Est 1956 Issue 2754
53 YEARS The No.1 Magazine for International Visitors
Friday 17 July, 2009 OLYMPIC CITY 2012
Welcome to London CONTENTS Events
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Wembley Stadium Tours Dawn of the Space Age
Music
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Anastasia Volochkova Carlos Acosta Bampton Classical Opera
Exhibitions
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Auguste Rodin at Hay Hill Gallery Songlines 21 at Rebecca Hossack
Theatre
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Time and the Conways Too Close to the Sun Proprietor Julie Jones Chairman Terry Mansfield CBE Advertising Janet Gardener
© This is London Magazine Limited 85 Tottenham Court Rd, London W1T 4TQ Telephone: 020 7434 1281 www.thisislondonmagazine.com
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The world has witnessed an incredible century of science – countless discoveries, inventions and endeavours that would have been unimaginable when the Science Museum came into being in 1909. Today, at a time of rapid and radical change for humankind, the Science Museum is committed to becoming the best place in the world for people to enjoy science, and gain insight and inspiration. Our centenary is a moment of reflection and celebration but is also an opportunity to look towards the future. Museum of the Future is the vision of the Science Museum and incredibly exciting. As the Science Museum reaches 100 years we aim to celebrate the achievement of this great institution, whilst maintaining our focus on the future: the future of the Science Museum, and the future of Great Britain and the world. Museum of the Future places these three concerns equally at its core. When Museum of the Future becomes a reality the Science Museum will be closer than ever to achieving its aim of being the best place in the world to enjoy science, an attractive destination for visitors from across the UK and abroad. As Britain increases investment in 'high tech' industries the importance of the Science Museum will grow as a place to spark the curiosity and creativity of the scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs of the future. And as the world changes ever faster, the Science Museum will be relied upon more than ever to tell the captivating narratives of past, present and future that our collections embody. I look forward to seeing you at our Centenary celebrations this summer.
Whilst every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine and in the handling of all the material supplied, neither the Publishers nor their agents accept responsibility for any damage, errors or omissions, however these may be caused.
Professor Chris Rapley CBE Director of the Science Museum www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
VISITOR INFORMATION Emergencies 999 Police Ambulance Fire 24 Hour Casualty 020 8746 8000 Dentistry 0808 155 3256 The Berkeley Clinic, 19 Upper Berkeley St, W1. Tel: 020 7724 4004 www.theberkeleyclinic.com Heal, Rejuvenate, Thrive – The Natural Way
Victim Support 0845 30 30 900 free and confidential service
Heathrow Airport 0870 0000123 Gatwick Airport 0870 0002468 Taxis 020 7272 5471 Dry Cleaner 7491 3426 Florist 7831 6776 Optician 7581 6336 Watches 7493 5916 Weather 0870 9000100 T H I S
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WEMBLEY STADIUM – TOUR A LONDON LANDMARK Wembley is one of the most famous stadiums in the world. It has a rich and unique heritage, having staged some of the most important events in sports and entertainment history. The stadium has now been re-built into a world class venue that sets new standards for spectators and performers alike. A London landmark and now instantly recognisable around the world, Wembley Stadium continues to attract the biggest live events on the sports and music calendar. Wembley is the home of the England football team and also of many flagship football events including The FA Cup Final and Semi Finals, The Carling Cup Final, The Football League Play-Off Finals and The FA Community Shield. Wembley also hosts regular Rugby League, Rugby Union and American Football and remains as famous for its concerts as for its sport. Wembley will host the men and women's football finals at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final and will be at the heart of The Football Association's bid to bring the 2018 World Cup to England. T H I S
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A Wembley Stadium Tour allows you to experience your own 90 minutes behind the scenes at Wembley and follow in the footsteps of the many legends before you. You can limber up in the England dressing room and warm up areas, carry out a mock press conference, walk out the player's tunnel to the cheer of the crowds, sit in the team dugouts and visit the Bobby Moore statue. You will even get to walk up Wembley's famous trophy presentation route to the Royal Box and hold the FA Cup! Stadium Tours depart daily, seven days a week, from 09.30 to 16.30 every day, starting every 15 minutes and can be booked on 0844 800 2755 or at www.wembleystadium.com/tours Walk-up bookings can be made on the day but cannot be guaranteed.
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CROTCHETS AND CREAM TEAS AT ST MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS Some of London's best young musicians will perform an hour of lunchtime music in the beautiful and tranquil surroundings of the 18th century church, St Martin-in-the-Fields, on each Monday in August. Concert-goers can complete the experience with a traditional English tea of freshly baked scone, jam and clotted cream with tea, fair trade filter coffee or orange juice in the award winning Café in the Crypt before or after the concert. The concerts include 'Song Without Words', 'Salut d'Amour', 'Summer Song' and 'Summer Chanson'. Tickets are available from the Box Office telephone 020 7766 1100. OUTDOOR SHOWING OF BLOW UP AT GREENWICH FILM FESTIVAL A historic, first ever showing of the classic 1960s film 'Blow Up' at the venue where most of its scenes were filmed, is just one of a host of activities set to take place this month to help mark Greenwich’s celebrated connection with the silver screen. The Greenwich Film Festival forms part of Greenwich’s 'Create' programme from 24-26 July. The showing of ‘Blow Up’ takes place on Saturday July 25 at 22.00 in Maryon Park. Since the film’s release in 1966, Maryon Park has received hundreds of enquiries from all over the world regarding the classic Antonini film which starred David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles. In addition to the film’s screening, guided tours of film locations in the park will take place at 19.30 and 20.45 and there will also be a typical swinging sixties-style disco.
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DAWN OF THE SPACE AGE AT THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH For centuries humans have dreamt of conquering space and soaring through the heavens. In the 20th-century scientific and technological advances made the dream come true. On 4 October, 1957, a Soviet R-7 missile launched the world’s first artificial satellite into an orbit 150 miles from the Earth’s surface. The launch electrified the world and heralded the world’s race into space. To mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the first manned mission to land on the Moon on 16 July 1969, the Royal Observatory is launching Dawn of the Space Age. This new planetarium show traces the excitement and drama of the early days of space exploration. From the launch of the first artificial satellite to the dramatic lunar landings and privately operated space flights, Dawn of the Space Age reveals the history of space travel and the astronauts who took part in these pioneering expeditions. Highlights include Alexei Leonov’s historic space flight on Voskhod 2, when on 18 March, 1965, he became the first person to walk in space. The show takes visitors on a journey to outer space in a digitally-animated spacecraft and onto the International Space Station, the largest artificial satellite in Earth’s orbit. It also looks at the advent of space tourism including SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded human spacecraft. Dawn of the Space Age is on show in the Peter Harrison Planetarium – now the only live public planetarium in London – equipped with one of the most advanced digital laser projectors in the world. Astronomers working at the Royal Observatory are on hand to answer questions about the heavens after the show. The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) is a year-long global celebration of astronomy with the participation of 140 countries worldwide, with events taking place nationally, regionally and globally throughout the year. For further information, visit www.nmm.ac.uk/dawn T H I S
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Apollo 11 (21 July, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon.
