Artist Chris Naylor creates a sugar cube model of London for Museum of London Docklands' 10th birthday.

• Did Bernard Hogan-Howe leak Plebgate details?
• Gunfire outside Fire nightclub in Vauxhall.
• Architect competition for new Met HQ, replacing Scotland Yard.
• Teddington blue plaque for Morecambe and Wise.
• Bloody swimming pool PR stunt event thing sells out.
• ‘Hot summer could turn London into island of death‘.
• Woman kicked off bus for not having enough money on her Oyster card, but her kid was already on board.
• Type poo path into Google Maps and you get the officially unnamed path that is informally known as “dog poo path” to locals in Bowes Park.

Victorian In The Wall: humour, history and hijinks

Fans of the turn-of-the-millennium cult comedy series Spaced should prick up their ears. No, there’s no further episodes (unfortunately) or US remake (fortunately) but new play Victorian In The Wall will fill that yearning nicely, thank you.

The Royal Court is an auspicious place for writer and co-director Will Adamsdale. In 2004, he nabbed the top Edinburgh comedy award back in 2004 when it was sponsored by something you could see yourself drinking while sober, beating current comedy luminaries The Thick Of It’s Chris Addison and the FA’s bête noire Reginald D Hunter. Later, Adamsdale turned the winning show Jackson’s Way into a 26-stop London tour he called a “Jacksathon”.

And, yes, one of those venues was the Royal Court, a theatre which once housed the brave and brilliant Clybourne Park before it attracted a West End move and an Olivier award. Like that play, Victorian In The Wall toys with the traditional concepts of theatre, coming across like a bottle episode of Spaced played to Dogme rules and with scant regard for the fourth wall.

The central character Guy, played by Adamsdale, is a slacker writer too easily distracted by neighbourhood dogs, boxsets of The Wire, his guitar and anything really. Guy’s future relationship with his ambitious girlfriend (the superb Melanie Wilson), and the plot itself, hangs on the success of some building works that he is charge of while she is abroad working.

The play sticks to elements of the Dogme 95 film rules with rooms of the flat itself laid out in a similar fashion to the set of Dogville and all sounds and songs played live by the cast. The storyline veers from the frankly surreal to Frank Spencer-inspired calamity and crosses time and space from within the confines of the flat.

A production not short on laughs, heart and invention as well as quality turns from all involved, it tries to cram too much into its 90 minute length and suffers from an all-too-brief denouement and a fair number of loose ends. To be continued?

Victorian In The Wall continues at the Royal Court Theatre until 8 June. More information can be found here.

Londonist attended on a press ticket.

This is what poverty looks like. Image by cs_smith, taken from the Londonist Flickr Pool

Remember that time you took the Gatwick Express into town, only there weren’t any seats left, so you had to sit on the roof? Or the time you were delayed for two hours because a farmer was herding his cows across the line at East Croydon, and all the local traders popped up to sell you trinkets?

No, of course you don’t, because these things don’t happen on the Gatwick Express. (We’re not entirely sure they happen anywhere, in fact: we’ve shamelessly nicked them from various Michael Palin travelogues dating from the early 1990s.)

That, though, hasn’t stopped Sir Roy McNulty from slating the Victoria-Gatwick rail link as “veering towards Third World Conditions”. “In the short to medium term, our main priority is improvement in the road and rail infrastructure that serves the airport,” he tells today’s Evening Standard, “and above all improvement in the Gatwick Express… It certainly does not present to the visitor the image that we would wish they see.”

Now it’s not that we can’t see his point — when does any aspect of London’s transport infrastructure ever feel up to the job required of it? But his choice of metaphor nonetheless strikes us as just a tad on the hyperbolic side. It’s a slightly rubbish train service: that’s not the same as ‘third world’ anything, and hearing a rich white man describing “forcing business travellers to stand up for half an hour” in the same kind of language you’d use to talk about a famine borders on the offensive.

More to the point, though, there are a lot of things wrong with Sir Roy’s airport that have bugger all to do with its links to London proper. It’s dirty, it’s crowded, the amenities are either dingy or non-existent, and the whole place looks like it hasn’t seen a lick of paint since some time around 1975.

These things also present a poor image of London to the international traveller. What’s more, unlike the Gatwick Express, they’re Sir Roy’s personal responsibility. Funny he doesn’t seem quite so exercised about them, isn’t it?

This is not just another Shoreditch bar. Well, it is — it’s right in Rivington Street (and you can’t get more Shoreditchy than that) but it’s not Shoreditch as we know it. NOLA is New Orleans. In East London.

Bucking the basement bar trend, this Louisiana living room is tucked away upstairs, a flight above the beats of Bedrooom Bar. It oozes smooth blues, ceiling fans, wooden floors and laid back booths. The whitewashed walls, mirrors, windows (and plans for a balcony) breathe air and space into the intimate venue, which is set up for table-service, but there’s still enough room to swing a hyperactive cat.

In the later hours, candles emerge and the piano comes alive in honour of the USA’s most fun-loving city. It goes without saying that the drinks here are for serious contenders only, with hard classics (sazerac, grasshopper), an array of twisted hurricanes and signature tipples, all shaken up by an expert team, including charming Parisian Charles and appearances by the talented Davide Segat (formerly of Hawksmoor and Bulgari Hotel).

And there’s more. Dirty smoker? No problem, there’s a terrace for when you want to puff your poison. Hungry? In a couple of weeks, there’ll be plenty of simple, southern style dishes, currently being prepped by a Michelin starred, New Orleans native. Stopping out? After midnight, it’s members only. It’s free to apply, just be nice (as in, don’t be an asshat) and you’re in.

This is no gimmick. NOLA articulates a genuine love for The Big Easy — the food, culture and the people who inhabit it. Co-owner Dan Priseman explains: “We’ve taken so much inspiration from there — how could we not give something back?” As such, a pound from every hurricane you imbibe will be donated to relief efforts that are still ongoing after the wake of Katrina. And that sexy membership we were telling you about? Once accepted into the fold, you’ll be asked to make a voluntary donation, with proceeds going towards equally worthy Stateside charities.

Booking is recommended, or just rock up, for comfort food, great music and cracking concoctions. It’s going to be big.

Another French 75, if you please.

NOLA is at 66-68 Rivington Street,  EC2A 3AY

Average asking prices in London have gone past the £500,000 mark for the first time, and Camden has joined Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea as a borough where average prices are over £1m. We’ve also noticed a little flurry of articles pointing out the extent of foreign interest in high-end property. The New Statesman points out today that only 45% of buyers in central London are UK nationals; Russians and Middle Eastern citizens are those who seem to find the posh bits of the capital most tempting. The New York Times recently looked at the effect on local businesses of increasing numbers of owners using their London homes as temporary stop-off points. This phenomenon is exemplified in One Hyde Park, where Vanity Fair found that just 17 of the 76 apartments sold are registered as primary residences, and seems to be practically empty.

When we first read the Vanity Fair article we had a brief, utopian vision of a country where land prices were immaterial and the space had been turned into affordable housing instead of a crashpad for gazillionaires. London is in the middle of a housing crisis – the idea of fancy buildings standing empty while other Londoners feel the blunt end of supply and demand problems is obscene.

We recently had a chat with London Assembly Member Andrew Boff about housing, and he told us about an idea that turns the wealthy desire for status into funding for homes for the likes of us. You take one housing development and aim it at money; ramp up the eco-credentials, whatever will persuade people to pay a premium. Then you take the extra you’ve made and pump that into affordable housing. It’s a kind of redistribution of wealth, where the rich subsidise homes for the rest of us. We think we wouldn’t mind places like One Hyde Park if that’s what they were there for (they’re not, of course; they’re there to make eyewatering profits for private developers).

Photo by violinconcertono3 from the Londonist Flickr pool

With the West End welcoming an all-singing, all-dancing Willy Wonka into its warm, theatrical bosom this week, it seemed a good time for us to assess the best of London’s real-life chocolatiers. So if you’re yet to buy tickets for the Sam Mendes-directed theatrical spectacular Charlie And The Chocolate Factory here’s a sweet selection of London’s finest chocolate shops as a taster.

