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Ready for a week of fun? Make your way to a Stitch ’n’ Bitch workshop, dig into Vietnamese street food at a super supper club, or check out interesting flicks at the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.
Things to do
HogWhats Quiz Night, Concrete, Tue, £20. Potty for all things Harry Potter? Test out how sharp your wizarding knowledge is in this monthly immersive quiz night grilling you on everything from Quidditch to Herbology.
Listen: Giving a Voice to Refugees, 310 New Cross Road, Tue-Thu, free. Hear refugees tell their own personal stories at this pop-up sound installation. Through 20 suspended headphones, visitors will have the chance to hear refugees anonymously vocalise their feelings about why they have migrated from their home countries.
Stitch 'n' Bitch Feminist Cross Stitch, Pineapple, Wed, £25. Stick two thimbled fingers up at the patriarchy at this feminist cross stitch workshop.
Mother's Day Workshop, St Pancras International, Wed, £35. Create a hand-tied flower bouquet beneath the watchful eyes of John Betjeman (well, his statue) at this Mother's Day workshop in the restored Victorian architectural surroundings of The Grand Terrace at St Pancras International Station.
Show me your moves! Computer Game Burlesque, Loading Bar Secret Weapon, Thu, £10 general admission. There will be no anti-social screen time here, this night is all about interactive gaming: jump into a ball pit, get up to dance and join in on some silly sleaze.
St Christopher’s Place Spring Celebration, Marylebone, Thu, free. St Christopher’s Place has teamed up with artist Anna Garforth to launch a foliage-filled artwork marking the official arrival of spring.
Imagine Moscow: Architecture, Propaganda, Revolution, Design Museum, all week, £10. ‘The streets shall be our brushes, the squares our palettes,’ said the Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1918, a year after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. And with the idea of the nation as a blank canvas in mind, this exhibition looks at six unrealised architectural projects.
…or check out more events happening in London this week
Eating and drinking
Sakura Pop-Up, Brewery Below, Borough Wines & Beers, Thu, prices vary. Did you know that there's a Japanese Cherry Blossom season with its very own name: Sakura? Well there is, and chef Adam Rawson has created 12-course menu of Japanese dishes for his own 'Sakura' pop-up.
Hanoi Cà Phê Vietnamese Supper Club, HUCKS, Thu, £30. Join the Hanoi Cà Phê Vietnamese street food and drink supper club, where you'll be treated to authentic Hanoi flavours and delicious cocktails and drinks.
…or check out the latest restaurant reviews
Live music
Flavia Coelho, Omeara, Tue, £15. Drawing influence from samba, reggae, bossa nova and more, Coehlo’s performances are always captivating.
Cloud Nothings, Koko, Tue, £13. Packing all the angst and energy of your Blink-182s without the cringe factor, Dylan Baldi’s lo-fi pop-punks bust out some serious riffage.
Marc Almond, Roundhouse, Wed, £37.50-£65. The Stockport-born singer-songwriter performs a selection of pop, cabaret and other songs from throughout his long career.
The Yoncé Experience, XOYO, Wed, £5. How does five hours of unadulterated Bey tunes sound? Pretty jumpin, jumpin' right? Ahem.
Lewis Watson, The Tabernacle, Thu. £15. Enjoy poppy sounds from the adorable, freckled acoustic singer-songwriter.
…or take a look at all the live music events in London this week
Film
BFI Flare: ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ Singalong, BFI Southbank, TONIGHT, £12.10, £8 concs. London’s biggest celebration of LGBT+ cinema returns with another bumper crop of dramas and docs, plus shorts, talks, parties and special events. The line-up is brilliant.
Science Fiction Theatre: ‘A Scanner Darkly’, The Victoria, TONIGHT, £3.50-£5. Another terrific sci-fi flick, plus a talk from biology lecturer Dr Caroline Brennan on addiction and zebrafish genetics(!).
Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, various locations, all week, prices vary. Taking place at various venues across London, Kinoteka presents some of the best new Polish cinema. Look out for Polish film screenings, Q&As and foodie film events at Barbican, BFI Southbank, ICA, Close-up Cinema, POSK Jazz Cafe and Regent Street Cinema.
Or at the cinema...
Personal Shopper ★★★★★ Kristen Stewart is excellent in Olivier Assayas's magnificently unconventional Paris-set ghost story.
Beauty and the Beast ★★★★☆ This live-action spin on the classic Disney animation, starring Emma Watson, is lively and modern – but also honours the love for the original film.
…or see all of the latest releases
© Tristram Kenton
Theatre
Royal Ballet: The Human Seasons / After the Rain / Flight Pattern, Royal Opera House, Mon-Tue, Thu, £3-£50. The Royal Ballet's first main stage work by a female choreographer in 18 years is the main attraction of this fine triple bill.
Filthy Business, Hampstead Theatre, all week, £10-£35. Sara Kestelman steals the show in this epic family drama.
The Miser, Garrick Theatre, all week, £15-£65. Griff Rhys Jones and Lee Mack star in this fun but overegged Molière update.
…or see our theatre critics’ choices
This week's best art
Ibrahim Mahama: Fragments, White Cube Bermondsey, Tue-Thu, free. Filthy black and brown jute sacks are draped across the pristine walls of London’s White Cube. Young Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has been using them in his art for years, sewing them together, repurposing and reimagining them into abstract canvases of dirt and history.
Rhys Coren: Whistle Bump Super Strut, Seventeen, Wed-Fri, free. Rhys Coren’s work feels like the result of thousands of hours spent in front of countless late ’80s and early ’90s TV shows. The multi-coloured shaped panels here – created by intricately slicing together layers of wooden board – look like glitchy title sequences from pre-grunge high school dramas.
Michelangelo & Sebastiano, National Gallery, all week, £16. This show tells a story of friendship, collaboration and admiration between a great master of High Renaissance art and a pretender to the throne, but also a story of manipulation, deception and total political bastardry.
…or see all London art reviews
And finally
Win...one of five pairs of tickets to Field Day 2017 or a night out in the West End thanks to 'MAMMA MIA!' the musical
Book…these gigs while you still can
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