Gallery III, Summer Exhibition 2012. Photo John Bodkin (c) Royal Academy of Arts
Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy play ex-lovers in Starlight, the LIFT Festival brings more than 30 events across town, and the team behind London Cocktail Week launch London Wine Week in June 2014.
The London International Festival of Theatre (or LIFT, if your prefer) returns to the capital in 2014 as theatres, arts venues and other sites around London. There's a huge range of events - 30 productions from 13 countries in 2014 - including live performances, art exhibitions and a Haitian-inspired funeral procession. Events take place on the streets, squares and promenades of London from Canning Town to Harlesden and major venues include the Barbican Centre, National Theatre, Southbank Centre and Institute of Contemporary Arts. The 2014 programme includes Campo's Next Day at the Unicorn, Super Premium Soft Double Vanilla Rich at Arts Depot, Lundahl and Seitl's Symphony of a Missing Room at the Royal Academy, I Want to Play As You at Stratford Circus, and The Roof - a 360-degree panoramic performance which gives an insight into the mind of a free runner trying desperately to stay alive, viewed from a car park opposite the National Theatre.
First set up in 2004 the London Festival of Architecture celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2014 with an exciting month of events taking place across the city. This year the Museum of London has commissioned House of Muses, a temporary structure to go outside its main entrance which will launch at the London Festival of Architecture and remain in place from June until the end of The London Design Festival in September 2014. The towers that are changing the skyline of London can be explored with the architects and developers behind them in 'Capital Views' (Wed 4th June) as part of the 'London's Growing... Up!' exhibition (3rd April to 12th June) organised by New London Architecture (NLA). There's a focus on Erno Goldfinger's brutalist architecture, Thomas Heatherwick and Dan Pearson present their proposals for the Garden Bridge on 26th June, and the Victoria and Albert Museum runs a special Friday Late on 27th June entitled 'It's All Yours'. RIBA London's Open Studios and Trails return, and there are several architectural tours by boat, bicycle and on foot, including walking tours by Blue Badge Guides, the Transport Museum's walking tours of Piccadilly line stations, and the National Trust's guided Routemaster bus trips around London.
In 2014 the London Wine Fair will see some significant changes - a change of name for a start, dropping the 'International' from the title to reflect a renewed focus on Britain's festival of wine. This year also sees a return to Olympia, allowing room for more exhibitors, more wines and more to experience. There will also be two new areas dedicated to bulk wine and boutique wine - the latter aimed at small UK wine importers. While the fair is strictly trade only, the organisers are partnering with the team behind London Cocktail Week to launch the inaugural open-to-all London Wine Week, a seven day celebration of London's restaurants, bars and wine merchants, to run from 2nd to 8th June 2014, coinciding with the Wine Fair itself.
Deafinitely Theatre, a theatre company which aims to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing audiences, and who performed Love's Labour's Lost as part of the 2012 Globe to Globe project, return to Shakespeare's Globe in June 2014 to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in British Sign Language with scene synopses in English, promising "a teasing, glittering, very funny and amazingly inventive play".
London Wine Week
A celebration of London's restaurants, bars and wine merchants.
Over 130 London bars and restaurants are taking part in the inaugural London Wine Week, a seven day celebration of London's restaurants, bars and wine merchants which runs from 2nd to 8th June 2014 at venues all over London. Approximately 10,000 people are expected to take part in the event which is organised by the team behind London Cocktail Week who will use wristbands to give ticket holders access to the special offers and wine experiences taking place. Wristbands can be collected from three hubs at: The Wine Shop Hub at Harvey Nichols; The Riedel Hub, a special pop-up bar with Riedel Crystal on the first floor of Kingly Court; and The Wines from Rioja Hub at Laithwaites flagship store, The Arch at London Bridge - all will be a hive of activity with drop in tastings and masterclasses. Look out for special events like London Wine Sessions, a one-day festival of talks and tastings given by the cream of London's wine world talent. Coinciding with, and backed by, the London Wine Fair, the festival is a great way of helping wine lovers meet the winemakers who descend on the capital for the trade-only Wine Fair. Borough Wines and the D&D group are among more than 130 London bars and restaurants taking part.
Experimental female German theatre collective She She Pop uses Shakespeare's King Lear as a structure for their exploration of the complex relationships between generations. For this label-defying piece that includes film, Shakespearean readings, dance and big-band numbers, the group are joined by their real fathers. Testament is performed in German with English surtitles and will run for two hours without interval. It is part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) and suitable for ages 12
The annual Holland Park Opera is a highlight of summer in London, when the temporary structure of Holland Park Theatre is erected in West London's Holland Park and the operatic arias soar over the tree tops. The magical atmosphere of these productions owe a lot to their surroundings but it's also a tribute to a remarkable opera company that has defied expectations and budgets to produce productions of the very highest standard. There are five new productions in the 2014 season which starts on 3rd June 2014: Puccini's 'La fanciulla del West' (3-21 June); Rossini's 'Il barbiere di Siviglia' (7-28 June); Britten's 'The Turn of the Screw' (1-12 July) staged for the first ever by Opera Holland Park; Bellini's 'Norma' (19 July-8 August), and Cilea's 'Adriana Lecouvreur'. 2014 also sees the revival of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (exact dates to be confirmed), the family opera staged here last year.
Seduced! Fans & the Art of Advertising presents a fascinating overview of the history of advertising fans, showing how commercial art - a dynamic, seductive art-form - emerged during the late nineteenth century to play a pivotal role in generating and sustaining a culture of consumption among the growing middle classes. Focusing on the interwar period and the aesthetics of Art Deco, the exhibition includes a colourful array of fans made to promote leisure activities such as travel, dining and shopping. Luxury brands are equally well represented with fans advertising champagne, perfume and haute- couture. Many of the fans exhibited feature designs by masters of commercial art including, Georges Barbier, Leonetto Cappiello and Rene Gruau, whose striking pochoir and chromolithographic prints evoke a remarkable age of decadence, glamour, exoticism and the birth of modern consumer culture.
Brazilian choreographer Bruno Beltrao asked dancers from his Grupo de Rua (Street Group), a dance group he co-founded as a teenager 18 years ago, to scour the internet for movements, gestures and informal routines, then used these as the basis for his new show, CRACKz, which comes to Sadler's Wells as part of the LIFT Festival. A "piece without roots", CRACKz showcases Beltrao's reputation for questioning the established, masculine structures of movement and the stereotypes of hip hop.