The One Run by a Yorkshire Willy
For experimental London chocolatiers, Paul A Young is probably the closest pretender to Willy Wonka’s golden crown. Winner of Best Sea Salted Caramel in the World, a prize with a name surely Mr Dahl would appreciate, Paul’s reputation as a creative chocolatier and flavour alchemist is world renowned. Everything in the shop is made by hand, using the freshest ingredients. The smell of the shop alone can make even the coolest Camden dwellers coo like cosseted school children.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? Just one Paul A Young chocolate costs £2. Choose yours with care
The Golden Ticket: 42 pieces cost £65
The Willy Wonka: Aside from those famous Marmite chocolate concoctions, it’s a tough choice between The Love Potion (with Jasmine flower, ylang ylang, geranium, vanilla and lavender) and The London Gent (a black pepper and treacle caramel ganache)
Address: 33 Camden Passage, Islington, N1 8EA (with other branches in Wardour Street and the Royal Exchange)

The One Run By An Ex-Punk
Rococo was founded in 1983 by Chantal Coady, a punky ex-art student who’d just been sacked from Harrods chocolate department for dyeing her hair green. Back in the 80s, the Kings Road shop was a revelation: painted with cherubs and clouds and featuring a sugar chandelier, it was a world away from stuffy department stores. One of her early customers was Joanne Harris — might Coady be the inspiration for Harris’ hit book “Chocolat”? In 2008, Chantal’s company was awarded a special Academy of Chocolate Award for “Changing the Way People Think About Chocolate”.
Budget Like Charlie Bucket? A 20g Sea Salt Organic Milk Chocolate Bee Bar will set you back £1.30
The Golden Ticket: The massive Nebuchadnezzar Hamper No4 costs £160
The Willy Wonka: A bag of Jersey New Potatoes with Mint, £9.50 (in reality, hazelnut praline covered in white chocolate and shaped into potatoes. Served with crystalised mint leaves, obviously.)
Address: The Rococo flagship store is at 5 Motcomb Street, SW1X 8JU (with other branches on Marylebone High Street and the Kings Road)


The One With The Dessert Bar
A luxury patissier and chocolatier from Scotland, William Curley set up his Belgravia store in 2009, following the success of his Richmond store. Inside, there’s a dessert bar where you can sample a tasting menu of desserts created in front of you by one of the chefs. Look out for the Mille-feuille au chocolate — layers of hazelnut daquoise and chocolate with an orange sauce and muscavado ice-cream. They even have a brunch menu for actual problem chocoholics. William Curley has won the Academy of Chocolate’s “Britain’s Best Chocolatier” Award four times since 2007.
Budget Like Charlie Bucket? Their Nostalgia Jaffa Cake costs all of £3.50
The Golden Ticket: A box of 100 “couture” chocolates costs £150
The Willy Wonka: Look out for the chocolates laced with Japanese black vinegar, inspired by Curley’s wife’s Japanese heritage
Address: Their flagship is at 198 Ebury Street, Belgravia, SW1W 8UN (with a smaller branch in Richmond)

The One With The Royal Seal of Approval
Purveyors of fine English chocolates since 1875, Charbonnel et Walker has always been located in Bond Street. Started by two women, Mme Virginie Eugenie Lévy (née Charbonnel) from Maison Boissier chocolate house in Paris and Mrs Minnie Walker, the partnership was encouraged by the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. It still has a Royal Warrant as chocolate manufacturers to The Queen. A must-try if you find too much cocoa overpowering: because of their delicate flavours, C et W use about 58-60% cocoa in their chocolates. Perfect for chocoholics with a sweet tooth.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? The Delicious Art Dark Ginger Bar will set you back £3.99 for just 85g
The Golden Ticket: A 2,000g box of their fine chocolate selection costs £125
The Willy Wonka: English Rose and Violet Creams. Sound a bit grim to us, but then so does Dahl’s Hair Toffee.
Address: One The Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street, W1S 4BT

The One With Roald’s Seal of Approval
Another of London’s oldest chocolate shops, Prestat has enjoyed the custom of various famous clientele over the years, including Her Maj and the Queen Mum, John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney, and brilliantly, Roald Dahl himself. (Prestat chocolates are at the centre of Dahl’s comic romp My Uncle Oswald.) The brand won a Royal Warrant in 1975 as Purveyors of Chocolates to Her Majesty The Queen. As for the shop itself, well, we’ll just say it’s not the place you want to be with a hangover. But if garish is your thing, you’ll be in heaven. Fight through the brightly coloured packaging and the chocolates are a real treat.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? Prestat’s Union Jack Milk Chocolate with Roasted Almond and Sea Salt 25g bar costs £1.25
The Golden Ticket: The Jewel Box contains 98 Prestat chocolates and costs £90
The Willy Wonka: The dark chocolate wafers with fiery chilli and cool lime are kind of Wonka-weird. £11 for a box
Address: 14 Princes Arcade, St James’s, Westminster, SW1Y 6DS

The One for Francophiles
Developed in France by Robert Linxe in the 1950s, La Maison du Chocolat arrived in London in 2004. Linxe was dubbed The Wizard of Ganache in the 70s, and now has shops all over the world, including in Tokyo and New York. The teeny London shop is as suave and sophisticated as you’d expect from a posh Paris expat. We recommend creating your own selection box, as long as you’re not intimidated by the besuited French-speaking staff. Ahh, but the taste of the chocolate as it melts on your tongue makes all the pretentious Parisian nonsense worth while.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? A Bouchee Rocher costs £2.95
The Golden Ticket: The Boite Maison contains 209 pieces of chocolate (including “onctuous (sic) plain dark chocolate truffles) and costs £204
The Willy Wonka: It’s all a bit too français classique to be Willy-innovative. Unless combining pistachio and marzipan (in the Bouchee Jolika) is your idea of a wild time?
Address: 46 Piccadilly, W1J 0DS

The One For Mike TeaVee
This Carnaby Street confectioner Choccywoccydoodah is the sister store of the Brighton original. Run by a team of artists, designers and chocolatiers, the company’s emphasis is perhaps more on crazy cake design than the taste of their chocolate. It’s also been helped by a couple of super-promotional TV series. Inside the tall Carnaby Street store, you’ll find a Marmite combination of super-sweet food and attitude, with a generous side helping of quirk. Some might say it’s guilty of aiming for style over substance; we’ll just suggest it’s in a different league to the posh European-style chocolatiers found elsewhere in the capital.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? A 55g Chocolate Love Heart costs £4.99
The Golden Ticket: The £130 Huge Choccywoccydoodah Hamper was sold out at the time of writing; instead, if you’ve got money to melt burn, we suggest the Milk Chocolate Hand Painted Skull: a snip at £100
The Willy Wonka: There’s a lot in this shop that we think Mr Wonka would approve of. Sticking to our chocolate theme, the £17.50 Salted Popcorn Slab could well be a Willy-inspired creation.
Address: 30-32 Fouberts Place, Carnaby, W1F 7PS

The One Worth Getting the Overland For
Found on the increasingly chi-chi Bellenden Road in Peckham (a Butcher and a Deli have opened there in the last six months) The Melange Chocolate Shop and Cafe is South East London’s finest chocolaterie. Run by French artisan chocolatier Isabelle Alaya, The Melange is a small, unpretentious café specialising in self-indulgence. Look out for the proper thick, rich hot chocolate and chocolate cakes served with a welcoming smile within. We recommend you sample, then leave with a selection of yummy chocolates infused with interesting flavours to enjoy at home.
Budget like Charlie Bucket? A 20g strip of chocolate costs £1.25
The Golden Ticket: 5 strips of 20g chocolate cost £6.25. The only way to spend a lot at The Melange is to book one of their fun-sounding workshops. Prices start from £18
The Willy Wonka: Either Coffee and Aniseed Milk Chocolate, or Cardamom and Clove Dark Chocolate
Address: 184 Bellenden Road, Peckham, SE15 4BW

Have we missed any out? Disagree with our choices? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll add a Reader Recommendations section above.

Another outdoor cinema has revealed its schedule for 2013. Pop Up Screens has lined up 30 screenings at seven different venues that particularly favour west London:

• Bishop’s Park, Fulham
• Wormholt Park, Shepherd’s Bush
• Morden Hall Park, Morden
• Manor House Gardens, Lewisham
• Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith
• South Park, Parson’s Green
• Coram’s Fields, Holborn

The packed programme is stuffed with pop-up mainstays like Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Jaws and Top Gun, plus that sine qua non of outdoor cinemas, Back to the Future. Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan gets a timely showing, given the titular baddy’s revival in the latest Trek movie. Here’s the full listing for you to browse.

Events take place from 12 July to 15 September, with tickets £8 for an individual screening or £20 for a weekend pass (three films).

See also:

• Nomad Cinema 2013
• Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens free pop-up screen

London events for people with curious minds.

This will be the last edition of Week in Geek as an individual article. Instead, we will cover the more exciting events and exhibitions as standalone preview articles. Other events will be listed in our daily ‘things to do in London’ articles or weekend updates, which can be subscribed to by email alert here.

Monday 20 May

COMEDY: Rob Newman (pictured) begins a series of nine performances of his New Theory of Evolution at the Little Angel Theatre. £10, prebook, runs till 31 May

QUANTUM: Jonathan Oppenheim is at the Royal Society for a Cafe Scientifique all about quantum information and the real-world applications it can and could lead to. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

Tuesday 21 May

ROAR!: Last year, Valerie Colin-Russ published a book about London’s 10,000 sculpted lions. Now she’s at Guildhall Library to discuss this colossal pride. Free, just turn up, 2pm

SMILE: Wellcome Collection’s Roy Porter Lecture, given by Colin Jones, tackles a novel subject: how the toothy smile was invented in 18th Century Paris. Free, prebook, 6.30pm

Wednesday 22 May

SURGERY: The Royal Institution opens late for an evening devoted to surgery. After a talk by a team of Imperial College surgeons, explore the first floor and bar area where you can have a play with…and oh dear we can’t help this pun…cutting edge surgical tools. £10, prebook, 7pm

Last year we were blown away by the creepy Victorian-style trappings of the Museum of Curiosity. The curatorial team behind it are back to take an equally macabre look at death in their new show Memento Mori, with artworks that remind us that death is inevitable, yet which also contain a streak of dark humour.

