L-R, Rebecca Trehearn (Donna, Oolie) and Rosalie Craig (Gabby, Bobbi) Donmar Warehouse Production. Photo: Johan Persson
Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton and Aubrey Beardsley are the subject of major exhibitions, musical comedy City of Angels is given a West End revival, and FutureFest questions what we have in store in the coming years. These are the best events in London in March 2020, handpicked by LondonTown.
The Royal Opera House celebrates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven with a new production of Fidelio, Beethoven's only opera. This operatic masterpiece, broadcast to cinemas live on 17th March 2020, is performed by a cast which includes operatic legend Jonas Kaufmann and rising star Lise Davidsen. A celebration of love and courage, Beethoven's opera tells the story of a woman who dresses as a male prison worker to rescue her husband who has been unjustly arrested. For tickets to this sold out production join the Friday Rush at 1pm each Friday when 49 new tickets are available to buy.
City workers can add a splash of colour to their day and throw paint at each other at the House of Holi which pops up outside Vivek Singh's modern Indian Cinnamon Kitchen restaurant in Devonshire Square from 2nd to 15th March 2020. Londoners are invited to loosen their ties, don a protective suit and pelt powdered paint at one another for 30 minutes. The pop-up comes courtesy of Cinnamon Kitchen which is celebrating the Holi Hindu festival with a special menu of street food style snacks from the pop up Chaat Counter and colourful cocktails. Padron pakora with coriander chutney, pink onion bhajis and Punjabi vegetable samosas are among the food options. Alternatively, on 5th March, join Vivek at a special supper club feast of ten traditional Holi dishes in the private dining room. A wonderful way to brighten your day, the Holi festival marks the arrival of spring and we can't think of a better way to celebrate the change of seasons and lighter evenings.
In its new major spring exhibition, Tate Britain presents the largest display of original drawings by Aubrey Beardsley in over 50 years. Despite tragically dying at the young age of just 25, Beardsley made a strong impact with his striking and shocking black and white images, with his illustrations of Oscar Wilde's controversial play, Salome, perhaps the most famous. Bringing together 200 spectacular works, the exhibition highlights each of the key commissions that defined Beardsley's prolific career including Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur 1893-4 and Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock 1896. His bold poster designs and his only oil painting also feature.
From their verdant green leaves that magically morph into brilliant orange, yellow and red to their majestic trunks that soar from the ground, no one can doubt the beauty and wonder of trees, and the Hayward Gallery explores how this beauty has inspired artists throughout the years with its spring exhibition, Among the Trees. Commencing with pioneering works from the late 1960s to the contemporary artists of our time, the exhibition will display paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture and video to delve into their complex character.
A major new exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum, Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth puts the spotlight on contemporary artists Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell, who have worked collaboratively since 1978. The exhibition showcases more than four decades of work by the duo with everything from film and video to sculpture and installation exploring views on architecture across the centuries. New works and borrowed pieces will be used to consider the relationship between architecture and human and social relationships.
Beijing-based artist Cao Fei presents her first large-scale solo show in the UK this March. Hosted by the Serpentine Gallery, Blueprints sees the multi-media artist and filmmaker present a diverse show of installation, film and brand-new virtual reality work, all of which illustrate her engagement with the rapid development of technology. New VR piece, The Eternal Wave, is a site-specific installation that examines the social history and urban transformation of Beijing's Jiuxianqiao ('Hong Xia') district, where Fei lives and works. Further works illustrate the merge of the physical and the virtual, including the utopian and dystopian potentials of our modern day cities and the escapism that technology provides.
At the intersection of design, contemporary art and research, Italian design duo Formafantasma examines the history and role of the timber industry. Cambio (from the Latin word for 'change' or 'exchange'), on display at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, is their ongoing investigation into the extraction, production and distribution of wood products. At the centre of the gallery, two rooms show interviews with specialists, and films made in response. The outer spaces of the gallery present wood samples from historical collections and modern day products while their investigation digs deep into the inner life of trees and designing a better future for our forests.
A hit for the Donmar in 2014 when it ran as the theatre's Christmas production, Cy Coleman and David Zippel's musical comedy, City Of Angels, is revived in the West End in 2020. Reprising their roles, The Light Princess actress Rosalie Craig, who so brilliantly played Bobbi in Company, stars opposite husband Hadley Fraser returning after his five star performance in Young Frankenstein. They're joined by Emmy and Grammy Award nominee Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) making her West End debut. The story introduces us to a New York novelist given the opportunity to adapt his detective character of his books into a big-screen hero. Set in the glamorous world of the film studios of Broadway in the 1940s, it chronicles the misadventures of Stine, a young novelist, attempting a screenplay for movie producer/director, Buddy Fidler. The "slick and svelte production" was given four stars by Michael Billington in The Guardian, who admired the "clever, split-level play... packed with jokes."
