Things to do in London this week

The Orange Tree’s new production is Terence Rattigan’s penultimate play In Praise of Love and Amelia Sears’s revival is exquisite. Its protagonists are Sebastian Cruttwell (Dominic Rowan) – champagne socialist manchild and superstar book critic – and his Estonian wife Lydia (Claire Price). As an intelligence officer in postwar Berlin, Sebastian married Lydia to get her out from behind the Iron Curtain, with little expectation that they’d stay together. But they have, rubbing along eccentrically for 25 years. It plays out as a melancholy farce: Lydia has discovered she’s dying, and doesn’t want to tell Sebastian, reasoning he’s too hapless to be able to cope with it. It’s an elegant elegy for Rattigan’s own war-time generation.

Vicky Park is welcoming a brand new festival. Lido festival will take place in the Tower Hamlets park’s Lido Field with Northern hardcore festival Outbreak hosting a residency to open the second weekend, with Turnstile, Alex G and Danny Brown on the bill. On Saturday, it’ll be throwing it back to Brat summer, with a headline set from Charli xcx as part of the pop icon’s Partygirl night, featuring appearances from 070 Shake, A.G. Cook, Kelly Lee Owens, The Dare and The Japanese House. And on Sunday London Grammar will bring their ethereal sounds to east London, alongside Celeste, Róisín Murphy and The Blessed Madonna.

A sun-soaked dream – okay, nightmare – of a midnight movie, this Australian survival horror asks the question: what if Steve Irwin was basically the devil? The answer would probably look like Jai Courtney’s shark dive owner Tucker, a brawny bogan who takes tourists onto his rusty old boat to introduce them to the bull sharks, makos and great whites that swim off the Gold Coast. First in a cage, then sedated and trapped into a harness, lowered into the water while the sweaty psychopath records it all on his VHS camera. The movie’s two heroes are American hippie-chick surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) and hunky local softboi Moses (Josh Heuston) who are likeable enough for you to hope they don’t end up chomped on by a peckish mako. It takes a steady hand to pull off a horror film as outlandish as this, but Byrne has pulled off something slick and confident here. 

Dangerous Animals premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s in US and UK cinemas Jun 6, and Australian cinemas Jun 12. 

The Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival has long since established itself as a key date in London’s cultural calendar. Each year, the Southbank invites one celebrated artist to curate the festival. This year it’s the turn of Mercury Prize-winning rapper, Top Boy actor and previous Time Out cover star Little Simz. She’s promising a boundary-pushing line-up for the eleven day festival, featuring plenty of local organisations and grassroots collectives, plus the one-of-a-kind performances that have characterised Meltdown over the years. As usual, it’ll culminate in a headline show from the Brit Award-winner herself. 

Ever wanted to play on the pitch at Stamford Bridge like a true Blue? Well, now's your chance to do just that, and for less. Chelsea FC's Bring Your Boots Tour is back, and for a limited time only, fans can score 20% off this once-in-a-lifetime stadium experience.

Nicholas Hytner’s exuberant 2019 take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream was simply too much fun to leave to the history books: what a joy it is to have it back. It is joyously queer: pretty much everyone in it gets a crack at snogging everybody else. And Hytner’s key textual intervention is swapping the bulk of fairy monarchs Oberon and Titania’s lines, meaning that it’s JJ Feild’s Oberon – not Susannah Fielding’s Titania – who has it off with Emmanuel Akwafo’s exuberant Bottom. The new actors are also bloody great and the show remains a hoot. It’s a production that just pelts you with cool stuff for three hours and wins your heart.

This literary festival focuses on one of our era’s most exciting genres: crime. Now firmly part of London’s literary calendar, each year it hosts a top-notch line-up of crime and thriller authors in a rich programme of talks, panels and interviews. Over 80 authors and specialists will explore themes such as ‘unlikeable characters’, how to bring crimes to the silver screen and Agatha Christie for the Knives Out generation. Notable names appearing this year include Michael Connelly, Steph McGovern, Jeremy Vine, Vaseem Khan, Linwood Barclay, Karin Slaughter, Richard Armitage, Dorothy Koomson and Ruth Ware. The festival runs throughout the weekend, but if you're only keen to see one of the acts, you can grab tickets for individual talks for £20.  

Nineties legends Pulp have been doing the rounds for the last couple of years, with the massive Finsbury Park show, two nights at Eventim Apollo, and now, two back-to-back nights at The O2. This latter marks the band’s first new album in 24 years, More, which was teased with the fervent teaser single ‘Spike Island’. The Britpop staples had kept fans waiting, having signed with Rough Trade last year, following their return to the stage for the first time since 2012, so expect euphoric scenes from Jarvis Cocker and co. 

The O2, SE10 0DX. Fri Jun 13 and Sat Jun 14, 6.30pm. From £56.10.  

Get to know the surprising queer histories behind some of the art and artefacts in the British Museum’s vast collection on this free tour of the iconic institution. Led by a knowledgeable volunteer, the 70-minute tour takes in a huge variety of objects ranging from the ancient world to the present day, illuminating the fascinating stories behind some of the musum’s most famous artefacts and lesser-known gems, including the Townley Diskobolos, the Gilgamesh Tablet and the Warren Cup. Can’t make it to one of these dates? There’s also a self-guided version of the tour with free audio commentary you can access through your preferred streaming platform. 

