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Art Art and Art Art and Science and and Science Science Science on the onon on the Brain the the Brain Brain Brain Mar–Apr Mar–Apr Mar–Apr Mar–Apr A season A season AAtoseason season light to light up to tothe light light upmind the up upmind the the withmind mind film, withwith with film,film, film, theatre, theatre, music, theatre, theatre, music, talks music, music, talks andtalks talks participation andand and participation participation participation barbican.org.uk/wonder barbican.org.uk/wonder barbican.org.uk/wonder barbican.org.uk/wonder #wonderseason #wonderseason #wonderseason #wonderseason
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8 Do something different today Bored of the same old sites and activities? Then pick one of our helpful tips, and do something that you’ve never done before
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6 Talent Scout DJ and producer Matthew Benjamin, aka Bushwacka, tells us about his favourite London haunts
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The artful drawer A new exhibition of works based on police photos of Victorian criminals shows the real-life rogues who knew how to pick a pocket or two
# love
jerk vision of Victorian London is of a pretty nasty, nefarious place. The same might be true for German artist MAST (not an acronym, just his wacky artist moniker, ja). The Camberwell College of Art graduate has created a collection of work based on Victorian police photos of thieves and prostitutes, taken after their arrests – an interpretive approach to the traditional mugshot, if you will. The painted and screen-printed
Date Night
portraits will go on display at The Book Club in Shoreditch this week, creating the venue’s very own version of a Victorian ‘rogues gallery’. It’s unlikely to stop us thinking of Victorian London as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, but so be it. After all, everyone loves a baddie. Mast: Identity in Transit, The Book Club, February 21-May 5, wearetbc.com
The one with lots of petting... VENUE Harrods pet store PRICE FREE PERFECT FOR A fifth date when you’re running out of ideas You’ve been out a fair few times and – quelle horreur! – they now want to see you in daylight. Daytime dates can be tricky: what do you do for all that time? There’s only so much coffee you can drink and it’s still pretty cold outside. So take your lover to the Harrods pet shop to look at the cute little animals. We have it on good authority that if you pretend you want to buy one you’ll even be allowed to pet a pedigree pup or two. When security start
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eyeing you suspiciously (no one wearing £30 shoes can afford a £3k dog) wander round the outlandish pet accessories or celeb spot around the pet spa – yes, the pet spa. harrods.com
FACT TO ENTERTAIN
Harrods used to sell lion cubs. It’s true. Google ‘Christian the lion’ on your phone to prove it.
IT’S GOING WELL ...
You’re only a 15 minute walk from the museums, so more free fun.
YOU NEED TO ESCAPE
Shoplift. Or at least pretend to, by measuring puppies against your beau’s bag.
Rosanne Olson, GETTY
M
aybe it’s just us, but whenever we think of the Victorian era, it’s always the seedy underbelly that first comes to mind. We’ve probably got Dickens to thank for much of that – for characters like Bill Sykes, Fagin and the Artful Dodger. But then there are also the real-life references: Jack the Ripper, his hapless victims and the miserable, crime-ridden world they inhabited. Either way, our knee-
06: The Last Tuesday
Society Curiosity Musuem articulated skeletons. Just £2 will get you entry to the museum, and the shop you can, of course, browse for free (look out for the objects belonging to late artist Sebastian Horsley and the mummified taxidermy). They also play host to a series of lectures and events that are listed on their website. Only miss if you’re faint-hearted.
If you’re into the macabre, look no further than The Last Tuesday Society’s Mare Street shop/museum/ gallery. Inspired by Victorian curiosity cabinets, the building is packed to the rafters with every kind of fascinating knickknack you could ever imagine. Some of the delights on display and for sale include 19th century shrunken heads, taxidermy, narwhal tusks, mildreds.co.uk carnivorous plants and
thelasttuesdaysociety.org
Send us your favourite spots of inspiration by email, Twitter or Facebook. You might end up in Scouted.
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Lovebox
O2 Academy Brixton October 17 o2academybrixton.co.uk
Shrek Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Closes Sun Feb 24
Family Matters: The Family in British Art Tate Britain Closes Sun Feb 24
Tango Fire: Flames of Desire Peacock Theatre Closes Sun Feb 24
The Effect National Theatre Closes Sat Feb 23
Di and Viv and Rose Hampstead Theatre Closes Sat Feb 23
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Victoria Park July 19-21 lovebox.net
Death: A SelfPortrait The Wellcome Collection Closes Sun Feb 24
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Feast Young Vic Closes Sat Feb 23
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The O2 & Wembley Arena December 20&21 seetickets.com
The Cripple of Inishmaan Noël Coward Theatre June 8-August 31 michaelgrandagecompany.com
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Future Cinema have recreated Rick’s Café at The Troxy in Limehouse for immersive screenings of classic Casablanca.
Much loved hipster hangout Efes Snooker Club in Dalston looks set to lose its alcohol licence. It has until February 26 to appeal.
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Lift Soho Theatre Closes Sun Feb 24 Hartnell to Amies: Couture by Royal Appointment Fashion and Textile Museum Closes Sat Feb 23
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Matthew Benjamin DJ and producer Matthew Benjamin is one half of seminal house music DJ and production duo Layo and Bushwacka. Along with Layo Paskin, Benjamin has been at the forefront of the dance scene since the mid 90s, having started out as a DJ at Paskin’s legendary nightclub, The End. The duo have since put out six albums and DJed to thousands all over the world. Let’s go for a drink – Scout’s buying. Where shall we go? The Churchill Arms, on Kensington Church Street in Notting Hill. It’s got all the trimmings of a proper old style English pub – really old school. But it also has a great Thai restaurant surrounded by beautiful plants. Sounds perfect. Now how about a bit to eat? That’s a hard question, as there are so many amazing places to eat in London, but my most consistent has to be E&O, on the corner of Blenheim Crescent and Kensington Park Road
Scout London Cover Stars 0028 David Heulun, 34, Artist and illustrator, Walthamstow
What in London inspires you? Its museums. From the big ones like the V&A and the British Museum to the smaller, odder ones like The Grant Museum and the Horniman Museum, they are all treasure troves of inspiration.
place out. It’s like stepping into a punk rock episode of True Blood. It’s hidden away down an alley of old warehouses and the folk there put on some mind boggling events and performances. They even do Mexican ‘Lucha Libre’ wrestling classes!
Any London secrets to share? I’ve taken part in couple of great art shows at the Resistance Gallery, Bethnal Green, and would recommend everyone checks this
Favourite part of London? Walthamstow is my favourite place I’ve lived in London. William Morris is a big hero of mine and it still feels like ‘proper London’.
in Ladbroke Grove. Modern Asian fusion food, a great bar, cool people, great service and atmosphere. I’ve eaten there hundreds of times! What’s a great cultural experience you’ve had recently? Well I feel blessed to live in Ladbroke Grove, and every Saturday that I’m in town I amble down Portobello Road market and am constantly amazed by how cosmopolitan and multi cultural my area is. There are people there from all over the planet, every colour, social class and background all mixed together and I love that. What’s your favourite London club? I have two. Jaded at Cable is the best after-hours event, with its amazing sound system, and our residency at Egg club – five rooms of madness from 10pm till midday Sunday. Both very different and both very special. Layo & Bushwacka, February 23, Egg London, egglondon.net
How important is London in your work? I think the city’s melting pot of influences comes through in my work. Strolling around London is my main way of developing new ideas. What’s next for you? I’m in the middle of making my first music video for Ginger Wildheart and his latest Pledge Music campaign. See more at: heulun.com
Hey there, are you a talented creative? Fancy decorating the Scout London logo that appears on our cover each week? We welcome London-based artists, designers, illustrators, photographers. Get in touch: talent@scoutlondon.com 6
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Things to do in London that you never thought of Doing By Lucy Peden
L
ondon has a lot to offer, and some of its experiences are truly legendary. Unfortunately, this can also make them busy, expensive and occasionally even boring – it’s hard to feel you’re really discovering something when you’re one of the thousands schlepping through the door every day. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are a variety of novel ways to experience the big attractions that you might never have even considered. More excitingly, there are also gazillions of cool, quirky and generally brilliant things to do that aren’t so well known. Here are a few of our favourite off-the-wall, belowthe-radar experiences, that should surprise visitors and residents alike.
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Spend a night at the museum
Chill out in the middle of the shops
We all want to be Ben Stiller, but if your Blue Steel isn’t quite up to scratch, you might fancy aping his turn in Night at the Museum instead. The Science Museum was the first London museum to bring its exhibits to life after-hours. Which isn’t as scary as it sounds – it does it with workshops and film screenings, rather than by using reanimated historical figures to chase visitors around. Alternatively, you can take your sleeping bag to the National History Museum, the British Museum, or wake up at London Zoo in time for breakfast with the zebras. Prices vary. Check the museum sites for details. Brit hit Les Miserables was filmed in Greenwich
Re-enact your favourite movie scene
Dress like a popstar Lily Allen’s vintage shop
Try on Lily Allen’'s cast offs
The Circus SPACE / MOVIESTORECOLLECTION.COM
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It might not rival New York, but London is still littered with iconic movie locations. From cult hits such as The Italian Job to Bond and Potter-scale blockbusters, via quintessentially British romcoms like Notting Hill and Bridget Jones, the city is a movie lover’s playground. So look up the locations of your favourite flick and start re-creating those iconic scenes. You might want to transform into a werewolf in Earl’s Court (An American Werewolf in London), walk like a zombie around Crouch End (Sean of the Dead), get impaled by a falling lightening rod in Fulham (The Omen), not notice that it’s raining in Highbury Fields (Four Weddings and a Funeral), or build a barricade in an effort to overthrow the French monarchy in Greenwich (Les Miserables). There are lots of websites that show London film locations. We recommend movie-locations.com
Londoners were among the first to figure out that wearing old clothes is pretty fashion-forward, and it stands to reason that the old clothes of a celebrity style icon is about as chic as it gets. Lily Allen runs Soho boutique Lucy In Disguise with her sister, Sarah Owen, and the shop is stocked with vintage designer finds from all over the country, as well as some hand-me-down garments from Lily’s very own wardrobe. If you’re on a budget, you can still enjoy a one night stand with the high-ticket items, which are often available to rent. lucyindisguiselondon.com
Whether you’re a resident or a visitor, the pace of the city can get pretty intense, and when you’re right in the throng of the West End, you’d think it impossible to find any meaningful solace away from the hustle and bustle. But there is a respite. In Covent Garden, on the first Sunday of every month, you can slip away to the morning Peace Mediation session at Neal’s Yard. It’s free, and everyone is welcome, so if you’ve never meditated before, but fancy giving it a go, it’s the perfect place to get started. And then it’s back to the shops, for some of the calmest consumerism you’ve ever experienced. www.peacemeditation.org.uk
Try and spot a ghost at London's most haunted residence Number 50 Berkeley Square in Mayfair is renowned as the city’s ‘most haunted’ residence. Since 1937 it has been occupied by book dealers Maggs Bros, but its history is drenched in sinister stories, most of which date from the Victorian era and almost all of which centre on the spooky attic space. Legend has it that one man who dared to brave a night in the attic was even scared to death! The bookshop is unlikely to take kindly to you trying to sneak upstairs. But passersby have been known to see ghostly apparitions and unexplained lights coming from the upstairs windows after nightfall.
Ghost hunt The famously haunted 50 Berkeley Square
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Hoop dreams Circus classes at The Circus Space
Run away to join the circus If you’re bored of yoga, it could be because the big top is beckoning! There aren’t many work outs that take place at the end of a trapeze, but you can exercise while flying through the air at The Circus Space in Hoxton. Circus professionals train at the space full-time, and the instructors who guide you through the basics are highly qualified, so there will be no clowning around – just a little juggling. The taster days allow you to try a range of circus skills, and if you discover an aptitude for acrobatics, you can sign up for a regular evening course. thecircusspace.co.uk
Film has changed dramatically over the last 100 years, and the Phoenix cinema in East Finchley has seen – and shown – every new development along the way. It opened in 1910, became one of the first London cinemas to screen talking pictures, was saved from demolition in 1985, and is now owned and operated completely independently by The Phoenix Cinema Trust. But being an indie doesn’t stop it from doing things on a grand scale. As well as showing the most recent releases, you can catch live opera screenings, mini festivals, film classics and appearances from some of the most exciting names in cinema. More importantly, the interior has been beautifully preserved, so your journey out to East Finchley won’t feel nearly as far as your journey back through the decades of cinema history. phoenixcinema.co.uk Movie memories The historic Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley
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Tread the boards of British theatre history The National Theatre is one of the few venues where everything from prop making to rehearsals is done on site. The theatre’s fascinating backstage tours take audiences out of the auditoriums and into the bustling backstage areas, where the magic of shows such as War Horse and One Man, Two Guvnors was first born. Some of the biggest names in theatre and film have appeared at the NT, so whether you’re a connoisseur of serious drama or a glutton for celeb anecdotes, the tour’s sure to have something to tickle your fancy. You can even try on costumes from past productions. Mr Toad’s Wind In The Willows outfit is a big hit with younger visitors. £8.50, nationaltheatre.org.uk Where the magic really happens The backstage tour at the National Theatre
The Circus SPACE / SIMON ANNAND
Take a trip down cinema'’s memory lane
have a Drink with a detective
Full of mystery Evans & Peel Detective Agency bar
Go for an outdoor dip in the middle of the West End London has its fair share of outdoor swimming options, but even the bravest, hardiest souls aren’t likely to dip a toe into the Hampstead ponds in the winter months. The London Fields lido is heated all-year round, but there’s also a far more central option that’s arguably less well-known and just happens to be right next to some of the smartest shops and restaurants in town. The Oasis Sports Centre on Endell Street in Covent Garden has a 27.5m heated pool, is open to anyone and costs around £4 per swim until 9pm every day. better.org.uk/leisure/ oasis-sports-centre
If you’re dealing with a lost love, a lost dog or even a lost Oystercard, London’s finest private dicks might be able to help. Raymond Chandler himself would struggle to maintain his sense of weary ennui at Evans & Peel, a detective agency-styled bar in Earls Court, which matches strong, smart cocktails with a strong, smartly-executed theme. Unlike a lot of London’s other ‘secret’ bars, the staff are keen to let you in on the joke, and if you feel cynical when you arrive, you won’t by the time you’ve tried a Sazerac and discovered the secret book case. A great place to impress a date. evansandpeel.com
Embrace the pantomime of politics Let’s admit it – wherever your personal sympathies lie, politics involves few heroes, many villains and quite a lot of people who look like the back end of the horse. But watching the spectacle unfold can be lots of fun, especially if you do it with like-minded people. Every month, Hackney Picturehouse hosts the Question Time Tweetalong, with appearances from political speakers and comedians. Drinks are available so that audiences can take part in the #BBCQT drinking game, and you’re encouraged to get up and ‘Dimbledance’ to the Question Time Theme. £5, picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/ Hackney_Picturehouse
Over-stuffed The rather bloated Horniman walrus
Learn how not to stuff a walrus Usually, when you go to a museum you expect watertight facts. They’re supposed to be monuments to human discovery and celebrations of unimpeachable knowledge. But that’s what makes Forest Hill’s wonderful Horniman Museum all the more interesting and endearing: its best-known exhibit is based on a mistake. The Horniman walrus was brought to London in 1886, when few people had ever seen a walrus in the wild. The taxidermist tasked with preparing it for display didn’t know that walruses have multiple folds of skin, so stuffed it full to bursting. A mistake it might be, but it’s one of our favourite exhibits in the whole city. horniman.ac.uk
Political chatter Hackney Picturehouse hosts popular Question Time Tweetalong events
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Fiery fun Learn to blow glass at the London Glassblowing Studio
Make your own juice glass You know what they say – teach a man to fish and he will never go hungry. And teach a man to make something to drink out of, and he’ll never drink orange juice from the carton again! Well, something like that. The London Glassblowing Studio on Bermondsey Street, near London Bridge, offers popular introductory courses in making your own glass pieces under the instruction of a qualified glassmaker. Most students produce five or six pieces over the course of a day’s class, with glasses, bowls and paperweights among the favourite fruits of a beginner’s labour. £350, londonglassblowing.co.uk
Eat a designer handbag Whether you’re a Fendi fiend or you think that Mulberrys are things that grow on bushes, you’ll probably find something to love about the Berkeley’s most stylish afternoon tea. The Knightsbridge hotel’s Prêt-à-Portea menu changes every few months, just like the mercurial fashion world, but at the moment the cakes include a Marc Jacobs double-breasted chocolate biscuit blazer and a Burberry Prorsum mousse trench coat. Everything is served on Paul Smith crockery and the full tea is accompanied by unfashionable, delicious savoury canapes and sandwiches. From £39pp, the-berkeley.co.uk
Order a secret burger and con your way into the theatre elite Ordering off-menu isn’t just for show offs with imaginary allergies. At legendary theatreland hang-out Joe Allen’s, it’s the only way to try their delicious cheeseburgers. The Covent Garden restaurant has been a favourite among actors since 1977, so you’re not unlikely to run into some high-profile West End talent. So ask for the cheeseburger, give the waiter or waitress a knowing nod, and pretend you’ve just finished a matinee at a nearby playhouse. Trying to get them to put your photo on the wall might be pushing it a bit far. joeallen.co.uk
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Enjoy a classic drive in movie experience (without a car) There are almost as many boutique cinema experiences in the capital as there are people. You’ve got the highlylauded (and highly-priced) Secret Cinema, the highly novel and highly fun Hot Tub Cinema, and countless others to scratch your weariness-of-the-multiplex itch at any time of year. One of our favourites is also the newest. Pop Up Screens organises double bill screenings of classic movies in public parks throughout the summer,
allowing you to pretend you’re at the drive-in even if you arrived on the Piccadilly line. They’re keen to hear what customers have to say about what to show and where to show it, so it’s worth getting in touch via the website. And unlike almost every other cinema experience, you can bring your own food and eat it in plain sight. popupscreens.co.uk
Watching the stars, under the stars Pop Up Screens organises outdoor movie nights in London’s parks
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Exhibition sponsored by
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RICHARD THOMPSON
Wed 20 Feb I CARDIFF I St David’s Hall Thu 21 Feb I BIRMINGHAM I Symphony Hall Fri 22 Feb I BRIGHTON I Dome Sat 23 Feb I BRISTOL I Colston Hall Sun 24 Feb I CAMBRIDGE I Corn Exchange Mon 25 Feb I LONDON I 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Tue 26 Feb I LONDON I Barbican SOLD OUT Thu 28 Feb I EDINBURGH I Usher Hall Fri 1 Mar I LIVERPOOL I Philharmonic Hall Sat 2 Mar I SHEFFIELD I City Hall Sun 3 Mar I GATESHEAD I The Sage Gateshead Mon 4 Mar I LEEDS I Irish Centre EXTRA DATE Wed 6 Mar I NOTTINGHAM I Royal Concert Hall
MARISA MONTE
Verdade Uma Ilusão Sunday 14 April London Hammersmith Apollo
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GORAN BREGOVIC
Thu 7 Mar I BEXHILL I De La Warr Pavilion Fri 8 Mar I BASINGSTOKE I Anvil SOLD OUT Sat 9 Mar I ST. ALBANS I Alban Arena EXTRA DATE Sun 10 Mar I SALFORD I The Lowry SOLD OUT
THE ELECTRIC TOUR New album Electric out Mon 11 Feb on Proper
Champagne for Gypsies Saturday 18 May London Royal Festival Hall
serious.org.uk
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK
Saturday 23 March London Barbican
SOUL REBELS
Sunday 12 May Norwich Theatre Royal
Full details of all shows can be found at serious.org.uk. Sign up to the Serious e-news for all the latest news and show information serious.org.uk/subscribe
MARIZA
Monday 13 May London Barbican Tuesday 14 May Norwich Theatre Royal
RODRIGUEZ
Searching for Sugarman Saturday 8 June London Hammersmith Apollo
Get steamy in Stoke Newington We all love a spa. But what if we’re looking for something a little less expensive – and a little more authentic? The answer lies in Stoke Newington with a Turkish hamam, a sauna-style cleanse that mimics ancient Roman bathing practices. The basic package starts at £15, but if you spend a little more you can
upgrade to a full body scrub, a hot stone treatment or an aromatherapy package. The baths are run in accordance with the hamam philosophy and are open to everybody – you’re encouraged to bring your friends along! turkishbathhamam.co.uk
The Spa of spas A Turkish hamam in Stokey
Dead good fun Zombie Battle London in Greenwich
Battle the undead in Greenwich
Discover the hot new artists before anyone else in the city Hitting up the big blockbuster exhibitions is all well and good, but do you just want to be a follower? Discovering the hot new artists before they’re packing out a Tate Modern retrospective is surely more exciting and, dare we say it, cooler. There are numerous tours of London’s art scene, but the Art Licks tour is the one that really
appropriate for zombie dispatch, before setting forth from a secret underground bunker to blow the brains out of the brain-eaters. But be very careful, because not all of the monosyllabic, groaning creatures with an otherworldly skin tone are meant to be attacked – the place is apparently a favourite among TOWIE stars looking to blow off steam when they’re not filming. wish.co.uk/zombie-battle-london/
seeks out the city’s newest studios and artists before they’re household names. The company works with artists, curators and galleries to create a thoughtful, thorough and intimate presentation of some of the most exciting emerging art the city has to offer. £10, artlicks.com
Shout through a movie without getting told off Singing, swearing and shouting at a cinema screen is generally frowned upon, right? Not at the Prince Charles! The legendary Leicester Square institution hosts regular nights in which audience participation is actively encouraged, if not demanded. Cinema-goers can enjoy ‘quote along’ screenings
Since Shaun Of The Dead became an, ahem, monster hit, we’ve all secretly obsessed about how we might survive a zombie apocalypse. Gift experience company Wish has tapped into our collective anxieties to create Zombie Battle London, allowing aspiring zombie slayers to relive Resident Evil on the Greenwich Peninsula. You’ll be trained by the Undead Response Unit to use the weaponry
of classics such as Mean Girls, Swingers and Anchorman, ‘swear along’ screenings of potty-mouthed movies such as Team America, and – most famously of all – ‘sing along’ screenings of the likes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Grease and, of course, The Sound of Music. princecharlescinema.com
Show your nose a good time Gorilla Perfume Gallery in Shoreditch
Go to a gallery for your nose Visual art is so 2000s. The folk behind Lush believe that perfume needs to be celebrated in a creative way, so they’ve showcased their fragrances alongside the images and pieces of pop culture that have inspired them. The free exhibition at Gorilla Perfume Gallery in Shoreditch is as thought provoking
as it is fun, and shows that a scent can be just as inspirational as a song or a sunset. And, rest assured, it’s an olfactory treat, so anyone who was put off smell-based museums after a bad time at the Jorvik Viking Centre can visit with confidence. gorillaperfume.com/gallery2012 scoutlondon.com Scout London 15
Theatre Bench in association with Ros Povey & Perfect Pitch
MUST END 24 FEB! The world premiere of a new musical by Craig Adams and Ian Watson about love, life and loss in a London lift.
