Indigo Issue 735

indigo 13.12.11

2

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

indigo

Indigo Editors: Hannah Shaddock & Rachel Aroesti indigo@palatinate.org.uk

contents

editor’s letter

I

t’s my favourite question - everyone else’s least. But it’s seasonal, so I’m going to ask it. What are you going to do after you graduate? Hearing my friends discuss how the PWC interview day went, or the technicalities of applying for a Masters, fascinates me. How do they know when the deadline for the Civil Service is?! How do they find the time to fill in a hundredpage form about leadership qualities? When the question is posed to me I just make an I-don’t-know-but-I’m bloody-terrified-look and say “Goddd I have NO idea!” But my reaction is a lie. I do have an idea - at least of what I don’t want.

Deadlines for grad schemes and internships roll past (I’ve heard) only making me feel calmer and calmer, still without having recounted a time when I have demonstrated leadership qualities.

I know I don’t want to do a Masters (can’t handle another year feeling crap about the amount of procrastination I do), don’t want to do law (and applaud those choosing a life of really, really hard work. Well done!), and working in a bank sounds just a tiny bit boring (or am I missing something?)

Yes that’s right, I haven’t applied for any jobs. My plans for the latter half of 2012 include daytime TV, Facebook chat and crippling depression!

Oh god, why haven’t I got a plan?! Shamefully, I think I have identified the reason – it’s because I have been very lucky so far, and I’m finding it hard to envisage the inevitable future where things don’t go my way. An impromptu gap-year (prompted actually by a computer screen full of UCAS rejections) led me to actually being paid to work in TV. When my graduated friends tell me sheepishly they are going into accounting or law, I am disappointed, I can’t hide it. But it’s only because I desperately want them take risks, do a job that they would happily pay to do (and practically will) and set the path for an interesting and exciting career. The arrogance, of course, in suggesting that their career won’t be as exciting as mine, doesn’t escape me, but it’s more that they seem to be making their life-choices in grim resignation rather than burning passion.

Behaving as arrogantly as I am, though, feels like I am skating on very thin ice. I should probably start working out just how far into the middle I am, whether I can get back to the dry land of properjob possibilities that I started from. But at the moment I’m trying to convince myself that it’s already too late, so I have no choice but to make a dash for the other side. RA

Pages 3-5: The night before Christmas: Glamour in the Great Hall

Page 6: Land of ice and snow: A look at the brilliant Frozen Planet Page 7: The future will be confusing: Riccardo Liberatore on the cult of Miranda July Pages 8&9: Christmas covered: Impress your friends with our guide to the perfect Christmas Dinner in Durham

Page 11: TheBubbleBurning: A revolution for Durham’s music scene?

Page 12: Around the world: What happens at Christmas in other countries?

Page 13: Not home for the holidays: Four Christmas holiday destinations at perfect student prices

Page 14: Interevued: We find out what Christmas means to the Durham Revue

Page 15: Dames and a displeased dionysus: What’s the difference between panto and Greek tragedy?

sudoku

stage

music

online film&tv

Rachel Aroesti finds out if Durham’s production of Tom Basden’s Party lives up to its brilliant script, and wonders just how much audience participation can be ethically justified.

Larry Bartleet brings us yet another brand new act in the form of Lianne La Havas , who’s gone from singing backing vocals for Paloma Faith to working with Willy Mason, via an endorsement by Bon Iver.

Alex Leadbeater analyses Ricky Gervais’ brand of ‘showbiz comedy’, perfectly demonstrated by his new sitcom Life’s Too Short. But has this one-trick pony gone stale, as it were?

fittest fresher

‘twas the night before christmas...

4

winter fashion

Thanks to Aaron Morris for the location. Models: Leo Baker and Chessie Hearn. Happy holidays from Tom and Rachel.

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

Fashion Editors: Rachel Bailin and Tom Weller fashion@palatinate.org.uk

5

6

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

film&tv The land of ice and snow

Moneyball

Dir. Bennet Miller

««««« Ed Owen

There are rich teams, and there are poor teams. Then there’s fifty feet of c**p, then there’s us.’ Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is Oakland A’s general manager. He’s lost his three star players in the 2001 close season and hasn’t the money to replace them. So he brings in Yale-educated economist Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), to enforce sabermetrics: the application of economics in order to determine performance.

At its core, ‘Moneyball’ isn’t really a sports film. It’s a conflict between a nostalgic sporting pedagogy and logical modern methodology. Such nostalgia is embodied in the film by Beane’s elderly scouts, exuding a dogmatic romanticism, spouting off wisdom about mystical attributes such as ‘the big five’ and ‘face’.

Beane’s new, statistically-determined recruits are anathema to them, which included (amongst others) a first baseman whose never played first base and an over-the-hill batter. Yet the stats point to them, even if wisdom does not.

These conflicts show the film’s real face as a character study. Beane is an unfulfilled ϋbermensch, taken from a Stanford scholarship with promises of hitting a baseball big-time that never materialised. The film seems to use this as his impetus and Pitt does a good job of conveying this understated aggression.

Yet there are traces of selfdoubt under the cocksure bravado, punctuating Pitt’s performance.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an excellent film with the admittedly dry material described above being brought to life by veteran cinematographer Wally Pfister. He liberally sprinkles the Hollywood gloss, a standout moment being an unexpected, spiritsoaring home run.

But ‘Moneyball’ is a strange film. It blends together that Hollywood underdog spirit and an obvious but unpretentious cleverness to great effect. Yet in a strange way it seems ashamed of itself, as if an audience would dump it for taking its core premise too seriously.

I

’ve found that Wednesday evenings have recently become symbolic of an event other than Loveshack. I’m imagining the pity on your faces as I write this, but then you clearly have not discovered the blockbuster thrills and spectacles of the BBC’s latest natural world offering, ‘Frozen Planet’.

Four years in the making and a successor to the visual epic ‘Planet Earth’ back in 2006, the series charts the lives of animals at both poles as they struggle against the extreme changing seasons. Cue Sir David Attenborough’s trusted narration (coupled with a suitably majestic music score) dramatically introducing vistas of vast sculptural icebergs, snow-capped mountain ranges, and expansive frozen forests, or alternatively crooning over amorous polar bears and playful wolf cubs.

If you’re going to spend an hour procrastinating today, this is a

A polar bear protects her two cubs Photograph: BBC Pictures worthwhile way to spend it. The BBC has delivered something of a pre-Christmas treat with these seven episodes of snowy magic. In the first instalment Attenborough offers some impressive facts. “Over one third of our planet is frozen” he tells us, before we get a picture of him twiddling his thumbs on top of a very large mountain.

