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MATCHDAY TOURS NOW AVAILABLE<br />

Exciting interactive tour<br />

Go behind the scenes at London Stadium<br />

Historic London 2012 Olympic venue<br />

Home to West Ham United and UK Athletics<br />

See the changing room, indoor running track,<br />

players’ tunnel, pitch side and much more<br />

Enjoy beautiful parklands in Queen<br />

Elizabeth Olympic Park<br />

Ideal for individuals and groups<br />

lstours@delawarenorth.com | london-stadium.com<br />

@londonstadium | #londonstadiumtours


CONTENTS<br />

Events 4<br />

Ascot’s Festival of Food and Wine<br />

Wembley Stadium Tours<br />

Music 8<br />

Dominion Theatre completes Restoration<br />

Ute Lemper at Cadogan Hall<br />

Exhibitions 12<br />

20/21 Art Fair at Mall Galleries<br />

Royal Miniatures Society Exhibition<br />

Photo: Lee Parker.<br />

Welcome to London<br />

Theatre 16<br />

Apologia<br />

The Girl from the North Country<br />

Proprietor Julie Jones<br />

Publishing Consultant Terry Mansfield CBE<br />

Associate Publisher Beth Jones<br />

Editorial Clive Hirschhorn Sue Webster<br />

© This is London Magazine Limited<br />

This is London at the Olympic Park<br />

Stour Space, 7 Roach Road,<br />

Fish Island, London E3 2PA<br />

Telephone: 020 7434 1281<br />

www.til.com<br />

www.thisislondonmagazine.com<br />

It’s the time of the year again when air ambulances across the UK are raising<br />

awareness of the fact that the Air Ambulance Services nationwide are all<br />

charities. National Air Ambulance Week, from 11 - 18 September, helps<br />

to spread the word and raise donations.<br />

There are an amazing 582 hours of collections happening all week at 15 of<br />

London’s largest stations. Also available are the new helicopter pin badges to<br />

give away – these fun pin badges are a great way to help raise awareness.<br />

You can find Londons Air Ambulance charity pin badges in 300 local shops<br />

all around London.<br />

For further information, or to make a donation visit<br />

londonsairambulance.co.uk<br />

Whilst every care is taken in the preparation of this<br />

magazine and in the handling of all the material<br />

supplied, neither the Publishers nor their agents<br />

accept responsibility for any damage, errors or<br />

omissions, however these may be caused.<br />

VISITOR INFORMATION<br />

Emergencies 999 Police Ambulance Fire<br />

24 Hour Casualty 020 8746 8000<br />

Dentistry 0808 155 3256<br />

Victim Support 0845 30 30 900<br />

free and confidential service<br />

Visit London 020 7234 5833<br />

Heathrow Airport 0844 335 1801<br />

Gatwick Airport 0844 892 0322<br />

Taxis 020 7272 5471<br />

Dry Cleaner 7491 3426 Florist 7831 6776<br />

Optician 7581 6336 Watches 7493 5916<br />

Weather 0870 9000100<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


4<br />

ASCOT’S FESTIVAL OF FOOD & WINE RACING WEEKEND<br />

A quintessentially British tradition, afternoon tea is one of the best-loved food<br />

offerings served at Ascot Racecourse. This year’s Festival of Food & Wine Racing<br />

Weekend, from 7-10 September – with Flat racing on Friday and Saturday – is set to<br />

be a glorious few days of feasting, drinking and racing with Great British Bake Off<br />

winner Candice Brown headlining the event, alongside two-Michelin star chef<br />