One of Russia's most influential directors Dmitry Krymov comes to the Barbican as part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). In Opus No 7, puppets, pianos, living walls and avalanches of newsprint recount the oppression of Soviet Jews under Stalin, and the censorship of composer Dmitri Shostakovich. This intimate and highly visual piece is performed in Russian with English surtitles. It is suitable for ages 12 and above.
Presenting one of their productions at the O2 for the fourth time, Cirque Du Soleil showcase Dralion in 2014, the year that the show celebrates its 15th anniversary. Fusing the ancient tradition of Chinese acrobatics and the contemporary approach of the French-Canadian dance-theatre company, Dralion takes inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its quest for harmony between human and nature. The name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolising the East and the lion, representing the West.
Ben and Winifred Nicholson's marriage in 1920 produced a partnership of 'fast and furious' experimentation fuelled by a love of travel and nature. Part of the Dulwich Picture Gallery's modern British series, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the couple's views of the same landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and portraits presented side by side with works by their contemporaries.
This exhibition at The Wiener Library examines the experience of Germany-Jewry during and after the First World War, by taking a multi-dimensional approach to examining the experience of German-Jewish servicemen under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and later under the Nazis.
Following their critically acclaimed productions of Project Colony and Paradise Lost in 2013, Fourth Monkey theatre company return to Trinity Buoy Wharf in April and June 2014 with a repertory season of work, performed in atmospheric basement space of The Electrician's Shop. The award-winning company will be producing Lorca's 'Yerma', Timberlake Wertenbaker's 'Our Country's Good' and 'The Good Person of Szechwan', Brecht's parable of good and evil, in rep between the 9th April and 3rd May and 4th to 21st June.
Over 150 dealers from Britain and abroad showcase their collections of antiques, jewellery, paintings, ceramics and contemporary designs at the Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair. The fair, which comes to Olympia every June and November, attracts over 30,000 people and includes items as varied as Pre-Raphaelite paintings, contemporary art and furniture which can fetch up to £20,000. Among the highest prices achieved in recent years was a toilet service set which sold for a staggering £1.5 million.
Maverick filmmaker and writer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail Terry Gilliam returns to English National Opera to direct Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini following his critically-acclaimed, sell-out production of 'The Damnation of Faust' in 2011. He once again teams up with ENO Music Director Edward Gardner to bring this visually stunning opera to the London Coliseum. The Mardi Gras carnival is sure to be a particularly colourful scene for such a theatrical showman. A stellar cast has been assembled for this significant new production, led by rising tenor Michael Spyres in the title role, with the young American soprano Corinne Winters (last season's acclaimed Violetta) as Cellini's lover, Teresa.
Lyndsey Turner, whose theatre credits include 'Posh' at the Royal Court and in West End, and Headlong's acclaimed 'Chimerica' which transferred from the Almeida to the West End last year, returns to the Donmar to direct Brian Friel's dramatisation of Turgenev's tale of parental heartbreak and the sacrifices to be made on the path to maturity. Fathers and Sons takes place over the course of a summer, when political ideals are tested by filial duty and the arrival of a mysterious visitor threatens a friendship.
A new evening of work by internationally acclaimed choreographer Russell Maliphant, Still Current features newly created duets, trios and solos danced by Maliphant himself alongside his remarkable company of dancers "in a piece that turns performers into human bar codes" (Metro). Working with long-term collaborator, masterful lighting designer Michael Hulls, the light adds a "sensuous dimension", "an extra character on stage whenever Maliphant makes a new dance".
A well-loved episode of The Simpsons is recounted by a group of survivors in post-apocalyptic America, and is told over and over again, and as in Chinese whispers, it is reshaped and becomes a myth. Anne Washburn's drama, Mr Burns, is directed by Almeida associate Robert Icke, currently directing Headlong's hit 1984, for its European premiere. When it opened in New York last autumn the New York Times raved about the "downright brilliant Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play" which will leave you "dizzy with the scope and dazzle of its ideas". Although the play spans 80 years and centres on a vision of American after an apocalypse, at its heart is a renewed appreciation of storytelling in all its different guises.
Now in its sixth year, Polo in the Park has become one of London's great summer outdoors events. Aimed at bringing polo to the people, the three-day World Series event showcases a more accessible version of the sport, mirroring the effect Twenty20 has had on cricket. Teams of three a side from cities around the world take part; last year saw London, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Beijing, Abu Dhabi and Sydney all competing. There's usually also a steady flow of celebrities (Jodie Kidd) and royalty (Princess Beatrice), not to mention medieval jousting and an array of bars, shops and food stalls. Red or salmon pink trousers are a must.
The community-minded summer festival returns to Spitalfields and its environs for small-scale classical, folk and contemporary music held in a splendid variety of performance spaces. The best thing about the biannual Spitalfields festivals (a winter festival is held either side of Christmas) is the array of contrasting venues: Old Spitalfields Market comes alive with what seems like impromptu musical performances, while the stunning 18th-century Hawksmoor-designed Christ Church hosts a cluster of classical concerts. Throw in Shoreditch's hip Village Underground for some of the more contemporary offerings, and Spitalfields City Farm for bucolic folk. The eclectic programme includes lashings of baroque, jazz and world music, while there is a series of talks and debates, walks and visits, and interactive workshops. In 2014 France's Compangie Kafig returns to the UK with Boxe Boxe, a fusion of music and dance, on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th June at the People's Palace.
From June 2014, the Fashion and Textile Museum highlights the art of the rebozo, a distinctly Mexican garment which Frida Kahlo was rarely seen without. A feature of Mexican dress since the 17th century, the classic woven shawl is enjoying a revival with the renewed interest in craft skills. Mexican Textiles: Frida Kahlo & the Art of the Rebozo looks at the work of 30 leading artists and contemporary fashion designers like Carla Fernandez, a Mexico City-based fashion designer who takes inspiration from traditional artisanship. These current designs are displayed alongside historic rebozos loaned from the Franz Mayer Museum, Mexico City.