Piccadilly Market Perfect for all your Piccadilly market is held Christmas Gifts in the charming setting of the courtyard at St James’s Church Piccadilly Market is held–in the charming setting of the just yards from Piccadilly courtyard St James’s Church Circus. Aatpopular – just yards from the Royal destination for over 20 Academy. The market has been market offers a years, popularthe destination for over an exciting selection of twenty years and each week it antiques, plays host to up & tocrafts, 50 stalls arts offering an exciting selection of jewellery, souvenirs, antiques, crafts, arts, jewellery, fashions, furnishings and souvenirs, fashions, furnishings more. and more. The market has aopen growing Craft Market reputation for its contemporary Wednesday-Saturday jewellery designers who offer a 10am-6pm. range of unique pieces in St James’s Antiques and Murano glass, Baltic amber and vegetable ivory. Collectors Market open
Tuesday 10am-6pm.
Craft Market open: Wednesday-Saturday 10am-6pm. St James’s Antiques and Collectors Market open: St James’s Church, Tuesday 10am-6pm. 197 Piccadilly,
London W1J 9LL
St James’s Church Piccadilly Tel: 020 7734 197 Piccadilly, W14511 Tube: Piccadilly Circus/ 020 7734 4511
Green Park Circus/Green Park Tube: Piccadilly Market closed: 23 December – 2 January 2009
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SIR STIRLING MOSS CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY AT SILVERSTONE CLASSIC Motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss will launch his latest book, the Stirling Moss Scrapbook 1956–1960, as part of his eightieth birthday celebrations at the Silverstone Classic which takes place from 24 to 26 July. Sir Stirling will also be busy racing his red Osca in the Silverstone Classic’s RAC Woodcote Trophy, a series dedicated to post-war, pre-1956 sportscars racing to period specification at high profile historic motor racing events. The fourth in the acclaimed Stirling Moss Scrapbook series covers one of the most challenging and successful periods of Moss’s career, including his début victories for Vanwall, Cooper and Lotus, and his contribution to Aston Martin’s 1959 World Sportscar Championship win. When not seen racing in the Osca, Sir Stirling may be spotted at the Silverstone Classic signing copies of his new book.
LATE LOUNGE AT INTERCONTINENTAL LONDON PARK LANE InterContinental London Park Lane, situated in the heart of Mayfair, have announced the opening of their exclusive Late Lounge located in the hotel’s lobby. Featuring DJ TK, the Late Lounge provides what no other five star London hotel can – a private area in which to socialise seven nights a week from 22.30 until 03.00. The Late Lounge offers a chic and intimate space to enjoy a glass of bubbly at the Champagne Bar or a cocktail from the extensive list served by your very own waitress. Subtle lighting creates a relaxed environment whether gossiping with friends or enjoying a secluded date. Thanks to his experience in some of London’s best bars and clubs, DJ TK will set the mood with his eclectic and expansive collection of tunes. The InterContinental London Park Lane is located on Number One Park Lane, and boasts 60 elegant ‘home away from home’ suites among its four extravagant signature versions. The superb, indulgent Spa InterContinental, the entertaining and scrumptious Cookbook Cafe, and awardwinning restaurant, Theo Randall at the InterContinental, top off the experience. The InterContinental London Park Lane remains always ‘in the know’ making London more exclusive, authentic and exciting for their guests.
THE 'SPATISSERIE' – DORCHESTER SPA’S NEW TEA SALON Tucked away in The Dorchester Spa is the uniquely named ‘Spatisserie‘, an opulent but intimate tea salon for light lunches or afternoon tea with elegant, bite size cakes, biscuits and pastries and Champagne and Spa cocktails. Delicious lunch highlights of the 'Spatisserie's' menu include Waldorf Goat Cheese Salad, Vichyssoise, Grilled Fillets of Sole and Warm Lobster salad. Afternoon tea temptations include The Dorchester Spa’s signature Face Cream Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake, The Pearl, Chocolate Sparkle, Chocolate Fudge and Lemon Drizzle cake. Cocktails include the 'Spa Kiss' cocktail with organic pear juice, elderflower, award winning English sparkling wine Nytimber and a secret ingredient, and divine mocktails, Lemon Grass and Berry Fizz, Berry Smoothie and Almond Coffee Frappe. As part of the multi-million pound refurbishment and expansion programme to The Dorchester Spa, glamorous 'Spatisserie' interiors by Fox Linton Associates comprise silvered mirrors with silver metal frames and a large centre table topped with stunning flowers and an array of handmade cakes and chocolates. Chairs and daybeds are upholstered in an assortment of silks, mohair and leather in corals, lilac and ivory. The Dorchester is in Park Lane, Mayfair, W1. For reservations at the Spatisserie, telephone The Dorchester Spa on 020 7629 8888.
The Late Lounge at Intercontinental London Park Lane.
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‘The eloquent and brilliant ballerina with limitless potential’ CLIVE BARNES NEW YORK POST
FRI 17 & SAT 18 JULY LONDON COLISEUM THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY
Box Office: 0871 911 0200
www.volochkova.ru
www.eno.org
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ANASTASIA VOLOCHKOVA AT THE LONDON COLISEUM Star ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, with world class special guests, is to present the world premiere of her new show NERVE for only three performances at the London Coliseum on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 July. As a star Russian dancer, the beautiful Anastasia attracts so much publicity she has been described as the ‘Paris Hilton of Russia’. From her early career with Kirov and Bolshoi she has been admired and talked about – for her dancing and her personal life. But whilst this amazing woman has achieved so much in her creative work, personal happiness has eluded her in failed relationships and her marriage to the man of her dreams gave her a beautiful daughter but ended this year. Yet Anastasia has emerged stronger from these experiences and created a new dance show NERVE, transforming her emotional journey into an artistic performance. ‘Nerve is my story’, says Anastasia. ‘Artistes who have not experienced a tragic love cannot know this feeling.