Raymond Blanc OBE on Saturday 9 September.<br />

CHINA CHANGING FESTIVAL<br />

RETURNS TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE<br />

Southbank Centre’s China Changing<br />

Festival returns for its second year, on<br />

Saturday 7 October, showcasing<br />

contemporary China and exploring its<br />

creative connection with the UK.<br />

Launched in December 2016, this<br />

three year international festival returns to<br />

London presenting some of the most<br />

innovative artists practising in China<br />

today and celebrating inspiring work<br />

from British-based Chinese and South<br />

East Asian artists.<br />

Over fifty per cent of the programme<br />

is free, bringing together an eclectic day<br />

including new perspectives on<br />

traditional sounds, digital and electronic<br />

art, surreal film, breakdance, comedy,<br />

modern puppetry, theatre and topical<br />

panel discussions.<br />

KLEZMER IN THE PARK:<br />

THE BIG MIX 2017<br />

Jewish Music Institute’s flagship<br />

annual one day Festival takes place this<br />

year on Sunday 10 September, a funpacked<br />

afternoon for all the family in<br />

one of London’s most beautiful parks.<br />

As well as BBC Radio 3 DJ Max<br />

Reinhardt, Community Hub and Kids<br />

Zone, this year’s live stage will feature<br />

Klezmer in collaboration with a global<br />

selection of artists. JMI Youth Big Band,<br />

is a brand new youth ensemble<br />

performing contemporary music of<br />

Jewish origin. The ensemble will draw<br />

inspiration from the great American big<br />

bands and Jewish music throughout the<br />

ages. The band is co?led by two world<br />

class Jewish Jazz musicians; trumpet<br />

player Sam Eastmond, and<br />

instrumentalist Stewart Curtis.<br />

WORLD-PREMIERE OF NETWORK<br />

AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE<br />

This autumn, the National Theatre will<br />

stage the world-premiere of Network,<br />

Lee Hall’s new adaptation of the Oscarwinning<br />

film by Paddy Chayefsky.<br />

Directed by Ivo van Hove, Douglas<br />

Henshall will play Max Schumacher in a<br />

cast which includes Tony award winner<br />

Bryan Cranston as Howard Beale, and<br />

Michelle Dockery as Diana Christenson.<br />

Howard Beale, news anchor-man,<br />

isn’t pulling in the viewers. In his final<br />

broadcast he unravels live on screen.<br />

But when the ratings soar, the network<br />

seizes on their new found populist<br />

prophet, and Howard becomes the<br />

biggest thing on TV.<br />

Network depicts a dystopian media<br />

landscape where opinion trumps fact.<br />

Hilarious and horrifying by turns, the<br />

iconic film by Paddy Chayefsky won four<br />

Academy Awards in 1976. Now, Lee Hall<br />

(Billy Elliot, Our Ladies of Perpetual<br />

Succour) and director Ivo van Hove<br />

(Hedda Gabler) bring his masterwork to<br />

the stage for the first time.<br />

Douglas Henshall.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


wembleystadium.com/tours<br />

0800 169 9933<br />

TOURS DEPART DAILY: 10:00 – 15:00<br />

PRINTED TRANSLATION GUIDES AVAILABLE IN 9 LANGUAGES


6<br />

INTERNATIONAL VISITORS TO<br />

LONDON – BEST ON RECORD<br />

London welcomed a jump in visitors<br />

during the first quarter of 2017, making<br />

it the best on record according to new<br />

figures released by the Office for<br />

National Statistics. The number of<br />

overseas visits to the UK for January to<br />

June this year hit a record-breaking<br />

19.1 million, up 9% on 2016. The past<br />

six months have seen a 25% rise in<br />

visitors from North America, thanks to<br />

the ‘Brexit effect’ and weak pound. As<br />

always, the transatlantic exchange has<br />

valuable economic benefits.<br />

There are some terrific shows running<br />

on Broadway, with a West End transfer<br />

for the juggernaut production of the<br />

musical ‘Hamilton’ opening in<br />

November. The story of America’s<br />

Founding Father Alexander Hamilton,<br />

the score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues,<br />

rap, R&B and Broadway – the story of<br />

America then, as told by America now.<br />

For those returning home to or<br />

through New York or UK travellers<br />

heading over the Pond, a rising star on<br />

the restaurant scene there is Thursday<br />

Kitchen in the achingly cool Lower East<br />

Side (thursdaykitchennyc.com)<br />

The meanu, created by Kay Hyun, is<br />

wonderfully eclectic. For veggies, angry<br />

sweet potato with sriracha goat cheese<br />

and chilla is a spicy favourite; there’s<br />

kale with house-made lemon ponzu<br />

dressing; and mapo tofu served with<br />

green lentils and chili bean sauce.<br />

The steak has a soy-garlic glaze and<br />

feta grits; there is chicharron (confit pork<br />

belly, cashew creme, white kimchi, lime<br />

juice and cilantro) and local favourite<br />

popcorn chicken in a sweet and spicy<br />

sauce with black sesame crumbles.<br />

There is also ramen, truffle mac and<br />

cheese and edamame dumplings and the<br />

seafood offering is just as good –<br />

octopus served chilled with korean pear,<br />

sweet soy-scallion, riesling gellee and<br />

mango; tuna tataki and kimchi paella.<br />

The wines are from all over, bubbles,<br />

beer and Asian spirits and the amazing<br />

‘got light’ korean liquor steeped for two<br />

weeks with rose leaves, yuzu and egg<br />

which is literally lit from within<br />

(above) – available only on Thursdays.<br />

SPEND A NIGHT WITH THE LIONS<br />

AT GIR LION LODGE<br />

Fancy falling asleep to tropical<br />

birdsong, and waking up to a lion’s<br />

roar instead of your alarm clock? Then<br />

ZSL London Zoo has the experience for<br />

you, right in the heart of the Capital.<br />

Adventurous animal lovers can spend a<br />

night within a whisker of the lions at<br />

the Zoo’s Gir Lion Lodge overnight<br />

experience.<br />

Guests will be welcomed to nine<br />

colourful cabins nestled in the heart of<br />

the Land of the Lions exhibit. Beautifully<br />

decorated with a bespoke, hand-painted<br />

mural, each lodge has been named after<br />

an animal from the Gir Forest, home to<br />

the only wild population of Asiatic lions.<br />

ZSL London Zoo’s dedicated hosts<br />

will guide guests around the Zoo on<br />

exclusive evening and morning tours,<br />

sharing their insider tips on spotting<br />

species and fascinating facts about some<br />

of the Zoo’s 17,000 residents.You will<br />

also discover more about the work ZSL<br />

is doing with local communities and<br />

rangers in India’s Gir Forest to protect<br />

these endangered big cats.<br />

Sleeping within roaring distance of<br />

the pride of majestic Asiatic lions,<br />

guests will then be treated to an evening<br />

meal and breakfast, and each private<br />

lodge comes fully equipped with home<br />

comforts, including cosy beds and an<br />

en-suite.<br />

With places already selling fast, visit<br />

www.zsl.org/girlionlodge to book a night<br />

at the wildest overnight stay in London.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


WEMBLEY STADIUM TOURS<br />

Wembley Stadium Tour takes visitors<br />

deep into the heart of the stadium and<br />

into areas usually reserved for the<br />

biggest and best names in sport and<br />

music such as Beckham, Messi,<br />

Ronaldo, Tom Brady, Anthony Joshua,<br />

Ed Sheeran and Beyonce.<br />

The award-winning, 75 minute,<br />

guided tour includes access to the<br />

Dressing Rooms, Press Room, Players<br />

Tunnel, Pitchside and the iconic Royal<br />

Box to have a photograph taken with a<br />

replica of the world-famous FA Cup.<br />

With multiple accessible train routes,<br />

ample parking, a café, plentiful restroom<br />

facilities and the London Designer Outlet<br />

shopping centre next door, the Wembley<br />

Tour caters for all visitor needs. It is<br />

open 12 months a year and 7 days a<br />

week with the exception of certain event<br />

dates in the calendar. Tours depart at<br />

10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 and<br />

15:00 with pre-booking advised.<br />

Easily accessible via any of these<br />

stations; Wembley Park via Metropolitan<br />

and Jubilee Lines, Wembley Stadium<br />

Station via Chiltern Line and Wembley<br />

Central Station via Bakerloo Line,<br />

London Overground and National Rail.<br />

All tours are conducted in English.<br />

Printed translation guides are available<br />

in 9 languages. Book online at visiting<br />

www.wembleystadium.com/tours or<br />

calling 0800 169 9933.<br />

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA<br />

KEY CAST CHANGES<br />

As the musical heads into its 32nd<br />

year, there are key cast changes for The<br />

Phantom Of The Opera. Joining the cast<br />

from 4 September are Ben Lewis who<br />

will play the title role of ‘The Phantom’,<br />

Kelly Mathieson as ‘Christine Daaé’ and<br />

Jeremey Taylor as ‘Raoul’.<br />

The Phantom Of The Opera has won<br />

over 70 major theatre awards, including<br />

seven Tony’s on Broadway and four<br />

Olivier Awards in the West End. It won<br />

the ‘Magic Radio Audience Award’, voted<br />

by the public, in the 2016 Laurence<br />

Olivier Awards.<br />

Wembley Stadium.<br />

7<br />

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8<br />

DOMINION THEATRE COMPLETES<br />

£6M RESTORATION<br />

London’s Dominion Theatre, home to<br />

Christopher Wheeldon’s stunning<br />

reinvention of the Oscar® winning<br />

Hollywood musical An American in<br />

Paris, has completed a £6 million<br />

restoration and unveiled a brand new<br />

double-sided LED screen on Tottenham<br />

Court Road, the largest and highest<br />

resolution projecting screen on the<br />

exterior of a West End theatre.<br />

The extensive restoration of this<br />

landmark Grade II listed building, which<br />

sits majestically at the junction of<br />

Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street<br />

and Charing Cross Road, was started in<br />

2014 and is now finally complete with<br />

the unveiling of the beautifully restored<br />

theatre façade and the brand new digital<br />

screen.<br />

An American in Paris has been<br />

ecstatically received by audiences and<br />

critics, earning an incredible 28 five star<br />

reviews when it opened at the Dominion<br />

Theatre in March this year. It has now<br />

extended booking though to the end of<br />

January 2018.<br />

The sumptuous new musical about<br />

following your heart and living your<br />

dreams is written by Craig Lucas and<br />

features the timeless music and lyrics of<br />

George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin,<br />

including the songs I Got Rhythm,<br />

‘S Wonderful, I’ll Build a Stairway To<br />

Paradise and They Can't Take That Away<br />

from Me, together with George<br />

Gershwin’s sweeping compositions<br />

including ‘An American in Paris’.<br />

Jerry Mulligan (played by Ashley Day,<br />

(pictured below) is an American GI<br />

pursuing his dream to make it as a<br />

painter in a city suddenly bursting with<br />

hope and possibility. Following a chance<br />

encounter with a beautiful young dancer<br />

named Lise, the streets of Paris become<br />

the backdrop to a sensuous, modern<br />

romance of art, friendship and love in<br />

the aftermath of war.<br />

For tickets, telephone 0845 200 7982.<br />

Photo: Johan Persson.<br />

LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES PRESENT<br />

THE TERRIBLE INFANTS<br />

Award-winning theatre company Les<br />

Enfants Terribles have announced the full<br />

cast for the anniversary production of The<br />

Terrible Infants. Staged at Wilton’s Music<br />

Hall in East London and featuring new<br />

creative material, it will run from<br />

27 September to 28 October.<br />

The Terrible Infants is a collection of<br />

twisted short stories by Oliver Lansley<br />

and Sam Wyer, which recall both Roald<br />

Dahl and Tim Burton, performed with<br />

Photo: Rah Petherbridge<br />

inventive puppetry and atmospheric live<br />

music. Following the phenomenal<br />

success of Alice’s Adventure’s<br />

Underground at The Vaults and to reflect<br />

Les Enfants Terribles’ bold and<br />

innovative theatricality, this ten year<br />

anniversary staging will feature new<br />

creative material.<br />

Featuring recorded narration from<br />

Judi Dench, The Terrible Infants<br />

originally debuted in 2007 before<br />

multiple appearances on nationwide<br />

tours and around the world. The<br />

production received numerous awards<br />

when it debuted a decade ago including<br />

Best Entertainment and Outstanding<br />

Theatre in the Fringe Report in 2008<br />

For tickets, telephone 0207 702 2789.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