Jennifer Saunders plays the clairvoyant Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, directed by former National Theatre director Sir Richard Eyre. Written in 1941, Coward's witty comedy provided light relief at the height of World War II when it was first staged. In this new production, which played to sell out audiences at Theatre Royal Bath last summer, Jennifer is joined by original cast members Geoffrey Streatfeild who stars as novelist Charles, Lisa Dillon as his second wife Ruth Condomine and Emma Naomi as his first Elvira whose ghost is inadvertently summoned at a seance. When she appears, visible only to Charles, and determined to sabotage his current marriage, life gets more complicated. This is the third play from Jonathan Church's Summer Season to transfer to the West End following Arthur Miller's The Price and Switzerland at the Ambassadors. The new production tours the UK playing at Richmond Theatre from 17th until 22nd February before arriving in the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre in March for a five week run.
Following successful seasons in both Dublin and New York, Sebastian Barry's new play, On Blueberry Hill, receives a West End transfer in 2020 with a strictly limited run at the Trafalgar Studios. The critically acclaimed production comes from Olivier Award-winning theatre company Fishamble: The New Play Company, and sees Jim Culleton direct the work of Barry, who is regarded as one of Ireland's greatest living writers and is the current Laureate of Irish Fiction. Irish Times Theatre Award and Olivier Award winner Niall Buggy and Broadway star David Ganly both reprise their roles as Christy and PJ, a pair of friends and enemies who slowly reveal the events that have led to their explosive lives.
Following her unveiling on The Masked Singer, Denise Van Outen takes up residency at Proud Cabaret Embankment, staging Cabaret All Stars, a brand new Vegas style show starting from 5th March. The multi-talented TV and West End star, best known for presenting The Big Breakfast, has played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago both in the West End and on Broadway and was runner-up in Strictly Come Dancing. More recently, she was unmasked as Fox in the hit show Saturday night TV show. Now she hosts Proud's new spectacular cabaret, introducing drag and acrobatic acts including burlesque star Miss Betsy Rose, aerialist Katharine Arnold and Pi the Mime. Denise also takes to the stage herself, singing some of her favourite songs as well as ending the show with her grand finale. Opt for a show and dinner and you'll enjoy a cocktail and three-course meal while the show goes on. Drinks throughout the night include a prohibition-era inspired cocktail menu to match the glamorous Gatsby-esque venue.
Originally launched in London back in 2010, the Women of the World Festival (WOW) celebrates its 10th birthday this year with its biggest and bravest line-up to date. Now a global movement with events all around the world, the festival celebrates women and girls while also examining the day-to-day obstacles they face. This year the London festival, which returns to the Southbank Centre once again, presents three days of talks from world-class speakers including Caroline Criado Perez, Emma Dabiri, Shazia Mirza, Deborah Frances-White and Sandi Toksvig. Topics of conversation include domestic abuse, dad and daughter relationships, how to have feminist sex and what it means to be British today.
Cheeky and upbeat humour from the Mouth of the South, Rob Beckett embarks on a tour of the UK and Ireland, coming to Hammersmith's Eventim Apollo in March 2020. A regular on our TV screens, he's a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, presents Rob Beckett's Savage Socials on E4 - a fast-paced joyride through the latest memes, digital blunders and celebrity socials - hosts Head Hunters on BBC One as well as co-hosting the Royal Variety Performance, aired on ITV in December, with his pal Romesh Ranganathan. Named after a word he uses quite a lot, Wallop draws on Rob's large family - "everyone's my cousin in south-east London" - for material. Expect insights into being the second youngest of five brothers as well as his relationships with his in-laws and parents since becoming a dad himself.
A decade after their split, British rock band Supergrass are back to celebrate 25 years since the release of their debut album, I Should Coco. Having announced their comeback via a surprise gig at Glastonbury Pilton Party, the multi-award-winning four-piece are now embarking on a theatre tour of the UK, Europe and North America with the UK tour culminating with two huge gigs at Alexandra Palace in March. The audience can expect popular hits such as Alright and Moving as well as previously unheard material.
