Our pick of the top dance, opera, theatre, art, folk, jazz and classical music events taking place this week
DANCE: Our dance selection for this week is Ballet Preljocaj, which runs for three nights from Thursday. Angelin Preljocaj is one of France’s most successful choreographers, and he’s bringing his award-winning 2008 production of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Snow White to Sadler’s Wells. It’s a contemporary ballet set to Mahler’s symphonies and features costumes by fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.
THEATRE: A hit comedy from the Edinburgh Festival, When Women Wee opens at the Soho Theatre tonight, as does Three Kingdoms at the Lyric Hammersmith, Simon Stephen’s dark new thriller about human trafficking and the vice trade. On Wednesday, dance musical Top Hat, starring Strictly Come Dancing winner Tom Chambers and West End darling Summer Strallen comes to the Aldwych Theatre. On Thursday, a gripping family drama set in Scotland, A Slow Air by David Harrower, opens at the Tricycle Theatre.
Two furniture-based theatrical treats opening on Monday next week are The Table at the Soho Theatre (read our review of the show here); and The Chair Plays at the Lyric Hammersmith Studio – a trio of unsettling one act plays by Edward Bond.
OPERA: Anthony Minghella’s Olivier Award-winning production of Puccini’s classic, Madam Butterfly, comes to the London Coliseum from tonight, revived by the English National Opera.
ART / EXHIBITIONS: Tomorrow, Edgar Martins: This is not a House comes to the Wapping Project Bankside – a free exhibition featuring abandoned homes in 16 US locations, following a commission in 2008 by the New York Times magazine. Also opening tomorrow is a new exhibition at the newly reopened Wellington Arch: Stonehenge: Monumental Journey looks at how the religious site / tourist attraction has been presented and experienced over time. From Thursday, you can see Rankin: Contains Nudity at the Other Criteria gallery – 12 images of female nudes by the celebrated photographer, plus other new works, and a portrait of the Queen (see right) to tie in with the Diamond Jubilee.
Finally for arts, on Thursday, the British Library's latest blockbuster, Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands opens, examining how Britain's landcape has influenced great literary works from Shakespeare and Chaucer, to William Blake and JG Ballard, featuring manuscripts, sound recordings, videos, photographs, maps, and drawings.
CLASSICAL: The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and conductor Mariss Jansons are one of classical music's great pairings. The Dutch orchestra, frequently rated as the world's finest, is in London this weekend as part of its International Associate status at the Barbican Centre. Jansons conducts a Richard Strauss programme, including Also sprach Zarathustra, made famous by 2001: A space Odyssey. For something completely different, how about acclaimed choir The Sixteen at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich tomorrow. Heavenly music in a heavenly setting.
JAZZ/FOLK: Kyle Eastwood is the jazz-playing son of Hollywood royalty (not hard to guess who) and the bassist brings a five-piece band for four nights at Ronnie Scott's this week, from tomorrow. Folk-wise, two elder statesmen – guitarist and singer Martin Carthy, and fiddler Dave Swarbrick – perform at Bush Hall tonight.
Anything we’ve missed that you’re really looking forward to seeing this week? Let us know in the comments below.
We also have listings for ongoing shows at London’s top museums on our Museums and Galleries page.
