This Is London Summer 2019

64 Years Informing International 

& UK Visitors to London 

Est. 1956 Issue 3163 

Summer Holiday Edition, 2019

CONTENTS 

Events 4 

Houses of Parliament Tours 

Summer at the Postal Museum 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

Hard Rock Cafe Opens in Piccadilly 

Music 8 

International Children’s Choir 

All Saints Chorus 

Fulham Opera at Greenwood Theatre 

Exhibitions 14 

National Portrait Gallery 

200th Anniversary of Queen Victoria’s Birth 

Bob Dylan at Halcyon Gallery 

Summer of Spitfire at RAF Museum 

Theatre 32 

Kids Week 

Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre 

Only Fools and Horses 

The Lehman Trilogy 

Proprietor Julie Jones 

Publishing Consultant Terry Mansfield CBE 

Associate Publisher Beth Jones 

Editorial Sue Webster 

Editorial Assistant Caitlin Stevens 

© This is London Magazine Limited 

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Fish Island, London E3 2PA 

Telephone: 020 7434 1281 

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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. 

VISITOR INFORMATION 

Emergencies 999 Police Ambulance Fire 

24 Hour Casualty 020 8746 8000 

Dentistry 0808 155 3256 

Victim Support 0845 30 30 900 

free and confidential service 

Visit London 020 7234 5833 

Heathrow Airport 0844 335 1801 

Gatwick Airport 0844 892 0322 

Taxis 020 7272 5471 Weather 0870 9000100 

Welcome to London 

As always in summer, London turns into a hive 

of activity. From music festivals and outdoor 

cinemas, to pop-up bars and installations, there is 

sure to be something new at every turn. Across the 

London division of Merlin Entertainments 

attractions, this is no exception, as we welcome a 

whole host of new experiences, suitable for your 

family, no matter their age or interest! 

From the 29th July, come eye-to-eye with one of London’s most infamous 

characters at the London Dungeon in their seasonal show, Hide and Seek. As 

you make your way through the darkness, Sweeney Todd will enact a shadowy 

and uncertain scene in front of you. Do your eyes deceive you? We’re dying to 

know... what will you witness? If fairy tales are more your thing, hop next door 

to Shrek’s Adventure! London and board the magical 4D flying bus on a quest 

to find Shrek in this uniquely magical attraction, before taking a flight of a 

different kind over London’s skyline on the Coca-Cola London Eye. Don’t 

forget the London Eye River Cruise too – a 45 minute journey down the River 

Thames, with commentary from our expert guides. Then, you can make a 

splash with our friends as you find out who your bestie is at SEA LIFE London. 

Whether you have a big appetite like a croc or keep it chilled like a penguin, we 

have a friend for you! Finally, hop on board a Big Bus Tour and view London’s 

most famous landmarks before rubbing shoulders with all your favourite 

celebrities at Madame Tussauds London, including actress Zendaya who will 

be joining the star-studded line up exclusively for the summer holidays. 

Of course, if you feel like you can’t possibly stomach all of the excitement 

in one day, then it’s no problem; our bespoke combination ticket packages are 

valid for 90 days, ensuring you can re-visit London for several days out this 

summer – just visit www.merlinsmagicallondon.com to plan your visit today. 

With all this in mind, we hope that this issue of This is London will inspire 

you to celebrate the capital in all its glory (and hopefully with some sunshine!) 

this summer. 

Tony Grizzanti 

Divisional Director for Merlin Entertainments London attractions 

3 

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 

The Lords Chamber. 

Photo: UK Parliament/Roger Harris. 

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT TOURS – 

WHERE HISTORY IS MADE 

While the politicians are taking a 

summer break from Westminster, visitors 

to London can discover the history and 

heritage of this world-famous building 

and find out how the UK Parliament 

works. 

You will travel through the Commons 

Chamber and the Lords Chamber where 

many passionate debates have taken place 

(and still do), follow in the footsteps of the 

Queen at the State Opening, and be 

inspired by Westminster Hall which is 

almost 1,000 years old. 

For 90 minutes, a knowledgeable 

guide will take you on an entertaining 

and informative tour. Alternatively, set 

your own pace using the new 

multimedia guides and choose one of 

the nine language options. Special 

versions of the guided and self-guided 

tours are available for families visiting 

with children. 

For a memorable treat, you can add a 

stylish afternoon tea with a view of the 

River Thames. Parliament’s awardwinning 

chefs have created a tempting 

menu of savouries and sweets made 

freshly on site, which combines tradition 

with a modern twist. Vegetarian and 

gluten-free options can be arranged if 

requested when booking. 

All tour visitors can see the 

‘Parliament and Peterloo’ exhibition in 

Westminster Hall, which explores the 

political and social background to the 

Peterloo massacre on 16 August 1819 

and Parliament’s reaction to it. 

Summer tour dates are Monday to 

Saturday between 26 July and 31 August 

(except 29 July and 26 August). The 

afternoon tea add-on is available 

Tuesday to Saturday between 30 July 

and 31 August. 

Advance booking for tours is 

recommended but not always essential. 

You can book tickets online at 

parliament.uk/visit, by telephoning 

020 7219 4114, or at the Ticket Office 

located in front of Portcullis House on 

Victoria Embankment. 

LONDON ZOO’S SUMATRAN TIGER 

COOLS OFF 

With temperatures continuing to rise 

in the capital this summer, ZSL London 

Zoo’s critically endangered Sumatran 

Tiger cools off with a swim. Unlike most 

domestic cats, tigers love water and the 

spell of warm weather has seen sevenyear 

old Asim enjoying paddling in his 

refreshing pond (below). 

Visitors can see Asim and the zoo’s 

19,000 residents to enjoy the perfect 

sunny day out in London. 


6 

SUMMER AT THE POSTAL MUSEUM 

The Great British Summer comes to 

The Postal Museum this week with 

all-weather activities, strawberries and 

cream, live music, an urban garden and 

a host of family-friendly activities. 

No matter the weather this summer, 

The Postal Museum will be celebrating 

with live music, barbecues, outdoor 

games and a fun-filled family 

programme inspired by the tradition of 

travelling to the seaside and The Great 

British Summer. 

To kick off the summer holidays, 

visitors are invited to join the opening 

summer weekend, where they will be 

able to help plant an urban garden, 

enjoy live music, feast on a sumptuous 

BBQ and play outdoor games in their 

green courtyard. 

Families can also travel to the seaside 

without leaving London, with a range of 

beach-themed family-friendly activities. 

From Punch and Judy hand puppet 

workshops and postcard making 

sessions to storytelling and a book 

signing, there’s something for kids of 

all ages. 

As well as enjoying the outdoor 

activities on offer, visitors can take a 

break from the sunshine and cool off 

with a ride through Mail Rail’s secret 

subterranean tunnels. Rides are included 

with all admission tickets. 

To find out more, visit the website at 

postalmuseum.org 

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR 

One of the iconic characters in 

children’s literature will wiggle his way 

to London this summer in celebration of 

a major birthday. The Very Hungry 

Caterpillar Show will play a limited 

4-week run at Troubadour White City 

Theatre from Wednesday 7 August to 

Sunday 1 September, to mark the 50th 

Anniversary of Eric Carle’s beloved 

book. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show 

features a menagerie of 75 enchanting 

puppets during a magical show that 

faithfully adapts four of Eric Carle’s best 

loved books for the stage. The 50th 

Anniversary production will feature a 

brand-new line-up of stories for 2019; 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little 

Rubber Ducks, the return of The Very 

Lonely Firefly and, of course, The Very 

Hungry Caterpillar. 

Eric Carle said: ‘I am delighted that 

the 50th anniversary of The Very Hungry 

Caterpillar will be celebrated with such 

an enchanting production, and that my 

friends in London will be able to share 

the same enjoyment I felt when seeing 

my characters come to life on stage.’ 

Eric Carle’s books have captivated 

generations of readers with their iconic 

hand-painted illustrations and 

distinctively simple stories, introducing 

millions of children to a bigger, brighter 

world, and to their first experience of 

reading itself. Carle has illustrated more 

than seventy books, most of which he 

also wrote, and more than 132 million 

copies of his books have sold around 

the world. 

His best-known work, The Very 

Hungry Caterpillar, has nibbled its way 

into the hearts of millions of children all 

over the world, and in 2019 celebrates 

its 50th Anniversary. Since it was first 

published in 1969 it has been translated 

into 62 languages and sold over 50 

million copies worldwide, remaining one 

of the best selling children’s books of 

all time. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show is 

adapted for the stage by director 

Jonathan Rockefeller, whose production 

sees four master puppeteers weave their 

way through Eric Carle’s stories, 

bringing to life 75 magical puppets that 

faithfully recreate the wonderfully 

colourful world of Carle’s illustrations. 

Tickets telephone 0844 815 4866. 


8 

Photo: Luke Austin. 

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER FASHION 

FREAK SHOW COMES TO LONDON 

Eccentric, scandalous, provocative, 

exuberant and funny as ever, Jean Paul 

Gaultier is shaking up London with his 

stunning new creation, Fashion Freak 

Show. The production, an explosive 

combination of a revue and fashion 

show, will play Southbank Centre's 

Queen Elizabeth Hall from 23 July for 

13 performances. 

Fashion Freak Show has enjoyed an 

acclaimed run in Paris at the iconic 

Folies Bergère, before transferring to 

Southbank Centre to make its UK 

premiere. In this extraordinary 

production, actors, dancers and circus 

artists take to the stage and play 

outlandish, passionate, larger than life, 

rude, sexy, sassy creatures and 

personalities. 

Set against the backdrop of a giant 

video wall, a key part of the production 

features vignettes of special guest 

stars – including a number of Gaultier’s 

long-term, iconic supporters and 

friends. Rossy de Palma plays the young 

Gaultier’s unforgiving schoolteacher, 

who harbours secret fashion fantasies of 

her own, while Catherine Deneuve reads 

out the hysterical names that Gaultier 

gave the creations in his fabulous men’s 

couture show of the early ’90s. 

As author, director and costume 

designer, Jean Paul Gaultier takes a look 

at our times in both an extravagant and 

tender way, and invites us behind the 

scenes into his world filled with excess, 

poetry and magic. 

From his childhood to his early 

career, from his greatest fashion shows 

to the wild nights in Le Palace or 

London, Jean Paul Gaultier shares his 

journal of the times and pays tribute to 

those who have inspired him in film 

(Pedro Almodovar, Luc Besson), music 

(Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Mylène 

Farmer) and dance (Régine Chopinot, 

Angelin Prejlocaj). 

In the show, conceived like a grand 

party, Jean Paul Gaultier will surprise us 

yet again. He has designed hundreds of 

new exclusive outfits, incorporated 

within an exuberant set – without 

forgetting his iconic creations. 

From disco to funk, from pop to rock 

and new wave and punk, the Fashion 

Freak Show is an explosive playlist of 

hits that have inspired the artist 

throughout his life. 

Tickets from the Box Office telephone 

0203 879 9555. 

LATIN REDISCOVERY AT 

SOUTHBANK CENTRE 

Just back from Edinburgh Festival 

Fringe, Latin Rediscovery will perform a 

seductive introduction to the sultriest 

sounds of the early 20th century at 

Southbank Centre on 6 September (19.45), 

an evening inspired by the music of the 

cabaret stars who appeared at the exclusive 

club Sans Soucis in Havana in the 1950’s. 