Many artists from the previous exhibition make a return with new works. The ever popular Nancy Fouts has several pieces on display, our favourite is a taxidermied bird lying on its back in a cracked and splintered bell jar — as if it died trying to escape.

Marcos Raya offers another standout with his signature style of skeletonising classical portraits, so smiling skulls replace heads in a wedding portrait and a child at play looks particularly disturbing. A subtler but equally perturbing piece by AVM is completely edible including a replica of a skull.

It’s also no surprise to see the Chapman brothers here with a gory work that features miniature bloodied bodies trying to crawl out of the mouth and eye sockets of a human skull. It’s typical of their over the top style but fits in seamlessly with the theme of this exhibition.

But it’s not just contemporary objects on display, and a set of vitrines by Dr Viktor Schroeder contain genuine human skulls. There is also a claimed Saint’s hand from centuries ago when such relics were in high demand.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn between this exhibition and the excellent Death at the Wellcome Collection, and anyone who enjoyed that show will definitely find Memento Mori fascinating. It’s perhaps not quite as brilliant as the Museum of Curiosity but is stuffed with great works to be enjoyed by those who can stomach it.

Memento Mori is on at Pertwee, Anderson & Gold, 15 Bateman St, London, W1D 3AQ until 14 June. Admission is free.

Boris Johnson started work on bringing parts of the rail network into the Overground family – which, in practice, meant starting with Southeastern and Greater Anglia as both franchises were due to expire in 2014 – back in February 2012 and it was looking promising. Boris Johnson told Caroline Pidgeon on 30 January this year that he was “expecting a result in the nearish future”, and TfL was looking towards April 2013 for some kind of devolution proposal. That, clearly, hasn’t happened. Instead, at the end of March the franchises were extended: Greater Anglia to 2016, Southeastern to 2018.

TfL is still hopeful but it seems the Department for Transport, and Minister Patrick McLoughlin who took over last September, is increasingly lukewarm. Whether this has anything to do with the Conservative-led Kent Council calling any proposal that might reduce services from the county “totally unacceptable“, we wouldn’t like to speculate. But last Friday City A.M. was saying the Mayor is losing the argument. This comes at the same time the DfT is considering cutting TfL’s budget by 30%, and that London is likely to miss out on getting anything from the government’s £3bn infrastructure fund. We’ll keep you posted.

Photo by clogsilk from the Londonist Flickr pool

This Week In London’s History

• Monday – 20 May 1609: London publisher Thomas Thorpe publishes Shakespeare’s Sonnets for the first time, possibly without The Bard’s permission.
• Tuesday – 21 May 1853: The ‘Aquatic Vivarium’, the world’s first public aquarium, is opened in Regent’s Park.
• Wednesday – 22 May 1897: The Blackwall Tunnel is officially opened by the Prince of Wales, becoming the longest underwater tunnel in the world (at the time). The original tunnel now forms the western (northbound) carriageway – the adjacent tunnel that houses the eastern (southbound) carriageway was opened in 1967.
• Thursday – 23 May 1701: Captain Kidd is hanged in Wapping, following his conviction for piracy and murder.
• Friday – 24 May 1862: The current Westminster Bridge is opened, replacing an earlier stone bridge that was subsiding badly.

Random London Quote Of The Week

John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he,
Of famous London town.

William Cowper, ‘The Diverting History of John Gilpin’

Photo by Natalie Clarke via the Londonist Flickr Pool.

GIVE BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are outside County Hall in Waterloo and Freemason’s Hall in Covent Garden. Free, just turn up, see site for times and conditions

CHELSEA FRINGE: Horticultural happenings across with capital continue this week with Chelsea Fringe festival. There are dozens of events daily to tickle your tillage — today try tree hunts, floral cocktails and sensory garden tours. Until 9 June.

BIRKBECK ARTS WEEK: University of London’s Birkbeck is hosting a week of lectures, panel discussions, screenings and performances as part of its sixth annual Arts Week. See website for full listings, until 25 May

RAW WINE: Natural wines are celebrated at the RAW Wine Fair, where attendees can sample pure, unprocessed and environmentally friendly wine. £25/£25, prebook for cheaper tickets, open to the public 5-8pm

PROGRESSIVE CAPITALISM: London School of Economics eases us into the week with a lecture on progressive capitalism, hosted by Lord Sainsbury. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

THE SECRET SERVICE: At Kings Place, Charles Cumming, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones and Peter Guttridge discuss the myths and realities behind the secret services. £9.50, prebook, 7pm

LITERATURE FESTIVAL: The London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre kicks off today with readings by some of the nominees for the Man Booker International Prize 2013: UR Ananthamurthy (India), Lydia Davis (USA), Intizar Husain (Pakistan), Yan Lianke (China), Marie NDiaye (France), Josip Novakovich (Canada) and Peter Stamm (Switzerland). £12/10, prebook, 7.30pm

Random London Fact of the Day

It’s well chronicled that Wellington Arch (or Constitution Arch) on Hyde Park Corner was a former police station. Less well known is that it was also a private residence. The splendidly named Staff-Corporal Farrier Arthur Dick lived in the monument from 1897 until 1934, serving as the King’s Gatekeeper. His duties included opening and closing the structure’s huge gates whenever his or her Majesty wished to pass through. Dick also bred prize-winning spaniels and terriers in the Arch, and two of his sons were born there. The only substantial account of the man that we can find is in My Secret London (1932) by Maud Bigge, although a photo of Dick’s funeral procession is online here. Oh, the statue you see on top also has an interesting story attached, but we’ll save that for another day.

Unintentionally Lewd Dickens Quote of the Day
“Mr. Jasper broke silence by declaring that he placed his whole reliance, humanly speaking, on Mr. Sapsea’s penetration.” – The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Chapter 15.

Good Cause of the Day
Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity that provides legal, humanitarian and journalistic services to Non-Governmental Organisations. On 1 June they are  supporting The Sound of Change Live at Twickenham Stadium, where stars such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Ellie Goulding are performing to promote education, health and justice for girls and women across the world. Although the event is sold out, Thomson Reuters Foundation are giving away a pair of premium tickets to the event — find out how you can enter here.

London Weather
Bah, bah black skies
Have you any rain?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three. Full. Drains.

One floods the city
And one stops the train
And one causes Londoners
To curse the skies again 

• Thousands turned out for yesterday’s Save Our NHS march.
• Police wanted 1: this man following three sexual assaults on SW London buses.
• Police wanted 2: this teenage gang following building society raid on Friday.
• Report on London’s berthing techniques indicates our waterways are just a tad too busy.
• Fatal fire in Fulham Saturday afternoon.
• New at the Chelsea Flower Show this year: Will and Kate gnomes…
• ..whilst Harry gets in there with a garden for Diana.

Planted phone box by McTumshie via the ever verdant Londonist Flickr pool. The image was taken at the launch of the Edible Bus Stop pocket park opening yesterday in Lambeth.

Every week we select a photo from the Londonist Flickr pool, taken in the last seven days, that illustrates this season or time of year in London.

This week, SabineThoele has captured some casual multitasking on a sunshine-dappled stroll through a cemetery. But which one?

A rare opportunity to look inside The Supreme Court this Saturday. Pictured: The Library, courtesy of UK Supreme Court.

CHELSEA FRINGE: Horticultural happenings across with capital continue this week with Chelsea Fringe festival. There are dozens of events daily to choose from, most of which are free, so take a look and see what tickles your tillage. Until 9 June.

