Arts and Culture showcases the creative life of St John’s and the wider Durham community. From student writing, music, theatre, and visual arts to reviews, exhibitions, and cultural moments on and off campus, this section celebrates the ideas and imagination that thrive at John’s. It’s where Johnians share what inspires them and what they’re making, watching, reading, and thinking about.
By Lucy Mainwaring-Parr. Melissa McCarthy’s name, since her standout appearance in the slap-stick comedy Bridesmaids in 2011, has grown synonymous with screwball performances and incredulous plots. But her new serious biopic may be one of the best performances of her career.
By Freya Thomas. Rhys’ position as a feminist writer may be debated but it cannot be denied that her novels craft strong and authentic voices for their female protagonists and give a narrative to those denied one on the basis of race and / or gender.
By Eleanor Dye. February saw two performances of ‘Northanger Abbey’ by Castle Theatre Company in Durham Castle that immersed the audience in the world of Austen.
By Freya Thomas. Janet Rogers first began her glass-work as a hobby, when she bought a soldering iron to make a stained-glass window for her front door. Ten years on and she now runs the Crushed Chilli Gallery, a beautiful space in which she creates, displays and sells her daring and colourful art work.
By Lucy Mainwaring-Parr. Happiness is an elusive concept, a term used rather flippantly in daily conversations. It is seen as an “adult” goal and perhaps the most inescapable objective. However, as Hector shows, this idea is one to be challenged.
By Eleanor Dye. Miller was a controversial figure, yet in 2019, with a sensational series of four Arthur Miller plays due on the London stage, there seems to have been an overwhelming resurge of Miller’s popularity: more so, his status as the writer of American classics. What changed?
By Freya Thomas. Heralded as a ‘once in a generation opportunity’, the British Library’s latest exhibition brings together an incredible collection of manuscripts and artefacts covering a span of six-hundred years.
By Lucy Mainwaring-Parr.
This is not your regular historical drama. It’s contorted in every element and cuttingly modern despite its backdrop of the early 18th century.
Whether labelling themselves as sustainable, anti-fur or even vegan, the fashion industry has made major moves in recent years towards the creation of an era of consciousness. Here are a few lesser known pioneers in the sustainability race.
The Turner Art Prize is the UK’s most publicised art award. Organised by the Tate art gallery and awarded annually to a British visual artist, it has often made headlines for controversy more so than for innovative mediums.
John's Chronicle 