They included Marlene Dietrich, her friend 

Edith Piaf and film star Ilona Massey, the 

Hungarian operetta film diva often 

compared to the young Dietrich. German 

cabaret and films of the 1920’s and 1930’s 

bore witness for all things Latino. 

Opera and tango singer Ann Liebeck 

(pictured) appears with composer and 

bandoneonist Julian Rowlands, Olivier 

award-nominated alongside the cast of 

Midnight Tango. Hear Cuban Jazz 

virtuoso Omar Puente (Double Latin UK 

award-winner) and Rory Dempsey from 

Tango Siempre on bass, in a show 

introducing young jazz pianist Jonny 

Liebeck. At its recent Cuban preview at 

Habana Clasica international festival, the 

show received a standing ovation. 

The musicians collaborated on last 

summer’s two-day Havana Buenos Aires 

Classical latin music festival at Southbank 

Centre which was also featured on BBC 

Radio 3’s In Tune. For tickets, visit 

www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/135848-marlene-havana-gypsy-tangocabaret-2019 


NEW CAST FOR MULTI-AWARD 

WINNING WICKED 

WICKED, the West End and Broadway 

musical sensation that tells the 

incredible untold story of the Witches of 

Oz, this week sees Nikki Bentley and 

Helen Woolf lead the new London cast 

as Elphaba and Glinda respectively, 

alongside Alistair Brammer as Fiyero. 

Nikki Bentley (Elphaba), Helen Woolf 

(Glinda) and Kim Ismay (Madame 

Morrible) join the London production to 

recreate the roles they played to national 

acclaim on the recent Wicked UK and 

Ireland Tour. 

‘Packed with wit, storming songs and 

beautiful costumes’ – (The Guardian), 

Wicked is already the 9th longest 

running musical in West End history. 

Winner of over 100 major awards, 

including three Tony Awards, two Olivier 

Awards and ten theatregoer-voted 

WhatsOnStage Awards (winning ‘Best 

West End Show’ on three separate 

occasions), the classic musical has now 

been seen by almost 10 million people 

in London alone. 

Wicked imagines an ingenious 

backstory and future possibilities to the 

lives of L. Frank Baum’s beloved 

characters from ‘The Wonderful Wizard 

of Oz’ and reveals the decisions and 

events that shape the destinies of two 

unlikely University friends on their 

journey to becoming Glinda The Good 

and the Wicked Witch of the West. 

Wicked has music and lyrics by multi 

Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award 

winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell; 

Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of 

Notre Dame and Enchanted and, for 

DreamWorks Animation, The Prince of 

Egypt) and is based on the novel ‘Wicked: 

The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of 

the West’ by Gregory Maguire. 

Wicked is produced around the world 

by Marc Platt, Universal Stage 

Productions, The Araca Group, 

Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive 

Producer (UK) Michael McCabe. 

Tickets available from the box office 

telephone 0844 871 3001. 

Helen Woolf (Glinda) and Nikki Bentley (Elphaba). 

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Photo: Matt Crockett. 

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9 


10 

The magnificent interior of Southwark Cathedral. 

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S CHOIR 

FESTIVAL FINAL CONCERT 

The International Children’s Choir 

Festival will return to Southwark 

Cathedral for its final concert on Friday 

evening, 26 July at 19.30. Nine superb 

children’s choirs from Canada and the 

United States will come to the cathedral 

to sing under Dr. David Flood, Organist 

and Master of the Choristers at 

Canterbury Cathedral, and Professor 

Henry Leck, one of America’s top 

children’s choir experts. 

Accompaniments will be played by 

Thomas Allery, Director of Chapel Music 

at Worcester College, Oxford. Over 200 

children’s choirs have participated in this 

prestigious festival since 1997 and 

include this year the Junior Amabile 

Children’s Choir, Ontario, Canada; South 

Hills Children’s Choir, Pennsylvania, 

USA; Youth Choir of Central Oregon, 

Oregon, USA; Ashley Hall Girls Chorus, 

South Carolina, USA; Kentucky Youth 

Chorale, Kentucky, USA; Bel Canto 

Children’s Chorus, Pennsylvania, USA; 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Children’s 

Choir, California, USA; Precious Blood 

Children’s Choir, California, USA; and 

St. Philip’s Children’s Choir, South 

Carolina, USA. 

The Festival begins each year in 

Canterbury for four nights, when the 

choirs experience five mass choir 

rehearsals and individual choir 

workshops with each Festival conductor. 

The choirs present individual solo 

recitals in Canterbury Cathedral and 

then, as a combined choir, they sing 

Evensong and present a free evening 

concert in the cathedral Quire before 

heading to London. 

Tickets for the Final Concert at 

Southwark Cathedral on 26 July are 

available at the door on the night. 

The Festival was founded in 1997 by 

former American Lay Clerk at Canterbury 

Cathedral, David Searles, who returned 

from retirement to re-organise the 

Festival beginning again in 2011 after a 

two-year absence. 


BRIAN BLESSED DIRECTS AGATHA 

CHRISTIE'S 'ZERO HOUR' 

Anyone visiting London in August 

and who wants to see the English 

countryside at its best, with some 

culture at the same time, should head to 

the beautiful Mill at Sonning, a half hour 

train journey from Paddington. 

A new production of Agatha Christie’s 

classic whodunit thriller Towards Zero, is 

the latest in a line of Christie thrillers 

directed each summer by Brian Blessed, 

with his wife, Hildegard Neil and daughter, 

Rosalind Blessed, in the company. 

The combination of Christie and 

Blessed has proved a winning formula 

for The Mill, helped by the special 

relationship that Brian had with the 

Queen of Crime. He met and worked 

with her when he was a young actor at 

Nottingham Repertory Theatre. She told 

Brian that Towards Zero was acclaimed 

by the novelist Rupert Graves as her best 

and most dramatic novel and in 1956, 

Gerald Verner adapted it into a play. 

There has been a mill at Sonning for 

many centuries. In the Domesday Book 

of 1086, three mills at ‘Sonninges and 

Berrochescire’ are mentioned. 

Towards Zero will run from 8 August 

to 28 September. Tickets telephone 

0118 969 8000. 

A TASTE OF LATE NIGHTS AT 

RONNIE SCOTT’S 

To celebrate the legendary club’s 

milestone 60th birthday, Ronnie Scott’s 

has created a bespoke, limited edition 

whisky, entitled Ronnie’s Scotch. Just 

over 1,000 bottles of Ronnie’s Scotch 

will be available for the public to purchase 

in person at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club 

this summer. 

The 60th anniversary celebrations will 

culminate in a spectacular, one-off concert 

at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 October; the 

club’s official birthday. Acts include the 

unstoppable Van Morrison, Irish vocalist 

Imelda May and saxophonist Pee Wee 

Ellis, in what is set to be an unforgettable 

night for the iconic jazz club. 

The Mill at Sonning. 

11 


12 

ALL SAINTS CHORUS AND 

ORCHESTRA PERFORM IN LONDON 

Southwark Cathedral is the setting for a 

choral masterpiece surrounded by one of 

the most compelling melodramas in 

music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was on 

his deathbed in Vienna in 1791, when a 

mysterious visitor arrived inviting him to 

write a mass for the dead. For Sir Peter 

Shaffer in his acclaimed stage play 

Amadeus, the idea of Mozart imagining 

the supernatural commissioning of his 

own requiem was irresistible. 

The reality was more mundane, but 

no less cloak and dagger. The 

anonymous patron who commissioned 

Mozart’s last composition was Count 

Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach, whose 

wife had recently died. An ambitious 

amateur musician, the subterfuge was 

designed to enable him to pass the 

music off as his own. 

The famously superstitious Mozart 

may well have been seized by the 

dramatic coincidence of his own 

approaching demise. For his wife 

Constanza, what mattered was payment 

in full, and a semi-finished Requiem 

invited financial embarrassment. 

So it was that she approached other 

composers to help finish the work, which 

was eventually completed by Franz 

Sussmayr, one of her husband’s pupils, 

All Saints Chorus. 

who wrote the Sanctus, Benedictus and 

Agnus Dei, completing other movements 

from fragments left by Mozart himself. 

How much of Sussmayr’s work is based 

on discussions with the master before his 

death remains a mystery. 

What is certain is that it was Mozart’s 

name on the finished score and 

Sussmayr’s part in the composition was 

obscured for many years. For all the 

melodrama surrounding its composition, 

it is Mozart’s genius that shines through 

the music that will be performed at 

18.30 on 7 September, by the All Saints 

Chorus and Orchestra, who have chosen 

this work, along with Beethoven’s 8th 

Symphony and Mozart’s setting of the 

motet Ave Verum Corpus, for a concert 

to celebrate their 25th anniversary. 

All Saints Chorus is one of the finest 

community choirs in London, led by 

their charismatic music director and 

composer Jon Cullen and accompanied 

by musicians drawn from the capital’s 

leading orchestras. 

The concert is raising money for the 

Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund, a 

charity based in Romford which has 

been helping families since 1992. 

Tickets are still available by telephone 

on 07933 983652 or via the website 

eventbrite.co.uk/e/mozart-requiemtickets 

THE FULHAM OPERA DIE 

MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG 

Producing Wagner’s epic... on a 

shoestring. For Fulham Opera, Wagner’s 

music has been something of a religion. 

The company performed the entire Ring 

Cycle in 2014, The Flying Dutchman in 

2015, and now, in a move unheard-of by 

any fringe opera company, this summer 

they bring Die Meistersinger von 

Nürnberg to the Greenwood Theatre next 

to London Bridge. 

So what attracts Fulham Opera’s 

Artistic Director, Ben Woodward, into 

attempting to produce such an epic in 

the London fringe? 

The music is just astonishing; so 

human and so universal. Meistersinger 

is an absolutely joyous comedy. It 

celebrates the need for art, and how music 

brings people together –in community 

and in love. 

Falstaff. 

And the singers? 

Over the past 8 years of Fulham 

Opera’s existence, we’ve built relationships 

with some of the finest singers in London. 

I’m thrilled to have Keel Watson and 

Ronald Samm singing the two major 

roles, as I first heard them in the 

Birmingham Opera ‘Otello’ on the BBC 

iPlayer in 2007 – they’re like brothers. 

The whole cast is astonishing; we’re 

extremely fortunate in all our singers. 


Photos: Matthew Coughlan 

Ben Woodward. 

WORBEY AND FARRELL 

MASQUERADES AT CADOGAN HALL 

On 6 September at 19.30, Worbey 

and Farrell, the renowned four hands on 

one piano Steinway ensemble, will be 

premiering their brand-new show, 

Masquerade, at Cadogan Hall. 

Following their debut at Cadogan Hall 

last year, pianists Steven Worbey and 

Kevin Farrell will be returning with their 

own astonishing arrangements of family 

favourites, including Prokofiev’s Peter 

and the Wolf with their own unique 

narration, Bach’s world-famous Toccata 

and Fugue in D Minor, as well as their 

own ‘Deviations on a Caprice’ based on 

Paganini’s famous Caprice which will 

take you on a journey through jazz, 

ragtime, classical, and film music. 

Worbey and Farrell have performed in 

over 150 countries and have had 

millions of hits on YouTube. They are 

regulars on BBC Radio 3 and ITV’s ‘This 

Morning’ and wow everyone with their 

piano playing. The ingenuity of these 

amazing musicians will make you laugh 

one moment and take your breath away 

the next. Prepare to be moved, delighted 

and utterly gob-smacked. 

For tickets, telephone 020 7730 4500. 

13 

So what can we expect from the 

production? 