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‘Knock-out performances.’
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‘A strong cast... Cynthia Erivo gives thrilling vocal expression.’
‘Engaging, funny and a definite stand-out.’
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Once upon a time... Bedtime stories aren’t just for kids – in fact, storytelling events for adults are on the rise all over the capital. If you’re sitting comfortably, we’ll tell you the best ones to look out for Are You Sitting Comfortably? Toynbee Studios Run by Bernadette Russell and Gareth Brierley What is it? This is a cabaret-style storytelling event. There’s free food – everything from fairy cakes to chip butties – as well as competitions with cool prizes, and old-fashioned music and visuals. In Bernadette’s words: I was at the Edinburgh Festival about 10 years ago, knackered and doing two shows at once. I couldn’t sleep, so my friend read me stories from the Scottish book of fairy tales to help. I thought: kids get that every night; I’d like that every night. So much of our social interaction is online, it’s important to be in the same physical space as other human beings. thewhiterabbit.org.uk
helen cathcart / sadie cook
Hairy tales Everyone loves a story
Spark London Various venues Run by Joanna Yates What is it? This is Britain’s first true storytelling club, where, instead of fiction, you’ll hear true-life tales – think grim tales of love and loss rather than Grimm Tales. You can submit your story ahead of time and previous storytellers have included teachers, car dealers and barristers. Their manifesto is to “connect people through stories”. In Joanna’s words: Telling true stories builds connections between people, and that’s never going to go out of fashion. In a world where we live close but keep our distance, it brings us together. My favourite story from our events has been Leaving Home by Julie Kertesz, about Julie leaving Paris, aged 70-plus, to start a new life in London. When she got here she threw herself into the city, taking photos, blogging, going to Carnival and making the city her own. When she told this, I was so inspired it made me think that anything was possible and that age is no barrier. sparklondon.com
40 Winks Bedtime Story Nights 40 Winks Hotel, Stepney Green Run by David Carter
Storytellers’ Club The Pleasance Run by Sarah Bennetto
What is it? The Storytellers’ club What is it? A decadent pyjama party was started by stand-up comedian Sarah Bennetto. It evolved from a held at an exclusive boutique hotel. There’s a strict ‘nightwear only’ dress group of comics telling stories around a camp fire, and debuted at the code, accompanied by cocktails, Edinburgh Fringe in 2007. Rather nibbles, games and prizes, and story than their usual, joke-laden routines, themes that span the traditional to you get to see top-name comics the terrifying and the naughty. sharing personal stories. Previous In David’s words: We didn’t want performers include Robin Ince, Rufus to do anything stuffy or snobby. We Hound, Richard Herring, Phil Kay, wanted to create something that Josie Long, Tim Vine, Doc Brown, Isy was fun, intimate and delightfully Suttie and Sarah Millican. glamorous. I think we’ve played a big part in making storytelling ‘sexy’. We In Sarah’s words: The tales we’ve heard at Storytellers’ Club are the have an amazing roster of actors, actresses, storytellers and musicians most immediate and even prescient you’ll ever hear: Phil Kay hitchwho perform here, and people fly in hiking on a military jet; Doc Brown from as far away as California and New York just to come to our events. talking about his friendship with Amy Winehouse; Andy Zalztman 40winks.org delivering his own baby on the bathroom floor; Josie Long’s nearJoke-anory Sarah Bennetto fatal collision with a truck – these are things you’ll never forget. I wanted to build a place where stand-ups could try something more organic and narrative than the usual set-up, punch, set-up, punch of the live circuit. alleykatproductions.com scoutlondon.com Scout London 17
Fate, Hope & Charity at The Foundling Museum, Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ Russell Square From Jan 25, Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm, ends May 19, FREE, plus admission £7.50, concs £5, under 16s/mems FREE. Tokens from the 18th century, left by mothers with their babies at the Foundling Hospital.
the people who served with the Special Forces during the Second World War.
Wednesday February 20
Monday February 18
The National Wedding Show at Olympia, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX Earl’s Court Fri £16.50, child £7, adv £13.50, Sat & Sun £18.50, 12noon-7pm. Everything for the bride and groom as well as help and advice on planning and financing the wedding and honeymoon. Concerts And Commissions: 200 Years Of The Royal Philharmonic Society at Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS Barbican Mon, Wed 9.30am-5.30pm, Tue, Thu 9.30am7.30pm, Fri 9.30am-2pm, Sat 9.30am4pm, ends Feb 28, FREE. Photographs, objects, artefacts and documents tracing the work of the music society. Until Feb 28. An Evening With The Stars at Royal Observatory Greenwich, Greenwich Park, Blackheath Avenue, SE10 8XJ Greenwich Feb 13, 16, 20, 22, 24, 5.30pm-7.30pm & 6.50pm-8.50pm, £16, child/concs £14, family £56. Learn about the night sky in a planetarium show, then look through the Victorian telescope. Facts, Fiction And Philosophy at London School Of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE Temple From Jan 21, Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, ends Mar 2, FREE. An exhibition presented by the LSE Language Centre. Until Mar 2.
Cockroaches: From The Beginning: Talk at Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD South Kensington FREE, 12.30pm1pm, 2.30pm-3pm. A museum scientist discusses the insects. Historical Tours at Wilton’s Music Hall, 1 Graces Alley, off Ensign Street, E1 8JB Aldgate East £6, 6pm-7pm. A look at the history of the building. A Life In The Twentieth Century: Talk at Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG King’s Cross St Pancras £9.50, 7pm. Writer and conductor Paul Kildea discusses his book about the composer Benjamin Britten.
Tuesday February 19 Architecture & Beauty: Talk at Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL South Kensington £9, concs £6, adv booking required, 6.30pm7.30pm. Discussion with critic Stephen Bayley and architect Will Alsop. How to be a Lie Detector at Museum Of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN Barbican FREE, 6pm-7pm. The psychology behind understanding when people are lying or not, and how to make the most of this. Tales From The Special Forces Club: Talk at National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, SW3 4HT Sloane Square £10, concs £7.50, 7pm. Journalist Sean Rayment discusses
Weekend travel update (Feb 23-24)
The Leveson Inquiry: Trauma Or Catharsis? at Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall Holborn, EC1N 2HH Chancery Lane FREE, 6pm-7pm. With Professor George Brock, City University. Cars: Made In Dagenham: Talk at Museum Of London Docklands, West India Quay, Hertsmere Road, E14 4AL Canary Wharf FREE, 11.30am12noon, 1.30pm-2pm. Curator discusses the Ford Motors factory’s history. The Trouble With Censorship: Panel Discussion at ICA, 12 Carlton House Terrace, The Mall, SW1Y 5AH Charing Cross £12, concs £10, mems £8, NUS £5, 6.45pm. Panel discussion about censorship in art, media and society.
Thursday February 21 The New Middle East: Protest And Revolution In The Arab World: Lecture at London School Of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE Temple FREE, 6.30pm-8pm. Professors discuss uprisings in the region. Whiskey Masterclass: Workshop at Vinopolis, 1 Bank End, SE1 9BU London Bridge £50, phone for times. Sample and learn about whiskey. World Of Animation: Workshop (Ages 12-15) at Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, WC1A 2HH Holborn £20, adv booking essential, 11am3.30pm. Make an animated world and insert a clip of live-action film.
Friday February 22
Central Line No service between Woodford and Loughton, and between Woodford and Hainault via Grange Hill all weekend. Circle Line No service all weekend. District Line No service between Earl’s Court and Aldgate East, and between Barking and Upminster all weekend.
18 Scout London scoutlondon.com
Metropolitan Line No service between Northwood, Amersham and Chesham all weekend. Rail replacement buses operate. London Overground No service between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction all weekend. Rail replacement buses operate.
For the latest information visit tfl.gov.uk
Manga: Moving On: Workshop (Ages 12-15) at Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, WC1A 2HH Holborn £10, adv booking essential, 11am-1pm. Create characters get advice about improving techniques. A Neil Bartlett Retrospective: What Can You Do? at The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB Euston £7.50, concs £5, 7.30pm-9pm. The performer and director performs excerpts from several of his shows.
The Back Pain Show at Olympia, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX Earl’s Court FREE, 10am-5pm, & Sat & Sun. Find out about treatments and therapies with exhibitors and demonstrations. Behind The Scenes At The Museum Depot: Guided Tour at London Transport Museum, 39 Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 7BB Covent Garden £12, concs £10, adv booking required, 11am2pm, & Sat & Sun. See rare engines and artefacts from the collection. Eerie Evening Tours at Kensington Palace State Apartments, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX High Street Kensington £25, adv booking essential, 6.45pm-8.15pm. A tour of the State Apartments.
Paul Robeson And His Signature Song: The Many Lives of Ol’ Man River: Talk at Royal Academy Of Music, Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT Regent’s Park FREE, 2.30pm. With Thomas Riis, professor of musicology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Saturday February 23 Fantastical February Fair at Islington Arts Factory, 2 Parkhurst Road, N7 0SF Holloway Road FREE, 12noon-4pm. The King & The Corpse at Rich Mix, 3547 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA Aldgate East £9, NUS/concs £7, 7.30pm. Performance storytelling from TUUP and musician Seema Mukherjee. Saturday Market at Marie Lloyd Bar, Hackney Empire, 289 Mare Street, E8 1EJ Hackney Central FREE, 10am-4pm. Stalls selling homemade goods. Who Do You Think You Are: Live At Olympia at Olympia, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX Earl’s Court phone for prices, 9.30am-5.30pm, Feb 24, 10am6.30pm, Feb 25, 9.30am-5.30pm, Feb 26, 9.30am-5pm. Research the military history of your family. The Words And Music Of Leonard Cohen: Part 1: Words: Talk at Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG King’s Cross St Pancras adv £9.50, 7.30pm. Journalist Dorian Lynskey, musician Sophie Solomon and poet Daljit Nagra discuss the singer’s lyrics and legacy.
Sunday February 24 The Art Of The Restaurateur: Talk at Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG King’s Cross St Pancras adv £9.50, 12.30pm. Writer Nicholas Lander and Polpo Restaurants’ Russell Norman discuss the restaurant business. David Miliband MP: Tony Judt, Europe And The Future Of The Left: Talk at Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG King’s Cross St Pancras £12.50, adv £9.50, 6.30pm.
SAM PROUD
ONGOING
comono.co.uk
The London LaTin Music FesTivaL april
uk debut debut
the new band from OjOs de BrujO
beyond flamenco Part of the London flamenco festival
Village underground thursday 21 march doors 8pm
aLeXandeR aBReu Y havana d’PRiMeRa 12 April • Electric Brixton A Curva Da Cintura TouMani diaBaTe, aRnaLdo anTunes & edGaRd scanduRRa 12 April • Union Chapel Mexico Vs. Balkans Brass Band Battle: Banda esTReLLas de sinaLoa vs.BoBan & MaRKo MaRKovic 14 April• Barbican BuiKa 18 April • Union Chapel MaLa RodRiGueZ 18 April • Village Underground La RaZa: London LaTin hiP hoP FesTivaL 19 April • Rich Mix ana MouRa 20 April• Barbican MaRceLo BRaTKe 24 April • PurcellRoom MeRidian BRoTheRs, chancha & eL G 25 April• Cargo www.lalineafestival.com @lalineafest lalineafestival
tickets £15 in advance + booking fee comono.co.uk ticketmaster ticketweb See tickets lenacay.com
fEATuRINg
quANTIc & MARIO gALEANO KOKO fRIdAY MAY 31 dOORs 7PM ONdATROPIcA ONsTAgE 8PM cOMONO.cO.uK ONdATROPIcA.cOM
PINK MARTINI Monday 29 April
ROYAL ALBERT HALL
comono.co.uk 020 7589 8212
ORquEsTA BuENA VIsTA sOcIAL cLuB™ fEATuRINg
ELIAdEs OcHOA OMARA PORTuONdO &
Monday 21 October
ROYAL ALBERT HALL
comono.co.uk 020 7589 8212
Popping Mad London’s gone bonkers for popcorn. Ben Norum talks to the owner of the country’s first popcorn boutique, and looks at some other corny offerings from top chefs
G
ourmet popcorn has been around for a while now. Over the last couple of years, companies such as Joe & Steph’s, who were one of the first to coin the term, and Love Da Popcorn, who won investment through Dragon’s Den, have come to the fore and helped us to realise that there’s more to the bucket snack than the dubious and overpriced version served up by cinemas. The city’s chefs are also catching on, with popcorn in varying guises now appearing on the menus of many top restaurants. At Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott in St. Pancras, salt and black pepper popcorn is a permanent bar snack, and at Flat Iron steakhouse, guests are treated to a bowl of beef dripping-fried popcorn to nibble on as they wait. At Michelin-starred Texture restaurant, bacon popcorn is paired with quail and sweetcorn, and over at D&D’s South Place Hotel in
20 Scout London scoutlondon.com
Posh-corn One of the offerings at POP
the City, cauliflower popcorn is on the menu. There are also sweeter turns on offer, with it used in passionfruit sorbet at The Capital in Chelsea, and in a rich carameldrenched pudding at Nopi, while Indian restaurant Carom on Wardour Street serves it coated in chocolate and dusted with chilli.
The fact that corn has popped into favour is of no surprise to Matt Guarente, who has recently opened the country’s first popcorn boutique with his wife, Catherine. Set in Notting Hill, POP offers a daily-changing range of seven or eight freshly-made popcorns, in flavours that span Olive Oil & Sea Salt, Gingerbread, Bloody Mary and Chilli & Cheese. Having travelled to America a lot through his work as a journalist, Matt noticed its growing popularity over there and saw its potential at home. “I can see why chefs like popcorn,” he tells Scout. “It has a unique and interesting texture, yet a neutral taste on which to add flavour. It’s very flexible”. From a consumer point-of-view, popcorn’s burgeoning popularity is bolstered by its health appeal. Plain popcorn is low calorie, wheat free and virtually fat free, yet provides fibre and antioxidants. At POP, Matt has assembled a ‘Do It’ range for
those looking for a healthy snack, made by simply adding natural herbs and spices to the corn, and a ‘Screw It’ range in flavours such as Dark Chocolate and English Toffee for those who just want pure indulgence. Recent news backs up the hype. Popcorn has been shown to be the country’s fastest growing snack, with a sales increase last year of 300 per cent. Trade suppliers are also noticing a big increase in demand. Defending the notion that wacky flavoured popcorn is just a gimmick, Matt astutely points out: “With some of our more unusual flavours, we do get called insane, but think about whoever decided to make prawn cocktail flavour crisps. “The popularity might rise and fall a bit,” he continues. “But will people be eating more popcorn in five years? Absolutely.” POP, 15 Blenheim Cresecent, W11 2EE, popthewebsite.com
Top Ten Prohibition
Speakeasys
Low-lit, moodily 1 Nightjar, provocative EC1V 1JB Old Street
Street Whistling Shop, Victorian-era alchemy 2 Worship EC2A 2DU Shoreditch High Street
Molecular mixology 3 Purl, aplenty W1U 7HX Bond Street
4
Happiness Forgets, Brilliantly basic aestheic, genuinely hard to find N1 6NU Hoxton
Of Scaredy Cat Town, Enter through a 5 Mayor Smeg fridge E1 7LS Liverpool Street
Cocktail Club, Elaborate den hidden above 6 Experimental Chinatown W1D 5PS Leicester Square
& Peel Detective Agency, Case solving 7 Evans role-play SW5 9BA Earl’s Court
8
Bourne & Hollingsworth, Just like Grandma’s living room W1T 1JF Goodge Street
Jub Jub, Hidden above 9 The Callooh callay bar EC2A 3AY Shoreditch High Street
Bohemia, Controversal strict no suit 10 Lounge policy EC2A 3EJ
The Malt House Fulham £££ Claude Bosi is best known for his two Michelinstarred restaurant Hibiscus in Mayfair. That and a recent Twitter debacle that saw him swear at a blogger whom he believed had reviewed him unfairly. The Fox & Grapes gastropub in Wimbledon, which Claude runs in partnership with his brother Cedric, is far less attention grabbing, but has been steadily building up an impressive reputation for itself; The Malt House is the duo’s second gastropub venture and The Fox’s spiritual sibling. Tucked away round a corner, just a short walk from Fulham Broadway station, the venue is beguilingly unassuming from the outside; the building hasn’t changed a jot from its previous incarnation as a sticky-underfoot drinking hole. The inside, however, is unrecognisable. The lengthy side-running bar remains, and still has seats for those wanting to nip in for a pint or three, but the rest has taken on a neat-tabled look more akin to a casual restaurant than a gastropub. Considering the un-pubby look, it’s a relief to find that the menu embraces beer. Not only is a basic draught offering backed up by a considered selection of bottled ales, but there’s homemade pork scratchings – lip-tinglingly dusted with vinegar powder – and Peperami-esque meaty “beer sticks” to enjoy with them at either bar or table. There’s an ascension through the ranks where main meals are concerned. Marcus McGuinness, the former Head Chef of Hibiscus, has created a menu of pub-influenced but seriously poshed-up nosh that’s not really too far removed from his old kitchen.
Starters include a lively, sprightly mussel and ginger broth of soft, plump molluscs; a light and delicate rabbit liver parfait served with indulgent toasted malt loaf and lifted by a tangy caper and raisin puree; and carpaccio of Elwy Valley lamb that’s deeply flavoured and pleasantly herby. The only disappointment falls on the shoulders of the latter. Served cooked and thinly sliced, it’s perfectly fitting of its name, but far less exciting than the prospect of a raw version; luncheon meat comes to mind. A cheeky butcher’s cut – a piece of beef popular in France that has traditionally been a lower-priced alternative to fillet, reserved for those in the know – features as a main. Cooked in hay (as is the trendy way, darling), it boasts a robust flavour more akin to rump or sirloin, but a fine, tender texture that does indeed resemble fillet. A Chinese-inspired duck dish, presented in both spiced lettuce wraps and thin, rare-cooked slices, exhibits similarly excellent cooking technique and an even more impressive depth of flavour. Triple-cooked chips are superbly crisp and fluffy, and offer at least some pretence to this being pub food. If there was any doubt, a beautifully presented and silkily moist blood orange and thyme polenta cake, served in a glistening dome, glazed with vibrant orange jelly, confirms that in spite of the chips this really isn’t pub food at all. So, rest assured, at £14-or-so for mains and £7 for starters, you’re getting Michelin-worthy food at bargain prices, rather than hiked-up pub grub. Ben Norum 17 Vanston Place, SW6 1AY Fulham Broadway
Shoreditch High Street
scoutlondon.com Scout London 21
Clockjack Oven Piccadilly Circus £
The Long Room Farringdon ££
Out to prove that the nation’s favourite poultry is officially London’s trendy food-du-jour, this new Soho rotisserie restaurant is the latest in a line of chicken-themed eateries. The menu’s centrepiece is a choice of three, four or 10 chicken pieces, fresh from the upright rotisserie that’s on show behind the bar, and that lends the venue its name. While accompanying salads, sauces and Maccy D’s style chips are far from exciting, the limelight chicken is well-flavoured, moist and succulent. Ironically, given the focus, the fried, breadcrumbed chicken bites take the trophy – we’d be back for them alone. When you factor in chirpyas-a-spring-chicken service and a price tag that ranges from a tenner to double that, depending on how hungry and thirsty you are, Clockjack is a definite boost to the area’s eating options. Ben Norum
This new opening just across the road from Smithfield Meat Market describes itself as a pub. But just any old pub it is not. A vast and varied rotating beer selection includes more than seven cask and keg options and over three times that by the bottle. Regulars include London brews from Kernel, Red Church and Meantime, plus a heavy showing for US microbreweries. If you need something to soak all that up, then just reach for a menu, which is as New York-influenced as the hanging lights and bare brick walls. Toasted cheese sandwiches and salt beef are presented in various guises; the latter is a particular draw, cured on-site from meat bought across the road. The salt beef Reuben sandwich, presented on sourdough with sliced Emmental, sauerkraut, homemade gherkins and a tangy Russian dressing, is one of the best we’ve tried. BN
14 Denman Street, W1D 7HJ
18-20 St. John Street, EC1M 4AY
Piccadilly Circus
Farringdon
Super Tuscan Spitalfields ££
10 Greek Street Soho £££
Tucked away down a narrow cobbled street that predates the Great Fire of London, and decked out with wooden furniture, wall-mounted candles and photos of vineyards, it’s much easier to pretend you’re in Tuscany when sitting here than you’d expect for a restaurant just minutes from Liverpool Street station. The rustic charm is heightened by personal and passionate service and a uniquely calm but convivial atmosphere that’s almost supperclub-like. Dishes of slightly spicy and very cheesy arancini, garlicky and dense Tuscan sausage, chargrilled quail and stewed white beans are simple, traditional and perfect for sharing. The range of aperitivo which come complete with snacks will be sentimental to those with memories of sipping them in sunny Italy, while anyone with a penchant for wine can’t help but be impressed by the extensive, all-Tuscan selection that has been carefully selected from small-scale, high-value producers. BN
Open for just a year now, 10 Greek Street remains a Soho favourite, with its close-set tables and blackboards scribbled with the day’s dishes, paper wine lists and an open kitchen at the far end. Chef Cameron Emirali offers a short modern European menu, featuring small sharing plates, starters and main courses that use combinations of interesting seasonal ingredients. A bowlful of whole fried baby squid – crispy tentacles and all – are as tender as could be, with pleasingly salty batter. Swordfish with blood orange and fennel is meaty, zesty and light. From the blackboard comes a rich, yet delicately soft pork belly with greens and mustard mash. Keeping true to its philosophy of seasonal fresh ingredients used creatively, there is always something new on the menu. Well deserving of its enduring popularity, when it comes to great restaurants, this little number is surely in Soho’s top 10. Saskia Leuchars
8a Artillery Passage, E1 7LJ
10 Greek Street, W1D 4DH
22 Scout London scoutlondon.com
Liverpool Street
Tottenham Court Road
At Last, A Family Day Out Where Everyone Is Happy
T
his summer a special event takes place for young families. It lasts about an hour. Yet those who attend will remember it many months, even years later. This event is In the Night Garden Live. It is not just for little ones, but for parents who want to share the best possible experiences with their children.
