Shakespeare

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TV Troll: Take That, Tommy Lee, and Peel

Before we get onto the subject of this week’s telly recommendations, let’s remind ourselves of Saturday’s miscarriage of justice, when Maria was voted off X Factor. Even Simon admits he made a mistake in choosing the Conway Sisters (for those who don’t watch X Factor, …

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London: By Far The Greatest Town The World Has Ever Seen?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that London is, we admit, the coolest city on the face of the planet. So went the first draft of …

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The Londonist Literary List

The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you’d like to bring an event to our attention, please email londonistlit@gmail.com. Now that we are inching towards autumn, the book world seems to be emerging from its annual August slumber. And nowhere is this more evident …

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Routemasters Not Mastering Their Routes

Will the Routemaster debacle never die? After all the fuss over the decomissioning of the buses and then the arguments over whether bendy buses really did have quicker boarding times or not, now the Routmaster’s new role is being criticised for being “seriously defective”. The …

Arts Theatre Threat

The Arts Theatre in the West End (the one near the Photographer’s Gallery around the corner from Leicester Square tube) is at the moment battling to stay alive. The theatre was the first London home to the Royal Shakespeare Company and was where Waiting for …

Hey, Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone

London’s Institute of Education is to issue lesson plans based on – this is difficult to type – soap operas, adverts and Grange Hill. The packs will be distributed to 1000 schools and contain lesson ideas and DVDs – which just goes to show that …

Sir John Mills 1908 – 2005

Londonist was saddened to hear the news of the death of Sir John Mills over the weekend. It’s difficult to think about the importance of British cinema without conjuring up an image of John Mills – as Captain of a submarine in We Dive at …

Did He Jump Or Was He Pushed?

The Chief Executive of the tube maintenance firm Metronet is today looking for a new job. But did he quit or was he sacked? Well it depends which news report you read. For example, go here and you get London Tube maintenance boss quits, and …

Et Tu, Gordon?

Julius Caesar has never been Londonist’s favourite slice of Shakespeare, but a mouth watering preview of Deborah Warner’s new production in yesterday’s Observer grabbed our attention. First off, the onstage action makes a nice foil for the dull political shenanigans going on in the real …

Gunpowder Treason & Plot: Forgiven

Four hundred years from now the descendants of Ken Livingstone may finally make peace with the Daily Mail group but we doubt it. Perhaps the Standard and its grubby siblings will by then have moved on to point out their hatred of Martians (beaming down …

South London Infrastructure Smacked Again

Liverpudlians might have a reputation for moaning that the world hates them, but they can’t hold a candle to Londoners when it comes to complaining about travel. Complaints about commuting, a road block on the M1, or the possibility of a rail strike over Christmas …