Our pick of the fun-sounding art, exhibition, theatre and dance openings this week. Plus some last-chance-to-see tips
Be There First: London Shows Opening
Jewels opens at the Royal Opera House tonight. Choreographed by the dance genius George Balanchine, Jewels is made up of three movements: Emeralds (set to Fauré), Rubies (evoking jazz-era NYC, set to Stravinsky) and Diamonds (paying homage to Russia, and set to Tchaikovsky).
Our other dance suggestion for this week is Sylvie Guillem’s 6000 Miles Away at Sadler’s Wells from Thursday.
Two musicals return to London tonight. Firstly, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is back in London at the Ambassadors Theatre; and the Young Vic’s Street Scene is back at the South London venue for a strictly limited run. Tomorrow is the opening night of Grief, Mike Leigh’s new play, commissioned by the National Theatre.
From Friday, you can see The Tempest in the atmospheric surroundings of St Giles’ Cripplegate Church, with surviving music from the original play.
Head out to quaint Kingston from Thursday to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Rose Theatre, starring Jane Asher as Lady Bracknell.
From Monday, you can see Propeller’s 60-minute version of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors at Hampstead Theatre.
Top quirky exhibitions this week include Reddress at York Hall, Mindful at the Old Vic Tunnels, and Edgar Martins: The Time Machine (photos of Portuguese hydro-electric power plants) at the Wapping Project Bankside.
On a more traditional note, the Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture opens at the Mall Galleries on Thursday, and the V&A opens Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 on Saturday.
Last Chance To See: London Shows Closing
Betty Blue Eyes closes at the Novello on Saturday, as does Beasts at Theatre 503, Confessions of a Mormon Boy at the Charing Cross Theatre, RESPECT La Diva at the Garrick, Disco Pigs at the Young Vic, and The Wild Bride at the Lyric Hammersmith.
And the London Design Festival is all over on Sunday.
We have listings for ongoing shows at London’s top museums on our Museums and Galleries page
