London

See Nigerian kitchen sink comedy drama
Oladipo Agboluaje’s social comedy, ‘The Estate’ deals with classic themes – family feuds, illicit relationships, class divides – but with a contemporary Nigerian edge.
‘The Estate’ by Oladipo Agboluaje, presented by Tiata Fahodzi, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean St, W1 (0870 4296 883/ www.sohotheatre.com) June 6-17 7.30pm. Tickets £10-£15.

Wind and grind, JA-style
Heavyweight dub, old school dancehall and reggae on the first Saturday of the month at ‘Tighten Up’. On June 3, one of London’s top old school reggae DJs, Jesse James, makes an appearance.
‘Tighten Up’ at Catch, 22 Kingsland Road, E2 (020 7729 6097) Old St tube. Sat 9pm-2am. Adm free. Feature continues

Immerse yourself in African culture
Since the ’80s the Black Cultural Archives has been compiling one of the largest collections of historical artefacts and items relating to the black presence in Britain. Its current ‘Oriki’ exhibition celebrates African art and culture and features a contemporary section showcasing the work of Royal College of Arts students and graduates, including early work by Chris Ofili.
Black Cultural Archives, 1 Othello Close, SE11 (020 7582 8516/www.bcaheritage.org.uk/oriki) Kennington tube. Open Tue-Sun 11am-5pm. Exhibition until 23 July. Adm free.

Stare down an Indian King Cobra
A tiger from Sumatra, antelopes from Africa, and a golden lion tamarin (a small monkey) from Brazil are just part of the international community at London Zoo. Budding parseltongues (those, like Harry Potter, who can talk to snakes) will be excited to learn of the zoo’s newest arrival: a six-foot-long King Cobra from India. Still young, she is already well travelled, having just arrived from an American zoo to become only the second of the species on view in Britain. When she’s fully grown at nine feet long, she’ll be able to rear up and out stare a grown man. The other reptiles in the house better watch their backs though: the Latin name for the King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, means ‘snake eater’ after their staple food in the wild.
London Zoo, Outer Circle, Regent’s Park, NW1 (020 7722 3333/www.zsl.org/london-zoo/) Baker St tube. Open 10am-5.30pm daily (until Oct 23). Adm £14.50 adult; children (aged 3-15) £11.50; under-threes free.

Bed down in a Buddhist village
The London Buddhist Centre on Roman Road was set up in 1978 and has become an east London institution. It is now much more than just a meditation centre and it has spawned a Buddhist village, where a Buddhist community live and work. Its gorgeous organic cafés, arts centre, health food shop and yoga and alternative health studio all run on co-operative principles, whereby like-minded people are paid according to their needs, rather than as a reward for their contribution. The benefits of meditation are profound; learn either ‘The Mindfulness of Breathing’, which enhances awareness and peace of mind, or ‘The Metta Bhavana’ (the development of loving kindness), which brings about emotional change.
The London Buddhist Centre, 51 Roman Rd, E2 (0845 458 4716/www.lbc.org.uk) Bethnal Green tube.

Learn skills with local women
Based on Brick Lane for over a decade, the Heba Education Centre for Women welcomes all London women. East London is well known for its immigrant Asian population and women taking the very reasonably priced classes here (IT, sewing and English are among those on offer) reflect the community’s international mix. Many of the teachers are Bangladeshi and Somalian, and learning here really feels like you’ve been transported to another part of the world.
Heba, 164 Brick Lane, E1 (020 7377 0400) Liverpool St tube/rail or Shoreditch tube. Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.

Kalarippayat, an ancient Indian martial art

Indian fight nights in Stratford
Kalarippayat is the martial art of Kerala and literally means ‘acquired skill’. It’s a combination of north and south Indian fighting forms that sometimes employs weapons such as spears, daggers and a lethal flexible sword called an ‘urumi’. Kalarippayat also encompasses Ayurvedic herbal therapy and ‘marma treatment’, in which 108 pressure points (or ‘marmas’) on the body are massaged. Paul Whitrod offers tuition from his full-time school in Stratford dedicated to martial arts fromd around the world.
Paul Whitrod, 27 Romford Rd, E15 (020 8471 7130/www.kalarippayatt.co.uk) Stratford tube/rail/DLR.

Suss out subversive Uzbek theatre
Next week London gets its first visit from The Ilkhom Theatre, a renegade Uzbek company that has toured all over the world. It was one of the first professional theatre companies to exist independent of state control in the former USSR and survived allegations of dissidence from the KGB. It now continues to present politically subversive theatre in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The production it presents, writer Abdulla Kadyri’s ‘White White Black Stork’, is about the conflicts between society,
family and self.
‘White White Black Stork’, Barbican The Pit, Silk St, EC2 (www.barbican.org.uk) Barbican tube. Show on Tues June 6- Sat June 10 7.45pm. £15.

Go Yiddish clubbing
About as far removed from a ‘Jewdo’ (a yawn-inducing, Diet Coke-supping, spouse-meeting anti-party) as can be, Yid Kandy is a young and fresh Jewish knees-up with massive crossover appeal. Anarchic and eclectic dirty house, klezmer beats and twisted visuals, alongside fresh new bands like the resident Ghetto Plotz (think Fatboy Slim at a Jewish wedding), plus Eastern European and Middle Eastern flavours, make for a night quite unlike anything else.
Yid Kandy, Clockwork, 66-68 Pentonville Rd, N1 (020 7837 5387) Angel tube.
Next Yid Kandy Fri 9pm-3am. Adm £5.