Arts & Events: January 2009 Archives

At its official world première after two years in gestation, Brazilian-British collaboration Hotel Medea is about as far as one can get from an ordinary night at the theatre. The performance by Zecora Ura and the Urban Dolls Project announces itself with an unapologetic challenge: its duration. Spanning six hours from midnight to dawn inside Dalston's Arcola Theatre, it's an unbroken trilogy in one long, long night.

You know we've got a soft spot for the inspiring bunch down the Southbank and that we can't wait to see them climactically 'emerge' on 27 February and squirt their irrepressible talent juice all over the walls of the Festival Hall. You should be there too; Takeover will be awesome. Enter our competition to win a pair of freebies to this tremendous, unpredictable and madly cross-genre, collaborative gig by answering this terribly easy question: What year did the Royal Festival Hall open?

Andrew Lloyd Webber has reached the final in his search to find a singer for his Eurovision song. On Saturday evening, Mark Evans, twins Francine & Nicola and Jade Ewen will compete to be the UK's Eurovision entrant for 2009. The winner will jet off to the Contest in Moscow. And wouldn't you know it? One of them - Jade - is a Londoner. Londonist caught up with her, to ask about London living & loving Eurovision.

It's still January out there, and when it's not it'll only be February. We're not out of the long dark nights yet, not by a long shot. You need the flickering lights of culture and knowledge to keep you warm. In all modesty, let us be your Prometheus.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Ben Kritzer (Richard Dreyfuss), has written something he shouldn't have. As a result, he's up against the Supreme Court Grand Jury, who are demanding he reveals his source. His too-skinny, too-whiney wife, Judy (Elizabeth McGovern), is worried he might go to prison, depriving her and the kids of a husband and father. The lovely David Suchet (Poirot to you and me) plays Ben's tricksy lawyer Roger Gowan; whether he has Ben's interests at heart remains a point of contention throughout the play.

Political theatre is nothing new (think of Stuff Happens, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, Gethsemane, Playing With Fire) but it usually takes so long to get political commentary to the stage that some of the impact inevitably gets lost.

Wanna go to a party this weekend? There’s a pretty cool one on at Cargo on Saturday night.

With Ghetto, Sin, Mean Fiddler, Metro, the Astoria and The End all having already pulled their doors firmly shut in the name of Crossrail, we're beginning to wonder if the alternative West End scene has any life left in it as yet another venue announces it's closure. This time it's the seriously overpriced but undeniably glitzy Soho Revue Bar falling not to a train track, but to the recession.

London's art scene trips out of January and into February with a pretty exciting, if eclectic bunch of offerings. Take your pick from the following; if we've missed anything, let us know in the comments below.

Swans, Songs and Snapping Horse Skulls: Come see a vast array of British and Irish folk celebrations photographed over 40 years at Cecil Sharp House in Camden.

If you like beats and you like them loud, have them Bhangra, drum and bass, hip hop and tabla in Bethnal Green, via the folk songs of Punjab and Eire, this weekend at Rich Mix. Led by Johnny Kalsi, the Dhol Foundation is keeping the traditional North Indian Dhol drum relevant, mixing its Asian roots with electronica, funky bass and even Celtic fiddles. The Dhol is a very loud drum and the Foundation guys aren't afraid to move - expect a vibrant theatrical performance that will get your toes tapping, your ass wiggling and your genre specific musical sensibilities totally confused.

     

'It's not the money, I've just got nothing to go home to', says Thomas Turgoose's runaway character in newly released Somers Town, kicking off Meadows' short film and a friendship between two lonely young men from opposite sides of Europe.

16 artists are being nurtured by the Southbank Centre as Emerging Artists in Residence in what they're styling an "eclectic hub for music and performance". Keeping you ahead of the curve, we're getting closer to this multi-talented bunch of singer-songwriters, rappers, MCs and beatboxers, spoken word artists and DJs in a series of interviews.

            

Full disclosure: we weren't always the immensely sophisticated and self-possessed adults who blog before you today. Once, some decades ago, we too had mouths full of metal; wore white Keds and hot pink socks; adorned our stone-washed denim jackets with badges that shouted "I ♥ NKOTB" and "The Future Mrs Jordan Knight". We got older; we got marginally less awkward. We traded up for Londonist badges, and our denim is always indigo blue.