Monday 20 May

PROGRESSIVE CAPITALISM: London School of Economics eases us into the week with a lecture on progressive capitalism, hosted by Lord Sainsbury. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

Tuesday 21 May

DAFT PUNK: Oval Space are celebrating Daft Punk’s new album launch by opening their venue doors for all to listen to the music, have some food, and maybe indulge in a little dancing too. Free, prebook, 6pm

SHORT FILM: Bar Shorts is a free short film and animation screening that showcases some of the best shorts from award-winning directors. Free, prebook, 7pm

Wednesday 22 May

LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY: This 45 minute talk, delivered by a partner from L-P Archaeology, focuses on archaeology in London and how it plays an important role in the formation of new developments. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

BOGOF COMEDY: Get two for the price of one with Invisible Dot’s Two Previews for Five Pounds. Tonight you can enjoy Claudia O’Doherty and James Acaster on the stage. £5, prebook, 7.45pm

GIG: Blake Robson, front man of folk, rock’n'blues band Black River Wild, performs at The Narrow Pub and Restaurant. Free, just turn up, 8pm

Thursday 23 May

LIVE COOKING: To support the Love Your Local Market 2013 campaign, Borough Market holds a live demonstration kitchen today with resident chef, Hayley Edwards, showing shoppers how to create dishes with seasonal produce. Various traders will also be giving advice on the best ways to use their produce. Free, just turn up, 12-2pm

AIR POLLUTION: Professor Jonathan Grigg and Dr Rossa Brugha discuss whether we need to worry about air pollution, as part of Centre of the Cell’s Big Question Lecture Series. Free, prebook, 6pm

PICASSO: The Courthauld Gallery’s incredibly popular Picasso exhibition runs its final late event tonight, so you can explore this world-famous gallery after hours. Tickets cost £6/£5 but if you dress as a 1901 Parisian you get in for free! Just turn up but get there early, from 6pm

COMEDY: Tall Tales at the Good Ship in Kilburn has launched several Radio 4 series (like: Warhorses of Letters, Before They Were Famous). See what John Finnemore, Ian Leslie, Gareth Edwards, Helen Arney, Viv Groksop, Toby Davies, Susannah Pearse and host Robert Hudson are working on now – plus the further adventures of Copenhagen and Marengo. £5, prebook, 8pm

FREE FILM: Mamma Mia screens at a pop-up cinema in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens tonight. Head along to nab a deckchair and enjoy the free film. Free, just turn up, from 6pm but film starts at 8.30pm

Friday 24 May

JAZZ: The Royal Albert Hall’s free ignite jazz series continues today with the Peter Michaels Trio, who explore the elements which unite music from across the world. Free, just turn up, 12pm

Saturday 25 May

THE SUPREME COURT: Take a free nosey inside The Supreme Court today to begin Guildhall’s centenary celebrations. The courtrooms, library, exhibition area will all be open to visitors, as well as a wide range of portraits from the Middlesex Guildhall Art Collection being on show. Free, just turn up, 10am-4.30pm

48 HOUR FILM FINALE: A couple of weeks ago we told you about Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s 48 hour film competition, where you had 48 hours to make your own short film. The results will be screened and the winners announced tonight. Free, just turn up, 8pm

Sunday 26 May

WALK LONDON: A fantastic series of free, guided walks are being put on this weekend by Walk London’s Spring into Summer campaign. Ramble your day away on a long jaunt or join them for a short stroll. The lengths, routes and topics all vary so there is something to suit everyone. Free, just turn up, 25 and 26 May.

Check out our map of free things to do in London for more frugal fun.

The story of Anne Boleyn staged in the Tower of London? Site-specific theatre might just have reached its peak: go back to your proscenium arches, companies, none of you will be able to top this.

Fallen in Love focuses on Anne’s relationship with her brother George, who was eventually executed two days before his sister after accusations of being the most scandalous of her lovers. It’s generally believed that Thomas Cromwell engineered Anne’s downfall to rid Henry VIII of his feisty second wife, and chose the men according to who it would be most politically useful to see on the scaffold – and was so sure his plot would succeed he didn’t even flinch at a charge of incest.

Joanna Carrick’s play shows us a devoted pair of siblings, united against a world determined to use them as pawns for social climbing – not even excluding their own father. George (Scott Ellis), the younger, is clearly besotted with his clever, spirited sister (Emma Connell); but in Anne’s early self it’s easy to think yes, wouldn’t any brother delight in such company? But there the line is drawn. No lascivious meddling with history here.

It’s performed under the 17th century beams of the New Armouries banqueting suite (so not quite contemporary) mere yards from where the pair were beheaded, 50 or so chairs placed around a bed, the only piece of set dressing. It’s about as intimate as it comes and it’s only later that you might think ‘well, that occasionally got a bit melodramatic’ because at the time it all makes effective, heightened, historically accurate Tudor sense. We’d also recommend handing over a fiver for the programme and play text and flicking through it beforehand: the play jumps forward through time between 1520 and 1536, and if you’re not super-familiar with the period you might end up wondering when you are. (It’s not like spoilers are an issue here.) If not, you can probably gauge the dates by the increasing sumptuousness of the Boleyns’ clothing and Anne’s foulness of temper.

Note: although the play is inside the Tower, a ticket doesn’t mean you get to wander around. Access to the grounds is only 30 minutes before the show starts, but that does allow a fair bit of gazing time. Plus, if you plump for one of the evening performances you’ll be there after the public has gone, for added atmosphere.

Fallen in Love takes place at the Tower of London May 18-19, 25-26, 31, June 1, 8-9, 13-16 at 3.30pm, 6.30pm, 9pm. Tickets £22-£32. For more information see the Fallen in Love website. Londonist saw this play on a complimentary press ticket.

The musical follows the life and fame of Leslie Hutchinson, one of the biggest cabaret stars (and womanisers it transpires) of the 1920s and 30s. A favourite singer of the then Prince of Wales, he was regularly heard on the radio with such hits as These Foolish Things and Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love), and was a general darling of society. The play delivers these hits relentlessly, and concerns itself mainly with Hutch’s affair with a certain Edwina Mountbatten, as well as touching lightly on issues like struggles with his colour in a time of racial prejudice.

However, the subject of the play demands a certain level of talent in singing and piano playing, and here the play is somewhat lacking. It is a bit underwhelming to be made to believe that performers of only moderate singing ability are the crème-de-la-crème of their time, and the piece also doesn’t run very naturally from dialogue to song (a number is often started with just: ‘Hey! Does anyone remember that song?’). The play smarts from trying to fit a dazzling, decade-long showbiz career along with several huge personalities onto a tiny stage; all the props and visuals are there, but the integral ingredient is missing.

So yes, the piece is current in that it’s embracing the Gatsby uproar, but as a play to stand on its own two feet it doesn’t completely deliver. Go and see it though, if crooning love songs and histrionic lines are your thing; the audience was filled with those nodding along to their favourite golden oldies.

Hutch is running now at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 8 June. Tickets are £17.50 (£15 concessions). For more information visit the Riverside Studios website. Londonist saw this show on a complimentary press ticket.

The Austentatious team / photo by Idil Sukan

Where to find funny this week

Sunday 19 May: Daniel Simonsen, Paul Rickett, Edward Hedges, Kiri Pritchard-Mclean, Simon Caine, Luke Graves, Laura McClenaghan, Paul Duncan McGarrity and MC John Hastings make up the packed bill at Twice as Nice Comedy in Hammersmith (8pm, £5).

Monday 20 May: Remember Going Live? Then head to the Udderbelly where Trevor and Simon are the guests of Tom Allen. If you don’t remember Going Live then this may be your first ever chance to properly swing your pants, you lucky whippersnappers (7pm, £15.50).

Tuesday 21 May: Simon Munnery, Aisling Bea, Ben Target, Kieran Boyd and Beasts are the guests at Monster comedy at Leicester Square Theatre – a great line-up, and all for charity (8.30pm, £8).

Wednesday 22 May: If you like Jane Austen then Austentatious is an absolute must: a team of comedians including Cariad Lloyd and Rachel Parris improvise an Austenish novel before your very eyes. Often standing room only in venues above pubs, there’s a seat each at the Udderbelly (9pm, £12.50).

Thursday 23 May: Radio 4 series like Warhorses of Letters, Before They Were Famous and parts of John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme got their starts at Tall Tales in Kilburn’s Good Ship. Find out what Helen Arney, Toby Davies, Gareth Edwards, John Finnemore, Viv Groskop, Ian Leslie, Susannah Pearse and host Robert Hudson have come up with this time, plus the latest adventures of Copenhagen and Marengo (8pm, £5).

Friday 24 May: Sketchfest starts and carries on through the weekend at The Victorian Vaults in Shoreditch. Acts include Allnut and Simpson, The Pin and the very wonderful Robin and Partridge. There are two double-billed shows a night, tickets are £12 / £9 for a single show, £20 / £15 for a day ticket and £50 for a weekend pass.

Saturday 25 May: Mark Thomas has spent the last year committing 100 minor acts of dissent and the results will be his new Edinburgh show. See a preview at Hen and Chickens (9.30pm, £6.50).

Book ahead:  Adam Buxton is trying out new stuff at the relatively wee Invisible Dot on 28, 29 and 31 May as well as July (7.45pm / 8.45pm, £8).

Tip us off to friendly, intelligent, alternative comedy around town tips@londonist.com, read our guide to watching live comedy in London and our top 10 themed comedy nights.

The Horniman Museum’s famously mal-stuffed walrus was recently packed away for a short trip to Margate, where he’ll be on show at the Turner Contemporary gallery until September. The video above shows the delicate operation to lift the toothy, one-tonne mammal from his plinth and into a transport crate, and then out onto the streets of south London. Margate will be the closest he’s got to the sea since the 1880s, when he was first put on exhibition in London.

