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The best things to do this week
You have until Thursday to watch ‘This House’, director James Graham’s take on the political machinations of the Labour government between the hung parliament of 1974 and the Tory election victory of Thatcher in 1979. It’s got big hair, big flares and a lot of questionable three-piece pinstripe suits, but it carries a message for the ages: if you want to preserve a true democracy, how on earth can you stop people just acting in their own self-interest?
Ready to fully submerge yourself in nature after all those months of not really leaving the house? Get yourself down to Kew Gardens, reopening on June 1, for a mega flora overload. The world-famous Royal Botanic Gardens has been given the go-ahead by the government to welcome visitors. Of course, it will be operating under strict social-distancing guidelines, though. The biggest change? All visitors, including members, will have to book tickets online for time slots and show proof of the slot on arrival. This is the first time Kew has insisted on this in its history.
‘Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi’ at Somerset House closed in March, but you can view the exhibition virtually. Browse John Cage’s mushroom notebooks, Beatrix Potter’s botanical illustrations and Carsten Höller’s suitcase of spinning, solar-powered fungi. To access the exhibition, download the Google Arts & Culture app, search the show’s title, and you’ll be able to project the mushrooms right into your living room.
The V&A’s ‘Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk’ was one of the first exhibitions in Europe to delve into the sartorial and social significance of the kimono, exploring its traditional roots from the 1660s in Japan to the garment’s recent reinvention in Japanese street culture. The museum has now released a series of five films made just before the country went into lockdown that will let anyone who didn’t manage to catch the show get an intimate 30-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the show, led by curator Anna Jackson.
Your regular exercise routine probably went out the window on day one of working from home, didn’t it? Never fear! London cabaret star Dolly Trolley is here to help you burn off all those extra calories you’re stress-eating with a drag aerobics class live-streamed on Instagram and Facebook Live every Wednesday at 7.30pm straight from Dolly’s living room. It’s free, but you can chuck her a few quid on PayPal for the effort! Go on, be generous: those squats don’t come for free.
If you really want to belt out a verse of ‘The Lambeth Walk’ you can join Tom Carradine for his self-isolation cockney singalong. Tom normally performs at Mr Foggs Tavern, but for now, he’s taking those old London tunes to Facebook Live every Thursday at 8.30pm. It might seem like the kind of thing that can only be enjoyed by people who have The Chap magazine lying around in their bathroom, but we could all use a drunken singalong right now.
You might not have put on pants for a week now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay uber-cultured during lockdown, with the help of the Royal Opera House’s free broadcasts. You have until June 8 to watch Verdi’s heartbreaking ‘La traviata’, an epic three-hour opera directed by Richard Eyre. And until Friday at 8pm, you see Cathy Marston’s heartbreaking ballet ‘The Cellist’, an adaption of the real-life story of Jacqueline du Pré. The production charts her dizzy rise to classical music superstardom and her experience of multiple sclerosis, which forced her to give up playing at the age of 28.
If you’d usually be spending your Friday nights requesting the new Lady Gaga at an east London gay bar, then this is the live stream for you. Resident Queer House Party DJs Harry Gay, Wacha, and Passer will be bringing you queer bops, throwback pop, house bangers and techno clangers, streamed right into your living room every Friday night. It’s free, but PayPal donations are encouraged – it’s a pretty tough time to be a DJ!
The pub might be off limits for the time being, but plenty of London’s best bars have launched delivery services to keep you in bougie booze during social isolation. Treat yourself to a lovely bottle of English rosé from Renegade London Wines, order a crafty crate of £2 cans from Deptford brewery Villages, or, if the world really is ending, splash out on a bottle of London’s best Margarita from Dalston bar Hacha.
Use the quarantine downtime to perfect your downward dog, with the help of London’s best yoga studios. Check out free virtual classes on Covent Garden studio Another Space’s social accounts, learn the basics on MoreYoga’s YouTube channel for nothing, or do a full-length class with Hackney social enterprise Supply Yoga, boutique Hornsey studio One Yoga or compact Tufnell park practice Down to Earth, who are all streaming their usual schedule of classes online starting at £5 per go. Nama-stay indoors!
With supermarkets running low on loaves, isolation might be the perfect time to brush up on your home baking skills. Fortunately, Borough Market bakery Bread Ahead is here to help. It’ll be running baking tutorials on Instagram Live every afternoon, teaching you how to make treats like chocolate brownies and hot cross buns. Tune in at 2pm to bake along, or catch each class on Insta for 24 hours afterwards.
Here’s an easy, brilliant way you can give to charity. Rent the West End version of Phoebe Waller Bridge’s ‘Fleabag’ for £4 on Soho Theatre’s on demand site or from Amazon Prime Video. The proceeds will be split between National Emergencies Trust (NET), NHS Charities Together and Acting for Others. If you can afford it, there’s an option to give more. Remember, people are all we’ve got.
Your gym might be closed for now, but with plenty of the capital’s best fitness offerings going online, it’s never been easier to get your daily dose of endorphins without leaving your bedroom. Barry’s Bootcamp, DigMe Fitness, Another Space, Rowbots and Frame are just some of the fantastic London gyms that are offering free home workouts via Instagram Live over the coming weeks. Check out their social accounts for more info on how to stay fit while you’re stuck indoors.
Check out a show from one of London’s most vibrant theatre, cabaret and stand-up venues, from the comfort of your living room. Soho Theatre offers a selection of full-length shows from the likes of Jen Brister, Joel Dommett, Shappi Khorsandi, Mae Martin, Panti Bliss and Jessie Cave to watch on demand for as little as four quid. Your kitchen is much quieter than the theatre’s bar is, too!
Professional storyteller Vanessa Woolf has spun site-specific yarns all over London, from after-hours at West Norwood Cemetery to the evicted Heygate Estate. While we’re all stuck indoors she’ll be going online, posting videos of her storytelling evenings set to music, some filmed in secret (and deserted) corners of London.