To mark the 250th anniversary of William Hogarth's death, the Foundling Museum presents Progress, bringing together for the first time three great responses to his eternally modern moral tale, A Rake's Progress. David Hockney's Rake's Progress, 1961-3, Yinka Shonibare's Diary of a Victorian Dandy, 1998 and Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences, 2012 will be shown alongside the original 1735 prints and joined by new work from the artist Jessie Brennan, commissioned by the Foundling for this exhibition in response to Hogarth's masterpiece.
Canadian indie-rockers Arcade Fire will come to Earl's Court on 6th June 2014 as part of their worldwide Reflektor tour. With rumours rife that the band will be headlining at Glastonbury this year - "get your wellies ready", frontman Win Butler told Jo Whiley and her BBC Radio 2 audience - the London concert is set to be one of the unmissable gigs of London in 2014. The Montreal-based band has built up a huge following with the success of their landmark debut album Funeral and its follow-up Neon Bible. But with Reflektor Arcade Fire have embraced "far more dancey and experimental sounds" (Rolling Stone), partially inspired by a trip to Haiti and its carnival street music.
Carey Mulligan makes her West End debut starring as the former lover of Bill Nighy in Stephen Daldry's revival of David Hare's Skylight. Originally staged at the National Theatre in 1995, when it was recipient to the Lawrence Olivier Award for Best Play, Skylight returns to the London stage, opening at the Wyndham's Theatre in June. The play follows the story of schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Carey Mulligan) when she receives an unexpected visit from her former lover Tom Sergeant (Bill Nighy). As the evening develops the two rekindle their romance but soon find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and desires. Renowned director Stephen Daldry - known for West End productions The Audience and Billy Elliott as well as on screen successes The Hours and The Reader - directs the play, which also stars Matthew Beard as Sergeant's son. Book tickets to Skylight today on LondonTown.com.
They've conquered the UK, cracked America and invaded girls' hearts worldwide, now British boy band sensation One Direction are coming to London's Wembley Stadium for three nights as part of their 2014 world tour. With the X Factor a distant memory, the five heartthrobs have exploded on the music scene since their infectious 2011 debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful.' They've also won several awards and released two studio albums the first of which was the UK's fastest selling debut album of 2011. Whether it's for their musical talents or simply their boyish good looks, it can't be denied that the five-piece are currently winning the popularity contest in the music industry.
If the organisers of Nightrider fulfil their aim they'll raise £2 million in one night. You can help by taking to the streets of London by bike on a moonlit night and riding past some of the city's iconic landmarks while raising money for charity. The 100km route which begins at Crystal Palace or Alexandra Place - you can choose which starting point suits you - is not for beginners but anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and confidence on the road can take part. Cycling past sights like Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye while the city sleeps is one way of putting the 'fun' in fundraising.
British band Metronomy headline Saturday at Field Day while recently-reunited US band the Pixies headline the Sunday leg of the Victoria Park festival which moves to June and expands to become a two-day event in 2014, the year the East London festival celebrates its eighth birthday. Saturday's bill includes Warpaint, Sky Ferreira, The Temper Trap and Syrian folk singer Omar Souleyman who has collaborated with Damon Albarn's Gorillaz. Head to Field Day for subdued electro, melancholic folk, bold dance acts and a dreamy summer vibe. After parties at neighbouring clubs keep the vibe going after the main event - curfew at 10.45pm - has closed.
Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti visited more than 50 countries over 18 months to create images of children with their most prized possessions: their toys. The 21 portraits displayed in Toy Stories, taken in Zambia, Texas, Ukraine, Japan and beyond, show that regardless of the country they live in or their economic status, whether the child owns a fleet of miniature cars or a single stuffed monkey, they are simply interested in playing. Galimberti's beautiful photographs capture kids' natural tendancy to enjoy playtime, no matter what their background is.
The AEGON Championships attracts most of the world's top grass-court players to the prestigious Queen's Club in Baron's Court, whose courts have been described by four-time former winner Andy Roddick as "arguably the best in the world". This is the unofficial warm-up to Wimbledon so expect Pimm's, strawberries & cream, and the usual umbrella breaks for rain. When the sun shines, Queen's is the perfect early summer's day out - and a good opportunity to try out your new warm-weather wardrobe. Tickets are available through ballot only but ground admission tickets are available online, while returns and some extras are normally available on the door every day - so if you wake up and see that the sky is blue, it's well worth heading over to W14.
Anyone can submit to the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition which gives it a wonderful element of surprise. Over 11,000 pieces are sifted through from relative unknowns to famous artists and members of the RA. The fun part for visitors is choosing a favourite and, with the majority of works on sale at varying price ranges, you can even buy one if you really fall in love with it. First held in 1769, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is the largest regular contemporary art exhibition in the world. It's an impressive show that gives an excellent cross-section of contemporary art every summer and each year, a prominent sculpture greets visitors to the exhibition as they walk through the Royal Academy's great courtyard.
The pianist Evgeny Kissin, who was born in Moscow in 1971 and began to play by ear and improvise on the piano at the age of two, comes to the Barbican to play music by one of the great pianistic provocateurs Scriabin, performing his Sonata No 2 in G Sharp Minor and a selection of his Etudes as well as Schubert's Sonata in D Major.
A biting satire about African-American identity and politics from New York playwright Young Jean Lee. Herself a Korean-America, Lee devised The Shipment in collaboration with an all-black cast. Using cliches and caricatures (does a drug dealer turned superstar rapper sound familiar?), the play looks at the gap between perception and reality, and reappropriates the form of the traditional minstrel show for a fast-paced and funny evening's entertainment. The event is part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).
Akram Khan's take on Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, iTMOi (in the mind of igor), returns to Sadler's Wells in 2014, a year after its explosive debut here. Leading choreographer Akram Khan - one of the stars of the Olympic opening ceremony - gives Igor Stravinsky's masterpiece a radical reinterpretation using an international cast of 11 dancers to explore the human condition, rooted in the concept of a women dancing herself to death. "Through Khan's shockingly imagined chaos that we're drawn into the creative maelstrom from which art is born," (The Guardian). Featuring an original score by Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost, with costume design by Kimie Nakano.
