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The best things to do this week
One of the major institutions to have been hit hard by the pandemic is Shakespeare’s Globe, which says it’s facing its biggest threat since it opened in 1997. In order to raise some much-needed funds for the Thamesside theatre, a bunch of its former students organised a 48-hour readathon of some of The Bard’s best-loved works. The readathon started on Saturday, and finishes Monday May 25 at 7pm. If you’re looking forward to queuing for £5 standing tickets again, tune in and pledge what you can.
You have until Thursday to stream ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, with Gillian Anderson in the role of tormented Southern belle Blanche DuBois. The ‘X Files’ and ‘Sex Education’ actress took on the recognised role in the Tennessee Williams play back in 2014, when it was memorably performed on a revolving stage at the Young Vic. Vanessa Kirby stars alongside as sister Stella (it’s pronounced ‘Stelllaaaaaaaa’).
‘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.
The London Original Print Fair can’t return to its usual home at the Royal Academy this year, so it’s all going online. Instead of going from stall to stall, visitors can click on 51 individual viewing rooms to see what the exhibitors have to offer. There’ll be rooms with rare prints by Old Masters, themed exhibits and newly published print works. With prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands, this favourite among collectors is also a good place for any novice looking to start buying art.
Morty & Bob’s is temporarily closed right now, so the guys are taking to Instagram on Wednesdays to share their cheesy gifts with the world. Each week brings a step-by-step guide to creating a banging cheese toastie from their menu. Check the account the day before to find out what ingredients you’ll need. You’ll forget Breville toasties even existed.
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. Until Friday at 8pm, you can watch a recording of its 2011 performance ‘Cendrillon’, an operatic take on the Cinderella fairytale by French composer Jules Massenet.
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.
Missing weekend rummages through London’s finest bric-a-brac? Peckham Car Boot is putting on a virtual car boot so you can still get your second-hand kicks. Head to its Instagram at 10am every Sunday where you can browse goods on sale or offer up your own items.
