how The Lucky Dog Picturehouse is set to bring live music to the comedies of Buster Keaton in Wapping

by Jon Massey

The Lucky Dog Picturehouse is set to continue its partnership with Wilton’s Music Hall, screening silent black and white lms with live music from the period they were made. Following a run of Harold Lloyd icks (Safety Last is set to show on July 31), Buster Keaton takes centrestage in August with three movies scheduled.

First up will be 1924’s The Navigator on August 2.

GIG | The Staycations

Expect an evening of alternative rock and post punk headlined by this out t with support from Mehalah Ray and The Motor Show – presented by Can’t Draw. Aug 6, 7pm, £6.50, thegeorgetavern.london

Where? Tobacco Dock Wapping

EVENT | London Craft Beer Festival

Try more than 800 beers (all included in the price) at this festival. Tickets cover entry to the event for ve-hour afternoon or evening slots. Often sells out. Aug 11-12, from £57.50, londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk

Where? Wilton’s Music Hall Wapping after

Keaton, in the role of wealthy Rollo Jackson, who embarks on a sea voyage after his proposal of marriage is snubbed. Unwittingly he boards the wrong ship and hilarity ensues in what would come to be the comic’s biggest hit.

Next up is 1925’s Seven Chances on August 3 where Keaton plays Jimmy Shannon who will only receive his inheritance of $7million if he’s married by 7pm on his 27th birthday.

Then the three-day season is rounded o with 1926’s Battling Butler. This time Keaton plays a rich dandy who masquerades as a champion boxer to impress the family of the woman he loves. All goes smoothly until the real ghter shows up All of the screenings start at 7.30pm and are accompanied by live music and comedy shorts alongside the main feature. Tickets range from £8 to £13. Go to wiltons.org.uk for more information

Scan this code to nd out more or to book tickets

STAGE | Kabaret Nusantara

This event promises to blend traditional Indonesian dance forms and ritual with contemporary movement, dance theatre and burlesque. Jul 27, 7.30pm, from £12.50, wiltons.org.uk spot check

One for the chicken lovers – rooftop bar Skylight at Tobacco Dock currently o ers Swings And Wings where diners can get bottomless wings and sauces plus Corona beers for £19.99pp Thurs-Sun, 5pm-7pm skylightbars.com

Scan this code to nd out more Skylight or to book for this or one of its other o ers want more? @wharfwhispers what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? Craft Central Isle Of Dogs

how Docklands Sailing And Watersports Centre can help you get out on the dock

by Jon Massey

TRY | Jesmonite Casting Workshop

Join Shalaka Laxman of ByShax for this two-hour session where participants learn to create their own coasters using a water-based eco-resin. Jul 30, 2pm, £40, craftcentral.org.uk

Where?

La Nina Ca e And Mercato Isle Of Dogs

LEARN | Fresh Pasta Class

The heart of Italian food on the Island hosts a two-hour class for adults keen to learn the secrets of ravioli and tagliatelle over a glass of wine or two. Jul 30, 11am, £60, laninacookingschoolandevents.co.uk

Where? The Space Isle Of Dogs

STAGE | Scriptspace: Kroydon Ho, Yo Yo Yo

This live reading of a play in development features a four-way con ict over power, control, love, hate, escape and Kong. Followed by networking. Aug 6, 2pm, free, space.org.uk still time

Move fast, but there is still time to catch several events that collectively make up The Islander Festival at Goodluck Hope. Expect a free carnival and plenty of wine and mead tastings to turn your head goodluckhope.com

Scan this code for full listings for the festival, which runs until July 29 at the Leamouth development want more? @wharfwhispers

Anyone can come here – it’s an amazing place to go out on the water whether you’re an adult or a kid,” said Leila Moore, sailing instructor at the Docklands Sailing And Watersports Centre (DSWC) on the Isle Of Dogs.

“I grew up on the Island and was nine when I first tried out sailing, windsurfing and kayaking at the centre – I’m 22 now and I’m still here.”

Leila remains a part-time instructor at the centre while studying for a degree in ocean science and marine conservation at the University Of Plymouth.

“I love the water and I always wanted to be a marine biologist, so sailing has given me a chance to be out on the dock and ocean a lot,” she said. “I think the DSWC is something not many people expect to find in ondon and it’s a great facility.

“I really enjoyed all the watersports I tried when I was a kid, but then the weather started to get colder so I stuck with sailing, which was on the water rather than in it.

“By the following summer I was racing and I loved it. At the centre, kids have the option to become volunteers if they are doing well at the age of 14 and can start shadowing instructors on courses.

