| An UnLimited Media Bulletin | Thursday 12 June 2014 |
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So here we go, after nearly two years of tipping the best cultural offerings in London, not to mention nearly two decades discovering and championing great new cultural talent at the Edinburgh Festival, I think it's time to go live with the ThisWeek London e-bulletin. Yes, every Thursday we'll be landing in your inbox with seven days worth of capital gigs, plays, shows, screenings, exhibitions and events that we reckon are worth your time and money. Plus I'll be chatting to the people behind some of our favourite cultural projects and productions. You're getting this very first edition of the ThisWeek London e-bulletin because you signed up to receive updates from us, either directly on the ThisWeek website or when you were opting into one of our other publications, like CMU or ThreeWeeks. We hope you enjoy what we have to offer over the coming weeks, and any friends interested in getting these ThisWeek updates themselves can sign up for free by visiting thisweeklondon.com/signup. And if any of you out there are performers or producers or publicists or such like, don't forget to keep us in the loop on all your projects by sending press releases and info to TWlondon@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - we all keep an eye on that email inbox and will get in touch if we need more info. Happy reading, and I hope you get to enjoy some of the things we are tipping this week... Caro Moses Editor, ThisWeek London |
Jermyn Street Theatre is known for its interest in staging new and neglected plays and bringing them to the attention of a fresh audience. Their five week long season of all things South African very much reflects that in featuring new and revived works from South African authors, as well as a series of special events and discussions.
The motivating force behind the season is Jermyn Street's Artistic Director, Anthony Biggs. I sent him a few questions to find out more about what's going on at the venue over the next few weeks.
Read the interview here
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FESTIVAL: James Lavelle's Meltdown | Southbank Centre | 13-22 Jun (pictured) And so kicks off another too-hot edition of film and music combo Meltdown, which this year is curated by Mo Wax label boss and UNKLE man James Lavelle. High points of this year's event? Try live sets by Queens Of The Stone Age's Joshua Homme, Neneh Cherry, DJ Shadow, Edwyn Collins and Chrissie Hynde; plus Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner's large-scale classical composition '41 Strings', Max Richter and the Royal Philharmonic live-scoring 'Waltz With Bashir', and an also live soundtrack to Jonathan Glazer's acclaimed alien horror 'Under The Skin' by its creator Micachu. Details and tickets here. VISUAL ART: Return Of The Rudeboy | Somerset House | 1 Jun – 25 Aug A select rack of images, installations and set pieces arranged by photog/filmmaker most-wanted Dean Chalkley and style director Harris Elliot, 'Return Of The Rudeboy' shows that the sartorial subculture of the Jamaica-originating 'Rudie' or 'Rudeboy' is still alive and thriving in the present day. Over 60 sharply-clad individuals have had their pictures taken for the show, each choosing an apt playlist to sit alongside their photo. Details and tickets here. THEATRE: Adler & Gibb | Royal Court Theatre | 13 Jun – 5 Jul Based on the lives of Janet Adler and Margaret Gibb, two conceptual artists working in NYC in the 1990s, this new play marries its writer/director, creator of 2009′s divisive and provocative 'The Author' Tim Crouch's 'fascination with form' with a 'thrilling story of misappropriation'. Details and tickets here. |
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COMEDY: The Saturday Night Show w/ Bridget Christie + Joe Lycett + Phil Wang | The Invisible Dot | 14 Jun Taking the biggest bite of The Invisible Dot's Saturday showcase tonight is the peerless Bridget Christie, who's still on a high following her big-selling, big-winning 'A Bic For Her'. Bridget's co-performers, relaxed comic technician Joe Lycett and the biggest Wang in stand-up, Phil (Wang) will still get a look in, mind. Details and tickets here. Details and tickets here. FESTIVAL: The Big Noise Fest | Bussey Building | 14 Jun The Big Issue Foundation's annual Big Noise blowout fills the Bussey Building to its brim with a multi-coloured line-up of live music, spoken word, comedy, theatre and art, all, of course, for charity. With co-headliners Perc, Dillinja, The Correspondents and Channel One Soundsystem (and beatboxing ace Shlomo, turntablist Mr Switch and Slovenian DJ Nightwave) taking care of the sonic side of things, this year's event features additional attractions in the shape of comic hot rods Richard Herring and Chris Martin, award-winning poet Inua Ellams, and even Booty School Dropout, who'll teach a seminar in 'twerking'. Oh lord. Details and tickets here. MUSIC/FESTIVAL: Bushstock Festival | Various Locations, Shepherd's Bush | 14 Jun (pictured) The W12 district's yearly Bushstock festival, which is spread liberally over several sites in Shepherd's Bush, sets a bit of the city's West side alight via live showings over 30 bands all told, from the likes of pop siren Chloe Howl, to chiselled singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh, rad folk trio Peggy Sue, splishy-splashy NYC dance clique Rubblebucket and young indie foursome Bad Suns. Details and tickets here. |