Happy Chinese New Year to all our readers! Today is the first day of the Year of the Ox, so if you are know anyone who is going to be born between now and this time next year, or will be turning 12, 24, 36, 48 or any other multiple of 12, then they are an ox and this is their year. Be nice and resist cracking bovine jokes.

The Factory Theatre, post-Hamlet, have been working on some new material of their own and have decided to try it out with a few scratch nights. The Factory could never leave it that simple, however.

Rothko: the popular end of art that Brian Sewell has made a career out of hating. Huge flat slabs of colour, which seemingly lend themselves well to the ignoranti's cries of 'a child could have done it', and yet be popularist enough to be very middle-management-what-shop-at-ikea friendly. Even if the much smaller interior design TV programme friendly reproductions are the aesthetic equivalent of getting a 'hooked on classics' album, size is important. Even if he can attract ire from the more snobbish elements of contempory art here's a clue, he's popular because he's good.

Need something to get you out of the house this dingy January? Something musical to warm you up a bit? Well, there are numerous options this week around London, ranging from the up-close and intimate to the massive arena fillers.

Start breaking in your best walking shoes, grab yourself a pac a mac and polish your camera lens - The Walk takes place next weekend.

It's not quite as easy to capture the imaginations of a modern audience with Greek tragedy as it was at the old Dionysia festival, but when it works, it works. This season, Dalston's Arcola Theatre seem keen to bring a whole new spirit to the classics by way of emotionally powerful contemporary Brazilian performance. After witnessing the capoeira-powered In Blood: The Bacchae earlier this month, we're steeling ourselves to delve much deeper into veins of myth with Hotel Medea.

It is Burns' night this Sunday, which means haggis, whisky and many recitations of Rabbie Burns' Address to a Haggis. Here's how to do it, the traditional way, without getting the sleeper train to Edinburgh for your fix of Scotch fun.

Join us as we spend next week in contemplation of history, film, science, and art -- but first, rock out all weekend at some great gigs. It's good to be a Londoner.

Ancient and modern collide in London this week as both the British Museum and the Design Museum reveal new exhibits, and a new musical opens while an old opera returns.

After pushing Hamlet to the limit, the Factory Theatre have finally sung the Prince to his rest -- for now. The troupe are now ready to undertake their 2nd Theatre Experiment, which, to mix science and sport metaphors, they're simply calling Round 1.

One of our favourite 'festivals' last year was the Southbank's Ether Festival and this week the line-up for it's 6th incarnation was announced. Placing an emphasis on cutting edge collaborations and visual culture, tickets go on sale to Southbank members tomorrow at 10am and to everyone else on Friday (excluding David Byrne which has already sold out)

Peter Blake: the multi-talented Godfather of Pop Art. Multi-textured, multi-coloured, multi-layered pieces, usually with a multi-something price tag. He is perhaps responsible for setting off a whole generation of bad collages, but we forgive him. His bright and breezy take on modern life may often belie a darker sub-text, but his work invariably puts a big smile on our face.

Next up in our series celebrating the fine bloggers of London, is the mysterious Blackheath Bugle, who's anonymous blogging mission is to celebrate all things Blackheath.

We told you where to watch the results roll in, we live blogged through the night to keep you company - now the historic inauguration day looms. The We Are One concert is rolling on as we type, building the anticipation, and you can follow everything, step by step, on the ground with our cousins over at DCist, online. But can we join in here in London, on Tuesday 20th January? Wait for it... yes we can:

It seems London's music scene is finally waking up from the Christmas slumber, with a range of rather special gigs this week.

The heats themselves are well underway.

Proving yet again that the close of the naughties promises to sound a lot like the 1980s, the curiously named Ou Est Le Swimming Pool are here and ready to party. Bursting their way onto the blog scene at the end of last year, their euphorically bittersweet branch of electro pop will feel just right if Heartbreak are that touch too Hoxton for you. We caught up with the boys for a swift one:

We're into the second half of January now and we trust that most of you optimistic enough to have made New Year's resolutions have dropped them already, if you can even remember what they were. If you resolved to spend less money or to get out more, don't give up hope yet: our event calendars are finally coming back to life this week. If you resolved to stay away from new music, film, art, and ideas, on the other hand, you probably want to skip over this post. You sad bastard.

