Among the roster of events in the London Festival of Architecture having no real connection to architecture at all, but for which we're happy anyway, take note of this one. RADA is set to stage a free performance this Saturday adapted from Gargantua and Pantagruel, the lowbrow opus of Renaissance avant-gardist and enemy of public mores François Rabelais. Being a very physical tale about an enormous giant, this performance would never have satisfyingly fit......

It's one of those weeks where you feel London's arts scene could end up totally overwhelming you if you're not careful. Strap yourselves in, there's masses going on... We'll start with outdoor opera. When was the last time we told you about watching world-class opera for free? We can't remember either. So, head to Trafalgar Square or Canary Wharf on Thursday and enjoy Verdi's Don Carlo free from 6pm on the big screens. There's......

Britain's first super prison will probably be in London. Fancy a musical? Well hurry up, Cabaret has now posted closing notices following Spamalot & Gone With The Wind 8 years down the line, the London Eye has rotated it's 30 millionth visitor. We did Latin at University. It's amazing, but Boris, really? Are you absolutely sure it's the solution? And Rose Tremain has won the Orange Broadband Prize For Fiction. Photo taken from Envoy's......

Who’s the first performer that comes to mind when you think “Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday bash”? Amy Winehouse? Right, us neither. London housing prices fell by 0.5% in April. Brilliant! At that rate, Londonist should be able to afford a home here around 2028. The deputy mayor for young people warns that there is no “magic solution” to the recent spate of violence among teens. No magic solution, perhaps, but let’s hope that other......

Cellars are this season's must have for the budding psychopath as the horrific Fritzl story shows so it's a creepy coincidence that John Fowles' play "The Collector" should be running at the Etcetera Theatre this week. This two hander works claustrophobically well in "London's smallest theatre". Frederick is a man lacking in social skills and advantages who wins the lottery. He's a repressed lepidopterist nurturing a random and unhealthy infatuation with a vibrant, young,......

The first time we heard David Thomas' take on punk vocals, we were sure the pitch control on our turntable was broken. We had similar concerns the first time we listened to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, but that's a digression best saved for June. Thomas screamed from our speakers like a more frenetic Bryan Ferry, always ready to sacrifice fully pronouncing his lyrics in the interest of rhythm. He has the sort of voice......

"I like to remember things my own way... not necessarily the way they happened". With this key line the orchestra swells to a small crescendo, and following a subtle beginning this audacious English National Opera production suddenly feels, well, operatic. Olga Neuwirth's startlingly faithful music-theatre treatment of David Lynch's 1997 neo-noir has been resurrected in the Young Vic for a short run. Fans of the film are doubtless aware of its complex Mobius-strip narrative,......

Kevin Spacey today hijacked his own promo for new gambling film 21 to slam the BBC for giving certain West End musicals 13 weeks of free publicity disguised as reality TV shows. Whilst recognising that they helped promote West End theatre in general he's clearly got the hump that it's the camp musicals hogging the limelight and cashing in on ticket sales rather than the more serious plays running at theatres like his own......

Operation: Rebrand Britney is gathering pace. Days after her celebrated cameo in US sitcom How I Met Your Mother - where the former teen icon excelled as a ditzy, obsessive receptionist - Britney has reportedly been offered a meatier role to chew over: she has been tapped up to play Blanche Dubois in a West End production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. It's not rare for the enervating effects of the London......

Some people are old before their time. Others are always young at heart. Yet others don't know how to act their age and instead of retiring quietly and fading into the background, decide to form an elderly arts group and go on tour with a dance show. Like the China-wide Beijing Elderly Art Group (BEAG) and The UK Zimmers Both groups are made entirely of performers over 65, and for one night only, they......

London theatre is highly regarded around the world for its resilience, its resourcefulness and downright refusal to stop for anyone or anything. Even during the Blitz, the show went on and so it did when a power cut in the West End disrupted the opening night of a new, star cast play. Playwright Yasmina Reza has had huge, long-running success already in the West End with Art , and her new play God of......

Now that you’ve spent a long, slothful weekend hiding from the snow on your mum’s couch, bloated with chocolate whilst watching endless episodes of the Simpsons and the Hollyoaks (No? Just us?) your brain could probably use a little stimulation. Luckily, London’s art scene is ready for you in this “out like a lamb…” week. If you want to stretch your brain a bit, but don’t want to stray too far from the sitting......

Uh, media exposure, that is. Prostitutes are, like, all over the place this week. First, a prostitution ring takes down the Sheriff of Wall Street. Then the BBC kicks off its newest musical talent competition, I’d Do Anything, in which contestants compete for the chance to play Nancy, hooker with a heart of gold, in a West End revival of the musical Oliver! Londonist cites the two examples and declares it a cultural phenomenon.......

After the (non-)scandal of (un-)banned Tube posters, the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder are now well and truly on show at the Royal Academy. Painter, print-maker, illustrator, businessman, propagandist, and huge fan of the female nude, this is Cranach's first major exhibition in Britain. And while you're gazing at all the nakedness, remember; this was a mate of Martin Luther, and those erotic female nudes are all about Protestant devotion. Honest. Openings Ahoy!......

It sounds like an April Fool, but Radiohead have announced that they're playing yet another small gig before they hit Victoria Park this summer. This time it's for the BBC, will be held at the intimate BBC Radio Theatre and takes place on Tuesday 1 April. Tickets are not going to be easy to come by. While Radio 2 will be offering ticket competitions on air, there are also 75 pairs of tickets to......