Marking 75 years since the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, The Seven Streams of the River Ota returns to London in 2020. As part of a world tour, the production will be given nine performances at the National Theatre, where it was originally staged back in 1996. The theatrical masterpiece by Robert Lepage traces the survivors of the bombing and their descendants across five decades, travelling through time and space in a demonstration of how just a few grams of uranium impacted so many people's lives and changed the course of human history forever. The epic tale is told over seven hours with two 45 minute intervals.
The final ever performances of Richard Alston Dance Company, from "The finest contemporary choreographer this nation has ever produced" (Daily Telegraph) are staged at Sadler's Wells on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March 2020. It's not the last we've heard from Alston, knighted for his services to dance earlier this year; the 70 year-old choreographer who has been at The Place for almost fifty years is not ready to retire just yet. For the climax of the Final Edition Tour, the award-winning company performs Voices And Light Footsteps inspired by Monteverdi madrigals and sinfonias, duet Mazur set to Chopin and Martin Lawrance's A Far Cry choreographed to Elgar's Introduction and Allegro. Shine On , his last work for his company, is danced to Britten's settings of WH Auden's On This Island, with poems performed live by soprano Katherine McIndoe backed by pianist Jason Ridgway.
Emilia Clarke from Game Of Thrones makes her West End debut as Nina in Anya Reiss's modern update of Anton Chekhov's drama of overlapping love triangles. Reiss, whose "great skill is her ear for the mumbled inarticulacy of sullen teenagers" (The Guardian), updates The Seagull, relocating the action to modern-day Isle of Man. It's part of Jamie Lloyd Company's starry season at the Playhouse theatre, which opened with a new version of Cyrano de Bergerac featuring James McAvoy. The season closes with A Doll's House adapted by Frank McGuinness, in which Jessica Chastain - best known for her performances in Zero Dark Thirty, The Help and Interstellar - makes her West End debut.
In spring 2020 Tate Modern stages its first major exhibition on Andy Warhol for close to 20 years. A shy, gay man from a religious, migrant, low income household, he became the epitome of the pop art movement and an American icon. Drawing on recent scholarship and displaying over 100 works, Tate Modern offers a rare personal insight into how Warhol and his work marked a period of cultural transformation. At the exhibition you'll see a recreation of the psychedelic Exploding Plastic Inevitable, with lighting and film projections that turned the Velvet Underground rock shows into an event-spectacular, and experience Warhol's floating Silver Clouds, a playful, interactive installation filled with silver helium balloons. Warhol's final works of the '80s, including the monumental memento mori, Sixty Last Suppers, created a year before his death in 1987, are presented in relation to the artist's untimely passing at the age of 58.
From fashion shoots for Vogue and redefining portraits of the Royal Family to compassionate documentation of the Second World War and dazzling shots of the golden age of Hollywood, Cecil Beaton had an illustrious, wide-ranging photography career and this spring the National Portrait Gallery will be putting his works in the spotlight once again with its new exhibition, Cecil Beaton's Bright Young Things. Putting rarely exhibited prints by the renowned photographer on display, the exhibition will explore the glamorous world of the 'Bright Young Things' of the twenties and thirties featuring the likes of socialite Edwina Mountbatten, composer William Walton and costume designer Oliver Messel. A celebrity in his own right, Beaton's own life will also be touched upon through self-portraits and third-party captures.
Whether you're looking for a picture to match your new curtains or to discover the works of a creative genius on the way up, then this is the place for you. Taking place in Battersea in March and October and on Hampstead Heath in April, the Affordable Art Fair offers original art from £50 to £6,000. Attended by around 22,000 people each time, the shows include photography, original prints and sculptures from over 100 British and international galleries. New for 2020 is 'Access', an eclectic mix of art with a focus on affordable prints - perfect for your first ever piece of art work or giving your home a spring revamp. It runs alongside the fair's regular line-up of more than 100 British and international galleries gathered under one roof.
The award-winning comedian and host of podcast, Hip Hop Saved My Life, best known for his TV series The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan, presents his brand new stand up show filled with brutal honesty about things that he has found unacceptable since his last tour. A show divided into two distinct parts, The Cynic's Mixtape firstly looks at issues like the environment, a bit about "the Liam Neeson thing", and how people respond on social media to the deaths of celebrities "which is something I find quite weird" says Romesh. In part two, the focus is on more personal material, marital and family relationships and that time in a marriage when you're set in your ways.
