Reviews by Madeleine Herbert
Pangolin, Calypso
Madeleine Herbert
The
seven musicians who come together to form jazz/funk/hip hop band
Pangolin seem to be having a lot of fun making their music.
Throughout the set, smiles and giggles dart backwards and forwards ...
8 years ago
Pangolin, Calypso
Finding Beulah
Madeleine Herbert
Finding Beulah is a play about ties: familial ties, ties of love, cultural ties and societal ties. The things that bind us to history and to our own histories. This central interest is explored ...
8 years ago
Finding Beulah
BrewDog
Madeleine Herbert
In the spirit of neighbourhood watch, we at Daily Info felt it was important to check out the food at Brewdog - the new kids on the Cowley Road block. Indeed their sprawling octopus street art has ...
8 years ago
BrewDog
Percy's
Madeleine Herbert
Iffley Road is already well-populated with lovely cafés, but one more can't hurt. Especially not when it's as good as Percy's at number 247. As a Sunday brunch spot, you'd be hard pushed to find ...
8 years ago
Percy's
Kindertransport
Madeleine Herbert
Kindertransport, written in 1995 by playwright Diane Samuels, is a play with two strands. First there is Helga in 1930s Germany, a Jewish mother who decides to send her nine-year-old daughter Eva to ...
8 years ago
Kindertransport
Thai Yoga Massage With Sophia
Madeleine Herbert
"Thai Yoga Massage, or Traditional Thai Massage, has roots in the wider Indian traditions of Ayurveda and yoga as well as ancient Buddhist traditions. It is a holistic therapy that aims to balance ...
8 years ago
Thai Yoga Massage With Sophia
People, Places & Things
Madeleine Herbert
The huge, white, clinical box which holds the action in People, Places and Things is more than a waiting room, or a clinic, or any of the other places it is transformed into (with slick and smooth ...
8 years ago
People, Places & Things
Malmaison
Madeleine Herbert
My evening at Malmaison started off in a promising manner. On arriving in the basement restaurant of the prison-turned-glamorous-hotel, my guest and I were greeted by every member of staff that we ...
8 years ago
Malmaison
Things I Know To Be True
Madeleine Herbert
Truth is a slippery fish when it comes to family ties. What is true about the feelings you have for a group of people you never chose to love? What truths do you know about them? And then, people are ...
8 years ago
Things I Know To Be True
Remote
Madeleine Herbert
Remote is part game, part theatre, part thought experiment. The premise is that during the show, you (the audience) are collectively choosing the destiny of 'a person like yourself'; in our show ...
8 years ago
Remote
Rosie Wilby: Is Monogamy Dead?
Madeleine Herbert
Halfway through this talk about her new book Is Monogamy Dead?, Rosie Wilby read us a letter which was left for her by a disgruntled member of the public at another bookshop hosting her recently. The ...
8 years ago
Rosie Wilby: Is Monogamy Dead?
Police Cops in Space
Madeleine Herbert
I didn’t manage to see The Pretend Men’s Police Cops last year at the fringe and it was something I was very disappointed about. So I was eagerly anticipating the sequel: Police Cops in Space, ...
8 years ago
Police Cops in Space
Shitfaced Showtime: The Wizard of Oz
Madeleine Herbert
Drunk people on a night out can be really funny, so when you throw them into the middle of a full production of the Wizard of Oz, things get even funnier. In Shitfaced Showtime: the Wonderful Wizard ...
8 years ago
Shitfaced Showtime: The Wizard of Oz
Testosterone
Madeleine Herbert
Testosterone has a calm, inquiring approach to its subject matter, which facilitates the educational aspect of the piece with huge potential. It’s gentle and it’s full of love, and you get the ...
8 years ago
Testosterone
Murder She Didn’t Write: An Improvised Murder Mystery
Madeleine Herbert
Arriving in the auditorium for Murder She Didn't Write, we are faced with a classic murder mystery drawing room, complete with chaise longue and patterned carpet: Cluedo just found its place on the ...
8 years ago
Murder She Didn’t Write: An Improvised Murder Mystery
Oxford Revue: Witch Hunt
Madeleine Herbert
This show from the Oxford Revue is everything a student sketch show should be. Trio Kathy, Derek and Alistair present us an hour of unpretentious, funny, silly comedy based around a strange selection ...
