Swanning About Not one, but two Swan Lakes swim into town this week. Take your pick from The Russian State Ballet of Siberia's version at the New Wimbledon Theatre, or the Moscow City Ballet at The Hackney Empire. Expect world-class dance interpretations this classic love story to Tchaikovsky's sublime score at both. Topsy-turvy Theatreland Liverpool comes to Hampstead (in 3 Sisters on Hope Street), Hollywood hits Stratford (Marylin and Ella), and an Asian Tempest......

Last full week before Christmas, we expect your bank account's feeling the strain. All that Christmas shopping and partying taking its toll? If you want to make the most of being out and about before Christmas cabin fever and complete exhaustion set in then we're here to help. Monday: Keep the braincells going through silly season. Go to the free lecture at Gresham College about why our society rewards celebrities, fads and fashions and......

London is one big stage for endless, tiny bits of theatre. Dashing through rush hour crowds at the train station has its own particular brand of dramatic tension and a company visiting from Australia is presenting this part of everyday London life in a very different light. Back to Back Theatre is bringing their performance ">Small Metal Objects to London as part of the Barbican's Ozmosis season of contemporary Australian performance. The company of......

We'll let you into a secret: Londonist is a bit skint. And we all know that the wonderful events in the city can add up to quite a hefty sum. It means that we can't go and see the Dali and Film exhibition at the Tate Modern, or go and see Amy Winehouse on Friday. Booooo. Hisssss. What are we to do? Well here's a few things we found that you can do over......

Just out the Van: Margaret Atwood leaves the telepresence book-signing robot at home and joins fellow authors Andrew O'Hagan and Erica Wagner and publisher Stephen Page, Chief Executive of Faber & Faber, to discuss the brave new world of authors, readers and publishers in the age of new technology. Digitise or Die: What is the Future of the Book? is part of the London Book Fair. Tuesday 17th, 7.30pm, £9, The Southbank Centre. In......

Township Stories opens tonight at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East after a successful run in the Edinburgh Festival and is the kind of play that reviewers cannot help but describe with words like "sordid underbelly" and "gritty" and "contemporary urban realism." This new play about post-apartheid South Africa and "the moral breakdown of a community" is brutal, violent, shocking and stirring: lots of characters all with their own personal struggles cross paths and collide......