Model and actress Lily Cole takes on Helen of Troy in The Last Days of Troy, a new piece of writing by award-winning poet and novelist Simon Armitage which dramatises the end of the Trojan siege. Based on Homer's Iliad, the play at Shakespeare's Globe dramatises and completes the narrative of the original text bringing the siege of Troy to its bloody conclusion. It's directed by Nick Bagnall, designed by Ashley Martin Davies and composed by Alex Baranowski and is one of four new plays for the Globe in 2014, continuing the theatre's support of new writing. Each of the four plays - with Armitage joined by playwrights Richard Bean, Howard Brenton and David Eldridge in creating new work - will focus on a different war from history.
Starring the Bad Boys of Dance, Rasta Thomas' Rock the Ballet makes its London debut after already enjoying success in the USA, Australia and Europe. Hailing from New York, it blends classic ballet techniques with musical theatre, hip hop, tap and acrobatics. With the soundtrack including songs from the likes of LMFAO, Queen, Kanye West and Robin Thicke, audiences can expect a high voltage show.
Overlooked by art historians, dismissed by intellectuals, rarely attributed to individual artists, but loved for its exquisite craftsmanship, British Folk Art is often seen as a poor relation to fine art. Tate Britain curator and folk art expert Dr Martin Myrone has brought together more that 100 artefacts from collections around the country in this celebration of traditional skills. On display will be such diverse items as Toby jugs, shop signs, carousel horses, naval embroidery, pin cushions made by invalids in the Crimean War, and a life-size sculpture of King Alfred fashioned in thatch. These hark back to a pre-industrial age and promise to shed as much light on our social history as our artistic one.
A major survey examining how figurative sculpture has been reinvented from the late-1980s to the present, The Human Factor displays works by contemporary artists including Pawel Althamer, Frank Benson, Huma Bhabha, Thomas Hirschhorn and Jeff Koons. Featuring uncanny images of historical and political figures including Adolf Hitler, John F. Kennedy, Dick Cheney and Jesus, the exhibition explores the ways in which society constructs identities, social positions and values. Highlights include Yinka Shonibare MBE's Boy on Globe, Paul McCarthy's confrontational and hyper-realistic casts of actress Elyse Poppers, and Katharina Fritsch's 'space pictures' featuring life-sized cast figures.
This exhibition of cartoons, caricatures and sequential art at the Cartoon Museum depicts and reflects on the 1914-1918 Great War and its long term effects. It includes patriotic state-sanctioned propaganda, as well as images that began to question the conflict and the way it was unfurling on the Western Front. It is being held to correspond with the centenary of the outbreak of the war.
This new play from Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti delves into the Gill family living room, where there's culture clashes, sibling rivalries and endless cups of chah. Widowed matriarch Jeeto has spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children, she has a strong sense of her past and her principles. But, her eldest son Pal isn't following suit. Struggling to live up to his father's legacy, he's putting the family business at risk, as well as the last remaining link to their Punjab roots.
Returning for its 22nd year with 13 nights of concerts, the Hampton Court Palace Festival is one for the older generation. Taking place in the open-air court of King Henry VIII's Palace, the festival has a beautiful backdrop and this year welcomes a line-up of acts that worthy of the venue. Ten time Grammy Award-winner George Benson will take to the stage on 23rd June, performing a string of hits from his back catalogue; The Beach Boys will grace the stage on the 24th, treating audiences to live versions of hits Good Vibrations, Wouldn't It Be Nice and Surfs Up; and the UK's most successful jazz artist Jamie Cullum will make his festival debut to perform tracks from his new album, Momentum . Pop sensations Rick Astley and Jason Donovan offer a double-headliner, singing all their major hits, and Jools Holland returns once again with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Guests can bring their own hampers with champers or take advantage of the pre-ordered picnic options on offer. Drinks and more basic meal options are also available from stalls, while those who want to go the whole hog can opt for the hospitality package in the Hampton Court State Apartments which includes VIP seating, a champagne reception with canapés, and a dinner with fine wines.
Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo reprise their famed partnership when they take on the lead roles in the English National Ballet's Romeo & Juliet in June 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall. The famous Cuban dancer and the artistic director of the English National Ballet - who often partnered in the roles in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's English Royal Ballet productions - are joined by a company of 120 dancers and actors in Derek Deane's in-the-round staging of Shakespeare's tragic love story. Presented by Raymond Gubbay, clever choreography, ferocious sword fights between the Capulets and Montagues, the masked ball and the tender balcony scene bring all the emotions of the world's greatest love story to life. The story is set in Renaissance Verona, recreated through Roberta Guidi di Bagno's opulent designs.
Cobbler Henry Horatio Hobson has three daughters, all of whom he takes for granted, forcing them to work in his shop unpaid. When the oldest and plainest, Maggie, takes the initiative of marrying his best bootmaker, Willie Mossop, and setting up a rival business, Hobson gets his comeuppance, and the girls get their own back. Set in 1880s Salford, Harold Brighouse's play Hobson's Choice is directed for the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre by Nadia Fall.
The second Affordable Art Fair of the year in Hampstead is the little sister of the Battersea Park original, which takes place earlier in the year in March. Held in a marquee on the Lower Fairground Site on the heath over a June weekend, there are over 100 galleries under one roof, exhibiting paintings, original prints, sculpture, etchings and photography from both established names and emerging talents - all priced from £40 to £4,000. It's the fourth consecutive year the Affordable Art Fair has come to Hampstead in its 11-year history, attracting around 20,000 people for what should be a perfect summer's day out in north London.
The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's reimagining of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, devised specifically for children aged six upwards. There's music, comedy, cross-dressing and plenty of confused identities to keep audiences of all ages entertained. Cheer plucky Viola and jeer miserable Malvolio as misunderstandings and machinations get increasingly madcap and the play finally bumps its way to a happy ending. Performances take place during the daytime and are complemented by schools' workshops.
France's Compagnie Kafig returns to the UK with Boxe Boxe, a fusion of music and dance that explores the physical, combative and artistic nature of boxing. The two performances, staged in partnership with Sadler's Wells at the People's Palace on Mile End Road on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th June, are part of the 2014 Spitalfields Music Summer Festival, an event which presents a truly diverse range of music in the public and hidden spaces of Tower Hamlets.