Episodes two to four follow a seasonal storyline, while later parts look at the human existence in these places. The final instalment will examine the impact of global warming in an episode that has been personally put together

by Attenborough but which is controversially not being shown in countries such as China and America. However for now the moral message doesn’t rear its ominous head too often, but rather sits dejectedly on the horizon of the programme’s extraordinary frozen wilderness.

The episodes are laid out in a narrative style that pulls our emotions nervously between comedy and calamity. Polar bear cubs have their first clumsy swimming lesson and repulsively ugly snowy owl chicks waddle around like crooked

“

Aspiring film-makers take note, the prdocuer Alistair Fothergill turns out to be a Durham alumni

old men. Meanwhile, penguins flop around on their stomachs trying to avoid being eaten by sea lions, and in the face of circling wolves, a herd of bison demonstrate the importance of family by forming a protective wall around the

children. That is until they panic and a youngster is trampled by its fleeing relatives and left for dead.

In more episodes of drama, a seal is hounded by a pod of killer whales until it is slowly dragged off an ice floe by its tail to Attenborough’s comforting words of “game over.” However the dramatic theatre of life and death doesn’t dominate the programme too heavily. There are plenty of wonders small and large to marvel at from the intricate formation of a snowflake to caverns of ice crystals taller than a man.

Perhaps the only fault here is that Attenborough’s appearance is kept to a minimum – after all, he has been voted Britain’s most trusted public figure! But nevertheless this is undoubtedly stunning television, and aspiring film-makers take note, the producer Alastair Fothergill turns out to be a Durham alumni.

Sophie Pellisier

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

Film & TV Editor: Christian Seiersen film@palatinate.org.uk

7

Riccardo Liberatore delves inside the exciting and original mind of Miranda July

T

he online community seems to be torn between utterly despising Miranda July and everything she and her art stand for, and loving her for exactly the same reasons. The debate is polarized, the opposition angry, the language violent. “THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST PIECES OF ROMANTIC ARTWORK EVER DONE. MIRANDA JULY REFLECTS THE FORCE OF LOVE AMONG ALL WEIRD AND IMPOSSIBLE THINGS IN SUCH A BEATIFUL, DEEP AND PEACEFULLY WAY THAT MAKES YOU FEEL THE MOVIE BECOME AN EMOTIONAL ORGAN ATTACHED TO YOU WHILE YOU WATCH IT. HUMANITY OWNS A BIG ONE TO MIRANDA”, writes isaiaselcaco from the land of YouTube.

BEmagiK can sort of see where isaiaselcaco (from now on referred to as caco) is coming from but is not too sure about the whole ‘external organ’ bit when he or she confesses, “This movie was a mindf*ck. Thank God for netflix”.

Others however were completely at loss as to what caco saw in July in the first place. One particularly graphic youtube denizen put forward a slightly less flattering interpretation of July’s second

and more recent (soon to be released…) film, ‘The Future’: “Oh gross, it’s like a hipster threw up on a camera then filmed with it”.

Although the YouTube community is certainly not an authority on cinema, experience suggests that it can be fairly representative of public opinion. When I last watched a July film we started off as a group of five. Within half an hour we had shrunk to three, then two (the third audience member slept through most of it). Why did the film provoke such strong reactions to the point that two relatively well-bred people didn’t feel they

“

When I last watched a July film we started off as a group of five. Within half an hour we had shrunk to three

could be in the same room as poor old Miranda and the other two felt that dear old July had a lot going for her?

The charges levelled at Miranda were that she – and her partner

in ‘The Future’ – were extremely irritating. Their way of speaking was thought to be affected and annoying, their life unenviable and their pretensions ultimately unoriginal. Why would anyone want to watch (let alone make) a film in which the main characters succeed at nothing, in which a lot of what they do is ‘dull’ and a lot of what they say (leaving aside a few funny comments) is ‘pathetic’ or, to say the least, of small consequence and little insight?

What is Miranda July trying to do here if not glamorize what is in fact a very depressing reality by insisting that it is so uniquely “WEIRD AND IMPOSSIBLE”? Is Miranda just a no-talent hippy who survives, in fact thrives, thanks to the charity of mother capitalism, of the economic system of action and hard work? Is she sustained only by the admiration and loyalty of a self-loathing and culturally effeminate minority who suffer from a macroeconomic Oedipal complex?

Miranda July has asked me to tell you she is a lot more than that. Her dialogues are not pretentious - although the trailers (especially that of ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know’) which disguise her films as romantic comedies make them appear exactly that – because they

are heartfelt to the point of being uncomfortably unfashionable at times.

Take for instance her partner’s dialogue with the moon in ‘The Future’, just before his suspicion that his girlfriend has in fact cheated on him is confirmed. Is it pretentious for a man to engage in dialogue with the moon? Yes, probably. Does it still appear pretentious when the room seems to freeze in the moon’s light and the main character pleads to be delivered from the awful confrontation that is bound to follow, to escape his so-called ‘alternative’ reality, when the moon speaks to him in the voice of an old man he has befriended and who he sees as some sort of future projection of himself and when all this is done without any attempt at eloquence? It is heartfelt because it wants to be nothing more than what it is - a moment of anxiety, of self-doubt, of change – and because it makes sense in the context of the film.

July does not conform to the stereotypes of indie filmmakers.

She doesn’t present us with an

“alternative” and “culturally subversive” reality, but with an alternative and culturally subversive imagination.

Her films don’t document a world that is better because it is different from mainstream society. In ‘Me, You and Everyone We Know’ the final catharsis is not that of the underdog who has finally found satisfaction for her eccentricities but of an artist who succeeds in giving concrete and realistic expression to her vision, that of a world in which a person like the main character can be expected to be happy.

In ‘The Future’ it is personal dissatisfaction as experienced by an original and exciting mind that is on show, not the exciting and original world of the dissatisfied.

Miranda July would like me to ask you to give her films a go. If not for me, do it for caco.

The Future will be confusing Miranda July in her new film, The Future Photographs: image.net

8

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

food & drink

T

his year Durham has done its best to prepare us for the festive season, ensuring that all inner-Scrooge tendencies were pleasantly nourished by the crowds and queues of Lumiere.

Nevertheless, it always feels a bit weird to spend most of advent getting excited amongst friends but then rushing off home for the real celebration.

Luckily this makes a university Christmas all about having one’s cake and eating it: why not try cooking a Christmas feast to share with housemates before term ends? As a new challenge is probably not top priority with those end-of-term deadlines looming, read on for a (relatively) stressfree plan.