In the Night Garden Live takes place in its own family-friendly Showdome. Everything is there to make your visit as easy and enjoyable as possible, from the warm welcome and child-friendly staff, to the ample buggy parks, microwaves, babychanging rooms, and many flushing toilets – with trainer steps and seat inserts.
PARENTS AND CRITICS GIVE RAVE REVIEWS You may have seen the reviews, or heard other parents raving about it – 339,266 people have attended so far! And 9 out of 10 parents give 5/5 stars and would also recommend it to friends and family. We know this from thousands of parents’ reviews and post-show surveys.
In the Night Garden™ Ragdoll Worldwide Limited 2007.
One mum, Kirsty, wrote: ‘Our little boy was mesmerised from the minute we arrived, and didn’t want to leave when the show ended! The facilities are fantastic for families. This is an absolute must for all parents – trust me, you will not be disappointed!’
Children are thrilled to meet their favourite characters as if they’re actually inside the Night Garden. And parents love watching the look on their children’s faces.
THERE’S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT There are other shows for young children. ‘But,’ as The Independent wrote, ‘there’s, nothing quite like In the Night Garden Live.’
BOOK EARLY AND SAVE £75 This summer the Showdome is coming to London, Birmingham and Manchester. You can book tickets now – there’s no booking fee online – and save money using the special coupon below. The purpose-built Showdome
But hurry, seats are limited, and our premium tickets always sell out first.
IT MELTED MY HEART Gemma Ashbrook was worried that her 7 month old was too young, ‘Because of his age I was worried he wouldn’t enjoy it. But he loved it, and his face at the end melted my heart! A must see show. I can’t wait to take him next year.’ Another mum, Jacqueline Fenn, said simply, ‘The whole experience was so easy it made it a magical day.’
BOOK EARLY AND
SAVE UP TO £75* With Coupon:
HAPPY55 www.NightGardenLive.com HURRY, this offer is valid for the first 55 bookings only! FOR £5 OFF ORDERS OVER £50 AND 5% OFF ORDERS UNDER £50
* 4 weekend standard tickets and 2 goody bags booked at lowest advance rate using coupon costs £90, compared with 4 weekend standard tickets and 2 goody bags purchased at highest rate on the door costing £165. Subject to availability, terms and conditions apply, see NightGardenLive.com.
CENTRAL BYOC Underneath Juice Club, 28 Bedfordbury, WC2N 4BJ Covent Garden Bar ££ Bringing BYO to new levels, the Bring Your Own Cocktail bar invites guests to bring a spirit of their choice for the mixologists to then use fruit, spices, herbs and cordials to create a bespoke cocktail. There’s a £20 cover charge and it’s strictly reservations only. Little Social 8 Pollen Street, W1S 1NQ Oxford Circus Bistro ££ Set just across the road from Pollen Street Social, this new restaurant from Jason Atherton will open next month along with The Social Eating House in Shoreditch. Described as bistro-like, it will be cheaper and more relaxed than its original sister restaurant across the road. Homeslice Covent Garden, TBC Covent Garden Pizza £ The popular street food pizza business is going bricks and mortar with this imminent opening in Seven Dials. The restaurant will see the pizzas (£20 for 20 inches) paired with prosecco on tap and double magnums of house wine, which customers can help themselves to and measure with a ruler so as to only pay for what they drink. An exact opening date is yet to be announced. Tozi 8 Gillingham Street, SW1V 1HJ Victoria Italian ££ This new restaurant will serve ciccheti, Venetian tapas. Dishes will include ravioli, gnocchi and hearty salads, while the drinks offering will feature Bellinis, Negronis and Aperol Spritz.
NORTH
The Spaniards Inn Spaniards Road, NW3 7JJ Golders Green Gastropub ££ This atmospheric venue, owned by Castle Pubs, is one of London’s oldest pubs, and is steeped in history. Now re-opened after a “tasteful” refit, it has gained a bit of gastro groove, serving dishes such as a bone marrow burger with bacon jam and triple cooked chips. Cocktails will feature Sacred Gin, distilled nearby in Highgate. York & Albany 127-129 Parkway, NW1 7PS Camden Town British ££ Live music sessions continue at Gordon Ramsay’s York & Albany every Tuesday. Tomorrow sees Oliver Darling playing authentic country blues, influenced by artists such as Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters, while the following week their resident soul singer Raff is performing one of his popular stripped-back acoustic sessions. Dotori 3 Stroud Green Road, N4 2DF Finsbury Park Korean £ Right next to Finsbury Park station but surprisingly easy to miss, this Korean restaurant with Japanese touches is a boom for the local dining scene. It’s authentic, incredibly affordable and reliably good. Bibimbap is a traditional highlight dish, though tempura is also worth a try.
24 Scout London scoutlondon.com
EAST
Craft Beer Co. 11-13 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PA Brixton Pub £ Already a popular spot due to its vast array of real ales and craft beers, one of South London’s best beer pubs is now upping the ante by turning their upstairs room into an art gallery. The first artist to take part is Jenna Jardine, whose intricate but accessible political drawings are best known from online London magazine Peasoup. The exhibition starts on march 6th, and obviously this is an art gallery you can drink in.
WEST Yalla Yalla 186 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HU Shoreditch High Street Lebanese ££ Following a successful run on the South Bank last summer, Yalla Yalla have opened another pop-up to see them through the winter. Around for about six months, this Shoreditch incarnation will offer their signature Lebanese wraps and meze options, plus a short selection of cocktails alongside Lebanese wine and beer. Rotary Bar & Diner 70 City Road, EC1Y 2BJ Old Street Diner ££ This exciting new ‘ten month pop-up’ sees bar experts The Rushmore Group (Milk & Honey, Giant Robot, The Player) team up with Disco Bistro’s Carl Clarke. An on-site Yum Bun shop from the popular street food trader will provide a food offering Shutterbug 1 Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA Old Street Pancakes ££ This pimp my pancakes venue launched last week just in time for Shrove Tuesday. Billed as an “experimental creperie-comeintimate cocktail speakeasy”, it features buckwheat batter crepes alongside cocktails, wines and artisan beers. Pancake fillings include pulled pork with cheese and pickles; goats cheese, spinach, walnuts and fig relish; and salted caramel. Bouchon Fourchette 171 Mare Street, E8 3RH London Fields French ££ This new French bistro is headed up by Jeremy Huguet, who has previously worked for Alain Ducasse. Here he’ll be keeping things much more rustic, cooking from classic French recipes.
SOUTH Union Street Cafe 47-51 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0BS Southwark British ££ This much-hyped first south-of-the-river opening from Gordon Ramsay has been in the pipeline for well over a year, now. While an opening date is still not revealed, the next chapter in the saga suggests that Gordon’s partner in the business may be none other than David Beckham. The mind boggles, but damn are we intrigued! Micasa Burritos Waterloo Station, Waterloo Road SE1 8SW Waterloo Mexican £ This new fast food burrito joint has recently opened up in Victoria station, and it has now been announced that Waterloo will be next on its list. They pride themselves on “authentic wraps, made fresh to go”.
Apero 2 Harrington Road, SW7 3ER South Kensington Italian ££ This Italian restaurant set within South Kensington’s Ampersand hotel has launched a weekend brunch menu, running from noon-2.30pm at weekends. Head chef Chris Golding has put together a menu that ranges from popular dishes such as eggs Benedict and Orford kippers to traditional but lesser-seen dishes such as grilled beef onglet and fried eggs and a full breakfast with grilled kidneys. Notting Hill Kitchen 92 Kensington Park Road, W11 2PN Notting Hill Gate Portuguese / Spanish ££ Renowned Portuguese chef Luis Baena, who has previously worked with Paul Bocuse, is taking over the site that was once Notting Hill Brasserie to create this subtle name change. The restaurant will be a mix of Portuguese and Spanish, with dishes including pork cheek confit and swordfish with seaweed. Blue Elephant The Boulevard, Imperial Wharf, SW6 2UB Imperial Wharf Thai £££ This top Thai restaurant and West London institution, which was reviewed recently here in Scout, has announced the launch of an on-site cookery school. Following on from successful schools in Bangkok and Phuket, this London opening will be the first outside of Thailand. Exact details on courses will be revealed shortly, ahead of a spring launch date.
Scout London Price Guide ££££ Over £19 per main £££ £14-18 ££ £9-13 £ Under £9
READ IN
TAKE OUT
Atul’s Curries of the World
Iberica
Curry is one of the world’s most popular dishes, and being among the first to gain a Michelin star, Atul Kochhar of Mayfair’s Benares is one of the world’s favourite Indian chefs. In this book, over 100 curry recipes span not only the length and breadth of Atul’s native India, but also across the rest of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. Even the UK gets a look in. Traditional dishes and local favourites are combined with interpretive twists from Atul, reflecting the creative cooking that has made his restaurants so popular and highly regarded.
A popular stop-off for anyone seeking Spanish deli goods, as well as those looking for a slap-up feed, this deli and restaurant offers a less well-known takeaway service. Anything from gazpacho to croquettas, ham and cheese can be ordered to go. Try the beguiling beetroot and red berry gazpacho with anchovies in the comfort of your own home, or take a full-on tapas platter round to a friend’s. Orders can be placed in advance by calling 020 7636 8650. Iberica, 195 Great Portland Street, W1W 5PS ibericalondon.com
Published by Absolute Press, RRP £20. Widely available in bookshops and online. Signed versions available from Benares restaurant.
scoutlondon.com Scout London 25
★★★★★ ‘MASTERFUL, MIND-ALTERING COMEDY’ SPOONFED
WILL FRANKEN THE ONE-MAN ‘MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS’ MAKES HIS LONDON DEBUT AT THE SOHO THEATRE
ID D E W S G THIN Y T I L A E R E BEFOR
★★★★
‘SIMPLY HILARIOUS’ THE TIMES
★★★★★ THREEWEEKS
★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ GUARDIAN
INDEPENDENT
SUNDAY TIMES
28 FEB - 9 MAR 9.30PM £10 - £15
020 7478 0100 / sohotheatre.com / 21 Dean Street W1 Registered charity number 267234
mickperrin.com
In association with Michael R. Blaha Management
Best of the desk
Geeky about stationery? We thought so. Here are a few products that put the fun back into functional
a desktop staple
make your mark
a very sharp picture
Staplers used to be such a cold and emotionless bunch. But not any more. The stampler staples in the usual way, but prints a smiley face and a ‘have a nice day’ message around the outside. Stampler, £12 from suck.uk.com
This personalised, self-inking rubber stamp allows you to easily print your return address on all correspondence. Personalised embellish rubber stamp, £27.50, from lettercandy.com
There are pencil sharpeners and there’s this stylish number, shaped like an old camera, with adjustable sharpness control. Retro camera pencil sharpener, £16.49 from notonthehighstreet.com
look sharp
shred the word
memory mule
Don’t let the clutter drag you down. Spruce up your surface area with this pencil sharpener-shaped desk tidy. Sharpener desk tidy deluxe, £25 from suck.uk.com
Identity theft is a serious business. Don’t take any risks with these handy shredding scissors. Helix Shredding Scissors, 5-inch, £6.99 from ryman.co.uk
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scoutlondon.com Scout London 27
Jeff? My name’s Steve! Oh, Jeff... I Love You, Too... But... by Roy Lichtenstein, 1964
Oh Warhol, we love you too but... the most comprehensive exhibition ever devoted to pop artist Roy Lichtenstein is about to open in London. Whaam!
Is that an art critic I see? Torpedo...Los! by Roy Lichtenstein, 1963
28 Scout London scoutlondon.com
ong before Damien Hirst made a career out of painting dots (and pickling stuff), this guy was doing it first. Roy Lichtenstein is one of the definitive pop artists of 1960s America, whose dramatic, comic strip-inspired paintings are defined by their thick outlines, bold colours and the artist’s signature Ben-Day dots. A second world war veteran, New York-born Lichtenstein became interested in the way imagery was presented in the mass media culture of post-war America. After initially experimenting with cubism, expressionism and abstract expressionism, in the early 60s he began recreating industrially-printed images by hand – which included the enlargement and exaggeration of the dots that were used in print. It was with this style and its accompanying masterpieces – such as Drowning Girl and Whaam! – that he found worldwide fame. Though
much criticized at the time, today his pop art status is topped only by that of Warhol himself. Now, the most comprehensive Lichtenstein retrospective ever staged is coming to London. This week, Tate Modern will unveil 125 of the artist’s paintings and sculptures, including Whaam!, Drowning Girl and Look Mickey – the first painting to feature the dots, which purportedly came about in response to a challenge from his son to paint better than his Mickey Mouse comic book. Alongside such classic works will be paintings and sculptures from the less well known corners of Lichtenstein’s output, including landscapes, his responses to futurism and surrealism, and a series of latter-day female nudes. One of the most hotlyanticipated exhibitions of the year, you’d be dotty to miss it (sorry). Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, Tate Modern, February 21-May 27, £14, tate.org.uk
This bogey’s all over me Whaam! by Roy Lichtenstein, 1963
Hill dots Landscape in Fog, by Roy Lichtenstein, 1996
I don’t mind posing, but why am I covered in blue paint? Blue Nude, by Roy Lichtenstein, 1995
Leftovers Brushstroke with Spatter, by Roy Lichtenstein, 1966
scoutlondon.com Scout London 29
A ÂŁ3 booking fee is included in the price of discounted tickets. No booking fee on full price. TKTS is run by the Society of London Theatre. All profits support the theatre industry.
Central
Hartnell To Amies: Couture By Royal Appointment at Fashion And Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3XF Borough £7, concs £5, Until Feb 23. London couture fashion by the designers to The Queen.
Shoreditch FREE, Until Mar 9. A group show of contemporary neo-noir from Los Angeles. Modern British Childhood 1948-2012 at The V&A Museum Of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA Bethnal Green FREE, Until Apr 14. Exploration of how childhood has changed between the two London Olympic Games.
Ice Age Art: Arrival Of The Modern Mind at British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG Russell Square £10, NUS/ages 16-18/disabled/unwaged £8, Art Pass £5, disabled carer/under 16s FREE, Until May 26. A display of Ice Age artifacts from across Europe, being shown in the country for the first time. Death: A Self-Portrait: The Richard Harris Collection at The Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE Euston FREE, Until Feb 24. Last chance to catch this fascinating exhibition of around 300 items that provide an overview of the iconography of death. Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 at The Courtauld Institute Of Art, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 0RN Temple £6, concs £5, NUS/under 18s/unwaged/ disabled carer FREE, Mon £3, Until May 26. Major paintings originally shown at the artist’s debut exhibition. A Bigger Splash: Painting After Performance at Tate Modern, Bankside, Holland Street, SE1 9TG Southwark £10, concs £8.50, Art Fund mems £5, concs £4.25, Until Apr 1. Works that examine the relationship between performance and painting. Dancing Around Duchamp: The Bride And The Bachelors: Duchamp With Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg And Johns at Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS Barbican £12, adv £10, concs £8, adv concs/ages 13-17 £7, adv ages 13-17 £6, under 13s/mems FREE, Until Jun 9. Around 90 works highlighting the influence of Marcel Duchamp on artists, composers and choreographers. Design Museum Collection: Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things at Design Museum, 28 Butlers Wharf Shad Thames, SE1 2YD London Bridge £10.75, NUS £6.50, concs £9.70, child under 12 FREE, Until Jan 4. Key 20th-century design items that changed the way we live our lives. Doctors, Dissection And Resurrection Men at Museum Of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN Barbican £9, child/concs £7, Until Apr 14. A major installation charting the 2006 finding by archaeologists, of a burial ground at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Fourth Plinth: Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset: Powerless Structures, Fig 101 at Trafalgar Square, WC2 5DS Charing Cross FREE, Until Apr 12. A bronze sculpture commenting on the bravery of growing up. BP British Art Displays: Family Matters: The Family In British Art at Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG Pimlico FREE, Until Feb 24. Paintings, photographs, films and sculptures based on the history of families in Britain.
Laura Letinsky: Ill Form And Void Full at The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW Oxford Circus FREE, Until Apr 7. The latest series of photographs, from 2010 and 2011, exploring space and time. Light Show at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX Waterloo £10, OAP £9, NUS £8, ages 12-18 £6.50, Until Apr 28. Sculptures and installations exploring the nature of light. Manet: Portraying Life at Royal Academy Of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD Green Park £15, OAP/disabled/NAFDAS/Art Fund mems £14, NUS £10, unwaged/ages 12-18 £6, disabled carers/under 12s FREE, inc gallery guide, Until Apr 14. The first major UK exhibition of the 19th-century, French painter’s portraiture. Marilyn Monroe: A British Love Affair at National Portrait Gallery, 2 St Martin’s Place, WC2H 0HE Embankment FREE, Until Mar 24. Photographs documenting the iconic actress’s connections with Britain. Mughal India: Art, Culture And Empire at The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB Euston £9, OAP £7, NUS/ disabled/unwaged £5, under 18s/mems/ disabled carer FREE, National Art Pass £4.50, OAP £3.50, Until Apr 2. More than 200 paintings and artefacts documenting the entire period of the Mughal Empire. Murillo At The Wallace Collection: Paintings Of The Spanish Golden Age at Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN Bond Street FREE, Until May 12. Paintings by the 17th-century Baroque artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo. The Northern Renaissance: Durer To Holbein at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Birdcage Walk, SW1A 1AA Victoria £9.25, NUS/ OAP £8.50, family £23, under 17s £4.65, under 5s FREE, Until Apr 14. Paintings, drawings, prints, manuscripts, sculpture, tapestries and armour. rAndom International: Rain Room at Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS Barbican FREE, Until Mar 3. An installation exploring the notion of water as an increasingly scarce natural resource. Juergen Teller: Woo at ICA, 12 Carlton House Terrace, The Mall, SW1Y 5AH Charing Cross FREE, Until Mar 17. Fashion and commercial photography.
South
Man Ray Portraits at National Portrait Gallery, 2 St Martin’s Place, WC2H 0HE Embankment £12.70, OAP £11.80, concs £10.90, ages 12-18/unwaged/ NUS/disabled/disabled carer FREE, Until May 27. A major retrospective featuring more than 150 prints. Through American Eyes: Frederic Church And The Landscape Oil Sketch at The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN Leicester Square FREE, Until Apr 28. Paintings by the 19th-century American artist and leading member of the Hudson River School. Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos at Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA South Kensington FREE, Until Apr 7. Contemporary works in a variety of media exploring spaces for interdisciplinary ideas. Valentino: Master Of Couture at Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 1LA Temple £12.50, concs £9, Until Mar 3. A major exhibition on the career of the acclaimed Italian designer.
North Judy Chicago And Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick, Tracey Emin at Ben Uri Gallery, 108a Boundary Road, NW8 0RH Kilburn Park £5, child FREE, concs £4, Until Mar 10. A survey of the American artist and activist, contextualised with work by three other foremost European female artists. Film In Space: An Exhibition Of Film And Expanded Cinema Selected By Guy Sherwin at Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Road, NW3 6DG Finchley Road FREE, Until Feb 24. Experimental films by emerging British artists and film-makers.
East Gerard Byrne: A State Of Neutral Pleasure at Whitechapel Gallery, 80-82 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX Aldgate East FREE, Until Mar 8. A major survey of the Irish artist’s work from 2003 to the present day. Pieterjan Ginckels: SPAM Office at ANDOR, 237 Hackney Road, Hoxton FREE, Until Mar 9. E2 8NA Functioning office space where uniformed staff check, delete and archive spam emails. Kiss Me Deadly at Paradise Row, 74 Newman Street, W1T 3EL
Ansel Adams: Photography From The Mountains To The Sea at National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, SE10 9NF Greenwich £7, concs £5, mems FREE, Until Apr 28. Photographs of the natural landscapes of America. British Wildlife Photography Awards at Horniman Museum And Gardens, 100 Forest Hill London Road, SE23 3PQ FREE, Until Feb 24. An exhibition of the winning images from the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2011. Murillo & Justino De Neve: The Art Of Friendship at Dulwich Picture Gallery, West Gallery Road, SE21 7AD Dulwich £10, OAP £9, NUS/disabled/ unwaged/Art Fund mems £5, under 18s/ mems/disabled carer FREE, Until May 19. More than 30 paintings by the Spanish Baroque artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo.