10<br />

CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD TO PLAY<br />

MISS HANNIGAN IN ANNIE<br />

Michael Harrison and David Ian,<br />

Producers of the West End production of<br />

Annie have announced that from<br />

18 September to 26 November, Craig<br />

Revel Horwood will join the West End<br />

Company to play the role of Miss<br />

Hannigan for 10 weeks, as Nikolai<br />

Foster’s production extends booking at<br />

the Piccadilly Theatre to 18 February.<br />

Best known on television as a judge<br />

on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and<br />

for a role he returns to this Autumn,<br />

Craig Revel Horwood received great<br />

critical acclaim in Foster’s production of<br />

Annie that toured the UK in 2015.<br />

Previously in the West End he has<br />

performed the role of Munkustrap in<br />

Cats, was Dance Captain in Miss Saigon<br />

and played the role of Harry in Crazy for<br />

You. His production of Son of a<br />

Preacher Man will open in Bromley in<br />

September before embarking on an<br />

extensive UK tour. During his 10-week<br />

run, because of his Strictly Come<br />

Dancing commitments, Craig Revel<br />

Horwood will not play the role of Miss<br />

Hannigan on Saturdays.<br />

Set in 1930s New York during The<br />

Great Depression, brave young Annie is<br />

forced to live a life of misery and<br />

torment at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage.<br />

Her luck changes when she is chosen to<br />

spend Christmas at the residence of<br />

famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks.<br />

Meanwhile, spiteful Miss Hannigan has<br />

other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil<br />

Annie’s search for her true family...<br />

Foster’s production arrived in the<br />

West End 40 years after the original<br />

Broadway production opened in 1977<br />

and received seven Tony awards<br />

including the Best Musical, Best Score<br />

and Best Book. In 1982, Annie was<br />

adapted for the big screen directed by<br />

John Huston with a cast including Carol<br />

Burnett, Bernadette Peters and Albert<br />

Finney. The much-loved score includes<br />

the classics It’s A Hard Knock Life,<br />

Tomorrow and Easy Street.<br />

Box Office telephone 0844 871 7630.<br />

ROY ORBISON TRIBUTE SINGER TO<br />

PERFORM BLACK & WHITE NIGHT<br />

Roy Orbison had an extraordinary,<br />

unique voice that ranged from baritone<br />

to tenor, spanning three to four octaves,<br />

including a superb and soaring falsetto.<br />

Elvis Presley said Orbison had the<br />

greatest and most distinctive voice he<br />

had ever heard. Bruce Springsteen and<br />

Billy Joel both commented on the<br />

otherworldly quality of Orbison's voice<br />

while Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees said<br />

of Orbison’s voice in ‘Crying’ that ‘To me<br />

that was the voice of God’.<br />

Londoner Dave Collison, has<br />

mastered the Roy Orbison sound. Dave<br />

is the first to admit his voice isn’t Godgiven.<br />

His voice has always had an<br />

uncanny similarity to the Big O’s but he<br />

has studied and trained very hard over<br />

20 years to perfect the tone and reach<br />

the very high and low notes with the<br />

seeming ease that Roy Orbison had.<br />

Dave will perform The Black & White<br />

Night Revisited as a special, one-off<br />

event next week and will cover exactly<br />

the same set-list as the original concert.<br />

Backing singers for the original show<br />

included KD Lang, Jennifer Warnes and<br />

Bonnie Raitt, so Dave has carefully<br />

chosen female backing singers with the<br />

same vocal style to match the sound as<br />

closely as possible.<br />

Visit tickets.halfmoon.co.uk<br />

Dave Collison will perform a tribute to Roy Orbison.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