8 years ago
Oxford Revue: Witch Hunt
Education Education Education
Madeleine Herbert
In the theatre, you are always an outsider looking in. In Education Education Education, The Wardrobe Ensemble have managed to amplify this effect even further by using the German language assistant ...
8 years ago
Education Education Education
Alan We Think You Should Get A Dog
Madeleine Herbert
This piece, written and performed by a group of recent graduates from the Central School of Speech and Drama, has a lot going for it. It follows the story of a group of young adults held together by ...
8 years ago
Alan We Think You Should Get A Dog
Sarah Kendall: One-Seventeen
Madeleine Herbert
Sarah Kendall is first and foremost a hugely talented storyteller. She weaves the threads of her stories into a beautiful patchwork of carefully selected constituent parts like a wise seamstress, ...
8 years ago
Sarah Kendall: One-Seventeen
The Optimists
Madeleine Herbert
This is a very good show; it’s funny, it’s pacy and it’s clever. Set mainly in the apartment flat of a rich footballer, it is a farce following the unlikely connections between a group of ...
8 years ago
The Optimists
Pistorius: A Shakespearean Tragedy
Madeleine Herbert
In Shakespeare’s time, his audiences would come to a show with a prior knowledge of the events described, being so often rooted in classical tragedies or loosely covered allegories of political ...
8 years ago
Pistorius: A Shakespearean Tragedy
Palmyra
Madeleine Herbert
Having already seen Betrand and Nasi’s show Eurohouse on its UK tour, I could see the similarities in what they are doing there and here in Palmyra. Both shows examine the nature of violent ...
8 years ago
Palmyra
Graham Dickson is the Narcissist
Madeleine Herbert
Graham Dickson’s performance in this absurd piece of comedy never once faltered. His delivery is outstandingly committed, engaged and funny, his characters are complete and distinct, and the script ...
8 years ago
Graham Dickson is the Narcissist
Foreign Radical
Madeleine Herbert
It is very hard to write about this piece of theatre without giving away details which would compromise the suspense inherent in the experience. It is an hour of concentrated questioning which looks ...
8 years ago
Foreign Radical
Camille O'Sullivan: Where Are We Now
Madeleine Herbert
From the very beginning of the show, Camille O’Sullivan had us in her palm, gently giving us her music, even though the music itself was often far from gentle. Her presence and her set were ...
8 years ago
Camille O'Sullivan: Where Are We Now
The Oxford Revue presents: Triptych
Madeleine Herbert
The Oxford Revue has been bringing sketch comedy to the fringe for decades, and has a history of successful alumni, which is a mixed blessing: sure, it gets bums on seats, but it also opens up a show ...
8 years ago
The Oxford Revue presents: Triptych
Victim
Madeleine Herbert
This one woman show is fast, gripping, clever and thought-provoking. It is set in a women’s prison in London and follows the backstories of the two main characters: Tracey the prison officer and ...
8 years ago
Victim
Planet Earth III
Madeleine Herbert
As I walked out of Planet Earth III, I heard an audience member complain of an aching mouth from too much laughing. I had a similar experience; I think the longest I went without proper belly ...
8 years ago
Planet Earth III
We Are Ian
Madeleine Herbert
Three women are drawn to a light bulb, which the disembodied voice of the titular Ian is lighting up in bursts; they gather around it, reacting with clown facial expressions of wonder and confusion ...
8 years ago
We Are Ian
Tangerine Fields
Madeleine Herbert
The Glamping section at Cornbury festival is everything you’d expect; ranging from normal tents pitched in advance to huge ‘outdoor hotel’ rooms with double beds and dressing rooms - it is the ...
8 years ago
Tangerine Fields
Venus and Adonis
Madeleine Herbert
In Venus and Adonis, a narrative poem written at the beginning of the Bard's career, Shakespeare is at his most ruminative. He looks at love, lust, gendered interaction, anger and death; he ...
