THURSDAY 21 AUGUST 2014
DAVID HUTCHINSON AND SAM LUPTON: SELL A DOOR'S AVENUE Q
I've long been a fan of touring company Sell A Door and their commitment to creating shows designed to attract teenagers and young adults to the theatre. With productions of the likes of 'Spring Awakening', 'Dracula' and 'Seussical' under their belts, they've now turned their attention to that satirical Sesame Street inspired contemporary classic, award winning Broadway and West End smash hit 'Avenue Q'.

After a residency at the Greenwich Theatre back in April, the show is back at the New Wimbledon Theatre this coming week. Earlier this year I sent some questions over to David Hutchinson, Sell A Door's Artistic Director, and Sam Lupton, puppetry coach, to find out more. You can read the interview here.

Sell A Door's 'Avenue Q' is on at the New Wimbledon Theatre from 26-30 Aug. Details and tickets here.
FRIDAY 22 AUGUST 2014 >>
ART: Forget Amnesia w/ Haroon Mirza + Mark Fell + Okkyung Lee | Serpentine Pavillion | 22 Aug (pictured)
Audiovisual artists Haroon Mirza, Mark Fell and Okkyung Lee collaborate on this live Park Nights display of light-sound symbiosis, co-programmed by the Fiorucci Art Trust to coincide with Forget Amnesia, the festival and arts-travaganza taking place on the island of Stromboli. Details and tickets here.

COMEDY: The 99 Club w/ Joe Lycett + Matt Green + Bob Mills | Storm, Leicester Square | 22 Aug
An active presence on every TV panel game ever, chatty comic Joe Lycett tonight appears 'IRL' beside Matt Green and TV writer and funny guy Bob Mills. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: Some Girl I Used To Know | Arts Theatre | 22 Aug – 13 Sep
Smiley smiley Denise off of 'The Big Breakfast' gives a little showbiz zhoosh to many pop hits of the 1980s and 1990s in this, her nostalgia-rich new solo musical. She plays a high-flying career girl who gets poked (on Facebook) by her ex-boyfriend, and so is sent on a sentimental trip of reminiscence. Details and tickets here.
SATURDAY 23 AUGUST 2014 >>


FILM: Robin Williams Film Festival | Exhibit Cinema | 23 Aug
Following the recent death of the side-achingly brilliant Robin Williams, indie picturehouse the Exhibit shows a trio of the late actor/comic's greatest 'grown up' films – 'Good Morning Vietnam' (1pm), 'Dead Poets Society' (3.30pm) and 'Good Will Hunting' (6pm) – giving all profits from £5 tickets to The Samaritans charity. Details and tickets here.

FILM/MUSIC: Brief Encounter + live score by the London Philharmonic | Royal Festival Hall
David Lean's classic filmic insight into a restrained British affair, 'Brief Encounter', sails back to the big screen via the SB Centre's 'Festival Of Love', with live accompaniment on its swoony score coming from the London Philharmonic. The screening will be preceded by a recital of Rachmaninov's 'Piano Concerto No 2′, and also a short introduction to the film by its late star Celia Johnson's daughter Lucy Fleming. Details and tickets here.

MUSIC: London Contemporary Orchestra | Roundhouse | 23 Aug (pictured)
Showing that classical is also cool, the LCO perform a mixed repertoire of works for the Roundhouse tonight, moving off with amplified piano composition 'Klavikon', and bringing the show to a close with 'Synaesthesia', award winning score-writer Nick Ryan's take on sense-mingling, which features big-screen graphics (created by visual artists Quayola and Sinigaglia) that move and change with the piece. Details and tickets here.
SUNDAY 24 AUGUST 2014 >>


COMEDY: Slow Left Arm – Orthodox | Canal Cafe Theatre | 24 Aug
A dysfunctional two-man double act not quite equal to the sum of its parts (or so it's claimed on the poster), "optimistic slacker" Mark and "tortured soul" Dom, aka Slow Left Arm, tonight haul in their first real show, a comic strip of sketches, songs and "bickering". Details and tickets here.

EVENT/MUSIC: Notting Hill Carnival 2014 | various locations | 24-25 Aug (pictured)
Est 1964 and spreading like wildfire ever since, Notting Hill Carnival is now the biggest deal in the city's festival itinerary, with this year's W11-wide event featuring the usual vibrant mix of Caribbean eats, soca beats and Mas bands, as well as all the wine-ing, twerking, toilet-renting, Red Stripe-sipping, steel pan-playing and vital diversity-celebrating that go to make the parade a multi-cultural Bank Holiday party like no other. Whilst tomorrow's vibe will probably prove more 'turnt', today's family ambience is normally quieter, with both spilling over with all-star live and DJ line-ups, after parties and parallel celebrations presented by the likes of Rinse FMToddla T SoundRed BullNTS Radio and Ministry Of Sound. Details here.

THEATRE: The Diary Of A Nobody | King's Head Theatre | 24 Aug
It's last orders for drama body Rough Haired Pointer's adaptation of 'Diary Of A Nobody', a larger-than-life farce based on the "funniest book in the world" of the same name by Evelyn Waugh, which follows the pompous and hardworking Mr Charles Pooter. In Mary Franklin's production, a cast of four actors takes on 45 parts, from 'vulgar' Gowing, to Borset The Butterman, to Sarah, the worst maid in all of literature. Details and tickets here.
MONDAY 25 AUGUST 2014 >>
COMEDY: The Good Ship Comedy Club w/ Matt Richardson + Juliet Meyers + Mike Sheer + Chris Purchase | The Good Ship, Kilburn | 25 Aug
Babyfaced 'Xtra Factor' presenter Matt Richardson captains the comic convoy tonight in Kilburn, with shipmates in the shape of articulate comedienne Juliet Meyers, one-time Torontonian and totally "neat guy" Mike Sheer, and dedicated entertainment-enabler Chris Purchase. Details and tickets here.

