Last updated on June 2nd, 2021If you’ve been watching Victoria Series 3, then you’ve recently come across Henry Cole, Prince Albert’s wingman in the creation of the visionary Great Exhibition of 1851. What you probably didn’t know is that the exhibition, dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth and housed inside the glittering Crystal Palace in…
Fitzrovia Chapel | Byztantine Bling in London
Last updated on August 16th, 2020There are some places in London that simply take your breath away. The Arab Hall in Leighton House is one of those. The Soane Museum is another, as is Two Temple Place. Then I visited Fitzrovia Chapel where every square inch screams of bling without a Swarovski crystal in sight….
Review: Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Southwark Playhouse
Last updated on April 29th, 2019When I saw Tyrone Huntley in Leave to Remain at the Lyric Hammersmith earlier this year, I knew a star was in the ascendant, although the Evening Standard already knew that when they awarded him the ES Theatre Award. He’s now sprinted from stage into the director’s seat in a…
Art Imitating Art: Stanley Kubrick | Design Museum
Last updated on October 30th, 2019Is there anyone on the planet who hasn’t seen a Stanley Kubrick film? My Kubrick of choice, and one of my all-time favourite films, is the lesser-known Barry Lyndon, the tale of a rake’s progress where every scene is a delicious 18th century painting. To watch it is to step…
Dale Chihuly’s whimsical art blows into Kew Gardens
Last updated on August 16th, 2020Who needs an Easter Egg hunt when you can spring around Kew Gardens in search of Dale Chihuly’s ludic glass sculptures? You’re going to need something larger than a basket in order to hop home with one of these 32 dazzling works of art which nestle amongst the flora or…
Edvard Munch: love and angst | British Museum
Last updated on January 3rd, 2020The Scream by Norway’s Edvard Munch is so famous that an emoji was invented for it, aptly conveying all things horrific and scary when a word simply won’t do. But there’s much more to Munch than his shrieking masterpiece, and to prove it, the British Museum has put together its…
Cutty Sark teas-off for its 150th
Last updated on February 18th, 2021Cutty Sark: two words that instantly convey adventure, stealth, the open sea and the might of British engineering. One of London’s most treasured landmarks, the Cutty Sark is turning a grand 150 years young, and to celebrate, the Greenwich museum has laid on some very merry birthday celebrations. So, batten…
Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery
Last updated on March 28th, 2021You may have never heard of Pitzhanger Manor, but you will now. Following a three-year, £12 million renovation and restoration project, this London gem in Ealing is striking a Regency pose, ready to make your acquaintance. Designed in 1800 by the neo-classical starchitect, John Soane, the manor is re-born like…
BETRAYAL | Review
Last updated on August 7th, 2019Tom Hiddleston is clearly a really nice guy. He’s on-stage for a straight 90 minutes in Harold Pinter’s 1978 classic, Betrayal, and follows with autograph signing and selfie-taking with the hordes of fans who wait for him at the Harold Pinter Theatre stage door. So, it’s with a heavy heart…
Costumes from The Favourite at Hampton Court
Last updated on December 28th, 2023Move over Henry VIII: you’ve had your day. There’s a new dawn at Hampton Court Palace, and it’s Queen Anne’s turn to be in the limelight. Thanks to Yorgos Lanthimos’s baroque tour de force: The Favourite, Queen Anne is finally, and deservedly, taking centre stage in British history. Winner of…