All weekend

MUSEUMS: Explore London museums after hours during a weekend of special Museums at Night events and activities – even sleepovers. Here are our recommendations, including our Thames quiz at Museum of London Docklands’ Cockles and Mussels late on Saturday.

OPEN STUDIOS: Wimbledon Studios host their Summer Open Studios Art Show from Friday to Sunday. Nose around the artists’ creative spaces and see and buy work from them direct, whether painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, textiles or furniture. Free entry, just turn up, open Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm

HORTICULTURAL HAPPENINGS: Chelsea Fringe blossoms into life for three weeks of green-fingered, flowery fun events celebrating the pleasures of gardening around London. Check the website for the full programme.

ARCHIKIDS: Get the little ones in your life interested in London’s buildings at the city’s Archikids Festival, running Friday to Sunday. Free, check the website for the full programme and timings.

SE LONDON: Hither Green Festival gets underway with a World Food Arts and Crafts Fair, a bake-off, an art exhibition, Open Gardens and a choral concert. Check the website for more info and tickets.

PHOTOGRAPHY: The Syngenta Photography Award Exhibition opens at Somerset House on Friday, so go and see the winning pictures this weekend, themed around Rural – Urban. Free entry, just turn up, 10am-6pm

BEER FESTIVALS: Seek out real ales and ciders in Kingston and Ealing.

Saturday 18 May

MORRIS DANCING: It’s the 60th anniversary of Westminster Day of Dance. Lots of Morris troupes will be coming to London to dance at prime locations across the borough: Westminster Cathedral, St James’ Park, Victoria Embankment, Tate Britain, Duke of York Steps, China Town and Trafalgar Square. Check the schedule at the Westminster Morris Men website. Free, just turn up, from 10am-4pm

GALLERIES: It’s Gallery Day in EC1 and WC1 meaning special events and extended opening hours at 23 galleries, so go out and discover new spaces and new art. All free entry. Check the website for a map and more info.

CYCLEFEST: The Yellow Jersey Press Cycling Festival takes place outside Foyles on the Southbank with books, games, quizzes and talks. Free, just turn up, from 11.30am-4pm

MAY FAIR: Notting Hill Mayfest is in full swing. St John’s Church, Lansdowne Crescent is the venue for a bit of traditional maying, including maypole dancing, jam and tombola. Free, just turn up from 1pm

UNUSUAL WALK: If you like history, science, surprising stories and walking round London, discover Invention, Intelligence & Enterprise in Vauxhall and Lambeth with the excellent Laurence Scales. Tickets £10, prebook, 2-5pm

CEMETERY: Magnificent Nunhead Cemetery holds an open day with catacomb tours, stalls, kids activities and crafts. Free entry, just turn up, 11am-5pm

MANGA: It’s ComicaMangAsia day at the Festival of Asian Literature: take the kids to a free manga workshop from 12pm and browse the fair. Buy tickets for talks and workshops for adults in the afternoon at Asia House, New Cavendish Street W1. Open 11am-4.30pm

SCIENTIFIC SIMON MAYO: The radio DJ heads up a family friendly afternoon, talking about his passion for science and the creation of ITCH. Expect lots of live experiments and take part in an elements treasure hunt at the Royal Institution. Tickets £10 adults, £7 concessions, 3-7.30pm

KAYAKING: Take a Moo Cruise down the Thames in a kayak. Read our review of the experience. Tickets £49pp, prebook through Facebook, 6.30-9.30pm

EUROVISION: We made a list of Eurovision parties going on around town but these are all bound to be very busy so please check with the venue about tickets. Or stay home and have a drinks and cheeses of Eurovision party like what we’ll be doing. Tune in to BBC One, live, 8pm

ROSS SUTHERLAND FAN CLUB ALERT: SJ Fowler, Ross Sutherland, Hannah Silva, Honor Gavin and Outfit are at Rich Mix for a night of Electronic Voice Phenomena, cutting edge poetry, music and performance. Entry £10 / £8, starts 8pm

FREE FILM: Watch anime classic Spirited Away in Brockwell Park as part of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival. Free, just turn up, 8.30pm

Sunday 19 May

GEFILTEFEST: Ivy House in Golders Green hosts the London Jewish Food Festival with 50 sessions including cookery demonstrations and workshops but also talks and discussion sessions about the art and culture of food. There’s a kids’ programme too and live music and stalls in the garden. Tickets £25 adults, £12.50 children, prebook, open 9.30am-6pm

CAMERA FAIR: Photographica is the UK’s largest photographic collectors fair and there will be over 135 tables offering images, cameras, books, accessories and restoration tools. £5, just turn up, from 10am

RAW WINE: Discover and taste natural wine at the RAW Wine Fair in the Old Truman Brewery. Tickets £20 advance, £25 on the door, open 10am-6pm

MUSICTECHFEST: A festival of music ideas looking at the latest developments in music, performance and technology. Workshops, talks, performances, music making, hacking at The Rave campus, North Greenwich. Free, preregister - only tickets left for Sunday’s Hackers, Jammers and Beatboxers all-dayer from 12-11pm

SE LONDON: Dulwich Park Fair is a highlight of the ongoing Dulwich Festival with a steam fair, loads of stalls, animals from Vauxhall City Farm, a dog show plus local ales and food. Free, just turn up, 12-6pm

FLEA MARKET: Mooch to Candid Arts in Islington for a flea market featuring 50 traders proferring collectables, upcycled, vintage stuff and have a go on the tombola. Free entry, just turn up, 11am-6pm

PUB DANCE: Cloud Dance Sundays bring contemporary dance to the pub. Watch talented and promising artists show you their stuff while you ease into the end of the weekend with a beer or two. At Lion and Unicorn, Kentish Town. Tickets £15, £12 concessions, book or just turn up, starts 7.30pm

Other good stuff

• What’s on stage and art shows to see
• Live comedy in London
• Booky and spoken word events
• Events for curious-minded Londoners
• Free things to do in London
• What’s on in the big Museums and Galleries
• Food and drink
• Listen to our latest podcast

Browse all latest arts and events features and make your tummy rumble with our latest food and drink content.

Westminster Day of Dance photo by McTumshie via the Londonist Flickrpool. 

• The first Chief Social Worker is appointed
• Couple found dead in a Bloomsbury flat
• The Mayor plans to privatise London electric vehicle charging point network
• Two more skyscrapers are planned for City Road
• A protest march defending London’s NHS takes place on Saturday
• Now you can crowd-fund to bring your favourite band to London
• Looking back at 100 years of Chelsea Flower Show
• What’s going on in London this weekend? Find things to do here

Photo by Crew Richmond via Londonist Flickrpool.

Welcome to the latest episode of Londonist Out Loud, a podcast about London. You can listen in-browser, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS. We’re now also available on Stitcher.

Londonist Out Loud is presented and produced by N Quentin Woolf. This week’s guests are Francis Marshall, Senior Curator of Art, and George Young, Senior Curator of Contemporary History at the Museum of London Docklands. 

The guests take a tour of the museum’s latest exhibition, Estuary, while discussing the landscape, history and influence of this compelling environment.

Estuary opens today at Museum of London Docklands and runs until 27 October 2013. Open daily 10am-6pm, free entry. 

See also:

• The abandoned Estuary sea forts
• Museums of London’s upcoming late event with live entertainment, food, drink and a Londonist-hosted quiz

This week’s show is sponsored by Audible.co.uk and to celebrate we’re offering you a FREE digital audiobook from their expansive catalogue.

Click here to claim your free audiobook today

Choose any title from their online library of over 60,000 digital audiobooks, with a special 30 day free trial of the Audible service. You can listen to your audiobook on all iPods, iPhones, iPads and on compatible phones and MP3 Players – you can even burn to a CD and listen in the car. Your free audiobook is yours to keep, whether you decide to cancel in your trial period or not.

Interested in sponsoring this podcast? Contact us on hello@londonist.com for more details.

Show notes by Ruth Hargreaves.

Amy Herzog’s chamber piece comes to Westbourne Grove from successful runs in New York and Bath. Her main concern is the connection between generations: ‘leftie’ intellectual Vera struggles determinedly with physical debilitation and loneliness; Leo seems adrift from the people closest to him, cycling across the US to escape the pressures of relationships and social expectations. The two are linked by a certain idealism or naivety, Vera’s unaffected admiration for Communist Cuba reflecting Leo’s refusal to accept college, city life and mobile phones as the only option.

Sara Kestelman as Vera and Daniel Boyd as Leo are strong performers, working to keep the hovering hand-across-the-years clichés at bay. Kestelman makes Vera’s physical limitations both convincing and funny, especially when she undercuts Leo’s soul-baring monologue by admitting she didn’t have her hearing aid in. They are, however, hampered by the play’s very traditional structure which tends to deliver what the audience expects, when the audience expects it. Jing Lusi stands out with a scene-stealing cameo as a girl who comes back with Leo for an abortive one-night stand, a scene which is very funny and perfectly constructed (“I’m feeling kind of shy.  It’s uncharacteristic, I’m usually quite slutty”).

