London’s First Roman Civic Hall Found Under Office Block Did you know the subterranean remains of a Roman market lie beneath the historic Leadenhall Market in Gracechurch Street near Monument station? That’s 2,000 years of market trading on this City of London spot. And archaeologists have now unearthed the remains of London’s first Roman […]
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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 Jameel Prize: Moving Images – exhibition at the V&A . Beyond the V&A’s ornate and magnificently high-ceilinged walls lie an extraordinary wealth of historical and cultural displays. Indeed, you’d best plan your day around just one exhibition, or you’ll be there all week! And why not plan that visit around the Jameel Prize: Moving […]
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It’s just as well in previous incarnations the Kings Head Theatre, the first pub theatre since Shakespeare’s day, was once used as a boxing ring because the near fisticuffs that follow when Adam is being fought over by Eve and his camp ‘best friend forever’ Steve, might have called for a return to the pugilistic […]
Budding playwrights who want to get their work out there will appreciate this pitching event with a difference. Hosted by the award-winning Coin Theatre Company, ten selected writers get their opportunity to pitch before an audience who get to vote on their winner. But wait – all of this takes place on a 20th-century Dutch […]
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 […]
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 […]
In Greek mythology Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and spent eternity paying for his crime. His archetype is ‘resurrected’ in this Frankenstein-influenced play set in a gothic castle overlooking Lake Geneva. We know that the literati writing circle of Romantic poets Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and his wife Mary (who would go on to […]
The exhibition and tour of the Shakespeare’s Globe theatre is open everyday with a paid ticket. However, on the occasion of Shakespeare’s birthday that falls on April 23, the Globe threw open its doors to the public to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday over the weekend on Sunday, April 19 that included free entrance to the exhibition […]
Hillary Clinton Graffiti/Painting Shoreditch By Street Artist Pegasus
