Things To Do In London: Tuesday 4 November 2014

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This pair carry the whole show of Pride & Prejudice at art depot

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at The Hop Exchange on Southwark Street, British School of Osteopathy in Borough, Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton and the usual donor centres. See site for terms and conditions.

UNKNOWN SOLDIER: A new exhibition opens at the Poetry Library at Southbank Centre today. An Unknown Soldier is a series of printed poems responding to remembrance, DNA technology and propaganda. The exhibition also includes new works for the centenary year of the outbreak of the war, commissioned to highlight the 43 million pocket Gospels of St John that were given to servicemen. Free, just turn up, until 4 January

TEA AND COFFEE: Learn about the history of tea and coffee in London at this guided talk, starting outside Christ Church in Spitalfields. Learn about tea warehouses and coffee and auction houses and the arrival and consumption of these products in London past. £8, prebook, 2pm

MUSEUM LATE: Sir John Soane's Museum opens its doors after normal opening hours and gets lit by candlelight. This event is always very popular, so we suggest you get there early to avoid disappointment. Free, just turn up, from 5.30pm

SELINA HASTINGS: At today’s Bloomsbury Book Club event, Selina Hastings, biographer of Evelyn Waugh and Nancy Mitford among others, discusses her memoir of her father, The Red Earl: The Extraordinary Life of the 16th Earl of Huntingdon, with her publisher, Robin Baird-Smith. £10/£25, prebook, 6pm

CHARITY PUB QUIZ: Room to Read London is hosting a pub quiz at Wenlock & Essex in Islington. Individuals, small groups or full tables can register to take part. All proceeds go directly to Room to Read to support global literacy and gender equality in education across Asia and Africa. £5/£7, prebook, 6.30pm

BLACK HISTORY: As part of Black History Month, Onyeka Nubia gives a talk at Wembley Library on how Africans have influenced the development of English society for hundreds of years and how London has been home to an African population for over 1,000 years. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

PRIDE & PREJUDICE: Jane Austen's most famous work is brought to life on stage at artsdepot in North Finchley. This adaptation of Pride & Prejudice sees the whole ensemble, including all five Bennet sisters, played by just two actors. £14/£12, prebook, 7pm

RUSSIAN OPERA: Barbican hosts the UK premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s satirical opera Levsha with a pre-concert talk given by Rodion Shchedrin and former Bolshoi prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. £15-£45, prebook, 7pm

CHARITY COMEDY: Islington and Hackney Amnesty Group's comedy night returns for the sixth year running with another night of live stand-up comedy to raise awareness of Amnesty's Burma campaigns. This year's line-up features Marcel Lucont, Kate Smurthwaite, Lou Sanders, Chris Neill, Daryl Perry and Suzy Bennett. £12.50, prebook, 7pm

INSIDE ANONYMOUS: Gabriella Coleman presents her new book, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous, at Foyles. She has spent the past six years studying the rise of Anonymous, a group of hackers, activists and technologists. £5, prebook, 7pm

POETRY: Burn After Reading is hosted by a community of emerging young poets and each month showcases the foremost voices of poetry and spoken word. This month features Yomi ‘GREEdS’ Sode and Katie Bonna alongside the usual Burn After Reading poets, held in Seven Dials Club, Covent Garden. £5, just turn up, 7.45pm

Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings. Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at hello@londonist.com at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note: due to high volumes of email, we can’t always reply.


Good Cause of the Day

Go back to school tonight at a special gala performance of Matilda the Musical by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The event raises money for Children in Need and is hosted by Sir Terry Wogan, with a little help from Pudsey Bear. Tickets range from £20-£100 and need to be purchased in advance from here.

From the archive

Londoners aren't known for getting on a train unless they absolutely have to, so it's unsurprising that we managed to compile a list of unusual London train journeys that you may not have done, including a monorail and a funicular.