The set-up is promising, but needs to go further than the basic reflection that the old and the young have more in common than they think. It achieves this only fitfully. When Vera and Leo get on to their political inheritance, the play begins to spark – Vera’s acceptance of her husband’s affairs, for example, horrifies Leo’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, Herzog never really gets going with a full investigation of what an alternative way of life might mean now, in an era when ideology is passé and political choices are grey.

However, the beautifully observed set by Simon Kenny is a quiet star: the archetypal West Side apartment crammed with mid-century books, furniture and ornaments. We want one just like it.

4000 Miles is at the Print Room, 34 Hereford Road, London W2 5AJ until 1^st June. To book click here.

Production shot by Jane Hobson.

Take one suburban house in Dulwich. Assemble around 20 of the world’s most famous street artists. Take ‘em round Dulwich Picture Gallery to draw inspiration from some Baroque masters. Then let them loose on the house. That’s the centrepiece of Baroque The Streets, a 10-day strand of the Dulwich Festival exploring the place of street art in artistic tradition.

Artists contributing works to the house, or murals elsewhere in Dulwich, include ROA, Thierry Noir, Phlegm, Christiaan Nagel, Pablo Delgado, Ben “chewing gum” Wilson, The Rolling People and Dscreet, to randomly pick a few. The show is curated and organised by Ingrid Beazley from Dulwich Picture Gallery and Richard Howard-Griffin of Street Art London.

Tonight, they’re throwing a party at the house, with bar and DJs. Works will be on sale, plus screen print releases from certain of the artists involved in the project. Just turn up between 8pm and 10pm. The house will then be open during the daytime on Saturday and Sunday.

265 Lordship Lane, Dulwich, SE22 8JP. The best way to get there is on the Overground to Forest Hill and then get the 185 or 176 bus in a northerly direction from the station to the Heber Road Stop.

Anna said:

Having curated the Poster Art 150 exhibition, I was looking at your photographs and comparing where Londoners enjoy going to get away from it all today with where they went in the past. It was fascinating to see that while some destinations are ever popular, some are very different! It was a really strong pool and well done to everyone who was shortlisted.

Tina said:

In Lost in London, we are always trying to show people the green between the grey in London, and to show that you can ‘get away form it all’ in the big smoke. So it was fantastic to be on the receiving end of that, and see all the ways the photographers captured that feeling of an oasis of calm.

All 40 shortlisted photographs will go on display at London Transport Museum shortly but here below, and in no particular order, are the images chosen for special commendation with a few words from our panel as to why. Congratulations to Robert Timothy, Andrew Smith and Donna Rutherford!

Away From It All, With Friends On The South Bank by Robert Timothy

AR: I thought that the way you had interpreted the brief was very interesting, showing a very urban environment at sunset as your way of getting ‘away from it all’. I thought that the colours and composition were great, a really strong image.

TS: What I love about this image is that the people are gathered together in the busy Southbank, but are all facing out over the calm, still of the river. There is a real sense of slowing down and taking a deep breath in this image. The evening light and the shadows it makes are beautiful, and the graphic shapes of the composition suit the urban nature of the scene.

City Sheep, Mudchute Park and Farm by Andrew Smith

AR: This photograph reminded me so much of one of the posters in our Poster Art 150 exhibition: Poster 1983/4/718 – Poster and Artwork collection online from the London Transport Museum , which drew me to it initially. But I also really loved the composition and the stark and unusual contrast of a country scene with an urban background.

TS: This photograph is really all about the contrast of the rural and urban in one image. Several of the photographs juxtaposed a green foreground and cityscape background beautifully, but none make for such a surprising image as this one. It captures the themes of the brief very neatly.

Morden Hall Park by Donna Rutherford

AR: I really liked the dreamy and timeless qualities of this image. The reflection in the water is lovely, it really captures those early days of spring.

TS: This image reminds me of the painted transport posters of the 1910s. I love the wide variety of textures and tranquil, dreamlike feel of the scene. This one to me feels a bit magical, like a secret world. It certainly challenges peoples perceptions of London.

Theses three images will go forward to the next phase, and do battle with the three top photos from the next challenge theme, Love Your City. One photographer will then be chosen as overall winner, to be announced in the autumn.

Continuing our series of images merging different periods in London’s history.

Nadja Ryzhakova sends us this colourful vision of London past, present and future, as painted on her iPad. A horse-drawn omnibus crosses London Bridge to the Surrey side, overtaken by a Boris Bike, while a vinage car passes by towards the City. Futuristic towers loom in the distance, including the Bishopsgate Tower (probably destined never to be built in this form), and another helter-skelter-style skyscraper of Nadja’s own devising. Meanwhile, the More London complex (other than City Hall) seems to have reverted back to old warehousing, and London Bridge has shifted slightly upstream…plate tectonics?

View more of Nadja’s iPad art on her website.

We’re still looking for further entries in the Time Travel London series. You can make your image with paint, pencils, collage, iPad…whatever you like. The only rule is that your creation should depict some aspect of London’s past alongside something from the modern (or future) city. We’ll arrange an exhibition of the best images. Thinking caps on, and send entries to matt@londonist.com.

Previous entries, for inspiration:

• Old St Paul’s Cathedral rematerialises
• Boudica caught in a Westminster traffic jam
• Crystal Palace never burned down
• Christopher Wren’s London plans realised
• Spitalfields ghosts
• To Anglo-Saxon Brixton

How many of your “five a day” have you had so far today? Did you avoid running for your train in the rain last night, knowing the station floor might be slippery? Or maybe you felt a twinge of nationalism handing over the Queen’s smiley face on a fiver for your morning coffee? Propaganda, it seems, is everywhere. The British Library’s new exhibition provides an exploration of the persuasive power of this state tool, looking at examples from ancient Rome to the present day.

Curators at this impressive new show have taken what they describe as a “neutral” definition of the word, embracing all activity by the state to influence behaviour, whether for good or evil. So, alongside troubling posters from Nazi Germany and Northern Ireland in the 1980s are gentler examples of state persuasion about the benefits of drinking milk and adhering to the Green Cross Code. Chairman Mao’s much-reproduced mythology is analysed, as are uses of the Olympic Games (in London and elsewhere) as a method of promoting national identity.

While the main focus of the exhibition is on propaganda since World War I, there are examples from earlier in history: a coin from the third century BC; a huge portrait of Napoleon; and a curious fan from the reign of George III.

Of the 200-odd items on display, around 80% are from the Library itself. But rather than an exhibition of various tantalising books in cases, Propangada: Power and Persuasion instead features a plethora of posters, paintings, flyers, film, songs, audio and more. Day-to-day ephemera like paper bags and coins are included, as well as playing cards, board games, and TV adverts. And a variety of persuasive techniques (make ‘em laugh, appeal to family values, create a sense of fear) are also on show. A particularly striking example is the Aids television campaign from the 1980s, narrated by John Hurt. And there’s an interesting roster of interviewees on screens adding to the debate, including Alastair Campbell, John Pilger, Tessa Jowell and Noam Chomsky.

The exhibition’s final display is about the power of social media and, in particular, Twitter. An installation called Chorus shows tweets from recent events including the Olympic Opening Ceremony and the Sandy Hook shootings. Curator Ian Cooke wonders whether we are all propagandists now, as we all take part in the dissemination of information, sometimes without even really considering its provenance.

It’s a great show. We’d like to persuade you to go along if that didn’t mean we were simply getting in on the act too. In fact, if you want to get really meta, we recommend (see?) you look out for the IWM’s loaned Roland Pitchforth painting encouraging people (again!) to see a Wings for Victory exhibition (and again!) in Trafalgar Square from the 1940s. Propaganda: it seems it really is everywhere.

Propaganda: Power and Persuasion runs from 17 May to 17 September at the British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB. Tickets cost £9/£7 and £5 for concessions. Under 18s go free. Visit bl.uk/propaganda for more details. There’s a fun-sounding programme of events associated with the exhibition: check the website for more details.

For one night only, Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard are closing their streets to traffic and inviting Londoners to a 20% off shopping night in Covent Garden.

On the evening of Thursday 30 May, over 120 stores and venues will contribute in turning the area into a shopping haven with plenty of in-store activities, freebies, gourmet food, pop-up bars, and of course that all important 20% discount on your purchases.

So why not get into the spirit of Spring by sprucing up your Summer wardrobe, brightening your beauty regime or simply dining out at top restaurants for less?