It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s a happy 

reflection on life both in 16th Century 

Nuremberg, but also in 21st Century 

Britain – our production is set at a 

music festival! 

Meistersinger was written with 18 

named parts and a huge chorus. Have 

you got the cast of hundreds? 

It is absolute madness, trying to do 

Meistersinger in a fringe fashion. We have 

a splendid volunteer chorus; we have an 

orchestra of 18, and some of the most 

committed soloists I’ve ever worked with. 

This will be an intimate Meistersinger, 

telling the stories of the characters as 

though they were sat next to you. And the 

singing will be just astonishing. 

How about the money? 

It’s been a challenge, I won’t lie. I’ve 

begged, borrowed and done everything I 

could to try and find the money for the 

theatre, the production, the orchestra, and 

of course the singers. We have a 

fundraising scheme where you can 

sponsor a Meister of your choice; if 

anyone wants to help us out, then please 

go to our site at fulhamopera.com and 

check it out. 

Sounds like it shouldn’t be missed! 

The Fulham Opera Die Meistersinger 

plays at the Greenwood Theatre, Weston 

Street SE1 – about 2 minutes from 

London Bridge Station – on 9 and 11 

August at 15.00; 14 and 17 August at 

17.00. Tickets at www.fulhamopera.com 


14 

Charlie Schaffer: Imara in her Winter Coat. Photo: Jorge Herrera. 

LANDMARK EXHIBITIONS AT THE 

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY 

The winner of the BP Portrait Award 

2019 is Brighton based artist, Charlie 

Schaffer for Imara in her Winter Coat, a 

portrait of his close friend, which can be 

seen at the National Portrait Gallery. The 

judges admired the mannerist style of this 

portrait, which has a strong sense of a 

living presence in Schaffer’s composition. 

Schaffer’s practice is mainly concerned 

with the act of painting, and how the 

process that allows the painter and sitter 

to spend time with one another forms 

unique and intense relationships. 

Also on display at the National 

Portrait Gallery, for the first time in the 

UK, is a retrospective of work by Cindy 

Sherman, including her groundbreaking 

series, Untitled Film Stills, 1977-80. 

With Sherman herself as model, her 

black and white images captured the 

look of 1950s and 60s Hollywood, film 

noir, B movies and European art-house 

films. The artist’s manipulation of her 

own appearance and her deployment of 

material derived from a range of cultural 

sources created portraits that explore the 

tension between façade and identity. 

The National Portrait Gallery is to stage 

the first-ever major exhibition to focus on 

the untold story of the women of 

Pre-Raphaelite art as part of a 2019 

autumn season, that also includes the first 

exhibition situating leading contemporary 

artist Elizabeth Peyton within the historical 

tradition of portraiture. 160 years after the 

first pictures were exhibited by the 

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1849, 

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters (17 Oct - 26 Jan) 

explores the overlooked contribution of 

twelve women who contributed to the 

movement in different ways. 

The first major exhibition devoted to 

David Hockney’s drawings in over twenty 

years will open at the National Portrait 

Gallery in February. David Hockney: 

Drawing from Life will explore Hockney 

as a draughtsman from the 1950s to 

now, by focussing on his depictions of 

himself and a small group of sitters 

close to him: his muse, Celia Birtwell; 

his mother, Laura Hockney; and friends, 

the curator, Gregory Evans, and master 

printer, Maurice Payne. The exhibition 

will feature new portraits of some of the 

David Hockney Self Portrait, 14 March, 

2012, iPad drawing printed on paper 

Exhibition Proof 37 x 28" © David Hockney. 

Cecil Beaton by Paul Tanqueray, 1937. 

National Portrait Gallery, London. 

© Estate of Paul Tanqueray. 

sitters and previously unseen early 

works, including working drawings for 

his pivotal A Rake’s Progress etching 

suite (1961-63), inspired by the 

identically named series of prints by 

William Hogarth (1697-64), and 

sketchbooks from Hockney’s art school 

days in Bradford in the 1950s. 

Cecil Beaton’s Portraits From a 

Golden Age will be brought together for 

the first time in a major exhibition 

opening at the National Portrait Gallery 

in March. Through the prism of Beaton’s 

portraits, the exhibition will present the 

leading cast, to many of whom he would 

become close, and who in these early 

years helped refine his remarkable 

photographic style. Brought to vivid life 

each of them has a story to tell. 

Cecil Beaton’s own life and 

relationship with the ‘Bright Young 

Things’ will be woven into the 

exhibition, not least in self-portraits 

and those by his contemporaries. 

Socially avaricious, he was a muchphotographed 

figure, a celebrity in his 

own right. 


16 

Kensington Palace. 

200TH ANNIVERSARY OF QUEEN 

VICTORIA’S BIRTH 

On 24 May, 1819, Princess Victoria 

was born at Kensington Palace, an infant 

who as Queen would one day rule over 

the largest empire the world had ever 

known. To mark the bicentenary of this 

historic event, Historic Royal Palaces 

has mounted a major new exhibition at 

Kensington Palace for 2019, alongside a 

re-presentation of the rooms the young 

Victoria called home. 

As the birthplace of the Victorian era, 

Kensington Palace played a central role 

in the shaping of this important 

monarch. It was at the palace that 

Victoria spent her formative years under 

the gaze of her ever-present mother the 

Duchess of Kent, and it was in her 

apartment at Kensington that she went to 

bed a princess and woke up a queen. 

Now, using new research, Historic Royal 

Palaces – the independent charity which 

cares for Kensington Palace, and the 

proud holder of Independent Research 

Organisation status – is reimagining the 

suite of rooms Victoria and her mother 

occupied in an evocative and familyfriendly 

exploration of royal childhood. 

Through a display of remarkable 

objects relating to her early years – 

including a poignant scrapbook of 

mementos created by her German 

governess, Baroness Lehzen, which 

goes on public display for the first 

time – this newly presented route, titled 

Victoria: A Royal Childhood, will reveal 

the story of the girl destined to be 

queen. From the rapid conversion of a 

dining room into a birthing room, visitors 

will follow the Princess’s journey to the 

crown, experiencing how an idyllic 

childhood became governed by the strict 

rules of the ‘Kensington System’, and how 

Victoria escaped isolation and family 

feuding into a fantasy world of story 

writing, doll making and drawing inspired 

by her love of opera and ballet. Her 

education, family life, closest friendships 

and bitter struggles will all be explored, 

charting how an indulged young princess 

blossomed into the independent and 

iconic monarch we remember today. 

Offering a chance to uncover history 

right where it happened, these historic 

spaces will also be brought to life with 

playful interpretation and interactive 

displays which will help visitors imagine 

the rooms that Victoria would have lived, 

learnt and played in. 

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF 

LONDON THIS SUMMER 

Visitors will be able to unshackle the 

stories behind some of the most daring 

attempts to escape the Tower of London 

this summer, with a series of immersive 

activities for all the family to enjoy. 

Step back in time to the days of 

Queen Elizabeth I and her successor 

King James I, at the height of the Tower’s 

dark reputation as an infamous prison. 

Rebels, plotters, heretics and spies have 

filled its cells and dungeons. The lucky 

ones were tortured, while the less 

fortunate lost their heads. But, with the 

right blend of cunning, ingenuity and 

disregard for danger, escape was 

sometimes possible... 

You can meet notorious prisoners 

from the Tower of London’s past and, 

in the shadow of the imposing White 

Tower, listen to their gruesome tales of 

imprisonment, torture and execution. 

There will be an opportunity to witness 

one of history’s truly great escapes. 

Relive the drama of John Gerard’s 

exhilarating 1597 escape attempt as he 

abseils down the Tower’s historic walls. 

John Gerard famously hatched an 

escape plan sending secret notes in 

invisible ink to his rescuers using 

orange juice. This 30-minute live 

performance runs three times a day and 

brings to life the story of imprisonment 

at the Tower like never before. For more 

information and to buy tickets visit 

www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon 


18 

LATITUDE: ROGER HOOPER WILDLIFE 

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 

Many years ago, when I began my 

career as a professional wildlife 

photographer, I could not have imagined 

the devastating effect that human 

encroachment would have on our planet. 

I have witnessed firsthand, on my many 

journeys, how this and the annihilation 

of animals through poaching and the 

illegal wildlife trade, has had such a 

catastrophic impact on the future of these 

beautiful creatures. It is this that informs 

all my work and my determination to 

make a difference, sharing my 

photographs with not only this generation, 

but with generations to come. 

When putting my new book ‘Latitude’ 

together, I thought about how I could best 

express my abiding passion for wildlife 

and its preservation in global terms. I 

wanted to create something that would not 

only move, but also motivate and bring 

about a greater awareness of the need to 

act now rather than later, while we still 

can. With that in mind, I decided that the 

most meaningful way to do so would be 

to feature images from my travels to all 

seven continents, from the Arctic to the 

Antarctic, in the hope that my passion will 

be shared and inspire others to help make 

a change for good. 

In addition to my passion for wildlife 

and conservation, I have another 

passion. In 2007, I founded Hoopers 

Africa Trust, a charity that transforms the 

lives of disadvantaged girls in Kenya, 

something I strongly believe is vital to 

the country’s future. To date, the charity 

has funded one hundred and fifty girls 

through secondary education, with twenty 

going on to graduate at university level 

and two completing master’s degrees. 

All proceeds from the sale of my new 

book will be donated to Hoopers Africa 

Trust. ‘Tumaini La Baadaye’ – Hope for 

the Future. 

Roger Hooper 

Latitude is on view at gallery@oxo in the 

Oxo Tower Wharf from 26 July to 18 August. 

Further information at www.rogerhooper.co.uk 

www.hoopersafricatrust.org 


20 

CALEDONIAN SLEEPER UNLOCKS GATEWAY TO SCOTLAND’S ISLANDS 

Caledonian Sleeper is making it easier than ever for visitors to experience the 

beauty of Scotland’s islands this summer – thanks to a new travel connection. 

The overnight rail service from London Euston is connecting passengers with the 

Scottish coast through a complimentary coach link. Running between the train 

station at Crianlarich and the coastal town of Oban, the link puts guests within reach 

of the Hebridean islands, including Mull, Islay, Lewis and Harris. For more 

information or to book a journey, visit www.sleeper.scot 

FOOD: BIGGER THAN THE PLATE 

AT THE V&A 

FOOD: Bigger than the Plate is a major 

new exhibition at the V&A exploring how 

innovative individuals, communities and 

organisations are radically re-inventing 

how we grow, distribute and experience 

food. Taking visitors on a sensory journey 

through the food cycle, from compost to 

table, it poses questions about how the 

collective choices we make can lead to a 

more sustainable food future. 

The exhibition falls at a pivotal time 

where food and our relationship to it are 

topics of increasing global interest and 

debate. Over 70 contemporary projects, 

new commissions and creative 

collaborations by artists and designers 

working with chefs, farmers, scientists 

and local communities, are centered 

around four sections: ‘Compost’, 

‘Farming’, ‘Trading’ and ‘Eating’. 

This timely exhibition draws on the 

V&A’s close links with food, including 

over thirty historic objects from the V&A 

collections – influential early food 

adverts, illustrations and ceramics – 

providing further context to the 

exhibition. Built on the site of Brompton 

Nursery, the V&A housed an early food 

museum and over 150 years ago opened 

the world’s first museum refreshment 

rooms. The V&A café, catered by 

Benugo, remains central to the museum, 

linking food culture and the visual arts. 