This is a meal which, unless you are Delia in disguise, you may want to approach in some sort of team rather than individually. Maybe assign different food types to different people (vegetables, meat, frivolities), allowing those

“

This is a meal which, unless you are Delia in disguise, you may want to approach in some sort of team

not engaged at a certain time to drink wine and shout encouragement from the proverbial sidelines. Stretch this group mentality to the procuring of ingredients: you may regret any Yuletide generosity come New Year if you try to buy everything yourself. Similarly, raid the drinks cabinets of sophisticated friends to avoid shelling out needlessly for wine or port.

The turkey is a rather attention-guzzling component of the meal. If you find the prospect of a whole bird too daunting, try buying a turkey crown, which is

cheaper and more manageable.

It’s also worth remembering that whilst certain trimmings can be forsaken for the student budget, pigs in blankets cannot.

The process will take about four hours if you prepare the extra in advance, so if you’re aiming to eat at around two, start just before 10am.

1

Consider making the cabbage dish in advance as it can be refrigerated for a couple of days before being served. Pull off the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut into quarters and remove the core.

Then slice the remaining cabbage thinly. Next chop the onions and fry with butter in a large saucepan until softened (for about five minutes).

Add the orange zest and cook for about another minute.

Put in the cabbage, then add the cinnamon, cloves, port, red wine vinegar, orange juice and 150 ml water. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer, covered, until the cabbage is softened. This should take between 45 minutes and an hour.

2

On the day, begin by preparing the vegetables. Peel and cut the potatoes and then leave them in a pan of water.

If sprouts are still on the stalk, peel off, wash, and trim the base.

Put a cross in the base of any of the larger ones. As with the potatoes, leave in a pan on the hob.

what you need For the turkey: Olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Butter, at room temperature 5kg turkey Cranberry and bread sauce to serve For the spiced red cabbage: 1 large red cabbage 2 red onions Zest and juice of one orange 175ml port 1 tbsp red wine vinegar Pinch of cinnamon and ground cloves

For the stuffing: 450g vacuum packed chestnuts (if using) 2 onions 1 tsp ground nutmeg 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 200g pork mince Large handful of breadcrumbs For the pigs-in-blankets: 18 chipolatas 8 slices streaky bacon For the potatoes: 5/6 large cloves of garlic 41b potatoes 4oz lard For the vegetables: 1kg brussel sprouts 1kg parsnips 80ml maple syrup

the stuffing.

4

Soften the onion for ten minutes or so in a pan with oil. Add the seasoning, ground nutmeg and

3

Remove turkey from fridge about an hour before you begin to cook so that you can put it in the oven at room temperature. Rinse it and pat dry. Cover with olive oil and season well, rubbing the salt and pepper all over the bird.

Preheat your oven to 200C, then make a start on

chopped parsley leaves and fry for a minute. Once it is mixed, spoon into a large bowl and leave to cool.

Christma Gwen Smith’s foolproof way

5

Add the pork mince and breadcrumbs and work together with your hands. For a real treat, pop in 450g peeled and chopped chestnuts (you can find these vacuum packed in Tesco).

Cover and chill until you stuff the turkey. Stuff the cavity of the turkey under the skin of the neck end. Only fill about half to ensure it cooks properly. Push a few smaller pieces of stuffing into the larger cavity on the opposite side of the bird.

6

Cover the bird with tin foil and put in the oven, reducing

the heat to 180C. Cook for about 3-3 ½ hours. Check regularly, basting with the juices from the bottom of the pan. After two and a half hours, remove the foil so that it gets wonderfully crispy. In the meantime, about half an hour before the turkey is ready, put the potatoes on to boil with a pinch of salt. Let them simmer for about 10 minutes and then drain off water once the outer edges become fluffy.

7

Return the pan to the hob and add the crushed garlic cloves and lashings of olive oil.

Seal the potatoes in this mixture before placing them on a baking tray covered with the hot fat.

Leave them in the oven on the highest shelf for 40-45 minutes.

8

Next, peel the parsnips and halve them crosswise. Lay

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

Food & Drink Editor: Molly Fowler food@palatinate.org.uk

Let’s face it, Christmas dinner is the best meal in the world. Solid work from the son of God. Photographs: Katie Merchant & Mat Ladley, flickr ID: strangnet

as cooking 101 to have your Christmas cake (or turkey) and eat it too in a baking tray, covered with a generous glug of olive oil and maple syrup. At the same time start preparing the chipolatas, if you are making them. (You can also buy really yummy ones from Tesco for £2.99). Cut the rashers of bacon and wrap the bacon around the length of the sausage. Put both the chipolatas

“

Take everything else out of the oven and behold lovingly ... Consider weeping on the shoulders of fellow culinary geniuses

and the parsnips in the oven.

They need to roast for about thirty five minutes, so put them in ten minutes after the potatoes so they can come out together.

9

When the turkey is ready to come out of the oven (this is when the meat comes easily away from the bone and its juices run clear when tested with a skewer), cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for half an hour.

10 About ten minutes

before the oven goods are ready, add some salt to the sprouts and bring them to the boil. Allow to simmer for ten minutes, then serve with a generous slice of butter. Put the prepared cabbage into a pan on the hob with a little water and warm gently.

11 Take everything else out

of the oven and behold lovingly.

Serve the potatoes with a little crushed salt and add liberal amounts of cranberry sauce to everyone’s plate. Use the juices from the tur-

key as gravy. Consider weeping on the shoulders of fellow culinary geniuses. Hopefully you are not all now too drunk after the wine consumption mandatory in the cooking process to plate up and gorge.

9

Belinda Davies goes in search of kingly Christmas sandwiches and majestic mulled wines...

During my search for mulled wine, Tesco’s offering did not disappoint. At a reasonable price of £3.09, to be found exclusively at the Tesco on North Road, this is the without doubt the best value for money in Durham, and a small price to pay for what is, for me, the essence of Christmas with its festive aroma and warmth. The Tesco in the Market Place offers only a DIY version, which can be achieved by adding a mulled spice sachet to the wine in a pan and warming slowly for two minutes. Extra hassle and 90 pence dearer, and that’s just at its discounted price – RRP £4.99.

I regret to confess that Marks & Spencer is the underdog in this instance, as their offering of a “rich, robust blend of fruity Tempranillo and spicy Syrab grapes”, infused with warming aromas of cinnamon, clove, lemon, blueberry and nutmeg (4 flavours less than Tesco), is just too expensive at £6.99 a bottle, and only economical bought in pairs with two for £10.

