Looking forward: London culture not to miss in 2019

London's stages are getting starry

It’s a star-studded year on London stages. Theatre's brightest talents join forces at London's National Theatre for When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, a timely new play about sexual domination and resistance starring Cate Blanchett. Meanwhile Tom Hiddleston returns to the stage to star in Harold Pinter's reversed romantic drama Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

With the new year comes another bold new show by Dutch director Ivo van Hove. This time he joins forces with the luminous Gillian Anderson and bright new star Lily James to bring 1950s film All About Eve to the stage. Finally, Culture Whisper travelled to Galway especially to see Cillian Murphy in Grief is the Thing with Feathers. Now, London theatre fans have the chance to see the show too, which comes to the Barbican in March.

Galleries are celebrating women and international talent

2019 hails the arrival of some international art superstars in the capital: Olafur Eliasson comes to Tate, Cindy Sherman lands at the National Portrait Gallery and the biggest Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition in the UK for 65 years opens at Buckingham Palace. Meanwhile, Tate Britain is temporarily rehanging the last 60 years of its gallery displays with only female artists including Bridget Riley, Rachel Whiteread and Monster Chetwynd.

Acclaimed chefs are opening exciting new eateries

Brixtonites, it’s your lucky year. Chef Dominique Goltinger is opening a new restaurant, Maremma, in your neck of the woods in February. Revisiting classic Tuscan dishes with a modern lens, Goltinger is serving the likes of wild boar prosciutto, spinach and ricotta tortelli, and bistecca alla Fiorentina at her new joint.

Meanwhile, there is no stopping the Barrafina team. In May, they’re opening a terrace bar and grill, Parrillan, at Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross. We’re also very excited for Cornish multi-award-winning chef Nathan Outlaw to open his new seafood restaurant at the iconic Goring Hotel, the only family-owned luxury hotel in London and a favourite of the Royals.

Michelle Obama returns to London

Michelle Obama recently charmed an audience of enraptured listeners at the Southbank Centre, where she spoke about her new memoir Becoming, in conversation with novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Not only did tickets to the event at the 2,700 capacity venue sell out, no less than 60,000 people attempted to buy them. If you weren't among the lucky few who got to hear from Michelle Obama first hand, we have some exciting news: the former First Lady is headlining the O2 Arena on 14 April 2019, providing a second chance to hear her discuss her book.

A Disney remake and spine-chilling horror hit the big screen

With Beyoncé, Donald Glover and Seth Rogen among the cast – not to mention the 'technologically groundbreaking' special effects – Jon Favreau's upcoming remake of The Lion King promises to be the most exciting cinematic happening this coming summer.

Meanwhile, horror lovers from far and wide were quaking in their boots after watching Hereditary, one of the best and most traumatic films of 2018. Ari Aster's directorial debut was no fluke, and the indie darling has already prepared one of the most enigmatic titles of the year: Midsommar.

The tide is also turning in the world of film – the industry that used to belong to men and men alone is growing, and it's welcoming everyone in. From stirring dramas to big-budget superhero epics, female directors are paving the way for an exciting year ahead. Two we’re particularly keen to see are Josie Rourke's Mary Queen of Scots, gracing screens in January, and Anna Boden’s Captain Marvel, which is punching its way into cinemas in March.

Keenly-awaited sequels are lining the bookshelves

2019 promises to be a big year for the book world. The Secret Commonwealth, aka the second installment of Philip Pullman’s new trilogy The Book of Dust, is dropping at some point during the year (the exact month is yet to be confirmed). The book follows His Dark Materials’ heroine Lyra Belacqua, now an undergraduate on a journey through Asia and the Levant.

Hilary Mantel has kept us waiting for final novel in her double Booker winning Thomas Cromwell trilogy. There was Wolf Hall in 2009, Bring Up the Bodies in 2012, and finally 2019 promises the The Mirror and the Light. Capturing Cromwell’s fall from grace, it begins with him masterminding Anne Boleyn’s execution in 1536 and ends with his own beheading in 1540.

Finally, it’s good news for those gripped by the brutal and disturbing world of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood is taking us back to the dystopian setting of her 1985 best-seller with her new novel: The Testaments.

Old favourites are bringing new plot twists to TV

From the final season of Game of Thrones to the hotly-anticipated second season of Big Little Lies (which sees Meryl Streep join the cast), 2019 is a year packed with excellent television – and that’s on Sky Atlantic alone. The highlight of the year on BBC One, meanwhile, might very well be a new adaptation of His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman’s dazzling fantasy trilogy. While Netflix welcomes a third season of both The Crown and Stranger Things. In short, you'll find us on the sofa.

Casino Royale Gets the Secret Cinema treatment

Secret Cinema has previously delighted audiences in turning Moulin Rouge!, Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Romeo and Juliet into full-on immersive evenings where costumes are worn, themed parties are thrown and scenes are acted out in front of the giant screen. Now, the team have announced that Casino Royale will be the next film to take centre stage in a night of mystery and martinis. The 2006 film seems like the perfect choice, as the adaptation of Ian Fleming's first ever James Bond story is packed with high-stakes drama to please both critics and fans.

Further afield: Glastonbury returns

After the Somerset farm was left fallow for 2018, festival-goers (including some lucky members of the CW team) are eagerly anticipating Glastonbury 2019. So far, we know Stormzy is storming the Pyramid stage on Friday night and Kylie Minogue is playing the ‘legend’ slot on Sunday afternoon. Wellies, glitter and dry shampoo at the ready, lucky ticket holders.

Romeo and Juliet is the ballet of the year

2019 is the year of Romeo and Juliet – in the dance world, anyway. Both the Royal Ballet and Matthew Bourne's New Adventures are bringing long runs of the most tragic love story of all time to the stage. From late March through June, the Royal Ballet brings us an unusually long run of Kenneth MacMillan's much loved Romeo and Juliet, with its boisterous crowd scenes, unparalleled love pas de deux and dazzling Prokofiev score. Meanwhile, Bourne's new Romeo and Juliet, running at Sadler's Wells for most of August, will contain his very own surprise twist on the tale.

Women conductors are making waves

Women conductors are making waves on the classical stage this year, while the classics themselves are being refreshed by the country’s leading orchestras and opera is going from strength to strength. In February, The Monstrous Child is the first opera to be performed at the newly re-opened Linbury Theatre within the Royal Opera House, and promises to be a true family affair. Then in the summer, new productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute, Berlioz's Damnation of Faust and Massenet's enchanting Cendrillon are sure to delight at Glyndebourne.