Boris and Kevin Spacey joined forces yesterday to call for continued investment in cultural attractions during the economic downturn. We can't help the 42% of businesses who have reduced investment in the arts in the last three months; we can tell you what's going happening in London this week, and encourage you to get out there...
Afterall, "the UK's pre-eminence in arts and culture constitutes one of the nation's most powerful natural resources," according to our Kev.
Be There First: London Shows Opening
There's a bunch of exciting openings in London tonight. There's a revival of Stephen Daldry's big award-winner An Inspector Calls at the Novello Theatre; financial scandal in Enron, directed by Rupert Goold, opening at the Royal Court (which has already announced a West End transfer; and The Fastest Clock in the Universe, starring Jaime Winstone, at the Hampstead Theatre. If you're looking for something with a bit more swing, Craig Revel-Horwood's Hot Mikado opens in Kingston's Rose Theatre tonight too.
Later in the week, the delayed (and doomed?) Mother Courage and her Children opens at the National Theatre (Friday); and the eagerly awaited thriller, Speaking in Tongues, with John Simm, opens at the Duke of York's Theatre next Monday.
In a somewhat overwhelming cascade of artistic blockbuster openings in London this week, Turner and the Masters opens at Tate Britain tomorrow; Moctezuma opens at the British Museum the day after (Thursday) and superstar sculptor Anish Kapoor opens at the Royal Academy on Saturday.
We also like the sound of Wonderland at the Museum of Childhood, which opens on Saturday, and Going to the Dogs at the Vestry House Museum, also opening on Saturday.
Last Chance to See: London Shows Closing:
Saturday is your last chance to see Katrina at the Bargehouse, teen-angst drama Punk Rock at the Lyric Hammersmith, and Bernard Shaw's political piece, Too True To Be Good at the Finborough Theatre.
If you haven't caught any of it yet, make sure you get out there in the next few days: the London Design Festival is over for another year on Sunday. As is the National Theatre's brilliant outdoor extravaganza Watch This Space. Two art shows worth catching before they close this week are Undercover: The Evolution of Underwear at the Fashion and Textile Museum and In The Picture at the Foundling Museum. Both finish on Sunday. Now, isn't that a week worth investing in?