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The ten compositions I dance are full of my genuine passion, my broken dreams, my regrets and my eternal hope. This performance is my art imitating my real life.’ This new show performed by the celebrated Russian ballerina consists of ten heart-stopping compositions set to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Giacomo Puccini, Henry Purcell, Nino Rota, Charles Dumont, Ara Gevorgyan and Igor Kornelyuk enriched with amazing opera performances of Vassily Efimov (Helikon Opera) and Natalia Borozdina (Novaya Opera). Anastasia’s male partners are Rinat Arifulin (Bolshoi Theatre) and Yevgeny Ivanchenko (Kirov Ballet). NERVE will be at the London Coliseum on Friday 17 July at 20.00 and Saturday 18 July 14.00 and 20.00. Tickets priced at £10 to £60 can be purchased by calling 0871 911 0200 or at www.eno.org
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LEADING YOUNG MUSICIANS IN WIGMORE HALL RECITAL Denitsa Laffchieva’s clarinet playing won the hearts of the Wigmore Hall audience in her sell-out recital in 2007 and she now returns in the company of Alexander Zemtsov, principal viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, international solo cellist and professor at the Royal College of Music, Armenian cellist Alexander Chaushian and acclaimed British pianist Ashley Wass. The programme showcases some of the best-loved chamber music for clarinet including Mozart’s Clarinet Trio No. 2, well-known by its nickname ‘Kegelstatt’ Trio. The perfectly balanced three movement work and its delicacy belies the legend that this music was composed as he played a game of skittles. Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen or ‘Fairy Tales’, composed in October 1853, is rhapsodic and essentially light-hearted. The final work in the programme is the Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor, the statuesque work composed in his later years and inspired by the playing of the great Richard Mühlfeld. The performance is on 21 July (19.30) at Wigmore Hall. Tel: 020 7935 2141.
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SOUND AND MUSIC CELEBRATE APOLLO AT SCIENCE MUSEUM To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Science Museum, in its centenary year, alongside Sound and Music, are to present the premiere of a new arrangement of Brian Eno's 1983 album Apollo by Sound and Music shortlisted composer Jun Lee. Brian Eno will introduce the first concert on 20 July, with a second performance on 21 July, both at 19.30. The performance – featuring the amplified ensemble Icebreaker with BJ Cole on pedal steel guitar – will be in the Museum's IMAX cinema accompanied by original NASA footage of the moon landings used by director SHALL WE DANCE Led by international dance star Adam Cooper, and featuring General Hospital and Dynasty actress Emma Samms and Olivier Award-nominee Sarah Wildor, the world premiere of Shall We Dance will be arriving in London this week, running from Thursday 23 July to Saturday 30 August. The Sadler's Wells summer spectacular marks multi award-winning dancer and choreographer Adam Cooper’s first new dance production since 2005. With a score comprised entirely of melodies by iconic composer Richard Rodgers, the production boasts a show-stopping cast of over 40 dancers and musicians. Shall We Dance tells the story of one man’s quest to find true love. His panoramic voyage travels from the Orient to the Wild West by way of Russian Folk dance, New York jazz and the waltzes of the Viennese ballroom. A celebration of Richard Rodgers’ greatest work in this the 30th anniversary year of his death, Shall We Dance includes music from South Pacific, Sound of Music, Oklahoma, Carousel, Babes in Arms, On Your Toes, The King and I, State Fair, Pal Joey and many more. T H I S
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Al Reinert in For All Mankind. The event also includes a performance of new material based on recordings from space by laptop artists Douglas Benford and Iris Garrelfs in the gallery featuring the Apollo 10 capsule. Reflecting back on a time when people looked at the stars and dreamed and experienced the magic, mystery and awe of our universe in Eno's gravity-defying music. Sound and Music is a landmark new organisation, the result of the merger between the British Music Information Centre, Contemporary Music Network, Society for the Promotion of New Music and Sonic Arts Network. For tickets, call 0870 870 4771 or visit www.sciencemuseum.org
GLUCK La danza Le cinesi
Friday 24 July 2009 at 7.30pm ‘Bampton Classical Opera offers operas that one wants to hear’ Opera M A G A Z I N E
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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA WIGMORE HALL DEBUT Bampton Classical Opera has an unrivalled reputation for breathing new life into forgotten classics of the eighteenth century. On Friday 24 July, Bampton will present a Gluck double bill of Le cinesi and a second one act opera rarity, La danza, at a concert performance for their debut appearance at Wigmore Hall. This unusual concert features the Bampton Classical Players with a cast of outstanding singers conducted by acclaimed period-specialist Christian Curnyn. Renowned for Orfeo ed Euridice and his ‘reform’ operas, Gluck’s numerous other stage works are little-known. La danza evokes a pastoral scene bathed in a Claudian evening light, and Le cinesi outrageously parodies different operatic genres in the context of fashionable rococo chinoiserie. Bampton’s La cinesi was originally staged in 2008, whereas La danza, like many of Gluck’s smaller operas, appears never to have been performed before in this country. Martene Grimson is joined by Bampton regulars Serena Kay, Lina Markeby and Tom Raskin in La cinesi as well as Amanda Pitt and Edmund Connolly in Apollo and Hyacinth. Tickets for the Wigmore Hall concert are available from the box office telephone 020 7935 2141.
CARLOS ACOSTA AND GUEST ARTISTS LONDON COLISEUM Ballet superstar Carlos Acosta returns to the London Coliseum with a revised version of his Olivier award-winning show from Wednesday 22 to Saturday 25 July. Acosta has devised and produced a new repertoire that sees him reprise his unforgettable recent performance in the Pas de Deux from Spartacus with the Bolshoi's Nina Kaptsova. Acosta has personally selected an international cast of dancers from some of the world’s most renowned ballet companies; Arionel Vargas and Begoña Cao from English National Ballet, Miguel Altunaga from Rambert, Veronica Corveas from Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Nina Kaptsova from the Bolshoi, Steven McRae and Roberta Marques from The Royal Ballet, and Amilcar Moret and Florencia Chinellato from Hamburg Ballet all join him on stage for this production. Highlights of Part one include the Spartacus Pas de Deux; Neumeier’s Othello performed by Moret and Chinellato with Arvo Pärt’s score played live, and Ben Stevenson’s Three Preludes performed by Vargas and Cao, who have previously performed the piece with English National Ballet. Part two features Acosta’s performance of Descombey’s contemporary interpretation of Dying Swan, accompanied by Camille Saint-Saens’ music. Ticket Office 0844 412 4300.
