Things to do in London this weekend (20-21 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.

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 Rivoli Ballroom’s interior is already enough to get you in the mood for Christmas, thanks to it being decked out in opulent red and gold. Imagine, then, how festive you’ll feel after watching some fantastic Xmas movies from within its four walls. This year, it’ll be once again screening some Christmas classics, from both ‘Home Alone’s to ‘Gremlins’, ‘Elf’, ‘Love Actually’ and, yes, ‘Die Hard’. Fight over whether that last one is a Christmas movie or not among yourselves – we’re going to be too busy tucking into popcorn and ice cream.

Omar Elerian’s Young Vic production is Bengal Tiger’s British debut, coming as part of a belated wave of interest in playwright Rajiv Joseph. What’s most immediately striking is how weird it is. Much of it comes from the point of view of the ghost of a tiger (Kathryn Hunter), who starts the play alive but soon gets shot dead after Tom (Patrick Gibson) – astonishingly only the second stupidest of its two US soldier characters – taunts it with food. Although there is a through thread, Joseph’s play is best viewed as a series of vignettes or playlets about the nightmare of post-Saddam Iraq, stalked by ghosts, madness and greed for the deposed dictator’s fabled hoarded wealth. It’s not only a fine drama about the hellish, morally tangled absurdity of conflict – it’s also a diagnosis of what the Second Iraq War did to those sucked into it. 

Record store and natty wine bar Next Door Records has two branches: one in Shepherd's Bush, and a newer addition in Stokey High Street. This year it's holding Christmas markets at both locations, and you'll find more than music and booze on offer. Expect a curated selection of clothing, prints, ceramics, jewellery, homeware and accessories crafted by a roster of talented London makers. Looking for a tasteful gift for your coolest friend? This is the place to find it. 

At a party to celebrate his impending grandchild’s gender reveal, elderly Larry chokes on a pretzel and dies. He suddenly finds himself in the afterlife, 50 years younger (in the shape of Miles Teller), and quite confused that ‘Heaven’ is like a big airport, where those who’ve recently popped their clogs are trying to decide where they want to spend eternity, with the help of an Afterlife Coordinator. Will they go for Paris World, Cowboy World, Studio 54 World, or for some reason, Smokers’ World? Before Larry can figure out where to travel, his wife Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) dies of cancer and joins him in the terminal. So now they can spend their death together…or they could, if it weren’t for the presence of Joan’s first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who she hasn’t seen since he died in the Korean War. It all makes for a cute, gentle rom-com. 

Sometimes, the last weekend before Christmas arrives with a bit of a sinking feeling attached for last-minute shoppers. But before you resign yourself to a panicked trudge round your local high street, don't despair. Black Eats is hosting a special Christmas market at Croydon's Boxpark that's full of gifts you can feel good about giving, with a curated selection of fashion, homewares, beauty, art, gifts and more, created by 40+ independent Black-owned brands. There'll be festive drinks and live DJs all weekend, as well as facepainting and activities for kids. Even better, there's a giftwrapping service so you make sure whatever pressie you choose looks picture-perfect on the big day. 

The Cause is putting on a three-day mad one for the final weekend before Christmas. Its three east London satellite venues will be taking turns to host. Friday night’s do is a rager at The Greyhound, helmed by Wiggle co-conductor Terry Francis, Saturday’s is a big blowout at the Marquee Moon and Sunday’s is a day-long affair at All My Friends. Saturday and Sunday’s parties are completely free and if you RSVP in advance you’ll get a shot on the house. The Greyhound’s get down will be free for anyone who arrives before 9.30pm.

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. 

London Bridge is already teeming with spots for foodies, with Borough Market attracting big crowds seeking out mulled wine and fine cheeses as the winter nights draw in. But there's an added lure this December, as Stainer Street (the station walkway between Tooley Street and St Thomas Street) hosts its very own market, courtesy of Real Food Markets. It'll sell all kinds of tempting things from independent designer-makers and artisanal food producers, making it a perfect spot to pick up a present or two - or a warming seasonal snack to munch as you soak up the city's festive atmosphere.

Travelling market Flea London will stop by Vinegar Yard each weekend of advent to offer shoppers a whole cornucopia of festive gifts. You can take your pick from vintage watches or jewel encrusted brooches, handcrafted candles or ceramics, vintage clothing or cool homewares, kids toys or original artworks. Street vendors will be on hand to supply mulled drinks and festive street food. 

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.

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. 

Swap church pews and carols for festive pop songs and a table at the UK’s largest beer hall. A live pianist will be conducting a great big raucous singalong at Big Penny Social as part of its packed Christmas programme. Once everyone’s vocal chords get tired, the venue will keep things going with a soundtrack of seasonal bangers and classic crowd-pleasers until 1am. 

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.

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. 

OOF Gallery – the world’s only contemporary art gallery in a football stadium at Tottenham Hotspur’s ground – is showing the first ever exhibition dedicated to the portrayal of football in photographer Roger Mayne’s work. One of Britain’s most acclaimed street photographers, Mayne’s inner-city scenes from ’50s and ’60s London document a seismic period of postwar social change in the UK, and football is at the heart of so many of his photographs, especially of the children he captured, playing jumpers for goalposts-style games in the street. It’s children living totally free – joy against the odds and the simple ecstasy of youth.

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.

★★★★ '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.

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.

Maggi Hambling and Sarah Lucas are good friends. Since meeting on their shared birthday, they have portrayed each other in paint and sculpture, shown their work together multiple times and, perhaps, developed something of a shared sensibility. On the surface, Hambling’s gestural, subconsciously macabre canvases have little in common with Lucas’ euphemistic sculptural assemblages. This year, though, a joint presentation at Sadie Coles HQ and Frankie Rossi Art Projects on Bury Street will tease out hidden commonalities between the two canonical British artists.

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!

’Tis the season for rampant consumerism, but if all the covetable clobber, shiny new tech and luxury knick-knacks are failing to fill the void, you’d do well to swing by the Choose Love store during your Christmas shopping spree. First set up in 2017 by Help Refugees, the clever pop-up doesn’t peddle fancy beauty products or the latest trainers. Instead, its shelves are filled with emergency blankets, children’s shoes, sleeping bags, toiletries, mobile phone credit, nappies, education supplies and other essentials needed by refugees around the world. Once you’ve bought what you can, the products are distributed via more than 80 projects that the humanitarian aid organisation works with across the globe. After several successful years on nearby Carnaby Street, the pop-up has moved into a department store-sized space on Regent Street for its biggest ever edition this year. Head down to check out a beautifully-designed space which is once again designed by Misty Buckley (The Oscars, The BRIT Awards) and will be set across two floors, with the usual roster of surprise celebrity volunteers working on the tills, and to do your bit to spread some Christmas cheer to those who need it most.