“That’s what I did, which was quite interesting as sometimes you’re teaching adults while still a teenager. At 16 I did my instructor’s course, which then gave me a job that I really enjoyed and gave me even more opportunities to be out on the water.”

Leila now works at the centre whenever her studies allow, helping children and adults discover sailing and develop their skills.

“The minimum age is eight for our sessions and we run a youth club on Monday evenings and Sunday mornings as well as sessions in the holidays and over half terms,” she said. “The kids learn how to sail from scratch –the parts of the boat and how it works. We teach them all the way from Royal Yachting Association

Getting On The

Leila Moore has been going to DSWC since she was nine and remains a part-time instructor while studying at university stage one to stage four, which covers everything from the very beginning to starting to race.

“ he RYA certificates are recog nised globally and are evidence of how much sailing a person can do. For adults we do something similar with levels one to three available, although most people only do up to level two, which is what’s generally necessary to hire

“If someone has done level one with us then we’re happy for them to go out sailing on our boats – then we have open sessions all day, every day apart from when we’re hosting private

“If someone is a member, they can go out sailing without instructors. Annual membership is £150 for adults and only £30 for children so it’s very good value. There’s also family membership for £300, which includes two adults and four children.

“Of course, anyone can come and hire a sit on kayak or a stand up paddleboard for an hour so long as they can swim.

“We get all kinds of people who come to try things out –passers by who didn’t know we were here, locals who want to get out on the water, tourists who have found us online and workers who regularly travel to this part of ondon for work.

“We believe in safety all day, every day and we always have instructors on or watching the water. Our safety boats are always rigged and ready to go so we can get from one end of the dock to the other in under a minute if we need to, although it’s very rare for kids or adults get into a situation that they can’t sort out themselves.

“Everybody wears a buoyancy aid and there are no exceptions to that rule apart from the open water swimmers who are also based here.

“The water itself is very clean – we check it regularly and I can confirm I’ve been in and out of the water since the age of nine and have managed to survive.

“For me it’s close to home, of course, but the reason I keep coming back is that the people are really lovely – it’s a great environment.

“Some of our adult racers have been coming for many years too – I was racing against them when I was a kid – it’s just such a nice place to be.

“We’re very reasonably priced and, compared to similar places nearby, we have the greatest variety of boats and offer the most sessions on the water.”

While an injury at 16 curtailed Leila’s solo career she has since moved on to sailing racing yachts as part of a team. In addition to competition and recreation, her experience with boats has also opened doors for her academically.

“As an ocean scientist, the sailing has helped me a lot,” she said. “I spent all of January and most of February on a yacht in urkey doing some research and I only got that opportunity because of my skills as a sailor.

“ he project was for people doing PhDs, but they needed somebody who could handle a boat and there have been a few things like that. A surprising number of people who study the ocean don’t have sailing skills, so it’s been really useful.”

Leila has started taking her nieces and nephews out at the centre too in the hope that they might follow in her footsteps, admitting that her siblings are not water people. However, while there are all kinds of craft piled high in its yard, DWSC is about more than the activities on the dock itself.

“We have a bar upstairs that’s usually open from pm on week days and from 1pm at weekends as well as a iki Bar downstairs, which is very exciting,” she said.

“We also have a space that can be hired for weddings and birthdays or any kind of party along with the bar.

“We do corporate events too such as team building, where companies can hire the whole site – we do activities such as dragon boat racing, which is a great thing to do with colleagues paddling together.”

Sit on kayaks and paddleboards can be hired for 1 for non mem bers and £5 for members. A full list of activities and prices can be found on the centre’s website alongside booking links.

Go to dswc.org for more information

Scan this code to nd out more about DSWC or to book

Fact Le Watersports O Ered

Among the activities on o er at DSWC are (in no particular order):

● Windsur ng

● Sailing

● Kayaking

● Canoeing

● Paddleboarding

● Dragon Boat Racing

● Swimming

● Youth Clubs

● Tiki Bar

● Hall Hire

● RYA Level Courses

● Dinghy Sailing

● Corporate Teambuilding

● Bar And Lounge

● School Sessions

● Meeting Room Hire

Go to dswc.org for full details or to book what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

The Albany Deptford

EVENT | The Church Of Princess Cassandra

This comic play boasts “Greek tragedy energy” as it follows the exploits of a group who meet with one thing on its members’ minds – revenge. Jul 28, 7.30pm, pay what you want, thealbany.org.uk

Where?

Brunel Museum

Rotherhithe

CHILL | Cool Space

Beat the heat in the museum’s tunnel shaft which has o cially been designated as a cool space on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over the summer. From Jul 26, 10am-4pm, free, thebrunelmuseum.com

Where?

