Rayna Moxley, Staff Writer

May 8, 2026

Oberlin’s production of Haymarket, a new folk musical, ran in Warner Main Friday through Sunday this past week, 140 years after the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. Alex Higgin-Houser, who wrote the musical’s book and lyrics, and David Kornfeld, who composed the score, worked with director and Visiting Professor of Theater Katy Early, OC ’16, and students to redevelop the show after its 2016 debut.  The show follows the events of the 1886 labor movement, which began as peaceful strikes by workers...

Krys Cabrera, Staff Writer

May 8, 2026

The Pen and the Sword, created by College fourth-years Thorin Finch and Naci Konar-Steenberg, is the result of two years of diligent planning and writing. Bringing an ambitious and imaginative original production to the Oberlin stage, their hard work was evident in the final result of their first large-scale musical.  Co-directed by Finch and fellow College fourth-year Kate Magnacca, The Pen and the Sword opened with the lively and memorable number “To Whom It May Concern,” introducing Hazel,...

Spencer Elkind, Staff Writer

May 8, 2026

Summer always brings with it a veritable avalanche of new movies for theatergoers to enjoy, and this year is no different. From family crowd-pleasers to superhero adventures and mythical epics, there’s something for everyone coming to theaters near you. This time around, though, there’s one release that could stand to have a profound impact on the entertainment industry: The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act. Despite only running in movie theaters for two weeks and going to YouTube right after,...

Lilly Beuthin, Staff Writer

May 1, 2026

Antoine Fuqua’s Michael, released on April 24, explores how legendary pop star Michael Jackson rose to fame — from getting recognized in his childhood family band, the Jackson 5, to exploring a solo music career and becoming one of the biggest entertainers of his time. The biographical picture reveals the early personal strife the Jackson brothers faced, but mostly highlights the musical genius and artistic power that Michael Jackson exuded.  Breaking records with the most successful opening...

Chloe Boccara, Arts Senior Staff Writer

May 8, 2026

Last weekend, Oberlin Dance Company presented “Laugh and Cry Can Live Same House,” a 70-minute piece directed and choreographed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance and Africana Studies Talawa Prestø. I came in with high expectations — built up by comments from friends who had either watched it already or taken part — and the performance exceeded them.  Submerged in smoky purple light, Prestø opened the performance with a dedication to those who walked the Underground Railroad, explaining...

Eva Fraser, Staff Writer

September 5, 2025

Throughout her career, Professor of Dance Ann Cooper Albright has pioneered research and embodied practice in dance. Albright recently won the Dance Studies Association’s 2025 Outstanding Scholarly Research in Dance Award for her contributions to the field. Her written work, consisting of six monographs and four edited essays with more on the way, takes her everywhere. This summer, she taught intensive contact improvisation workshops on both coasts, and this fall, she is teaching courses in Paris...

Chloe Boccara, Arts Senior Staff Writer

April 4, 2025

On Wednesday, April 2, Noh Theater: Artists-in-Residence Tokyoite performers Uzawa Hikaru and Uzawa Hisa hosted a music workshop and demonstration. Hazy light streamed in through tall windows of David H. Stull Recital Hall and illuminated Hikaru as she danced. On her right sat Hisa, singing in Japanese, captivating her audience with resonant vocals. They immersed listeners in an excerpt from Kiyotsune, a Noh warrior play. Noh is one of Japan’s premier performing arts and has existed for over 650...

Dlisah Lapidus, Arts & Culture Editor

March 7, 2025

Each semester, student-run dance troupes such as VIBE Dance Company, CHOREO Dance Crew, and Kinetic come together to present their work at the Student Dance Showcase. While SDS usually takes place late in the semester, this year it was programmed for March 14, giving the dance groups less time than typical to prepare their work.  College third-year Gabby Grau has been co-directing SDS since fall 2023. “A lot of the dance groups don’t have their own show so this is where they perform their...

Sydney Collinger, Senior Staff Writer, Layout Editor

November 15, 2024

The Oberlin Pole Dance Club, an up-and-coming student organization, will present their first performance, Soirée Noire. The show will feature several acts at The ’Sco tonight at 10 p.m.  This is the first time Oberlin Pole will put on an event showcasing only its own acts. In opposed past shows, they have collaborated with OBurlesque or OCircus. “I’m excited [for this show] because it’s groundbreaking for [our] student organization ,” College third-year and club founder Natalie Frank...

Chloe Boccara, Arts Senior Staff Writer

September 13, 2024

From four new auditioners last semester to 24 this semester, CHOREO Dance Crew has shot up in popularity. The questions arise: How did CHOREO gain popularity so quickly? What lies ahead for this up-and-coming group? Interviews with CHOREO’s three directors — College third-year Annalise Curl, College fourth-year Evelyn Williamson, and College fourth-year Julia Stuart — lend insight into CHOREO’s history, present, and future.  CHOREO is a multi-genre dance group that draws considerable inspiration...