West Breaking The Ice: Moscow Art, 196080s at Saatchi Gallery, Duke Of York’s HQ, King’s Road, SW3 4RY Sloane Square FREE, Until Feb 24. A group show of 20 Russian artists. Codebreaker: Alan Turing’s Life And Legacy at Science Museum, Exhibition Road, SW7 2DD South Kensington FREE, Until Jul 31. Photographs and objects celebrating the centenary of the British computing pioneer. Gaiety Is The Most Outstanding Feature Of The Soviet Union: New Art From Russia at Saatchi Gallery, Duke Of York’s HQ, King’s Road, SW3 4RY Sloane Square FREE, Until May 5. A large survey featuring contemporary works by 18 artists. Light From The Middle East: New Photography at Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL South Kensington FREE, Until Apr 7. More than 90 photographs by 30 artists from 13 countries. Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer Of The Year at Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD South Kensington £9, concs £4.50, family £24, Art Fund mems £4.50, concs £2.25, under 3s FREE, Until Mar 3. One hundred winning images from the established contemporary wildlife photography competition. Victoria Revealed at Kensington Palace State Apartments, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX High Street Kensington £14.50, child FREE, concs £12, Until Feb 28. Mixed works and historical artefacts exploring the life of Queen Victoria, inspired by extracts from her journals and correspondence.
scoutlondon.com Scout London 31
Yanking our chains Will Franken might be American, but he looks to us Brits for inspiration. He chats to Chris Beanland as he prepares to try and make it big in the land of his heroes
T
hey say Americans don’t appreciate irony. But anyone who subscribes to that view obviously hasn’t heard Will Franken. The Missouri-born comic unfurls lavish one-man satirical skits that savage both society and mainstream comedy like he’s a card-carrying Brit in disguise. “I’m surprised people are even still doing standup,” he says, seemingly doubtful about whether or not he’s on to a winner with his ‘one man and a mic’ schtick. “This has been the hardest six months,” he chuckles. “I did a high school reunion for 70-year-olds that paid $300.” He pauses. “It was in the middle of the day.” Franken is chatting to Scout over a crackly Skype line from San Francisco. But by the time you read this, he’ll be firmly ensconced in London. The devoted Anglophile is doing what he has always dreamed of – moving over to the UK to try and make it big. “I grew up worshipping the Brits,” he says, unabashed. He’s so au fait with us and our grumpy mores, he even knows it’s a faux pas to admit how much he likes Britain: “A fellow American comic told me at Edinburgh, ‘Never let Brits know how much you like it here’.” But he’s quick to let us know how much he likes our comedy: “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace... brilliant. The Day Today – I thought I’d seen
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everything but the speed of the jokes Chris Morris comes up with there… “The structure of my shows comes from Python,” he continues. “MTV used to show the TV shows late at night.” So was this what got him into comedy? “I’ve wanted to be a comedian since I was little. Watching Python and then The Kids in the Hall persuaded me that I could do it.” Franken also liked Saturday Night Live in the early days: “There was a real rebellious thing – comedy was rock ‘n’ roll back then. Chevy Chase had such a flippant attitude.” Franken’s career to date hasn’t been easy. And you get the sense that the 39-year-old comic – who looks a bit like John Cusack, though that could be the Skype screen resolution – is almost a glutton for punishment. He went to the auditions for NBC’s (often brutal) Last Comic Standing competition, and even tried out for America’s Got Talent, which was “humiliating” he reveals. I suggest pathos can be a great source of comedy sometimes. “It’s funny you mention pathos, because I never admitted failure when I was younger. I just wanted to get laid. I had this idea that every girl wanted to be with a successful comic.” Misguided though that idea might have been, Franken is now well on his way to becoming a very
successful comic indeed. Following an acclaimed run in Edinburgh last year, he’ll next week be bringing his show, Things We Did Before Reality, to the Soho Theatre for a 10-day stretch. “I haven’t played in England all that much, so it’ll be mostly new to people,” he says. “It’s like Midnight Cowboy set in London. I get taken in by this cockney drug dealer. I’m also working on this Irish construction crew routine – Jonathan Rhys Meyers works for them.” He adopts a hackneyed accent, but that’s funny in itself. “I use the ‘everything but the kitchen sink approach’ for this show. You’ve got the script, wordplay, the funny face, the place, the transition, the voice. It’s kind of a safety mechanism – if one fails, there’s always something else for the audience to laugh at.” Having performed the show numerous times already, I ask if he ever gets bored or stops finding the material funny? “I did two shows in San Francisco recently – one at 6.30 and one at 9.30. The one at 6.30 was amazing. But the second one… it’s like sex twice in a night – never as good.” Will Franken: Things We Did Before Reality, February 28-March 9, Soho Theatre, sohotheatre.com
ONGOING Jamie Kilstein at Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road 9.15pm, Mon £10, Tue & Wed £12.50, concs £10, ThuSat £15, concs £13.50. Intelligent political and social humour. Tony Law: Maximum Nonsense at Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road From Feb 18, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, ends Mar 2, Mon-Thu £15, concs £12.50, Fri & Sat £17.50, concs £15. Surreal and energetic humour from the inventive Canadian stand-up. NewsRevue at Canal Cafe Theatre, Bridge House Pub, Delamere Terrace, W2 6ND Warwick Avenue Thu-Sat 9.30pm, Sun 9pm, £11, concs £9.50. Comedy sketches and songs inspired by current affairs. Until Feb 28. Lewis Schaffer Is Free Until Famous at The Source Below, 11 Lower John Street, W1F 9TY Piccadilly Circus Tue & Wed 8pm, FREE. Self-deprecating standup. Until Feb 27.
Monday February 18
Just For Laughs at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 8pm, £12, concs £10. With Adam Bloom, Imran Yusuf, Addy Van Der Borgh, Dana Alexander, Paul Myrehaug, Benny Boot, Gary Delaney, Katherine Ryan, Phil Nichol, Zoe Lyons, Stephen Grant plus one other act. Robert Newman’s New Theory Of Evolution: Work In Progress at Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX Leicester Square 9pm, £10, phone for availability. Hard-hitting humour. Voices In Your Head at Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road 7.30pm, £12.50. Phill Jupitus takes on the disembodied voice on a microphone.
Tuesday February 19 The Cutting Edge at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 8pm, £14, NUS/ concs £9. A sharp, topical show from a team of six highly skilled stand-ups. Laugh at Ginglik, Shepherd’s Bush Green, W12 8PH Shepherd’s Bush 8.30pm, guestlist £8, mems £5. With Shappi Khorsandi, Gareth Richards, Miss London, Danny Deegan and MC Hal Cruttenden. Lolitics at The Black Heart, 3 Greenland Place, NW1 0AP Camden Town 8.30pm, £3. With Josie Long, Tiernan Douieb, Kate Smurthwaite, Adam Larter, Mark Stephenson and MC Chris Coltrane.
Wednesday February 20
Sara Pascoe And Tom Craine: Work In Progress at Pleasance Theatre, Carpenter’s Mews, North Road, N7 9EF Caledonian Road 8pm, £5. Intelligent wit as the two stand-ups try out new material. 99 Club Leicester Square at Ku Bar, 30 Lisle Street, WC2H 7BA Leicester Square 8pm-10pm, £10. With Josh Widdicombe, Hal Cruttenden and Prince Abdi. Joe Fairbrother: Work In Progress at Hen & Chickens, 109 St Paul’s Road, N1 2NA Highbury & Islington 7.30pm, £6.50. Character comedy as the stand-up tries out new material. Fortnight Club at Downstairs At The King’s Head, 2 Crouch End Hill, N8 8AA Finsbury Park 8.30pm, £5. With Mark Maier, Inder Manocha, Tony Cowards, Lindsay Sharman, Luke Benson, Dan Antopolski, Mary Bourke, Jack Samuel Warner and MC Marian Pashley. The Good Ship Comedy Club at The Good Ship, 289 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR Kilburn 8pm, £4. With Jarred Christmas, Paul F Taylor and MC Bryan Lacey.
99 Club Leicester Square at Storm, 28a Leicester Square, WC2H 7LE Leicester Square 8.30pm-10.30pm, £12, adv £8, £20 & £25 inc meal. With Holly Walsh, Toby Hadoke, William Cook. Jim Campbell: Nine Year Old Man at Pleasance Theatre, Carpenter’s Mews, North Road, N7 9EF Caledonian Road 8pm, £6 & Thurs. Character comedy. Comedy Store Players at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 8pm, £17, NUS/ concs £12. Improvisational humour. Jay Foreman: Mixtape at Pleasance Theatre, Carpenter’s Mews, North Road, N7 9EF Caledonian Road 9.15pm, £6, & Thurs. Quirky comedy songs. Tim McArthur: McArthur’s Parts at Canal Cafe Theatre, Bridge House Pub, Delamere Terrace, W2 6ND Warwick Avenue 7.30pm, £10, concs £8 & Thurs. Character comedy and sketches. Pear Shaped In Fitzrovia at Fitzroy Tavern, 16a Charlotte Street, W1T 2NA Goodge Street 8.30pm, £5. With Lucy Beaumont, Ivan Steward, David Jesudason, Rob Kemp, Daniel Louw, James Loveridge, Steve Adams, Dan Hooper and MCs Brian Damage & Krysstal and Anthony Miller.
Thursday February 21 Battleacts! at The Dogstar, 389 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LQ Brixton 7pm-11pm, £5. Improvised comedy battle.
The Best In Stand-Up at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 8pm, £18, NUS/ concs £13, & Fri. With Alistair Barrie, Paul Sinha and MC Andre Vincent. Pun Run at The Monarch, 40-42 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8BG Chalk Farm 7pm, phone for prices. Pun-based comedy. Ritzy Crackers at Upstairs At The Ritzy, Coldharbour Lane, SW2 1JG Brixton 7.30pm, £8, mems £7, concs £6. With Issy Suttie, Shirley & Shirley, Max Dickens and Colin Hoult. Shambles at Aces & Eights, 156-158 Fortess Road, NW5 2HP Tufnell Park 8pm, £5. With David Trent, Sara Campbell, John Kearns, Ross Lee, Dan Shreiber, Andrew O’Neill, Aisling Bea and MC Harry Deansway. Isy Suttie: Work In Progress at Comedy Cafe, 66-68 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY Liverpool Street 7.45pm, £5. Whimsical musical comedy as the stand-up tries out new material. The Pin at The Invisible Dot Ltd, 2 Northdown Street, N1 9BG London Kings Cross 7.45pm8.45pm, £6. New material from the sketch comedy trio.
Clapham Common 8pm-10pm, £14. With Jeff Innocent, Joe Lycett and MC Pete Jonas. Foster’s Comedy Live at Highlight, Camden Lock, Middle Yard Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AB Camden Town 8.15pm-10.15pm, £17 & £18. With Steve Gribbin, Tanyalee Davis, Lateef Lovejoy, Imran Yusuf and Keith Platt Professional Yorkshireman. Dave Gorman’s Screen Guild at Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street, N1 6SH Old Street 7.30pm, £12. Monthly gathering of Gorman’s favourite established and rising stand-ups. Soho Comedy Club at The Casino At The Empire, 5-6 Leicester Square, WC2H 7NA Leicester Square 8pm10pm, £15, adv £10. With John Moloney, Nick Doody, Andrew Doyle and MC David Mulholland.
Sunday February 24
Friday February 22 Banana Cabaret at The Bedford, 77 Bedford Hill, SW12 9HD Balham 9pm, £14, concs £11, & Sat. Jeff Innocent, Jarred Christmas, Stefani Paulini and Dan Evans. Comedy Carnival at Metra, 14 Leicester Square, WC2H 7NG Leicester Square 8pm-10pm, £12. With Jeff Innocent, Joe Lycett, Sean Meo and MC Pete Jonas. The Covent Garden Comedy Club @ Heaven at Under The Arches Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG Charing Cross 8pm-10.30pm, £12 & £15. With Ian Stone, Andy White, Angela Barnes, Kwame Asante and MC David Ward. Pekka & Strangebone’s Comedy Showpiece at Hen & Chickens, 109 St Paul’s Road, N1 2NA Highbury & Islington 9.30pm, £9.50. Alternative new act showcase. Soho Comedy Club at The Casino At The Empire, 5-6 Leicester Square, WC2H 7NA Leicester Square 8pm10pm, £15, adv £10. With Nick Doody, Pete Cain, Andrew Watts and MC David Mulholland.
Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel at Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX Leicester Square 7pm, £12.50, concs £10. Improvised comedy from Cariad Lloyd and Rachel Parris. Comedy Store Players at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 7.30pm, £17, NUS/ concs £12. Improvisational humour. Comedy Variety Cabaret at Downstairs At The King’s Head, 2 Crouch End Hill, N8 8AA Finsbury Park 8.30pm, £7, concs £5. With John Newton, Danny Ward, Steph Lane, Kelly Kingham, Tania Edwards and MC Will Mars.
Saturday February 23 Amused Moose Soho at Moonlighting, 16-17 Greek Street, W1D 4DR Tottenham Court Road 8.20pm10.30pm, £10. Paul Sinha, Alistair Barrie, Mark Dolan, Darren Walsh and Nat Luurtsema. The Best In Stand-Up at Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE Piccadilly Circus 7.30pm, 11pm, 7.30pm £22.50, 11pm £18, NUS/concs £13. With Alistair Barrie, Paul Sinha, Christian Reilly and MC Andre Vincent. Comedy Carnival at The Clapham Grand, 21-25 St John’s Hill, SW11 1TT
Stand-Up For Hope at Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road 7pm, £20, concs £15. With Milton Jones, David Baddiel, Dan Antopolski and MC Shappi Khorsandi.
scoutlondon.com Scout London 33
Hanks is on cloud nine Tom Hanks initially thought Cloud Atlas was too complicated for the big screen. But now he’s so glad he accepted his role – all six of them. Katie Wright meets the two-time Oscar-winner
“D
o you remember that period of time when every movie had explosions and some guy running away from it?” asks Tom Hanks, in that oh-so familiar, comforting voice. “Well it doesn’t mean anything anymore.” The actor is explaining why his latest film, Cloud Atlas, has far more going for it than just its “eyepopping” CGI effects. “That’s all secondary to the mind games the film’s playing,” Hanks
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insists. “I don’t think anyone’s going to say you’ve got to see this because of the special effects.” Based on British author David Mitchell’s notoriously complicated best-selling novel, the film follows a single story – but one which is split over six different timelines, spanning 500 years. Various historical plotlines are intertwined in assertion of the story’s basic premise: that all our actions have a consequence, even in the distant future. And its Hanks who
makes the case, taking on numerous roles, including a doctor in the South Pacific in 1849, a nuclear power plant worker in 1970’s San Francisco and a damaged goatherd in 2321. It’s a range reminiscent of the variety in Hanks’s own career. Born and raised in Concord, California, Hanks’s dramatic interest originally lay in theatre – something the multi-character Cloud Atlas shoot brought to mind. “It reminded me of starting out in repertory theatre a long time ago,
where you’d have a six-play season,” he says. “In one production you’re playing the keeper of the dogs who says funny things, then in the next you’re playing the Lord of Essex, and in another, if you’re lucky enough, you’d play Iago or Richard III.” He admits that when he first read the Cloud Atlas script, he was doubtful that such an ambitious story could be adapted for the screen. “It was the audaciousness of what they were trying to do. It’s just the biggest thing imaginable. They
PA Photo / © 2012 Cloud Atlas Production GMBH and X Filme Creative Pool GMBH
had to explain it to us!” reveals Hanks. ‘They’ are writer-directors Lana and Andy Wachowski – the sibling team behind The Matrix trilogy – and German-born director Tom Tykwer. “A lot of the time screenplays speak for themselves, but with this one I actually said, ‘You sure you can get the financing to make this?’,” Hanks recalls. But once the trio had him convinced, he was raring to go. “I went, ‘I’m in, I’m in! Let’s go!’,” laughs the 56-year-old, displaying his characteristic enthusiasm. Alongside Hanks is a truly stellar ensemble cast, including Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess and Hugh Grant, who each have at least six roles of their own. Add to that Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and James D’Arcy , each
with another four roles, and Hanks’s misgivings about the complexity of the narrative become clear. Each actor depicts characters of different sex, race and age, and they all faced lengthy sessions in the make-up chair. “The great thing was that we got to put on clothes and pretend to be lots of different people we’re not. It was liberating fun every time,” says Hanks, who jokes that his distinctive features posed the biggest challenge for the make-up artists. “I think of all the actors in the film, I’m the most recognisable in all six incarnations, because you can’t change the shape of this head!” he says, laughing. Hanks thinks he probably spent more time in make-up preparing to play thuggish, modern-day Scottish author Dermot Higgins, than he did actually depicting him on set. But while Higgins is only on screen for a short time, he still makes an impressive impact, and was one of the characters Hanks would have enjoyed spending more time exploring. “He’s the epitome of the worthless celebrity,” says the actor. “Someone who’s done something despicable and because of that becomes famous and rich. It’s a magnificent comment on our time.” Despite being one of the most recognisable people in the world, Hanks himself has always shied away from the notion of ‘celebrity’. After high school, he studied theatre acting and briefly moved to New York before relocating to Los Angeles, where he had his big break (no pun intended) in iconic 1988 movie Big. Box office success and critical acclaim followed with 90s romcom Sleepless In Seattle and hard-hitting AIDS-themed drama Philadelphia, which earned Hanks the Best Actor Oscar in 1994. He won again the following year for the titular role in the timelessly charming Forrest Gump. Soon after that he decided to step behind the camera, to direct (and star in) 60s pop vehicle That Thing You Do! In embarking on what fellow actor-turned-director Ben Affleck
I’m looking for a man called Flash Hanks with some dubious facial hair in Cloud Atlas
recently termed a ‘second act’, Hanks has racked up successes to rival his earlier acting achievements. At the top of that list, he produced and starred in Steven Spielberg’s D-Day juggernaut, Saving Private Ryan, which garnered 11 Oscar nominations. He and Spielberg teamed up again, this time as executive producers, on Band of Brothers, a critically-acclaimed TV series about a company of American soldiers fighting in Europe in the second world war. As Hanks broadened his professional scope, the accolades continued to pour in. In 2002, aged 45, he became the youngest person ever to receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. That same year he produced smash-hit romcom My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with his wife, Rita Wilson. Hanks and Wilson – a successful actress in her own right – will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year. The couple have two sons, Chester and Truman,
and Hanks has two other children, Colin and Elizabeth, from a previous marriage. While the milestone 60th birthday may be looming ever closer for Hanks, it seems he’s not lost any zest for life or his craft. And epic projects like Cloud Atlas show he has no intention of slowing down. “I’ve seen the movie three times now, and each time I see more and more stuff that I’d missed previously,” he enthuses. “It’s hard because, the more we talk about it the more I fear people will think, ‘This sounds like a symposium in college that I fell asleep in’,” he adds. So, while it may ask the big philosophical questions, Hanks is keen to emphasise that Cloud Atlas is very much “a fun, epic motion picture”. Given that his films have grossed a total of more than £5 billion worldwide, this is a man who knows what he’s talking about. Cloud Atlas is released in cinemas on Friday, February 22
I knew I’d have made a good Robin Hood Hanks with Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas
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new releases
Cloud Atlas
(15)
Big has always been beautiful to Lana and Andy Wachowski, writerdirectors of the Matrix trilogy. Bold ambition shimmers in every frame of Cloud Atlas, the siblings’ visually stunning adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel, co-directed by Tom Tykwer. The multi-layered narrative ricochets between seven time frames – 1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2144, 2321 and the far, far future – in which Halle Berry, James D’Arcy, Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving and Ben Whishaw adopt myriad guises with the aid of prosthetics and, in Hanks’s case, one hilariously strangled accent. Cloud Atlas shoots for the moon and narrowly misses. Production design is jaw-dropping and the cast give their all but some segments are superfluous and the languid three-hour running time will be an endurance test too far for some buttocks. Damon Smith
Mama
(15)
Things go bump in the night, repeatedly, in Andrés Muschietti’s ghost story about a struggling writer (Nikolaj Coster Waldau) and his guitarist girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain), who agree to give a loving home to two feral nieces (Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse) found in a ramshackle cabin in the woods. A therapist diagnoses the eldest girl with dissociative personality disorder. “I didn’t get a chance to screw them up. They came that way,” Annabel jokes to a band mate, unaware that a dark spirit watches over the urchins. Punctuated by edge of seat jolts and directorial brio, Mama cranks up the tension with sadistic glee before unleashing a blitzkrieg of death. Once the spirit emerges from the shadows, the film falters, engineering a half-baked finale that is both chilling and cathartic. DS
Song For Marion
(12A)
NICK WALL
Music is the food of eternal love in Paul Andrew Williams’s comic drama, which milks tears between lively choral arrangements of Salt-N-Pepa’s Let’s Talk About Sex and Motörhead’s Ace Of Spades. Those musical renditions come courtesy of the OAPZ, a motley crew of fun-loving pensioners conducted by pretty community centre volunteer Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton). Beloved member Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) battles terminal illness as the group prepares for a competition, and when she can no longer trill, cranky husband Arthur (Terence Stamp) takes her place, rebuilding bridges with his mechanic son (Christopher Eccleston) in the process. Song For Marion is joyful and uplifting, anchored by Stamp’s sympathetic portrayal of a curmudgeonly loner, who finds redemption at his lowest ebb. Redgrave’s solo on Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors is an absolute heartbreaker. DS
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Also showing
Lore (PG) Australian writer-director Cate Shortland’s follow-up to Somersault is another beautifully crafted portrait of blossoming female sexuality, viewed through the blue eyes of the eponymous Nazi youth (Saskia Rosendahl), who is forced to take care of her four siblings when Allied forces sweep into 1945 Berlin. Their 560-mile cross-country trek in the company of Thomas (Kai-Peter Malina), a Jew who would have been put to death by Lore’s SS parents, tests the children’s devotion to their now deceased Führer. Shortland’s camera lingers on the rolling landscapes of the Black Forest, conjuring breathtaking images of the young protagonists nestled in the dewy bosom of Mother Nature. Rosendahl navigates a complex role with remarkable assurance and sensitivity, revealing the maelstrom of emotions that tests Lore’s resolve and our nerves to the limit. DS
Deep Desires and Broken Dreams Riverside Studios’ annual survey of the best in gay cinema returns for a fourth year, led by the UK premières of Christian Martin and Jack O’Dowd’s Cal (Feb 21), which continues the story of the titular gay teenager from Shank, and Marco Berger and Marcelo Monaco’s compendium of erotically-charged shorts, Sexual Tension: Vol 1 (Feb 26). Elsewhere, an overbearing mom hunts for the perfect gay man in the frothy comedy You Should Meet My Son (Feb 22) and awardwinning director Sally El Hosaini takes part in a Q&A session following her gritty east London-set drama, My Brother The Devil (Feb 25). Kiss of the Spider Woman, Cabaret and Beautiful Thing also screen on a single day (Feb 24) for anyone with a hearty filmic appetite. DS
Selected cinemas across London, times and prices vary.
