Inside View

OUDS, the Oxford University Dramatic Society, is the umbrella organisation that co-ordinates drama across the university, and provides advice and support to productions and the students involved with them. OUDS holds drama social events, has its own Wardrobe and Bop Shop, acts as a principal funding body and is there to guide newcomers into the scene and advise even the most experienced dramatist on his next move.

 Samuel Beckett（1906-1989）---was an Irish writer, playwright and poet. His work includes Waiting for Godot, a play in which nothing much happens but which is intensely thought-provoking, although some people find it difficult to follow. Beckett won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

The House--- the area of a theatre or cinema where the audience sit is referred to as the house. A full house means all the seats have been sold. The front of house is the area open to the public.

Theater in Britain---theatre is popular in Britain. Many amateur groups put on plays, and all schools give regular performances. Larger towns have small theatrical companies. Street performers can also be found around busy shopping centers. London has a great many theaters where you can see classic dramas, political satires, the latest difficult modern plays, grand operas and the latest musicals.

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Monopoly is the classic fast-dealing property trading board game.

Battleship is a strategy type guessing game for two players. It is played on ruled grids on which each player's fleet of ships are marked. The locations of the fleets are concealed from the other player. Players alternate turns calling "shots" at the other player's ships, and the objective of the game is to destroy the opposing player's fleet.

The Settlers of Catan or simply Settlers, is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber, and first published in 1995 in Germany. Players take on the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources. Players gain points as their settlements grow; the first to reach a set number of points, typically 10, wins.

Agricola is a Euro-style board game created by Uwe Rosenberg. It is a worker placement game with a focus on resource management. In Agricola, players are farmers that sow, plow the fields, collect wood, build stables, buy animals, expand their farms and feed their families. After 14 rounds players calculate their score based on the size and prosperity of the household.

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Pretty Woman is a 1990 film starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (who was nominated for an Oscar for her part in the film). A wealthy businessman hires a prostitute to attend events with him and falls in love with her. The film is heavily romantic and is very popular to this day.

Swordfish is an exciting 2001 action movie starring John Travolta, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman. The story invoves the world's leading hacker being forced to steal billions of dollars from the US government.

The Matrix is the first series of three immensely popular science-fiction movies. Starring Keanu Reeves, it was released in 1999, and quickly became a cult classic. The basic scenario is that this world is a compter-generated illusion created by machines who live off human beings. The special effects are particularly memorable.

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An Open Mic---(sometimes spelt open mike) evening is an occasion, usually in a pub or a club, where anyone can go onstage and tell jokes or perform music. It’s not like karaoke, which is much less common in the UK than in China, as the performance has to be completely original.

Afro-Cuban jazz is a musical style that developed in the 1940's and 50's based on jazz harmonies, African and Cuban rhythms and different techniques of improvisation即席创作. It's considered the first style of Latin jazz.