The biggest St Patrick's Festival in London brings a colourful (mainly green) parade to the streets of London and sees a free stage show staged in Trafalgar Square. The procession of Irish marching bands, energetic dance troupes and spectacular pageantry attracts a crowd of more than 75,000 people. The parade makes its way from Hyde Park Corner via Piccadilly and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square where performers present a showcase of Irish culture and music on the main stage. Expect to be entertained by local groups performing Irish music, song and dance. Games, arts and crafts and walkabout performances based on mythical stories from Ireland make this a family friendly day. Sample traditional dishes at the Irish Street Food Market, learn about the Irish language, join in at an Irish dancing workshops and have-a-go at hurling, playing the bodhran, the Irish drum or the uilleann pipes.
Music Theatre Wales' production, Denis & Katya, written and directed by Ted Huffman, with music by Philip Venables - the duo behind the multi-award-winning 4.48 Psychosis - explores the real-life tragedy of two Russian runaways who lived their relationship online. The award winning opera is based on the true story of the two 15-year-olds, Denis Muravyov and Katya Vlasova, who in 2016 livestreamed their own demise. Neither Denis nor Katya is portrayed, "instead events are plotted by two protagonists playing the roles of journalist, friend, neighbour, teenager, teacher and medic" said The Guardian in its four star review.
Returning for its fifth year, The London Artisan brings together a line-up of contemporary designers at the Old Truman Brewery this spring. With free entry, it offers a diverse and quality shopping experience that puts the focus on independent producers and makers, and the spring fair is perfectly timed for buying unique handmade Mother's Day gifts. Browse jewellery, ceramics, glassware, textiles, homewares, graphic design and children's products, and meet the designers who are behind the unique products. A sociable shopping experience a world away from the 'click and collect' culture.
Making a welcome return in 2020, the first Midcentury Modern of the year brings 85 midcentury dealers and contemporary designers to Dulwich College. Run in association with Elle Decoration and described as "design heaven" by Orla Kiely, it has everything from original chairs to contemporary pieces by hot young British designers. In the upstairs gallery and mezzanine overlooking the great hall you'll find newbies Nick Hammond, Elsiem, Anja Capuzzimati, Lelong Designs and Bronwen Gwillim. Hopesprings Chairs has a new take on the classic Windsor, Richard Mason Arts showcases mobiles created from wood and metal while Florence Broadhurst brings beautiful wallpaper, lamps and cushions. The one-day show is at the historic Dulwich College, five minutes' walk from West Dulwich Railway Station. If you're visiting the area leave time to visit local attractions including the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
With landmark loans from the likes of the Wallace Collection along with six paintings jointly owned by the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland, Titian: Love, Desire, Death will bring together Titian's large-scale mythological paintings, which form the 'poesie', for the first time since the late 16th century. Painted between 1551 and 1561, the 'poesie' are among the most original visual interpretations of Classical myth and the early modern era with all of the paintings revolving around love and desire and their fruit and perils. Through Titian's masterful use of paint and colour, he beautifully captures the flesh, fabrics, water and reflection to create enchanting and engaging landscapes. The Wallace Collection will lend Perseus and Andromeda while The National Gallery's Death of Actaeon, which was originally created as part of the series but never delivered, will also feature.