Feb 21-27, times vary, £9.50, concs £8.50 Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, W6 9RL
World Of Women Film Festival
Lindsay Lohan Selectrospective
WOW Film Festival celebrates 18 years of championing international women filmmakers with an afternoon of award-winning shorts, which embrace fiction, documentary and animation. Programme 1 includes Damien Power’s thriller Peekaboo, about a missing toddler on a train, Tanya Goldberg’s black comedy, Heck, in which two 75-year-olds make a suicide pact, Venetia Taylor’s elegy to growing old disgracefully, Garbo, and Meryl Tankard’s uplifting tale of teenage rebellion, Moth (pictured). Programme 2 boasts Alyson Standen’s dreamlike drama Revive, Amanda Henshall’s heartbreaking portrait of terminal illness, Ceiling Skies, Amanda Henshall’s stop-motion puppetry, Collision, and Rebecca Thomson’s erotic fantasy, Slashed. DS
Before the frenzy of tabloid headlines about driving under the influence and paternal estrangement, Lindsay Lohan was the perkiest teen on the Hollywood block. This triple bill harks back to happier days, comprising The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday and one of the best comedies of the past decade: Mean Girls (pictured). Mark Waters’s delicious comedy casts Lohan as 15-year-old outcast Cady, who infiltrates a coterie of beautiful young things known as The Plastics with the intention of bringing down the school’s primo bitch, Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Tina Fey’s screenplay is packed with stinging one-liners and Amanda Seyfried snaffles belly laughs as the ditzy Plastic, who reveals: “It’s like I have ESPN or something. My breasts can always tell when it’s raining.” DS
Feb 23, £14 per session Amnesty International UK, 17-25 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EA Shoreditch High Street
Feb 24, 1.50pm, £18, mems £15.50 The Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BY Leicester Square
Hammersmith
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Tom and Henry Herbert are trying to revive regional cuisine in a new series of The Fabulous Baker Brothers. The cooking siblings chat to Tobias Chapple
E
ver wanted to know what a certain town tastes like? Well, in the new series of their TV show The Fabulous Baker Brothers, Tom and Henry Herbert (aged 32 and 24 respectively) are travelling across the country, helping local restaurants in trouble by coming up with recipes that capture the ‘local flavour’. Each episode follows the brothers as they muck in with a local eatery in need of fresh perspective, be it a greasy spoon or a tea shop. The aim is to unlock the food potential of each, and create locally-inspired dishes to draw the punters in. “We tried to get a taste of each town, so for Blackpool we tried to make food that was pleasurable! Rather than going, ‘Oh, what this
38 Scout London scoutlondon.com
place really needs is a detox, we’re going to give you a sprouts salad’, we did fiery fish balls because they’ve got Morecambe Bay shrimps, and they’re great to eat when you’re on the hoof,” Tom explains. At the end of each episode, locals are given the opportunity to vote for their favourite of the three dishes the brothers have created. “We found that everyone we worked with loved the idea of being busy but they didn’t like the idea of change,” Tom recalls. As local business owners themselves, the brothers know what it’s like to run a small business. “Some of the owners cried when we left!” Tom adds. “It didn’t feel like a negative, going there and trashing their business and their livelihood. It was more like going in with fresh
eyes and seeing how they could tweak it.” It’s a similar idea to Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, but the brothers prefer taking a down-toearth and friendly approach, rather than Ramsay-style rants. “That’s not our style,” says Tom. “We’re much more around the same side of the table as the owners.” Henry adds: “But to get to be on their side you have to have that honest chat. Which is, of course, really awkward and it’s quite difficult, because we’ll only just have met them, and then we try their food and we’re like, ‘Look, we have to be honest and it’s not very nice’. But, if you didn’t do that, they’d be wondering, ‘Why are you here? If there’s no problem then what are you doing?’.
The Fabulous Baker Brothers begins on More4 on Tuesday, February 19
PA Photo / chris terry
Taste of the nation
“I think deep down lots of them know the truth anyway.” During filming, the pair encountered some shocking meals, the worst being squirrel terrine and a disappointing dish they sampled in Bourton-on-the-Water. “It was local trout, served with seasonal vegetables. Sounds good, let’s have it!” says Tom. “It was beautiful trout that had been frozen for convenience, but then defrosted and cooked in the microwave with nothing on it, and served with deepfried croquets and overcooked peas. “It was just so depressing, we were like, ‘Why would you cook it this way?’.” Their toughest challenge, however, was in York, at The Cornish Pasty Bakery, where the menu included a slightly-off chilli lasagne. “They were pretty busy so they were the hardest to get on board,” says Henry. “All we could do was try and inspire them and push them in the right direction.” One of the brothers’ aims was to create better food choices for tourists, that really capture the spirit and flavour of areas. Achieving this meant mixing with the locals. Describing their time in Exmouth, Tom says: “It might not be our scene but we went out with the local Shanty singers. They drank brandy and, not saying they’re drunkards, but they had a great time. “It’s a thing they do by the coast, reliving this old tradition and it was great. We wanted to try and get that into a meal, and we found a way!” Though food and local flavour are at the heart of the series, the brothers’ relationship is a big part of its winning formula, too. Having grown up together, working as a pair seems natural - though they have their share of friendly competition. “We’re brothers, so there’s always slight competition,” says Henry. “But we do different jobs so, even though we’ve got the same goal, we’re not trying to compete for the same crown. We’re better when we’re working together.”
Skyfall (12)
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes Skyfall opens with a breathtaking 12-minute pre-credits sequence, which draws heavily from the Bourne franchise. Sam Mendes’s film looks stunning, courtesy of cinematographer Roger Deakins, and Adele’s soaring theme song harks back to the belting ballads of Shirley Bassey. Daniel Craig has rugged physicality in abundance but his onenote interpretation of the spy who is shaken but never stirred remains devoid of personality. Mendes sensibly surrounds his leading man with an ensemble of award-winning actors. Javier Bardem is deliciously camp and menacing, and Judy Dench is glorious. Ben Whishaw asserts himself as a gadget geek worthy of the Q mantle. The film dazzles during verbal jousts, whether it’s M discovering Bond in the shadows of her London apartment (“You’re bloody well not sleeping here!”) or Bardem’s Silva fondling Bond’s inner thighs and asking what regulation training suggests he do in such a situation. In his 50th anniversary year, Ian Fleming’s debonair secret agent is on top form. A box set of Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall is also available. Damon Smith
Tower Block (15)
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes A man is murdered by hooded figures in the corridors of a condemned tower block, but none of the residents come forward as eyewitnesses to the shocking crime, fearful of the reprisals for helping the boys in blue. Several months later, as the final residents are preparing to move out, new terror grips the block when a sniper begins taking pot shots through the windows. Like her neighbours, Becky (Sheridan Smith) has tried to forget the murder but now has nowhere to hide from a hail of bullets. She tries to escape, only to discover that the mystery attacker has set traps to keep residents hostage in their homes. Silence can be deadly in James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson’s claustrophobic thriller, which sustains dramatic tension from a slender premise. Smith delivers a stand-out performance in an underwritten role, while the supporting cast struggle to flesh out their two-dimensional characters. Some of the dialogue is crisp and Jack O’Connell bags a large proportion of the best lines as the bad boy with attitude. However, James Moran’s script comes unstuck in the closing frames and finishes with a huge anti-climax. DS
Hit & Run (15)
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard) is a nice guy living in a small California town with perky girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell). She is unaware that he is a one-time getaway driver from Los Angeles who testified against his bank-robbing chums in exchange for a new name in the federal witness protection program. When Annie lands an interview in Los Angeles, Charlie agrees to drive her back to his old stomping ground, unaware that gang leader Alex Dimitri (Bradley Cooper) has been alerted to his return. Hit & Run has its heart in the right place but the script is all over the place. Shepard and Bell gel nicely but any sparks of chemistry tend to be extinguished by the madness unfolding around them. Supporting characters are garish caricatures, including Cooper’s dreadlocked heavy, and running jokes collapse wheezing well before the end credits. DS
Lewis – Series Seven (12) Available on DVD and Blu-ray box set
The intelligent writing, languid pacing and colourful banter that distinguished John Thaw’s tenure as Inspector Morse are very much in evidence in this long-running spin-off series. Underpinned by the interplay between Kevin Whately’s no nonsense DI and Laurence Fox’s circumspect sidekick, Lewis quickly shakes off any signs of seven-year fatigue with three perplexing cases of murder and intrigue. DS
Hollywood Camera 69p for iPhone and iPad from iTunes App Store
With the Baftas just over and the Oscars this weekend, film fever is raging. Get into the spirit – and the costumes – with the Hollywood Camera app, launched by a London start-up with sponsorship from the V&A Museum, in conjunction with their recent Hollywood Costume exhibition. The app enables users to take photos of themselves in iconic movie get-ups. Ever wondered how you’d look as Maximus from Gladiator, Queen Elizabeth I or Charlie Chaplin? Well now’s the time to find out. Abi Jackson
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Storming the charts
S
ince Bastille first got together in 2010, they have managed to sustain something of a low profile – and quite deliberately so. It’s a peculiar strategy, you might think. But, as founder Dan Smith explains, it has afforded them the chance to mature at their own pace, away from the harsh glare of mainstream exposure. But that all looks to be ending now. All of a sudden Bastille are on everyone’s ‘ones to watch’ list; there are billboard posters advertising debut album Bad Blood being flung-up all over the country; and next month’s headline tour is to be crowned by two dates at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – so much for the low profile. But it’s the ‘soft start’ approach 40 Scout London scoutlondon.com
that has got them here, allowing them to build a loyal and solid fan base from the ground up. “It’s a weird feeling, I guess,” reflects Smith, the band’s songwriter and leading creative force. “When you’re so heavily involved in everything it’s hard to get perspective, but there are times that you realise exactly what’s going on – like when you do a tour and it sells out, which we’re baffled by. Or when your friends have heard something of yours on the radio and you’re no longer ‘those bums in a band’ to them. They’re like, ‘oh, I’ve heard of the [BBC Radio 1] Live Lounge’ or ‘Reading and Leeds Festivals? Oh!’.” Smith’s conversation is fluid and intelligent, though peppered with self-effacing insecurities that seem to match the delicacies of the band’s
lush electro-pop. He has been writing music for most of his life, but was so shy that he actually kept his talents a secret until he went to university. “My friends entered me into a talent competition organised by Leeds Council,” he reveals. “I had never done a gig before in my life – it was a terrifying step.” Perhaps as a sign of what was to come, Smith won the entire competition. It was a justification of his friends’ belief. But, more importantly, it gave Smith a taste of the thrill of performance – and he liked it. In 2010 he moved back to London and formed a band with a few friends. “I had been doing a few gigs on my own and always found them a bit awkward,” he explains. “I don’t want
to be a ‘singer-songwriter’, as that comes with so much baggage. I never wanted to perform as ‘Dan Smith’, so I decided to use a broader name.” After recording a raft of songs in his bedroom, he teamed up with producer Mark Crew to lay down the final versions. While in the studio,
Ignacio Torres
Tipped to be one of the big break-through acts of 2013, south London’s Bastille are preparing to unleash their neo-synth sounds and delicately layered harmonies on the mainstream. Frontman Dan Smith chats to James Drury
the two also recorded a selection of covers “just for fun”, but decided to release them as free download mixtapes Other People’s Heartache 1 and 2. The mixtapes include covers of Adamski and Seal’s Killer, No Scrubs by TLC, Lana Del Rey’s Blue Jeans
PAPHOTO / BRYAN SHEFFIELD
“Bum in a band” Bastille’s Dan Smith
and Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris, demonstrating both the breadth of Smith’s music tastes and his canny knack for reimagining others’ work. “When you have more than an album’s worth of songs, it’s frustrating having to hold tracks back,” he says, “especially when you realise most people will hear one thing and judge you on that, so it’s good to show all the different things you can do, so people get a more rounded picture of you as an artist.” Remixes have become a key part of the marketing strategy for any self-respecting artist these days, and there have been some very carefully considered remixers picked for Bastille’s work (the F*U*G*Z remix of Pompeii is a stand-out choice). “It can be really annoying if you’re not happy with a remix someone
has done,” admits Smith. “But, on the other hand, it can be really flattering if someone you really rate has taken the time to tinker with what you have created.” Smith himself has recently been turning out some pretty tasty remixes of other people’s work, including a track for so-hotright-now alternative rock band Imagine Dragons. So does having his own work adapted influence how he approaches other people’s? “I’d never really thought about that,” he says. “When it comes to remixes, a lot of people, especially in the electronic music world, are bringing their own sound to what they’re remixing. So one of the things we’ve been doing is bringing the ‘Bastille layered harmonies’
to remixes. It means whatever we do with a track – however deconstructed it becomes – it can always be identified as a Bastille track.” Smith is not your archetypal frontman. His passion for music, his sense of fun and his burgeoning creativity certainly shine through. But his discomfort at the accompanying attention and adulation is equally apparent. He is unfailingly modest, and awkward when talking about his talent and achievements. Luckily for him, his music is very good at doing the talking. Bastille will perform on Launched at Red Bull Studio on Channel 4 on February 21 at 12.15am (Wednesday night). Debut album Bad Blood is out on March 4. scoutlondon.com Scout London 41
THIS WEEK
One Direction
Feb 22-24, The O2, £25 & £33.50
The last time somebody bothered to work it out, One Direction’s Twitter account was adding new followers at a rate of 20,000 a day. That’s almost 14 per minute, or one every four seconds. And they
now have almost 10million followers. You might not give a toss about One Direction, but figures like that are hard to ignore. Whether you see them as adorable singing cherubs or the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Richard Hawley
February 23, The Troxy, £22.50 Arguably robbed of last year’s Mercury Prize by those Alt-J upstarts, Sheffield’s second most prominent Britpop survivor seems – like the fine wine that matches his music so perfectly – to be getting better with age. The former Longpigs and Pulp member’s last album, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, 42 Scout London scoutlondon.com
was a masterpiece of moving and evocative songwriting, at times driving and uplifitng, at others heart-wrenching, and always as comforting as a onesie and a roaring fire. Commercial Road E1 0HX Limehouse
with a mate in tow, they are, like Twitter, a cornerstone of the zeitgeist, single-handedly rescuing the boy band format from irrelevance, reminding us that teenage girls are far more powerful than we give them
credit for, and duly defining the cultural landscape in the process. Welcome to the age of One Direction. Peninsula Square SE10 0DX North Greenwich
jango Django, Miles D Kane, Palma Violets
February 23, O2 Academy Brixton, £20
Of all the NME Awards shows happening this week, this is almost certainly the most eagerly-anticipated, signalling the homecoming of one of 2012’s foremost musical wunderkinds. There’s plenty to admire in the support acts, but it’s Django Django that really matter here. Their peculiar yet brilliant fusing of genres seemed to come out
of nowhere at the start of last year, and quickly made them one of the country’s hottest new guitar bands. Their starry future isn’t really in doubt. Unfortunately, the likelihood of getting tickets for this show very much is. Stockwell Road SW9 9SL Brixton
Scout Stereo
AlunaGeorge February 19, XOYO, £11.50
Heard of these guys yet? If you’re a switched-on music fan, definitely! If not, perhaps you haven’t. But give it time and you won’t be able to avoid them. Glitchy yet sensual, with Aluna Francis’s child-like yet
seductive vocals drifting over the top, their infectious electrotinged r’n’b is one of the hottest and most hypnotic sounds around. It’s not for nothing that they came second in the BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll, or that they
were short-listed for this year’s Critics’ Choice Brit Award. The future is theirs for the taking. Cowper Street
EC2A 4AP
Old Street
Also this week:
Example
February 23, Earls Court, £28.50 Perhaps Elliot Gleave, aka Example, was right that a white boy from Fulham wouldn’t be able to make it in hip hop (we’re referencing early single You Can’t Rap). It would certainly make his abrupt mid-career switch to thumping chart dance more explicable. Either way, it’s a move that has paid off in dividends,
reaping two no1 singles, a no1 album and a major US recording contract, not to mention the ability to play major venues like Earls Court. Who needs hip hop when you’ve got thumping beats? Warwick Road SW5 9TA Earls Court
David McAlmont And Annabel Williams Feb 23, The Hideaway, £10 Deftones, Letlive, Three Trapped Tigers Feb 20, O2 Academy Brixton, £28.50 Girls Girls Girls Feb 24, The Pheasantry, £12 Goldfish Feb 21, KOKO, £20, adv £15 I Am Kloot Feb 19, Barbican Centre, £25 Kid Koala Feb 22, The Scala, £15£19.50, adv £12 Muse Feb 18, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £50 NME Awards Shows 2013: Doldrums Feb 20, Corsica Studios, £10.60 NME Awards Shows 2013: Exclamation Pony Feb 19, Hoxton Square Bar And Kitchen, £11.60 NME Awards Shows 2013: Savages Feb 21, Electric Ballroom, £12.50 NME Awards Shows 2013: Tim Burgess Feb 21, Birthdays, £15.60
1
Rachel Sweet It’s So Different Here
2
Carmel More, More, More
3
The White Lamp Make It Good
4
Suzanne Kraft No Worries
5
Bob Holroyd African Drug (Four Tet Remix)
Are those pan pipes? Don’t ask questions, just let the sunshine in
Should’ve been listening to this back in the eighties. Too cool for school
We go mad for the fuzz-tastic organ
A percussive workout for a good freakout. Best around teatime
Kieran Hebden does it again, this time for genre-defying, boundary-busting Bob
Listen to our playlist: j.mp/scout0028
NME Awards Shows 2013: The Cribs, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Deap Vally, Drenge Feb 22, O2 Academy Brixton, £20.60 Roundhouse Rising: Moshi Moshi Feb 18, Roundhouse, £10 Roundhouse Rising: Neon Neon Feb 19, Roundhouse, £10, phone for availability Shlomo And The Lip Factory Feb 21 & Feb 22, The Jazz Cafe, £12.50 The X Factor Live Tour 2013 Feb 22, Feb 23, Wembley Arena, £32.50