Stay tuned for details of just some of the exciting activities that will be taking place across Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard, but as we don’t like to leave you hanging, here is a little taster:

• Complimentary Spring manicures by WAH Nails for the first 50 shoppers to spend over £50
• Free drinks and eats including Pimms, retro sweeties, popcorn and candy floss served from vintage tricycles and stalls
• Speed styling services at Karine Jackon’s pop up hair salon
• The Seven Dials village phone box photo booth for a fun keepsake of your evening
• Live music from Vintage singing duo ‘Verity and Violet’ in St Martin’s Courtyard and an acoustic band performance on the ‘Dial’
• Especially for MasterCard cardholders, if you are one of the first 200 people to spend over £100 on your MasterCard card at participating stores, you’ll be treated to a luxury goodie bag worth £50! You can collect this from the MasterCard pop-up shop on Earlham Street, where you will also be able to dress up, be photographed, and take home your very own Priceless London flip book. 

Qualifying for 20% off at seven streets of independent boutiques, heritage brands and indulgent beauty stores couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is download a ’Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard Shopping ticket’ for free here. Simple! 

The Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard 20% Shopping Night takes place on Thursday 30 May 2013 between 5 and 9pm. For more details visit the official website. You can also get updates on the event on Twitter via @MasterCardUK, @7DialsWC2 and @smccoventgarden. 

The bar will also introduce London’s whisky connoisseurs to Omakase, a Japanese concept in which the patron entrusts the chef (or in this case, barkeep) to serve him or her a selection of tipples suitable to their taste and, hopefully, budget. Just don’t blame us if your new-found love for Japanese whisky ends up hurting your wallet more than your head.

The pop-up is on SOS’s first floor bar from 17.00-23.00, 21-31 May. The menu can be seen here, and there’s a little video of what to expect below:

It’s a splendid clip but no, we don’t know why either. Suggestions in the comments please.

The Boy Who Turned Yellow was the last feature film made by the distinguished duo of Powell and Pressburger. It is one of three films featured on a new volume of Children’s Film Foundation tales, Weird Adventures, released on DVD by the BFI on 17 June 2013.

How do we come up with themes for The Friday Photos, literally none of you have asked? Well, it chiefly stems from what’s crossing our minds at the time. Draw your own psychoanalysis from this week. But before you do, take a look at this video of a knicker chandelier by Pipilotti Rist, filmed by annemmu at the Hayward Gallery a couple of years ago. It’s rather beautiful.

As ever, thanks go to our talented Flickrpoolers: in order – stradders06, Simone.London, sevitz, jaykay72, Marc Fairhurst, owenbooth, roll the dice, Herschell Hershey, robbie ewing and chutney bannister. Your guess as to what’s happening in that final photo is as good as ours.

Celebrate Greenwich Dance's 20th birthday, details below.

GIVE BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Hyde Park Chapel in South Kensington and St Olave Parish Church on Fenchurch Street. Free, just turn up, see site for times and conditions

ESTUARY: Museum of London Docklands’ latest exhibition about the Thames Estuary opens today. Its dramatic landscape has made it a source of intrigue and inspiration for many years — have you seen the Red Sands military forts? Free, just turn up, until 27 October

PROPAGANDA: The British Library’s new exhibition, looking at how governments have manipulated the truth for various reasons, opens today. £9, prebook or just turn up, until 17 September

ART: Wimbledon Art Studio’s Summer Open Studios Art Show exhibits over 140 artists across various creative disciplines. You can go to browse the vast array of works, buy, or chat to the artists themselves. Free, just turn up, until 19 May

ARCHIKIDS: London’s first ever family festival of architecture start today, with a series of fun and free events for your little ones around London’s Square Mile. Free, just turn up, until 19 May

MUSEUMS AT NIGHT: London’s museums are once more opening their doors after dark. Tonight the Museum of London, UCL’s museums, the Bank of England and Hampton Court Palace are all taking part. Until 18 May

OOooOOOooOoH: Helen East is back in Islington for a storytelling walk of ghostly traces and lost places, starting at Angel tube. Free, just turn up but spaces are limited, 2pm

TASTE OF SCANDINAVIA: Experience the food, culture and music of Scandinavia at Taste of Scandinavia in Haslemere Hall, Thornton Heath tonight. Skål! Free, just turn up, 7pm

NOSE: Wellcome Collection’s late opening is entirely devoted to the nose. There’s plenty to pick — nose jobs, olfactory science, perfumes, history’s most famous noses and, yes, the London Nasal Choir. Free, just turn up, 7-11pm

LOST LONDON: Phillip Davies, who compiled a recent tome on London’s hidden interiors, gives a talk at Old St Pancras church on lost London. £10, just turn up, 7pm

COMEDY: If ever there was a Shoreditch comedian, Jessie Cave is not it: she’s slightly less hipstery and annoying. Bethnal Green? Whitechapel? Anyway, she’s doing her Bookworm show at the Soho Theatre tonight and tomorrow. £12.50/£10, prebook, 7.15pm

GREENWICH DANCE: Celebrate Greenwich Dance’s 20th birthday with an evening of dance, circus and film in a cabaret setting, at their site The Borough Halls. £20/£16, prebook, 8pm

ROLLER SKATE: The Friday Night skate starts at Wellington Arch. Anyone who feels competent on skates is welcome to join. Free, just turn up, 8pm

ELECTRONIC MUSIC: Noise of Art’s 100 Years of Electronic Music is on at Village Underground tonight. £15/£12.50/£10, prebook, 8.30pm

ALTERNATIVE EUROVISION: Time Out Live’s Alternative Eurovision at London Wonderground features alternative cabaret acts Jonny Woo, Des O’Connor, Tricity Vogue, Sarah-Louise Young, Alp Haydar, Bryony Kimmings, Ria Lina, staging their own camp contest. £17.50, prebook, 9.15pm

Random London Fact of the Day
Mark Twain, better known for paddle steamer trips up the Mississipi, was one of the first passengers to ride the Central Line, as a passenger on the inaugural journey in 1900.  

Good Cause of the Day
Be a part of Red Cross Week with London’s Red Shoe Walk on Saturday 18 May. This eight mile walk will take you through the heart of London and along the River Thames, so you can raise money for an excellent cause while exploring the city. A Samba band will be there to play you off and, though red clothing is encouraged, red shoe covers will be provided for those who are lacking in rubescent footwear!

London Weather
Today’s weather is a bit like the 1969 film Battle of Britain: nowhere near as good as you’d expect it to be, and totally over-cast. Still, things could be worse. You’ll rue the day when we’re comparing the forecast to the plot of Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo. 

• 4,500 jobs will be created as iCITY gets to run the the Olympic Park’s Press and Broadcast Centre.
• Doubts over economic benefits of HS2.
• There’ll be a big reading festival (as opposed to Reading Festival) in Trafalgar Square this summer.
• Cuts to London’s fire service will hit Camden hardest.
• Pinewood Studios won’t be expanding any time soon.
• Wired pays a visit to Bitcoin in London.
• Shaftesbury Avenue is getting a new temporary performance space.
• Freed in Hackney still make pointe shoes for the world’s leading ballerinas.
• Worries that 4G would scramble the capital’s Freeview boxes are unfounded.
• UK Uncut has lost its legal challenge over Goldman Sachs.
• Newham and Havering won’t be getting free wifi.
• The Guardian has a couple of housing articles: on raising money to build and renting on low incomes.
• Kensington Roof Gardens now belongs to the Germans says the ES, in apparent 1939 flashback.

Photo by unslugged from the Londonist Flickr pool

Scene from last year's Clerkenwell Design Week

Clerkenwell’s annual celebration of all things design is nearly upon us once again.

CDW is part trade fair, part marketing blitz, but it also packs in a fair amount for the interested observer. As ever there’s a bewildering range of events taking place over the three days; easily the best way to navigate through them is to download the CDW app for iOS. There’s also this map, or if you like things neat and list-y, the full programme is also online.

For the uninitiated visitor, much of the appeal lies in getting to tromp around some fine buildings normally off bounds to the public. This year the Farmiloe building on St John’s Street, and the labyrinthine House of Detention, are again pressed into action as showrooms, while the Order of St John becomes a venue for the first time. There will also be a pavilion in Charterhouse Square.

Other highlights include a series of village huts designed and built by Architecture for Humanity, and a second collaboration between Canteen and Transport for London. Following up on the 1950s-style transport cafe for last year’s London Design Festival, they’re bringing a London Transport Mobile Canteen to the Farmiloe building, where it will serve “classic British” scran.

Entry to Clerkenwell Design Week is free, though you’ll need to register first.

Here’s our pick of gigs on sale this week. Tickets to all these should be available from 9am Friday.

Sharleen Spiteri’s Texas have ended their six-year hiatus, signed to a new label and have an album out on Monday. There are live dates too, so if you want to see what these 90s rockers are up to these days then you need to be at Hammersmith Apollo on 14 November. Tickets £37 + bf.

They come from Alan Partridge’s patch in Norfolk, but that’s about where Deaf Havana’s similarities with the digital radio star end. Did Partridge ever have a post-hardcore slot on his shows? See them at the Roundhouse on 25 October. Tickets £16 + bf.

Jack Black’s Tenacious D are back in the UK again, and if you don’t feel the novelty’s wearing off then you can see them at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 8 December. Tickets £35 + bf.

