Entertainment & Reviews

To mark the 250th anniversary of the earliest Gothic novel, first published on Christmas Eve 1764 as a seasonal ghost story, a new edition of The Castle of Otranto introduced by a University of Exeter academic is now available. Author Horace Walpole described his literary work as a “Gothic story”, yet for him the Gothic meant very different things from what it might do today. While the Gothic was associated with the supernatural, it was predominantly a theory of English progress rooted in Anglo Saxon and medieval history. In Professor Nick Groom’s introduction, he explores the novel's...

From the 19-22 January the Exeter Phoenix will be hosting an exciting new production of the musical Rent, produced and performed by the University of Exeter’s Shotgun Theatre Company.

Set in early 1990s Manhattan, Rent tracks the trials and tribulations of several struggling artists living in the island’s East Village. The musical’s narrator is film-maker Mark Cohen who, along with musician Roger Davis, can’t drum up the outstanding rent for their old friend and landlord Benny. Mark and Roger’s story is intertwined with those of their friends and love interests, as well as all the...

A new TV programme telling the story of what life was like for Romans and Britons 2000 years ago involves a unique journey across Britain by helicopter with commentary from a University of Exeter archaeologist. ‘Roman Britain from the Air’ is on ITV at 8pm on 23 December. The programme is presented by Christine Bleakley and historian Dr Michael Scott, with assistance from University of Exeter archaeologist Professor Stephen Rippon, who advised on the making of ‘Roman Britain from the Air’. The Romans have left a legacy that’s lasted 1600 years. From Hadrian’s Wall to the 6000 seat...

Women on the English Stage! Outrageous? Exciting?

Greater respect for women? Fabulous roles… glamour and untold riches? Go and see!

The year is 1669 – a bawdy and troublesome time. The theatres have just re-opened after seventeen years of suppression under the Puritans. Charles II, now restored to the English throne, has by Royal Decree sanctioned the appearance of the first English actresses to grace the stage.

April De Angelis has taken five famous figures – Nell Gwyn, Elizabeth Farley, Rebecca Marshall, Doll Common and Mary Betterton – and given us a fascinating...