The British Art Prize 2024: Interview with winner Samuel Owusu Achiaw The winner of the British Art Prize 2024 has just been announced. Samuel Owusu Achiaw took first prize for his exquisitely diaphonous and hyperreal graphite and charcoal portrait of his sister, titled ‘Looking’. We attended the awards ceremony at Southbank’s Gallery@oxo and were […]
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What’s in a name? London place names decoded We’re surrounded by street signs every day and casually type these sometimes odd-sounding addresses into Google Maps without a second thought about what they mean or where the name came from. The Romans founded the city of Londinium [London], so you’d expect a Latin root somewhere. Let’s […]
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The British Art Prize 2024: Interview with winner Samuel Owusu Achiaw The winner of the British Art Prize 2024 has just been announced. Samuel Owusu Achiaw took first prize for his exquisitely diaphonous and hyperreal graphite and charcoal portrait of his sister, titled ‘Looking’. We attended the awards ceremony at Southbank’s Gallery@oxo and were […]
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This Oscar Wilde play was originally titled The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy For Serious People. Wilde added the extra as if concerned we might miss the point. And it’s heartening how the comedy elements have passed the test of time, perhaps because of ‘serious’ people forever finding new meaning in the once […]
Most are familiar with Christopher Marlowe’s play and the seven deadly sins which haunt Doctor Faustus in this Elizabethan tragedy. Few may be aware that Faustus is described in the traditional Chorus as being from ‘base stock’ and later a physician and professor of divinity at Wittenberg University. Even then, his undeniable thirst for greater […]
Curtain Road in Shoreditch has its place in British history as the location for Britain’s earliest theatres. In 1576 the first purpose-built modern playhouse was constructed on this road and given the succinct title of The Theatre. Nice name! It comes from the Latin term Theatrum used to describe a Roman playhouse and was the […]
On today’s date Jan 9th back in 1770 English circus owner Philip Astley (who himself was born on Jan 8th 1742) staged the first modern circus in London. This inventor and equestrian had a colourful life which included a stint in the cavalry during which he fought in the Seven Years War (1756-63) for which […]
With the Christmas countdown in full effect it follows that panto season is in full swing. With the kids dragging you off to the theatre perhaps for their or even your first time here’s a few fascinating facts about London’s theatres. London’s oldest theatre First built in 1663 on Bridges Street, the Theatre Royal Drury […]
It’s almost a year since David Bowie made his final public appearance at the New York opening night of the Lazarus musical he co-wrote. Now playing through the autumn-winter season at the Kings Cross Theatre, Londoners have no excuse not to pay homage to one of rock’s greats in a production featuring many of his […]
With an 80-year-old woman, Glenda Jackson, in the title role of King Lear it has come a long way since Shakespeare first loosely adapted it from Leir of Britain, a mythical tale about an 8th Century BC Celtic king. This pseudo-historical figure was mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain. So […]
From Eastern lore comes a play about this beautiful tragedy of Japanese mermaids adapted by playwright and translator Nozomi Abe and directed by Yojiro Ichikawa. Originally titled The Mermaid and the Red Candles, it’s a tale about an abandoned mermaid who is raised by a childless human couple but whose destiny changes as she increasingly […]
Shakespeare, the world’s greatest bard was both born and buried in Stratford-upon-Avon 400 years ago so it’s fitting that on this anniversary year Britain’s first all black production of Hamlet should be produced and performed in Stratford – Stratford, East London that is. Black Theatre Live’s partnership with Stratford Circus arts centre and Watford Palace […]
Did this conversation between Cassius Clay (as he was then known), Malcolm X, soul singer Sam Cooke and American footballer Jim Brown actually take place? That’s debatable, but without doubt these three men were close pals of The Greatest and if we are led to believe they were together chatting in this hotel room after […]
Hillary Clinton Graffiti/Painting Shoreditch By Street Artist Pegasus