MISSHAPES: THE MAKING OF 

TATTY DEVINE 

A Crafts Council summer exhibition 

celebrating jewellery designers Tatty 

Devine’s 20-year anniversary is currently 

showing at Central Saint Martins’ Lethaby 

Gallery, London, before a UK-wide tour. 

Tatty Devine’s statement jewellery is 

always ahead of the curve. This summer, a 

new Crafts Council exhibition, Misshapes: 

The making of Tatty Devine, considers the 

power of creativity and innovative British 

design and making, alongside glamour 

and humour. 

The exhibition is the first about the 

design duo, Harriet Vine and Rosie 

Wolfenden, who met at Chelsea College 

of Art and founded Tatty Devine when 

they graduated in 1999. They soon 

started trading from a market stall in east 

London and developed a signature style 

that saw them lauded in Vogue and 

stocked in Harvey Nichols and Whistles 

within the year. 

They discovered laser-cut acrylic on a 

trip to New York in 2001. On their return, 

they invested in a laser-cutting machine, 

rarely used in jewellery at that time, which 

then gave them a creative freedom to push 

the boundaries. Something they continue 

to do to this day. Turning disposable 

objects like guitar plectrums and cake 

decorations into playful personalitypacked 

jewellery resonated with people 

and led to fans all over the world. 


CELEBRATE A SUMMER OF 

SPITFIRE AT THE RAF MUSEUM 

This summer will see the Royal Air 

Force Museum paying homage to one of 

the most iconic aircraft ever built, with a 

programme of family events and 

activities dedicated to the Spitfire. 

The Museum is home to a large 

collection of Spitfires, including the 

world’s oldest. This summer, it will 

explore the history of the Spitfire and the 

story of those RAF servicemen and 

women who worked with this wondrous 

aircraft. Weekend festivals, thought 

provoking storytelling, close views of 

real Spitfires, and a series of nostalgic 

events including a Battle of Britain Day 

will transport visitors back to a time 

when the Spitfire protected Europe’s 

skies. 

Have you ever wanted to sit in the 

pilot's seat of a Spitfire? Do you think 

you have the right stuff to get an aircraft 

back in the sky, or decode enemy 

intelligence? Now’s your chance to put 

your skills to the test in the Spitfire 

Academy Adventure. Scramble the whole 

family and take off into this new 

immersive adventure. Compete against 

others teams to crack the clues located 

around our site and earn your Spitfire 

Academy Wings. 

The Spitfire Academy Adventure is an 

exciting experience, exclusive to the RAF 

Museum, that combines all the fun of an 

escape room with a competitive treasure 

hunt, and adds a dash of theatrics. So, 

gather together your family and friends, 

start your engines and get ready for 

adventure. Visitors can also sit in the 

Spitfire Mk XVI, in goggles and a pilot’s 

helmet, and take a selfie either of 

yourself or with family and friends. No 

need to book, just drop by. The Spitfire 

Selfie Station will be open daily 

throughout the summer. 

For more information about the 

Museum’s Summer of Spitfire 

programme of events and activities at 

both the RAF Museum London and 

Cosford, visit rafmuseum.org. All 

flypasts are weather dependent. 

LATITUDE 

W I LDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE 

R O G E R H O O P E R 

AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS BY 

ROGER HOOPER 

TO CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF HIS NEW BOOK 

Y 

YOU Y ARE INVITED TO A PRIVATE VIEW AND RECEPTION 

gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1 9PH 

Thursday 1 August 2019, 6.30 to 8.30pm 

The 

The exhibition 

exhibition 

is open 

is open 

to the 

to 

public 

the public 

from Admission Friday 

from 

26 

Friday freeJuly to 

26 

Sunday 

July to 

18 

Sunday 

August 2019 

18 August 2019 

The gallery is is open open daily daily from from 11am 11am to 6pm to Admission 6pm Admission free free 

gallery@oxo is owned and managed by 

Coin Street Community Builders 

www.coinstreet.org 

ROGER HOOPER PHOTOGRAPHY 

info@rogerhooper.co.uk 

www.rogerhooper.co.uk 

IN AID OF HOOPERS AFRICA TRUST AND WWF-UK 

www.hoopersafricatrust.org 

Charity no.1118193 

A contribution of 

10% of the profit 

from print sales will 

be made to WWF-UK. 

Charity registered in 

England no.1081247 

and in Scotland 

no. SC039593. 

21 


22 

THE GRUFFALO LIVE ON STAGE 

Celebrating the 20th birthday of the 

much-loved picture book, Tall Stories’ 

hit musical adaptation ‘The Gruffalo’ live 

on stage returns, with a limited ten-week 

West End season at The Lyric Theatre, 

Shaftesbury Avenue until 8 September. 

The Gruffalo, written by Julia 

Donaldson and illustrated by Axel 

Scheffler and published by Macmillan 

Children’s Book in 1999, was adapted 

for the stage by Tall Stories in 2001 and 

has since been delighting audiences 

around the world. 

Join Mouse on a daring adventure 

through the deep, dark wood. Searching 

for hazelnuts, Mouse meets the cunning 

Fox, the eccentric old Owl and the highspirited 

Snake. Will the story of the 

terrifying Gruffalo save Mouse from 

Tall Stories. 

ending up as dinner for these hungry 

woodland creatures? After all, there is no 

such thing as a Gruffalo – is there? 

Expect songs, laughs and monstrous 

fun for children aged 3 and up and their 

grown-ups! The cast of ‘The Gruffalo’ 

live on stage includes Jake Addley as 

‘Predators’; Rebecca Newman as ‘Mouse 

and Elliot Rodriguez as ‘the Gruffalo’. 

For tickets, visit www.gruffalolive.com 

Apollo 8 Mission, Earth over the horizon 

of the moon. Images courtesy NASA. 

MAJOR EXHIBITION ‘THE MOON’ AT 

THE NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM 

To celebrate 50 years since NASA’s 

Apollo 11 mission landed the first 

humans on the Moon, the National 

Maritime Museum has opened The Moon, 

the UK’s biggest exhibition dedicated to 

Earth’s nearest celestial neighbour. 

Featuring over 180 objects from 

national and international museums and 

private collections, the exhibition presents 

a cultural and scientific story of our 

relationship with the Moon over time and 

across civilisations. Through artefacts, 

artworks and interactive moments, the 

exhibition will enable visitors to reconnect 

with the wonders of the Moon and discover 

how it has captivated and inspired us. 

The exhibition will explore how 

humans have used, understood and 

observed the Moon from Earth. Visitors 

will get the chance to relive the 

momentous events of the Space Race and 

the Moon landings before discovering the 

motivations behind 21st century lunar 

missions. ‘The Moon’ will explore how 

new technologies, such as 17th century 

telescopes, 19th century cameras and 

remote equipment for space photography 

and mapping in the 20th century brought 

increasing understanding of the lunar 

surface and the Moon’s origins. A 

selection of maps, paintings, 

photographs, models and drawings from 

the 17th century to the present, will 

emphasise humanity’s continuing desire 

to understand more about the Moon. 

From classic science fiction through to 

the defining events of the Space Race, 

visitors will see how the Moon went from 

being a distant object of observation and 

place of imagination to a destination that 

was within human reach. The Moon looks 

at key moments within the Space Race, 

highlighting how a number of Soviet 

‘firsts’ were ultimately overshadowed by 

Neil Armstrong’s century-defining ‘one 

small step’ in July 1969. Video artist 

Christian Stangl will show a new and 

exclusive version of his film ‘Lunar’, in 

which animated photographs from Apollo 

missions allow visitors to experience the 

Moon landings through the eyes of the 

astronauts. 

In 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts left a 

plaque on the Moon claiming, ‘we came 

in peace for all mankind’. Today, there is 

renewed drive to return to the Moon, 

reflected in future projects from China, 

Europe, India, Israel, Japan, Russia and 

the United States. No longer the domain 

of superpowers, international space 

agencies, private companies and 

entrepreneurs are all part of this 21st 

century race for the Moon. The closing 

chapter of the exhibition will look at these 

contemporary motivations for Moon 

travel, leaving visitors to contemplate 

whether the Moon will become a theatre 

for exploitation and competition, or 

remain a peaceful place for all humankind. 

Visit www.rmg.co.uk/moon50 

The Apollo 11 mission, the first manned 

lunar mission, launched from the 

Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 


26 

West Texas Rainy Night, 2018. 

BOB DYLAN AT HALCYON GALLERY 

On 4 July, Halcyon Gallery opened its 

doors to a new collection of original 

paintings by Bob Dylan for a special 

Summer Exhibition, running until late 

August. Following the last major 

exhibition of his work Mondo Scripto, at 

Halcyon Gallery in 2018, and the release 

of Martin Scorsese’s critically-acclaimed 

documentary of Dylan’s 1975 Rolling 

Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story in 

June of this year, this new body of work 

sees Dylan return to his ongoing series 

of American highways and byways that 

he first explored in The Beaten Path in 

2016. 

These recent works show Dylan’s 

progression as a painter and a new 

maturity; the artist boldly depicts vast 

skies and changing light with confident, 

broad brushstrokes in a sheer 

celebration of colour. Dylan renders the 

changing face of America with ease; 

from the neon illuminations of a latenight 

ice cream joint in Nowhere and 

Anywhere, to an obscured Night Train, 

whose glowing headlights approach 

from the distance. New Orleans Street 

musicians; an abandoned jetty winding 

out to a deserted lake; the monolithic 

sweep of a bridge dissecting the sky 

overheard; all continue to create a 

panoramic vision of America. 

Alongside this new collection of 

paintings, Halcyon Gallery will exhibit a 

collection of previous works from The 

Drawn Blank Series, first shown in 2008, 

which saw reworked sketches that Dylan 

originally produced while on tour in the 

late eighties. The Drawn Blank paintings 

capture fleeting moments of a life on 

tour; portraits, landscapes and unknown 

places are all seen through Dylan’s eyes. 

Also on display will be previously 

unseen ironwork sculptures including 

new pieces specifically created to 

integrate with the gallery space. Dylan 

began experimenting with these 

sculptural works in the late 1980s, 

though they were first shown in the 

gallery in 2012. 

Fremont Street, 2018. 

Bob Dylan. 

Bob Dylan is one of the great 

American artists and a worldwide 

cultural icon who has been inspiring 

audiences for six decades. Having 

forever changed the relationship between 

music and language, Dylan became the 

first musician to be awarded the Nobel 

Prize in Literature in 2016, recognised 

‘for having created new poetic 

expressions within the great American 

song tradition’. 

In the autumn of this year, 

Retrospectrum, the most comprehensive 

survey of Dylan’s art to date, will invite 

visitors to experience his artwork in an 

immersive and interactive environment. 

The exhibition will be installed in 

October 2019 at Modern Art Museum 

(MAM), Shanghai, an institution focused 

on diversity, equality, exchange and 

education. Its vast industrial architecture 

offers a versatile and dynamic space to 

connect the shared cultures of the East 

and West. 

Located along the ‘cultural corridor’ 

of museums and galleries that runs 

along the riverside in the Pudong New 

Area, MAM utilises innovative methods 

to facilitate public participation and 

engagement with art. 

The Halcyon Gallery is in New Bond 

Street, nearest tube is Bond Street. 

Bob Dylan. 


28 

Left: Enigma M1070 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, GCHQ. 

SCIENCE MUSEUM EXPLORES 100 

YEARS OF CODEBREAKING 

The Science Museum has launched a 

major new exhibition, exploring 

communications intelligence and cyber 

security over the course of 100 years. 

Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber 

Security marks the centenary of GCHQ, 

the UK’s Intelligence, Security and Cyber 

agency which was first acknowledged in 

law in 1994. Through never-before-seen 

objects, interactive puzzles and firstperson 

interviews, the exhibition 

explores the challenges of maintaining 

digital security in the 21st century and 

the unique technologies used. 

Amongst over 100 objects in the 

exhibition that reveal fascinating stories of 

communications intelligence and cyber 

security from the last century are cipher 

machines used during the Second World 

War, secure telephones of the type used by 

British Prime Ministers, and an encryption 

key used by Her Majesty The Queen. 

Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the 

Science Museum Group, said: ‘With the 

help of GCHQ, our expert advisors on the 

exhibition, we are privileged to reveal 

some of the previously hidden histories 

of the UK’s intelligence community. By 

exhibiting over 100 remarkable objects, 

we aim to engage visitors with the people 

and technologies that keep us safe, at a 

time when cyber security has never been 

more important to people’s everyday lives.’ 

The exhibition also explores the work 

of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security 

Centre (NCSC) which works to defend 

against cyberattacks. Visitors will be 

able to see a computer infected with the 

WannaCry ransomware which, in 2017, 

affected thousands of people and 

organisations including the NHS. 

The exhibition includes the story of 

the encryption technology used by the 

Krogers who, until their arrest in the 

1960s, were part of the most successful 

Soviet spy ring in Cold War Britain. 

Visitors will also be able to see the 

remains of the crushed hard drive 

alleged to contain top secret information 

which was given by Edward Snowden to 

The Guardian in 2013. 

Exhibited for the first time in public is 

the 5-UCO, one of the first electronic 

and fully unbreakable cipher machines. 

It was developed to handle the most 

secret messages during the Second 

World War, including sending Bletchley 

Park’s decrypted Enigma messages to 

the British military in the field and was 

in use into the 1950s. This ultra-secret 

machine was previously believed to have 

been destroyed. Visitors to the exhibition 

will also discover the story of the Lorenz 

machine. Mistakes made by a German 

radio operator while using a Lorenz 

machine enabled workers at Bletchley 

Park to break the Enigma code, bringing 

the Allies one step closer to winning 

the war. 

Secure telephones that were at the 

cutting-edge of innovation played a 

crucial role for Britain during the Cold 

War. The Pickwick telephone was 

developed to keep transatlantic 

communication secure between John F 

Kennedy and Harold Macmillan during 

the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. By the 

1980s secure telephone systems were 

portable, and visitors will be able to see 

Margaret Thatcher’s secure briefcase 

telephone, which was used to 

communicate the course of action to the 

British Ministry of Defence during the 

Falklands War in 1982. 

Pickwick phone, 1960, used between 

US President Kennedy and Harold 

Macmillan during the Cuban Missle 

Crisis © The Board of Trustees of the 

Science Museum, GCHQ. 

An interactive puzzle zone within the 

exhibition gives visitors the opportunity 

to test their own codebreaking skills and 

explore first-hand the skills required to 

succeed in the world of GCHQ. 

The exhibition is supported by 

Principal Funder DCMS, Principal 

Sponsors Raytheon, Avast and DXC 

Technology, Major Sponsor QinetiQ, 

Associate Funder The Hintze Family 

Charitable Foundation, and supported by 

Keith Thrower, with special thanks to 

Michael Spencer and NEX Group. 


30 

PAVLOVA’S BAR 

Jason Atherton and The Social 

Company are launching Pavlova's, 

situated within the Victoria Palace 

Theatre, the first theatre bar by Atherton 

and in partnership with the theatre’s 

owner, Sir Cameron Mackintosh. Named 

after the legendary Russian ballerina 

whose statue stands on top of the 

theatre, Pavlova’s will be the perfect hub 

for theatregoers. 

The drinks list has been curated by 

the group’s Bar Manager, Jay Doy, and 

will showcase the creative flair seen 

across all of Atherton’s bars. The 

signature cocktail, ‘The Dying Swan’ has 

been named after Anna Pavlova’s fabled 

dance and features a music box that 

opens to reveal a rotating ballerina. 

Sir Cameron Mackintosh, owner of 

The Victoria Palace Theatre noted: 

'When I restored and extended the 

Victoria Palace Theatre, I planned to 

open part of the building as a bar 

available to the general public, not just 

theatregoers. I wanted to partner with 

one of London's most brilliant 

restauranteurs – and to my mind Jason 

Atherton is top of the bill, so I was 

thrilled when Jason enthusiastically 

agreed to create Pavlova’s.' 

Pavlova’s will incorporate the 

glamorous style of the ballerina with 

elegant chandeliers, duck egg blue 

seating, and polished hardwood floors. 

A TASTE OF SPAIN 

AT SOMERSET HOUSE 

Somerset House is embracing the 

summer sun with the launch of a terrace 

in partnership with San Miguel, located 

on the banks of the River Thames. In a 

prime position on Victoria Embankment, 

Somerset House Terrace will serve a 

selection of chilled San Miguel beers 

and a menu of Spanish-inspired snacks 

until the end of September. 

With a relaxed and contemporary 

environment, the terrace is furnished 

with comfortable seating and benches, 

summery florals and an outdoor swing. 

Open daily from lunchtime until late, the 

bar features signature San Miguel beers 

such as their San Miguel Especial, San 

Miguel Selecta and 0% ABV San Miguel 

0,0 plus a selection of tap station beers 

inspired by San Miguel’s journey around 

the world. 

JEFF WAYNE’S THE WAR OF THE 

WORLD LAUNCHES RESTAURANT 

The creatives behind Jeff Wayne’s The 

War of The Worlds: The Immersive 

Experience has launched a new casual 

dining restaurant, The Spirit of Man, on 

Leadenhall Street. 

Situated alongside the immersive 

experience, the casual dining restaurant 

embraces the theme of H G Wells’ 1898 

novel through the Victoriana. On entry, 

be welcomed by the domineering 

Martian sculpture, complete with metal 

tentacles suspended from the ceiling. 

Along the walls, animated paintings 

use projection mapping to depict key 

scenes in the story, from the initial 

invasion to the battle that arose, 

interspersed with steampunk 

memorabilia to further depict the 

industrial era and time period in which 

the story is set. 

Once in, head to the striking floor to 

ceiling Victoriana bar, complete with a 

plethora of spirits and mixers, topped 

with oak barrels. Offering a taste of the 

immersive theatre experience, the 

cocktails are inspired from key scenes in 

the book, including The Earl with Bulleit 

Rye infused with Earl Grey Tea, Grand 

Marnier and orange bitters; Dead 

London Mule with Havana 7yr, 

Commonwealth ginger beer and fresh 

lime; or the inspired Flaming Ogilvy, 

with Monkey 47 Sloe, Campari and 

topped with champagne complete with 

a flaming raspberry. 

www.dotdot.london 

The Spirit of Man 


Photo: NASA. 

MOVING TO MARS AT THE DESIGN 

MUSEUM THIS AUTUMN 

The Design Museum in London is 

inviting visitors to discover the role that 

design will play in humanity’s journey to 

the Red Planet in the exhibition ‘Moving 

to Mars’, which opens this October. 

Every detail of this extraordinary venture 

must be designed – from the journey 

(around seven months), to considering 

what we will wear, eat and shelter in 

when we get there and beyond. 

Conditions on Mars are deeply 

hostile to humans, and yet we appear to 

be determined to go. From the first 

photographic fly-by of Mars by Mariner 

4 in 1965 to today’s enterprises, such as 

NASA and ESA’s Orion project and the 

private SpaceX venture, getting humans 

to Mars has become one of the greatest 

challenges of our time, especially in 

terms of design. 

Mars is the most striking planet in the 

night sky and it has captivated our 

attention since antiquity. Justin McGuirk, 

Chief Curator at the Design Museum, 

said: ‘On the 50th anniversary of the 

Moon landing, we are entering a new 

space age, with Mars once again 

capturing the popular imagination. As a 

museum interested in emergent futures, 

we are keen to explore how designing 

for space can help us design for earth.’ 

HACKNEY WICKED DIY OPEN 

STUDIOS 10th EDITION 

London’s biggest open studio event, 

Hackney Wicked DIY Open Studios takes 

place from 26-28 July. Over 40 cultural 

venues and spaces across Hackney Wick 

and Fish Island have joined forces to 

create this years’ programme. Art lovers 

from across the world can witness the 

unique creative talent and explore the 

labyrinth of spaces that make up 

‘London’s Creative Square Mile’’. 

For a superb view of the Queen 

Elizabeth Olympic Stadium, head for 

Stour Space on the canal side in Roach 

Road, where the brunch menu offers 

everything from simple to substantial. 

SOUL OF SHAOLIN AT WEMBLEY 

PARK THEATRE 

Playing in London for the first time, 

the internationally-acclaimed Soul of 

Shaolin is an action-packed theatrical 

experience combining a jaw-dropping 

mix of martial arts, acrobatics, rousing 

music and stunning theatrical design. 

Originally presented at the 2008 

Summer Olympics, and the first 

production from the People’s Republic of 

China ever to appear on Broadway, Soul 

of Shaolin has earned nominations at 

the 63rd Tony Awards for ‘Best Special 

Theatrical Event’ and the 54th Drama 

Desk Award for ‘Unique Theatrical 

Experience’. Centered around a touching 

and universal story of loss and 

redemption, audiences will delight in a 

high-octane, vivid and extraordinary 

demonstration of Shaolin Kung Fu, 

handed down through generations in the 

legendary Shaolin Monastery, a Chán 

Buddhist temple at Song Shan near 

Dengfeng in China. 

Caught up in war and turmoil, the story 

follows a young boy, Hui Guang, 

separated from his beloved mother and 

cast adrift in a frightening world. Rescued 

by monks of the Shaolin Monastery, he 

trains in the ancient art of Kung Fu. As 

fate intervenes and his mother returns, 

will Hui Guang be able to triumph over 

the barriers holding them apart? 


Soul of Shaolin. 

31 


32 

James McArdle. 

Photos: Manuel Harlan. 

PETER GYNT National Theatre 

We are in the Highlands of Scotland 

and along bounds a handsome young 

man in uniform, Peter Gynt. He is home 

from the wars and his mother runs out to 

embrace him, only to be regaled with a 

long, possibly thrilling but also 

mendacious tale about his soldierly 

exploits as hero and leader in combat, 

nimbly scaling a cliff in the dark etc. to 

win the day. She is not impressed – she 

knows the film, borrowed the book from 

the library and has heard it all before. 

Peter, it seems, is a fantasist. But in 

David Hare’s new adaptation of Ibsen’s 

classic text, his determination to portray 

himself as a success in all scenarios 

merely chimes in with the contemporary 

desire to invent one’s own persona in 

line with an edited image published on 

social media. 

Peter Gynt is perfect for the age of the 

selfie. He is selfish beyond words. He 

entices his ex-lover up the mountainside 

to enjoy carnal relations on the day she 

is due to marry a local idiot, thus 

ruining her future and his own prospects 

in his home town. He falls ‘in love’ with 

a beautiful immigrant whom he 

persuades to wait for him in a forest hut 

while he escapes a lynch mob – but 

never returns. Peter becomes a 

billionaire – suave, debonaire, with a 

string of credit cards attached to his 

inside pocket. He has no lasting 

relationships but somehow projects 

himself as a guru. 