     

At Londonist we firmly believe in second chances.

Unless you're an artist with work for sale, an art trade type or a lucky soul with a grand or so in your pocket, set aside to purchase your first proper artwork, then it's hard to think why you'd come to the London Art Fair.

We slope firmly into January and for the London Arts scene, it's as if all that Christmas craziness never happened. This month sees a lot of change-overs in the capital's big exhibition spaces: if you're hoping to catch all last year's blockbusters before they close, you could be in for a busy weekend.

The first quarter of the dance year means Resolution! And lots of it. It's the 20th anniversary of this singular brave festival which provides a major league, accessible platform for any professional choreographer, whether fresh out of college or with a few stripes earned. Whichever, the work will be new, the mixed bills unpredictable, the tickets pretty cheap and triple bills mean plenty of opportunity to quaff the vino and chew the (non existent) fat. Resolution is already in full flow and will flood on till 21 February. Find out what's on and read reviews of everything online.

As you may know, the Tate Modern's being er, modernised.

Temporary School of Thought are the ad hoc group of artists better known to the media at the moment as the £22 million squatters. Like many legendary squatters, they have become popularly defined by the market value of the empty property they occupy, a Georgian mansion in the heart of Mayfair. The occupants however couldn't care less about the hypothetical price of their Grade II*-listed home. After more than a month in residence, and with the company that owns the building buying them further time with a bungled court case, the collective have been putting the vast space to work.

Tonight marks not only the night that Baltimore’s Animal Collective play a sold-out gig in the capital, but the release date of their ninth studio album Merriweather Post Pavillion, which has attracted a near-hysterical reception from the alternative music press. Purveyors of a mixture of freakish folk, experimental noise and swooning ambient melodies, Animal Collective finally seem to have reached their climax.

Well, London gayness continues to throw up too many things to write about. So this post covers two stories in the space of one:

If you like lurking in cemeteries, local folklore and are first to sign up for the Londonist walks then egad have we got good news for you - SELFS and the Folklore Society present London Lore, a one day conference on Saturday 25 April at the Bishopsgate Institute.

16 artists are being nurtured by the Southbank Centre as Emerging Artists in Residence in what they're styling an "eclectic hub for music and performance". Keeping you ahead of the curve, we're getting closer to this multi-talented bunch of singer-songwriters, rappers, MCs and beatboxers, spoken word artists and DJs in a series of interviews.

            

While freezing temperatures descended upon us this weekend, it was perfect conditions for London's first ice sculpting festival which was held outside the Natural History Museum. Sculptors from Britain, France, Netherlands, Bulgaria and Italy wielded chainsaws, ice picks and chisels and carved their way through a two tonne block of ice each. Creations were along the theme of "Wildlife in the City" and there were some impressive efforts. The Netherlands won with a sculpture of a dutch lady picking petals from a flower but our favourite? Well, that's not that hard to guess. Britain's sculpture was a godzilla like pigeon towering over London's landmarks including the Gherkin with impressive detailing, Big Ben and even part of the London Eye.

On a freezing cold weeknight we leapt at the chance to warm our faces in front of some hot Capoeira in Dalston. What we weren't expecting was an adaptation of a greek tragedy, transported to Brazil and brought alive through the undeniably sexy and fascinating martial art dance form. In the original Euripides it is Dionysian rituals that drive women into a frenzy - it's not hard to imagine Capoeira having a similar effect on the ladies.

It's a sad time for London's music scene this week, as we say goodbye and farewell to the beloved Astoria, soon to be demolished to make way for Crossrail. We've had some great times there, having caught Serj Tankian, The Polyphonic Spree, Fat Freddy's Drop, We Are Scientists, Hot Chip and Alkaline Trio all at the legendary venue. This Wednesday looks set to be the final ever gig at the Astoria with The Demolition Ball playing host to Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (pictured right), The Automatic, My Vitriol, Frank Turner, The King Blues, Brigade, VV Brown, Paul Draper and those old favourites "Very Special Guests". Phew. How they're going to fit everyone on through the night is anyone's guess, however tickets are on sale now at a very reasonable £8 each.

