Things to do in London this weekend (27-28 December)

Rising star Jordan Fein’s sumptuous revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods is the first actual proper major Sondheim revival to be staged in this country since the great man’s passing. It’s a clever send up of fairytales that pushes familiar stories into absurd, existential, eventually very moving territory, but it’s also a fiddly musical with a lot of moving parts. You need to get it right, and Fein smashes it, largely thanks to exceptional casting. The whole thing looks astonishing: Tom Scutt’s astonishingly lush, vivid woods are glistening, eerie and primal. The costumes are similarly ravishing. It’s just great, really, a sublime production of a sublime musical with a sublime cast.

American cinema’s fake-it-til-you-make-it brigade – Catch Me If You Can’s Frank Abagnale Jr, Moses Pray in Paper Moon, Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy, Uncut Gems’ Howard Ratner, Barry Lyndon and all those other hustling antiheroes – has a dazzling new addition. But, with his skittish chutzpah and pathological lack of self-doubt, Timothée Chalamet’s ever-calculating ping pong player Marty Mauser has something most of those others lack: real talent to back up the front. In Josh Safdie’s sports movie-cum-crime caper, Marty is a gifted but impoverished ping-pong player who’s only an inch or two from conquering all. By the terms of his own cutthroat world, he’s a loser who lives within touching distance of glory. One more push could make all the difference. Or get him killed. This is a stunning achievement, a breathless yet precisely controlled joyride full of vivid characters, hairpin turns and did-that-just-happen moments. 

In cinemas December 26 

Martino’s has seemingly opened by stealth. One day it was just there, looking like it’d been around for decades, complete with a glamorous, older Sloane Square crowd that seemed to have been propping up the bar since 1978. It’s the latest from Martin Kuczmarski, the man behind The Dover, and is a little less New York and a little more Milan, with a simple pasta and meatballs menu, and all-day dining and a majestic oval bar in the middle of the beautiful room for martini meetings. A dreamy decontamination chamber, this pearlescent womb smells like a Diptyque factory, and is adorned with fresh flowers and humming with charming staff who look up your handwritten booking in a massive leather-bound book. Staff wear white jackets and black bowties and glide across the parquet floor like Fred Astaire mid-foxtrot. Nothing on the Martino’s menu is overly outre – this isn’t a place for flashy food – but that only makes the space shine brighter.

The groanworthy title sets the tone for this fun re-telling of Dracula via close harmony singing and a stream of winkingly awful puns. Co-writers Dan Patterson (Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Mock the Week) and Jez Bond, also directing, feed an irreverent combination of Bram Stoker’s novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film version through a Mel Brooks musical mangle. This production may be gothic in origin but is panto in spirit. The actors are perfectly attuned to the show’s loudly enjoyable silliness while bringing powerhouse musical theatre chops to the singing.

The Hackney panto’s USP is Clive Rowe: less a dame than a roiling force of nature, post-pandemic, he has not only starred in every panto at the Empire but directed them too, in what has increasingly felt like a one-man (in a frock) show. But, Rowe is such a panto purist that he refuses to perform in productions of Cinderella, reasoning that there is no dame role in it. So this year, he’s directing only. This show’s heart lies with its villains: Alexandra Waite-Roberts as Oblivia, Cinderella’s cacklingly evil stepmother, who in this version, offed her stepdaughter’s dad years previously and barely makes any effort to conceal the fact. It’s a very classy, very family-friendly panto. 

Spoiler alert: ‘Paddington’ is a small woman (Arti Shah) in a bear costume (by Gabriella Slade), with a regular-sized man (James Hameed) doing the voice and remote controlling the facial expressions from backstage, and it’s enough to make us believe that Paddington is really in the room with us. He’s not the Paddington of the films or of Michael Bond’s books, but he’s not really him either, on account of all the singing he does and how much more wordy that makes him. He is a new Paddington. But he is, fundamentally, Paddington, right there in the room with us. Main attraction aside, a fine creative team led by director Luke Sheppard has created a very enjoyable show indeed. It’s by and large a stage adaptation of the first Paddington movie, although writer Jessica Swale has been quite free. It has a looser, more knockabout air, less droll, more cartoonish. It’s a luxury musical, and when the maximalism works, it really works.

There are few things that we’d willingly brave the chill for during winter in London. But ice skating is one of them. Ice rinks decked out towering Christmas trees and twinkly fairy lights fill London’s squares and courtyards, hosting everything from DJ takeovers and kids’ skating lessons to date nights and family outings over the festive period. Pretty soon you’ll get to pretend you’re in a festive London rom-com, as you romantically glide (or awkwardly stumble) with your loved ones under the backdrop of landmarks like Somerset House, Battersea Power Station and Hampton Court Palace. 