Teen favourites Paramore have booked a big date at Wembley Arena on 27 September. Tickets £29.50 + bf.

And reflective, sometimes introspective rocker Brendan Benson (who you may know from Jack White’s The Raconteurs) will be at Dingwalls on 21 August. Tickets £17.50 + bf.

Finally, we saw The Jim Jones Revue last week, and if they sound like your cup of retro tea then they’ll be at Electric Brixton on 23 October. Tickets £14.50 + bf.

Also booking this week: Little Boots, Sky Ferreira, Theme Park and OFWGKTA.

Not everything on the Underground is as it seems. After telling the world of Ten Illegal Things To Do In London, creative investigator Tom Scott sets off with “Stand-Up Mathematician” Matt Parker to unveil more mysteries. Your Tube journey may never be the same again.

Those curious to know exactly what a “travolator” is can read more here.

Want more insight into your daily commute? We have already shed some light onto the secret bits of the Northern Line and the Victoria Line.

The Joy of Saxe. Albert and Victoria first met at Kensington Palace.

On this day, 250 years ago, a certain James Boswell was enjoying a cuppa at number 6 Russell Street, Covent Garden when in walked Dr Samuel Johnson. This first meeting between two people who would become inextricably associated was not entirely filled with mutual warmth. Boswell, who that night recorded everything in his journal, apologised for being Scottish, with the not unreasonable defence that he “couldn’t help it”. “That I find is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help,” replied the anti-Caledonian quipster. But from those inauspicious beginnings, a friendship blossomed.

As a hub of great minds and talents, it’s no wonder that so many liaisons and partnerships have their genesis in London. To celebrate the anniversary of the Boswell-Johnson introduction, we’ve rounded up a collection of other important first meetings that took place in the capital.

The Krays meet the Mafia (Park Lane Hilton)

Although usually associated with the East End, the Kray brothers had international ambitions, and cultivated various arrangements with the Mafia. The first meeting supposedly occurred at the Park Lane Hilton in 1962, when the East End gangsters enjoyed a drink with Angelo Bruno, a top player in the Philadelphia crime family. The mobster made a deal with the brothers to help dispose of $2 million in stolen bonds, and offer protection to his London-based clients. It’s one to drop into conversation next time you’re trying to impress someone with a £15 cocktail at the hotel’s Galvin at Windows bar.

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett (Haymarket)

And it’s hello from me… Perhaps Britain’s most famous double act, the Two Ronnies, first met at the Buckstone Club near Haymarket, where Corbett was serving drinks between acting jobs in 1963. The club was in a basement on Suffolk Street, near the stage door to the Theatre Royal. Barker’s first words to Corbett were reportedly “Same again, please”.

Gilbert and George (St Martin’s)

Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore have worked together for 45 years and remain among the UK’s most famous living artists. Their first encounter, perhaps unsurprisingly, was at St Martin’s School of Art, on 25 September 1967. According to Wikipedia, “they came together because George was the only person who could understand Gilbert’s rather poorly-spoken English”, but they’re also on record as declaring the meeting as love at first sight.

Mary Godwin (Shelley) and Percy Shelley (Somers Town/St Pancras churchyard)

The future author of Frankenstein and the great poet probably first clapped eyes on each other at the Somers Town home of Mary’s father, William Godwin, with whom Percy Shelley had formed an intellectual friendship. That’s only mildly interesting. Far more noteworthy is where Percy and Mary chose to do most of their secretive courting: at the grave of her equally famous mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, in Old St Pancras churchyard. The two declared their undying love for each other here on 26 June 1814 before eloping off to the continent (Shelley leaving behind his pregnant wife).

Dickens and Victoria (Buckingham Palace)

The mid-to-late 19th Century is often described as the Victorian or Dickensian era. But Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens only ever had one conversation. The pair met, on her summons, at Buckingham Palace in March 1870, just three months before Dickens died. After exchanging mutual admiration, Dickens promised to send the Queen a complete set of his works. His gift included the opening chapters of Edwin Drood, and a promise to send her further instalments if she “should ever be sufficiently interested in the tale to desire to know a little more of it in advance of her subjects”. Sadly, the Queen did not reply, and the intended ending of Dickens’ unfinished novel was never revealed.

Victoria and Albert (Kensington Palace)

The Empire’s greatest love story began in the halls of Kensington Palace. Kissin’ cousins Victoria and Albert had long been seen as a potential match by their relatives. Their first meeting was a promising start, with the young princess describing the German prince thus: “He was most amiable, natural, unaffected, and merry; full of interest in everything”. Today, you can stand at the spot on the staircase where Victoria first clapped eyes on her beau, and read the extract from her diary entry of that night. When you look up, there’s a projection of his face on the wall. It’s either London’s most romantic or most nauseous spot, depending on your outlook. Those of bluer curiosity for the joy of Saxe can see (what we childishly think must be) a depiction of Prince Albert’s penis at a nearby pub on Victoria Street/Victoria’s treat.

We’re sure there must be dozens of other examples, and we invite your comments below. 

A follow-on from last year’s fascinating series The Tube (in which we learnt about the meaning of a Code 2 alert) the new doc continues where its predecessors left of, telling the story of the world’s first and most famous subterranean railway through the people who work on it. There will also be footage from some of the network’s many abandoned stations.

The Tube: An Underground History is on at 9pm, BBC2 tonight, and will go on iPlayer after that (if you’re not in the UK, you’re out of luck on both counts). Here’s a clip from showing the remains of a Greathead shield (or ‘grate head shield’ as it’s mistakenly captioned), which was used to build the tunnels for the deep-level lines.

The cuts range from 3% in Barking & Dagenham to 22% in Lambeth, or 13% across all boroughs. Followers of Boris Johnson’s electoral campaign may remember point four of his nine-point plan — ‘Making our streets and homes safer with 1,000 more police on the beat’. But with a failure to keep police numbers at around 32,000 and recent cuts, it’s been pointed out that there are actually 1500 fewer officers since his election last year while crime in some boroughs remains high.

The mayor’s office was also asked by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) to clarify the figures they were using during the police consultations after confusion over their interpretation of data.

All of which makes the Met’s recent announcement that they’re considering splashing out on two water cannon at a cost of £1.3m each even more baffling. London Assembly Labour Police and Crime spokesperson, Joanne McCartney said:

“Instead of cutting the police budget by 20% and buying water cannons the government and Mayor should be properly resourcing the police. Some boroughs have lost significant numbers of officers, in Camden 160 police officers have been lost, in Southwark it’s 159, Lambeth 230 and Westminster have lost 259 officers.

The use of water cannons is extremely controversial and the evidence for their effectiveness is very unclear. We clearly need more police officers, and we need them to be riot trained. Water cannons are no replacement for a properly resourced and functioning police service.”

We are also frankly mystified as to why the Met would use funds much needed elsewhere for such a controversial and dubiously-effective purchase. The Met itself said back in 2011 that water cannon were ‘not the answer to combat future rioting’ and Boris Johnson has previously opposed the use of water cannon. It appears to be just the latest in the Met’s inexorable push to increase their powers without public consultation.

Home secretary Theresa May (who appears to be on a mission to woo the police this week) has said that she is considering the case for water cannon on the basis that she wanted officers to have “the tools they need” to do their job. Which is all very well but cutting the officers using the tools doesn’t appear to be a particularly useful strategy unless the long-term plan is to replace them with robocops.

Photo by Sven Loach in the Londonist Flickr pool.

Their latest work, The Great Gatsby, is based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was choreographer George Balanchine who said that there are no mother-in-laws in ballet – or in other words, that ballet cannot effectively convey complex character relationships. And this is a story that is full of them.

David Nixon’s choreography makes a superb attempt to convey the complex plot but unless you are familiar with the book, action is difficult to follow. It wasn’t until the end of the first act that we started to understand who all the characters were and feel a sense of empathy for them.

But this aside (and this is easily overcome by a little synopsis reading), Gatsby is a wonderful ballet. Choreography and costume designs by David Nixon are gorgeous. Party scenes and pas de deux in particular are a spectacular mix of feathered headbands, floaty dresses and vibrant, impassioned dancing. Music by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett is also a delight, with a wonderful variety of sounds and moods created and played to perfection by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia.

In the lead roles of Gatsby and Daisy, Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt make an excellent couple. Kenneth Tindall is also well-cast as Daisy’s dissatisfied husband, Tom. Hannah Bateman makes an energetic Jordan and Giuliano Contadini is a charming Nick. All round, the cast is impressive, especially in group party numbers which range from tango-style moves to 1920s flapper dancing.

If you love Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, you will love this ballet. And if you’ve never read the book, you’ll love the ballet too – but you will need to do some reading up in advance.

The Great Gatsby is at Sadler’s Wells until 18 May. Tickets priced £12-42 are available from the Sadler’s Wells website. Londonist saw this performance on a complimentary press ticket. Pictured: Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt / Photo: Bill Cooper