Things to do in London this week

What to do and see in London this week,  12 - 18 May  : The coolest, cultural, current events in London as selected by the Culture Whisper team.

Only the most ascetic of art lovers can avoid surrendering to the glamour of Cannes, which opens on Wednesday 14 May with a showing of Olivier Dahan’s Grace of Monaco . Set to be this year’s Great Gatsby, it’s a ‘motion picture event’ with all the Hollywood A listers, royal connections, deluxe vintage fashion, sex and death a publicist’s heart could possibly desire.

 For 2014, the Cannes jury is headed by a woman for only the tenth time in its history, in the shape of New Zealand director Jane Campion , who, as director Thierry Fremaux explained, ‘perfectly embodies the idea that you can make films as an artist and yet still appeal to a worldwide public’.  (Watch out for the re-release of The Piano ,  Campion's extraordinary film starring Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter , on Blu-ray). 

In theatre news, the RSC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies opens in London at the Aldwych Theatre – the run, unsurprisingly, is sold out. As an alternative, try Nick Payne – he was the youngest ever recipient of the Evening Standard’s best new play award for Constellations and his new play, Incognito , opens at the Bush Theatre on Wednesday 14 May. Tickets still available.

With wild rumours flying around London of a warm weekend and summer heat wave (we want so badly to believe) Glyndebourne suddenly seems like an even more attractive proposition than usual. The festival opens on 17 May with the sold-out  Der Rosenkavelier and Eugene Onegin , and is dedicated to the late Sir George Christie, who, sadly, died earlier this month.

Another great British institution, David Hockney, is showing his latest works at Annely Juda Fine Art until 12 July 14. The Arrival of Spring is made up of 16 East Yorkshire landscapes created on iPad and then turned into limited edition prints. 

Creative technological innovation is at work in St Paul’s Cathedral, too, where the first long-term video artwork ever to be installed in a consecrated British building is now open. Internationally acclaimed artist Bill Viola has been creating moving image installations for 40 years all over the world – and to huge excitement among London’s art crowd, his Martyrs will be joined next year by a second piece, Mary , both given to Tate Modern as gifts by the artist and on long-term loan to the cathedral. ‘The two themes of Martyrs and Mary,’ explains Viola, ‘symbolise some of the profound mysteries of human existence. One is concerned with birth and the other death; one with comfort and creation, the other with suffering and sacrifice.’

As that fabled warm weekend approaches, why not kick off proceedings by taking advantage of a particularly delightful free event staged at the National Portrait Gallery as part of its Late Shift/Museums at Night programme? For In Parenthesis , the English National Ballet have created a one-off, site specific dance inspired by David Jones’s epic First World War poem. 

On the South Bank, the Udderbelly Festival is in full-swing  – for Saturday, choose from the sinister juggling troupe Smashed, spontaneous musical comedy from Showstopper, the Best of the Comedy Store, or – our pick – Luisa Omielan, whose What Would Beyonce Do?!  has won rave reviews from, among other publications, Vogue. 

On Sunday, we’ll be keeping a close eye on BAFTA's television awards. In the frame are the inevitable Breaking Bad , plus Broadchurch, Doctor Who, Educating Yorkshire,  The Great British Bake Off and  Gogglebox . Too busy to watch telly? We highly recommend Gogglebox, part reality tv show and part social observation, and a great cheat sheet for the 'appointment television' the rest of the nation is glued to...

Until next time,

The Culture Whisper Team

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