Things to do in London this week
What to do and see in London this week, Wednesday 27th August to 3rd September 2014: the coolest cultural current events in London, as selected by the Culture Whisper team
1. LITERARY TALK
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell is publishing his Booker long-listed and feverishly-anticipated sixth novel The Bone Clocks on 2nd September 2014. Catch him in conversation with Guardian Books Editor Claire Armistead at the Royal Geographical Society on 3rd Sept 2014.
2. OUTDOOR CINEMA
The B FI’s Days of Fear and Wonder sci fi season kicks off in spectacular fashion at the British Museum with outdoor screenings of three cult classics; The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Flash Gordon (1980), showing Friday 29th, Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August 2014.
3. AT THE MULTIPLEX
No-one kicks ass quite like indie temptress Scarlett Johansson. In Luc Besson’s sci fi thriller Lucy she plays a student who acquires special powers after a drugs run gone wrong. High-octane entertainment now on general release.
4. FOODIE POP-UP
Krug champagne have teamed up with Beast restaurant to create a Scandinavian seafood experience they’re calling Krug and Krustacean . It all takes place in wooden dining pods on the South Bank from 3rd to 7th September 2014, and to book, you’ll need to call 0844 371 5050. £40 per person for two glasses of champagne, plus crab sandwich and giant crab claw.
5. LEGEND ALERT
Tickets are still available for Tony Bennett ’s two-night residency on the 4th and 5th September 2014 at the Royal Festival Hall , playing songs from an incredible seven decades of hits.
6. FRINGE OPERA
Award-winning company OperaUpClose have transplanted Verdi’s opera La Traviata to the Jazz Age and the intimate surroundings of the Soho Theatre for a show that’s more like a pub gig than gilt-edged high culture. Until 14th September 2014.
7. IN THE KNOW
When the V&A’s new Medieval and Renaissance galleries opened some time ago we were awe-struck. Now we’ve discovered this weekly one-hour tour which takes place every Wednesday, for free, to introduce visitors to the objects on display within them. At 11.30, until the end of 2014.
8. MUST-SEE THEATRE
Alecky Blythe’s London Road drew on real testimonies surrounding the case of Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright. Her new play, Little Revolution , focuses on the London riots of 2011 in an immersive new drama at the Almeida . From 26th August to 4th October 2014.
9. BOOK NOW
Hugely influential British singer-songwriter and Kinks frontman Ray Davies is on a roll after a West End transfer for S unny Afternoon , the musical based on his back catalogue. A one-off live set on 9th September at the Southbank Centre, You Really Got Me , should be a treat for aficianados of his bitter-sweet British pop.
10. LAST CHANCE
Let the Right One In , a play that was once a film and before that a novel, is a Twilight-inflected bildungsroman which is both affecting and deeply creepy. Teenagers must be accompanied by an adult; tickets are still available for the last performances (closes 30th August at the Apollo Theatre).
Photograph of David Mitchell by Murdo Macleod
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