MUSIC: Faded / Ministry Of Sound Carnival After Party | Ministry Of Sound | 25 Aug (pictured)
Ministry raves 'bye bye' to the final day of this year's Notting Hill Carnival with this Faded all-nighter featuring live PA sets by Brit reggae lady Melissa Steel and Jamaican dancehall star Popcaan (that's him in the photo), and DJ drop-ins from The Menendez Brothers, Rollo, CJ Beatz and Shorty Bless. Details and tickets here.

MUSIC: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart | Banquet Records HQ, Kilburn | 25 Aug
NYC's brightest, shiniest noise-pop-lings TPOBPAH appease their British fanbase with this intimate in-store show at Banquet Records, in so doing also highlighting the fact that their new LP 'Days Of Abandon' is still available in all good shops. Like, for instance, Banquet Records. Details and tickets here.
TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014 >>


COMEDY: Luke McGregor – I Worry That I Worry Too Much | Soho Theatre | 26-30 Aug
Following his 'facing fears'-themed show circa last year, and still bearing the shine of positive reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe, buoyant Australian comic Luke McGregor is back with another anxious routine in the highly-strung 'I Worry That I Worry Too Much'. Details and tickets here.

VISUAL ART: Kate Bush Photo Exhibition | Snap Galleries | 26 Aug – 2 Oct
So no one got tickets to any of Kate Bush's extravagantly-priced headline shows at the Eventim Apollo (which start tonight, BTW). That is a given. To those that didn't, mind, here is a consolation prize for you all in the form of a photo show featuring KB-specific pics by Guido Harari (who helped define the 'aesthetic' of KB's early releases, even styling her 'look' on the 'Wuthering Heights' single sleeve) and Gered Mankowitz (who did the 'Hounds Of Love' cover and promotional shots for 1989′s 'The Sensual World'). Both have books coming out to chime with Bush's big renaissance, and this is a way to show off lots of candid and rarely-displayed images of Kate at the time she's most topical. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: Avenue Q | New Wimbledon Theatre | 26-30 Aug
Inventive theatre crew Sell A Door – interviewed on ThisWeek here - nip quickly in to the New Wimbledon with their very excellent mobile interpretation of the highly funny n furry 'Avenue Q'. An oft-poignant (if mainly silly) portrait of a cast of characters striving to 'make it' in a cold world, the 'Sesame Street'-inspired musical satire featuring songs like 'I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today', 'If You Were Gay' and, my especial fave, 'What Do You Do With A BA In English?'. Details and tickets here.
WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST 2014 >>


COMEDY: Steen Raskopoulos – I'm Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business | Soho Theatre | 27-30 Aug (pictured)
Having flown in from Sydney to 'do' the Edinburgh Fringe (and do it pretty well indeed, having picked up a nomination for best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards), flashy sketch slick Steen Raskopoulous now heads to the Soho Theatre to reprise his award-winning solo show, a blend of physical antics and many-faced, character-based bits. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: Autobahn | King's Head Theatre | 27 Aug – 20 Sep
Youngblood drama bods Savio(u)r act out US writer Neil LaBute's latest piece 'Autobahn', a cycle of short vignettes in which 'complicated' characters travel America's highways, making stops, starts and stalls along as they go. It's all, basically, a bid to mirror the massive acclaim lavished on the company's last play, a take on Thornton Wilder's classic 'Our Town'. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: Eye Of A Needle | Southwark Playhouse | 27 Aug – 20 Sep
This 'graphic' black comedy by Chris MacDonald hinges what happens when the very different lives of a binge-drinking Brit raver and a Ugandan gay rights activist clash. The former works in the UK Immigration Control, and the latter's case lands on his desk. Details and tickets here.
THURSDAY 28 AUGUST 2014 >>
COMEDY: Dave Gorman's Screen Guild | Hackney Picturehouse Attic | 28 Aug
Despite being a pretty well kept-secret, Dave Gorman's laptop-based comic showcase is always a quick-selling event, if a slightly unpredictable one. Hot on the htmls of his Edinburgh Fringe show 'Dave Gorman Gets Straight To The Point* (*The Powerpoint)', tonight's real-life comic chat room of course has a routine from Gorman as its star attraction, but also a line-up of TBA stand-ups of Dave's choosing. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: To Kill A Mockingbird | Regent's Park Open Air Theatre |28 Aug – 13 Sep
Back to break hearts again following its highly-praised first stint at Regent's Park last year, director Timothy Sheader et al's brave staging of Harper Lee's all-time(less) classic 'Mockingbird' stars a slightly tweaked cast from last time, with 'Dead Poets Society' actor Robert Sean Leonard replaced by great British thespian Daniel Betts as Atticus Finch. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: When I Think About The Universe, I Laugh For No Reason | Unicorn Theatre | 28-30 Aug (pictured)
Yeah well, I cry. Only kidding, kids! Because one inter-galactic reason to smile at least is this this devised piece by the Unicorn's teen contingent (aka the theatre's Young Company). Designed as an easily-relatable investigation into what makes us who we are,  'When I Think...' profiles eight adolescents, all with wide-reaching existential questions – and littler queries like when and if they'll ever have beards – to ask. Details and tickets here.
 
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