Our pick of the arty highlights on London's cultural calendar
Be There First: London Shows Opening
Tonight, The Tempest opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, starring the very sexy Ralph Fiennes as Prospero, and the very unsexy Nicholas Lyndhurst as Trinculo.
Elsewhere in theatre, improvised comedy musical Baby Wants Candy opens tomorrow, as does EdFringe graduate Confessions Of A Mormon Boy at the Charing Cross Theatre, and black comedy The Kitchen at the National Theatre.
Decade, Headlong Theatre’s site specific production looking at the legacy of 9/11 opens in a disused office building in St Katharine Docks on Thursday.
RESPECT La Diva is a jukebox musical featuring hits from Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Mariah Carey and Beyonce, which opens at the Garrick on Thursday, if you like that sort of thing. Disco Pigs is a very different play, dashing through teenage friendship, and a new revival erupts onto the Young Vic stage on Friday.
We’ve just got the one dance highlight for this week: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – Tezuka is a brand new work inspired by manga artist Osamu Tezuka at Sadler’s Wells from tonight.
Opera fans can see Benjamin Britten’s dark, morally ambiguous opera The Rape of Lucretia performed by the British Youth Opera at the Peacock Theatre from tomorrow. Or if you can spare the cash, there are some very expensive seats left to see Puccini’s triptych Il Trittico at the Royal Opera House from Monday.
There are a number of interesting art shows opening this week. We like the sound of Christian Jankowski’s Casting Jesus video installation at the Lisson Gallery, and Conrad Shawcross’s new sculptures at the Victoria Miro. Both open tomorrow. Rothko in Britain at the Whitechapel Gallery from Friday is another one not to miss.
You should also head to the National Maritime Museum from Friday to see the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition. And the new London Transport Museum show, Journeys of the Imagination: The Travel Posters of Artist and Illustrator John Burningham is another goody.
Last Chance To See: London Shows Closing
Saturday is your last chance to see Betwixt! at the Trafalgar Studios, Broken Glass at the Tricycle (before it transfers to the West End), Crazy For You at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (which is also rumoured to be transferring), and Oh What A Lovely War at the Greenwich Theatre.
Kevin Spacey’s Richard III closes on Sunday. As does Miro at Tate Modern and Watch Me Move at the Barbican. Enjoy.
