culture

When the idea was put to me to write an article about the idea of Gaming Studies – or studying video or computer games as a subject, I was a little dubious. What are the values of games? Surely they’re what people play in their bedrooms, furtively attempting to...

The latest gritty offering from the BBC and FX has been a great success, and a star-studded cast has ensured that Taboo has earnt its place among the best shows 2017 has seen so far. Tom Hardy plays the suitably brooding James Keziah Delaney, who returns to 1800s London...

“Tampon commercial, detergent commercial, maxi pad commercial, windex commercial – you’d think all women do is clean and bleed.” TITLE: Gone Girl AUTHOR: Gillian Flynn GENRE: Thriller PUBLISHER: Orion Boks LTD PUBLISHED: 2013 PAGES: 460 WARNING: SUSPENSE AND SOME SERIOUS PSYCHO S*** Gone Girl is best known by its...

Captivating from start to finish, Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes is one not to be missed. We were transformed back to the nostalgia of the 1940s and taken into the world of a life in theatre and dance. The combination of contemporary and balletic styles made for...

Book lovers, which do you prefer: old battered charity shop books or the classic clean nice-smelling Waterstones editions? Impact Arts goes head to head to debate this crucial issue in any bookworm’s life! In the red corner: Emma Pallen – New books are better! While I will admit second...

Not normally one for horrors, my initial impressions were fuelled by excitement and nervousness. Naturally, the play is not a ‘blood guts and all thing gory’ horror, but one that does keep you tense and makes you jump at all the right moments. If it’s a thrill you like,...

It’s February, which means only one thing: Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t yet found ‘the one’, or are just sick of pink love hearts everywhere, then this list is for you. Here are five books that are certainly not romance novels – they’re anti-romance. You won’t find any happy...