Natalie Tan

It’s impossible to not be romantic about football, and by that I mean Romantic with a capital R. Turns out the literary canon of the Romantics and the sporting world share an unexpected similarity: they’re both home to a unanimously agreed-upon Big Six. In this day and age being able to discuss both versions with an elementary level of proficiency grants you similar amounts of cultural capital (albeit in very different circles). Think football is the domain of the intellectually challenged?

“Now is the time for joyhealthhappinessmaxxing”, reads the text I sent to my friends before we moved back in for Trinity. Just over two weeks later, it has proven true. Every time someone  has asked how I’m doing, I tell them the truth: it’s my happiest Oxford term yet. And it’s not just me; everyone’s dopamine seems to have tripled.

When The Anti-gone begins, the only thing onstage is a lectern – stark in the harsh white light and terribly lonely – before Ismene (Kitty Brown) walks uncertainly down the aisle and stares, torn and lost, into the audience. This is Carfax Productions and Atelier V’s latest play in a nutshell: sparse but affecting, and bolstered by the performances of its incredibly talented cast.