Wow, welcome to February. London's cultural calendar is packed! Take your pick from the following...
Be There First; London Shows Opening
In art, it appears Susan Hiller is very much the flavour of the week. Today is the opening of her major exhibition at Tate Britain. Wait til Thursday, and you can see another exhibition of her work at the Timothy Taylor Carlos Place Gallery.
On Friday, Michael Petry's exhibition at the John Soane Museum, featuring work made in response the museum and its collection, opens. Also opening on Friday is Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard's new exhibition at the South London Gallery. Film, video and sound works, including the re-enactment and re-interpretation of popular cultural events explore what it means to be part of an audience. Phil Collins: Marxism Today opens at the BFI Gallery on Friday. It's a short film combining interviews with teachers of Marxism-Leninism in Communist East Germany, alongside archive imagery of life in the old GDR. And on Saturday, you can see Michael Landy: Art World Portraits, 12 portraits from the artist's larger project in which he drew family and friends every day for a year, at the National Portrait Gallery.
From tonight in theatre, you can see global-warming documentary theatre at the National Theatre in Greenland or The History Boys (again) at the Rose in Kingston.
We'd also recommend Romeo and Juliet for ages 11+ at the Unicorn Theatre from tomorrow; the rediscovered Accolade at the Finborough from Thursday; Water at the Tricycle, also from Thursday; and Vernon God Little, a stage adaptation of DBC Pierre's Booker prize-winning novel opens at the Young Vic on Monday.
For opera enthusiasts, David McVicar's production of Die Zauberflöte opens at the Royal Opera House tonight.
It's an international week for dance fans! The famous American Ballet Theatre dance company comes to Sadler's Wells from tonight. Their week-long programme includes two UK premieres: Alexei Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas and Benjamin Millepied's Everything Doesn't Happen At Once. You can also see the Russian State Ballet at the New Wimbledon Theatre: Swan Lake on Thursday and Friday, and The Nutcracker on Saturday.
Last Chance To See: London Shows Closing
A lot of the RSC's Winter Season at the Roundhouse comes to a close this week. So, Friday is your last chance to see King Lear; As You Like It and Julius Caesar close on Saturday. Saturday is also your last chance to see Barbershopera – Apocalypse No! and The Fitzrovia Radio Hour at the Trafalgar Studios. And Bonnie And Clyde at Theatre 503 and The Snow Queen at the Polka Theatre also close on Saturday.
Finally, Future Beauty; 30 Years of Japanese Fashion closes at the Barbican on Sunday.
Image by Susan Hiller Homage to Marcel Duchamp (detail) 2008. Courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery, London © Susan Hiller