James Lavelle, the man behind influential record label Mo'Wax, curates this year's Meltdown festival when it returns to the Southbank Centre in June 2014 as the alternative music festival marks its 21st anniversary. Highlights among the impressive list of acts lined up include Queens of the Stone Age frontman Joshua Homme, Chrissie Hynde who plays her first UK show in five years, drum and bass DJ Goldie whose seminal album is performed live by the Heritage Orchestra, and hip hop legend Grandmaster Flash and Scratch Perverts who kick off the festival with a double-bill celebrating these two masters of the turntable. Performance artists Carnet de Voyage create a site specific work as support for Neneh Cherry, Detroit DJ and producer Jeff Mills plays a headline show in the Royal Festival Hall, with support from A Guy Called Gerald. And DJ sets will take place in the foyer spaces of the Southbank Centre every night of the festival. In curating this year's Meltdown Lavelle joins a long list of esteemed musical innovators who have previously taken on the role including Yoko Ono, David Bowie, John Peel, Morrissey, Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, Massive Attack and Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
For Tim Crouch's new play, Adler & Gibb, he renews his partnership with the directors of his controversial 2009 play, The Author. Dividing critics, the in-yer-face theatre production was described by The Guardian as a 'bold, brave, playful piece' while it also saw many walk-outs. This new play tells the story of a raid on a house, a life, a reality and a legacy, using the backstory of conceptual artists Janet Adler and Margaret Gibb.
A vibrant display of ceremony and military history, Trooping the Colour, also known as The Queen's Birthday Parade, marks the second of the Queen's two birthdays (this is the official one, her actual birthday is on 21st April). It's a spectacular piece of pageantry but also a timely reminder of the role of the armed forces who are - in theory, at least - under the Queen's control. Hundreds of well-disciplined soldiers in full dress uniform march past at the Horse Guards Parade, and a different Battalion gives the Royal Salute each year, all accompanied by stirring military music from the massed bands. On the same day, a 41-Gun Royal Salute takes place in Green Park at 12.52pm and there's a 62-Gun salute at the Tower Of London at 1pm. But if you want to avoid the crush at the Mall, you can see the Horse Guards practicing for the grand parade at two smaller rehearsals in the days leading up to the grand event - namely the Major General's Review on the Saturday before and the Colonel's Review on the Saturday two weeks before the Trooping of the Colour.
TICKETS: The Ballot for tickets for seated stands around Horse Guards Parade opens in January and closes in February. Applications should be made in writing, during January and February only, enclosing a stamped self-addressed envelope to: Brigade Major, HQ Household Division, Horse Guards, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AX.
This one-day West London festival is back for its fourth year and is set to showcases some of the best up-and-coming talent from 'The Bush' and beyond. Bushstock is the brainchild of Communion record company which began as a monthly night at the Notting Hill Arts Club. Now they've branched out to bring us this festival spread across four Shepherds Bush venues including Ginglik, Bush Hall, The Defectors Weld and St. Stephens Church. If you're a fan of something a little less mainstream, somewhat folksy and a little bit raw then this is one festival not to be missed this summer.
From the iron-fenced residential parks of west London to the landscaped churchyards of the City, hundreds of garden squares play a vital part in maintaining London's status as one of Europe's greenest cities. The wonderful Open Garden Squares Weekend is the one time of the year when these gardens open their gates to everyone - many of these private spaces are not accessible to the public for the rest of the year. Over 200 gardens typically take part including hidden places like the minimalist Zen Garden at The Hempel Hotel, Little Abbey near Westminster Abbey, the Royal College of Physicians' medicinal garden, and the garden at 10 Downing Street which last year invited twenty-five lucky ticket holders in. If you have youngsters in tow, many of the gardens stage activities for families too. Tickets allow entry to all participating gardens. Go to www.opensquares.org for full details.
There's a good reason why professional cyclists wear Lycra: to hold their privates in the right place so as to avoid unnecessary (not to mention painful) chaffing (or entrapment) with the saddle. For naturists and exhibitionists who are prepared to risk getting all tangled up when pedalling on two wheels, the World Naked Bike Ride is just the job. Last year more than 1,000 people took off their clothes and rode around the capital nude to raise awareness of the need for more tolerance of bicycles on the roads of the city. Part of a unified world event, the London Naked Bike Ride, now in its eighth year, does make exemptions for those a bit too shy to reveal all, with a "go as bare as you dare" policy implemented above a stringent cry for nakedness. The actual ride is easy and relaxed, with participants often decorating their torsos with body paint and bikes with environmental protests against oil dependency and car culture. There are six events to choose from, each with an individual start point, and all routes eventually merge together to conclude at Wellington Arch at roughly 5.30pm. Similar rides in the UK take place in Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, York and Southampton.
The veteran American chart-toppers, the Eagles, famous for its classic rock and country-rock hits including 'Hotel California' and 'Lyin' Eyes', comes to London's O2 for one night only in June 2014 with a line-up which features original band members Glenn Frey and Don Henley.
The return of Penny Woolcock's "stunningly beautiful" (Daily Telegraph) The Pearl Fishers is one of the highlights of the 2014 summer season at the English National Opera. Bizet's early masterpiece, a tale of friendship tested by love, set on an exotic isle in an eastern sea, is a gem of 19th-century French opera, notable for its colorful and exotic orchestration. The ENO's production, first seen in 2010, is directed by Argentinian-born film-maker Penny Woolcock (The Death Of Klinghoffer, The Principles Of Lust, Mischief Night , and 1 Day) who made her debut with John Adams's Doctor Atomic at ENO and the Metropolitan Opera, New York, five years ago.
Opening the two week Sadler's Sampled festival, young South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo brings her reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake to London. Masilo has become one of the most renowned choreographers in South Africa, winning a number of awards and becoming well known for her reworking of classical ballets. Having previously toured worldwide with new versions of Romeo and Juliet and Carmen, she now brings her latest creation to Sadler's Wells using a company of 13 male and female African dancers to revisit this great classic.