Within the realms of the Christmas sandwich, there exists the greatest sandwich of them all: The Pret a Manger Christmas sandwich. As there is no Pret in Durham, you’ll have to go to Newcastle, but seriously, it’s worth it.

Then there’s Tesco. Whether you go for the Tesco Christmas Turkey Triple or the unparalleled Tesco Finest Christmas Special - a veritable taste explosion which constitutes a mouth-watering Turkey Feast, a Wiltshire Ham, Vintage Cheddar & Chutney, and a Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese to top it off - you will be left neither hungry nor disappointed.

Sadly, the sandwiches Marks & Spencer offer are lacking. The M&S ‘Count on us’ Turkey and Cranberry Coleslaw is a preposterous notion – at a ‘feel-good’ 285 calories per sandwich, you will be left with no less of an appetite and an unpleasant taste in your mouth. The regular M&S Turkey Feast also lacks real gusto, and next to the Tesco Finest variety its inferiority is heightened – maybe not what you have come to expect from such a well-reputed brand.

10

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

music

Briony Chappell heads to the Vane Tempest boat party to experience their very own brand of Christmas cheer

T

he Vane Tempest Sessions Christmas Party returned this year, staged intimately on the Prince Bishop boat.

The sessions, which usually take place each Saturday in the Vane Tempest room in the DSU, have been incredibly successful this term, drawing in acts like Cattle & Cane, and Flight Brigade.

This was the second VTS Christmas Party, and with last year’s team having secured upand-coming band Patch William, and headliner Athlete, there was a hard act to follow.

However, this particularly special festive session was one of the best yet.

The Prince Bishop was full to the brim with eager listeners, mulled wine in one hand, and mince pie in the other. Never have I ever seen so many SLR cameras around people’s necks, ready to snap the perfect ‘man and his guitar’ shot.

The night’s main acts were VTS veterans, duo Joseph & David, and Ivor Novello awardwinning songwriter Iain Archer.

Joseph & David, an unassuming double act who refer to themselves simply as “best friends who love to write music together”, silenced the crowd with their effortless vocals.

With Joseph on piano and David on lead guitar, the duo played with an additional three band members, making full use of an organ, violin, drums, trumpet and what appeared to be a handheld inflatable piano.

The band certainly took the intimacy of the setting to heart and one of the crowning moments of their performance was their final song, ‘Rise Up The Sun’ which they played from within the middle of the crowd.

Playing tracks from both their

Lady Gaga Christmas Tree As to be expected, the wholesome Lady Gaga succeeds in corrupting Christmas with every aspect of innuendo in this mildly terrifying festive effort. Maybe one for the Studio dancefloor, a few drinks down.

original and new EPs, Joseph & David were mesmerizing, heartfelt, and the epitome of the Sessions.

The headlining act this year was Iain Archer, who is notable particularly for his part of Snow Patrol’s award-winning songwriting team.

Having successfully established himself as a solo artist since 2004, Archer had a huge number of tracks to choose from, and admitted before the show to having not thought about his set list.

For a man so small in stature, Archer had an astoundingly large stage presence.

Transforming into a confident performer with “too many guitars”, Archer took his listeners on a musical journey through Ireland, London, Germany and the USA, explaining the stories behind each song.

He admitted that despite performing in such a small venue, he was planning on playing his loudest songs: “well, the loudest songs a man and his guitar can write”.

Special attention was paid to the sophistication and ease of his lyrics. ‘Frozen Lake’, a song about “one of the most beautiful places I know”, featured: “The frozen lake where we walk/ is gonna change in the thaw, I know/ it’s just a lake of every hope that we own”.

Other tracks included: ‘Canal Song’ and ‘I am a Landslide’ – a song performed as part of the supergroup Tired Pony, made up of Archer, and members of Snow Patrol, Belle & Sebastian and R.E.M. Archer didn’t take much persuasion to return to the stage for an encore, where he brought out his electric guitar for the first time, bringing the night to a close.

Wrapping up a term of musical gifts...

Headliner Iain Archer performing on the boat Photograph: Jess Denham Overall, the intimate gig delivered everything that it promised: festivity, an eager audience and fantastic music, showcasing the very heart of the Vane Tem-

pest Sessions. Congratulations to all those who made it happen.

Bob Dylan It Must Be Santa Band Aid aren’t the only masters of a charity Christmas single, with folk icon Bob Dylan gifting us this frenetic dancealong tune. This is one grandpa who knows how to party come Christmas Day.

The Darkness Christmas Time (Don’t let the Bells End) Christmas is not about family values – it’s about ridiculous guitar solos, gloriously eccentric costumes and slutty Christmas nymphs. According to The Darkness, that is.

To download: Joseph & David - ‘I’m Here’

and ‘Rise Up The Sun’ Iain Archer – ‘When it Kicks in’ and ‘Frozen Lake’

cheese and crackers: 5 alternative Christmas songs

Reuben Christmas Is Awesome For the very niche market of Christmas karaoke with that metallic edge, Reuben’s screamalong carol is sure to please.

Maybe not one for family Christmas dinner though.

Matthew & The Atlas Fairytale of New York We all love the original, like Father Christmas loves his mince pies and sherry. This faithful rendition brings the dark Christmas carol into the twenty-first century.

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

Music Editor: Jess Denham Music Multimedia Editor: Briony Chappell music@palatinate.org.uk

11

Indigo samples ‘TheBubbleBurning’, a new project aimed at spicing up Durham’s music scene

A musical revolution in the Bubble

N

obody would debate that Durham is a small town realistically unable to compete with the diverse music scenes of larger city universities. What music there is can often only be found at an underground level. As a result, we flock instead to tired sets at Studio, chart hits at Loveshack, and, well, Klute. So what are we to do, to break ourselves out of this musical purgatory? It’s simple. We burn the bubble.

TheBubbleBurning aims to do precisely that. It’s a shock to Durham’s musical system - a shakeup to the stale pop and cheese hegemony that seems to hang over our fair city.

The foremost aim of the project is to supply a platform whereby aspiring Durham artists of any genre can present their material to a receptive audience.

At the moment, TBB operates a YouTube channel from which live sessions and music videos are broadcast.

The founders are keen to express that the expertise and equipment used to make the videos are open to any musician keen to perform

“

TheBubbleBurning will provide a rallying point for those who are passionate about music

and broadcast their own material.