Last night London's Luvvieland came together for their annual award ceremony, the Oliviers. Having received 11 nominations across 10 categories, it looked like being Hairspray's night. And Londonist is happy to confirm what we already knew: the show is a deserved winner of the Best New Musical accolade. In addition, Leanne Jones (Best Actress in a Musical) rocks as the optimistic teen, Tracy Turnblad; Tracie Bennett (Best Supporting Role in a Musical) is similarly......

Summer Strallen, who played the similarly named Summer Shaw on teen soap Hollyoaks, has just made her debut in The Sound of Music at London's Palladium Theatre. If, like us, you enjoy a bit of a Hollyoaks omnibus on a hungover Sunday, you'll be familiar with Summer's journey from soap star to West End star. For those of you who are Hollyoaks impaired, it's actually all a bit confusing. Strallen joined the Hollyoaks cast......

As we mentioned briefly before, Thursday brings the East 2008 Festival. For six days, a cornucopia of performances, exhibitions, workshops, food and other events ensures entertainment with emphasis on promotion of the best of East London. Here’s our pick of the mix: 6th March: F-EAST - artists Wiebke and Nicholas Morgan cook a meal from 12 recipes from a Nigel Slater cookbook, and serve it for visitors as an exploration into ownership and the......

There's masses going on for us culture vultures to choose from this week. First Thursdays As it's the start of March, it's First Thursdays this week. More than 80 galleries and museums will be open til 9pm across East London. We recommend John Squire's (yes, him from the Stone Roses) Re-engineered Garments; alternatively, pretend you're an alien at the Barbican. The Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art opens this Thursday. East is East East London's......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 3rd March 1982: The Barbican Centre is opened by the Queen. After 15 years of construction, at a cost of £161 million, the centre would become the largest performing arts centre in Europe (as well as being voted the ugliest building in London). Tuesday – 4th March 1882: Britain’s first electric trams go into operation in Leytonstone, East London. Wednesday – 5th March 1856: The second Covent......

Where's your sense of humour, blokes? Can't a fat, hairy-chested guy fake being crucified while wearing pink boxers anymore? Well, he can't in the tube. London Underground censors just banned posters for Fat Christ, a play showing this week at Islington's King's Head Theatre. They fear the ads in Angel station, showing the mock crucifixion of the play's writer, Gavin Davis, are "likely to offend ethnic, religious or other major groups." The author, though, apologizes......

Even on its quietest weeks, London is something of a happy haven for bibliophiles such as ourselves, though we may be doing nothing more than perusing one of the city’s many lovely bookshops. This week, however, we’re in a veritable book geek heaven, as the London literary scene goes all glittery, playing host to some major names and fantastic events, leaving us tongue-tied and weak at the knees. Do we gush? Very well then,......

Just as London spring begins to break beautifully over the city, the Flamenco Festival is charging into Sadlers Wells to make us all long for the heat and sultriness of a Spanish summer. The fiesta spans the spectrum of the dance form from the Farruquito family presenting traditional gypsy flamenco to one woman and one man pushing flamenco into the 21st Century. There's a showcase homage to the great women of Flamenco, tributes to......

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......

We like to think we have a broad range of cultural interests at Londonist. In a day, we can bring you news of a new electro-pop retro psychedelia band playing Camden, a Korean theatre company performing a German play to tango music, an art exhibition that involves bringing your own art and dance performances full of writhing nude, geriatric bodies. So it gave us no end of pleasure to hear of two news items......

There's something of a Valentine's theme to the Arts of choice taking place in the capital this week. But Londonist knows for every young Juliet embracing the idea of timeless romantic love, there's a Bridget hugging her near-empty vodka bottle, crooning to Chaka Khan. So, in the name of balance, here's a varied, half 'rom', half 'com' round-up for you all. Shows for Swingin' Lovers: Photographer Gregg Stone, has been taking snaps of kissing......

The book grocer’s coffers are chockfull of goodies this week, so let’s jump right in and get shopping... Monday: Crikey. Take a look at author and critic George Steiner’s publishing credits and you have to wonder whether the man has actually slept in the past fifty years. Yet the premise of the prolific writer’s most recent work, My Unwritten Books, is that there are actually some subjects that Steiner has purposely left unexplored. Join......

The Germaniaxx Isn't the weather glorious? Stand in the sunshine and it's definitely spring. This makes us happy! This means that we can walk in the park and get about town and not feel miserably wintry and therefore desperate to waste our hard earned on firelit pubs and woolly accessory buying. Well, not quite so much. We are, however, saving up our cash to spend on Creme Eggs and the rebuild Camden Market fund so......

A couple of years ago Chris Roberts - who will be leading our 4th Londonist Walk on Friday evening - (and who is no relation to the Grantham Roberts clan) co-wrote True Blue: A musical about Margaret Thatcher in a bid to come to terms with his own, and his nation’s, past and more importantly setting Geoffrey Howe and others to music. Who better then, to send along as guest reviewer to a spanking......

Ahh, art or money? It's something we ponder daily here at Londonist. (Can't we have both?) The big question is also being asked over at the Old Vic by none other than Kevin Spacey and his mate Jeff Goldblum in Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. We're also pondering how to get our hands on tickets for this sure-to-sell-out show. Previews run til Saturday; the show's booking until April. Also Opening Photography fans should pop along to the......