UTE LEMPER’S THE 9 SECRETS<br />

ALBUM LAUNCH AT CADOGAN HALL<br />

Grammy-nominated and<br />

internationally acclaimed artist Ute<br />

Lemper’s collaboration with renowned<br />

best-selling author Paulo Coelho,<br />

The 9 Secrets, has been released via<br />

Steinway & Sons. The launch will be<br />

celebrated with a concert at Cadogan<br />

Hall on 15 September at 19.30.<br />

The album presents a song cycle<br />

composed and sung by Lemper, set to<br />

words by Coelho from his 2012 novel<br />

Manuscript Found in Accra, the thematic<br />

content of which may be encapsulated in<br />

the lines, ‘After lying undiscovered for<br />

over 700 years, a manuscript holding<br />

the answers to questions about life and<br />

humanity is unearthed. Simple<br />

questions about our lives torn between<br />

happiness and sorrow and defined by<br />

hope, intelligence and desire to love as<br />

much as the capacity to hate and<br />

destroy.’ Coelho himself is featured on<br />

two tracks.<br />

Ute was born in Munster, Germany<br />

and completed her studies at The Dance<br />

Academy in Cologne and the Max<br />

Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in<br />

Vienna.<br />

Her career has been vast and varied,<br />

having made her mark in films,<br />

recordings and on theatre and concert<br />

stages around the world. As a recording<br />

artist, her discography thus far<br />

encompasses more than 30 albums over<br />

30 years, including 2012’s Grammynominated<br />

Paris Days, Berlin Nights on<br />

Steinway & Sons.<br />

She has been lauded for her<br />

interpretations of Berlin cabaret songs,<br />

the works of Kurt Weill and Berthold<br />

Brecht and the Chansons of Marlene<br />

Dietrich, Edith Piaf and many others.<br />

She has recorded the music of Elvis<br />

Costello, Tom Waits, Philip Glass and<br />

Nick Cave, and was named Billboard’s<br />

Crossover Artist of the Year for 1993–<br />

1994.<br />

For tickets, telephone Cadogan Hall<br />

box office on 020 7730 4500.<br />

Ute Lemper.<br />

Photo: Brigitte Dummer<br />

11<br />

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12<br />

Yoshijiro Urushibara (1889-1953): (London<br />

1910-1940): ‘Anemones in Black Vase’.<br />

Coloured woodcut c.1930. 305 x 203mm.<br />

From Hilary Chapman Fine Prints.<br />

THE FINEST MODERN BRITISH AND<br />

POST-WAR ART<br />

The 20/21 British Art Fair, one of the<br />

UK’s most popular art fairs and the only<br />

one to specialise exclusively in Modern<br />

and Post War British art, returns in a<br />

new venue after its former location was<br />

suddenly unavailable in 2016. After<br />

some 25 years at the Royal College of<br />

Art, it is moving to Mall Galleries in<br />

central London close to the art market<br />

hub of St James’s. The 28th staging will<br />

take place between 13–17 September.<br />

The fair is supported by 34 of the<br />

UK's leading art dealers, some of whom<br />

have exhibited at the fair since its<br />

inception in 1988, which clearly<br />

demonstrates the remarkable loyalty<br />

which underpins this event. Its great<br />

strength lies in the excellence and<br />

variety of Modern (1900-1945) and<br />

Post-War art (1945-1970). However,<br />

work from 1970 to the present day will<br />

also be on show.<br />

Most of the great names of 20th<br />

century British art will be represented:<br />

Bomberg, Freud, Frink, Frost, Hepworth,<br />

Hockney, Lowry, Moore, Nash, Piper,<br />

Riley, Spencer and Sutherland to name a<br />

few. Much of the work is privately<br />

sourced and fresh to the market and<br />

dealers keep work back for the fair. The<br />

result is a niche event showcasing<br />

paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture<br />

of the highest quality.<br />

Mall Galleries is a well-known venue<br />

which hosts art events on behalf of the<br />

Federation of British Artists such as the<br />

New English Art Club. Many of the<br />

artists represented at the fair would have<br />

belonged to this group some 50 or even<br />

100 years ago.<br />

‘We are delighted to be back and are<br />

very excited by the response to the new<br />

venue’,say the founders and organisers,<br />

Gay Hutson and Angela Wynn. ‘We are<br />

confident that this select specialist fair,<br />

with its great line up of dealers, will be<br />

a feast for collectors.’<br />

Open Wednesday 15.00-21.00;<br />

Thursday: 11.00-20.00; Friday/Saturday<br />

11.00-19.00; Sunday: 11.00-18.00.<br />

www.britishartfair.co.uk<br />

Patrick Procktor, RA (1936-2003): Jimi Hendrix.<br />

Watercolour, 33 x 33 cm. Signed and dated ‘73.<br />

From Christopher Kingzett Fine Art.<br />

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame<br />

describes Jimi Hendrix as ‘arguably the<br />

greatest instrumentalist in the history of<br />

rock music’. He died in London at the<br />

age of twenty-seven.Hendrix was a friend<br />

of Patrick Procktor having been<br />

introduced to him by Ossie Clark. He<br />

made one oil and a number of<br />

watercolours of Hendrix. This is the<br />

largest and strongest of the drawings.<br />

Edward Bawden (1903-1989): ‘Queen’s Garden’ 1983 (Kew Palace) Linocut<br />

and lithograph. 470 x 609mm. From: Dominic Kemp Modern British Prints.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF<br />

WORLD ATHLETES AT LONDON<br />

STADIUM<br />

Hot on the heels of the IAAF World<br />

Athletics and World Para Athletics<br />

Championships this summer, tours<br />

around the former Olympic Stadium are<br />

available to book now.<br />

The tour gives exclusive access to<br />

usually private areas of the stadium,<br />

superstar interviews and unique photo<br />

opportunities. Visitors will be able to<br />

re-imagine the success of the Super<br />

Saturday athletes as they made their<br />

preparations on the warm up track and<br />

out to the main arena where the roar of<br />

the crowds spurred them on to gold.<br />

And football fans will not be left<br />

disappointed as they follow in the<br />

footsteps of their heroes from the<br />

changing rooms and make the walk<br />

along the players’ tunnel, out to the<br />

manager’s dug out before standing pitch<br />

side.<br />

In addition, the London Stadium are<br />

now offering guided football specific<br />

match day tours, so visitors can take a<br />

behind the scenes view of the stadium<br />

only hours before the players battle it<br />

out on the pitch. This is a different style<br />

of tour, as it tour will be guided in small<br />

groups and everyone on the tour will be<br />

accompanied by one of the exceptional<br />

Experience Makers. The guides are full<br />

of character, knowledge and stories<br />

about West Ham United, athletics and<br />

the incredible feat of architecture that is<br />

the London Stadium, so guests will be<br />

entertained on your journey through the<br />

stadium.The popular areas of this tour<br />

will still be visited, but the excitement of<br />

a match day will be in the air.<br />

Either way, the tour is ideal for all,<br />

including families visiting the Olympic<br />

Park, the stadium comes alive through a<br />

75 minute interactive multimedia tour<br />

that has been specifically developed for<br />

the venue. www.london-stadium.com<br />

The London Stadium is just a short<br />

walk from Stratford Station, which is on<br />

the Jubilee, Central and Overground<br />

lines.<br />

The magnificent London Stadium from the air.<br />

13<br />

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14<br />

TECHNIQUES OF THE MINIATURE<br />

ARTIST REVEALED<br />

How do they create something that<br />

small? That is usually the first question<br />

you hear from people visiting The Royal<br />

Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors<br />

and Gravers’ (RMS) Annual Exhibition at<br />

The Mall Galleries in London.<br />

Two members of the RMS, wildlife<br />

painter Jenny Musker and wildlife<br />

sculptor Paul Eaton, reveal how they<br />

create their tiny artworks.<br />

Jenny works in watercolour on<br />

polymin, the modern equivalent of ivory.<br />

‘This is a man made cellulose, like<br />

painting on the surface of a ping pong<br />

ball. Before 1960, the surface would<br />

have been ivory which is now banned for<br />

wildlife conservation. Vellum, canvas,<br />

board and paper are also acceptable; in<br />

fact anything with a smooth surface<br />

helps with the detail.<br />

‘Polymin is an interesting surface to<br />

paint on, the paint tends to ‘slide’ on the<br />

surface, so you have to dry excess paint<br />

off your brush first then build up layers<br />

by stippling – dotting the paint on to<br />

the surface. Each layer must be allowed<br />

to dry before the next can go on and<br />

one splash of water can lift the painting<br />

right off!<br />

‘The painting of wrens on cherry<br />

blossom is approximately actual size at<br />

just 1.5”x2.5”. Even at this scale it takes<br />

many thousands of dots to make up the<br />

layers. I am often asked why I work with<br />

such a difficult medium. It adds a<br />

beautiful translucency to the watercolour<br />

and to the end result of the painting, and<br />

I like the challenge of working on such a<br />

tiny scale.’<br />

Paul Eaton sculpts metal into<br />

beautiful miniature masterpieces.<br />

‘I sculpt from wax that is normally used<br />

in injection moulding and comes in<br />

pellet form. I use a low voltage soldering<br />

iron to drip and mould wax almost like<br />

painting, then I use various tools, some<br />

made specifically for my own use, some<br />

dental and engraving tools, to carve<br />

more detail.<br />

‘The subject is roughly assembled to<br />

create a posture or pose, then detail is<br />

Jenny Musker: Dancing in the Dog<br />

Roses. Watercolour on polymin. Image<br />

size 4.5x6.5cm with frame 9x11cm.<br />

Left: Love Blossoms.<br />

added and slowly the subject comes to<br />

life. Once I am pleased with the<br />

composition the wax is then cast into<br />

metal using the lost wax process.<br />

‘This process involves attaching a<br />

wax bar or sprue to the subject and<br />

immersing it in a liquid called<br />

‘investment’, similar to clay slip. Many<br />

layers are added to create a shell around<br />

the subject and when dry the model is<br />

fired in a kiln like a piece of porcelain. In<br />

the kiln the wax burns away and leaves a<br />

hollow shell into which molten bronze or<br />

silver can be poured to create the final<br />

piece. I then add further fine detail with<br />

small drills and hand engravers before<br />

adding patina and polish to bring out the<br />

natural look of the metal. My love and<br />

fascination of the natural world keeps<br />

me inspired.’<br />

The Royal Society of Miniature<br />

Painters Sculptors and Gravers’ Annual<br />

Exhibition opens on Wednesday<br />

evening, 20 September, with the work on<br />

view daily from 10.00-17.00 until<br />

1 October.<br />

A selection of artists will be<br />

demonstrating different techniques<br />

throughout the exhibition.<br />

For details go to the website<br />

www.royal-miniature-society.org.uk<br />

Left: Paul Eaton miniature sculptures.<br />

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DOROTHY CIRCUS GALLERY OPENS<br />