It is hoped that with time, TheBubbleBurning will provide a rallying point for those who are passionate about music, creating a close-knit community of musicians and music lovers excited to hear and promote new music

in order to rejuvenate Durham’s music scene.

Thus far, the project appears to be succeeding. Debut event ‘The Britannia Sessions’ was an intimate gig showcasing some of Durham’s best acoustic talent. Jonny Middleton & Band, who provided an eclectic mix of cellos, acoustic guitars and backing vocals, created a great sound that was somewhere between Mumford and Sons and Damien Rice. A second event followed later, ‘Faceless Basement’, in

which Durham’s student DJs Tim Japp and Crafty Barnardo donned masks for their sets and created an atmosphere unlike any club night in Durham.

One thing’s for sure, TheBubbleBurning is much more than a collection of one-off events. What they hope to do is change the face of the Durham music scene for the better. It looks like they’re well on their way.

Ed Owen

Clockwise from top: Lucy

Walling performs at the inaugural BubbleBurning session; Sam Holdstock; Adrian Lo, both of Lo and Behold; Jonny Middleton; the audience enjoy themselves at the Britannia sessions.

Photographs: Will Hannam

12

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

features

indigo travels around the world to discover the many ways Christmas is celebrated

Mistletoe and wine? Not necessarily...

India Paper lanterns send out shimmering candle light along the roads, where for once in Kerala there is a relative silence. The quiet chatter of voices emanate from behind the swaying lanterns, tied onto the coconut palms a week before Christmas Day. The soft rumble of the ocean brings people down to the beach on Christmas Eve after mass, and groups of families sit, leaning on the wooden fishing boats and lighting small fires.

On Christmas morning, children race home after church to open their presents, while Christian families start to prepare the Christmas meal: karimeen papas with appams, beef curry and rice with a selection of side dishes are all followed by a traditional Christmas cake.

Despite the heat, which hovers around 35 degrees year round in Rio, many families with European roots slave away in the hot kitchen to provide a turkey dinner, accompanied by lighter elements such as fruits and coloured rice. Before the early evening mass, presents are handed out to children.

Their

Brazil

Even the stifling Brazilian heat doesn’t deter Papa Noel from leaving his native Greenland to deliver presents to children: prepared for the weather, he is clothed fully in silk. Many families gather together to have a ceia, or midnight supper and then sleep in on Christmas Day.

homes are oten decorated by armfuls of fresh flowers and a Christmas tree.

Egypt

Coptic Christians are a large minority of the population in Egypt (10-20%) and were actually there before the Muslims, but are now widely persecuted.

Because of this, it’s very rare that you’ll see Christmas decorations in Egypt at all, as it’s more of a ‘family’ celebration behind closed doors. Egyptians do recognise Christmas, but the ‘commercialism’ you see here doesn’t exist. I saw one shop in Cairo selling Christmas decorations last year and nearly had a heart attack, but there was absolutely nothing in Alexandria... not even a single fairy light.

It was completely different in Syria - the old city is mostly Christian (and many foreigners

Features Editor: Sarah Murray feature@palatinate.org.uk

live there too) so there were Christmas lights hanging over the streets, ‘Merry Christmas’ signs, and so forth. It’s still obvious that people don’t really have the same conception of Christmas there, though. I love Christmas, so it was sad to be without it!

Mrs Elvet sorts you out

Australia

When people think of Christmas in Australia they think barbeques and beaches. I’m here to tell you that, actually... they’re completely right! Growing up, Santa always delivered presents in a ute (truck) wearing boardshorts and flip flops. Rolf Harris even wrote a song about Santa’s sleigh being pulled by big white kangaroos! On Christmas day we have a traditional roast but we cook the turkey in the ‘barbie’ as it’s usually too hot to cook it in the kitchen. The rest of the day is usually spent cooling off in the pool and unwrapping presents.

Georgia

Eastern orthodox countries celebrate Christmas on the 7th January because we use the Geogrian calendar. Christmas Day in Georgia is a communal affair for young children, who tramp around the city on an Alilo march being showered with sweets and dressed in traditional clothing. Tovlis Papa, the Georgian Father Chrsitmas, is dressed from head to toe in white.

China

Despite being a mainly buddhist country, Christians in China still celebrate Christmas. Usually they light their houses with paper lanterns and decorate their trees with paper decorations such as flowers and chains.

Santa is called ‘Dun Che Lao Ren’, which means ‘Christmas Old Man’. The biggest celebration is of course Chinese New Year, which is celebrated at the end of January. This is the time when children recieve presents and huge celebratory meals are eaten. There’s usually a firecracker show and portraits of ancestors are brought out and hung in the main room in the house. However, celebrating Christmas is becoming more and more popular.

Sarah Murray, Ellie Ross & Catherine Bradfield

indigo’s very own Agony Aunt solves all your problems Dear Mrs Elvet, I happened to be walking under some mistletoe in our bar at the exact moment a fellow student of, well, lesser appearance was walking under too. Of course he took this as an open invitation and proceeded to kiss me in front of the packed room. My reputation is now in tatters!

How do I fix this?

(Awkward – Butler) My dear, I too have fallen foul of mistletoe matchmaking in my time. To repair any lasting damage I suggest you scope out the most attractive male in college and then engineer it so that you cross paths under that meddlesome mistletoe.

Dear Mrs Elvet, I started ‘seeing’ a fellow student recently and for some reason she’s got it into her head that we’re a couple.

She’s insisting I take her to Chirstmas at mummy and daddy’s or she’ll break it off.

I don’t want to lose my nightly activities but I don’t want to make anything official.

(Rock and a hard place Castle) I’d suggest telling a tale of how you’re going to spend Christmas abroad and there’s not enough money to pay for her ticket, but I suspect she might see through this – you appear to be of good breeding and money. There’s still a few weeks left til Christmas so I suggest you make good use of that time to replace this bedfellow with someone a bit closer to your class.

Dear Mrs Elvet, I’ve been seeing a few guys at once, lets say about five (give or take!). Up to now

it’s been brilliant, they’re all from different colleges so they don’t mix socially and I’ve been taken out to dinner by a different guy each night – I haven’t bought or made myself dinner for weeks!

Anyway, they’ll all be expecting presents this Christmas and my loan is already overstretched – how can I keep the good times rolling without spending a penny?

(Juggling - Hatfield) You canny girl, you remind me of my younger self! This one’s easy, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, so I’ve been told. Bake up a storm and flutter those doe eyes as you present them with some cookies saying that handmade is always better than store bought.

If that doesn’t work, never underestimate the amnesiac powers of a short skirt!

