It's our weekly London
roundup starting with a few headlines that caught the eye in London this week,
click the links for the full stories…
CYCLING: Why No Boris Bikes in South East London? – Citymetric.com
CYCLING 2: Bring Boris Bikes To South East London! A Petition! – The Peckham Peculiar
DRINKING: Soho's Underground Theme Bar – Daily Mail
SOCIETY: Posters Designed By Female Artists At the Transport Museum – Evening Standard
THEATRE: Underground Censors Poster For Bad Jews – The Independent
PROPERTY: Overpriced London In Pictures! – The Week
ENVIRONMENT: Mapping London – National Geographic
ART: Too Explicit For London? – New York Times
THEATRE: In Praise Of Shakespeare's Globe - Whatonstage.com
SOCIETY: Long-term East Enders Have Their Say On Hackney Hipster – The Guardian
As we embark on our
definitive London Reading List here on The Daily Constitutional this week, here
are a few literary London stories from the past few days…
Irish Poets on the London Underground – Irish Times
The Book Thieves of London – The Dabbler
Book Review: Murder At the Inn – The Daily Express
If You Do One OTHER Thing In London This Week…
Our weekly slot in which we point you in the direction of
other happenings and events in our great city. A new exhibition, a gig, a
museum, a pop-up-shop – the best of London within a few minutes of a London Walks walking tour.
We are ALWAYS spoiled
for choice on the London fringe theatre scene – from new plays by up-and-coming
playwrights to neglected classics, it's a vivid world.
This week we're
pointing you north, to Highbury Corner and a powerful revival of The Lesson by
Eugene Ionesco at the Hen and Chickens.
Since 1957 the play
has been in residence in Paris at the Théâtre de la Huchette, (in a double-bill
with The Bald Soprano, also by Ionesco). In English mainstream theatre,
however, Ionesco, a leading light of the absurdist movement, is something of a
neglected figure these days, which is why it is such a delight to see this
revival here in London.
By turns
linguistically playful and sinister this short play is both challenging and hilarious.
Darren Ruston plays
The Professor, beginning the play somewhere just below coronary and painfully
reining-in his passion and rage for the duration of the piece. The Pupil – a
deliciously brittle performance by Elena Clements – mirrors our own mounting
fears like a thermometer as the tension builds. Angela Loucaides as The Maid
provides grim comedy and welcome release in her interjections to the progress
of the lesson. It is beautifully paced thanks in large part to the cast and
their effortless reading of Ionesco's rhythms.
It's an all-too-rare
opportunity to see this great play – this correspondent last saw the piece 28
years ago – so don't miss it.
The Lesson ends 14th
March
Tickets are £8.50
Hen and Chickens
Theatre
109 St Paul's Road
London
N1 2NA
How to find the Hen & Chickens…
This is our favourite
walking story of the week. It was shared by filmmaker Jean-Marc Abela, the
creative talent behind London Next Stop the Canadian TV travelogue fronted by
our very own Karen Pierce-Goulding.
It's written by Andrew
Tate, a freelance writer and neuroscientist, and it's titled Why Steve Jobs Took
Long Walks and Why You Should Too.
Here's an extract…
Beethoven was an avid
walker, taking short sojourns to stretch his legs while working, and then
spending his afternoons wandering around Vienna. He always took a pencil and
paper with him to write down anything that struck him. You can see, or rather
hear, the influence of these woodland walks in his symphonies, particularly his
6th Symphony, known as his Pastoral Symphony for its country and woodland
elements.
Beethoven’s love of
walking rubbed off on another genius of the time, Goethe. The composer and the
poet meet in the resort town of Teplice on the Czech-German border and went for
a walk and talk through the town. Perhaps, though, this is not the best example
of a great walking meeting as, though Beethoven originally idolized Goethe,
this was very much a case of never meet your idols. The two disliked each other
and never met again. Though I hope Goethe continued his walks.
Read the full story
HERE.
Thanks for sharing Jean-Marc, it's a great read. Here's a pic of Jean-Marc filming in London with Karen last year…
This month we'll be bringing our Cartoon & Comic Book London Tour to a close…
… we'll be adding to our definitive London Reading List… Associate Editor Richard III will be sharing the tale of an extraordinary London Walker… Special Correspondent David Tucker will be holding forth on London, London Walks and the business of "free" walking tours… and we'll be revealing details of the NEW London Walks on the Summer Programme 2015! Thanks for reading, see you next week.
A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
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