What'll it be worth? We just don't know! Take your chances at RCA Secret this week
Be There First: London Shows Opening
Major new art exhibitions opening this week are a bit thin on the ground. We're most excited about RCA Secret at the RCA from Friday. Pick up an original postcard-sized piece of art for just £40. The catch? You won't know if it's by Gerhard Richter, Grayson Perry, Julian Opie, or an as-yet undiscovered RCA graduate destined for mediocrity greatness.
If you're around Trafalgar Square from Monday, check out Angela Palmer's art installation. Ghost Forest is a display of rainforest tree stumps from Ghana; the project aims to raise awareness of the links between deforestation and climate change.
Svapnagata Festival, a two-week festival of Indian Music and Dance curated by Nitin Sawhney and Akram Khan opens at Sadler's Wells on Monday.
In theatreland, I Found My Horn opens at Hampstead Theatre tomorrow: can a French horn help you through marriage break-up and a mid-life crisis? At the Southwark Playhouse, a double bill of The Trial (an adaptation of Kafka's novella) and The Tartuffe by Moliere opens on Thursday. From Friday you can see Nigel Harman in Public Property at the Trafalgar Studios 2, in a play about a newsreader who becomes the subject of the headlines.
Also from Friday, you can help celebrate the wonderful Polka Theatre's 30th birthday by seeing James and The Giant Peach. It's on until February, so you can book to take the kids in the Christmas holidays, if you wish.
Last Chance to See: London Shows Closing
This weekend is a bit of a packed one if you've left it to the last minute to catch some top theatre shows. Both Talent at the Menier Chocolate Factory and The Spanish Tragedy at the Arcola Theatre get their final curtains on Saturday. An Inspector Calls at the Novello for the last time on Saturday too; he'll be back at Wyndhams from next month. Architecting at the Barbican Pit and Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith also both finish on Saturday.
And Prick Up Your Ears, which has struggled to sell seats since the departure of Matt Lucas, is closing early at the Comedy Theatre this Sunday. (Shame, because we thought Chris New was great.)
Finally, The Hammer Horror Festival closes on Sunday. We rather hope it's going to disappear into a smoke-filled coffin which creaks spookily shut with a deathly thud. Enjoy!