The Albany Deptford

Cost of a ticket to Hiver’s forthcoming karaoke night at its south-east London taproom £6

EVENT | Static Monsters World Championship

More than 80 of the world’s strongest athletes descend on Deptford to pump iron and lift things others simply can’t. Nine hours of physical feats. Jun 29-30, 10am, £17.50, thealbany.org.uk try this

At £8.50 for a full plate, the sausage, mash and peas at The Job Centre in Deptford is well worth checking out. Expect a non-judgemental welcome and charitable house beer on draught jobcentredeptford.com

Scan this code to nd out more about The Job Centre in Deptford High Street want more? @wharfwhispers

by Jon Massey

The taproom and headquarters of honey beer brand Hiver is set to host an evening of karaoke on August 4. Located in Stanworth Street beneath a railway arch, the venue promises a night of ballads and 1980s pop guided by the appropriately named MC Mike.

From 7.30pm until 10.30pm, ticketholders will be able to listen and dance as punters belt out their numbers fuelled by the local brew or its cousin Fabal lager. Apparently two mics will be available alongside a big screen for the lyrics and duets are welcome. Tickets are £6.

For those unable to make this special event, the brand also o ers regular taproom tastings of its own products and others starting at £19.

As honey is used to sweeten its beers, Hiver also o ers a London-based beekeeping and beer tasting experience at Bee Urban in Kennington Park.

Here, for £52, tasters are taken on a two-hour guided tour of the hives including a 45-minute hands-on beekeeping session. This is followed by a tasting to gain greater understanding of the role of honey in beer making and the bees themselves.

Hiver, which was created by former Meantime brand manager back when it was an independent brewery, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.

To that end, its taproom will be transformed for an urban country hoedown on September 21 complete with barn dancing, craft beer, wine and cocktails. There will be live, high-energy country, bluegrass and americana music and food from nearby Ben’s Bangers at Maltby Street Market on o er. Doors open at 5pm with music from 7pm. Tickets cost £10 and straw hats, while encouraged, remain optional.

For more information about these events or other experiences o ered by Hiver, go to madeofengland.co.uk

Scan this code to nd out more about the karaoke night

Months The Burnt City will continue to be performed at Woolwich Works before it closes on September 24 3

Burnt

2000

by Jon Massey

>> PART TWO <<

If you’ve started reading here, welcome. There is no right or wrong way to experience this article. Just your eyes, these images and words and, perhaps, a sense of bewilderment when you reach the end at a place of your choosing. Feel free to ip over the page and end things here. Or not.

Time, it turns out, is short. Punchdrunk has announced that it will welcome its final audience for The Burnt City on September 24. Tickets for the final performance at the time of writing) were selling fast and cost £145 per person. Other shows in the remaining three months had availability from £45. VIP and premium option are also available. There are a limited number of tickets for Royal Borough Of Greenwich residents priced at £25.

Now all of that tiresome admin is out of the way, why don’t we have Felix see art One tell us what impact he hopes the show will have on those who see it?

He said: “I would like people to feel that childlike awe and wonder that you get as kid when you go and explore your grandfather’s attic. You’re told you’re not allowed, but you know that serious wonders lie up there and you brave it anyway.

“You’re by yourself, you open the door, it’s very dark and full of clutter. There’s something in the far corner and you venture over there. It’s thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating and it’s full of magic. That’s our aim.

“As adults, much of the magic has been removed from life because of our responsibilities. We’re trying to give that back to our audiences.”

Read Part Three for a bit of history and a smattering of inspiration

START READING HERE

>> PART ONE <<

This isn’t exactly a typical article structure. But then its subject matter isn’t a typical show. Since it opened in March 2022, more than 200,000 people have seen theatre company Punchdrunk’s latest offering – its first at Woolwich Works, the organisation’s permanent global home.

The Burnt City is a sprawling creation. Masked audience members are free to explore around 100,000sq ft of warehouse space, transformed for the production into an enormous, intricately detailed set in which the show’s multitude of performers appear and disappear.

Founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, Felix Barrett said: “The show is based on the fable of the fall of Troy and the collapse of that mythical metropolis.

“It’s a future noir sci fi thriller, told across 120 rooms, which audience members are free to explore in their own time.

“It’s part haunted museum, part real world living movie and part adult adventure playground.” building a

Audience members wear masks immediately marking them out from the performers who go about their business without acknowledging the watchers.

“Most of our performers are contemporary dancers and there’s a big soundtrack, so it’s like you’re inside a movie,” said Felix.