IN NOTTING HILL<br />

Dorothy Circus Gallery is opening the<br />

doors of its British branch in Notting Hill<br />

with a new exhibition. On the occasion<br />

of their unique anniversary, the Gallery<br />

have prepared a celebration in the form<br />

of a Group Show, with a splendid<br />

reunion of its most important pop and<br />

surreal icons. These artists will<br />

collaborate with new international<br />

figures in a magical meeting, beginning<br />

in October.<br />

Pages from Mind Travellers Diaries is<br />

the name of the Group show, the title<br />

mirrors the Gallery’s restless mood and<br />

ideologies. That is the way it all started,<br />

with the idea of a journey toward the<br />

most remote corners of surrealism. It is<br />

a journey full of surprises and<br />

significant meetings of minds which<br />

have shaped the gallery’s identity.<br />

With the aim of spreading its image<br />

around the world while absorbing new<br />

cultural concepts, the Gallery started its<br />

journey around Europe from Rome,<br />

heading towards London. Shifting from<br />

extremely bizarre and unusual tastes to<br />

the most refined tendencies, what could<br />

have been a better first destination for<br />

the Circus if not the magnificent<br />

London? The city of extreme glamour<br />

and the dynamic centre of the fashion<br />

industry, which can suddenly turn into<br />

the elegant abode of the classy and<br />

refined afternoon tea. The directors<br />

decided that London has the perfect<br />

atmosphere to welcome Dorothy Circus<br />

Gallery’s unique style.<br />

The first Group Exhibition in London<br />

will feature popular names in pop art,<br />

and surreal characters already present in<br />

the art scene. These great artists’<br />

extravagant pieces are made from<br />

multiple artistic mediums and personal<br />

styles, ranging from highly detailed<br />

digital images to a more traditional<br />

approach of brushes on canvas.<br />

Following the Group show, the artists<br />

will continue to work with the Gallery on<br />

a brilliant series of solo exhibitions, one<br />

per each artist that will begin in 2018.<br />

Joe Sorren - Coney Island Supper Club<br />

25x100 cm (49x39inches) oil on canvas<br />

15<br />

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16<br />

Photos: Marc Brenner.<br />

APOLOGIA Trafalgar Studios<br />

As playwrights have constantly<br />

discovered, sending their characters on<br />

overnight visits to town or country<br />

houses reaped dividends. Back in the<br />

twenties Noel Coward had a hit with Hay<br />

Fever, in the thirties George S. Kaufman<br />

and Moss Hart wowed Broadway with<br />

The Man Who Came to Dinner and,<br />

striking a more serious note in the<br />

sixties were Edward Albee‘s a Delicate<br />

Balance and Harold Pinter’s The<br />

Homecoming. In 2004 David Eldredge<br />

successfully adapted the Danish film<br />

Festen, a recriminatory drama that<br />

centered around a celebratory 60th<br />

birthday.<br />

Four years after Festen, the Bush<br />

Theatre presented Alexi Kaye Campell’s<br />

Apologia, in which a formidible<br />

matriarch invites her two sons and their<br />

girlfriends to an informal birthday dinner<br />

in her country home. It’s now being<br />

revived in the West End as a vehicle for<br />

the American actress Stockard Channing<br />

who was last seen on the London stage<br />

in 1992 in John Guare’s Six Degrees of<br />

Separation.<br />

She plays Kristin, a published arthistorian<br />

and fervent 1960’s political<br />

activist around whom the play revolves.<br />

As originally written, Kristin was<br />

British. She’s now morphed into an<br />

American (‘by birth not by choice’)<br />

thereby necessitating some rewrites<br />

which work well enough but without<br />

going too deeply into her political<br />

origins. What hasn’t changed, though,<br />

is the superior moral high-ground she<br />

adopts when her views are challenged or<br />

those held by others differ from her own.<br />

First to arrive is her son Peter, an<br />

international banker (a taker rather than<br />

a giver as Kristin puts it) and his rather<br />

vanilla, deeply Christian fiancee Trudi.<br />

Next up is Claire, a successful soap<br />

actress who drives a Porsche and wears<br />

a Japanese number that costs £2000.<br />

She has come from London without<br />

Peter’s unemployable brother Simon, a<br />

would-be writer who arrives after<br />

everyone has gone to bed.<br />

What follows as Kristin monstrously<br />

hurls insults at the two young women,<br />

scoring cheap points as she dismisses<br />

their beliefs and life-styles, raises<br />

rudeness and insensitivity to an art form.<br />

Not that she shows much compassion<br />

for her sons either. The family dynamic<br />

reaches a climax when Peter and Simon<br />

confront her at different times for not<br />

even mentioning them in a memoir she<br />

has just published.<br />

There are, of course, deep-rooted<br />

reasons for Kristin’s behaviour and they<br />

go way back to her divorce. She was in<br />

Florence with her very young sons at the<br />

time, and did nothing to regain custody<br />

of them when they were taken from her<br />

by her ex-husband. Living with the<br />

burden of this guilt clearly resulted in<br />

self-hatred which, in turn hardened her<br />

into the lonely monster she’s become.<br />

Also present at this dinner from hell<br />

is Hugh, an outspokenly camp old<br />

queen who holds the same political<br />

beliefs as his host and probably knows<br />

her better than anyone else. There’s a<br />

scene the play desperately needs in<br />

which he sets out to explain Kristin’s<br />

behaviour to Peter but which,<br />

unfortunately, is interrupted and goes for<br />

nothing.<br />

The raison d’etre of Jamie Lloyd’s<br />

laid-back production is, clearly,<br />

Stockard Channing and she’s terrific.<br />

Watching her navigate her way around<br />

Campbell’s razor-edged text or just<br />

listening, as in a scene in which her son<br />

Simon describes an experience he had<br />

at age 12 when he was picked up by a<br />

man in Genoa, is to appreciate an<br />

actress working at the very top of her<br />

form.<br />

As Trudi Laura Carmichael slowly<br />

peels off layers of her character not<br />

initially in evidence; while Freema<br />

Agyeman also brings out unexpected<br />

facets in Claire. Desmond Barritt does<br />

the best he can with the marginalsed<br />

stereotype Hugh, and Joseph Millson,<br />

playing both Peter and Simon,(obviously<br />

never seen together) gives each brother<br />

a convincing personality of their own.<br />

Adding to a flawed but entertaining<br />

evening is the excellent set by Soutra<br />

Gilmour.<br />

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN<br />

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18<br />

Photo: Brinkhoff Mogenburg<br />

Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams in<br />

Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood<br />

MOSQUITOES Dorfman Theatre<br />

Lucy Kirkwood’s award-winning<br />

Chimerica was one of the theatrical<br />

highlights of 2013, a brilliant, ambitious,<br />

and visually exciting cross-continent<br />

meld of the personal and political. Her<br />

new play for the National Theatre doesn’t<br />

have quite the same impact, but it’s<br />

pretty impressive nonetheless – not least<br />

because of a handful of top notch<br />

performances under Rufus Norris’s fluid<br />

direction.<br />

Jenny and Alice are sisters – but<br />

although they share the same parentage,<br />

the similarities end there. Whilst Alice is<br />

a highflying particle physicist working<br />

on the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva<br />

and bringing up her teenage son alone,<br />

Jenny, at the beginning of the play is an<br />

anxiously expectant, Luton-based<br />

mother-to-be who sells medical<br />