The queue on Saturday night snakes out of Buffalo Bar well into Highbury Corner, suggesting Fanfarlo have outgrown the venue like a guilt-ridden post-Christmas binger in a tight pair of trousers. Recently back from Connecticut brandishing a newly recorded debut album, the band bring home their deft, summery understatements to an sugary indie audience defying the January detox and probably still doing their GCSEs.

Stitch and Bitch London have been meeting and teaching knitting for free every single week since January 2005. They’re used to getting a few odd looks and a bit of pointing, they’re used to the ‘Can you knit me a scarf/hat/jumper?” hilarious requests and the references to people’s grannies or crazy old aunts who smell like cats. They take it all with a woolly smile, however, and get on with doing what they do best - knitting all over London, and loving every minute of it. London Stitchette, Deadly Knitshade, tells us about their astonishing latest meeting.

We first spotted this fruity obsession back in June, and we’re pleased to see it graduate to an exhibition of true London randomness, London Banana: A show of 1000 portraits of banana skins discarded in London’s urban environment. The project www.londonbananas.com has documented nearly 2,000 lonely banana skins on our streets, making us feel much less self-conscious about being a website of London geeks.

If you care about climate change and want deeds not words to curb reckless global warming, then put on your finest Edwardian garb and make like a Suffragette to Heathrow on Monday 12 January for Climate Rush. Scheduled is a civilised picnic at 7pm in Domestic Departures, Terminal 1, accompanied by a live string quartet and other like-minded, similarly dressed climate change protesters from Climate Rush. The movement is inspired by the Suffragette Rush 100 years ago which saw women rushing the doors of Parliament, demanding votes for women and several years of direct action from women and men campaigning for equal rights.

"I'll tell you something, I know what you're thinking."

     

Playwright Neil LaBute is not a man to shy away from the uncomfortable and has virtually cornered the market in unsympathetic, punchable characters. For In A Dark Dark House he turns his attention to child abuse, manipulation and the different forms of love but this time, at least, we get a glimmer of bittersweet redemption in David Morrissey's Terry.

We're back for a very much nascent new year, struggling out of the early January gloom when events calendars lie as bare as the frosted trees. Bundle up and go forth; too many evenings in can only make it that much grimmer.

We're in the midst of Theatreland's awards season. The Evening Standard have given out theirs, we're still waiting to be told what the critics think, and we're saving the best til last with the Oliviers.

Ah, early January. It ain't a time to be launching or opening. (Ask Woolworths.)

If, like us, your TV last Saturday night felt a bit flat, devoid of "doddery I am not" gags, debonaire dancers, dizzying diamante and "Keeeeep Dancing" demands, don't worry.

We like to think we're a fairly international bunch, especially with our New York friends over at Gothamist. So we - along with half the known world - are pretty excited about The Bridge Project, billed as an unprecedented three-year transatlantic partnership, coming to the Old Vic this summer.

The Tate Modern didn't give Cildo Meireles quite the same star treatment as Rothko across the hall, but for our money this show does a better job of filling an afternoon. It's a very Tate Modern sort of exhibition -- engaging, participatory, big on concept -- so if you have a fondness for Bankside in general and are already bored with TH.2058 after the first visit, you really ought to catch this one before it ends on Sunday.

For a while it was being mooted as a key component of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and it's claimed a place in the Cultural Olympiad (but then, what hasn't?) But 2009 is the 75th anniversary of the Morris Ring, the national association of men's morris and sword dance clubs, and they're determined to take the opportunity to shake their sticks and jangle their bells to prevent this folk dance tradition from dying out in the 21st century.

It seems most of the music business is recovering from their massive holiday hangovers this week, so there aren't that many gigs worth seeing this week. However, it is a chance to catch some smaller, more obscure bands as the big boys sleep off their excesses.

Nothing like a dose of tragedy in taffeta for the New Year blues. English National Ballet's production of Manon opened at the glorious Coliseum last night, amidst much dressing up - there was one lady even spotted sporting an Edwardian bustle.