James McArdle is wonderful in the 

title role. He is energetic, charming and 

likeable. Too bad his character is a 

bounder. Hare’s dialogue is witty and 

observant – but he himself could have 

edited his observations to fit in with the 

modern notion that a couple of hours in 

the theatre is time well spent, whereas 

three and half hours in the theatre is an 

endurance test reserved for Shakespeare 

or special sagas. 

Not that the production is all moralising 

and introspection – far from it. There are 

singing cowgirls and hellish trolls in 

handcarts, wild seas on the backdrop and 

live music in the wings. It is both hilarious 

Lauren Ellis-Steele, Tamsin Carroll and James McArdle. 

Anne Louise Ross and James McArdle. 

and appalling. We sometimes wonder what 

on earth will come next. 

The Jungian undertones are 

enthralling. But ultimately, we know the 

fate that will befall such a very flawed 

hero. Do we care? It’s an enjoyable 

evening – in which each viewer will 

examine his own conscience and come 

to a conclusion. 

Sue Webster 


34 

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Photo: David Jensen. 

SUMMER SEASON FOR EVITA AT 

REGENT’S PARK THEATRE 

Opening at Regent’s Park Theatre on 

2 August, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd 

Webber’s Evita is the fastest selling 

production in the theatre’s history. Two 

additional matinee performances have 

been added, due to demand, on 

Wednesday 21 August and Wednesday 

28 August. 

Evita is produced by William Village 

and Timothy Sheader by arrangement 

with The Really Useful Group Limited. 

Samantha Pauly plays Eva Perón, 

Ektor Rivera is Juan Perón, Trent 

Saunders, Che, and Frances Mayli 

McCann, The Mistress. 

Evita premiered in the West End in 

1978, and features a chart-topping score 

including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, 

Oh! What A Circus, Another Suitcase in 

Another Hall, and the Academy Awardwinning 

You Must Love Me, originally 

performed by Madonna in the motion 

picture. 

Chicago-based Samantha Pauly 

makes her UK debut in the role of Eva 

Perón, direct from her performance in 

SIX (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) and 

as Valkyrie in Bat Out Of Hell (US Tour). 

She appears alongside Ektor Rivera, also 

making his UK debut, having recently 

played Emilio Estefan in On Your Feet! 

on Broadway and US Tour. In addition to 

lead roles in Rent, Hairspray and High 

School Musical, Ektor was selected by 

Jennifer López to be one of the lead 

singers in the US Television and Live 

show Q’Viva! The Chosen, which was 

seen by over 30 million television viewers. 

An original Broadway cast member of 

Disney's Aladdin, Trent Saunders returns 

to the UK in the role of Che following 

his appearance as St. Jimmy in Green 

Day's American Idiot. Nominated for an 

Olivier Award for her role as Kylah in 

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, 

Frances Mayli McCann plays the role of 

The Mistress. 

Evita is directed by Jamie Lloyd. 

Tickets from the Box Office telephone 

0333 400 3562. 

MISCHIEF THEATRE’S NEW 

COMEDY GROAN UPS 

Mischief Theatre, the 

Olivier award-winning 

company behind The Play 

That Goes Wrong, are to 

present a brand-new comedy 

Groan Ups, performing from 

Friday 20 September until 

Sunday 1 December at the 

Vaudeville Theatre. 

From the parents of 

The Play That Goes Wrong 

comes this brand-new 

comedy all about growing 

up. Are we the same people at 30 as we 

were at 13? Does school life determine 

our future? Do we ever grow out of our 

school crush? Playing an unruly 

classroom of kids and anarchic high 

school teenagers, through to the aches 

and pains of adulthood, the original 

Mischief company are back in the West 

End with their first new play since 2016. 

The cast includes Bryony Corrigan, 

Dave Hearn, Henry Lewis, Charlie 

Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields, 

and Nancy Zamit. 

Groan Ups will launch Mischief 

Theatre’s residency at the Vaudeville 

Theatre and their programme of new 

work. The second production, Magic 

Goes Wrong, created with magic legends 

Penn & Teller, will preview from 

14 December. 

Mischief Theatre was founded in 

2008 by a group of graduates of The 

London Academy of Music and Dramatic 

Art (LAMDA) and began as an 

improvised comedy group. They perform 

across the UK and internationally with 

improvised and original scripted work. 

Their current London productions are 

The Play That Goes Wrong at the 

Duchess Theatre and The Comedy About 

A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre. 

The company is led by Artistic 

Director Henry Lewis and Company 

Director Jonathan Sayer. 

Groan Ups will be produced in the 

West End by Kenny Wax Ltd and Stage 

Presence Ltd. 

Box office telephone: 0330 333 4814. 

Groan Ups. 


36 

TOP LONDON SHOWS OFFER FREE 

THEATRE TICKETS FOR KIDS WEEK 

Kids Week, the annual London theatre 

initiative run by Society of London 

Theatre (SOLT), returns in August with 

hit shows in the West End and beyond, 

offering free tickets for children 

throughout the month. Shows available 

include 9 To 5 The Musical, Disney's 

Aladdin, Aliens Love Underpants, 

Wicked and Brainiac Live, amongst 

many others. 

The scheme, founded to encourage 

more young people and families to 

experience the magic of live theatre, 

offers a free ticket to every child aged 16 

or under accompanied by a full paying 

adult. Half price tickets can also be 

purchased for two additional children in 

the same group. There are no booking, 

postage or transaction fees. 

Alongside the performances, children 

are given the chance to get involved in 

free workshops and activities, with 

participating shows offering everything 

from choreography and magic 

workshops to cast Q&As and backstage 

tours. Kids Week ticket holders can also 

take advantage of ‘Kids Go Free’ deals 

on dining and hotels. 

Kids Week is one of the biggest, 

longest-running audience development 

initiatives in the world, engaging around 

1.6 million children and families since it 

began in 1998. 

For more information on tickets, 

activities and offers, visit the website at 

officiallondontheatre.com/kids-week 

ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES IS BACK 

– AND THIS TIME IT’S MUSICAL! 

Stone me! Would you Adam and Eve 

it? Only Fools and Horses is going up 

West! John Sullivan’s iconic and 

record-breaking television series has 

been turned into a brand-new, 

home-grown West End musical. With a 

script and original score by John’s son, 

Jim Sullivan and comedy giant Paul 

Whitehouse, prepare to get reacquainted 

with Britain’s most loveable rogues and 

experience the classic comedy brought 

to life once again through 20 ingenious 

and hilarious songs. 

Paul Whitehouse also takes centre 

stage as Grandad, uniting with Tom 

Bennett (Del Boy) and Ryan Hutton 

(Rodney) in this unique showstopper, 

featuring cherished material from the TV 

series. Join the cast as they take a trip 

back in time, where it’s all kicking off in 

Peckham. While the yuppie invasion of 

London is in full swing, love is in the air 

as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to 

find his soul mate, Rodney and 

Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and 

even Trigger is gearing up for a date 

(with a person!). Meanwhile, Boycie and 

Marlene give parenthood one final shot 

and Grandad takes stock of his life and 

decides the time has finally arrived to 

get his piles sorted. 

With musical contributions from 

Chas ‘n Dave, the beloved theme tunes 

as you’ve never heard them before and 

an array of comic songs full of character 

and cockney charm, you’re guaranteed to 

have a right knees-up! Only Fools and 

Horses The Musical is a feel-good 

family celebration of traditional working 

class London life and the aspirations we 

all share. 

Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, Only 

Fools and Horses The Musical will also 

feature many of the hugely loveable 

characters from the TV series: Raquel, 

Denzil, Mickey Pearce, Mike the Barman 

and the dreaded Driscoll Brothers. 

The TV show, Only Fools and Horses, 

won a multitude of awards during its 33- 

year run, including six BAFTA Awards, 

seven British Comedy Awards and three 

National Television Awards. Over seven 

series, 64 episodes and 16 specials, the 

show became the most cherished sitcom 

this country has ever produced. 


Tom Bennett (Del Boy). Photo: Johan Persson. 


38 

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. 

FORTUNE THEATRE 

Russell Street, WC2 (0844 871 7626) 

The West End Company of Come From Away. 

Photo: Matthew Murphy 

BITTER WHEAT 

World premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning 

playwright David Mamet’s new play, starring 

John Malkovich. 

GARRICK THEATRE 

Charing Cross Road, WC2 (0330 333 4811) 

CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN 

Louis de Bernières’ epic novel brought 

dramatically to life. Cephalonia 1941. Captain 

Corelli, an enigmatic young Italian officer is 

posted to the idyllic greek island as part of the 

occupying forces. 

HAROLD PINTER THEATRE 

Panton Street, SW1 (0844 871 7622) 

COME FROM AWAY EXTENDS RUN 

UNTIL FEBRUARY 

Hit musical Come From Away has 

extended its run in the West End until 

15 February 2020. Telling the 

remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded 

air passengers during the wake of 9/11, 

and the small town in Newfoundland that 

welcomed them, the critically acclaimed 

production recently earned great success 

at the Olivier Awards, winning ‘Best New 

Musical’, ‘Best Theatre Choreographer’, 

‘Best Sound Design’ and ‘Outstanding 

Achievement in Music’. 

The musical recounts the incredible 

true story of how the residents of 

Gander, Newfoundland welcomed the 

passengers of planes from around the 

world. Cultures clashed, and nerves ran 

high, but as uneasiness turned into 

trust, music soared into the night and 

gratitude grew into enduring friendships. 

In addition to winning 4 Olivier Awards 

in London, Come From Away has 

scooped multiple awards all across North 

America. 

Come From Away is produced in the 

UK by Junkyard Dog Productions and 

Smith & Brant Theatricals. The European 

premiere of Come From Away was 

co-produced with the Abbey Theatre, 

Ireland’s National Theatre. Box office 

telephone 0844 871 7615. 

PLAYS 

ADRIAN MOLE AGED 13 3/4 

A timeless tale of teenage angst, family 

struggles and unrequited love, told through the 

eyes of tortured poet and misunderstood 

intellectual Adrian Mole. 

AMBASSADORS THEATRE 

West Street, WC2 (020 7395 5405) 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 

Shakespeare’s great comedy plunges its 

audience into the heart of an enchanted forest, a 

place of change and infinite possibility in this 

new immersive production. 

BRIDGE THEATRE 

One Tower Bridge, SE1 (0843 208 1846) 

THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY 

One enormous diamond, eight incompetent 

crooks and a snoozing security guard. What 

could possibly go right? 

CRITERION THEATRE 

Piccadilly Circus, (020 7492 0810) 

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG 

A Polytechnic amateur drama group are 

putting on a 1920s murder mystery and 

everything that can go wrong... does! 

DUCHESS THEATRE 

Catherine Street, WC2 (0330 333 4810) 

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN 

Gripping thriller, based on the internationally 

acclaimed number one best-selling novel by 

Paula Hawkins and the Dreamworks film. 

DUKE OF YORK’S THEATRE 

St Martin’s Lane, WC2 (020 7492 1552) 

Royal National Theatre Plays in repertory 

OLIVIER THEATRE 

PETER GYNT 

Ibsen’s classic is reinvented as a riotous 

musical adventure for the 21st century. 

THE SECRET RIVER 

A deeply moving and unflinching journey into 

Australia’s dark history. Adapted from Kate 

Grenville’s acclaimed novel, it tells the story of 

two families divided by culture and land. 

LYTTELTON THEATRE 

RUTHERFORD AND SON 

Roger Allam returns to the National for the first 

time in a decade to play Rutherford in this new 

production directed by Polly Findlay. 