Dear Mrs Elvet, Usually my husband’s a very good sort of fellow who likes nothing better than staying in and watching classic movies, but on December 25th each year he always disappears for the whole night. He won’t tell me where he’s going and he always wears this mysterious red suit. Is it an affair, a secret cult? What’s going on with my husband!?

(Kris Kringled - North Pole) I think I know where your husbands running off too each December. My guess is he’s spreading good cheer to all the children of the world, or some such thing. However, a man should never have secrets from his wife. We should know everything! Deny him a few evenings of pleasure and see how long he stays silent!

Sarah Murray

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

travel

Travel Editor: Alexandra Groom travel@palatinate.org.uk

The best last minute festive getaways

F

our weeks of beautiful, unadulterated holiday time, and how are you going to spend them? Eating turkey and staring at your expanding waistline and pile of summatives? indigo would like to offer you a decent alternative to this unhappy scenario, by suggesting that you get online and start booking a cheap, hassle-free minibreak. Whether you have a Mr Darcy to take with you or you simply want to avoid breaking limbs on the college ski trip, there are plenty of options out there for cultured trips away over Christmas, all for £150 or under, per person. (All prices are for between the 3rd - 7th January 2012).

Istanbul

Nothing could beat spending week one of 2012 haggling for a carpet in the Grand Bazaar, buying tasty simits off street hawkers and watching the winter sun glow pink on the Galata Bridge. Stay in the Harmony Hostel for less than £5 a night and wander through thronging crowds at the night market, eating steaming grilled kofte from a greasy paper bag.

Bag one of the £89rtn flights from London Luton with Easyjet to get your portion of the east over the holidays.

Paris Can Paris really be done on a student budget? Travel with Eurolines (www.eurolines.co.uk) between London and Paris Galieni for just £35 return and hunt down Friends Hostel which is slap bang in the centre of the city for a staggeringly cheap £14.50 per night. Make the most of your tight budget by carting your passport around the city’s art galleries, where being under 25 and in full time education will guarantee you free entry.

Poke your nose into the Musée Fragonard, a museum dedicated to the production of perfume, and sit down in a traditional left bank bistro for a bowl of piping hot bouillabaisse. For a stunning view of Paris, climb all 200 of the steps to the gleaming white Sacré Coeur and try to spot as many famous Parisian sites as you can before the sun sets.

Edinburgh

The ultimate destination for Americans over the New Year, Durhamites can sample a slice of Scots culture for just £16.55 from thetrainline.co.uk. It’s not quite Hogmanay, but with fewer tourists milling around there’ll be shorter queues for classics such

13

A festive and snowy Eiffel Tower flickr ID: Quadriman

as the Scotch Whisky Experience.

But it’s the nightlife that defines Edinburgh more than a trip to the House of Shortbread. Under the Stairs, an underground, understated budget bar serves excellent cocktails: for an adventurous kick try Goose on the Loose, complete with Grey Goose vodka and gooseberry preserve. Yum!

Budapest

For just £70 return, fly to a city that offers Soviet-era housing and restaurants that operate as canteens for overall-clad workers and suspiciously gristly stews. But in this city of two halves (one side is Buda and the other Pest) you can also stew in mineral waters at over twelve different bath houses, plunge into ice baths and be massaged by thickset women wearing starched uniforms for under a fiver. Stroll along the Danube, eat in any restaurant along Istvan Szt and pop into St Stephen’s Basilica for a jaw-dropping display of candle-lit gold. Hike to the top of the citadel and then gorge yourself on cakes at the Gerbeaud Coffee Shop on Vorosmarty Square, a turn of the century, Austro-Hungarian coffee house. Accommodation prices start at less than £3.50 per night.

Ellie Ross

Tales of a traveller: when flying fails That plane journey. There’s always one. As I prepare once more for the end of term and flights home, I remind myself that it could be worse: May 2010. Discovering I was heavily glandular fever-ed near the end of my gap year my parents decided it was necessary for me to return early.

After grudgingly agreeing to come home, I proceeded to sob all the way to the airport.

I sniffled through New Zealand customs and security and obviously looked like I had something to hide, so the nice lady pulled me aside and proceeded to do a comprehensive search of my person and belongings at the end of the x-ray machine, right before duty free, in full view. As I stood there getting progressively more upset that she wouldn’t leave me alone in my misery, and definitely thought I was dangerous, I could

see people looking at me with pity and telling their kids not to stare.

Probably not my finest moment.

On a plane, you never end up next to the person you want.

Some nice, small and fragrant smelling people dotted this fine aircraft, but I was not destined to be their neighbour. For the 13 hours from Auckland to LA I was stuck in 62K. Literally stuck, the guy on the end was too large to move about. The TV was the usual dross, except my console had a funny problem with the sound, in that it didn’t work. Although apparently it worked just enough to justify not upgrading me. At least I had a window - which I could see nothing out of because it was night. The turbulence was the worst I’d ever experienced. I did not need the “please put your seatbelts on” announcement, I was already on it. Our nice sturdy

Boeing 747 was like a flimsy piece of paper above the Pacific storm, and with the next possible landing place being Hawaii 9 hours away, I wasn’t especially hopeful for my chance of peaceful sleep.

“

My console had a funny problem with the sound, in that it didn’t work

I apparently managed to doze though because I was rudely awakened by my apple juice making a bid for freedom out of its nice can shaped hole in my table and launching itself all over me.

An awkward colour to end up on your leggings.

Finally landing in LAX, they told us we had an hour to stretch our legs before we took off again after re-fuelling. I accidently left my big warm scarf on board, and this being America, it was disposed off as “suspicious”. Natch. In their defence, they did warn me that I had to take ALL my belongings with me, even though I was getting back on the same plane to Heathrow. Luckily my fat friend had got off, so the next flight was already looking up. We taxied onto the tarmac, and waited, and waited, and then went back to the stand. The Eyjafblahblahkull volcano had started erupting again and Heathrow was shut.

They offered to put us up in a hotel for the night. Fantastic, a free night in a hotel in LA! Uh no. The downtown airport hotel was less

than the dream. Realising what a mess I was in, I attempted to sort myself out. I had no American Dollars on me and I’d packed my phone charger in my hold luggage, which they didn’t give us back seeing as we’d “only” be there 24hours. To cut a long story short, a very good-looking Puerto Rican man, Antonio, gave me $20 and then went round almost the entire hotel with me to find a charger, so that I could let home know what was happening.