insurance by phone, consults her<br />

horoscope and believes whatever she<br />

reads on the internet.<br />

Kirkwood covers a lot of ground in<br />

what is primarily an account of the<br />

siblings’ combustible relationship with<br />

each other, and at times the science<br />

(despite a white-coated Paul Hilton’s<br />

passionate delivery) seems more of an<br />

excuse for some beautiful, bubbling<br />

visuals. But the antagonistic<br />

co-dependency of the sisters on a very<br />

human collision course holds one’s<br />

attention. Olivia Williams’ dedicated<br />

scientist is quick to jump on a plane<br />

when her sister needs her (but can’t see<br />

that her exceptionally bright but socially<br />

inept, reluctantly sexting son – excellent<br />

Joseph Quinn – will never fit in at the<br />

Swiss school he hates). Olivia Colman’s<br />

bereaved, train wreck Jenny, her limited<br />

intellectual abilities constantly<br />

undermined by the academics who<br />

surround her, is the one who somehow<br />

keeps the family practically afloat. And<br />

Amanda Boxer is a hoot as their<br />

querulous, insensitive mother, still<br />

resentful that her errant husband long<br />

ago received the glory of the Nobel Prize<br />

she thought should have been hers as<br />

she battles, now, with encroaching<br />

dementia and incontinence.<br />

Until 28 September.<br />

Louise Kingsley<br />

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SEASON<br />

EXTENDED AT OPEN AIR THEATRE<br />

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s<br />

production of Tim Rice and Andrew<br />

Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar<br />

is now playing until 23 September.<br />

The production returned to the Open<br />

Air Theatre following a sell-out run in<br />

2016, with critics proclaiming it<br />

‘adrenaline-pumping’ (The New York<br />

Times), and ‘a gorgeous, thrilling,<br />

heavenly musical’ (The Guardian).<br />

Directed by Timothy Sheader, the<br />

production won the 2016 Evening<br />

Standard Award for Best Musical, and<br />

the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical<br />

Revival, with the Open Air Theatre<br />

announced as ‘London Theatre of the<br />

Year’ in The Stage Awards 2017. Tyrone<br />

Huntley who reprises his role as Judas<br />

this year, also won the Evening Standard<br />

Award for Emerging Talent, and was<br />

nominated as Best Actor in a Musical in<br />

the Olivier Awards. The production also<br />

picked up Olivier Award nominations for<br />

Best Lighting, Best Sound, Outstanding<br />

Achievement in Music, and Best Theatre<br />

Choreography for Drew McOnie.<br />

This is the UK’s first outdoor<br />

production of Jesus Christ Superstar,<br />

and 2017 also marks the 45th<br />

anniversary of the show first opening in<br />

the West End.<br />

Established in 1932, the award<br />

winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre<br />

is one of the largest theatres in London.<br />

Situated in the beautiful surroundings of<br />

a Royal Park, both its stage and<br />

auditorium are entirely uncovered. Voted<br />

London Theatre of the Year in The Stage<br />

Awards 2017 and celebrated for its bold<br />

and dynamic productions over 140,000<br />

people visit the theatre each year during<br />

the 18-week season. Timothy Sheader<br />

and William Village were appointed Joint<br />

Chief Executives in 2007.<br />

For tickets telephone 0844 826 4242.<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e


Company of Girl From The North Country at The Old Vic.<br />

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY<br />

Old Vic<br />

Having experienced a resounding<br />

Broadway flop in 2006 with Twyla<br />

Tharp’s The Times They Are A-Changin’,<br />

song laureate Bob Dylan was<br />

understandably protective when it came<br />

to future theatrical presentations of his<br />

work. Yet out of the blue, Dylan’s<br />

manager contacted Irish playwright<br />

Conor McPherson who, at the age of 25,<br />

in 1997, was catapulted to fame with his<br />

Olivier Award winning ghost story The<br />

Weir. What was on offer was an open<br />

invitation to McPherson to use Dylan’s<br />

catalogue of songs in any manner he<br />

chose.<br />

As McPherson had never written a<br />

musical before and neither had Dylan,<br />

he didn’t give the suggestion much<br />

thought until one day an idea struck<br />

him: he would write a play set in a<br />

rundown guest house in Dylan’s<br />

birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota during<br />

the height of the the Depression. It<br />

wouldn’t be a conventional jukebox<br />

musical in the mould of Jersey Boys but<br />

a character-driven drama in which<br />

Dylan’s songs would provide a soundtrack<br />

appropriate to the mood of any<br />

given moment without the necessity of<br />

furthering the plot. It would, said Conor,<br />

‘free the songs from the burden of<br />

Photos: Manual Harlan<br />

relevance for our generation and make<br />

them timeless.’<br />

It’s a brilliant concept and with a<br />

multi-talented cast to prop it up, Girl<br />

From the North Country works<br />

thrillingly. Despite the familiarity of a<br />

context exhaustively explored in so<br />

many Depression-era books, films and<br />

plays, Dylan’s songs lend it a freshness<br />

and a contemporary relevance that<br />

resonates powerfully and movingly.<br />

Bronagh Gallagher (Mrs Burke).<br />

The time is 1934 – one of the<br />

bleakest years of the Depression. A<br />

world in microcosm exists within the<br />

confines of the shabby guest-house run<br />

by Nick Laine (Ciaran Hinds) whose<br />

parlous financial circumstances are<br />

exacerbated by a wife (Shirley<br />

Henderson, wonderful) suffering from<br />

dementia, a layabout alcoholic son (Sam<br />

Reid) with unfulfilled literary aspirations,<br />

and a black adopted daughter (stunning<br />

Sheila Atim) who is pregnant though the<br />

father is nowhere to be seen. Nick is<br />

doing his best to marry her off to an<br />

elderly shoe salesman (Jim Norton)<br />

while he himself is having a liaison with<br />

a widow (Debbie Kurup) who occupies a<br />

room upstairs.<br />

Other characters wrestling despair,<br />

disillusion and survival include a<br />

destitute factory boss (Stanley<br />

Townsend), his pill-addicted wife<br />

(Bronagh Gallagher), their grown-up son<br />

with the brain of a four-year-old (Jack<br />

Shalloo), a boxer (Arinze Kene on top<br />

form) whose promising career crashed<br />

after he was wrongfully arrested, a local<br />

morphine addicted doctor (Ron Cook)<br />

who also serves as an occasional<br />

narrator, and an unscrupulous, blackmailing<br />

bible-salesman (Michael<br />

Schaeffer, effectively creepy).<br />

Reminiscent of plays by Eugene<br />

O’Neill, William Saroyan, Thornton<br />

Wilder, Arthur Miller and Maxim Gorky<br />

in which a group of men and women<br />

collectively represent humanity in its<br />

desperate fight for fulfilment and<br />

survival, McPherson’s drama and<br />

Dylan’s songs (from 1963 to Duquesne<br />

Whistle in 2012) attempt to take the<br />

pulse of the human condition and<br />

succeed.<br />

The play is compellingly directed by<br />

the author whose multi-tasking cast,<br />

apart from delivering sharply delineated,<br />

vividly observed characterisations, are<br />

also terrific singers who happen to play<br />

several musical instruments. They<br />

deserve to be seen and heard.<br />

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN<br />

19<br />

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20<br />

Photo: Charlie Gray<br />

PLAYS<br />

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF<br />

A major revival of Tennessee Williams’<br />

Pulitzer Prize-winning play, starring Sienna<br />

Miller and Jack O’Connell. Closes 7 October.<br />

APOLLO THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (020 7851 2711)<br />

THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY<br />

One enormous diamond, eight incompetent<br />

crooks and a snoozing security guard. What<br />

could possibly go right?<br />

CRITERION THEATRE<br />

Piccadilly Circus, (020 7492 0810)<br />

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG<br />

A Polytechnic amateur drama group are<br />

putting on a 1920s murder mystery and<br />

everything that can go wrong... does!<br />

DUCHESS THEATRE<br />

Catherine Street, WC2 (0330 333 4810)<br />

INK<br />

James Graham's acclaimed new play transfers<br />

following a sold-out season at the Almeida<br />

Theatre in North London. From 19 September.<br />

DUKE OF YORK’S THEATRE<br />

St Martin’s Lane, WC2 (020 7492 1552)<br />

THE WOMAN IN BLACK<br />

An innocent outsider, a suspicious rural<br />

community, a gothic house and a misty marsh<br />

are the ingredients of this Victorian ghost story.<br />

FORTUNE THEATRE<br />

Russell Street, WC2 (0844 871 7626)<br />

THE FERRYMAN<br />

In Jez Butterworth’s new major drama, multi<br />

award-winning actor, director and writer Paddy<br />

Considine is joined by Laura Donnelly and<br />

Genevieve O’Reilly. Directed by Sam Mendes.<br />

GIELGUD THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0844 482 5130)<br />

QUEEN ANNE<br />

Royal Shakespeare Company production of<br />

Helen Edmundson’s new play, set in 1702,<br />

with William III on the throne and England is<br />

on the verge of war. Until 30 September.<br />

VENUS IN FUR<br />

A major production of David Ives' dark<br />

comedy starring Natalie Dormer and David<br />

Oakes. Opens 17 October.<br />

HAYMARKET THEATRE<br />

Haymarket, SW1 (020 7930 8800)<br />

OSLO<br />

Bartlett Sher's acclaimed production of<br />

J.T. Rogers' new Tony Award-winning play. A<br />

darkly funny political thriller, this production<br />

comes to the West End following a three week<br />

run at the National Theatre. Opens 2 October.<br />

HAROLD PINTER THEATRE<br />

Panton Street, SW1 (0844 871 7627)<br />

Royal National Theatre<br />

Plays in repertory<br />

OLIVIER THEATRE.<br />

FOLLIES<br />

Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton<br />

play the magnificent Follies in a dazzling new<br />

production of Stephen Sondheim’s legendary<br />

musical staged for the first time at the National.<br />

LYTTELTON THEATRE<br />

OSLO<br />

Bartlett Sher's acclaimed production of<br />

J.T. Rogers' new Tony Award-winning play.<br />

5-23 September, then transfers to Harold<br />

Pinter Theatre from 2 October.<br />

DORFMAN THEATRE<br />

MOSQUITOES<br />

Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams play sisters<br />

in a world premiere from Chimerica writer<br />

Lucy Kirkwood, directed by Rufus Norris.<br />

NATIONAL THEATRE<br />

South Bank, SE1 (020 7452 3000)<br />

LABOUR OF LOVE<br />

World Premiere of James Graham's new<br />

comedy starring Martin Freeman and Sarah<br />

Lancashire. Set in the Labour Party's<br />

traditional northern heartlands, a clash of<br />

philosophy, culture and class.<br />

Opens 25 September.<br />

NOEL COWARD THEATRE<br />

St Martin's Lane, WC2 (0844 482 5141)<br />

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY<br />

Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the<br />

iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into this new<br />

show full of hope, heartbreak and soul.<br />

Until 7 October.<br />

DR SEUSS’S THE LORAX<br />

The return of David Greig's stage adaption<br />

returns to London for a special three week<br />

season. Opens 15 October.<br />

OLD VIC THEATRE<br />

The Cut, Waterloo, SE1 (0844 871 7628)<br />

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED<br />

CHILD PARTS I & II<br />

A new stage play based on the Harry Potter<br />

franchise written by Jack Thorne, based on<br />

an original story by J.K Rowling.<br />

PALACE THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0330 333 4813)<br />

DERREN BROWN<br />

Derren Brown's 'greatest hits' show<br />

Underground in London promises to be a<br />

spell-binding experience of magical genius<br />

and epic showmanship.<br />

PLAYHOUSE THEATRE<br />

Northumberland Ave, WC2 (0844 871 7631)<br />

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR<br />

The return of the Timothy Sheader's acclaimed<br />

revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's<br />

seminal musical featuring songs I Don't Know<br />

How to Love Him, Gethsemane and Superstar.<br />

REGENT'S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE<br />

Regent's Park, NW1 (0844 826 4242)<br />

THE MOUSETRAP<br />

Agatha Christie’s whodunnit is the longest<br />

running play of its kind in the history of the<br />

British theatre.<br />

ST MARTIN’S THEATRE<br />

West Street, WC2 (0844 499 1515)<br />

APOLOGIA<br />

Jamie Lloyd's production of Alexi Kaye<br />

Campbell's play, starring Stockard Channing.<br />

A witty, topical and passionate play about<br />

generations, secrets, and warring perspectives.<br />

Until 18 Noember.<br />

TRAFALGAR STUDIOS<br />

Whitehall, SW1 (020 7492 1548)<br />

A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE<br />

A major revival of Oscar Wilde's classic<br />

starring Eve Best and Anne Reid and directed<br />

by Dominic Dromgoole. From 6 October.<br />

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE<br />

Strand, WC2 (020 7400 1257)<br />

HEISENBERG: THE UNCERTAINTY<br />

PRINCIPLE<br />

Marianne Elliott's West End Premiere of<br />

Simon Stephens' play starring Anne-Marie<br />

Duff and Kenneth Cranham.<br />

WYNDHAM’S THEATRE<br />

Charing Cross Rd, WC2 (0844 482 512)<br />

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MUSICALS<br />

KINKY BOOTS<br />

Inspired by a true story and based on the<br />

Miramax film, the show tells the story of Charlie<br />

Price who has reluctantly inherited his father's<br />

Northampton shoe factory.<br />

ADELPHI THEATRE<br />

Strand, WC2 (020 3725 7060)<br />

STOMP<br />

This multi-award winning show continues to<br />

astound audiences across the world with its<br />

universal language of rhythm, theatre, comedy<br />

and dance.<br />

AMBASSADORS THEATRE<br />

West Street, WC2 (020 7395 5405)<br />

WICKED<br />

Hit Broadway story of how a clever,<br />

misunderstood girl with emerald green skin<br />

and a girl who is beautiful and popular turn<br />

into the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda<br />

the Good Witch in the Land of Oz.<br />

APOLLO VICTORIA THEATRE<br />

Wilton Road, SW1 (0844 826 8000)<br />

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE<br />

New musical starring John McCrea transfers<br />

to the West End following a sold-out run at<br />

Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. Opens 22 Nov.<br />

APOLLO THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (020 7851 2711)<br />

MA<strong>TIL</strong>DA<br />

Critically acclaimed Royal Shakespeare<br />

Company production of Roald Dahl’s book,<br />

directed by Matthew Warchus.<br />

CAMBRIDGE THEATRE<br />

Earlham Street, WC2 (0844 800 1110)<br />

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS<br />

The award-winning, thrillingly staged and<br />

astonishingly danced Broadway Gershwin<br />

musical featuring some of the greatest music<br />

and lyrics ever written.<br />

DOMINION THEATRE<br />

Tottenham Court Rd, W1 (020 7927 0900)<br />

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS<br />

Major new musical based on Kenneth<br />

Grahame’s book, starring Rufus Hound.<br />

A riotous musical comedy that follows the<br />

impulsive Mr Toad whose insatisable need for<br />

speed lands him in serious trouble. To 9 Sept.<br />

LONDON PALLADIUM<br />

Argyll Street, W1 (0844 412 4655)<br />

THE LION KING<br />

Disney‘s phenomenally successful animated<br />

film is transformed into a spectacular stage<br />

musical, a superb evening of visual delight.<br />

LYCEUM THEATRE<br />

Wellington Street, WC2 (0844 871 3000)<br />

THRILLER – LIVE<br />

High octane show celebrating the career of the<br />

King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Over two hours<br />

of the non-stop hit songs that marked his<br />

legendary live performances.<br />

LYRIC THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0330 333 4812)<br />