The debut play of writer and comedian Francesca Martinez, All of Us explores the daily obstacles that those who don't fit in to society have to face in times of austerity. With a job she loves and great friends, Jess is very happy with her lot. But when the good life that she has built for herself comes under threat, she decides to fight back. The new play comes to the National's Dorfman Theatre with direction from Ian Rickson.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus uncertainty, this event has been cancelled. Featuring a special exhibition by comedian and artist Noel Fielding, The Other Art Fair showcases art work by more than 140 painters, sculptors and illustrators at the Old Truman Brewery. Presented by Saatchi Art, the art fair offers free guided tours to give you some direction about what art to buy. The diverse line-up of international artists includes advertising boss turned artist Dave Buonaguidi whose much loved Make Tea Not War poster sits in the V&A Collection; winner of Landscape Artist of the Year, Fujiko Rose; and Taiwanese artist Yimiao Shih, known for Rabbrexit, her ongoing embroidered satire on Brexit. Further highlight artists include Ben Wakeling, founder of Outsider Gallery, London's first mental health art gallery, stitched artworks by model and artist Kesewa Aboah, and the Great Trees of London by artist Luke Adam Hawker who has made it his mission to draw each and every one of the 54 designated trees.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus uncertainty, this event has been postponed. Exploring what the future could have in store, FutureFest returns to Tobacco Dock in 2019 for a day of immersive experiences, cutting-edge shows, technology displays, and radical talks in order to answer questions like how the planet can sustain us and what Alexa will do with our biggest secrets. Writer and TV presenter Richard Ayoade, author and activist Elif Shafak, MP and campaigner David Lammy, and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion Gail Bradbrook are among the speakers while another highlight is Osmo, providing the chance to escape from the world and gaze up at an undisturbed night sky.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus uncertainty, this event has been cancelled. Featuring 90 leading makers from around the world, Ceramic Art London offers a rare chance to buy unique pieces from the artists themselves. In 2020 there are 20 additional stands, 34 first-time exhibitors, new exhibition space showing different areas of ceramic practice and live demonstrations running throughout the weekend. Prices range from 20 to several thousand pounds for pieces by Irina Razumovskaya, whose textural sculptures create the illusion of peeling bark, Hassakorn Hirunsirichoke with his intricate miniature forms and Toni Losey whose work embraces both the functional and sculptural. There are talks by ceramicist Magdalene Odundo OBE and Sue Pryke who, as well as being a designer for IKEA, was recently announced as a judge on the next series of The Great Pottery Throw Down airing on Channel 4. Botanical and natural elements make their mark at the fair at Central Saint Martins with Barbara Hast's plant-inspired porcelain and Zoe Whiteside's white stoneware polar bears.
London Dog Week may have been postponed by the team behind it is launching an uplifting online interactive event series called PAWISITIVITY. Check out their website for more details. Cuddle up with your favourite canine at special 'Pup-Up Shops' and 'Cuddle Clubs' popping up across the capital as part of London Dog Week. The citywide dog friendly week includes a family friendly Dog Parade at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Superpaw Model Fashion Brunch at the Serpentine and London's first 'Peta Gala' - the Met Gala but with dogs. And there's a prize for the best dressed. Go to a Late Night Hounds music night for dogs at MAMA Shelter in Hackney - where noise levels are perfectly pitched for your pooch - to support the initiative which raises awareness of how dogs can help with wellbeing. Funds raised from all the events, including dog friendly street food pop-ups, go to Hearing Dogs, the charity supporting the welfare of dogs. If you're looking for somewhere to stay overnight, you and your furry friend will get a warm welcome at these Pet Friendly Hotels.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, this event has been cancelled. In celebration of the multi-award-winning company's 20th year, BalletBoyz presents Deluxe, a brand-new dance show that incorporates original music with the company's signature and unmistakeable dance style. Shanghai-based dancer and choreographer Xie Xin makes her UK debut with a new piece for the production that will be set to an original score by composer Jiang Shafeng. Punchdrunk choreographer is another revered name involved, presenting a work to live jazz music by Mercury Prize-nominated composer Cassie Kinoshi while BalletBoyz dancers include Joseph Barton, Harry Price and Liam Riddick. The show will be performed across three dates at Sadler's Wells as part of a UK-wide tour.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall has been postponed. The annual series of concerts returns to the Royal Albert Hall this spring with four wondrous nights of music. This year marks the event's 20th edition with a headline performance from renowned electronic duo Groove Armada. Stereophonics kick off the proceedings along with special guest Paul Weller, who will present a special acoustic performance, while other acts on the line-up include Manchester-based Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and funk aficionados Nile Rodgers & Chic. With some of the biggest names in entertainment performing as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust over the years, the series has now raised more than £30 million for specialist nurses, hospital wards and support teams.
London born artist Heather Philipson puts an ice cream with a cherry on top on The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. This is no end-of-the-pier display. Two flies buzz around the giant ice cream cone but, on closer inspection, one is a drone, both are parasites. The fly, used to represent the fleeting nature of life throughout art history, becomes the fly on the wall or the fly in the ointment in this setting. With the ice cream melting down the plinth itself, the unstable installation becomes a monument to impending collapse.
The Barbican Centre presents the first-ever UK exhibition by Nigerian-American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola with a new site-specific installation created for The Curve. Encompassing the 90-metre long gallery, the epic new commission presents a series of pastel and charcoal drawings accompanied by an immersive soundscape by artist Peter Adjaye. Known for creating extensive imaginary narratives that take months to create, Odutola explores an imagined ancient myth for this new commission.