Until 3 August. 

HANSARD 

The official report of all Parliamentary debates. 

A witty and devastating new play by Simon 

Woods. From 22 August. 

DORFMAN THEATRE 

MR GUM AND THE DANCING BEAR 

Based on the hilariously anarchic, awardwinning 

children’s books, full of outlandish 

characters and joyful, utterly idiotic songs. 

NATIONAL THEATRE 

South Bank, SE1 (020 7452 3000) 

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED 

CHILD PARTS I & II 

Stage play based on the Harry Potter franchise 

written by Jack Thorne, based on an original 

story by J.K Rowling. 

PALACE THEATRE 

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0330 333 4813) 

continued on page 40 


QUEEN’S THEATRE TO BE RENAMED 

THE SONDHEIM THEATRE 

In honour of Stephen Sondheim’s 

90th birthday next March, the Queen’s 

Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue will be 

renamed the Sondheim Theatre, making 

him the only living artist to have a 

theatre named in his honour both in the 

West End and on Broadway. Following 

the renovation of wartime bomb damage 

and a major restoration of the 

auditorium and the complete backstage, 

the newly named Sondheim Theatre will 

continue as the home of world’s longest 

running musical Les Misérables as it 

enters its 35th year. 

39 

The restored Queen’s theatre will be returned to its pre-war splendour, re-opening on 

18 December as the Sondheim Theatre. 

The Queen’s Theatre originally 

opened on 8 October 1907 with The 

Sugar Bowl, a comedy by Madeleine 

Lucette Ryley and was designed by 

architect W.G.R. Sprague as a pair with 

the adjoining corner of Shaftesbury 

Avenue. The theatre is currently closed 

for four months of rebuilding work both 

backstage and in the auditorium. This 

work will also restore W.G.R. Sprague’s 

original boxes and loges which, along 

with the entire front of house, were 

destroyed by a bomb in 1940 and 

caused the theatre to be closed for 20 

years. The restored theatre will be 

returned to its pre-war splendour, 

reopening on 18 December 2019 as the 

Sondheim Theatre. 

Produced on stage by Cameron 

Mackintosh, Les Misérables is the 

world’s longest running musical. 

From 10 August to 30 November, a 

spectacular staging of Les Misérables in 

concert will run at the intimate Gielgud 

Theatre next door. 


40 

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY 

Following a sold-out run at the National, 

Sam Mendes directs Simon Russell Beale, 

Adam Godley and Ben Miles, who play the 

Lehman Brothers, their sons and grandsons. 

PICCADILLY THEATRE 

Denman Street, W1 (020 7452 3000) 

THE ILLUSIONISTS 

The world’s biggest selling magic show 

returns to London with a new, all-star line up. 

SHAFTESBURY THEATRE 

Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (020 7492 0810) 

THE MOUSETRAP 

Agatha Christie’s whodunnit is the longest 

running play of its kind in the history of 

British theatre. 

ST MARTIN’S THEATRE 

West Street, WC2 (0844 499 1515) 

THE STARRY MESSENGER 

Starring Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth 

McGovern, this bittersweet, comic drama is an 

unblinking exploration of love and hope. 

WYNDHAM’S THEATRE 


MUSICALS 

WAITRESS 

Hit Broadway musical brought to life by an 

all-female creative team, featuring original 

music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles. 

ADELPHI THEATRE 

Strand, WC2 (020 3725 7060) 

TINA 

New stage musical reveals the untold story 

of Tina Turner, a woman who dared to defy 

the bounds of her age, gender and race. 

ALDWYCH THEATRE 

The Aldwych, WC2 (0845 200 7981) 

WICKED 

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 Road, SW1 (0844 826 8000) 

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE 

New feel good musical – supported by his 

mum and friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, 

beats the bullies and steps into the spotlight. 

APOLLO THEATRE 

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (0330 333 4809) 

SIX THE MUSICAL 

Tudor Queens meet Pop Princesses in a 

musical retelling of the six wives of Henry 

VIII. A celebration of sisterly sass-itude, 

powered by an all-female band. 

ARTS THEATRE 

Great Newport Street, WC2 (020 7836 8463) 

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 

Sell out production transferred from Regent’s 

Park Open Air Theatre. 

BARBICAN THEATRE 

Silk Street, EC2 (020 7638 8891) 

MATILDA 

Critically acclaimed Royal Shakespeare 

Company production of Roald Dahl’s book, 

directed by Matthew Warchus. 

CAMBRIDGE THEATRE 

Earlham Street, WC2 (0844 800 1110) 

LES MISERABLES – CONCERT STAGED 

Concert staging starring Michael Ball, Alfie 

Boe, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Matt Lucas. 

GIELGUD THEATRE 

Shaftesbury Theatre, WC2 (0844 482 5151) 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 

Long running epic romance by Andrew Lloyd 

Webber, set in Paris opera house where a 

deformed phantom stalks his prey. 

HER MAJESTY’S THEATRE 

Haymarket, SW1 (0844 412 2707) 

ON YOUR FEET! 

The inspiring true love story of Emilio and 

Gloria Estefan charts their journey from Cuba 

to international superstardom. 

LONDON COLISEUM 

St Martin's Lane, WC2 (020 7836 0111) 

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING 

TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT 

Andrew Lloyed Webber and Tim Rice’s multiaward 

winning musical returns with Jason 

Donovan as Pharoah. 

LONDON PALLADIUM 

Argyll Street, W1 (0844 248 5000) 

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 (0844 871 3000) 

THRILLER – LIVE 

Over two hours of the non-stop hit songs that 

marked Michael Jackson’s live performances. 

LYRIC THEATRE 

Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 (0330 333 4812) 

SCHOOL OF ROCK 

Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical with 

lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Julian 

Fellowes, adapted from the film. 

GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE 

Drury Lane, WC2 (020 7492 0810) 

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. 

NOVELLO THEATRE 

Aldwych, WC2 (0844 482 5170) 

COME FROM AWAY 

UK Premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical 

which tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 

stranded air passengers in the wake of 9/11. 

PHOENIX THEATRE 


FIDDLER ON THE ROOF 

West End transfer of the revival directed by 

Trevor Nunn, starring Andy Nyman as Tevye. 

PLAYHOUSE THEATRE 

Northumberland Ave WC2· (0844 871 7631) 

ALADDIN 

The classic hit film has been brought to thrilling 

life onstage by Disney, featuring all the songs 

from the Academy Award winning score. 

PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE 

Old Compton Street, W1 (0844 482 5151) 

THE BOOK OF MORMON 

A crude, witty and satirical show telling the 

story of two young and naive mormon 

missionaires. 

PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE 

Coventry Street, W1 (0844 482 5110) 

EVITA 

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1978 

musical features a chart-topping score 

including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and the 

Academy Award-winning You Must Love Me. 

REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE 

Inner Circle, NW1 (0333 400 3562) 

9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL 

Based on the much loved movie and making its 

West End debut, Dolly Parton’s musical comes 

to London for a strictly limited season. 

SAVOY THEATRE 

Strand, WC2 (020 7492 0810) 

ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES 

The landmark, record-breaking and top-rated 

television series written by the late, great John 

Sullivan, becomes a brand-new, home-grown 

British musical. 

THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET 

Haymarket SW1 (020 7930 8800) 

HAMILTON 

Lin-Manuel Miranda's multi award-winning 

musical, based on one of America’s Founding 

Father, Alexander Hamilton. 

VICTORIA PALACE THEATRE 

Victoria Street, SW1 (0844 248 5000) 


42 

Matt Concannon and John Dougall in 

The Girl On The Train. Photo Manuel Harlan 

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN TRANSFERS 

TO DUKE OF YORK’S 

The Girl on the Train starring 

Samantha Womack as Rachel Watson is 

transferingr to the Duke of York’s Theatre 

from 23 July to 17 August. 

The gripping thriller, based on the 

internationally acclaimed number one 

best-selling novel by Paula Hawkins and 

the Dreamworks film has been breaking 

box office records and playing to packed 

houses on a major tour since the 

beginning of the year. 

SPACE LATES AT THE SCIENCE 

MUSEUM 

On Wednesday 31 July, the Science 

Museum’s Lates goes lunar with a 

celebration of all things space, marking 

the 50th anniversary of Armstrong and 

Aldrin’s famous first steps on the Moon 

with a special Space Lates, giving 

visitors the unique opportunity to 

celebrate the momentous anniversary 

surrounded by real space technology 

that played a part in the 1969 Apollo 

missions. Bringing the Moon landings 

to life will be the very Command Module 

that took the Apollo 10 astronauts into 

the Moon’s orbit 

Space Lates takes place from 18.45 – 

22.00, and is part of the Summer of 

Space. For more information, visit 

sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/lates 

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS SOUTHERN 

BELLES AT KING’S HEAD THEATRE 

Southern Belles, uniting two groundbreaking 

one-act plays by Tennessee 

Williams, will headline the King’s Head 

Theatre’s 2019 Queer Season, running 

from 24 July to 24 August. 

Southern Belles is directed by Jamie 

Armitage, co-director of the multi Olivier 

nominated musical Six. And Tell Sad 

Stories of the Deaths of Queens was never 

performed in Williams’s lifetime, owing to 

its openly gay characters. Williams wrote 

the play in 1957, after his Broadway 

successes with Streetcar Named Desire 

and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It charts the 

heart-breaking encounter between an 

extraordinary queen and a troubled sailor 

in 1950’s New Orleans and explores the 

boundaries of love, passion and 

heartbreak. And Tell Sad Stories of the 

Deaths of Queens will star Luke Mullins 

as Candy Delaney, George Fletcher as Karl 

and Michael Burrows as Alvin Krenning. 

Something Unspoken was written in 

1958 and debuted as part of a double bill 

with Suddenly, Last Summer. In 

Something Unspoken, tensions between a 

wealthy Southern spinster, Miss Cornelia 

Scott and Grace, her loyal secretary of 

15 years, boil over in a confrontation that 

exposes their complex, unacknowledged 

and romantic yearning for each other. 

Something Unspoken will star Annabel 

Leventon as Cornelia Scott and Fiona 

Marr as Grace Lancaster. 

George Fletcher, Fiona Marr, Luke 

Mullins and Annabel Leventon. 

Photo: Nick Rutter. 

REGENT STREET CELEBRATES 

200th ANNIVERSARY 

Regent Street will be celebrating the 

return of its annual Summer Streets 

event for the seventh consecutive year 

on 18 August and 15 September. 

With 2019 marking its 200th 

Anniversary, the line-up is set to be 

better than ever. Traffic-free, Summer 

Streets runs the length of the iconic 

curved boulevard, where visitors can 

relax and enjoy the myriad offerings of 

Regent Street’s retailers, restaurants and 

wellness experiences in the open air. 

HELENE SCHJERFBECK AT THE 

ROYAL ACADEMY 

From 20 July until 27 October, The 

Royal Academy of Arts is presenting a 

survey of the long and productive career 

of Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck 

(1862-1946). This will be the first solo 

exhibition of Schjerfbeck’s works to be 

held in the UK. Celebrated as one of the 

most famous and highly regarded artists 

in Finland, it will be a rare opportunity to 

see Schjerfbeck’s paintings together. 

In January 2020, the Royal Academy 

of Arts will present Picasso and Paper, 

the most comprehensive exhibition 

devoted to Picasso’s imaginative and 

original uses of paper ever to be held. 