UNITED UNDERGROUND Southbank Centre, experimental initiative Ctrl.Alt.Shift, arts development agency British Underground and actor and musician Riz Ahmed are to those a unique six-hour mix of music, debate and party, which takes place throughout the spaces of the Southbank Centre on 18 July. The United Underground event features cutting-edge street culture, music, artwork, fanzines and film set against a backdrop of new-school activism focusing on burning contemporary issues including questions of Human Rights in Gaza to the role of new media in the Iranian protests. Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre, said: 'We are delighted to host United Underground, as part of our ongoing commitment to present the best in emerging artists and new ideas, and build an audience for new talent at the Southbank Centre.' United Underground features screenings of new short film talent gathered by Film London talent spotters, plus feature films from Andy Serkis and Eran Creevey in the Purcell Room, including films Shifty, Rendition and The Age Of Stupid. Ctrl.Alt.Shift will be putting together a fanzine, in real time, documenting the night with contributions from the audience, as well as contributions from activists and artists. Ticket Office 0871 663 2500.
Carlos Acosta and company of international dancers. T H I S
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ROYAL NAVY’S NEWEST WARSHIP OPENS TO VISITORS The Royal Navy’s newest warship throws open its hatches to the public this week, 250 years after the keel of the world’s most famous warship, HMS Victory was laid. Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring will be open for two days on July 18 and 19 as part of Royal Navy Past and Present, a two day event hosted jointly by Portsmouth Naval Base and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard’s attractions will be open to visitors over the weekend where they can experience more of the modern Navy at Action Stations, with interactive displays and simulators and the chance to take the controls of a modern warship, fly a helicopter or go into battle with the Royal Marines. There is even the chance to glimpse the Royal Navy Future with Carrier Strike, a new exhibition detailing the future of the Royal Navy and the new Aircraft Carriers under construction. The Navy's past is presented through the other Historic Dockyard attractions; HMS Victory, Mary Rose, HMS Warrior 1860 and the Royal Naval Museum. Throughout the event the public will be treated to performances by the Royal Marines Band, Portsmouth. T H I S
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ONCE ON THIS ISLAND A major new production of the awardwinning musical Once on this Island starring actress and singer Sharon D Clarke, opens at Hackney Empire on 24 July. Once On This Island is the highly acclaimed Broadway musical based on Rosa Guy's My Love, My Love. Written by Tony-award winning authors Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the musical received its European premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1994. It went on to win the Olivier Award for Best New Musical following a successful West End run. This passionate and vibrant musical tale tells the tragic love story of Ti Moune, a beautiful peasant girl who devotes herself to a handsome and wealthy Creole planter whose life she has saved from an accident. The course of true love, however, is put to the test as Ti must prove to the island's mythical gods that she is willing to give everything, even her life for the purest love she has ever known. Box Office 020 8985 2424.
DANCE WITH USAIN BOLT AT THE AVIVA LONDON GRAND PRIX UK Athletics and Aviva London Grand Prix organisers Fast Track, are giving the world the chance to dance with triple Olympic gold medallist, Usain Bolt, through the ‘Bolt Dance’ campaign. Who can forget the unique dancing celebrations
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performed by Bolt after winning each of his three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics? Familiar to many Jamaicans, those moves feature alongside a track by Nuh Linga and Gully Creeper. The Bolt Dance is encouraging everyone to submit their versions by video. But there’s no Simon Cowell on this judging panel – you only have to impress the fastest-man-on-earth, Usain Bolt. The lucky winner will get to show off their moves on the track with Usain Bolt at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, the UK’s premier athletics event, on Friday 24 July straight after his 100m race. Dancing comes naturally to Jamaicans, as Bolt explained. 'People in Jamaica love to dance. When I win I’m happy so I like to dance. It’s just natural to me and it is entertaining for the fans.' PENÉLOPE CRUZ AT BFI SOUTHBANK Penélope Cruz has intoxicated and dazzled audiences since her first major role in Jamón, starring opposite Javier Bardem. BFI Southbank is set to launch a special preview of Broken Embraces, her latest collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar, followed by an on-stage interview with both Cruz and Almodóvar in August. Growing up in a working-class suburb of Alcobendas, north of Madrid, Penélope spent many hours at her mother’s hairdressing salon observing women, their many differences and how they related to each other, an invaluable education which she so evidently absorbed. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she turned to acting aged 15 when she won a talent contest and soon working in television, rapidly progressing to the big screen. A self-confessed perfectionist, Cruz has overcome the ‘burden’ of being stunningly beautiful and proved to be an actress of exceptional ability. Her Oscar acceptance speech for Vicky Cristina Barcelona was dignified, inspiring and humble, much like the woman herself. L O N D O N
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AUGUSTE RODIN AT THE HAY HILL GALLERY A superb collection of some of the most iconic pieces of the famed sculptor Auguste Rodin is currently on exhibition at the Hay Hill Gallery at 23 Cork Street in Mayfair. Among the collection of posthumous casts are such iconic works as The Thinker, The Kiss, Eve, Age of Bronze, Balzac, along with many other well-known sculptures.
The Walking Man.
The noted Rodin Scholar Albert Elsen considered the posthumous recasting of the sculptor’s work as part of the natural evolution in the sculptures’ life. The exhibition on display shows that it is once again possible to capture the essence of the artist’s life accomplishments. Auguste Rodin is generally considered the most important sculptor of the 19th century and the father of modern sculpture. His style and technique opened the doors for such artists as Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore by breaking traditional moulds and ideas in sculpture. Born to a family of modest means in 1840 in Paris, France he rose to win five of France’s largest commissions for monuments in the years 1880s and 1890s.
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Since his death in 1917, he has become a legend. His passion for life and women are expressed in his unparallel oeuvre. His tragic affair with Camille Claudel formed a heartbreak that saw Rodin seek relationships on many levels with a host of female artists, dancers, models and aristocratic personalities of his time. Rodin was deeply committed to these erotic liaisons which formed the primary core of his creativity. He had an unparalleled gift for modelling in clay. His figures express movement, strength and passion. Rodin transformed this passion most notably in a human form into thousands of small and grand works which has been unequalled to this day. The beginning stages of his work often involved a sketch which was transformed into clay using life models as reference. From the clay which would disintegrate over time a negative mould is made in which is then cast a plaster. The plaster then becomes the basis for the casting in bronze or sculpting in stone. Rodin’s position is now guaranteed in the pantheon of greatest artists of Western tradition and you now have the opportunity to view over 50 and acquire some of his greatest achievements at the Hay Hill Gallery. Hay Hill Gallery, 23 Cork Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3NJ. Telephone 020 7734 7010, www.hayhill.com
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‘TIME AND TIDE’ AND ‘BELOVED LIGHT’ PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITIONS There is also a last opportunity this weekend to see ‘Time and Tide’, a joint show of the most recent work by internationally recognised London-based Russian photographers Al Lapkovsky and Katya Evdokimova. This show will run at the Hay Hill Gallery until 18 July. Both Lapkovsky and Evdokimova have won many photographic awards including Professional Photographer of the Year. ‘Beloved Light’ is a photographic show exhibiting the world-renowned Mario Carrieri’s black and white works. Carrieri’s work has been featured in more than 300 books. Also exhibiting will be two other international photographers, Iris Thorsteindottir and Silja Truus. These exhibitions will run at the Hay Hill Gallery until 15 August.