Following glowing reviews for its debut production, The Rake's Progress in 2017, OperaGlass Works returns to Wilton's Music Hall with its second opera, Benjamin Britten's haunting thriller The Turn of the Screw. Staged by the same production team, the new production focuses on the enchanting classic ghost story element of the opera. Conducted by John Wilson with his own hand-picked orchestra, The Turn of the Screw is directed by Selina Cadell, designed by Tom Piper, and with costumes by BAFTA Award winner, Rosalind Ebutt. Singing the leading role of Quint is Robert Murray, who sang the role of Tom Rakewell in OperaGlass Works' acclaimed debut.
A new art fair inspired by the joy of plants comes to the Garden Museum this spring. Running for two days at the end of March, Super Nature will present a curated selection of 25 artist exhibitors, all of whom create pieces that celebrate the joy that plants, flowers and gardens can bring. Covering everything from oil paintings to photography and collages to print-making, all of the works will be available to purchase for less than £500. Additionally, the fair will present a line-up of workshops covering flower pressing, botanical sketching and abstract floral painting.
Hot on the heels of the Gauguin Portraits exhibition at the National Gallery, the French artist is the headline act of a group show at the Royal Academy of Arts in the spring. For Gauguin and the Impressionists he's joined by fellow nineteenth century artists who drew 'en plein air' as The Ordrupgaard Collection in Denmark lends 60 of its works to the London gallery. Manet, Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, Morisot and Degas are among the well known artists on display at the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, showing many works which have never been seen in the UK. Artists associated with the Barbizon School such as Dupre and Daubigny are also part of the exhibition which closes with a career spanning series of Gauguin's works.
Classical music and nature on the big screen, a combination that will get you racing to The O2 faster than a baby iguana escaping the clutches of a deadly racer snake. Planet Earth II Live in Concert comes hot off the heels of the successful Blue Planet II Live in Concert and will see the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Freeman, play the show's remarkable music by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and his composers, Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe, all while spectacular scenes from the show are played on a gigantic LED screen. Zimmer is renowned for his work on the likes of Gladiator, Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049, but the landmark BBC series has a special place in his heart: "Filmmaking at its absolute peak." Audiences will be able to see acrobatic primate cousins in the steaming jungles of Madagascar, hunting lions in the remote sandy deserts of Namibia and a family of penguins in the stormy Antarctic seas.
One of London's oldest sporting events, first raced in 1829, The Boat Race sees England's two elite universities take to the water in a nail-biting 4.2 mile rowing race between Putney Bridge and Mortlake Bridge in southwest London. Thousands of fans line the Thames each year to see Oxford battle against Cambridge. For spectators, there's a great view - and some great pubs - around Furnivall Gardens on the north side of the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge. Head to Putney Bridge, where big screens are put up on both banks, to watch the start of the race. At Bishop's Park behind the South Stand of Fulham football ground Craven Cottage, you'll find food stalls, family attractions and a large beer tent, while the banks of the river around Barnes are another popular spot. The warm-up starts with the reserve crew race between Isis and Goldie held before the main event but the build-up at the river bank starts well before, from 12noon at Bishop's Park and Furnivall Gardens.
Launched in 2018, the London Landmarks Half Marathon is one of the capital's newest sporting events and the only half marathon with a route through Westminster and the City. Around 14,000 runners will make their way through London's most famous streets, which will be closed for the occasion, passing both well-known and hidden, quirky landmarks along the way. Starting on Pall Mall, runners can enjoy fabulous views of London landmarks including Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, Nelson's Column, the Gherkin, the Shard, the Tower of London and the London Eye on the closed road route before finishing by Downing Street.
An energetic retelling of Hamlet for eight to 12 year olds, this hour-long introduction to the world of Shakespeare arrives at the National's Dorfman Theatre from 30th March. Adapted by Jude Christian (othellomacbeth, Cinderella) and directed by Tinuke Craig (The Colour Purple, Vassa), this production recreates the well known tragedy in a version that's welcoming, inclusive, exciting and fun for young audiences. It opens at the National Theatre following a six-week tour, reaching over 6,000 pupils at state primary and secondary schools across London.
The Original Theatre Company's new thriller The Croft is given its world premiere in 2020 with a UK tour, stopping by the Richmond Theatre in March. Set in the remote Scottish Highlands in the village of Coillie Gille, the play follows three women from different eras whose lives are intertwined with the croft's dark history. Audiences will travel from the 1880s through 2005 and onto present day on a haunting journey of love and ancient tales. Drew Cain, Simon Roberts and Gwen Taylor are among the cast.