Leo Slattery, Staff Writer

April 17, 2026

My New Band Believe, released April 10, is the eponymous first album from Cameron Picton’s new “group,” in which there are no consistent band members other than himself. Picton is the former multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for experimental rock band Black Midi, which broke up in 2024, but his former group’s exquisite performances, clever lyrics, and cross-genre inspirations have carried over into this new project. However, Picton still accomplishes something new with My New Band Believe;...

Sarai Brown Ratner

March 6, 2026

Sarai Brown Ratner (she/her) is a College second-year from San Francisco. When she is not painting, you can find her sleeping in one of the chairs in Mudd Center, going to Umami for the second time in one day, or playing The Sims instead of doing her History homework.

Chloe Ko, Arts & Culture Editor

February 27, 2026

Navigating the grittiness of urban life and each bend of the human experience, artist June Leaf (1929–2024) created an iconic oeuvre across a career that spanned over seven decades. A comprehensive collection of her works has been arranged thematically rather than chronologically, presenting core motifs Leaf continually returned to. “June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart” debuted at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, traveled to the Grey Art Museum in New York, and is now...

Violeta Gonzalez, Arts & Culture Editor

February 13, 2026

On Feb. 10, the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s monthly Tuesday Tea talk, hosted in the cozy ambience of its East Gallery, put the spotlight on College fourth-year Joanne Kim. Each session, the featured speaker highlights artwork in the Allen’s collection; from photography to collages to sculpture, the presentations cycle through a wide variety of work.  Kim’s talk, “From Tomb Rituals to Missionary Collecting: Tracing the Histories of Korean Ceramics,” showcased her research into pieces from...

Chloe Ko, Arts & Culture Editor

February 6, 2026

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the closing of the last Japanese American internment camp from World War II. On Wednesday, a traveling exhibition of over 400 stories, photographs, and artworks of Japanese American incarcerees made its way to Oberlin. “Contested Histories: Preserving and Sharing a Community Collection” is on display in the academic commons and first floor gallery of the Mary Church Terrell Main Library until March 15, welcoming students and the Oberlin community to engage...

April 24, 2026

a man in front of a green screen  tells me he’s a researcher at Harvard.  he asks me if I’ve ever had blurry vision.  he tells me I am constantly afraid of going blind.  he tells me that, if he were to die tomorrow,  he’d want to make sure that I knew,  that if I eat one blueberry,  from Walmart,  by Monday …    Istronglyrecommendyoustopwhatyou’redoingand  watchwhatmagnesiumdoestoyourbowelsWatchwh  atnailpolishdoestoyourfungifiedfeetDidn’tyourmo  thertellyou...

Lilly Beuthin, Staff Writer

April 17, 2026

In her recently-released debut book of poems, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Leah Flax Barber, OC ’18, guides the reader into the metonymic realm of the carnival. Subverting convention, she tries to discern how identity is both performed and built through experience in her poems. Taking this idea even further, she also seeks to make sense of the performativity and limitations of language. The collection begins with an epigraph, a quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein: “The correct and interesting thing...

Holly Yelton, Illustrator

April 22, 2022

Holly Yelton, Illustrator

March 25, 2022

Holly Yelton, Illustrator

March 5, 2022

January 7, 2022

Isaiah Johnson, Opinions Editor

May 8, 2026

Professor Caroline Jackson-Smith, known to many as Ms. Caroline, is a Professor of Africana Studies and Theater who has been teaching at Oberlin College since 1989. Having...

James Foster, Editor-in-Chief

May 1, 2026

Dr. Enrica Ferrara is a tenured Teaching Fellow of Italian at Trinity College Dublin, where she lectures in Italian Language and Culture and specializes in Italian Literature,...

Colin Rivera, Staff Writer

April 17, 2026

Ukrainian writer Darya Tsymbalyuk came to Oberlin this week to lead an art workshop and deliver a talk on her recently-published book Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental...

Isaiah Johnson, Opinions Editor

April 10, 2026

Kali Bateman is a College fourth-year majoring in Computer Science. Over the past two years, she has worked at various high-caliber performance venues around Ohio. Recently,...

Rayna Moxley, Staff Writer

April 3, 2026

Ling-lin Ku, assistant professor of Studio Art, is a multimedia sculptor interested in relationships of play and discomfort told through tactile and digital mediums. She joined...

Lilly Beuthin, Staff Writer

March 6, 2026

Jake Griswold, a local filmmaker, was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and graduated from Cleveland State University in 2011 with a degree in film. His first feature-length...