8 years ago
Venus and Adonis
Salomé
Madeleine Herbert
Oscar Wilde's Salomé is a classic Symbolist text and this production, with its dense atmosphere, obvious colour scheme, and detailed exploration of the original text, stayed close to these roots. ...
8 years ago
Salomé
Signs
Madeleine Herbert
Without knowing anything about sign language before watching this piece, I was impressed by the way in which gestural language and dance had been merged and developed in such a fluid and beautiful ...
8 years ago
Signs
Hotter
Madeleine Herbert
Hotter is a verbatim show with an intimate twist in its dealing with questions of body: fluids, issues and identity. The two performers, Ell Potter and Mary Higgins, have conducted interviews with ...
9 years ago
Hotter
Swan
Madeleine Herbert
A couple of times during the performance of Elf Lyons’ hour-long ballet Swan, I looked down to take notes and found that when I looked back up, Lyons, in her leggy parrot costume (by leggy, I mean ...
9 years ago
Swan
Pelléas et Mélisande
Madeleine Herbert
At the heart of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande is a love story which, unlike others based around scandal, has stood the test of time. Falling in love with your husband's brother, or indeed your ...
9 years ago
Pelléas et Mélisande
Spring Storm
Madeleine Herbert
Survival of the fittest is a healthy process which is sometimes best left undisturbed. When a play by a well-known playwright is 'rediscovered' long after the playwright's death, it can either be a ...
9 years ago
Spring Storm
The Pickled Walnut
Madeleine Herbert
The experience at Cowley Road's resident Syrian restaurant - the Pickled Walnut - is a cohesive one; from the clean, stylish design of the tiled interior, to the warm, fun and knowledgeable service ...
9 years ago
The Pickled Walnut
While We're Here
Madeleine Herbert
Barney Norris' While We're Here is a brainworm of a play. While watching, you are right there in the modestly but carefully decorated sitting room of Carol's house - in fact, so engrossed was I that ...
9 years ago
While We're Here
The Jericho Tavern
Madeleine Herbert
The Jericho Tavern on Walton Street has many strings to its bow. Not only is it a friendly pub with a good list of real ales, it also allows dogs in the main room, hosts many great live gigs and ...
9 years ago
The Jericho Tavern
Bubble Schmeisis
Madeleine Herbert
This is a storytelling piece which takes you on a car journey around the North Circular to the Canning Town Schvitz, East London's last authentic bath house. On the way, there are stop-offs at major ...
9 years ago
Bubble Schmeisis
Sister Act
Madeleine Herbert
As I walked away from Oxford's New Theatre last night, I saw a monk in his habit, rushing from the train station, complete with backpack and a rolly suitcase. In this city of constant wonder, with ...
9 years ago
Sister Act
Portraits From A Chip Shop
Madeleine Herbert
Portraits from a Chip Shop is decidedly not about chips whilst having everything to do with them. In a world where connections are increasingly virtual, it is a collection which celebrates community, ...
9 years ago
Portraits From A Chip Shop
The Island
Madeleine Herbert
"Yes, they'll laugh. But who cares about that as long as they laugh in the beginning and listen at the end. That's all we want them to do … listen at the end!" The Island is set inside the cell of ...
9 years ago
The Island
Maddy Prior
Madeleine Herbert
Maddy Prior's warm stage presence and clear ease in audience interaction give away her 50 years of experience in the industry. She is a performer with an enormous amount of generosity and openness ...
9 years ago
Maddy Prior
Elham's Lebanese Deli
Madeleine Herbert
Elham's Lebanese Deli is a hybrid between a deli and a restaurant, which incorporates the appearance and ambience of the former with the dining options of the latter. It is a winning combination and ...
9 years ago
Elham's Lebanese Deli
Brick
Madeleine Herbert
When Daily Info were invited to go and sample the food at St Ebbe's Kitchen, Katy and I took one look at their mouth-watering Instagram and jumped at the chance. I am happy to say it did not ...
9 years ago
Brick
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Madeleine Herbert
This stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's much-loved Fantastic Mr Fox is billed as a treat for the whole family and this is wholly accurate: the script carefully offers delights for older and younger ...