Bringing together over 300 works and 

encompassing Picasso’s entire prolific 

80-year career, this ground-breaking 

exhibition will focus on the myriad ways 

the artist worked both on and with paper, 

and offer new insights into his creative 

spirit and working methods. 


44 

Simon Russell Beale. 

Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale and Ben Miles in The Lehman Trilogy. 

Photos: Mark Douet. 

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY 

National Theatre 

In the opening scene of Ben Power’s 

adaptation of Stefano Massini’s play, a 

cleaner stacks document boxes in an 

empty, glass office. We recognise with a 

shudder what this means: the financial 

crash of 2008, painfully recent history. 

But the cleaner is a fleeting personage 

in what is essentially a dazzling three 

hander. Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles 

and Adam Godley play not only the three 

Lehman brothers - German Jews from 

Bavaria who came one after another in the 

1840s to Ellis Island, New York, to start 

on the great adventure of becoming 

Americans – but also every other 

character in this sprawling epic. 

Coquettish girls, an increasingly decrepit 

Rabbi, rich financiers; all are rendered by 

the three actors, still in their dark 

antebellum suits, with the merest tilt of the 

head, a simper, a gesture of the hands. 

The effect is both comical and touching. 

But this is all on the way to recreating 

the evolution of the Lehman Brothers’ 

business over more than 150 years. It 

might appear at first to be a simple 

enactment of the American Dream. Here is 

Hayum Lehman (Beale) with his suitcase 

on the docks, a newly arrived immigrant 

whose name is changed to Henry by an 

uncomprehending official, thrilled to 

embark on his new life. We see him 

working in his cloth store in Montgomery 

Alabama, selling clothing to the cotton 

pickers on their day off, gradually 

repaying his debt. After a great fire tears 

through the cotton fields he sees the 

opportunity to sell the farmers new 

machinery and 

cotton seeds to 

restart their 

businesses. This is 

capitalism as we 

know it, profiting 

from disaster, but 

Henry and his 

bickering brother 

Emanuel (Miles) 

and soothing 

brother Mayer 

(Godley) are not 

without heart. They empathise with the 

victims, pray together in their little rickety 

store and later Mayer is seen attempting 

to rebuild Alabama after the ravages of the 

Civil War. 

By this time the Lehmans are ‘middle 

men’, an unheard of activity which adds 

many zeros to their wealth and leads 

inexorably to that temple of Mammon, 

New York. Their interests expand from 

cotton to coffee and oil and any other 

substance which can be bought and sold. 

One by one they have married nice Jewish 

girls and produced clever children and 

those children grow up to surpass their 

elders in nerdish calculations and hardnosed 

business skills. 

Beale’s 14 year old Philip Lehman, for 

example, blinking through heavy 

spectacles and speaking with hollow 

deference to his dear father and uncle, 

soon sidelines their suggestions and 

usurps their power. Why build houses for 

railway workers when you can invest in 

the railway itself, that marvellous emblem 

of steamrolling progress? 

All the time the money rolls in and the 

actors write the zeros alongside the years 

on the glass walls of the office cum set. 

Through the rotating walls we see through 

to striking black and white moving images 

of the developing New York skyline, of the 

fire in the south, of the Civil War and the 

famous tightrope walker on Wall Street 

who performs for fifty years before he 

falls. It is a vivid history lesson. 

Perhaps not every part of the drama is 

documentary. The highlight of Godley’s 

bravura performance is as a Lehman 

finally passing away in the 1960s as he 

does the Twist, dancing, jerking, 

twitching, before collapsing into a 

crumpled heap aged about 140. This 

earned him a well deserved standing 

ovation. We need such moments and have 

the ensemble and director Sam Mendes to 

thank for them along with the author. 

Because ultimately The Lehman Trilogy 

is a frightening story of moral failure – 

a spectacle of human greed leading to 

terrible loss, not just numbers on pieces 

of paper. 

Sue Webster 


HARD ROCK CAFE PICCADILLY 

CIRCUS OPEN FOR BUSINESS 

Hard Rock International has opened 

the doors to its newest flagship cafe and 

Rock Shop in the heart of Piccadilly 

Circus. Spanning over 1,900 square 

metres over two floors, the cafe marks 

the first Hard Rock location to showcase 

its modern vision in a transformative 

new look. The brand is shaking things 

up with a new design style, the world’s 

largest Rock Shop, contemporary 

memorabilia, and a new menu with 

items exclusive to the iconic address. 

Combining the eclectic vibe of 

Piccadilly Circus with the spirit of rock 

synonymous with the Hard Rock brand, 

the state-of-the-art cafe pays tribute to 

the Criterion Building’s prestigious 

heritage with Victorian glazed tiling, 

fabrics and colours of the London 

Underground, along with tube stationshaped 

dining booths. 

The restaurant seating 320 guests 

features an open kitchen concept with 

the brand’s ‘Love All – Serve All’ mantra 

prominently displayed above it. The 

layout allows guests to look on as their 

food and shake is being prepared, while 

enjoying the Hard Rock experience with 

family and friends. 

Walk in and be wowed by the walls 

adorned with authentic, one-of-a-kind 

memorabilia from decades of music 

history. 70 percent of the memorabilia 

items exhibited have never been on 

display at any other Hard Rock location. 

New food items exclusive to Hard 

Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus in Europe, 

include the 1kg Tomohawk Steak, served 

with Hard Rock’s signature steak sauce, 

herb garlic butter; Cedar Plank Salmon 

(pictured) – fresh Scottish Salmon ovenroasted 

and served on a cedar plank, 

with a mango and pineapple salsa, 

grilled corn on the cob and a fresh beet 

salad; and BBQ Chicken, with Hard 

Rock’s signature barbecue sauce, served 

with green beans and twisted macaroni 

and cheese. 

Diners can also feast on favourites 

including the 24-Karat Gold Leaf Steak 

Burger, Original Legendary® Burger, 

One Night In Bangkok Spicy Shrimp, 

New York Cheesecake, boozy 

milkshakes, sliders and shareable 

Southwest Chicken Flatbread and Three- 

Cheese Roma Tomato Flatbread. 

Thirst-quenching cocktails exclusive 

to the new location in Europe, include 

authentic classics and new cocktails 

blended from the latest mixology trends, 

such as Pink Piccadilly Pimms and 

House Infused Gin & Tonic. 

The Rock Shop at Hard Rock Cafe 

Piccadilly Circus is the largest in the 

world, spanning 7,500 sq.ft. In a nod to 

British culture, the City Collection will 

feature Union Jack and Piccadilly Circus 

inspired products, exclusively available 

at Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus. 

Stephen K. Judge, President of Cafe 

Operations for Hard Rock International, 

commented: ‘We are committed to 

bringing the Hard Rock experience to 

even more Londoners with the opening 

of the new flagship restaurant. With 

Piccadilly Circus a hotbed for 

entertainment, it seemed only fitting to 

make this the first site to embody our 

new vision for Hard Rock – from the 

design aesthetic to the menu and neverbefore-seen 

memorabilia. We’re excited 

to see what locals and visitors to the 

Capital make of it.’ 

Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus will 

complement the first Hard Rock Cafe on 

Old Park Lane, which will remain open 

and keep its historic décor elements intact 

to pay homage to Hard Rock’s roots. 

45 


46 

BOB’S LOBSTER 

When I was a child growing up in 

London, ‘Bob-a-Job Week’ was an 

annual event organised by the Boy Scout 

movement. It was good and it was bad. It 

was good, because there would be a ring 

on the doorbell. You opened it to find 

two or three little boys offering to do odd 

jobs for a shilling. (A shilling was a bob, 

the way a pound is still a quid.) It was 

not a huge amount and it was for a good 

cause (not sure which cause – maybe 

the Scout movement) and you could 

definitely get your car cleaned for this 

sum or the lawn mown or your front path 

weeded, that sort of thing. That was the 

good part. The not so good part was that 

boys will be boys and they tended to 

enjoy wetting each other with the hose, 

or they were oblivious to the possibility 

of scratching the car with a gritty 

sponge, or they had no idea that weeds 

need to be removed with their roots 

attached. You paid them the bob anyway 

and off they went – no doubt to collect 

another badge which their mother had to 

sew on to their uniform by hand. 

That was then. Now, little boys are not 

allowed out on their own for obvious 

reasons, so they grow up to be fine 

young men in banking or marketing, 

unscathed by public chores. There were 

two sat next to us at this new place, 

Bob’s Lobster, in achingly cool 

Bermondsey on a Thursday night, and 

they had brought along their Pomeranian 

(the sort of dog that looks like a prone 

teddy bear.) We were terribly impressed 

by the dog’s outing. It turns out that 

Bob’s Lobster has a menu for dogs – 

various flavours, goodness knows what 

really – and so the canine guests have a 

fabulous time (at ground level of course) 

which they will never forget. Everyone, 

including a family on the other side of 

us with two children, was bent over 

below table level, agog to see whether 

the Pomeranian was enjoying himself. 

He was! 

Never mind, this is a side issue to the 

fun which may be had by humans at this 

establishment. As the name suggests – 

and a vintage VW camper van got up as a 

street stall and parked inside the 

restaurant confirms – Bob’s Lobster is a 

seafood place. It is the logical 

development of a food truck originally 

operated by the owners Rob Dann and 

Jamie Watts. 

Now the operators of Bedale’s-of- 

Borough the wine bar (B-O-B, geddit?) 

where a list of 400 wines baffles or 

delights visitors every night, these guys 

have moved into 1950’s classic Americana 

cum oyster bar at, say Grand Central 

Station. 

Confused? The ambience is lovely. 

Opposite on St. Thomas Street is a set of 

pop-up bars hemmed in by bright yellow 

hoardings (a pre-development site to be 

sure, but for now something immensely 

popular in the open air.) Within Bob’s 

Lobster, Rob himself serves the food he 

seems truly proud of, alongside well 

trained staff and no one, human or 

canine, looks less than well pleased. 

There is a happy hour early evening 

for oysters at £1 each. Gosh. The wine 

list is nicely composed as you might 

expect from a bunch of wine bar owners 

(Prosecco £6 per glass.) The tuna tacos 

(£9) were once served from the van, and 

what a great idea – home made and fried 

wonton shells filled with raw tuna, 

guacamole, chipotle cream and sesame 

seeds. However my favourite was the 

Crab Stack (£12), a little moulded tower 

of white crab, raw tuna, avocado, ginger 

and cashew nuts. This was exquisite. 

The famous thing here, though, is the 

lobster and crayfish roll, and it is 

delicious, if expensive at £18.50. The 

brioche is homemade – not too sweet – 

and the lobster and crayfish wonderfully 

fresh and dressed with homemade 

mayonnaise. Let’s face it, lobster is 

always too expensive. Instead, try 

Shrimp and Grits, a Louisiana-style dish 

where tiger prawns are served with 

chillies and bacon on a polenta base. 

The only dish I did not care for was the 

‘Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese’ which involves 

pasta and to my mind is all carbs and 

dairy, so forget it. 

Just to be hypocritical, I can 

recommend the bread and butter 

pudding (£6), which has real vanilla 

custard and sultanas, tastes heavenly 

and has no carbs at all. 

If you would like to see London 

Bridge at its best – all youthful energy 

plus historic vibe – Bob’s Lobster is a 

great place to visit. Never mind the 

Shangri La, etc. This eatery under the 

railway arches is real life and fills your 

tummy too – in the most delightful way. 

Sue Webster 

Bob’s Lobster 

71 St Thomas Street, SE1 

Tel: 020 7407 7099

This Is London Summer 2019

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