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BOOKING AHEAD ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Apr 25, O2 Academy Islington, £14 ASAP Rocky May 22, O2 Academy Brixton, £20 Adrian Edmondson And The Bad Shepherds Dec 14, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, adv £20 Alchemy: Hariharan Apr 19, Southbank Centre, £10-£55, concs £5-£22.50 Alchemy: Martin Simpson & Arieb Azhar Apr 17, Southbank Centre, £10 & £15, concs £5 & £7.50 Alicia Keys May 30 & May 31, The O2, £39.50 & £45 All Tomorrow’s Parties I’ll Be Your Mirror: I’ll Be Your Mirror 2013: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear May 4 & May 5, Alexandra Palace, weekend £110, oneday £59 Alt-J May 16, O2 Academy Brixton, £16 AlunaGeorge Feb 19, XOYO, £11.50 Amon Tobin Mar 8, Hammersmith Apollo, £28.50 & £35 Anastacia Apr 6, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £32.50 And So I Watch You From Afar Apr 16, The Garage, £11 Angel Haze May 7, The Scala, adv £12.50, and May 9, Heaven, phone for prices Angelique Kidjo And Fatoumata Diawara Mar 8, Southbank Centre, £10£27.50, concs £5-£13.75
Fleetwood Mac Sep 24, The O2, £80-£125 ASAP Rocky May 21 & May 22, O2 Academy Brixton, £20 Athlete May 10, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, adv £21.50 Bad Ass Brass Mar 16, The Hideaway, £12 Bastille Mar 28 & Mar 29, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, adv £13 Beach House Mar 25 & Mar 26, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £18 Beyonce: The Mrs Carter Show Apr 29May 1, May 3, The O2, £55-£85 Biffy Clyro, City And Colour Apr 3, The O2, £26.50 & £29.50 Big Country Apr 21, The Forum, £23.50 Billy Bragg Jun 5, Union Chapel, £20 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Mar 27, O2 Academy Brixton, £22.50
44 Scout London scoutlondon.com
Blondie Jul 7, Roundhouse, £37.50 Bring Me The Horizon May 7, KOKO, £16.50 British Sea Power Apr 17, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £15 Bruce Foxton Apr 12, The Clapham Grand, £17 Bryan Ferry Nov 4, Royal Albert Hall, £35-£95 Buddy Whittington Apr 7, Half Moon, Putney, £13 Bullet For My Valentine, Halestorm Mar 17, Roundhouse, £20 C2C: Country to Country Mar 16 & Mar 17, The O2, day ticket £35-£65, weekend ticket £130 Cancer Bats Mar 15, KOKO, £12.50 Chas & Dave May 18, IndigO2, £26.50£45 Chris De Burgh Apr 24, Royal Albert Hall, £35-£50 Chvrches Feb 27, ICA, £12 Cold War Kids May 9, The Forum, £15 Crystal Fighters May 23, KOKO, £14 D-A-D Mar 2, O2 Academy Islington, adv £15 Death Grips May 2, The Forum, £15 Depeche Mode May 28 & May 29, The O2, £40 & £50 Dexys Apr 15, Apr 16, Apr 18-Apr 20, The Duke Of York’s, £26-£41 Dog Is Dead Apr 24, KOKO, adv £11.50 Don Broco Apr 18, KOKO, £12 Ebony Day Apr 4, The Borderline, adv £6 Edwyn Collins Apr 24, Union Chapel, £25 Eels Mar 21, O2 Academy Brixton, £30 Egyptian Hip Hop Mar 4, XOYO, £10 Eliza Carthy & Jim Moray May 16, Union Chapel, £20 Elvis Costello & The Imposters Jun 4 & Jun 5, Royal Albert Hall, £45 Emeli Sande Apr 8, Hammersmith Apollo, £25-£29.50 Esben And The Witch, Thought Forms Feb 26, The Scala, adv £10 FM Mar 23, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £18.50 Fenech Soler Feb 25, Birthdays, £10 & May 22, Electric Ballroom, £12 Field Day Festival 2013: Bat For Lashes, Solange, Animal Collective May 25, Victoria Park, £49.50 Finley Quaye May 29, 100 Club, phone for prices Four Tet Feb 28, Heaven, £15.50 Foy Vance Mar 13, Islington Town Hall, £15 Frank Hamilton May 3, The Borderline, £7.50 Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls Apr 25, The Forum, £22.50 Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons Jun 25 & Jun 26, Royal Albert Hall, £55-£65 Fucked Up, Titus Andronicus May 30, Electric Ballroom, £16.50 Fun Apr 12, Hammersmith Apollo, £18.50
Classical
Kaiser Chiefs, This Many Boyfriends Mar 1, O2 Academy Brixton, adv £27.50 Gaz Coombes Apr 25, The Garage, £13.50 Girls Aloud Mar 1-Mar 3, The O2, £42.50-£49.50 Green Day, Kaiser Chiefs, All Time Low Jun 1, Emirates Stadium, £45-£65 Hadouken! Apr 25, Electric Ballroom, £14.50 A Hawk And A Hacksaw Apr 17, The Lexington, phone for prices
The Strypes Mar 14, The Lexington, and Mar 29, 229 The Venue, phone for prices Helloween, Gamma Ray Apr 16, The Forum, £25 Iamamiwhoami May 30, Electric Brixton, £15 Imagine Dragons Apr 11, The Forum, £13 Inspiral Carpets Mar 22, KOKO, £18.50 JLS Dec 21 & Dec 22, The O2, £25 & £33.50 Jaguar Skills Mar 23, KOKO, £15 Jah Wobble & Bill Sharpe Apr 26, Islington Town Hall, £17.50 & £20 Jake Bugg, Valerie June, Hudson Taylor Feb 27 & Feb 28, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £14 James Last: One More Time Apr 26 & Apr 27, Royal Albert Hall, £35-£60 James, Echo And The Bunnymen Apr 19 & Apr 20, O2 Academy Brixton, £38.50 Jamie Lidell Mar 8, Heaven, adv £16
The Rest Is Noise: London Philharmonic Orchestra Feb 20, Southbank Centre, £9-£39 Aled Jones May 12, Union Chapel, adv £35 April Fool’s Day Comedy Concert 2013 Apr 1, Southbank Centre, £9.50-£34.50 BBC Symphony Orchestra Nov 10, Royal Albert Hall, £8-£36 Blackheath Halls Orchestra Feb 17 & Mar 3, Mar 1-Mar 10, Blackheath Halls, £57, concs £51 Britten Intercollegiate String Quartet Competition Apr 22, Royal Academy Of Music, FREE Brussels Philharmonic Mar 8, Cadogan Hall, £18-£39 Concordia Duo, Dennis Cooke, Nick Hartley Mar 17, All Saints Arts Centre, phone for prices
Carmen Feb 21-Mar 3, Royal Albert Hall, £21.50£75 Geoffrey Woollatt Mar 17, Westminster Cathedral, FREE, donations welcome RCM Wind Ensemble Feb 26, Bishopsgate Institute, FREE Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Mar 12, Cadogan Hall, £15-£40, mems £20-£35 Sam Furness Jun 20, The Temple Church, FREE The Rest Is Noise: All The King’s Men Mar 1, Southbank Centre, FREE The Rest Is Noise: Liza Minnelli Mar 1, Southbank Centre, £40£120, concs £20-£60 The Rest Is Noise: Royal Academy Of Music’s Musical Theatre Company Mar 22, Southbank Centre, FREE
The Who: Quadrophenia Jun 15 & Jun 16, The O2, £60-£70 Jessie J Oct 29 & Oct 30, The O2, £25 & £33.50 Jessie Ware Mar 13 & Mar 14, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £16.50 Joe Satriani Jun 17, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £40 Johnny Marr, F.U.R.S Mar 15, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £22.50 Journey/Whitesnake, Thunder May 29, Wembley Arena, £48 Kaiser Chiefs, This Many Boyfriends Mar 1, O2 Academy Brixton, adv £27.50 Kate Nash May 1, 100 Club, £15 Katie Melua Oct 2, Roundhouse, £37.50 Killswitch Engage May 5, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £18 Kings Of Leon Jun 12 & Jun 13, The O2, £57.50 Lana Del Rey May 19 & May 20, Hammersmith Apollo, £28.50 Lawson Mar 1, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £15.50 Leona Lewis May 8 & May 9, Royal Albert Hall, £35-£65 Leonard Cohen Jun 21, The O2, £25£75 Lianne La Havas, Rae Morris, George Ezra Mar 11 & Mar 12, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £15 London International Ska Festival 2013 Mar 28-Mar 31, Various Venues, weekend ticket £99.99 London Pop Fest 2013 Mar 1, Mar 2, Mar 3, Various Venues, Fri £6, Sat £15, Sun £10, weekend ticket £25 Loudon Wainwright III May 3, Southbank Centre, £25-£35, concs £12.50-£17.50 Low Apr 30, Barbican Centre, £17.50£22.50 Major Lazer, Angel Haze May 4, Roundhouse, £17.50 Mark Knopfler May 27-Jun 1, Royal Albert Hall, £37.50-£52.50 Marlena Shaw Mar 26-Mar 30, Ronnie Scott’s, £30-£50 Maroon 5 Jun 23 & Jun 24, The O2, £40 & £45
Matchbox Twenty Apr 16 & Apr 17, Hammersmith Apollo, £29.50 McFly May 18, Wembley Arena, £31.50 Meat Loaf: Last At Bat Tour Apr 10, The O2, £57.50 Michael Ball: Both Sides Now Tour May 4, Hammersmith Apollo, £37.50 & £42.50 Michael Buble Jul 1, Jul 3-Jul 5, Jul 7, Jul 8, Jul 10, Jul 12, Jul 13, The O2, £50£75, phone for availability Michael Buble Jun 30, The O2, £50£75, phone for availability Mudhoney Jun 8, The Forum, £18.50 Mumiy Troll May 25, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £20 Muse May 25 & May 26, Emirates Stadium, phone for prices My Bloody Valentine Mar 12 & Mar 13, Hammersmith Apollo, adv £25 My First Tooth, Among Brothers, The Spare Room Feb 21, Bull And Gate, £10, adv £5 My Vitriol May 8, KOKO, £17 NME Awards Shows 2013: Brooke Candy Feb 25, Madame Jojo’s, £9.10 NME Awards Shows 2013: Fiction Feb 25, Electrowerkz, £8.60
Olivia Newton-John Mar 13, Royal Albert Hall, £45 & £55 Olly Murs Mar 10, Wembley Arena, £34 & Mar 29 & Mar 30, The O2, £34 One Direction Apr 1, Apr 2, Apr 4, Apr 5, Apr 2, The O2, £25 & £33.50 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark May 3, Roundhouse, £33.50 P!nk Apr 24, Apr 25, Apr 27, Apr 28, The O2, £42.50-£55 Paloma Faith Jun 7, The O2, £22.50 & £28.50 Paper Aeroplanes, Zervas & Pepper May 22, Bush Hall, adv £10 Parquet Courts, Cold Pumas, Sauna Youth Mar 20, Shacklewell Arms, £5 Patrick Wolf Apr 6, Southbank Centre, £17.50-£22.50 Pere Ubu Apr 23, Bush Hall, £20 Pet Shop Boys Jun 18, The O2, £35 Peter Gabriel Oct 21 & Oct 22, The O2, £40 & £50
Santana Jul 19, Wembley Arena, £38.30-£65.80 Saxon Apr 27, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £20 Sigur Ros Mar 7-Mar 9, O2 Academy Brixton, £30 Sinead O’Connor Mar 27, Barbican Centre, £18-£25 So Solid Crew Mar 21, IndigO2, phone for prices Space, Dollface Mar 7, O2 Academy Islington, £17.50 Squarepusher Mar 30, Roundhouse, £25 Teenage Cancer Trust: Kasabian Mar 22, Royal Albert Hall, £25-£75 Teenage Cancer Trust: Noel Gallagher With Damon Albarn & Graham Coxon Mar 23, Royal Albert Hall, £25-£100
While She Sleeps Apr 22, The Borderline, phone for prices
Bruce Springsteen June 15, Wembley Stadium, £55.75£68.75
Tim Burgess And Lambchop Jun 23, Barbican Centre, £15£25 NME Awards Shows 2013: Fidlar Feb 25, The Garage, £11.60 NME Awards Shows 2013: Jagwar Ma Feb 26, Birthdays, £8.60 Nas Mar 19, The O2, £34-£39, w/CD £44.99-£49.99 Ne-Yo, Tulisa Mar 15, The O2, £36 & £40 Neil Young & Crazy Horse Jun 17, The O2, £45-£65 Netsky Mar 1, The Forum, £15 Nitin Sawhney Jun 27, Roundhouse, £23.50-£25 Noah And The Whale Apr 28, May 5, May 12, May 19, Palace Theatre, £26.50 & £32.50 Ocean Colour Scene Feb 25-Feb 27, Electric Ballroom, £28.50 Of Monsters And Men Mar 5-Mar 7, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £16, phone for availability
Planes Mar 6, Birthdays, phone for prices Portico Quartet Apr 17, KOKO, phone for prices Rascal Flatts Jul 11, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £25 Rod Stewart: Live The Life Tour Jun 4 & Jun 6, The O2, £60-£70 Rodriguez Jun 8, Hammersmith Apollo, £10-£29.50 Ron Sexsmith Mar 7, Royal Albert Hall, £22.50-£32.50
Trwbador Feb 27, The Slaughtered Lamb, phone for prices Roots Manuva Mar 16, KOKO, £17, adv £15 Rush May 24, The O2, £60 & £75
Teenage Cancer Trust: Paul Weller, Palma Violets Mar 25, Royal Albert Hall, £25 Teenage Cancer Trust: Primal Scream Mar 21, Royal Albert Hall, £25-£75 Teenage Cancer Trust: Rizzle Kicks, Labrinth Mar 24, Royal Albert Hall, £25-£50 Teenage Cancer Trust: Ryan Adams, Beth Orton Mar 19, Royal Albert Hall, £25-£75 The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster Apr 12, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, £15 The Jacksons: Unity Tour Mar 3, Hammersmith Apollo, £45-£60 The Selecter, Zion Train, Talisman Mar 23, Islington Town Hall, £19.50 & £24.50 The Smashing Pumpkins Jul 22, Wembley Arena, £38.50 & £48.50 The Stone Roses Jun 7 & Jun 8, Finsbury Park, £55 The Vaccines May 2, The O2, £27 The Wonder Stuff Apr 17, O2 Academy Islington, £18 Two Door Cinema Club Apr 27, Alexandra Palace, £20, disabled £10 Wiley, Skepta, JME Apr 20, The Forum, £15.95 Villagers Feb 20 & Feb 21, Village Underground, £14 Willy Moon Mar 5, XOYO, £11.25 Yo La Tengo Mar 20, Barbican Centre, £15 ZZ Top Jun 24 & Jun 28, Hammersmith Apollo, £45
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C LU B B I N G Monday February 18 Service Industry Night at Rumba, 36 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EP Piccadilly Circus £7, £5 before 12midnight, w/payslip FREE before 12midnight, 9pm-3am. Colin Russell and Donald Sweeneey with R&B, and hip hop. Stampede at Escape Bar, 10A Brewer Street, W1F 0SU Piccadilly Circus £5, £3 before 1am, £1 before 11am, FREE before 10pm, 9pm-3am. DJ Laurence Rene spins pop-punk, alternative, rock and ska, with hosts Oli Sandler and Matt Boland.
Tuesday February 19 Desire at Covert, 65 Albert Embankment, SE1 7TP Vauxhall £8, w/flyer £6, 3am-11am. DJs Steven Geller, Bruno Nouer and Sven Jon spin house and electro records. Panic at The Roxy, 3-5 Rathbone Place, W1T 1HJ Tottenham Court Road £5, NUS/w/flyer £3, guestlist w/flyer FREE before 10.30pm, 10pm-3am. Max Panic, Gaz Panic and That Perfect Fumble spin indie, electro, retro and pop. Pink Tuesdays at Mother Bar, 333 Old Street, EC1V 9LE Old Street FREE, 10pm-3am. Freight Train spin hip hop, R&B, soul, funk and electro. United Colours Of Rumba at Rumba, 36 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EP Piccadilly Circus FREE guestlist before 11pm, 10pm-3am. Resident DJs play R&B, pop and dance.
Wednesday February 20 Beach Bum at Ladybird Bar, 70 Upper Street, N1 0NY Angel FREE, 9pm2am. DJ Larry Sun plays a mash-up of dance, hip hop, electro and party. Trannyshack at Madame Jojo’s, 8-10 Brewer Street, W1F 0SE Piccadilly Circus £5, w/flyer £3, FREE in drag or suitable attire before 12midnight, 10pm-3am. Miss Dusty O, Tasty Tim and Lady Lloyd spin commercial dance and pop at a weekly celebration of glamorous polysexuality. XXL Wednesdays at Pulse, 1-4 Invicta Plaza, SE1 9UF Blackfriars £3, mems FREE, annual m’ship £10, 10pm3am. DJs Christian M and Alex Logan play funky house in the main room, while Joe Egg spins retro in the Fluff Bar.
Thursday February 21 Bad Sex at Proud Camden, The Horse Hospital, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AH Camden Town £7, guestlist £6, £5 before 10pm, guestlist £4 before 10pm, 7.30pm-2.30am. DJs Ronnie Joice, Mayton DJs and Fin Munro play rock, indie, electro and pop, plus live performances from The Ghosts, Tigermonkey and The Empire. Evolution Of Dub Presents Pull Up at Arch, 15-16 Lendal Terrace, SW4 7UX Clapham North £4, FREE before 10pm, 8pm-3am. Reggae, dub and jungle courtesy of Da Vinci Sound, Ambassador, Disorda, NFinnerty and Japu Selektah.
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Cursed, Hoxton FM at Trafik, 331 Old Street, EC1 9LE Old Street FREE, 7pm2am. DJ and producer Red Pig Flower is joined by Nuno_G with some eclectic sounds. It’s a Trap at The Lockside Lounge, 75-89 West Yard Dock, NW1 8AF Camden Town FREE, 8pm-2am. Koshii, Mooch and Gizzla spin trap, hip hop and moombahton with resident support. Pardon My Blog: Red Cup District at East Village, 89 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HX Old Street £7, FREE before 11pm, 10pm-3am. Resident DJs play R&B, hip hop and grime tracks. Porn Idol at Heaven, Charing Cross Arches, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG Charing Cross w/flyer FREE, 11pm4am. DJs spin pop and dance while plucky punters are invited to demonstrate their talents for a shot at a cash prize. Ronnkie Pop’s Razzmatazz at Salvador And Amanda, 8 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JA Leicester Square FREE, 8pm-2am. Tribes, Mystery Jets and Ronnie Joice spin indie, pop and party anthems. So Much More at Market Place W1, 11 Market Place, W1W 8AE Oxford Circus FREE, 8pm-2am. Hip hop, turntablism and electronica from resident DJ Khalil. Taboo at Hidden, 100 Tinworth Street, SE11 5EQ Vauxhall £5, 9pm-2am. DJ Matt Fear play deep house, nu-disco and techno records. T Club at Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB Dalston Kingsland FREE, 9pm2.30am. DJs Ricky Almeida and The Librarian spin soul and punk. Throw Back Thursday at The Hoxton Pony, 104-108 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AH Old Street FREE, 6pm-1am. DJ Big G and DJ Larizzle spin house, hip hop, Afrobeat and dubstep. Twisted Thursdays at Aquum Bar, 68 Clapham High Street, SW4 7UL Clapham North phone for prices, 10pm-late. Benny Blanco spins house and old skool sounds.
Friday February 22 1-800 Dinosaur at Plastic People, 147149 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE Liverpool Street £10, concs £8, 10pm-4am. James Blake, Klaus, Airhead and Mr Assister spin electro, techno and house.
Banjee Boy Realness at Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB Dalston Kingsland £5, FREE before 12midnight, 9pm-3am. Josh Caffe and Joe Robots play house. Black Butter Presents at Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, EC2A 3PQ Old Street adv £7, 11pm4am. Rudimental, Kidnap Kid and Gorgon City spin house, garage and drum’n’bass. Bromance at XOYO, 32-37 Cowper Street, EC2A 4AP Old Street £12.50, 9pm-3am. House and techno courtesy of Gesaffelstein, Brodinski and Club Cheval. Circus LDN at Egg, 200 York Way, N7 9AX King’s Cross St Pancras £20, mems £13, adv/NUS £10, 10pm8am. Yousef, Pirupa and Hot Since 82 spin house and techno. Crack Magazine Takeover at The Nest, 36 Stoke Newington Road, N16 7XJ Dalston Kingsland adv £7, 9pm4am. House and techno music courtesy of Move D and Pardon My French, plus a live performance from Rudi Zygadlo. Dong at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA Aldgate East £12, adv/ concs £10, 8pm. DJ Big Ted spins hip hop, with karaoke and comedy.
The Gallery Live at The Ministry Of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP Elephant & Castle £16, 10.30pm6am. Emily Scott, Gavyn Mytchel, Neil Page, DJ Montoya, Twisted Plastic and Illuminationn spin dance and house with live performance from Chicane, Roger Shah, M.I.K.E and VIllanaranjos. G-A-Y Camp Attack at Heaven, Charing Cross Arches, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG Charing Cross w/flyer FREE, 11pm-4am. Pop and retro classics from the 1970s to the 1990s, plus songs from musicals in the Departure Lounge with a chance to perform at 1am. Geek Out Presents NME Awards Show at Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, SW9 6LH Brixton £10, 10pm-4am. O.Children, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Breton, Kieran from The View and NME DJs spin post-punk, indie, rock, bass and electronica. Pacha Presents at Pacha, Terminus Place, SW1V 1JR Victoria adv £10, 11pm-5pm. House, dance and disco courtesy of Dale Howard, Death On The Balcony, Rebel, Kiss N Tell and a Resonance Records Showcase. Popstarz at Hidden, 100 Tinworth Street, SE11 5EQ Vauxhall FREE before 11pm, 10pm-late. Indie, pop and R&B courtesy of the resident DJs. ShoreBitch Goes South at Secret Location, E1 early bird £5, 10pm-6am. Hip hop, R&B, old skool garage, house, electro and disco courtesy of Sticky, Work It Girls, Bill And Will, 7oel, Long X DJs, Budakan, TRK, Sabokbar, Crooked Cats, Frat Party DJs, Karistocat, Mt. Wolf, Bam Sailey and Mixed Doubles across three rooms, plus live performances from Phlo Finister, DJ Luck & MC Neat and Not Nice.
Basslaced at Fire, Arch, 3943 Parry Street, corner South Lambeth Road, SW8 1RT Vauxhall £5-£15, 10pm-6am. David Rodigan, Shy FX, Ms Dynamite, DJ EZ, Jack Swift and DJ Take spin reggae, jungle and bass, with MCs AD, Majestik and Inja. ELM Presents at Secret Location, E1 adv £18, 11pm-6am. DJs Dinky, Andrea Giudice and Mathieu Mirande mix house and techno records. Fabriclive at Fabric, 77A Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ Farringdon £18, adv £17, mems £13, NUS £10, £8 after 3am, £22 inc CD, 10pm-6am. DJ Hype, Pascal, Hazard, TC, Mampi Swift, Sub Zero, Taxman, Annix, Roni Size, Scratch Perverts, Hatcha, Wookie, Rattus Rattus, Jubei, Alley Cat, Compa, Irrelevant and Box Mouse spin drum’n’bass, jungle, hip hop, dubstep and electronica across three rooms, plus MCs IC3, Evil B, 2Shy, AD and a live performance from Trim And DJ Begg.
Subdub at Cable, 33A Bermondsey Street, SE1 2EG London Bridge queue jump £22, £15, adv £8-£12, mems £12, NUS £8, 10pm-6am. Iration Steppas Sound System, Kanka, Mungo’s Hifi and Mr Willamz spin dub and dancehall in room one, with drum’n’bass and jungle in room two courtesy of Top Cat, Kenny Ken, Serial Killaz, Serum, Bladerunner and Northern Lights, plus MCs Dee Bo General, Tonn Piper, Rafta and Talisman. Tief at Corsica Studios, 4-5 Elephant Road, SE17 1LB Elephant & Castle adv £17.50, 10pm-7am. DJs Todd Terje, Prosumer, Tim Sweeney, Iron Curtis, Linkwood, Casino Times, Ejeca, Ben Sun, Hesseltime, Mr Solid Gold and Thick As Thieves play house, techno and disco. Tonker at Eagle, 349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY Vauxhall £6, mems £5, FREE before 10pm, 9pm-3am. DJ Tim Jones spins house and dance.
Saturday February 23 Big Chill Present Mixmag Stars Of 2013 at The Big Chill House, 257-259 Pentonville Road, N1 9NL King’s Cross St Pancras FREE, 9pm-4am. DJs Krystal Klear, Ben Pearce, Voyeur, Casino Times, Betoko and The Mixmag Allstars play house and dance.
