Headbangers and Pageturners: Sam Thomas on the Surprising Links Between Metal and Literature

Metal music has a reputation for trouble, as reinforced in the forthcoming UK release of the film Lords of Chaos, about the band Mayhem and the disturbing crimes associated with the Norwegian black metal scene. Dr Sam Thomas, though, thinks that metal music has connections to literary art that should challenge traditional assumptions about both forms.

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Miss Julie Now and in the North: An Interview with Jake Murray (Part 2)

In the previous post in conversation with Jake Murray, we asked the director of Miss Julie – playing across the North East this March – about his personal experience of the play and what makes it challenging to produce and perform. In this second post, Jake explores the themes of the play itself, and explains...

Miss Julie and Me: An Interview with Jake Murray (Part 1)

Revolutionary and controversial in its own time, and equally important in ours: Miss Julie is coming to the North East this March thanks to a new production by Elysium Theatre Company. In the first of a two-part interview with READ, director Jake Murray identifies the attractions of August Strindberg. You tweeted that Miss Julie was...

Rivers of Love

One man, three women, and trout. Jez Butterworth’s play The River sounds prosaic, but it flows poetically through themes of love and loneliness. As Durham-based theatre company Elysium prepare to bring The River to the North East for the first time, we asked director, Jake Murray, why we should try to catch a performance. The...

Conversations Across Continents with the Durham-Jordan Creative Exchange

The small, medieval city of Durham, UK and the bustling metropolis of Amman, Jordan, might seem worlds apart. But for writers Linda France and Mofleh al-Adwan, who are swapping places as part of a unique creative exchange programme called Alta'ir (bird), each provides a rich source of literary inspiration. We found out more with Linda...