June is blasting off with a mini heatwave, and it’s going to be sizzling quite nicely on the cultural front as well this month. Check out what’s on this June 2019 in London from classical music to theatre, exhibitions and events. There’s some Andrew Scott, some Manolo Blahnik, John Malkovich puts in a creepy appearance,…
The London Social Season
The Chelsea Flower Show may officially kick-start the London Social Season, but for me, it’s the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy that gets summer in London off to a rip-roaring start. The world’s largest open submission art exhibition signals a tee off for strawberries and cream, cucumber sandwiches, Pimms and lemonade, racing hats, flowing…
The Starry Messenger | Review | Diary of a Londoness
Matthew Broderick is all grown-up. He’s greyer, a tad stockier, and he looks a little tired, but he’s still the same boy we all fell in love with in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And until August, he’s bringing a little of New York City and some otherworldly charm to London’s Wyndham Theatre in its latest…
The Great Exhibition and how the Crystal Palace built the V and A
If 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 Hyde Park, would one day…
Fitzrovia Chapel | Byztantine Bling in London
There 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. This may just be London’s…
Londoness Loves May 2019
Let me start by making a promise to you: there isn’t a hint of wisteria hysteria, not a sprinkling of magnolia madness nor any bloomin’ blossom of any kind in my Londoness Loves. So, let’s get on with the fun stuff: here’s my guide to the top things to do in London in May. Canalway…
Review: Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Southwark Playhouse
When 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 razzle-dazzle production of Ain’t Misbehavin’…
Art Imitating Art: Stanley Kubrick | Design Museum
Is 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 inside a William Hogarth, a…
Dale Chihuly’s whimsical art blows into Kew Gardens
Who 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 stand icily proud in 13…
Edvard Munch: love and angst | British Museum
The 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 first show dedicated to the…