Christmas Club at The Borderline, Orange Yard, Manette Street, W1D 4JB Tottenham Court Road £7, w/flyer £6, 11pm-4am. Indie and retro pop disco with DJ Tom Smith. Club De Fromage at O2 Academy Islington, N1 Centre, 16 Parkfield Street, N1 0PS Angel £6.50, 10.30pm3.30am. Resident DJs play cheese and pop from the 1980s and 1990s, plus themed fancy dress. Club Aloha at South London Pacific, 340 Kennington Road, SE11 4LD Oval £5, £3 before 10pm, FREE before 9pm, 7pm-3am. Les and Ian from Music Inc play jazz, soul, Motown, Latin, funky house and pop classics. Connected at Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY Old Street £15, 8pm-late. East End Dubs, Jesse James, Johnny Bloomfield, Ryan Mac, Matt Rich, Jaim and George Peck spin underground house and techno. Duckie at Royal Vauxhall Tavern, 372 Kennington Lane, SE11 5HY Vauxhall £6, 9pm-2am. Resident DJs spin pop and indie hosted by the inimitable Amy Lamé, plus cabaret. Fedde’s London Takeover at The Ministry Of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP Elephant & Castle £18, 11pm-7am. DJ and producer Fedde le Grand spins house, dance, electro and techno with support from Ad Brown, Graffite, Giraffi, New Sense, Rick Cee & Armack, Hurehaus, Beat Thief, Tempo Eterno, Alex Kella, GreggyG, Route 1 and Ryan Pamatmat across four rooms. Get Darker at Fire, Arch, 39-43 Parry Street, corner South Lambeth Road, SW8 1RT Vauxhall £10-£15, 10pm6am. Photek, Icicle, Alex Perez, V.I.V.E.K, J Kenzo, Synkro and Preditah spin grime, drum’n’bass, garage and house. Hot Boy Dancing Spot at Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB Dalston Kingsland £5, FREE before 10pm, 9pm-3am. The Lovely Jonjo, Hello Mozart and Rory Phillips play indie, electro and dance. Monster at Candy Bar, 4 Carlisle Street, W1D 3BJ Tottenham Court Road £5, mems £3, FREE before 10pm, 9pm3am. Chart hits, dance and pop classics hosted by DJ Lady Bex or Sandra D on alternate weeks. Raindance’s Slightly Late Valentine’s Ball at Great Suffolk Street Warehouse, 29 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0NS Southwark adv £20, 10pm-6am. Ratpack, Apply The Breaks, Slipmatt, Nebula 2, Ellis Dee, G Magikal, Squirrel, Billy Bunter, Daddy Trix, Uncle Dugs, Brockie, Kenny Ken, Nicky Blackmarket, Jumping Jack Frost and Ruffstuff play old skool, hardcore, drum’n’bass and jungle across four rooms, plus a live performance from Dee Pattern. Shake at Electric Ballroom, 184 Camden High Street, NW1 8QP Camden Town £10, NUS/mems £8 before 11.30pm, 10pm-3am. Disco and pop from DJ John Osbourne and Paul C in the main room, while DJ Milo plays party anthems in room two.
Apollonia At Fabric at Fabric, 377a Charterhouse Street, EC1M 3HN Farringdon £19, 11pm-8am. The French outfit are joined by Dan Ghenacia, Dyed Soundroom, Will Saul, Fred P, Greymatter and James Welsh, among the three rooms. Sub Terrania at Cable, 33A Bermondsey Street, SE1 2EG London Bridge £10, adv £8, 5pm-12midnight. DJs Nic And Kaleb, Gabbi Lopez, Mauro Ferno and Mestivan spin house and techno. Trance Together Presents at Hidden, 100 Tinworth Street, SE11 5EQ Vauxhall £8-£14, 9pm-8am. Bryan Kearney, Manuel Le Saux, Eddie Bitar and Maria Healy spin trance music. Tru Thoughts at KOKO, 1a Camden High Street, NW1 7JE Mornington Crescent £20, adv £15.50, early bird £12.50, 9pm-3am. Quantic, Zed Bias, Hint and Robert Luis spin soul, funk, electronica, tropical rhythms and hip hop, plus live performances from Hidden Orchestra, Anchorsong, Belleruche, Rodney and Wrongtom Meets Deemas J. We Fear Silence Presents Butterz 3rd Birthday at Cable, 33A Bermondsey Street, SE1 2EG London Bridge queue jump £23, £16, adv £11 & £13, NUS/mems £10, 10pm-6am. House, garage and grime courtesy of Joker, Swindle, Terror Danjah, Elijah, Skilliam, Royal-T and Champion. We, Like You and Absent Kelly Presents at Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, SW9 6LH Brixton £12, adv £10, 10pm-5am. Indie, electronica, bass and house DJ sets from Django Django, Palma Violets, Fast and Eddie Temple Morris, with a live performance from Bad For Lazurus.
Sunday February 24 Ava Word at XOYO, 32-37 Cowper Street, EC2A 4AP Old Street £5-£10, 1pm-1am. Gavin Peters, Adam Cotier, D’vinci, Two of Us, Roch Mix Hard. The Mascot, Mark Paul, Farina and Playtime Productions spin house and techno.
Ultraplay at Relay, 33 Bermondsey Street Tunnel, SE1 3JW London Bridge £7, adv £5, earlybird £3, 12noon12midnight. Glimpse melds techno and house at a 12-hour daytime party. Hangover Lounge at The Lexington, 9698 Pentonville Road, N1 9JB Angel FREE, 2pm-9pm. Resident DJs play vintage soul, retro rock, indie-pop, lo-fi reggae, funk and folk. Hi-Fi at East Village, 89 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HX Old Street £8, £5 before 11pm, 9pm-2am. Jumping Jack
Frost, Bryan Gee, Chris Interface, Jordan V, MC Moose, Dego, Mark Force, Sophie Callis and Marcia Carr spin drum’n’bass across two rooms. Horse Meat Disco at Eagle, 349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY Vauxhall £6, 8pm-3am. Resident DJs spin dance, house and disco. Jaded at Cable, 33A Bermondsey Street, SE1 2EG London Bridge £12, concs £8, 5pm-1am. House and techno courtesy of Jerome Syndenham and resident DJ Raymundo Rodriguez. Later at Fire, Arch, 39-43 Parry Street, corner South Lambeth Road, SW8 1RT Vauxhall £6, 11.30am-8pm. D’Johnny, Paul Martin, The Oli, The Sharp Boys and Jamie Head spin house music. Nubient at The Big Chill Bar, Drury Walk, E1 6QL Liverpool Street FREE, 2pm-6pm. Mixmaster Morris spins down tempo soul. S.L.A.G.S / CHILL-OUT Sundays at Royal Vauxhall Tavern, 372 Kennington Lane, SE11 5HY Vauxhall £8, £5 before 7.30pm, 2pm-12midnight. Simon Le Vans, Andy Almighty and Sean Sirrs spin disco, electro and house, plus The D E Experience performs live. Wet Yourself! at Fabric, 77A Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ Farringdon £12, adv/NUS £7, adv £5, 11pm-6am. Betoko, Unai Trotti, Peter Pixzel, Cormac and Jacob Husley spin house and electro.
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While acting in an acclaimed all-female production of Julius Caesar, Charlotte Josephine was also training intensively as an amateur boxer, in preparation for her hotly-anticipated one-woman show, Bitch Boxer. She chats to Laura Martin
“T
here are actually quite a lot of similarities between acting and boxing,” explains playwright and performer Charlotte Josephine. “With both, you’re stepping up in the spotlight, showing off these new skills you’ve learnt to a group of people. It’s a really similar feeling.” The marriage of acting and
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boxing might seem like an odd coupling, but it’s a combination that has proved incredibly successful for Josephine, 23, who’s award-winning debut show, Bitch Boxer, is about to open at the Soho Theatre. Premiered as part of the Old Vic, New Voices season in Edinburgh last summer, the one-person show stars Josephine herself as Chloe Jackson, a 21-year-old east London boxer
who’s finding out if it’s still a man’s world as she trains for a fight, while dealing with some hard blows in her personal life. It was actually a chance insult thrown at Josephine that led to her becoming both a one-to-watch in the theatre world and a keen amateur boxer. “I was working in a coffee shop, and I was lugging boxes into an
office”, she reveals, “and someone walked past and made a comment about me not looking very ladylike. I wrote this rant on my phone on the way home after work and a few weeks later I turned it into a monologue. I knew the character that was really fighting for something. Then a day later I read in the newspaper that women were boxing in the Olympics for the first time in the summer of 2012, so it all slotted in together.” The timing couldn’t have been better. At almost exactly the same time that Bitch Boxer opened in Edinburgh, the nation watched as home-grown star Nicola Adams won gold and became Great Britain’s first ever women’s Olympic Boxing Champion.
ALEX BRENNER
Boxing clever
What did you say about my toga? Charlotte Josephine in Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse
66 I’ve been offered about four
HELEN MAYBANKS
fights but I’ve had to turn them down because of acting work 99 season now. I’m really keen to have at least one fight, maybe win it and retire a champion.” For the past few months, Josephine has also been starring as Lucius in the widely acclaimed allfemale production of Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Mama Mia and The Iron Lady director The British stage has hosted Phyllida Lloyd. several plays about boxing in the “I took Bitch Boxer to Edinburgh last few years, most notably Roy Williams’s Sucker Punch at the Royal in August and I got an agent off the back of it and then my career Court in 2010. But none of them kicked off, which was amazing,” says were as serendipitously blessed as Josephine. “But I was rehearsing for Bitch Boxer, which opened just as Julius Caesar during the day, and female boxing became a big talking doing boxing training three times a point across the country. week in the evening. Then it swapped In the name of research, over and I was training in the morning Josephine, originally from Hemel and performing in the evening. Hempstead, trained at Islington “I’m totally addicted to boxing Boxing Club while writing the show. and I try and go as much as possible, And she was soon hooked herself – but I had to limit myself to Monday, so much so that she’s now a carded Wednesday and Friday. By the end of ABA boxer. the week I was just shattered. I tend “I’ve been offered about four to really push myself.” fights now,” she says. “But I’ve had It’s this drive that has led to turn them down as they clash with acting work, which is ironic, so I think Josephine’s show to win the Soho Theatre Young Writer’s Award. And I’m going to have to wait until next
she credits her professional theatre training at acting school East 15 for instilling this motivation: “At East 15 I did the acting and contemporary theatre course, which really focuses on being self-motivated, creating your own work and showcasing it – actually creating a piece of theatre, rather than just waiting for an agent to call. It really pushes me, which is why I’m quite proactive.” Following the two-week run in Soho, Bitch Boxer will head out on a national tour. Josephine will be joining another young writer, Luke Barnes, and his show, In Chapel Street, on a double bill tour. And she’s already thinking of novel ways to bring in an audience. “I’m hoping to go to some boxing clubs in the afternoon and train with them and invite them to the show as well,” she says excitedly. “It’ll be great if we don’t just have an audience full of theatregoers, but some guys who train in boxing or who wouldn’t necessarily go to the theatre. It would be amazing if they came and it sparked an interest.”
Josephine is also looking at a life for Bitch Boxer beyond the tour, namely at the possibility of turning it into a short film or TV series. “I’ve been in discussion with some productions companies,” she reveals, “but I think that’s a long way off, and we’re concentrating on the tour for now. “It may have been an overnight success, but there’s been a year of hard work behind it. It’s been a lot of hard graft and waiting and patience, but things are kicking off now and the work is getting recognition, which is great.” She pauses, and adds with a tired smile: “But the bar is raised now. I’ve got to work even harder for the next step of the journey. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also terrified. It’ll be another big challenge.” Indeed it will. But one she’s no doubt fighting fit for. Bitch Boxer, Soho Theatre, February 19-March 9, £10-£15, sohotheatre.com scoutlondon.com Scout London 49
PREVIEWS
Carmen Royal Albert Hall February 21-March 3, £21.50-£75 This acclaimed in-the-round production of Bizet’s classic opera about lust, superstition and murder is returning to the Albert Hall after celebrated runs in 2002, 2005 and 2009. David Freeman will direct two casts that include Cristina Nassif and Noah Stewart.
The Great Gatsby Wilton’s Music Hall, February 20-March 23, £20-£35 It’s not long now until Baz Luhrmann unleashes what will presumably be a very lavish cinematic telling of F Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated indictment of America’s pre-depression excesses. But before then we have the return of this delightfully immersive production at Wilton’s, one of the most deliciously dishevelled buildings in the capital. Peter Joucla’s adaptation became a cult hit when it first played at the former music hall in the spring of last year, largely because it
was enormously fun. The entire auditorium was converted into a jazz-soaked 1920s speakeasy, complete with bootleggers and liquor-loving guys and gals, all out for a good time. And now we get to do it all again. So forget the devastating darkness at the heart of the story itself; much as they did in the 20s, just throw back the booze and let the good times roll. E1 8JB
Aldgate East wiltons.org.uk
A Time To Reap The Royal Court, February 22March 23, £10-£20 Abortion is a thorny topic in Poland – more so than in virtually any other European nation. This new play by rising Polish star Anna Wakulik tackles the issue head-on, through the story of one woman, in a narrative that travels from a forested Polish Village to the hustle and bustle of London. This translation of Wakulik’s play is by Catherine Grosvenor, with direction from Caroline Steinbeis. SW1W 8AS Sloane Square royalcourttheatre.com 50 Scout London scoutlondon.com
SW7 2AP South Kensington royalalberthall.com
The Route to Happiness Landor Theatre February 19-24, £18 As part off their Page to Stage season of new musical theatre, the Landor is producing this new work from award-winning composerlyricist and BBC comic songwriter Alexander S Bermange, featuring top West End talent such as Cassidy Janson, Niall Sheehy and Shona White. SW9 9PH Clapham North landortheatre.co.uk
The Deep Space Old Red Lion Theatre February 19-March 9, £10-£15 Telling the story of two women locked in a room together after a devastating accident, this London debut from northern playwright Lila Whelan is staged by Sprocket Theatre and directed by Claude Girardi. EC1V 4NJ Angel oldredliontheatre.co.uk
Coalition Pleasance Theatre, February 19-March 10, £8-£14 If the title hasn’t already given it away, this new play by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky is a topical piece of political satire (yeah, no kidding). Having received rave reviews in Edinburgh last year, the fast-paced story of an embattled (and entirely fictional) Lib Dem leader is now coming to London. Promisingly, its cast is an impressive line-up of stand-up comedy talent, including Thom Tuck, Jo Caulfield, Alistair Barrie and Phill Jupitus, who’s apparently playing a wonderfullynamed posho called Sir Francis Whitford. Quite appropriately, the production is being staged in Islington (at the lovely Pleasance Theatre), where playwright Khan is a councilor and the ‘borough arts champion’. N7 9EF
Caledonian Road pleasance.co.uk/islington
God’s Property The Albany, February 20-23, £8-£14 Playwright Arinze Kene is one of the most exciting new voices in British theatre. If you’re a fan of the soaps, you might know him as Connor Stanley from EastEnders. But his talents stretch far further. He was named most promising playwright by Offwestend.com in 2010, has been a writer-in-residence at the Lyric, Hammersmith, and has had work commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and Film London. This new commission for the Soho Theatre will open first in Deptford, where its fractious, racially-charged story is set. Set in the volatile early 80s, it examines the relationship between two estranged mixedrace brothers, against a backdrop of rioting, spiralling unemployment and ska beats. The Talawa Theatre Company production will transfer to Soho Theatre on February 26. SE8 4AG
Deptford thealbany.org.uk
LISTINGS WEST END
The Royal Ballet: Frederick Ashton Programme (La Valse/Meditation From Thais/Voices Of Spring/Monotones I And II/Marguerite And Armand) Ends Feb 23 2013, Royal Opera House, 45 Floral Street, WC2E 9DD Covent Garden £4-£63, phone for availability, Feb 21, 23, 7.30pm. The acclaimed company performs works by Frederick Ashton, the Founder Choreographer. The 39 Steps booking until Oct 19 2013, Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, W1J 0TR Piccadilly Circus £15-£55, Mon-Sat 8pm, mats Wed 3pm, Sat 4pm, extra mat Feb 21, 3pm. John Buchan’s thriller. Billy Elliot - The Musical booking until Dec 21 2013, Victoria Palace, Victoria Street, SW1E 5EA Victoria £19.50£65, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm. Adaptation of the film about a miner’s son, who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. The Bodyguard booking until Sep 28 2013, Adelphi Theatre, 409-412 Strand, WC2R 0NS Charing Cross £20£67.5. Stage adaptation of the 1992 Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston film. A Chorus Line booking until Jan 25 2014, London Palladium, 8 Argyll Street, W1F 7TF Oxford Circus £19.50£65, Feb 2-18 previews £10-£55, MonSat 7.45pm, mats Wed, Sat 3pm (press night Feb 19, 7pm). Revival of Michael Bennett’s award-winning musical. Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises) booking until Mar 2 2013, Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, SW1A 2DY Charing Cross Feb 5-7 Tue-Thu 7.45pm & 3pm previews £15, Feb 7-28, Mar 1 & 2 Mon-Sat 7.45pm & 3pm £15£25, Mon-Sat 7.45pm, mats Thu, Sat 3pm. A musical adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises. Great Expectations booking until Jun 1 2013, Vaudeville Theatre, 404 Strand, WC2R 0NH Embankment Mon-Thu/ Sat mats £25-£50, Fri & Sat eves £25£55, Feb 1-5 previews £25-£45, Premium Seats £75, Mon, Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Tue 7pm, mats Wed, Sat 3pm. Jo Clifford’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel.
52 Scout London scoutlondon.com
Jersey Boys booking until Oct 20 2013, Prince Edward Theatre, 28 Old Compton Street, W1D 4HS Leicester Square Tue-Thu £20-£65, Fri-Sun £20-£67.50, Premium Seats Tue-Thu £85, Fri-Sun £95, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm, mats Tue, Sat 3pm. Musical drama about Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons. The Judas Kiss booking until Apr 6 2013, The Duke Of York’s, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4BG Leicester Square £15-£52.50, Premium Seats £65, MonSat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. Rupert Everett plays Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s drama. Les Miserables booking until Oct 26 2013, Queen’s Theatre, 51 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6BA Piccadilly Circus £20-£85, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. Musical based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel. Let It Be booking until Oct 5 2013, Savoy Theatre, Savoy Court, Strand, WC2R 0ET Charing Cross £20£60, Mon, Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 7pm, mats Sat & Sun 3pm. 50 years since the release of their first single, The Beatles are celebrated in this musical-narrative. The Lion King booking until Jun 30 2013, Lyceum Theatre, 21 Wellington Street, WC2E 7RQ Covent Garden Tue-Thu £25-£62.50, Fri, Sun £27.50£65, Sat £30-£67.50, Premium Seats £70-£95, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat & Sun 2.30pm, extra mats Feb 21, Apr 4, no perf Apr 14. Musical based on the Disney film. Macbeth booking until Apr 27, Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, SW1A 2DY Charing Cross Mon £15 available online on the first day of each month, Tue-Sat £24.50-£54.50, Premium Seats £65, £10 day seats available in person at the box office from 10am on the day of the performance, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm (press night Feb 22, 7pm). James McAvoy and Claire Foy headline Jamie Lloyd’s staging of Shakespeare. Mamma Mia! booking until Apr 13 2013, Novello Theatre, 5 Aldwych, WC2B 4LD Covent Garden Mon-Fri £15-£64, Sat £15-£67.50, Mon-Sat 7.45pm, mats Thu, Sat 3pm. Musical comedy based at a family wedding and set to the ABBA songbook. Matilda: The Musical booking until Dec 22 2013, Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, WC2H 9HU Covent Garden £19-£58.50, disabled £28.75, Tue-Thu under 18s £19-£48.50. Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s tale. Monty Python’s Spamalot booking until Apr 13 2013, Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5DE Charing Cross £15-£85, Mon-Sat 8pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. Eric Idle and John Du Prez’s musical comedy about King Arthur. The Mousetrap booking until Dec 21 2013, St Martin’s Theatre, West Street, Cambridge Circus, WC2H 9NZ Leicester Square £16-£42, Premium Seats £61, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Tue 3pm, Sat 4pm. Agatha Christie’s murder mystery.
The Audience booking until Jun 15 2013, Gielgud Theatre, 35-37 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6AR Piccadilly Circus £10£59, concs available, limited number of £10 day seats on sale from 10am on day of performance from the box office, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm, no mats Feb 20, Mar 6 (press night Mar 5, 7pm). Peter Morgan’s fictional renditions of private meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and her Prime Ministers, starring Helen Mirren. Old Times booking until Apr 6 2013, The Harold Pinter Theatre, 6 Panton Street, SW1Y 4DN Piccadilly Circus £10£49.50, £10 front row day seats available at the box office from 10am on day of the performance, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 3pm. Harold Pinter’s sexually charged drama starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell and Lia Williams. One Man, Two Guvnors booking until Aug 31 2013, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 18 Suffolk Street, SW1Y 4HT Piccadilly Circus £15-£55, premium seats £85, concs available, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. Richard Bean’s comic tale, based on Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant Of Two Masters. The Phantom Of The Opera booking until Oct 26 2013, Her Majesty’s Theatre, 57 Haymarket, SW1Y 4QL Piccadilly Circus £22.45-£85, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long-running Gothic musical. Privates On Parade booking until Mar 2 2013, Noel Coward Theatre, 85-88 St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4AU Leicester Square £10-£57.50, Premium Seats £85, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm, captioned perf Feb 23, 2.30pm. Peter Nichols’s awardwinning comedy set during the Malayan Campaign of the second world war. Quartermaine’s Terms booking until Apr 13 2013, Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DA Leicester Square £25-£58.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm. Rowan Atkinson stars as a teacher in Simon Gray’s tragi-comic play. Rock Of Ages booking until Nov 2 2013, Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0HH Charing Cross £25£65, Mon-Sat 7.45pm, mats Fri & Sat 3pm, transfer from Shaftesbury Theatre. Chris D’Arienzo’s musical celebrating Los Angeles rock culture.
