Things to do in London: June 2017 edition

Unlock London's secret gardens

We're not short of green spaces in London; we have more than any other European capital. But some gardens are kept under lock and key – most of the time. As part of Open Garden Squares Weeken more than 200 gardens across 27 boroughs will be unlocked. Seize your chance to step into the private gardens, hidden roof terraces, famous spaces and historic allotments.

Say ‘à votre santé’ at a French-inspired cocktail bar

Sip your way through the French countryside at this chic new Bethnal Green cocktail bar by the The Savoy’s former head barman. With an on-trend emphasis on seasonal ingredients and a subtly French theme, the cocktail list muddles together lesser known Gallic tipples with Vermouth, Calvados and Champagne. Add in a tres bien wine list promoting smaller vineyards and a menu featuring an entire section devoted to croque monsieurs and Coupette is practically a holiday.

Seize your second chance to see a Sherlock villain on stage

Andrew Scott’s Hamlet was so mesmerising it sold out swiftly at Islington’s Almeida Theatre. He brought a new edge to the grieving prince with a performance that probes our modern-day anxieties. Luckily for those of you who read the glowing reviews and wished you’d bothered to book, there’s another chance to see this bold, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s great tragedy, as the show transfers to the West End.

Follow your nose to sweet scents at Somerset House

Contrary to the billboards, perfume is much more that celebrity endorsement and glossy campaigns. Scent combines science and subjectivity, art and individual association. Somerset House explores all that perfume is in an intelligent interactive exhibition focussing on ten scents. Gender stereotypes and big branding are done away with, so we can celebrate 'unseen works of art worn on our skin'. There’s even the chance to enter the laboratory, meet the perfumers and create your own ‘juice’. We’re intrigued.

Binge watch the arresting dramas of Litchfield prison

Get ready to revolt with the women of Litchfield prison in season five of Orange is the New Black. The Netflix original series has grown from a story of one WASPy woman thrust totally out of her comfort zone into a rousing rally against abuse, racism and exploitation. The drama is so white-hot that ten of the new episodes were stolen and held to ransom by hackers. Picking up after a galvanising cliff-hanger, this series shows the women rising up and uniting against the injustices of the justice system.

See women in the frame at the National Portrait Gallery

Portraiture is not the buzziest of art forms. Seen lately as high-minded and serious, it can can be oddly joyless. Smiles are rare, while wizened geriatrics and disenchanted, hard-faced youths abound. But for the first time in the BP Award's history, this year's shortlisted portraits all feature female sitters. And along with the standard paintings of faces, there are tender depictions of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Feast on British dim sum and get trollied

Food writer and musician duo James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy were amateurs when they set up their first restaurant, Pidgin. Two years later and their supperclub-style conviviality has customers flocking to Hackney, including those on the Michelin board (they were awarded a star in 2016). Magpie, their new restaurant, brings the same charm to Covent Garden. British dim sum dishes such as kosho and fennel pollen, miso custard and Galician dairy cow with lobsters will all be served from table-side roaming trolleys.

MIA's Meltdown Festival, Southbank Centre

The eclectic line-up of this year’s Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre is all that we hoped from MIA. The musician, outspoken activist and collaboration queen is only the fourth woman to curate the festival in its 24 year history. And she’s redressing much more than misogyny. There’s LGBT rap from Mykki Blanco, alternative R&B from Princess Nokia, pottymouthed Jamacian dancehall from Dexta Daps, along with socially conscious from Young Fathers and electro-pop from Crystal Palace. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Ponder parliamentary processes at an intriguing new musical

A new musical entitled - deep breaths now - The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Takes Oral Evidence on Whitehall's Relationship with Kids Company - brings a recent scandal to life on stage. The headlining-grabbing closure of Kids Company charity forms the basis of the show, with dialogue and and lyrics taken from from the transcript of evidence given at the inquiry. It’s a bold, bonkers prospect - but the Donmar Warehouse has a formidable reputation for sell-out, everyone’s-talking-about-it theatre.

Soak up the best of the art world at the Summer Exhibition

Every year, the Royal Academy presents its Summer Exhibition, the world's biggest open submission art show. Originally quite a traditional affair, the event has been running consecutively for an astonishing 248 years. It’s always a heady concoction of classic and contemporary. Painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, architecture and film share wall and floor space. This year’s highlights include work from Sean Scully, Gilbert & George and Yinka Shonibare.

Watch the Cannes hit with an environmental conscience

The eponymous hero of new film Okja is, if you’re wondering, a kind of giant mutant pig. She’s mostly hippo-looking, with puppyish ears and equine skittishness. To a 14-year-old Korean girl, Mija, this creature is a friend. For everyone else, though, Okja means cash or medium-rare sirloin. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy animal; corporate villains Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal give us a silly yet sharp satire of the meat and dairy industry. We saw this Netflix original film at Cannes and it was unconventionally brilliant.

See this summer's standout dance double bill

Possibly the most exciting ballet company in Britain, Scottish Ballet brings us an audacious double bill of works by two preeminent contemporary choreographers: Canadian Cyrstal Pite and French Albanian Angelin Preljocaj.

A hit at last year's Edinburgh Festival, Emergence and MC24 (Ceci est mon corps) is the double bill to beat all double bills.

If you don't see any other dance this summer, make sure not to miss this show at Sadler's Wells.