Around Town

The problem
Jeff and Sandra, Exeter ‘We booked a week in London not realising it was half-term. We’d like pointers for child-free theatre and cinema and maybe some exhibitions and restaurants.’

The prescription
If you haven’t seen ‘Sweeney Todd’ yet , the 18 certificate means it will be off the family itinerary and the try-it-on younger teenagers are also likely to give it a wide berth (buckets of gore may appeal but the wonderful Sondheim songs are an acquired taste). ‘Juno’, on the other hand, is a big hit with teens so that’s one to avoid this week.

‘The Masque of the Red Death’ at Battersea Arts Centre is sold out but it’s worth trying for returns. At the start of Punchdrunk’s atmospheric peripatetic performance, audience members are exhorted to ‘be brave and travel alone’. You may be scared yourselves but you shouldn’t be troubled by traumatised offspring. The Little Angel Theatre in Islington, normally the preserve of families, is currently presenting ‘Hanging by a Thread’ (Feb 26-Mar 16), a wordless puppet production for adults about women of different generations and their desire to escape the circumstances that bind them together.
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At Tate Modern whizz through the Turbine Hall where you’re likely to find lots of scamps intent on inserting their feet into the crack, and head for ‘Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia’ (Feb 21-May 26). Families are more inclined to focus on free displays and we reckon any kids will be on their best behaviour under the eagle eye of the attendants determined to make sure young visitors aren’t tempted to make improper use of Duchamp’s famous urinal.

Few children are willing to ingest offal, so any restaurant specialising in the more esoteric body parts should be pretty peaceful. Try St John – the original Clerkenwell branch or the newer branch in Whitechapel.

Do you agree? Post your suggestions for Jeff and Sandra's day out.

Email your cultural problem to cultureclinic@timeout.com.