From the mind of David Mamet comes a razor-sharp noir thriller about risk, deception and obsession. When celebrated psychoanalyst Dr Margaret Ford takes on a troubled new patient, her clinical curiosity leads her into the seedy backrooms of Chicago’s gambling scene. As she infiltrates the House of Games, a dangerous underground poker lounge, she’s drawn into a complex psychological battle with a charming con man named Mike. Adapted by acclaimed playwright Richard Bean and directed by Jonathan Kent, this thrilling stage production is a masterclass in tension.

Enjoy £50 off 'House of Games' tickets at Hampstead Theatre with only with Time Out Offers.

Director Jordan Fein’s superb take on 1964’s Fiddler on the Roof – a transfer from Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – manages to find its own, brilliantly idiosyncratic balance. The tone here is, for the most part, drolly surreal, a dark clown show underpinning everything from the gags to the choreography (by Julia Cheng) to Fein’s penchant for a weird tableau. Key to it all is US actor Dannheisser as Teyve. He beautifully underplays it with a bearish dignity and put-upon stoicism. The air of dark absurdity is aided by a wonderfully evocative set from Tom Scutt. It’s unlikely to be a definitive take, but it is a brilliant one.

This thriller ‘from the world of John Wick’ has been a long time in the making. Happily, it emerges with enough inventive action to stand alongside its murderous predecessors, and makes Ana de Armas into a likeable assassin hero. She plays Eve, a girl orphaned by Gabriel Byrne’s Chancellor and raised in a ballet school-stroke-assassin training academy. She has vengeance in mind and Keanu Reeves’ John Wick is pressed into action to stop her. Both de Armas and Reeves make convincing ass-kickers. 

Think clowning is a dying art that’s limited to circus big tops? The London Clown Festival will make you think again. The event returns for another year in its biggest incarnation yet, with an eclectic line-up of British and European clown work that will run at first Soho Theatre and then on to Jacksons Lane for the last few shows. As you might imagine, it’s a thoroughly contemporary affair that won’t simply consist of people dressed like Ronald McDonald squirting flowers at each other: shows vary from Sasha Krohn’s elegant The Weight of the Shadow – a piece that examines the turmoil of a psychiatric patient over a single day – to monstrous bouffon Red Bastard, in his first London dates in eight years.

For full listings, go to the official Clown Festival website. 

Breach Theatre’s verbatim musical about Section 28 – the heinous legislation introduced in the late ’80s to prevent the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools – is funnier, sharper and more damning than ever before at this Royal Court Theatre run. Co-writers Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett have shaped the testimony of teachers, activists and students into songs drawing on the stylings of New Wave and electronica. It goes big to puncture the poisonous balloon parade of politicians, pundits and homophobic media outlets who created Section 28 and there are devastating testimonies of teenagers and teachers whose lives were – in some cases – permanently harmed by the aftermath of Section 28. It recreates the joyful defiance of the fierce love of community.

Looking for a wholesome, creative night out that doesn’t involve a hangover (unless you BYOB)? Token Studio in Tower Bridge offers relaxed, hands-on ceramics classes where you can spin, shape and decorate your own pottery piece. Whether you fancy throwing a pot on the wheel (£32) or painting a pre-made mug or plate (£23), it’s the perfect mix of fun, mindful and surprisingly therapeutic. And to top it all off, you can sip while you sculpt as it’s BYOB and super chill.

Enjoy your Token Studio session from just £23, only with Time Out Offers. 

Founded during the Arab Spring in 2011, biennial festival Shubbak has become one of London’s largest celebrations of contemporary Arab and South West Asian & North African (SWANA) culture. The 2025 edition of Shubbak features a plethora of performances, exhibitions and community-driven events scheduled over three weeks across many venues. This year, see fashion catwalks, the largest Palestinian theatre production staged in the UK for 25 years, as well as 40+ events encompassing theatre, film, music, dance, spoken word and experimental arts. 

Chaotic explosions of wood, scrap metal and cotton cascade through the gallery in the work of Brooklyn-based artist Leonardo Drew. Known for using found natural materials that are oxidised, burned, and left to decay, Drew creates visceral, large-scale installations that reflect on the cyclical nature of existence. His sculptures evoke the scars of America’s industrial past, while also suggesting forces beyond human control. At the South London Gallery in London, Drew will unveil a new site-specific work that engulfs the walls and floor of the main space, with fragmented wood appearing as if battered by extreme weather, natural disasters, or what he calls ‘acts of God.’

For a script penned in 1893, Mrs Warren’s Profession still feels remarkably fresh. The attitude of George Bernard Shaw’s play towards sex work as a functioning product of the capitalist labour market feels bracingly current even today. Yet at first glance, director Dominic Cooke’s production is as traditional as they come, but something darker bubbles beneath the surface. Imelda Staunton plays the titular Mrs Warren who draws the eye from the moment she strides onto stage in her striped frock coat. There is subtle pain in her voice when she talks about the circumstances that led her to her profession. You don’t leave with clear answers about Mrs Warren or even her profession, but you will leave unexpectedly entertained. 

Treat yourself to a Mediterranean feast in the heart of Soho at Maresco, where Scottish seafood meets bold Spanish flavours. With this exclusive deal, you’ll get two courses, house sourdough and a glass of wine for under 20 quid – a serious steal in central London. Whether you're craving jamón ibérico, fresh octopus or rich paella, this buzzing spot brings sunshine to your plate without breaking the bank.

Get two courses with sourdough and wine, for £19.95 (originally £31), only with Time Out Offers.