Things to do in London this week

What to do and see in London this week, Wednesday 11 June to Wednesday 18 June '14 : The coolest, cultural, current events in London as selected by the Culture Whisper team.

London is bracing itself for World Cup fever, due to kick off tomorrow with predictable hilarious consequences. Never fear; there is a Culture Whisper way to take part in the festivities – see our guide to the capital’s cool Brazilian bars for details (and avoid central London on Saturday, when England plays Italy).

The next seven days are, as usual, packed with cultural essentials, but relax – we’ve whittled them down to bring Zen to your diary.

What to book ahead in London?

Public booking for the ENO’s 2014-'15 season opened just yesterday, on Tuesday 10 June. Head to the website without delay to snag tickets for The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème, La Traviata and other delights. 

Also now accepting bookings for its autumn season is the Almeida;  Alecky Blythe presents a new play,  Little Revolution , and a revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town will also be showing. Culture Whisper members, click through to read full reviews. 

For classical ballet of the most heart-wrenching variety, the Mariinsky Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet , to a score by Prokofiev, is hard to beat. It opens on 28 July at the Royal Opera House; buy tickets while they last, as it won't be long.

Very different, but also eminently capable of tugging on the heartstrings, is Dolly Parton . This extraordinary songwriter and performer has dialled down the kitsch, according to reviews of her world tour Blue Smoke, and will be hitting the O2 in London on 27 June as part of an awe-inspiring 36-date tour of the UK. Critically-acclaimed indie rockers Arcade Fire are also gigging, in their case in Hyde Park as part of British Summer Time festival. Tickets are still available. 

But this week in London..?

There's no arguing with David Hare's award-winning 1995 play  Skylight:  Wyndam's Theatre  shows the revival directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Carey Mulligan and Bill Nye as the scratchily reunited lovers. But this West End blockbuster is not without rivals.

The Globe offers the first foray onto the stage of former model Lily Cole:   The Last Days of Troy opens this week. Cole's fierce intelligence and lightly-worn social conscience have piqued our interest for a while, and this show is sure to sell.

The Donmar’s Fathers and Sons , an adaptation by Brian Friel of the novel by Turgenev, opened to excellent reviews on 5 June. The run is sold out, but the Donmar’s Barclay Front Row programme releases £10 front row seats every Monday at 10am – well worth knowing about, and bookable here.

Young Jean Lee is not short on chutzpah. A Korean-American, with The Shipment  she deconstructs African-American stereotypes in ‘a series of numbers reminiscent of a minstrel show’, according to the publicity material. You can see the piece until 14 June at the Barbican as part of the Lift Festival of international theatre.

Proof that you don’t have to go to the West End to see a superlative play comes in the form of A Human Being Died That Night , searing Apartheid drama at the Hampstead Theatre by playwright Nicholas Wright based on the book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist and member of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. 

Children of our acquaintance who have viewed The Young and Prodigious T S Spivet pronounce it ‘the best film I have ever seen’. Concerning a child prodigy from the Midwest with a passion for cartography, it opens on Friday 13 June and since going to the cinema in good weather is the ultimate sinful indulgence for tired mamas and papas, we suggest you hasten to the nearest movie house on Saturday.

Speaking of mamas and papas, unexpectedly good reviews have greeted Moominsummer Madness (until 15th August, at the Polka Dot Theatre). Based on Tove Janssen’s children’s books, it is suitable for 6 to 9 year olds. 

Finally, to last chances.

The National Gallery’s 'Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice' closes on Sunday 15 June. It brings together fifty of the painter’s finest altarpieces, portraits and mythological works for the first time in more than 500 years and, as one of the best art exhibitions in London right now, shouldn’t be missed. The British Museum’s 'Vikings' runs until the weekend after next (Sunday 22 June) – we have somewhat mixed feelings about the exhibition, but adults and older children will likely respond to the stories told in coins, jewellery and the remains of the largest longship ever found.

Enjoy.

The Culture Whisper team

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