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A VISIONARY NEW PAINTER OF THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS For her second exhibition with the Francis Kyle Gallery, the Scottish painter Wendy Sutherland has assembled a body of paintings completed over some two years which explore and articulate a vision of landscape in the north-east Highlands of Scotland as dynamic as it is lyrical. In works which can border on abstraction without losing a crucial sense of place, Sutherland’s ‘conversation’ with her canvases charts her relationship with her natural surroundings. While every painting is still specific to a particular landscape in its genesis, frequently these works take on a universal dimension where distance and proximity may fuse, creating a beguiling ambiguity. ‘Each painting,’ Sutherland comments, ‘I treat as an individual with its own demands as to what medium it requires. Pieces will vary from graphite and oil to a combination of ink and shellac. I try to listen to the subject and allow it to lead me in the direction that
best reflects the mood or atmosphere’. Concerns such as these indicate an element of high seriousness underpinning all Sutherland’s works. Wendy Sutherland graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with First Class Honours in 1997 and has gone on to receive some ten major awards for her landscape work, including Judges Commendation, Highland Open (1998) and Awards to Artists, Highlands and Islands Arts and Scottish Arts Council (2001), holding seven oneperson exhibitions in the United Kingdom and Canada over the past ten years. She has undertaken several public commissions since 1999 including Edinburgh International Conference Centre and UHI Millennium Institute. Still in her early thirties, Sutherland
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Wendy Sutherland: Gorse, 137 x 152cm.
identified early on as her primary goal an evolving interpretation of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands today and is already considered a leading figure in this field. Francis Kyle Gallery is situated in Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1. Telephone 020 7499 6870/6970 or visit the website at www.franciskylegallery.com
20th - 26th JULY 2009 MALL GALLERIES THE MALL - LONDON Open every day 5pm - 8pm Mon. 10am - 5pm Tues./Weds./Fri./Sat. 10am - 8pm Thurs. | 10am - 3pm Sun.
FREE ADMISSION
All enquiries: The Guild of Aviation Artists, Trenchard House 85 Farnborough Road, Farnborough, Hants. GU14 6TF e-mail: admin@gava.org.uk Tel: 01252 513123 Fax: 01252 510505 www.gava.org.uk T H I S
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SUMMER EXHIBITIONS AT THE REBECCA HOSSACK GALLERY It was a crowded private view on Thursday 2 July at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, off Fitzroy Square, to inaugurate the gallery’s twenty-first Songlines season of aboriginal art exhibitions. Germaine Greer opened the exhibition of master-works by the artists of Utopia, with an impassioned address about the importance of aboriginal art and culture. The paintings on view – the large-scale sumptuously-dotted works by the desert-painters of the Utopia Community on the gallery’s first floor, the bold geometric patterns, done in natural ochre on paper, by the Tiwi artist, Jean Baptiste Apuatimi, on the ground floor, and the huge, intricately-worked landscape by Faith Thompson, from Ngukurr, on the top floor – bore ample testimony to the vitality of aboriginal art, and its diversity.
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Rebecca Hossack, Germaine Greer and Faith Thompson. For twenty-one years, the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery has been celebrating that diversity, through its pioneering seasons of aboriginal art. There have been ground-breaking one-person exhibitions of such luminaries as Emily Kame Knawarrye, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Jimmy Pike, Johm Marrandwl, and Lloyd Kwilla (whose work featured in last year’s BBC2 programme, Beat the Bank). The summer season of exhibitions runs until 29 August. Tel: 020 7436 4899 or 020 7255 2828.
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OLD MASTERS REINTERPRETED AT ROLLO CONTEMPORARY ART Rollo Contemporary art is showing a new exhibition entitled 'Old Masters Reinterpreted' from 15 July to 28 August. This is a group exhibition of international artists working in video, painting and sculpture, whose works engage with the art of Old Masters in a contemporary fashion, re-envisaging key themes and images from the past with contemporary concerns. Artists include Bryony Andersson, Joanna Hill, Yigal Ozeri, Rebecca Stevenson and Masaki Yada. Rollo supports emerging artists through to the well-established, such as gallery artist Frank Bowling RA. Based originally in Islington, the gallery moved temporarily to Albemarle Street, Mayfair, before finding its permanent home at 51 Cleveland Street in Fitzrovia, London’s new art quarter. As well as holding seven exhibitions within the gallery space a year, Rollo continues to organise outside projects, aiming to bring art to innovative spaces to reach a wider audience and make art more accessible. In 2008, they organised three art projects in Selfridges department store with artist Claire Morgan. www.rolloart.com COLD CORNERS BY EVA ROTHSCHILD AT TATE BRITAIN Tate Britain has unveiled its new Duveens Commission, Cold Corners, by Eva Rothschild. This ambitious metal sculpture stretches and inhabits the full space of the Duveens, forming a spiky black line that threads through the gallery like a ‘scribble in space’. Cold Corners brings a chaotic, energetic presence to the grandeur of the neoclassical architecture of the Duveen Galleries. Comprising a sequence of twenty-six connected triangles the structure weaves through the space, climbing up to 12 metres as it loops up and over the stone architraves, swooping down to the floor of the Octagon before reaching the north end of the 80 metre gallery. L O N D O N
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AVIATION PAINTINGS OF THE YEAR AT THE MALL GALLERIES A record number of 407 original new works by 134 artists will be on show at the Mall Galleries from 20-26 July at the Guild of Aviation Artists’ annual summer exhibition – ‘Aviation Paintings of the Year’. Paintings by many of the world’s very best aviation artists can be seen, including the work of internationally renowned artist and Guild President Michael Turner FGAvA, as well as paintings by talented up and coming artists. All works are for sale. On display will be a painting by the Guild’s Founder President, the late Frank Wootton, OBE, kindly lent by Sarah Quill, daughter of the famous test pilot, Jeffrey Quill. The painting depicts three Spitfires and is entitled ‘Sunshine and Rain, Melksham 1944’. This exciting, eagerly-awaited exhibition will feature outstanding work in an impressive range of styles from the representational to semi abstract, and in a wide variety of media, including several ceramic works and a bronze. Aviation and flight, in all its forms, will be depicted – from the earliest days of balloons, through the World Wars to the present day – making the exhibition a ‘must’ for collectors of aviation art, anyone
‘Out of North Weald’, by Ieuan LaytonMatthews, GAvA. T H I S
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‘Unsurpassed’, Concorde over the City of London, by Patricia Forrest, GAvA. interested in aviation, its history or for those who just enjoy original art. Rear Admiral Colin Cooke-Priest FRAeS, Master, The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators, will open the exhibition on Monday 20 July. A number of prestigious trophies and awards will be presented including the BAE Systems’ £1000 ‘Aviation Painting of the Year’ Award. The exhibition will be open to the public from 20-26 July at the following times: 10.00-17.00 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10.00-20.00 on Thursday and 10.0015.00 on Sunday. Entry is free. Informal demonstrations of painting in oil, watercolour, pastel and acrylic by Guild artists may be seen on a daily basis from Tuesday until Saturday. The popular and entertaining Walkabout Critiques, by Founder Member John Blake FGAvA, will take place on Thursday 23 July from 12 noon to 14.00 and again between 18.00 and 20.00. Telephone 01252 513123 or visit the website at www.gava.org.uk M A G A Z I N E
