Camden Mela ★★ FREE


If you are in the neighbourhood and have an hour, you might enjoy this local fair. The food and products available are limited, but the entertainment by local amateur groups is enthusiastic and enjoyable. Relishing the sunshine and summer in Coram Fields is a pleasant way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon.

Reviewed by J.C.

 Our score:  ☆☆ 

WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Last Reviewed: July 2020
Coram's Fields
Nearest Tube: Russell Square
Website: http://www.camdenbangladeshmela.org
Map & Location: 93 Guilford St, London WC1N 1DN, UK

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José María Velasco: A View of Mexico ★★★★ The National Gallery | Mar 29 - Aug 17, 2025

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This exhibition is a fine introduction to a 19th Century painter who is well-known in Mexico, but who has been under-appreciated outside of his native country. The academic style of José María Velasco fell out of favour in Europe with the growing influence of the Impressionists, and his reputation was also eclipsed by the great Mexican muralists who followed him. This current display of his work does justice to the subtlety and genius of this artist and is a wonderful invocation of his country at a turning point in its history. Velasco celebrates the natural world while he hints at the changes to be wrought by the oncoming industrial reality. We are moving from an agricultural society with humans living in harmony with nature to an industrial model and the subjugation of the natural world. Velasco lived in a world that was not only on the cusp of enormous social change however. It was one that was also facing a profound reassessment of its values. The artist himself was both a man of f...
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St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

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Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
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Manhunt ★★★ Royal Court Theatre | Mar 28 - May 3, 2025

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Based on the true story of Raoul Moat who in 2010 killed one person and maimed his girlfriend and a police officer, this powerful recreation of the incidents and the ensuing manhunt focuses on the forces that made Moat into the raging inferno that he was. Abandoned by his father and abused by his mentally ill mother, he was then raised in care, and from his perspective, was abused by all the bureaucratic entities that intervened in his life: the social care system, the police and various legal proceedings. Moat saw himself as a victim, and although Robert Icke's play is largely presented from Moat's point of view, the author strives to balance this and to avoid any appearance of justifying Moat's behaviour as he uncovers its sources. Indeed, a long period in which the audience is in darkness, probably to replicate the blinding of one of Moat's victims, plus the detailed recounting of that victim's story are no doubt intended to serve this purpose. However, despite s...
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Heisenberg ★★★★ Arcola Theatre | Apr 9 - May 10, 2025

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Cartier ★★★★ Victoria & Albert Museum | Apr 12 - Nov 16, 2025

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Supersonic Man ★★★★ Southwark Playhouse, Borough | Apr 9 - May 3, 2025

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Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Mar 21 - Jun 29, 2025

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If previously you've only thought of Victor Hugo as a writer, this exhibition demonstrates that there is a great deal more to the celebrated creator of Les Misérables . As well as being a highly successful author, and a politician of deep conviction, Hugo was also a talented and intriguing artist, and this opportunity to see some forty of his almost two thousand drawings is a not-to-be-missed occasion. Divided into four sections (Writing & Drawing, Observation & Imagination, Fantasy & Reality, Ocean) the exhibition shows that Hugo's originality and dramatic sense were not confined to his novels and poetry. With its cunning perspective and tantalising implications, a work such as The Town of Vianden Seen Through a Spider's Web (1871) recalls a tale by Edgar Allan Poe, while The Shade of the Manchineel Tree (Notes from a Trip to the Pyrenees and Spain) (1856) with its eerie skull, has an equally wonderful Gothic feel. The enigmatic Mushroom (1850) which almost ...
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The Carracci Cartoons: Myths in the Making ★★★ The National Gallery | Apr 10 - Jul 6, 2025 (Free Entry)

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This free show features two of the cartoons, or large charcoal drawings, created by the Carracci brothers, Annibale and Agostino, for the decoration of the Roman residence of the young cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626). Both works are actually attributed to Agostino Carracci with possible input from Annibale. Made on paper, the two large drawings were conceived as working tools intended for use in preparation to paint the fresco which was to decorate the ceiling of the Palazzo Farnese. They were designed to be used for the transfer of sections of that complex composition onto fresh plaster, and they offer a unique insight into the working practices of a Renaissance artist. The cartoons, which have long been the property of The National Gallery and have not often been on display, represent two scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses : "Cephalus carried off by Aurora in her Chariot" (about 1599) and "A Woman borne off by a Sea God" (about 1599). They have been interpr...
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Speed ★★★★ Bush Theatre | Apr 4 - May 17, 2025

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The premise of Mohamed-Zain Dada's play is simple enough. Three strangers who have been guilty of reckless driving find themselves thrown together in a class which, in lieu of them losing their drivers' licences, is supposed to help them deal with their anger issues. But, as the instructor takes this recalcitrant threesome through a series of exercises such as role playing, assumption awareness and guided meditation, they begin to question not only themselves, but also their teacher's behaviour and his real motivations. And, the questions raised do not stop here. The issues addressed become much larger than simply how to deal with road rage. When, if ever, is anger an appropriate response to perceived bad behaviour, abuse or even bigotry? On the journey through life how should one handle the people perceived as impeding the achievement of one's goals? The play raises some big questions while packaging these musings in a tension-filled, little drama that has some nice co...
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