Things To Do Today In London: Good Friday 14 April 2017

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Things to do today is sponsored by Scotch Kitchen.

Vogue Workshop and Club Night at Southbank Centre

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Things to do today

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS: If you're running out of ideas for how to keep the little ones entertained, look no further than our list of things to do during the Easter holidays.

EASTER EGG HUNT: London's not short of Easter egg hunts this weekend but we like the sound of this offering at Forty Hall in Enfield. Keep the kids occupied with a trail around the Hall before they get their chocolate reward. £1, book ahead, 14-17 April

EASTER BUNNY DAY: If your little ones are excited at the thought of the Easter Bunny visiting, take them to Battersea Park Zoo where they can become the Easter Bunny themselves, making their own ears and getting whiskers painted on. £1 + entrance fee, 11am/1.30pm

ANATOMY OF A DOLL: It's the last chance to take a tour of the Royal Academy's Life Room, filled with uncanny dolls made by Cathie Pilkington. Royal Academy, £5, book ahead, 11am and 2pm

THE PASSION OF JESUS: A Good Friday tradition, watch the Easter story played out in the open air with 100 actors, plus donkeys and horses, and relayed on large screens. Trafalgar Square, free, just turn up, 90-minute performances at noon/3pm (you'll want to get there early for any chance of seeing it unfold)

Easter Bunny Day at Battersea Park Zoo

SOUTHBANK CENTRE: There are plenty of free activities at Southbank Centre this Good Friday, including a social dance where visitors of all ages can learn a street dance from Jamaica (1pm), live jazz and blues music courtesy of Randolph Matthews (5.30pm) and a vogue workshop and club night (7.30pm).

BATTLE ANNIVERSARY: The Battle of Barnet took place in 1471, changing the course of British history. Take a guided tour of the battlefield on its anniversary weekend and hear about the first recorded case of friendly fire. Junction of the Great North Road and Hadley Green Road, £9/£4, book ahead, 2.30pm

BENGALI NEW YEAR: As well as being Good Friday, today's also Bengali New Year. Celebrate with traditional music, spoken word, dance and rituals. Age 10+. Rich Mix (Shoreditch), free, just turn up, 5pm

TREASURE HUNT: If you want to go on a hunt on Good Friday but aren't feeling the Easter egg hype, this is for you. Search the British Museum with THATMuse to discover a history of games across ancient civilisations. British Museum, free, book ahead, 5.30pm-7.30pm

SAILOR'S BALL: Dance the night away aboard the Cutty Sark. There'll be swing dancing lessons, followed by live music and rounded off with some banging DJs. Cutty Sark, £25/£39, book ahead, 7.15pm-11.30pm


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Art review: a virtual journey

Courtesy Annka Kultys Gallery

We walk into what looks like an airport departure lounge complete with the board, steel benches and a discarded coffee cup. But the video on screen takes us on a different journey — through cyberspace and into our own psyche. It's surreal and imaginative. Stine Deja: Cyphoria at Annka Kultys, 472 Hackney Road, E2 9EQ, until 22 April, free ★★★☆☆ (Wednesday-Saturday) Tabish Khan

Theatre review: a goddess is among us

Of all the great American divas whose reputations preceded them across the pond — Bette Midler, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close — none arrives to greater anticipation or with the panache of Broadway sweetheart and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. Here for four nights only — ahead of a June opening as Billie Holliday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill — she's in casual conversation and breathtakingly fine voice, sharing wicked stories and songs as casually as if she were in your living room. Or Carnegie Hall. If you have any chance to score a ticket, you should. Read more here. Audra McDonald, Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2 H 7BX, £40-55 until April 15 ★★★★★ (Wednesday-Saturday) Johnny Fox

Theatre review: a bird in the hand

It's innuendo ahoy in this 1940s set musical about a turbulent gay romance and a Gracie Fields-alike naughty northerner. Nostalgia abounds but it's a bit more twee than tweedy. The bawdy songs are funny to begin with but start to grate after the first couple of mentions of sausages and pussies. The main problem is the unconvincing dialogue shoehorned between songs. When it's good it's good, but at times it more a lame duck than a songbird. Miss Nightingale The Musical, The Vaults Theatre, 7AD Leake Street, SE1 7NN, £15-£50, until May 20 ★★☆☆☆ (Tuesday-Saturday) Chris Bridges

Good cause for the day

ART HUNT: Celebs such as Mel C, Dynamo and Dave Rowntree are tweeting out clues for where you can find hidden art pieces over the weekend, by celebrated Zebra One Gallery Artist, Dom Pattinson. It's in aid of humanitarian charity International Rescue Committee. Keep an eye out and you might bag yourself a masterpiece. Various locations, just turn up, 14-17 April