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SKYSTATION – A NEW INTERACTIVE PUBLIC SCULPTURE LAUNCHES Cultural agency Futurecity is launching an interactive sculptural seating project by Peter Newman as part of an exhibition of the artist's works in and around The Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre. The Skystation is part of a larger public seating project initiated and curated by Futurecity. The aim is to develop a constellation of Skystations in 100 locations across the UK and internationally called the 100 places project. This will become a shared public art experience across the whole network. The project will be linked by a collaborative website. Orders have already been taken for the piece to be placed insitu in Cambridge. Peter Newman's Skystation is a circular sculpture, inspired by the form of Le Corbusier's iconic LC4 chaise longue. The contours of the work are designed to fit the reclining human figure and the work has been developed to be sited outdoors, to encourage contemplation of the vast expanse of space above and beyond. Ticket Office 0871 663 2500. I S
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TIME AND THE CONWAYS National Theatre Monstrous, self-serving mothers seem to be the current theatrical fad. In playing host to Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County, the National introduced us to Beverley Watson, the materfamilias from hell. In the recent revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, it’s a selfish mother (unseen throughout the play) who brings misery to an unmarried daughter; while another feckless mother, again, neither seen nor heard, dominates Polly Stenham’s Tusk Tusk, latterly at the Royal Court. The latest mother to cast a long shadow over the lives of her offspring is Mrs. Conway (Francesca Annis) in J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways – handsomely revived at the Lyttelton in a production directed by Rupert Goold that attempts to do for this stalwart 1937 drama what Stephen Daldry did for the same author’s An Inspector Calls in 1992. Like An Inspector Calls, Dangerous Corner and I Have Been Here Before, Time and the Conways is one of Priestley’s ‘time’ plays in which he intriguingly mixes and distorts the past, the present and the future to create a psychological sense of déjà vu. It begins in 1919, in the living room of a large detatched house in the industrial Northern town of Newlingham. Kay Conway (Hattie Morahan), an aspiring author, has turned 21. A game of charades is in progress, in the course of which we meet all the members of the Conway family, except for Mr. Conway, who has recently drowned. Apart from Kay and Mrs. Conway, there’s Madge (Fenella Woolgar), an avid socialist who takes herself extremely seriously, Hazel (Lydia Leonard), the prettiest of the sisters, and Carol (Faye Castelow), the youngest and most naturally wholesome of the group. They T H I S
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have two brothers, Alan (Paul Ready), a decent enough, though unassertive and unprepossing clerk, and, in complete contrast, Robin (Mark Dexter) a dashing RAF officer newly returned from the war. There are three other characters, all of whom become inextricably involved with the future of the Conways. The full extent of that involvement is shown in Act Two, which takes place in 1937, and is far darker than the events of the first act. Now, eighteen years on, every one of the Conways, with the possible exception of Alan, is dysfunctional and deeply unhappy. The promise, the hope, the aspirations and the optimism of the first act are in tatters as the harsh realities, domestic as well as economic, bring nothing but despair and disappointment. Act Three reverts back to 1919. The party is over and the guests begin to leave. As Priestley gradually sows the seeds of the family’s ultimate destruction, Kay appears to have a disturbing premonition
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of what all their lives are going to become. Playing with time was hardly new to the theatre in 1937. Indeed, three years earlier Moss Hart and George Kaufmann had done just that in Merrily We Roll Along, a poignant drama which goes backwards in time beginning with the weary cynicism of its middle-aged hero (a playwright), and ends with the youthful hope and optimism with which he began his career. Both plays attempt to show the corrosive effects of time and and its curdling effect on one’s dreams. Priestley, through the mouth of Alan Conway, intellectualises it thus: ‘The point is,’ he tells his sister Kay,‘we’re only a cross-section of our real selves. What we really are, is the whole stretch of ourselves, all our time, and when we come to the end of this life, all our time will be us, the real you, the real me. And then, perhaps, we’ll find ourselves in another time, which is only another kind of dream.’ Whether or not you agree with him, Priestley the intellectual is never as effective as Priestley the popular dramatist. At his best his plays are hugely entertaining and Time and the Conways is no exception. Rupert Goold being Rupert Goold, embellishes, with striking effect, the ends of Acts Two and Three with a visual interpretation of the author’s thesis on the transcience of time. But it’s hardly as endemic to this production as Stephen Daldry’s stunning visual concept of The Inspector Calls was to his. Just regard it as a bonus rather than a concept integral to the text, and enjoy it together with the fine ensemble cast, Laura Hopkins’s sets and Mark Henderson’s lighting. Together they provide a solid evening’s entertainment. CLIVE HIRSCHHORN L O N D O N
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WORLD PREMIERE OF TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN Too Close To The Sun, a dramatic new musical of a fictional account of the last days in the life of Ernest Hemingway, has its World Premiere in London’s West End this summer, opening at the Comedy Theatre this week for a limited season. Author and Nobel Prize-winner Ernest Hemingway, battling the rigours old age, takes solace in the company of his young secretary. His wife, tolerating this liaison so as not to lose him, is aware that the secretary has a secret agenda – to become wife number five and inherit his estate. The arrival of Rex, an old school friend, adds a further complication, as he tries to secure the film rights to the life of the notorious writer. With bribery, lies and manipulation, Rex plays a dangerous game to achieve his goal, but in this suggested account of events leading to Hemingway’s death, can there be any winners? Tel: 0844 871 7622. THEATRE503 IN THE MOUNTAINTOP The Theatre503 world premiere production of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, starring David Harewood as Martin Luther King, transfers to Trafalgar Studio 1 this week. Directed by James Dacre, the play received an outstanding critical response across the media during its three-week run at the Battersea-based theatre. The performance focuses on the night before the assassination of Martin Luther King, as he retires to room 306 in the now famous Lorraine Motel in Memphis after giving his legendary ‘I have been to the mountaintop’ speech to a massive church congregation. When roomservice is delivered by a young woman, whose identity we puzzle over, King is forced to confront his past, as well as his legacy to his people. This gripping re-imagining of King’s last night is shotthrough with powerful performances from David Harewood as King and Lorraine Burroughs as the mysterious Camae. Box Office 0870 060 6632. T H I S
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WARHORSE CONTINUES ITS GALLOPING SUCCESS The National Theatre’s award-winning production of War Horse is releasing over 150,000 new tickets for sale, taking bookings at the New London Theatre up to 12 February 2010. The National’s sell-out production of Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book transferred to the West End in March this year where it has been playing to packed houses ever since. Just 12 weeks after its opening at the New London Theatre, War Horse recouped its transfer costs, having had a record breaking week of sales in May of over £330,000. Tickets are available from the Box Office on 020 7452 3000.
