the last essays from what was a considerably well-stocked vault is surely not indicative of HitchensÔÇÖ work; … Continue reading Book Review: “And Yet…”, Christopher Hitchens.
Reviewed by Emily Jones, Features Editor. In a hauntingly modern conflation of three Shakespeare plays chronicling the Wars of the Roses, the Omidaze theatre company documents the conflicts between the two rival royal Houses of Lancaster and York in their fight for the throne, and the intricate plots that lead to the death of Henry VI. Staged in the Wales Millennium Centre, Henry VI … Continue reading Review: Henry VI, Wales Millenium Centre.
Review by Sarah Davies and Khuram Mahmood Posted by George Caulton The story of a man searching for his wife-to-beÔÇÖs murderer begins slowly and stirs, quite literally, from the underbelly of the theatre. Rehearsal for Murder suffers and succeeds in the same instant, not dissimilar to the state that Alex, the protagonist finds himself in. Alex, a successful playwright, attempts to calm the nerves of … Continue reading Review: Rehearsal for Murder, New Theatre
How does a city express itself? On its walls? In its streets? In its violence? Through its atmosphere? Does it spill out from its people, their screams, their laughter on the streets? Do individuals make the city, or does a city make the individuals what they are, what they can be? The interactions between the people within a city are constantly restrained, there are a … Continue reading Expression in the City
“The Internet is really, really great…” Avenue Q is a musical that makes frequent contemptuous references to black people, Jews, homosexuals, Republicans, pornography and sexÔǪ yet it could not be more hilarious if it tried. Avenue Q hit the New Theatre, Cardiff this week and did not disappoint. Providing a hilarious platform of discussion between puppets, everyday life and a few taboos thrown in for … Continue reading Review: Avenue Q, New Theatre
PorterÔÇÖs, a bar on Bute Terrace close to the Motorpoint Arena, on a barren stretch of road encased within CardiffÔÇÖs transport links, (the beer garden is almost sheltered by the concrete pillars that hold up the railway) is a stylish venue with an understated film/theatre aesthetic. It often screens films and theatre productions in The Other Room; a tiny back room of 20 or so … Continue reading Play/Silence: a double bill at Porter’s Bar
T┼À Celf 2016 is now online! Also included as a pull-out in issue 156 of Quench magazine,┬áT┼À Celf is Cardiff University’s annual arts publication and we are very excited to share this year’s issue with you all. In addition to some wonderful pieces of traditional art, photography, poetry and prose, we have decided to include film within the anthology this year; exhibiting the variety of … Continue reading T┼À Celf 2016
On Thursday 3rd of December a giant mural was lauched on the side of Clwb Ifor Bach as part of a series of UK street art. It was inspired by welsh musician GwennoÔÇÖs latest concept album Y Dydd Olaf, which was in turn inspired by a 1976 sci-fi novel written by Owain Owain. It was painted by a local street artist RMER, and designed by … Continue reading Street Art at Clwb Ifor Bach
Every year T┼À Celf, an annual arts publication for writing, photography, art and this time film, is published as a pull-out in Quench magazine and online. We are looking for contributions from Cardiff students (undergrad or postgrad) which include poetry, prose, digital or traditional art, photography and film. This is a great chance to get your work published in a magazine read by students and … Continue reading T┼À Celf 2015/16
Originally a novella written by horror-mogul Stephen King, then transformed into the classic cult film over twenty years ago, I pounced on the opportunity to review The Shawshank Redemption production at The New Theatre, Cardiff. While this latest adaption definitely captured the tone of ÔÇÿfear will hold you prisonerÔÇÖ, it struggled to recapitulate the sombre themes explored so elegantly on screen. In a miscarriage of … Continue reading Review: The Shawshank Redemption, New Theatre
EXPERIMENTICA┬áreturned to Cardiff this year for five days filled with live art, performances and interdisciplinary projects. As Chapter stated on their website ÔÇÿEXPERIMENTICA is entertaining, dangerous, confusing, life-affirming, playful, provocative, thoughtful, witty, engaging, irritating and everything in between.ÔÇÖ Here are a number of the performances that took part across the five day international festival. Review 1# (by Georgie Crespie) Across one day were the performances … Continue reading Experimentica15
When I was told that I was going to see a musical about depression, self harm, anorexia and a girl whoÔÇÖd been sectioned, honestly I feared the worst. Musicals are usually so fun and whimsical that I thought it would be impossible to display the emotional depth required for such a topic. Boy was I wrong. Battle Scars: A New Musical, written and directed by … Continue reading Review: Battle Scars: A New Musical, YMCA Theatre
BizetÔÇÖs gracefully hypnotic, four act opera, Carmen, hit the stage of St DavidÔÇÖs Hall this week and its success was evidently exemplified by the roaring applause upon the final curtain of the performance. The opera revealed a spectacular degree of d├®cor with an all- inclusive account of highly qualified opera stars, multitudes of colorful clothing and just to top it off, a real donkey walking … Continue reading Review: Bizet Carmen, St David’s Hall.
The proof of a good story, whether in film, television or theatre is always the way you feel about the characters come the finale. There have been endless occasions in which protagonists have met their fatal and dramatic deaths, with directors hoping for a weeping audience to mourn the tragedy, only to be met by the realization that no one in the audience really cares. … Continue reading Review: The Glenn Miller Story, New Theatre
For many of us, students especially, our weekends consist of partying all through Friday and Saturday night, whilst sleeping in the day. Our social life revolves around the night time, whether it be at a party or at a club where the average arrival time is 12am and most of us usually end up getting home in the early hours of the next morning. Many … Continue reading Art & Nightlife
After all these years, judging from the buzzing, dancing-in-your-seat atmosphere of the auditorium, Grease certainly is still the one that we want. The nationÔÇÖs favourite musical has hit the stage of The New Theatre, with Orbit Theatre Company bringing us all the classic hits itÔÇÖs famous for- the ones that we all undeniably know the lyrics and all the moves to. Opening the show, the … Continue reading Review: Grease, New Theatre.
When you think of Cardiff as a city you may typically associate it with patriotic red dragons, long-standing castles, fine architecture or, more infamously the renound chippy lane after a night out at Wednesday RetroÔÇÖs (AKA Caroline Street). However, it cannot be denied that WalesÔÇÖ capital is a Cultural hub┬áhere are some of the best cultural venues in Cardiff. Cardiff National Museum and Art Gallery┬áby┬áSadia … Continue reading Cardiff’s Cultural Venues
Literature and art are often at the centre of revolution. They can spark change within a single person or within whole societies. Mads Banfield explains some of the most prevalent literary movements and asks whether innovation and revolution can take place now. Throughout the last centuries there have been a range of different literary movements, which have revolutionised how language is presented and engaged … Continue reading Literary Revolutions
Here at Quench Culture we love a good offering of home-grown talent, and perhaps thereÔÇÖs no better than┬á’Parallel Lines’. Cardiff-based playwright Katherine Chandler created ‘Parallel Lines’ in 2012, and the following year it ran for fourteen nights at Chapter (arguably our cityÔÇÖs best venue for independent art and drama). Since then, popular demand has meant itÔÇÖs been re-adapted by Dirty Protest, an award-winning Welsh theatre … Continue reading Review: Parallel Lines, Chapter Arts