Finally back on the plane the next evening, they announced that British Airways had started striking. Of course they had. Meaning the next flight I’d frantically had to re-book with my barely-charged phone was now grounded.

Frankly, swimming home would have been easier.

Alexandra Groom

stage

Kathy Laszlo and Larry Bartleet listen in on a rehearsal of the Durham Revue’s Christmas Feast and find out their thoughts on the festive season

Interevued

14

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

The Durham Revue show us how to get into the festive spirit, with plenty of wood-panelling Photographs: Tom Weller

P

icture the scene: five students stand huddled like penguins, occasionally braying or singing the Pingu theme tune. One jumps up and down, flapping his fins in the hope of flight. “Try to be more awkward” one says. “You need to flap more”, calls another.

They’re in the middle of developing one of the new sketches for their Christmas show. After five members of the previous cast left the group, a new cohort has been brought in to fill the ranks.

They mock one another mercilessly. David Knowles, sounding like a certain Mr Attenborough, narrates: “the penguins put on a thick layer of blubber to prepare for the harsh winter”.

“Some more than others,” quips one, gesturing at a fellow cast member. A moment later, a burst of laughter disrupts the rehearsal as another trips over his line for the fifth time, a moment more eagerly anticipated than the punchline he was to deliver. A typical Christmas with the Durham Revue.

Is there anything you find funny about Christmas?

David: I think ice is funny. People fall over... like last year they had the icy [Kingsgate] bridge, and if you stood there long enough you could watch people fall over!

Stefanie: Has anyone seen the Father Christmas at the Gates outside the feet-eating fish place? He sits in a rocking-chair with his legs wide apart. He’s got this big furry beard and he just sits, staring at people. And I stared at him and he said (in a creepy voice): “It’s only three pounds”.

Has any real-life comedy ever unfolded in front of you at Christmas?

Stefanie: Well, actually I have a funny story. There was this one Christmas at my house when my brother sleep-walked down the stairs - he must have been about eight. Suddenly the alarm went off in my house, so my dad thought there was a burglar stealing the Christmas presents, so having had a bit of port, buttnaked, he ran down the stairs.

When we were younger we used to play Star Wars together and we made these lightsabers out of painted wood and my Dad keeps one under his bed as his weapon of choice. So, naked with this lightsaber, he screamed and my brother, really confused with this naked man running towards him, breaks down crying and just hits the floor. So that was a horrible, horrible Christmas. Ever since then, my brother has always got his presents first.

Fergus: That’s the most Freudian scenario I’ve ever heard!

Stefanie: Believe it or not, it’s happened twice! Thankfully I’ve never had to see this...

Jack: Oh, sure you haven’t....

Stefanie: Sorry, what’s the next question please?

If you were to be a Christmas tree decoration, what would you be?

Stefanie: I’d be the star on top, except we don’t have a star on top at home. We have Santa’s head...(everyone laughs) Jack: So he came down through the chimney...and your Dad comes and chops his head off?

And then he tells you that it’s the done thing to put Santa’s head on the tree.

Megan: I would want to be that one fairy light that doesn’t work. You’d see quite a lot of family domestics if you were that light.

In the group, too, it is their unbridled ribbing of one another that reveals their camaraderie, which will only benefit their chemistry onstage. As Stefanie puts it: “Doing comedy is a great way to get to know people because we laugh all the time”.

The Durham Revue will hold their ‘Christmas Feast’ in The Assembly Rooms Theatre at 8pm on the 13th and 14th of December.

The Durham Revue’s Christmas Crackers Fergus Leathem: I was in Australia on holiday and I was walking down the street and there was a man playing ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’ on the digeridoo and I thought to myself: ‘Wow, that’s Aboriginal!’

Stefanie Jones: “Oh, look at those Russian dolls – they’re so full of themselves!”

Susannah Temko: “What’s the fastest food? – Scone”.

Elgan Alderman: “The reason I like origami is twofold”.

Megan Brownrigg: “There are two fish in a tank. One looks at the other one and says: “I hope you can drive this thing!”

Jack Harris: “What did the man who got caught stealing on the shoulders of two vampires get charged with?

-Shoplifting on two counts”.

David Knowles: Unprintable.

INDIGO | Tuesday 13th December 2011

Stage Editor: Kathy Laszlo stage@palatinate.org.uk

15

Dames and a displeased Dionysus indigo plays spot the difference with Pantomime and Ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae

Castle Great Hall

««««« Monika Kawai

Panto: a superannuated nonsensical tradition? Oh no it isn’t! Illustration: Ellie Mills

A

h, Christmas time: the shop windows are full of tinsel and snowflakes, cafés are selling bizarrely flavoured coffees and arguments over house heating are in full flow. We’ve all got over how amazing Lumiere was, but Durham is still bustling, now with people scrambling through the Christmas sales looking for a bargain. And we all know what this time of year also means. The return of an annual celebration based on love, hope and joy: pantomime!

But this has got the stage section thinking: what’s the deal with pantomimes? Well, we’ll have you know that the word pantomime comes from the Ancient Greek, παντομιμος, (pantomimos), literally ‘actor of all things’. This doesn’t really explain anything at all. It is generally believed that the pantomimic tradition derives from Italian commedia dell’arte, an improvised farcical mask-wearing street performance with stock characters and scenarios.

One of its popular stock characters was “Pulcinella” who, having travelled to the UK has developed into the much-loved creepy puppet, Mr Punch.

Over the years, odd conventions and traditions have developed within pantomime. What was once a form of low opera has become a participatory, idiosyncratic phenomenon within

British culture. The dame being played by a man in drag, the pantomime cow/horse/donkey, the cries of “It’s behind you!” and the competition of left and right in the final song are all classic elements of Pantomime.

It’s the strange mix of innuendo, fairy tales and familiarity that makes pantomime such a popular form of Christmas entertainment.

Though it is primarily aimed at children, it has something for everyone. Youngsters can enjoy the magic of the stories, the well-known characters, whilst adults can enjoy the jokes that fly over their children’s heads.

An English student said of her childhood memories: “Christmas just wasn’t Christmas without an evening out at the panto hissing at the dastardly villains and cheering on the hero”.

When shown a clip of pantomime, one international student said: “I can’t think of any equivalent outside of Britain.

Because there’s no fourth wall, it seems like an entirely different art form to theatre”. 3D, HD and digital entertainment have their own values, but there’s definitely enjoyment to be found in this age-old tradition.

Various colleges in Durham are staging their own pantomimes, so go along and support a timehonoured and distinctly British form of entertainment.