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CARRIE’S WAR A stage adaptation of Nina Bawden’s novel starring Prunella Scales and Kacey Ainsworth, the tale of two evacuees transported from London to the safety of the countyside in the 1940s. APOLLO THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0870 890 1101) THE 39 STEPS Maria Aitken’s tongue-in-cheek adaptation of John Buchan’s whodunnit has four actors playing 150 parts and includes all the legendary scenes from Hitchcock’s movie. CRITERION THEATRE Piccadilly Circus, WC2 (0844 847 1778) COLLABORATION/TAKING SIDES Companion pieces written by Ronald Harwood explore the fine line between collaboration and betrayal during the Second World War. DUCHESS THEATRE Catherine Street, WC2 (0870 890 1103) ARCADIA Major revival of Tom Stoppard’s play, directed by David Leveaux. A dazzling, witty masterpiece of misunderstanding and quest for knowledge, resonating across centuries. DUKE OF YORK’S St. Martin’s Lane, WC2 (0870 060 6623) THE WOMAN IN BLACK An innocent outsider, a suspicious rural community, a gothic house and a misty marsh are the ingredients of this Victorian ghost story, now in its 17th year. FORTUNE THEATRE Russell Street, WC2 (0870 060 6626)
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL Set against a background of sexism, snobbery and a battle between the generations, Shakespeare turns fairytale logic on its head. ENGLAND PEOPLE VERY NICE A riotous journey through four waves of immigration from the 17th century to today. The emerging pattern shows that white flight and anxiety over integration is anything but new. LYTTELTON THEATRE TIME AND THE CONWAYS J B Priestley was fascinated by the study of time. Writing in 1937, he saw how Britain was complacently failing to learn from history and charging headlong towards another conflagration. PHEDRE Helen Mirren takes the title role in this savage play by Jean Racine, translated into muscular free verse by the late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes.
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NATIONAL THEATRE South Bank, SE1 (020 7452 3000) WAR HORSE The National Theatre’s new epic based on the celebrated novel by Children’s Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. Actors work with magnificent life-size puppets on a gruelling journey through history. NEW LONDON THEATRE Drury Lane, WC2 (0844 412 4654) CALENDAR GIRLS The true story of the members of the Woman’s Institute who shun their usual cake baking and jam making in order to produce a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research. NOEL COWARD St Martin’s Lane, WC2 (0870 850 9175) THE CHERRY ORCHARD Chekhov’s daring, droll meditation on bourgeois materialism and what remains in its wake, presented in a new version by Tom Stoppard.
OLD VIC The Cut, Waterloo, SE1 (0844 847 1722)
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THE BLACK ALBUM Hanif Kureishi’s witty stage adaptation of his striking prescient novel, humorously considers how the events of 1989 have shaped today’s world, where fundamentalism battles liberalism.
THE WINTER’S TALE Shakespeare’s rich tragi-comedy is a magical testament to the follies of hasty judgement and the force of love as a means of reconciliation.
Royal National Theatre (Plays In Repertory)
THREE MORE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS Caryl Churchill’s engaging play is a powerful look at human interaction and relationships.
THE OBSERVER Richard Eyre returns to the National Theatre to direct this gripping new play by award-winning playwright Matt Charman.