9 years ago
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Unbuilt Room
Madeleine Herbert
The Unbuilt Room is a performance piece based on the idea of Open World video gaming. Open World video games (for the uninitiated) are ones in which the player is presented with a virtual world which ...
9 years ago
The Unbuilt Room
Bucket List
Madeleine Herbert
Theatre Ad Infinitum's Bucket List is seamless in its choreography and performance. It is both in concept and in production truly collaborative - the product of collective development of an idea - ...
9 years ago
Bucket List
Meet Fred
Madeleine Herbert
Meet Fred is a piece which showcases all that is magical about puppetry as an art form. The puppetry is stunning, the story beguiling and the questions raised engaging. The meta-theatrical devices ...
9 years ago
Meet Fred
Infinity Pool by Bea Roberts
Madeleine Herbert
Infinity Pool is a remarkable piece of theatre. Bea Roberts, the writer and perfomer, has finessed every element of the piece's communicative power, from the use of props and projections (including ...
9 years ago
Infinity Pool by Bea Roberts
Ben's Cookies
Madeleine Herbert
The Daily Info Team took it upon ourselves to do a team review of Ben's Cookies (it's a hard life). Here's our half-baked opinions in the post-cookie conversation: Maddy: As designated cookie ...
9 years ago
Ben's Cookies
Eurohouse
Madeleine Herbert
Eurohouse is a masterpiece of sublety. The two performers, Frenchman Bertrand Lesca and Greek Nasi Voutsas, trace the descent of an joyous amicable relationship into a manipulative power-play between ...
9 years ago
Eurohouse
The Crown
Madeleine Herbert
I went to The Crown for a family Sunday lunch and it was an all-round lovely experience. Even though it is so central, it is easy to overlook, thanks to the passageway which tucks it away from the ...
9 years ago
The Crown
A Rather Sketchy Show
Madeleine Herbert
This triple-bill of comedy acts at the JDP in Hilda's college provided a great Friday night starter. What better way to see in the weekend! Despite the venue being perhaps not the best suited to ...
9 years ago
A Rather Sketchy Show
1984
Madeleine Herbert
In this world of growing nationalism, "alternative facts" and hugely increased possibility of surveillance through digital means, the themes of Nineteen Eighty-Four have never been more relevant. ...
9 years ago
1984
Suddenly Last Summer
Madeleine Herbert
Often when student plays are described as ambitious, it is a euphemism for 'not very good' or 'nice try'. The Experimental Theatre Club's production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, ...
9 years ago
Suddenly Last Summer
Oxford Revue Audrey #1
Madeleine Herbert
Student comedy nights often present a mixed bag, normally in terms of quality as well as style. Luckily for the audience, the Oxford Revue's first Audrey of 2017 presented variety in the latter but ...
9 years ago
Oxford Revue Audrey #1
Lubaina Himid: Invisible Strategies
Madeleine Herbert
Modern Art Oxford's latest show, Invisible Strategies, which is a retrospective collection of work by leading British artist Lubaina Himid, truly embodies the ethos of the gallery.
Modern Art ...
9 years ago
Lubaina Himid: Invisible Strategies
The Psychic Project - A Mind-reading Show Based on a True Story
Madeleine Herbert
The Old Fire Station, Fri 27 January 2017 The Psychic Project is an illusion show with a difference; one where the bread-and-butter is really a documentary-style history lesson, and the tricks ...
9 years ago
The Psychic Project - A Mind-reading Show Based on a True Story
Edward II
Madeleine Herbert
In the words of George Michael, "It's the ones who persist for the sake of a kiss who will pay" and no one knows this better than the ill-fated Edward II, whose demise lies in his greatest asset; his ...
9 years ago
Edward II
Oxford Playwrights’ Showcase
Madeleine Herbert
The Playwrights' Showcase at the Pegasus Theatre involved work with varied themes and styles, written by seven members of the Oxford Playwrights. The seven short plays were performed by local amateur ...
9 years ago
Oxford Playwrights’ Showcase
Peloton Espresso
Madeleine Herbert
In cycle racing terms, the 'peloton' is the main body of cyclists, cycling together as one and thus reducing the impact of wind resistance on each individual. It is an example of working as a group ...