At first sight, Candice Lin’s g/hosti, a new commission from the Whitechapel Gallery, evokes a childlike playfulness. At its centre is a maze of cardboard panels which are painted with animals like dogs, cats, and mice, cavorting in a mythical forest. Its simplistic style and bright, warm colours feel akin to the sort of whimsical mural you might find painted on the wall of a primary school. The more you weave through the circular labyrinth, however, the more you realise you’re immersed in something altogether more sinister and political than first meets the eye. g/hosti is a show that could be misconceived if you do not linger long enough to absorb its hidden details. The more it unfolds, the more it unsettles and makes you think. 

You might think that Camden is too alternative to throw a classic Christmas knees up, but it's 2025 and times have changed at its sprawling, eclectic markets. The shiny new market at Hawley Wharf is the hub of this year's festivities, with tons of family-friendly activities. The Ice Palace Grotto offers a meet-and-greet opportunity with Father Christmas and Mother Christmas, alongside festive crafts, face-painting and decorations (£10 per ticket). The Wharf will also host live musical performances from the Big Sing and Camden Rock Choir.

The much-feted Sam Grabiner’s second play – following last year’s Olivier-winning Boys on the Verge of Tears – is a dark, dark comedy about a jaw-droppingly dysfunctional British Jewish family. It is an anarchic meditation on the British Jewish psyche, that is really very fearless about ‘going there’ with certain political issues. It is about the British tradition of having a massive ding dong on Christmas Day. And it’s a comedy about living in London. Clearly it is likely to speak to a British Jewish audience most directly. But its depiction of a Christmas Day lunch spinning horribly out of control is – with intentional irony – a universally British concept. 

Clocking in at three hours and 17 sometimes spectacular, occasionally stultifying minutes, Avatar: Fire and Airy reaquaints us with human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his blue clanspeople as they tackle new-yet-entirely-similar threats. A sense of familiarity kicks in from the opening 3D shots of a guilt-ridden Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) soaring through the floating Hallelujah Mountains on a banshee. The death of his brother Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in Avatar: The Way of Water will send him off on his own redemption arc. 

Fallen Angels is a nicely crafted old-fashioned pleasure. Or certainly in this straight-down-the-line period revival. Julia (Janie Dee) and Jane (Alexandra Gilbreath) are middle-aged best friends. Julia is posh and poised. Jane is posh and shambolic. They are spending the weekend together while their distant husbands go off golfing. But things get spicy, quickly: they receive word that Maurice, a Frenchman they both had sexual relationships with before marriage, is in town and intending to visit them. They freak out and start drinking heavily, convinced that Maurice will want to play hide the saucisson with them both. And they’re sorely tempted to sample his charcuterie. In this slick-but-conservative take it’s fun enough, but it was genuinely ahead of its time 100 years ago. 

For the last three years Hampstead Theatre has been staging lesser-revived Tom Stoppards over Christmas, and for Stoppard fans it’s been fun to see them come to life. But Indian Ink is a deep cut. A vehicle for his former partner Felicity Kendal, Stoppard wrote it first as a radio drama and then expanded and enriched it into this version, which premiered in 1995. Here is Felicity Kendal returning to Indian Ink so many years later, but playing the elderly Mrs Swan rather than the young Flora Crewe. And in a play about looking back, and the lives of artists, and making sense of past romances, she watches Ashbourne Serkis bring alive the lines written for her by her old lover just weeks after his death. That in itself is very moving, even if the play remains one for the Stoppard pilgrims.

John le Carré breakthrough The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is in safe hands with playwright David Eldridge and director Jeremy Herrin, whose adaptation settles in at the West End after scoring good notices in Chichester. This is a slick and yes, maybe slightly MOR adaptation of Le Carre’s taut, brutal espionage yarn. But it’s a very good one, and Eldridge deftly crafts an intensely interior world, with us seeing the action unfold as much from within jaded spy protagonist Alec Leamas’s head as without. Herrin’s production goes heavy on the noir, and with good reason. Rory Keenan is magnificently grumpy and rumpled as Leamas, a hardbitten British spy in Cold War Berlin who is brought home after his last informer is executed by Hans-Dieter Mundt, a ruthless counterintelligence agent who has systematically dismantled the British spy apparatus in East Germany. The story feels fresh because Keenan’s it feels like Leamas is really living it – those shocking final hairpin plot twists are still jaw-dropping.

Cementing the Lyric Hammersmith’s place at the top of the London panto pantheon, here’s a wonderfully inventive new take on Jack and the Beanstalk for 2025. Returning writer Sonia Jalay and director Nicolai La Barrie are impressively assured as they relocate the bean-centric action to a strict Hammersmith school concealing a sinister secret. The imperious grandeur of regular Lyric dame Emmanuel Akwafo is somewhat missed, although replacement Sam Harrison is great fun when he’s allowed off the leash. It’s pepped up by a wonderfully chosen barrage of pop songs that runs the gamut from ‘Seven Nation Army’ to ‘Espresso’, ‘Formation’ to a version of ‘Pretty Fly for a White Guy’ about Ofsted inspections. There are some great visual gags, too. Superbly done as ever, and an object lesson in how London pantomime not only survives, but actively thrives.