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COMEDY: Downstairs At The King's Head w/ Caroline Mabey + Kai Humphreys | The King's Head, Crouch End | 15 Jun As meaty and filling a Sunday staple as roast beef and gravy, tonight's twist on King's Head's Downstairs showcase stars oddball lady Caroline Mabey, "lovely Geordie comic" Kai Humphreys, "slightly deranged" entertainer Tony Dunn, and Aussie stand-up Josh Dolin. Details and tickets here. FESTIVAL: Celebrating Sanctuary London | South Bank | 15-22 Jun The 2014 edition of Refugee Week gets going today with a launch party jammed to the brim with live speakers, performers and foods of the world, featuring the likes of leading Brit comedian Prince Abdi, grime MC Afrikan Boy, poet Avaes Mohammed and a one-off collaboration by Jewan Mohammad and Gaby Young & Other Animals. Details here. FILM/MUSIC: Waltz With Bashir + Live Soundtrack | Royal Festival Hall | 15 Jun (pictured) This year's James Lavelle-directed Meltdown festival offers a rare screening of the multi-award-winning animated film 'Waltz With Bashir', and with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Max Richter playing the latter's acclaimed score right alongside. A free Q&A with the movie's maker, Ari Folman, will follow. Details and tickets here. |
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MUSIC: Alexis Taylor | Vortex | 16 Jun (pictured) Be-goggled Hot Chip man Alexis Taylor airs out his boxfresh new solo LP, 'Await Barbarians', which is billed as a compilation of Laurel Canyon-style folk pop songs written 'from the halfway line'. Details and tickets here. OPERA: The Pearl Fishers | ENO | 16 Jun – 5 Jul Bizet's palm-fringed story of the trials of an island love triangle is told by filmmaker (and director, in this capacity) Penny Woolcock, with soprano Sophie Bevan starring as Leïla, the rare beauty at the heart of the conflict. Details and tickets here. THEATRE/FILM: Chorale | Bussey Building | 16-29 Jun The Pleasance Theatre stages this 'Roadshow' adaptation of various works by Pullitzer-winning dramatist Sam Shepard, not least his one-act badlands horror 'The Holy Ghostly', divine soliloquy 'The War In Heaven', and the on-film adaptation of his and Joseph Chaikin's essay 'Savage/Love'. Details and tickets here. |
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COMEDY: Luisa Omielan – Am I Right Ladies? | Comedy Cafe Theatre | 17 Jun (pictured) Having already established her credentials as a right-on comic diva with smarts and a heart via the acclaimed hit show 'What Would Beyonce Do?', the bright and brilliant Luisa O is back to do it again with a special preview of her new smash-in-waiting 'Am I Right Ladies?', which is billed as a 'party with jokes in'. Damn straight. Details and tickets here. COMEDY/THEATRE: Be Here Now | Shoreditch Town Hall | 17-28 Jun An irreverent yet tender blend of nineties Britpop/rock hits, silly dancing and angsty shoegazing, TOOT's 'Be Here Now' rewinds back to the days of CDs and videotapes to look at the ways that songs achieve lasting significance in our lives. Details and tickets here. THEATRE: This Is How We Die | Ovalhouse | 17-21 Jun Writer/actor Christopher Brett Bailey takes on the dark side of young love in this blackly comic book of tales of paranoia, ultra-violence and nightmares, which is not for a) the faint of heart and b) those aged 0-15. Details and tickets here. |
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CABARET: Midnight Circus | Jacksons Lane | 18 Jun – 12 Jul Aircraft's twelve-strong cast of acrobats, contortionists and hoopla artists bring the fire (like, real fire, and lots of it) to Jackson's Lane in a risque display of fierce physical skill and daring. Details and tickets here. MUSIC: Glass Animals + Rosie Lowe | Southbank Centre, Foyer Spaces | 18 Jun On show as part of this year's James Lavelle-designed and previously tipped Meltdown fest, Adele and Flo + The Machine's right hand, mix-desk genius Paul Epworth presents the first pair of signees to his Wolf Tone label, namely icky-sticky odd-pop quartet Glass Animals and feline R&B soloist Rosie Lowe. Details and tickets here. THEATRE: East Of Berlin | Southwark Playhouse | 18 Jun – 12 Jul (pictured) In the aftermath of WW2, a man confronts his father's past as a Nazi SS doctor at Auschwitz in young Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch's darkly poignant drama. Details and tickets here. |
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COMEDY: Pun Run w/Thunderbards + Amy Butterworth | The Phoenix, Cavendish Square | 19 Jun Comedian Bec Hill assembles a quick-stepping team of quipsters – which tonight features 'wandering laughter surgeons' Thunderbards, comedy violinist (honestly) Amy Butterworth, Miranda Hart's biographer Sophie Johnson, and wordplay champ MC Darren Walsh – to play the infamous Pun Run. Details and tickets here. MUSIC: Violent Femmes | Troxy | 18 Jun (pictured) 1980s scratch-rock creators Violent Femmes celebrate thirty blistering years since the release of their first LP with this anniversary set at East-side live cathedral the Troxy. Details and tickets here. OPERA: Quartett | Linbury Studio Theatre | 18-28 Jun Operatic bodice-ripper based on Heiner Müller's 1981 adaptation of Laclos' 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' in which two characters square off in a bitter game of lies and threats, Luca Francesconi's ambitious score is made for two orchestras, one playing live and one on tape. Details and tickets here. |
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