The Royal Ballet: A Mixed Programme (Apollo/New Wheeldon/New Ratmansky) Starts Fri, ends Mar 14 2013, Royal Opera House, 45 Floral Street, WC2E 9DD Covent Garden £4-£63, Feb 22, Mar 7, 14, 7.30pm, mats Feb 23, 12.30pm, Mar 9, 12noon. A triple bill programme featuring the latest works by Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky. Shrek - The Musical booking until Feb 24 2013, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Catherine Street, WC2B 5JF Covent Garden £20-£65, Wed & Thu eves family of four £99-£150, additional seats £29.50 (upper circle) & £45 (best available), Premium Seats £95, Mon, Thu-Sat 7.30pm, Wed 7pm, mats Thu, Sat & Sun 3pm. Musical based on the computer-animated film. Singin’ In The Rain booking until Sep 1 2013, Palace Theatre, 109-113 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5AY Leicester Square £14-£84, £25 day seats available from the box office from 10am on day of the performance, Oct 1-Aug 31 2013, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mat Oct 1-Aug 31 2013, Wed, Sat 2.30pm. Musical based on the MGM film about the end of silent movies. Stomp booking until Dec 22 2013, Ambassadors Theatre, West Street, WC2H 9ND Leicester Square £20-£49.50, Mon, Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm, mats Thu, Sat & Sun 3pm, no perf Jul 27, Aug 12. Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell’s percussion-based spectacular. The Tailor-Made Man booking until Apr 6 2013, Arts Theatre, 6-7 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB Covent Garden £20-£39.50, Feb 13-20 previews £10£29.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm (press night Feb 21, 7pm, extra mat perf Feb 20, 2.30pm). The true story of silent screen actor William Haines who lost his MGM contract due to his homosexuality, written by Claudio Macor. Thriller Live booking until Oct 15 2013, Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7ES Piccadilly Circus £26£87.50, Tue-Fri, Sun 7.30pm, Sat 8pm, mats Sat 4pm, Sun 3.30pm. A celebration of the music of Michael Jackson. Top Hat - The Musical booking until Apr 27 2014, Aldwych Theatre, 49 Aldwych, WC2B 4DF Covent Garden £20£65, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm, Feb 18-Apr 20, Sun 4pm, no eve perf Feb 18-Apr 20, Wed 7.30pm. Irving Berlin’s romantic musical. Vincent Simone And Flavia Cacace: Midnight Tango booking until Mar 2 2013, Phoenix Theatre, 110 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JP Leicester Square £20-£55, Premium Seats £90, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 3pm. The dance professionals present a showcase of tango routines. Viva Forever! booking until Jun 1 2013, Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman Street, W1D 7DY Piccadilly Circus £20£67.50, Nov 27-30, Dec 1-10 previews £20-£52.50, Mon-Thu, Sat 7.30pm, Fri 5pm & 8.30pm, mats Sat 3pm. Jennifer
Saunders’s comedy musical, featuring the songs of the Spice Girls. War Horse booking until Feb 15 2014, New London Theatre, 166 Drury Lane (corner of Parker Street), WC2B 5PW Covent Garden £15-£55, Premium Seats £85, Mon, Wed-Sat 7.30pm, Tue 7pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm. Michael Morpurgo’s story about a farm horse caught up in the horrors of the First World War. We Will Rock You booking until Mar 23 2013, Dominion Theatre, 268-9 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7AQ Tottenham Court Road Mon-Fri £27.50-£55, Sat £27.50-£60, MonSat 7.30pm, mats Sat 2.30pm, Feb 27, 2.30pm. Futuristic musical set to the hits of Freddie Mercury’s Queen. Wicked booking until Apr 27 2013, Apollo Victoria Theatre, 17 Wilton Road, SW1V 1LG Victoria Mon-Fri eves/ mats £15-£62.50, Sat eves £15-£65, 24 front row day tickets priced £27.50 each released 10am at the box office, maximum two per person, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm, extra mat Feb 21, 2.30pm. Musical charting the early years of the Wicked Witch Of The West. The Woman In Black booking until Dec 14 2013, Fortune Theatre, Russell Street, WC2B 5HH Covent Garden £16.50-£48, Tue-Sat 8pm, mats Tue, Thu 3pm, Sat 4pm. Adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story.
OFF WEST END 1001 Nights: Unicorn Theatre (Over 6s) Ends Mar 17 2013, Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, SE1 2HZ London Bridge £16, under 21s £10, concs £13. Drawn from the stories of the Arabian Nights, Douglas Rintoul’s adaptation offers an adventurous drama. Anton Du Beke & Erin Boag: Anton And Erin Go To Hollywood Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS Barbican £19.50-£47.50, Feb 23, 3pm & 7.30pm. The dancing duo embark on a nationwide tour, paying tribute to the glamour of classic Hollywood. Cocktail Sticks booking until Mar 30 2013, National Theatre: Lyttelton, South Bank, SE1 9PX Waterloo £12-£32, Feb 18, 20 & 21, 25 & 26, Mar 16, 18, 28, 30, 6pm, mats Mar 10, 17, 3.30pm. An oratorio without music by Alan Bennett, with Alex Jennings and Janet Dale. Dear World booking until Mar 30 2013, Charing Cross Theatre, The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NL Embankment £15-£42.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. A new version of Jerry Herman’s musical fable, written here by David Thompson. Di And Viv And Rose Ends Feb 23 2013, Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU Swiss Cottage Mon £22, concs £15, Tue-Sat £29, concs £18, Wed, Sat mats OAP £15, Jan 17-22 previews £22, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed 2.30pm, Sat 3pm. Amelia Bullmore’s insightful comedy drama, featuring Tamzin Outhwaite, Gina McKee and Anna Maxwell Martin.
Imagine Children’s Festival: Mega Ends Feb 22 2013, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX Waterloo £8, Feb 18-22, 11am-4pm, every 30 minutes. An interactive theatre piece created by the performance artist Bryony Kimmings. Imagine Children’s Festival: The Queen’s Knickers: Southbank Centre And The Egg, Bath (Over 3s) Ends Feb 22 2013, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX Waterloo £10, child £5, Feb 18-22, 10.30am & 12.30pm. An entertaining adaptation of the children’s book by Nicholas Allan.
Bottleneck Starts Tue, ends Mar 9 2013, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road Feb 19 £10, Feb 20-28, Mar 1-9 £15, concs £10, From Feb 19, Mon-Sat 8.30pm, Sat 4.30pm, press night Feb 22. A solo comedy written by Luke Barnes.
The Effect booking until Feb 23 2013, National Theatre: Cottesloe, South Bank, SE1 9PX Waterloo £12-£32. Lucy Prebble’s drama looks at sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine. Feast Ends Feb 23 2013, Young Vic, 66 The Cut, SE1 8LZ Waterloo Jan 25-31 previews £10-£19.50, Feb 1-23 £10-£30, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. A vibrant musical tale about the Yoruba culture from Nigeria. Glasgow Girls Ends Mar 2 2013, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, E15 1BN Stratford Mon-Thu/Sat mats £5-£20, Mon-Thu concs/Sat mats concs £5-£15, Fri & Sat eves £12-£24, concs £10-£18. David Grieg and Cora Bissett’s musical based on a true story. How To Catch A Star: Blunderbus Theatre (Ages 3-7) Starts Tue, ends Feb 23 2013, Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, King Street, W6 0QL Hammersmith £8, family £30, £11 child show & messy play, Feb 19-23, 11am & 1pm, Feb 23, 12noon & 2pm. Children’s show adapted from Oliver Jeffers’s book. If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep booking until Mar 9 2013, Jerwood Theatre At The Royal Court, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS Sloane Square Mon £10, Tue-Sat £12-£28, Thu, Sat 2.30pm and all on perfs until Feb 23 concs £12, £15, £23, 25s and under £8, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm (press night Feb 20, 7pm, no mat perf Feb 21, 28). A political play on the ethos of austerity and offering an alternative. I Know How I Feel About Eve Ends Feb 23 2013, Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU Swiss Cottage £5-£12, Mon-Sat 7.45pm, mat Feb 23, 3.15pm. Lisa Spirling directs Colette Kane’s drama.
Kiss Me Kate booking until Mar 2 2013, Old Vic, 103 The Cut, SE1 8NB Waterloo £11-£60, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm. The awardwinning, Cole Porter classic musical is directed by Trevor Nunn. LIFT Ends Feb 24 2013, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE Tottenham Court Road Jan 30 & 31 previews £15, standing £10, Feb 1-24 £29.50, Slips £19.50, Standing £10, concs £22.50, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat & Sun 4pm. An original musical set around the Covent Garden tube station lift, with music and lyrics by Craig Adams. The Magic Flute Ends Mar 3 2013, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, W6 9RL Hammersmith Feb 5 & 6 previews £22.50, concs £22, Feb 7-28, Mar 1-3 £25, concs £22.50, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm, mats Sat 2.45pm. Kit HeskethHarvey’s translation of Mozart’s opera. Merrily We Roll Along Ends Mar 9 2013, The Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark Street, SE1 1RU London Bridge £35, concs £27.50, £43 inc meal, Premium Seats £37.50, Tue-Sat 8pm, mats Sat & Sun 3.30pm. Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical, based on the 1934 drama by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart. Money: The Game Show Ends Mar 2 2013, The Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ Shepherd’s Bush Mon-Sat eves £19.50, concs £12, Sat mats £15, concs £10, Feb 27 mat £15, concs £10. Satirical performance exploring the origins of the banking crisis. Our Country’s Good Ends Mar 9 2013, St James Theatre, 12 Palace Street, SW1E 5JA Victoria £25-£42.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s drama, based on The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally, is directed by Max Stafford-Clark. The Paper Cinema’s Odyssey Ends Mar 9 2013, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN Clapham Junction £15, concs £10, Mon-Sun 7.30pm. Homer’s epic poem is retold using cinematic projection and puppetry. People booking until Apr 2 2013, National Theatre: Lyttelton, South Bank, SE1 9PX Waterloo £12-£47. Alan Bennett’s drama about the owner of a British stately home contemplating a sale of the house’s contents.
Oh What A Lovely War Ends Mar 15 2013, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, E15 1BN Stratford Feb 4-6 previews £15, Feb 1-3, 7-28, Mar 1-15 Mon-Sat 7.30pm & 2.30pm £12£22, concs £8-£14.50, Fri-Sun 7.30pm & 3pm £14-£28, concs £9.50-£18.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat 2.30pm, Sun 3pm. Satirical musical about world war one, originally adapted by Joan Littlewood, from Charles Chilton’s 1961 radio play.
Playing Cards 1: SPADES Ends Mar 2 2013, Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH Chalk Farm £15-£45, Feb 7-9 previews £15-£40, concs available, Mon-Sat 7pm. The first in a quartet of plays each shaped around a suit in a deck of cards, from Robert Lepage. Port booking until Mar 24 2013, National Theatre: Lyttelton, South Bank, SE1 9PX Waterloo £12-£34, concs available. A young girl, despite everything, looks to the future and for something better, in Simon Stephens’s drama. Salad Days Ends Mar 2 2013, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, W6 9RL Hammersmith £25, concs £20, Premium Seats £30 & £35, Cafe Seats £40, Tue-Sat 7.45pm, mats Thu, Sat & Sun 3pm. Julian Slade’s and Dorothy Reynolds’s sunny and romantic musical. Sensacional: Imaginart (Ages 18 Months-4 Years) Starts Tue, ends Feb 24 2013, Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, SE1 2HZ London Bridge £10. Sound-and-light show for toddlers. The Showstoppers Ends Feb 25 2013, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP South Kensington £18, Mon 7.30pm. Improvised musical comedy from the acclaimed troupe. Tango Fire: Flames Of Desire Ends Feb 24 2013, Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, WC2A 2HT Holborn £15£42, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat 2.30pm, Sun 4pm. The history of tango told via a series of dance vignettes. Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch: Vollmond Starts Fri, ends Feb 25 2013, Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN Angel £15-£60, Feb 22 & 23, 25, 7.30pm, mat Feb 24, 4pm. A rarely performed work from the repertoire of the acclaimed choreographer.
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LISTINGS Trelawny Of The Wells Ends Apr 13 2013, Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LX Covent Garden Feb 15-25 previews £10-£27.50, standing £7.50, Feb 26-28, Mar 1-31, Apr 1-13 £10-£35, standing £7.50, Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Thu, Sat 2.30pm (press night Feb 26, 7pm, no mat perf Feb 21, 23). Arthur Wing Pinero’s homage to the stage, directed by BAFTA award-winning director Joe Wright. The Turn Of The Screw Ends Mar 16 2013, Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, N1 1TA Highbury & Islington £8£32, concs available. Henry James’s ghostly novella, adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. This House Starts Sat, booking until Apr 8 2013, National Theatre: Olivier, South Bank, SE1 9PX Waterloo £12-£47, Feb 23, 25-27, Mar 7-9, 11, 15 & 16, 1820, 27 & 28, 30, Apr 1, 5 & 6, 8, 7.30pm, mats Mar 9, 16, 20, 27, 30, Apr 6, 2pm, Mar 10, 17, Apr 7, 2.30pm. A political drama set during the year of 1974, written by James Graham.
FRINGE Agamemnon Starts Tue, ends Feb 24 2013, The Courtyard, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, N1 6EU Old Street £10, concs £7, Feb 19-24, 7.30pm. Yvonne Morley directs Aeschylus’s tragedy. Aladdin Ends Mar 2 2013, Brick Lane Music Hall, 443 North Woolwich Road, E16 2DA Liverpool Street A very grown-up pantomime show, written by Vincent Hayes. Blood Wedding Ends Feb 23 2013, The New Diorama Theatre, 15-16 Triton Street, NW1 3BF Great Portland Street £15.50, concs £12.50, All three plays in The Faction Rep season £40, concs £35, Feb 21 & 22, 7.30pm, mat Feb 23, 11am. The tragic love story by Federico Garcia Lorca, adapted by Gareth Jandrell. Boy George’s Taboo Ends Mar 31 2013, Brixton Clubhouse, 467 Brixton Road, SW9 8HH Brixton £10, £25, Meal Deal with top price ticket only £32.50, Oct 31 £20, Tue-Sun 7.30pm, mats Sat & Sun 3pm. Boy George’s romantic musical set during the era of the New Romantics Brainville At Night Ends Feb 23 2013, Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, SE4 2DH Honor Oak Park £13, concs £10, TueSat 7.45pm. Drama in which a confused woman slips into film noirish memories and fantasies. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari Ends Mar 16 2013, Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston Junction £17, E8 3DL concs £12, Mon-Sat 8pm, mats Sat 3pm. A thrilling adaptation with music from simple8 theatre, of the silent horror movie from 1920. Chess The Musical Ends Mar 16 2013, Union Theatre, 204 Union Street, SE1 0LX Waterloo £18, concs £16, Feb 13 & 14 previews £15, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 2.30pm & 7pm. A fully staged production of the musical by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice.
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Consumed Starts Wed, ends Feb 23 2013, Tara Theatre, 356 Garratt Lane, SW18 4ES Earlsfield £10, Feb 2023, 7.30pm. Romantic drama set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing China. Dear Edwina Starts Wed, ends Feb 23 2013, LOST Theatre, 208 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2JU Stockwell £10, Feb 20-23, 5pm & 8pm, mats Feb 21-23, 2pm, Feb 21, 11am. Any problem, large or small, will be answered in this musical show written by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich. Desolate Heaven Ends Mar 2 2013, Theatre 503, The Latchmere Pub, 503 Battersea Park Road, SW11 3BW Clapham Junction £15, concs £10, Tue-Sat 7.45pm, Sun 5pm. Paul Robinson directs Ailis Ni Riain’s drama. Dogs Don’t Do Ballet: Little Angel Theatre (Ages 2-6) Starts Wed, ends Feb 23 2013, Jacksons Lane Theatre, 269a Archway Road, N6 5AA Highgate £9.95, Feb 20-23, 12noon & 3pm, Feb 22 & 23, 10.30am. David Duffy and Andrea Sadler’s adaptation of the book written by Anna Kemp. Dr Faustus: Network Theatre Company Starts Wed, ends Mar 2 2013, The Network Theatre, 246A Lower Road, SE1 8SJ Waterloo phone for prices, From Feb 20, Feb 20-23, Feb 27 & 28, Mar 1 & 2, 7.30pm, doors 7pm. Contemporary adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s drama. Fiesco Ends Feb 23 2013, The New Diorama Theatre, 15-16 Triton Street, NW1 3BF Great Portland Street £15.50, concs £12.50, All three plays in The Faction Rep Season £40, concs £35, Feb 20, 7.30pm, mat Feb 23, 3pm. Freidrich Schiller’s republican tragedy, adapted by Daniel Millar and Mark Leipacher. Freakoid Starts Tue, ends Mar 9 2013, Ovalhouse, 54 Kennington Oval, SE11 5SW Oval £14, under 26s/ Equity £10, concs £8, From Feb 19, TueSat 8pm, press night Feb 21. A solo piece with music and smutty language, about a woman and a sentient vacuum cleaner who fall in love. Gay’s The Word Ends Mar 2 2013, Jermyn Street Theatre, 16B Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6ST Piccadilly Circus £20, concs £18, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat & Sun 3.30pm, extra mat Feb 20, 27, 3.30pm, no mat perf Feb 24. Ivor Novello’s musical in which a down-and-out celebrity stages her comeback. I Love You But We Only Have Four Minutes To Save The Earth Toynbee Studios, Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, E1 6AB Aldgate East £5, Feb 21, 7.30pm. Alt-cabaret performances along with live performance art and film, in this show created by Nathan Evans. In The Beginning Was The End Ends Mar 30 2013, Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 1LA Temple £24.50, concs £19.50, Mon-Thu every five minutes from 6pm until 10.55pm, average journey time 70 minutes. Dreamthinkspeak’s site-responsive promenade through an underground labyrinth.
Hamlet Ends Mar 3 2013, The Rose, Bankside, 56 Park Street, SE1 9AR London Bridge £12, concs £10, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sun 3pm. An intimate production of Shakespeare’s Denmark tragedy, directed by Martin Parr. Lean Ends Feb 23 2013, Tristan Bates Theatre, The Actors Centre, 1a Tower Street, WC2H 9NP Leicester Square £13, concs £10, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sun 3.30pm. A revealing drama of a couple’s battle with anorexia, written by Isley Lynn. Linck Starts Tue, ends Feb 24 2013, The Last Refuge, Entrance Through Bussey Building Courtyard, 133 Rye Lane, Peckham Rye £12, concs SE15 4ST £8, Feb 19-23, 8pm, Feb 24, 4pm. London Wall Ends Feb 23 2013, Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, SW10 9ED West Brompton Jan 29 & 30 previews £9, Jan 31, Feb 1-10 Wed-Sat £14, concs/Tue £10, Feb 12-23 Wed-Sat £16, concs/Tue £12, no concs Sat, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat & Sun 3pm. A look at the life of female office workers in the 1930s. Love On Trial Starts Tue, ends Feb 23 2013, Ovalhouse, 54 Kennington Oval, SE11 5SW Oval £10, concs £6, Feb 19-23, 7.45pm. Scenarios contrasting the press frenzy surrounding George Michael’s 1998 arrest for ‘lewd conduct’ with a story of homosexuality in Malawi. Love Thy Brother Starts Tue, ends Feb 24 2013, The Courtyard, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, N1 6EU Old Street £10, concs £9, Feb 1924, 7.30pm. A hard-hitting drama about homosexuality in football, written by upand-coming writer George McLean. Macbeth Ends Feb 24 2013, Camden People’s Theatre, 58-60 Hampstead Road, NW1 2PY Euston £10, concs £8, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sun 4.30pm. Shakespeare’s famous play of murder and vengeance. One For The Road Starts Wed, ends Feb 24 2013, The London Theatre, New Cross, 455 New Cross Road, SE14 6TA New Cross £11, Feb 20-23, 7.30pm, Feb 24, 6pm. Drama set at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. One Touch Of Venus Ends Feb 23 2013, Ye Olde Rose And Crown Theatre Pub, 53-55 Hoe Street, E17 4SA Walthamstow Central £15, concs £12.50, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mat Sun 3.30pm. Kurt Weill’s satirical musical with book and lyrics by Ogden Nash. Othello Ends Feb 22 2013, The Bussey Building/CLF Art Cafe, 133 Rye Lane, Peckham Rye Mon SE15 4ST Theatre For A Fiver Night £5, Tue-Sat £12,
concs £10, Mon-Sat 7.30pm. Adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy set in the world of western military security companies. The Pinstripe Trilogy (Matador/The Bean Counter/Trust Fund) Ends Feb 23 2013, Theatre Delicatessen, Marylebone Gardens, 35 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QA Baker Street £16, concs £12, Mon-Sat 7.30pm-9pm. A trilogy of acerbic plays about the economic crisis. Radha Is Looking Good & The Clock Starts Fri, ends Feb 23 2013, Pleasance Theatre, Carpenter’s Mews, North Road, N7 9EF Caledonian Road £10, concs £8, Feb 22 & 23, 7.45pm. Hide And Seek Theatre presents a devised drama double bill. Romeo & Juliet Ends Mar 2 2013, Upstairs At The Gatehouse, Hampstead Lane, N6 4BD Highgate Tue £10, Wed-Fri/Sun £14, concs £12, Sat £16, concs £14, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sun 4pm. Shakespeare’s tragedy of forbidden love, here set in 1960s Brighton. Saer Doliau Ends Feb 19 2013, Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, SW10 9ED West Brompton £14, concs £10, Feb 3 & 4, 10 & 11, 17-19, 7.30pm, mats Feb 5, 12, 2pm. Gwenlyn Parry’s Welsh-language drama. The Secret Garden Ends Mar 17 2013, King’s Head, Islington, 115 Upper Street, N1 1QN Angel £10-£25, concs £16, Mon, Sun 7.15pm, mat Mar 17, 3pm. Musical based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s novel. The Tailors’ Last Stand Starts Tue, ends Mar 10 2013, Barons Court Theatre, The Curtain’s Up, 28A Comeragh Road, W14 9HR Barons Court £12, concs £10, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 6.30pm, mats Mar 2, 9, 2.30pm. World premiere of new comedy about a band of London tailors. Three Sisters Ends Feb 23 2013, The New Diorama Theatre, 15-16 Triton Street, NW1 3BF Great Portland Street £15.50, concs £12.50, All three plays in The Faction Rep Season £40, concs £35, Feb 19, 23, 7.30pm. The Faction presents Ranjit Bolt’s translation of Anton Chekhov’s play. Twelfth Night Ends Feb 23 2013, The Lion & Unicorn, 42-44 Gaisford Street, NW5 2ED Kentish Town £12-£17.50, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, mats Sat 3.30pm. Custom/Practice Theatre presents Shakespeare’s comedy. A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings (Over 6s) Starts Wed, ends Mar 2 2013, The Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, Cross Street, N1 2DN Angel £14, child/concs £10, Fri 5pm £5. A parable inspired by the short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, directed by Mike Shepherd of Kneehigh, alongside Sarah Wright of the Little Angel Theatre. Why The Lion Danced: Yellow Earth (Over 5s) Starts Wed, ends Mar 2 2013, Polka Theatre, 240 The Broadway, SW19 1SB South Wimbledon £12, concs/previews £8, Feb 20-23, Mar 2, 11am, mats Feb 20-23, Mar 2, 2.30pm. Children’s show adapted from a Chinese fable.
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