Sadler's Wells popular Sadler's Sampled event expanded into a two week festival last year, when the venerable dance house celebrated its 15th anniversary, and returns in the same format in 2014. As the name suggests, you get a taster of a huge variety of dance - from ballet to contemporary to hip hop to flamenco - with short dance pieces from each, all performed over two weeks at the world-class dance venue. Best of all, tickets start from just £8. Opening this year's festival is the young South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, with her interpretation of Swan Lake. It's followed by a celebration of Ireland's roots and traditions by Fabulous Beast performing 'Rian', four duets by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and 'Playlist' which includes performances from the National Youth Dance Company, choreographed by Akram Khan, and from Sadler's Wells resident company ZooNation.
Puccini's first triumph returns to the Royal Opera House for the first time in 20 years in a much anticipated new staging by Jonathan Kent. Manon Lescaut follows a young girl, Manon, who faces temptation when she meets the young student Des Grieux, performed by Jonas Kaufmann. Antonio Pappano conducts with Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais, who caused a sensation as Madama Butterfly in 2011, in the title role. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Royal Ascot returns to the Berkshire racecourse where it has been a pretty much an annual fixture since 1711. With nearly £4 million in prize money at stake, this meeting attracts all the biggest names in the racing fraternity. And, of course, more than 300,000 visitors, all dressed in their finest attire. Ascot is as famous for its hats as it is for the racing, especially on 'Ladies Day'. Every year the ladies try to outdo each other with tremendous towering creations and outlandish designs. The gents usually go for a more understated look - with morning suits and top hats the norm. It's as much a giant outdoor party as a race meet: punters at the track will drink over 150,000 bottles of champagne, 14,000 bottles of Pimm's and, of course, will place untold millions in bets.
Renowned theatre company Cheek By Jowl performs Alfred Jarry's brutal French language satire about greed and the abuse of power in a 10-day run at the Barbican. Drawing on the plot-lines from Shakespearean drama and boasting a bigger body count than a Quentin Tarantino film, Ubu Roi tells the story of the grotesque Pere Ubu, who is egged on by his monstrous wife to murder the royal family of Poland and usurp the crown. There follows a reign of terror, the perversely evil yet comically absurd nature of which inspired riots on the play's premiere in Paris in 1896. Subsequently outlawed for its scandalous language (Ubu's first two lines are 'Merde' - the French word for shit), violence and disrespect for authority, Jarry's curious work inspired future absurdist playwrights such as Beckett and Ionesco, and is celebrated for its quality and impact despite its often nonsensical phrasing.
The first exhibition of this calibre in Britain to be arranged purely by pigment, Making Colour takes us on a journey through the history of colour. Sure to be a visually striking exhibition, paintings from the National Gallery's collection are arranged according to their colours, with each room dedicated to a particular colour including a room of silver and gold. The history of colour is tied in with the discovery and development of the raw materials used to create dye, so the exhibition charts the trade routes developed over 700 years from the early Renaissance to the Impressionist movement.
Direct your rumbling stomach to Regent's Park for five days of al fresco gluttony as over forty of London's best restaurants, including a flurry of Michelin stars, show off their culinary handiwork. Work your way through a range of miniature speciality dishes - bought with the event's currency, 'crowns' - hot off the plates from upmarket places like Scott's, L'Anima, Petrus, Launceston Place, Benares, Bocca Di Lupo and Barbecoa - to name but a bunch. Top chefs - including such luminaries as Ben Tish (Salt Yard), Mark Rosati (Shake Shack), Luke Robinson (Bonnie Gull), Adam Gray (Skylon), Robert Ortiz (LIMA), Ross Shonhan (Flesh & Buns), Mike Denman (Plum Spilt Milk), Jason Atherton (most recently adding City Social to his stable), Bruno Loubet (Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel, and Grain Store), Claude Bosi (owner of two Michelin starred Hibiscus in London) - also attend, while the civilised sounds of live jazz and opera will fill the air and aid digestion at this gourmet grazing picnic extraordinaire.
Having split back in 2007, hip hop band Jurassic 5 reformed in 2013, performing at Parklife Weekender and successfully selling out a tour. Now, the Los Angeles collective come to O2 Academy Brixton as part of their only UK headline tour in 2014.
The experiences of people who see the world in a radically different light are at the heart of The Valley of Astonishment, a brand new work by legendary director Peter Brook and his long-time collaborator Marie-Helene Estienne. The pair return to the Young Vic after their 2012 international hit 'The Suit' ("a little masterclass in theatre direction" The Telegraph), while William Nadylam and Jared McNeill - who both starred in 'The Suit' - return, appearing alongside Complicite colleagues Kathryn Hunter and Marcello Magni who both previously appeared at the Young Vic in 2008's 'Fragments'.
Shakespeare's Globe artistic director Dominic Dromgoole directs this new staging of Julius Caesar set in Rome with Renaissance costumes. The drama begins when the great general Caesar returns to Rome from the wars. Seeing that he has become a virtual dictator, Brutus and his republican friends decide he must be assassinated. Shakespeare's wartime drama reveals what happens when polar opposite politicians tussle for power and trusted friends seek vengeance for an untimely death.
The summer of 1814, following the exile of Napoleon to Elba, saw 'the English popping across the Channel like champagne corks released from a bottle, eager to visit a country that had been so long out of bounds,' as one author has put it. The Paris that confronted them was one of marked contrasts between the splendours of its architecture, the metropolitan pleasures that it offered and the destitution of many of its inhabitants caused by two army occupations. Sir John Soane was among this group of eager English visitors and was particularly impressed by Napoleon's architectural achievements. The summer of 1814 saw unprecedented celebrations being held across the United Kingdom as peace was declared between Britain and France and also between Britain and the USA. This exhibition, drawing upon Sir John Soanes Museum collections and an extensive private collection, will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Treaty focusing on this little-know celebration. It will look at the impact that Paris had on its British visitors during the heady summer of 1814 and how that influenced Sir John Soane.
The whole of Greenwich comes alive for the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, a nine-day free festival of street performances, art and dancing in the streets. The festival offers a free and inclusive programme of world class theatre and dance, family entertainment, two extraordinary spectacles and a Greenwich Fair. The GDIF is especially good at putting on outdoor dance spectaculars, something the festival's Artistic Director, Bradley Hemmings, appointed Co-Artistic Director (along with Jenny Sealey of the London based Graeae Theatre Company) showed to a worldwide audience at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. The festival always opens with an epic outdoor specatcular - last year it was Wired Aerial Theatre with As The World Tipped, performed on a 12 metre screen in the sky. The programme can be relied on for imaginative aerial acts, live music, and the UK's largest annual programme of outdoor dance.
