Things To Do In London: Wednesday 18 March 2015

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London Adventures

Fancy a new challenge? Want to take up a new sport now that summer's on the way? What about climbing? Despite the lack of cliffs, there are plenty of places to give climbing a go in London.

Things To Do

Pubsci discusses museum artefacts

BEFORE BREAKFAST: Up with the lark? Make the most of the early mornings — especially now they're getting lighter — with these things to do in London before breakfast.

LAST CHANCE: This will be the last week of the Paula Rego/Honóre Daumier exhibition at House of Illustration: make sure you visit it before it's too late. Although more than a century separates these two artists, they have much in common. £7/£5, prebook, until 22 March

SUMMER WINE BEERS: The Dean Swift in Bermondsey hosts the Summer Wine Brewery for an evening of beer sampling and beer chat. £10, prebook, 6pm

THEATRE PLATFORM: At today’s National Theatre Platform, director Nadia Fall and adapter Tanya Ronder talk about bringing their production of Dara to the National Theatre stage. £4/£3, prebook, 6pm

PUBSCI: Head to the Old Kings Head Pub near London Bridge where Paolo Viscardi, curator of natural history at the Horniman Museum, will be giving a talk titled Bringing the Dead to Life, focusing on the weird and wonderful specimens that can be found in museum stores. Donations encouraged, just turn up, 7pm

POETRY: The Royal Society of Literature's T.S. Eliot Memorial Lecture focuses on the work of poets Mark Doty and Ruth Padel, both of whom will be reading from their work. £8/£5, prebook, 7pm

LITERARY DEATH MATCH: Head to The Phoenix on Cavendish Square for Literary Death Match, where four writers read their work for seven minutes or less, to be judged by three judges (including Lionel Shriver, author of We Need To Talk About Kevin). £8, prebook, 7pm

GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEYS: Seven speakers are given just ten minutes each to present a microlecture on a geographical topic at the Royal Geographical Society. Topics include climbing Iran’s highest peak, conservation work with sea turtles in Antigua and kayaking down Sri Lanka’s longest river. £12/£9, prebook, 7pm

AFGHANISTAN WAR: Author and former ambassador to Moscow Rodric Braithwaite is in conversation with the BBC’s Caroline Wyatt to discuss the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Takes place at Imperial War Museum. Free, prebook, 7pm

TV HISTORY: Islington History Society hosts TV producer and director David Wilson, who will be talking and showing film clips about making history programmes for TV. Free for members/£1 for non-members, just turn up, 7.30pm

DUTCH FILM: Head to the Dutch Centre to watch romantic comedy film Soof — in Dutch with English subtitles. £10/£5, prebook, 7.30pm

ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS: The Lord Palmerston hosts an evening celebrating the glories and otherwise of the animal kingdom through a mixture of riotous anecdotes, readings from Coleridge to Gertrude Stein and live music. £10, prebook, 8pm

COMEDY: Don’t say we never send you to anything intellectual. Simon Munnery is attempting to make the 19th century existentialist Soren Kierkegaard funny, at the Soho Theatre until Sunday. £10-£17.50, prebook, 9.15pm


Good Cause of the Day

Remember the Year of the Bus sculptures that went on display around London last year? You can get hold of one in an auction, which raises money for Kids Company, Transaid, and the London Transport Museum.

Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings. Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at hello@londonist.com at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note: due to high volumes of email, we can’t always reply.