SCHOOL OF ROCK<br />

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage musical<br />

with lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Julian<br />

Fellowes, adapted from the film.<br />

NEW LONDON THEATRE<br />

Drury Lane, WC2 (020 7492 0810)<br />

MAMMA MIA!<br />

Hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, set<br />

around the story of a mother and daughter on<br />

the eve of the daughter’s wedding.<br />

NOVELLO THEATRE<br />

Aldwych, WC2 (0844 482 5170)<br />

EVITA<br />

A major revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd<br />

Webber's legendary musical.<br />

PHOENIX THEATRE<br />

Charing Cross Road, WC2 (0844 871 7627)<br />

ANNIE<br />

Revival of the famous musical starring<br />

Miranda Hart. A Depression-era rags-toriches<br />

story featuring the songs It's The Hard-<br />

Knock Life, Easy Street and Tomorrow.<br />

PICCADILLY THEATRE<br />

Denman Street, W1 (0844 871 7630)<br />

ALADDIN<br />

The classic hit film has been brought to thrilling<br />

life on stage by Disney, featuring all the songs<br />

from the Academy Award winning score.<br />

PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE<br />

Old Compton Street, W1 (0844 482 5151)<br />

LES MISERABLES<br />

A spectacularly staged version of Victor Hugo’s<br />

epic novel about an escaped convict’s<br />

search for redemption in Revolutionary France.<br />

QUEEN’S THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0844 482 5160)<br />

DREAMGIRLS<br />

Set in the USA during the late 1960s and<br />

early 1970s, it follows a young female singing<br />

trio as they become music superstars.<br />

SAVOY THEATRE<br />

Strand, WC2 (020 7492 0810)<br />

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL<br />

Featuring all the much loved classics from<br />

Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5,<br />

the show tells the story behind the hits.<br />

SHAFTESBURY THEATRE<br />

Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (020 7492 0810)<br />

42nd STREET<br />

The song and dance, American dream fable of<br />

Broadway returns to the West End. The<br />

timeless tale of small town Peggy Sawyer’s<br />

rise from chorus line to Broadway star.<br />

THEATRE ROYAL<br />

Drury Lane, WC2 (020 7492 0810)<br />

21<br />

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN<br />

Legendary filmmaker and comedian Mel<br />

Brooks brings his classic monster musical<br />

comedy to life on stage in an all-singing,<br />

all-dancing musical. Opens 10 October.<br />

GARRICK THEATRE<br />

Charing Cross Road, WC2 (0330 333 4811)<br />

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA<br />

Long running epic romance by Andrew Lloyd<br />

Webber, set behind the scenes of a Paris opera<br />

house where a deformed phantom stalks his prey.<br />

HER MAJESTY’S THEATRE<br />

Haymarket, SW1 (0844 412 2707)<br />

Clare Halse & Company in 42nd Street.<br />

Photo: Brinkhoff & Moegenburg<br />

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22<br />

CIGALA<br />

One of the secret delights of London,<br />

the backstreets of Bloomsbury remain<br />

unknown to many visitors, who find<br />

themselves culturally exhausted by the<br />

British Museum. Who can blame them?<br />

Such a treasure trove of antiquities<br />

makes shopping seem lightweight.<br />

Yet just a few hundred yards from<br />

Russell Square is the fascinating<br />

Brunswick Centre – a sort of<br />

architectural monument to civic pride,<br />

1970s style. It has been renovated and<br />

given listed building status so that no<br />

future arbiters of taste can knock it<br />

down.<br />

Those who feel like scowling at its<br />

pre-formed concrete balconies will<br />

almost certainly take more pleasure in<br />

the Foundling Museum, which tells the<br />

story of Britain’s first home for<br />

abandoned babies, set up by Sir Thomas<br />

Coram and his friend, the composer<br />

Friedrich Handel. The little mementoes<br />

left by the mothers of the foundlings – a<br />

lock of hair, a scrap of card – are heart<br />

breaking. Outside is Coram’s Field – to<br />

this day a park and playground where<br />

adults may only enter if accompanying a<br />

child.<br />

The best treat of this wander through<br />

the area, however, is Lamb’s Conduit<br />

Street. Together with Rugby Street (a<br />

side turning) it is home to some of the<br />

best boutiques and restaurants of<br />

Bloomsbury. Many are niche menswear<br />

outlets, like Oliver Spencer, Universal<br />

works or Simon Carter. But there is also<br />

the feminist publisher, Persephone<br />

Books, Susannah Hunter, who makes<br />

elaborate leather bags and even The<br />

People’s supermarket, a true cooperative<br />

store where locals can play<br />

shop and get a discount on their<br />

groceries.<br />

Still, if you don’t live there and will<br />

never benefit from such a scheme, I<br />

recommend a quick peek in Maggie<br />

Owen’s shop on Rugby Street, where the<br />

costume jewellery is both beautiful and<br />

surprising.<br />

And then there is always dinner.<br />

Or lunch. Lambs Conduit Street is a<br />

bustling hub for diners. At the top end,<br />

closest to the playground, families eat<br />

pasta on the pavement outside Ciao<br />

Bella. It is wildly popular and aroma of<br />

warm garlic quite hard to resist. Further<br />

south, Noble Rot is the name of a<br />

magazine for wine aficionados, now<br />

given to the wine bar where you can<br />

imbibe any number of luscious vintages<br />

alongside a simple British menu.<br />

Which brings us to Cigala, plumb<br />

opposite Noble Rot, a Spanish eatery<br />

beloved of local business people and<br />

doctors from Gt. Ormond Street hospital.<br />

It is also a favourite haunt of a lot of<br />

English people, who swear by the paella<br />

and tapas. In fact the family at the table<br />

closest to ours leant over to tell us that<br />

the paella was ‘just like you get in Spain’<br />

while I goggled at the sheer quantity of<br />

rice and seafood that three adults can<br />

apparently eat.<br />

Anyway we were not to be swayed.<br />

My main quest was a whole sea bream<br />

grilled to perfection, with creamy<br />

broccoli on the side. Then, serially, we<br />

tried lots of tapas. The salted Marcona<br />

almonds (£4.60) are excellent. The<br />

‘Jamon Serrano’ (£9) – a cured<br />

mountain ham – makes you swoon to be<br />

in Spain again, I would say. Lots of<br />

regulars were hoovering up the patatas<br />

bravas (fired potatoes with spicy tomato<br />

sauce) and the toast with ripe tomatoes,<br />

olive oil and garlic, but if you are ‘agin<br />

carbs’ then try the squid sizzled up with<br />

hot peppers for a protein treat. The only<br />

disappointment was a tiny dish of baked<br />

crab which turned out to be mainly<br />

breadcrumbs. The cheese board comes<br />

with very nice crisp bread full of fennel<br />

seeds and the dessert of orange jelly,<br />

chocolate mousse and black bean ice<br />

cream – a cute and tangy tower – is<br />

wonderful. It is apparently the invention<br />

of the restaurant’s owner and founder,<br />

Jake Hodges, and has been described as<br />

a chef’s satire on the Jaffa cake.<br />

The atmosphere at Cigala is sweetly<br />

relaxed. Not everything comes just at the<br />

right time, but the waiters are eager<br />

young Spaniards and the old-fashioned<br />

décor makes you think of a seaside<br />

eatery near the beach.<br />

Sue Webster<br />

54 Lamb’s Conduit Street,<br />

WC1N 3LW<br />

0207 405 1717<br />

t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e

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