Having relocated to Dublin in 2013, the Camden Crawl returns to its rightful home in 2014 with a fresh look, a new summer slot and a bit of rejuvenation. CC14 brings over 250 artists, DJs and fringe events to NW1 and NW5 on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st June for a live music marathon the week before Glastonbury. The festival always delivers with a cutting-edge list of up-and-coming local bands and established stars, and this year is no different with more than 250 live artists on the line-up. Venues such as Koko, Roundhouse, the Electric Ballroom and the Jazz Café will welcome the likes of ABC, Steve Mason, Mouse on Mars and Atari Teenage Riot to their stages. The events commence early evening and continue into the early hours of the morning, with DJ and Club events speckled throughout the programme. One wristband gains entry to all events (dependant on venue capacities) so expect to live up to the festival's name as you crawl home at sunrise.
West End LIVE 2014
Two days of free West End theatre in Trafalgar Square.
West End Live, two days of the finest entertainment the West End has to offer, all of it completely free, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2014. That's ten years of showcasing the best of London's West End theatre in Trafalgar Square for one weekend of free entertainment. Featuring live performances by the casts of top West End shows like Billy Elliot, The Bodyguard, Jersey Boys, The Sound of Music and Matilda The Musical, this is a glorious piece of free summer fun showcasing the amazing variety on the capital's West End stage.
Founded in 1962, the City of London Festival is a summer programme of music, visual arts, film, walks and talks. It takes place across several City of London venues, including St Paul's Cathedral, and outdoor spaces, and many of the events and activities are free (particularly if outdoor). While details of this year's event are yet to be confirmed, you can expect more than 100 events - last year brought The Blue Trees art installation to St Paul's and a performance of Britten's War Requiem by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Each year, a highlight of the festival is the children's parade which this year sees 1,500 children taking to the City's streets on Friday 27th June 2014.
Belgian choreographer and Sadler's Wells associate artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents four duets from his back catalogue as part of Sadler's Sampled. The third duet, Sin, grew out of Cherkaoui's 2010 piece Babel, choreographed in partnership with Damien Jalet. In addition to the duets is a showing of the dance film Valtari which he co-created with director Christian Larson for the Icelandic rock band Sigur Ros.
In 2013 Andy Murray finally put an end to Britain's 77-year wait for a Wimbledon winner so we can expect tickets to the famous tennis tournament to be in even greater demand this year. Wimbledon is the most watched tennis event in the Grand Slam calendar; with a TV audience of untold millions and over half a million spectators attending the All England Club to catch the action live. Many tennis pros covet the Wimbledon crown above all others and the grass surface makes for fast, breathless duels. Tickets can be applied for through the public ballot on the website, if however you're not lucky enough to get hold of one it is easy to get in to the grounds if you queue up in the morning. However, there are only 500 tickets for the centre courts available, so you have to turn up seriously early - or queue overnight - to be certain of getting to see the biggest matches. But in the first week the outer courts still have some of the world's greatest players and you can grab tickets for them if you arrive by about 9am.
The multi Olivier Award-winning 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' returns to the West End from 24th June playing at the Geilgud Theatre following a six month absence due to the ceiling collapse at the Apollo last December. The critically acclaimed adaptation by Simon Stephens of Mark Haddon's hugely popular novel swept the board at the 2013 Oliviers, winning seven of the eight awards for which it was nominated. Marianne Elliott won Best Director, rising star Luke Treadaway was give Best Actor for playing the lead role of Christopher, and Nicola Walker, winner of the Best Actress in a Supporting Role, plays his mother. The production was titled Best New Play, while Paule Constable won the award for the Best Lighting Design, Ian Dickinson for the Best Sound Design, and Bunny Christie and Finn Ross for the Best Set Design. Remaining true to the book, this adaptation is a murder mystery story told from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy with an autistic spectrum condition. Not suitable for under 13s. Book tickets for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Young designers gather in their thousands to showcase their fresh and innovative creations at the Business Design Centre for two weeks this summer. Acting as a springboard for young graduates exiting the safety of higher education the exhibition brings together designers from all ends of the spectrum. Everything from fashion to graphics, interiors to architecture is displayed as over 3,500 students represent over 200 top UK design courses. Shining a spotlight on the hottest trends to come and a glimpse into the future of British design, whether you work in the industry, love discovering new talent, or just enjoy a good browse New Designers is sure to have something that will catch your eye. New Designers Exhibition Part Two takes place a few days later: between Wednesday 2nd July and Saturday 5th July 2013.
A woman sits alone on a platform and through her mind drifts thoughts of her past loves, played out on a giant screen behind where scenes are acted out by the hands of an unseen performer. Kiss & Cry is a balletic piece which fuses physical theatre, cinema and model making with heartbreaking results. Devised by From prizewinning filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael and choreographer Michele Anne De Mey, and produced by Charleroi Danses, it forms part of the London International Mime Festival.
The Romanian singer Ruxandra Donose, who played a highly acclaimed Carmen with the English National Opera in 2012, returns to the Royal Opera House stage in 2014 in Ariadne auf Naxos. Christof Loy directs Strauss's opera set at a party held by the richest man in Vienna, where a tragic opera and a comedy are performed at the same time. British conductor and pianist, music director of the Royal Opera House since 2002, Sir Antonio Pappano, conducts.
This summer, the Royal Academy of Arts displays Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album in its Burlington Gardens space from 26th June, a collection of more than 400 photographs by the iconic actor and director who was also a keen artist with a particular interest in photography. The photos, largely taken between 1961 and 1967, were discovered after his death in 2010 and include portraits of actors and artists including Paul Newman and Robert Rauschenberg as well as Hopper's responses to important historic events and social change.
The Osmonds, David Essex, Showaddywaddy and Les Mckeown's Bay City Rollers all come together for Once In A Lifetime: The Final Tour. This unique arena tour, which comes to the O2 Arena for one night in June, sees the famous American stars perform hits from their enduring careers. Audiences can expect classics One Bad Apple, Love Me For A Reason and Long Haired Lover From Liverpool from The Osmonds; Gonna Make U A Star and Hold Me Close from David Essex; Under The Moon Of Love, 3 Steps To Heaven and Hey Rock & Roll from Showaddywaddy; and Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang and I Only Want To Be With You from the Bay City Rollers.