Expectations have been high for Ivo van Hove’s revival of Arthur Miller’s 1947 breakthrough All My Sons, because Van Hove made his own UK breakthrough with his extraordinary 2014 production of Miller’s A View from the Bridge. And by Hove, he’s done it again. To some extent the secret of his triumph here is ‘cast really really good actors’, foremost Bryan Cranston and Paapa Essiudu, who offer two of the best stage performances of 2025. But what van Hove has done is discretely uncouple Miller’s play from the naturalism that often stifles it. The whole thing plays out symphonically, building to an astonishing crescendo. Right near the end, Joe finally says the play’s name, its meaning clear at last. When I’ve seen the play before, there’s been no special reaction. Here, the audience gasped.

Unless you’re fluent in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Hiberno-English, John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World requires proper, eyes-wide-open concentration. And even more so in this NT revival, in which director Caitríona McLaughlin celebrates the lyrical language of the play in all its glory. At its best, hers is a production that rewards attentiveness, weaving in beautiful, affecting images of County Mayo folklore alongside some standout acting performances. 
Most of the audience will likely have bagged tickets to see the outstanding Nicola Coughlan, and they will not be disappointed. The Bridgerton megastar looks right at home as the feisty barmaid Pegeen, while Lorcan Cranitch, as Pegeen’s alcohol-fuelled father, gives a convincing, powerhouse interpretation. 

★★★★ 'Frameless has managed to create something genuinely exciting' – Time Out

Escape reality through maximum immersion and experience 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists, each reimagined beyond belief, through cutting-edge technology. Situated in Marble Arch, Frameless plays host to four unique galleries with hypnotic visuals and a dazzling score. Enjoy 90 minutes of surreal artwork from Bosch, Dalí and more for just £24!

Get £24.80 tickets (originally £31), only through Time Out Offers.

No matter how Scrooge-like you are, you can’t deny that London looks pretty magical once the Christmas lights have been turned on and tinsel-covered trees greet you at every turn. Luckily, the city is never in short supply of festive light displays, whether you’re looking for something classic – like Regent Street’s trumpet-playing angels, or a themed display, like those found on Carnaby Street. Each string beams bright enough to warm the coldest of hearts quicker than you can say ‘Bah, humbug’. Here are the best London illuminations to check out to get you in the Christmas spirit this year.

This exhibition will put the work of two rivals – and two of Britain’s greatest painters – J.M.W. Turner and John Constable side by side. Although both had different paths to success, they each became recognised as stars of the art world and shared a connection to nature and recreating it in their landscape paintings. Explore the pair’s intertwined lives and legacies and get new insight into their creativity via sketchbooks, personal items and must-see artworks.

Prepare for a feast for the eyes, but resist the urge to nibble! The sweetest festive event you’ll find, the Museum of Architecture’s edible exhibition tasks leading architects and designers to ditch their conventional building materials for dough bricks and sugar paste mortar to construct a miniature biscuit metropolis erected in King’s Cross’s Coal Drops Yard for the festive season. With a new theme each year, the exhibition aims to encourage innovation and future-forward city planning, and this year’s ‘Playful City’ theme has resulted in some really fun designs, from school buildings with slides between classrooms to candy-coloured climbing walls. As well as marvelling at all the confectionary craftsmanship on display, visitors can take part in a series of hands-on gingerbread house workshops where they’ll be able to construct a delicious souvenir to take home. 

Amazing news for lovers of neat symmetry, loud primary colours and twee outfits. West London’s Design Museum will be staging a blockbuster show delving into the iconic aesthetic of another of Hollywood’s most distinctive auteurs, the Texas-born Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning director Wes Anderson. The film director’s first official retrospective promises to be a different beast. A collaboration between the Design Museum and Cinémathèque Française, it has been curated in partnership with Wes Anderson himself and his production company American Empirical Pictures and follows his work from his early experiments in the 1990s right up to his recent Oscar-winning flicks, featuring original props, costumes and behind-the-scenes insights.

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its seventh year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. Past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to get into the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to find it.

Oh yes it is! London panto season is back for 2025, and here’s Time Out’s complete rundown of every major pantomime in the city. For some Londoners, the only time of year they'll visit a theatre, panto season is a bizarre, joyful, quintessentially British time to come together and watch some light-hearted spoof fairytales that revolve around men dressing up as women and/or farm animals. London is a city that takes pantomime seriously, and even if the idea of seasonal frivolity fills you with dread, there’s a panto out there for you.

Imagine indulging in all the dumplings, rolls, and buns you can handle, crafted by a Chinatown favourite with over a decade of culinary excellence. Savour Taiwanese pork buns, savoury pork and prawn soup dumplings, and luxurious crab meat xiao long bao. To top it off, enjoy a chilled glass of prosecco to elevate your feast. Cheers to a truly delightful dining experience at Leong’s Legend!

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize – a contest that has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image will take home the big prize, while the annual ‘In Focus’ display will feature a new work by an established photographer.