Larry Bartleet

Possessed women, a cross dressing king and a body torn apart in a bloody orgy - this is what you get when humans fail to recognise the Gods. The Bacchae, an ancient Greek tragedy, follows Dionysus, the God of wine, fertility and ecstasy as he wreaks havoc in the city of Thebes. King Pentheus has refused to worship him and in revenge he has sent a group of Theban women into a frenzy of Dionysian worship. Euripedes’ play, is, on many levels, ridiculous and, as the director, David Knowles describes, “quite simply, mad”. With such small DST budgets and rehearsal times, the Castle Theatre Company’s production is a triumph.

What Knowles’ cast manage to do where so many professional companies fall short of the mark, is to capture the human blood which is the driving beat of the play. What has made The Bacchae so enduring

is that it speaks to all of us and the sensual part of our selves.

When Pentheus (all strutting arrogance and pent up anger by Joe Burke) chastises his grandfather for taking part in the revels, ‘aren’t you ashamed to be dancing at your age, wreathing your head with ivy?’, it is clear that we must disagree. All of us, at whatever age, need revelry and release. Knowles’ Bacchic women capture this with full steam, their writhing bodies setting hearts racing. The small stage around which the audience is seated helps enhance this eroticism.

“

What Knowles’ cast manage to do is to capture the human blood which is the driving beat of the play

It is interesting to note that there is no technical wizardry here. Lighting is stark, bare and unchanging. The only technical

staging happens in a dramatic moment where Rory Quinn’s psychopathic Dionysus appears suddenly lit up on the raised organ balcony of Castle’s Great Hall. It is simply the energy of the cast which makes this play powerful. What is more telling than any description of the cast’s able skills is when Pentheus, persuaded to dress as a woman to spy on the Bacchae dons a blond wig and floral tea dress. There isn’t even a snigger from the audience, too entranced by Pentheus’ change, his narcissism and insecurities brought skilfully to the fore by Burke.

However, what unites many of the elements of the play – the dancing, the verse and the violence, is Ben Rowarth’s music.

Rowarth conjures up a milky moonlight atmosphere through high pitched, long held notes from the strings in Dionysus’ opening speech. Throw in a few pieces by composer John Taverner, some modern dissonances and a small chorus – and you have a hauntingly beautiful backdrop. In fact, we are so transported by the music that the words often get lost. An emotional tour de force, bursting with tension and excitement, this is the unexpected must-see of Michaelmas Term.

Agave gives a head-turning performance Photograph: David Schembri

16

Tuesday 13th December 2011 | INDIGO

books

Books Editor: Izzie Bengoechea books@palatinate.org.uk

Photograph: Authoright

When books mean business Ash Ogden talks to J.B. Hughes about his new book, The Glass Tower

T

he Glass Tower is a novel that means business: big business. The focus of J.B. Hughes’ debut novel is a gigantic multinational corporation. Having extended its tendrils into Europe, China and Africa, this nameless American company brings together a host of characters from different cultures, exploring the problems that arise when business is played out on a global scale.

What The Glass Tower ultimately asserts is that corporate identity is a crumbling myth in the twenty-first century.

Now, I must admit that I am somewhat wary of novels that concern themselves with the business world, especially those that aim to criticise it. This is no ideological objection, but rather a scepticism over how qualified an author might actually be to treat the subject matter. Too often authors rely on crass generalisations to attack corporate life from the other side of the fence.

So it is therefore a surprise and a delight that The Glass Tower is written primarily from

personal experience. Not only has J.B. Hughes lived in South Africa, North America, and England along with having travelled extensively in China, but he has also worked both as a journalist and corporate communications specialist. Given Hughes’ particular familiarity with his subject-matter, I caught up with him to elucidate some of the ideas behind The Glass Tower, his background and his shift to novel-writing:

So to start off, could you tell us a little about how your background informed the novel?

“The Glass Tower is a story of what I have seen over nearly 20 years of observing businesses from both sides of the fence, i.e.: as a journalist looking in, and as a corporate employee on the inside. What I can say for certain is that culture need not have a negative impact on performance, but that it usually does because the vast majority of managers are not equipped to manage people who come from outside their own cultures.

In The Glass Tower, I go inside

each of the characters’ minds to show just how far away they are from each other, even though outwardly they all seem to be communicating fairly well”.

Do you feel then that effective communication has become increasingly pertinent (and increasingly difficult) for multinationals as business has become more globalised? Do you believe, as you have Sino speculate, that “culture [is] thicker than commerce?”

“The answer is yes, to both questions. Cooperation is

“

Corporate identity in the twenty-first century is a crumbling myth impossible without effective communication, yet globalisation – ironically – has made finding common ground more difficult because even welltravelled individuals view the world through the prism of their own cultural experience. Culture is certainly thicker than commerce because – in an uncertain, globalised world – the need to

belong is stronger than ever, and the pull of ethnic identity (and the idea of ‘home’) is much stronger than any loyalty to an employer or business associate”.

The western businessmen in your novel all seem concerned about China’s emergence as a major economic power. Do you think that the U.S. will be dethroned as the seat of economic power?

“If China can maintain its economic expansion, it will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy sometime within the next two or three decades. This is not necessarily a problem. China will, for the foreseeable future, remain preoccupied with its own internal problems. Arguably, a bigger danger to the west is if China’s growth stalls”.

And lastly, how long has The Glass Tower been in the making? Do you see a second novel on the horizon / are you in the process of writing one now?

“The Glass Tower has been a long journey. The idea first began to germinate in my head in the mid-1990s, when the notion of what it was to be a South African changed. Once I’d resolved to write the book, it took well over five years of research and writing to complete the novel, which of course draws on most of my professional experience.

There will definitely be a second novel and most likely a third. At the moment, I’m jotting down ideas for two books: one similar to The Glass Tower and one completely different. The world is changing so fast and so fundamentally that it’s tempting to write the continuation of the characters’ stories. But I’ll probably wait and see how things turn out, both in terms of how well the novel sells and where our brave new world goes next”.

Exceptionally broad in its scope, The Glass Tower remains cohesive throughout and provides an honest and humane view of how culture complicates business.

The key to the novel’s effectiveness is that these overarching global concerns are imparted through detailed personal accounts.

As Hughes admits, his characters are primarily cultural mouthpieces but this does not mean they lack personality, serving only to convey a set of abstract ideals. There are moments of gut-wrenching emotional intensity alongside the corporate commentary which renders The Glass Tower a satisfyingly well-rounded and authoritative account of the modern business world.

To read excerpts from The Glass Tower or for further information visit www.glass-tower.com