The annual BP Portrait Award, the world's most prestigious open competition for portrait painting, typically attracts over 2,000 international entries of which around 55 selected works feature in the free exhibition which returns to the National Portrait Gallery for three months this summer. Worth £30,000 to the winner, this competition is not just about money, it's also about prestige; many previous winners have gone on to gain important commissions. Craig Wylie, who won the award in 2008, is one recent example - he was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to create a portrait of Dame Kelly Holmes.
A squashed moon, translucent shell, or alien space pod? See what you think of Chilean architect Smiljan Radic's design for the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion when the temporary structure goes up on the Serpentine Gallery lawn this summer. His design, a translucent domed structure of white fibreglass, rests on a bed of huge rocks, giving the sensation that the entire shell is floating. The gallery's annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion project is always an interesting prospect, challenging a world-renowned architect to create a structure which temporarily occupies the lawn in front of the gallery and this year's commission will "attract the attention of passers-by, like lamps attracting moths", according to its architect. Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright pronounced it, "one of the strangest structures Kensington Gardens will have ever seen".
A record number of 1,500 children and young people from across London are taking part in this year's Children's Parade which travels in a noisy and colourful cavalcade from Guildhall Yard to the steps of St Paul's Cathedral as part of the City of London Festival. In 2014, classic children's stories provide the inspiration for colourful costumes and masks, with the parade finishing in a musical performance on the west steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
TED, a nonprofit organisation devoted to 'Ideas Worth Spreading', has expanded hugely since it started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago. In the spirit of the original TED talks, TEDx are locally organsied events with talks made available, for free, online at TED.com. On 27th June 2014, TEDxHousesOfParliament takes place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. The line up and ticket prices haven't yet been announced but you can expect a diverse mix of high calibre speakers along the lines of last year's themes of representation and democracy.
With the likes of Katie B covering her songs on BBC Radio 1, veteran singer Dolly Parton is still seen as relevant today. Part of her Blue Smoke world tour, the glamorous singer-songwriter will be bringing her country pop and bluegrass music to the O2 Arena for two nights in June. With a career spanning more than 45 years, Parton will have plenty of songs to choose from for these live shows but is highly likely to include favourites Jolene, 9 To 5 and Here You Come Again.
The Pride parade, the main event of the week-long Pride in London festival, regularly draws a crowd of 65,000 people to Trafalgar Square and many more to the streets of London as 150 groups parade from Oxford Street through Trafalgar Square. A celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, the colourful crowd marches proudly from Baker Street, along Oxford Street and Regent Street, ending in Trafalgar Square with a concert featuring chart acts, musicians, dancers, West End stars and other performers. The year's theme is 'freedom to...' in celebratation of the freedom that Londoners have fought for and enjoy today.
Love in all its guises is celebrated in the summer-long Festival of Love at the Southbank Centre. Different types of human love are explored, from the love of humanity to romantic, erotic love and the breakdown of relationships, to the love for close family and friends, through art, performances, poetry, music, and differently-themed weekends across the Southbank site culminating with a Big Wedding Weekend finale when all couples are invited to marry in mass ceremonies in the Royal Festival Hall. Launching with the Opening Weekend (Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June) there are workshops on flirting, talks on love, and a mass Big Sing. Over the summer the love-in continues with exhibitions on 'What Love Is' and 'The Human Factor' as well as screenings - David Lean's classic 'Brief Encounter' is set to live music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra headlining a film series of love stories in the Royal Festival Hall which includes Singalonga Grease and Singalonga Dirty Dancing.
Maureen Lipman stars alongside American actor and the voice of over 30 Simpsons characters, Harry Shearer, as a couple who share a love for ballroom dancing in Oliver Cotton's Daytona which transfers from the Park Theatre to Theatre Royal Haymarket from 28th June 2014. Elli (Lipman) and Joe (Shearer) are determined to win the next competition. Unexpectedly, Joe's brother (played by John Bowe) arrives after a 30-year absence and the husband and wife dance partners are forced into confronting a moral dilemma.
Principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 8, the mighty Symphony of a Thousand, bringing the orchestra's 2013/2014 season at the Southbank Centre to a close on Sunday 29th June. The concert at Royal Festival Hall includes the medieval Latin hymn Veni, creator spiritus ('Come Thou, infinite Creator') and the closing scene of Goethe's Faust, Mahler's Eighth Symphony - described by the great Austrian composer as his "gift to the nation".
Fusing cinema with live performances and opera, River of Fundament, a multi-dimensional experience from visionary artist Matthew Barney and his long-time collaborator, the composer Jonathan Bepler, gets its UK premiere at the London Coliseum on 29th June 2014. The contemporary opera is loosely based on Norman Mailer's 1983 novel, 'Ancient Evenings', which is set in pre-Christian Egypt, and elaborately chronicles the seven stages of the soul's departure. River of Fundament will combine the traditions of narrative cinema - starring Paul Giamatti, Elaine Stritch and Maggie Gyllenhaal - with elements of live performance, sculpture and opera.
The Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra with world-renowned jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis perform two nights at the Barbican. On 30th June they'll be joined by Pakistan's Sachal Jazz Ensemble who mix Eastern instruments such as sitar, sarod, tabla and dholak with jazz standards. The evening of 2nd July is a tribute to seminal jazz label Blue Note, celebrating the record company's 75th anniversary. For this, JLCO with Wynton Marsalis will be joined by UK guest soloists to perfom classics from the back catalogue.
A tale of a little girl and her ghost-elephant friend, The Elephantom by Ross Collins is a charming family tale. Transferring from the National Theatre's The Shed to the New London Theatre in the West End, the play focuses on a little girl who is at first delighted to have her larger-than-life friend living with her - he makes everything so much fun! However, it doesn't take long before she starts to realise that Elephantoms are simply too big for houses and he starts to get into all sorts of trouble. Through clever puppetry and theatrical ingenuity, Ben Power successfully adapts this story for the stage. The children's show runs in the daytime at the New London Theatre, home of War Horse, from 30th June until 6th September 2014. Suitable for children aged 3 and above.