“It’s a gestural, physical language, rather than the intellectual side of your brain having to process it, so it transcends language.

It all starts with a building: Left, Punchdrunk’s home at Woolwich Works

“It takes at least 200 people to run a performance. There’s a big cast, a big group of front-of-house stewards, the stage management team, all the backstage departments – design, costume, lighting and sound.

“It takes a village, that’s for sure, but that’s what’s necessary to create single moments for the audience members. ifferent people in the same building will have different experiences.

The images on this page show just a glimpse of some of the 120 rooms that together form the set of The Burnt City

The whole production can be hired for corporate events

“I want people to treat the show like a gallery or a museum but one where everything has come alive at night. It can have a clear story if you follow a single character but there are myriad narratives to uncover. We don’t want to prescribe a certain way to do it, and there’s no right or wrong way to watch the show.

“The reason why you enter through the bar is important, because that’s your safe space, so, if it all gets too much, you can go back, have a nice drink and watch the band.” ea art o to fin out h ooking sooner rather than ater ou e ise

>> PART THREE <<

At The Globe theatre in Elizabethan times, if you didn’t like the show, you could throw a cabbage at the performers and leave – I thought that was empowering,” said Felix.

“I created Punchdrunk in 2000 because although I’m a theatre buff and I love it, I was a bit disillusioned with the stuff I was seeing.

“So I asked how we might give the audience control and tried to set out to create something where they were the epicentre of the work. Ideally I wanted to create something which could bring the hairs up on the back of the neck.

“What I’m interested in is trying to ip audience expectations and to give audiences a night out which they wouldn’t easily get elsewhere.

“I always want to break the rules of conventional theatre – to try to make sure that there are secrets to unlock.”

For Felix, that process is rooted in the bricks and mortar of the places Punchdrunk performs. The company’s shows have called disused warehouses, private houses, an old school and tunnels underneath Waterloo Station home. It has made work in locations as far ung as Shanghai and New York.

“A theatre is a blank canvas, but a building is already quite detailed, so we look at all the architectural detail and how we can harness that power, accentuate it and make it stronger for the audience,” said Felix.

“First of all I walk the building, let myself be guided by it and then chalk out the safest place and the most threatening part. You’re left with a beautiful, existential tour of a space, and then we start to put a story across it, with the source material.

“Then you start to dream about the environments and the worlds. We definitely do world building before we do narrative arc – we’re closer to a video game than a play. The word ‘immersive’ came from that genre of entertainment originally.” ea art i e for a ook into the future

>> PART FIVE <<

We’ve been nomadic for 23 years, and although we’ve got buildings we can settle into in New York and Shanghai, we’ve never had that in London, where we’re from,” said Felix.

“To have a home base is extraordinary, so I’m excited about us starting to break new ground, asking questions about the future of the theatre – how we surprise our audience so that we can create something nobody has seen before – that’s our main objective.

“We’re going to start playing with and experimenting with new projects. In a computer game, you can often take your character and go anywhere you want in a world.

“I think the future is taking that empowerment and applying it to real live shows. It took us six or seven years to get into our home in Woolwich and open our first show. Now it’s almost hard to imagine us not being in Woolwich – we absolutely love it.

“We’re hungry to make more work. This really is a new dawn for Punchdrunk” o. here as no art our

● Go to the urntcit .com for more information or to ook tickets for one of the fina erformances

Scan this code to nd out more about The Burnt City

Greenwich - Peninsula - Woolwich what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? Indigo At The O2 Peninsula

GIG | API Live In London

WAYO brings top Sri Lankan artists Athula Adhikari and Athma Liyanage to The O2’s second venue for an evening of music of the “ nest quality”. Jul 30, 3pm, from £36, theo2.co.uk

Where?

Visitors’ Book Cafe Woolwich Works

GIG | Imperio Bamba + Alex Etchart & Vientos

Arsenal Of Sounds returns with a double-bill of South American music, fusing the sounds of Peru, Africa, Britain and Ireland live on stage. Aug 4, 6.30pm, from £10.50, woolwich.works

Where? Greenwich Theatre Greenwich

STAGE | Abigail’s Party

Crank up the Demis Roussos, Mike Leigh’s 1977 play is set for a south-east London revival. Watch the trauma as the nibbles and alcohol ow. Aug 2-5, times vary, £27, greenwichtheatre.org ash back

Discover

Scan this to nd out more about the trail and to read Wharf Life’s interview with Ellen of Pigeon Loft Prints want more? @wharfwhispers

Starting price for blood assessment at Royal Wharf Clinic in Royal Docks £80