WAITING FOR GODOT Samuel Beckett’s classic play originally exploded onto the London stage 50 years ago when it shocked as many people as it delighted. This new production stars Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET Haymarket, SW1 (0870 400 0626) DUET FOR ONE Deeply moving psychological drama about a brilliant concert violinist forced to rethink her life after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. VAUDEVILLE THEATRE Strand, WC2 (0870 890 0511) HAMLET Jude Law makes his Donmar debut in the title role, directed by Kenneth Branagh. WYNDHAM’S THEATRE Charing Cross Road, WC2 (0870 950 0925) •
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DIRTY DANCING Based on the ‘80s movie, this famous tale involves a daddy’s girl and a dance instructor at a New York holiday resort during the long, hot summer of 1963. ALDWYCH THEATRE Aldwych, WC2 (0870 4000 704) WICKED THE MUSICAL Hit Broadway story of how a clever, misunderstood girl with emerald green skin and a girl who is beautiful and popular turn into the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch in the Land of Oz. APOLLO VICTORIA THEATRE Wilton Rd, SW1 (0870 161 1977) CHICAGO A dazzling mixture of sinuous bodies, tough broads, murder and fickle fame, the Ebb-Fosse musical goes from strength to strength. CAMBRIDGE THEATRE Earlham Street, WC2 (0870 890 1102) TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN Dramatic new musical of a fictional account of the last days in the life of Ernest Hemingway has its world premiere in London. COMEDY THEATRE Panton Street, SW1 (0844 871 7622) WE WILL ROCK YOU A unique collaboration between the legends of rock and Ben Elton, reflecting the scale and spectacle that marked Queen’s live performances. DOMINION THEATRE Tottenham Court Rd, W1 (0870 169 0116) A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Set to a score in waltz time by Stephen Sondheim, the story turns on four couples over a midsummer weekend in turn-of-the-century Sweden, where affairs of the heart are uppermost. GARRICK THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0844 412 4662)
THE MOUSETRAP Agatha Christie’s whodunnit is the longest running play of its kind in the history of the British theatre. ST MARTIN’S THEATRE West Street, WC2 (0870 162 8787)
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THE LION KING Disney‘s phenomenally successful animated film is transformed into a spectacular stage musical, a superb evening of visual delight. LYCEUM THEATRE Wellington Street, WC2 (0870 243 9000)
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THRILLER – LIVE Spectacular, high octane show celebrating the career of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. LYRIC THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0870 890 1107) STOMP This British theatrical sensation has enthralled audiences across the world with its combination of theatre, dance, comedy and percussion. NEW AMBASSADORS West Street, WC2 (020 7369 1761) PRISCILLA THE MUSICAL Based on the Oscar award winning film, a glamorous Sydney based performing trio take their show to the middle of the Australian outback. PALACE THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0870 895 5579) BLOOD BROTHERS Willy Russell’s powerful musical about twins from Liverpool, separated at birth, whose paths cross in friendship and finally in bloodshed. PHOENIX THEATRE Charing Cross Road, WC2 (0870 060 6629) GREASE Inimitable slice of 50s Americana, bursting with denim, cheerleaders and well-oiled quiffs. Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, You’re The One that I Want and many more get audiences dancing in the aisles. PICCADILLY THEATRE Denman Street, W1 (0870 060 0123) LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Major revival of the classic Jerry Herman musical, which became the biggest new American musical of the decade when it opened on Broadway in 1983. A tale of family values and the need to be proud of who we are, where life is never a drag! PLAYHOUSE Northumberland Avenue, WC2 (0870 060 6631) JERSEY BOYS Rags to riches tale of four blue collar kids working their way from the streets of Newark to the heights of stardom as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE Old Compton Street, W1 (0870 850 9191) MAMMA MIA Hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, set around the story of a mother and daughter, on the eve of the daughter’s wedding. PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE Old Compton Street, W1 (0870 850 0393) T H I S
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ALL NEW CAST AT THE CRITERION THEATRE It’s all change for The 39 Steps as a new cast takes over at the Criterion Theatre. On 13 July the entire cast of 4 will be new faces in Patrick Barlow’s adaptation, directed by Maria Aitken. The new team in London’s hit comedy will be Stephen Critchlow as Man 2; John Hopkins as Richard Hannay; Natalie Walter as Annabella Schmidt, Pamela and Margaret; and Stephen Ventura as Man 1. Now in its third year, The 39 Steps has played over 1000 performances in London with a further 26 productions internationally, including the current Broadway run. Maria Aitken’s multi award-winning production contains every single legendary scene from the 1935 classic Hitchcock movie thriller, including the chase on the Flying Scotsman,
the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the sensational death-defying finale in the London Palladium, as well as the memorable and controversial ‘stockings and suspenders’ scene. Tickets are available from the Box Office, telephone 0844 8471778
LES MISERABLES Much praised and spectacularly staged version of Victor Hugo’s epic novel. QUEENS THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0870 950 0930)
HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL Tracy Turnblad, the big girl with the big hair and an even bigger heart goes from 60s style dance show to a downtown rhythm and blues record shop. Based on the John Waters movie. SHAFTESBURY THEATRE Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (020 7379 5399)
CAROUSEL The story of the love affair between Billy Bigelow, a smooth-talking carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, plus one of the most celebrated scores of all time, including The Carousel Waltz, If I Loved You, June is Bustin’ Out All Over and You’ll Never Walk Alone. Until 25 July DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS Inspired by the smash hit million selling albums comes a brand new musical featuring some of the greatest hits of the rock ‘n’ roll era. This feelgood production takes you back in time to when each passing week brought another classic track. SAVOY THEATRE Savoy Court, WC2 (0870 164 8787)
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OLIVER! Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of Lionel Bart’s musical masterpiece, starring Rowan Atkinson as ‘Fagin’. The legendary songs include ‘Consider Yourself’, ‘Food Glorious Food’, ‘I’d Do Anything’ and ‘As Long as He Needs Me’. THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE Catherine Street, WC2 (0870 890 1109) BILLY ELLIOT - THE MUSICAL The hit British film is transformed into a thrilling stage musical by its original director, Stephen Daldry, with music by Elton John. VICTORIA PALACE Victoria Street, SW1 (0870 895 5577) I S
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MORTIMER'S GRILL There is something, which perhaps visitors from other (sunnier) lands do not understand about the British. We long for summer. We have memories of long, light days when the evenings were filled with beer drinkers chatting on the pavements and, indeed, streets of the West End, keen to feel the silky warm air on their bare arms and keener still to escape the un-air-conditioned fug of a bar interior. But these memories are rare. We have whole summers when grey skies are the norm and the matches at Wimbledon are rained off more often than they are played. And that's why the mere apparition of a big, bold terrace, such as the one at Mortimer's Grill, lifts the spirits and rekindles all our optimism: of course 2009 will be a great summer. We haven't had one in two years; it's our due. The bluewhite flames at the entrance; the broad canopies of the sunshades; the panorama beyond thick glass panes of diners in serried rows - all this makes us sigh with pleasurable anticipation. Beyond ambience, however, Mortimer's is also a very good steak house trading under the banner 'Black & Blue' (that is, as black or as blue as you like.) Steaks are aged Scottish beef; burgers are alleged to be excellent, T H I S
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no hope for the chips that followed. A whole section entitled 'spit roast chicken' (£13) allows diners to choose between accompaniments of, say, chips and salad or mashed potato, French beans and bacon and mushroom jus. I've never seen so much chicken on a plate for one person – and very fragrant with garlic and herbs. Swordfish steak on a frisée salad (£15) was similarly over-generous, so it was pretty crazy to order ice cream sundae and apple tart with cinnamon ice cream (£6). But then, we don't get to fantasise about a long hot summer very often. We lost our heads; so did a lot of people ordering cocktails and bar food, who were sitting outside with their coats on, drinking Mortimer's Spring punch and eating big plates of crostini or mini fish and chips. July in London? We love it. Sue Webster MORTIMER'S GRILL 37 Berners Street, W1 020 7436 0451
according to my friend, who said it was what she always ate here and so received a withering look from me. Instead, we tried firstly crab cakes £6), which came with spring onion risotto and spiced tomato relish; and sautéed with mushrooms on toasted brioche with a poached egg and truffle oil. These were fresh, wholesome and very substantial - there was
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