9 years ago
Peloton Espresso
Dancing Bear, Dancing Bear
Madeleine Herbert
As we enter, two men stand on the stage stark naked, smiling sweetly and making eye contact with each audience member in turn. When everyone is seated in front of them, the voice in the headphones ...
9 years ago
Dancing Bear, Dancing Bear
Bah! Humbug! An evening of comedy.
Madeleine Herbert
This comedy event was a mixed bill of comedians from around the country and was organised to raise money for the Old Fire Station itself and the work it does with the community and for the arts in ...
9 years ago
Bah! Humbug! An evening of comedy.
30 Christmases
Madeleine Herbert
Christmas is a time to indulge in tradition, otherwise known as doing something regularly just because someone did it once. So we go to our Christmas shows, we sing carols, we eat mince pies. For ...
9 years ago
30 Christmases
Gino's Spaghetti House
Madeleine Herbert
I have been recommended this Italian restaurant several times but had never quite got round to visiting until now. It turns out to be a shame I took such a long time, since Gino's boasts tasty food, ...
9 years ago
Gino's Spaghetti House
Ex Libris Live!
Madeleine Herbert
Ex Libris Live has perfected the recipe for a great game and live event: four guest writers, one presenter, one timekeeper. One writer reads the title and synopsis of a novel (the guests take it in ...
9 years ago
Ex Libris Live!
Nil By Mouth [18]
Madeleine Herbert
Nil By Mouth was screened as part of the Ultimate Picture Palace's 'Critics' Fortnight' where the films shown were chosen by critics as those which had "sparked their interest in cinema and set them ...
9 years ago
Nil By Mouth [18]
Damon Brown
Madeleine Herbert
The Spin Jazz Club is a bit of an Oxford institution. Every Thursday at 8.30pm, the upstairs room of the Wheatsheaf is laid with gingham-clad tables, the lights are dimmed, and a Jazz legend of some ...
9 years ago
Damon Brown
African Gingers, Morning Glories and Species Discovery
Madeleine Herbert
For the final talk in the Oxford Botanic Garden's Autumn Plant Sciences Lecture series Professor Robert Scotland, from the University's Department of Plant Sciences, chose to speak on the ipomoea ...
9 years ago
African Gingers, Morning Glories and Species Discovery
Masters of Disaster - The World In Your Hands
Madeleine Herbert
Masters of Disaster was billed as an immersive, "audience-led" event designed to engage people with science by making them part of the discussion. The premise was built on the idea that three ...
9 years ago
Masters of Disaster - The World In Your Hands
Easter Island Statues, The Outside, Freemantle, Ras Brother John
Madeleine Herbert
Wednesday night's offering from the week-long Oxford City Festival provided an eclectic mix of musical entertainment. The line-up was well curated, taking us on a journey right through from reggae to ...
9 years ago
Easter Island Statues, The Outside, Freemantle, Ras Brother John
GAF
Madeleine Herbert
"Weird and delicious, that should be our tagline" says the waiter as he places the Apple Onion Gin and Tonic dish on our table. It is a deconstruction of the classic drink into salad form, with onion ...
9 years ago
GAF
Alpha Bar
Madeleine Herbert
This salad and hot food bar at the back of the covered market is in my experience pretty reliable. I went to get a takeaway staff lunch on a rainy Tuesday and once again it didn't disappoint. On ...
9 years ago
Alpha Bar
Oliver! by Oxford Operatic Society
Madeleine Herbert
The well-known first musical number, 'Food Glorious Food', in Oxford Operatic Society's Oliver! sets the scene for the polished production which is to come. The choreography is simple but ...
9 years ago
Oliver! by Oxford Operatic Society
Gasp!
Madeleine Herbert
Combining physical theatre and circus while observing the artistic integrity of the former and the parade of impressive physical achievement of the latter is a balancing act (pun intended) to which ...
9 years ago
Gasp!
OxPHWOARd: The Self Love Show
Madeleine Herbert
Ginger Tart hosted her burlesque show, 'OxPHWOARd' last Friday, with a lot of heart, a lot of fun and a lot of pizzazz. She held the show together with an assured and experienced charm. From the ...
9 years ago
OxPHWOARd: The Self Love Show
