Leicester Square Christmas Market ★★ FREE


If you can't get to Winter Wonderland or one of the larger winter festivals, this site will give you some idea of how London tries to make the best of winter. A quick wander through and then visits to the lights of Seven Dials, Covent Garden, or maybe Regent Street will help get you in the spirit.

 Reviewed by J.C.

  Our Score:  ☆☆ 

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Last Reviewed: November  2020

Leicester Square
Nearest tube: Leicester Square
http://www.christmasinleicestersquare.com
Map & Location: Leicester Square, London, UK

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Les Liaisons Dangereuses ★★★ National Theatre | Mar 21 - Jun 6, 2026

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Spoilt, rich people whose sole occupation is scheming to destroy the lives of the naïve and gullible. No, this is not a dramatised version of the Epstein files. Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ eighteenth-century epistolary novel, depicting amoral aristocrats on the brink of the French Revolution, has inspired many incarnations, yet it continues to shock and, at times, to delight. Christopher Hampton’s stage adaptation, first presented in 1985, streamlines the narrative, focusing on the rivalry and tangled emotional connection between the two master manipulators: the Marquise de Merteuil, played by Lesley Manville, and the Vicomte de Valmont, portrayed by Aidan Turner. Together they engage in a vicious game, with Valmont attempting to seduce both the innocent Cécile de Volanges and the devout Madame de Tourvel. It is wickedly entertaining material, and it proves just as intriguing in this context as it does in the well-known teen film, Cruel Intentions . There are, however, some issues with...
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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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Éireann by A Taste of Ireland ★★★ Sadler's Wells Peacock Theatre | August 28 - 31, 2025

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Éireann by A Taste of Ireland has some five-star moments, but the show's concept is too broad and unfocused. The result is a bit of a hotchpotch. Mythic and political references are thrown in, and there is even a contrived and rather superfluous hurling sequence. There is no clear narrative arc or any perspective, and the show fails to provide much meaningful insight into Ireland, its history and its culture. The strength of this production is its Irish dancing, and while the synchronisation in the group work is not always perfect, the general quality and athleticism are superb.The solos of Gavin Shevlin are beautifully executed, and the troupe is at its best during the step dance sequences. The balletic and modern dance interludes are less successful, and some of the lifts and floor work seem laboured. Despite some issues with the sound system, the musical moments provided by Aaron O'Grady, Eamonn O'Sullivan and Megan McGinley are strong. Unfortunately on the night we att...
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ABBA Voyage ★★★★★ ABBA Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park | Extended Run

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When great music from the past meets mind boggling technology from the future, the result is ABBA Voyage . This is a concert like no other. In a purpose built arena designed specifically for the show, massive high resolution LED screens, advanced lighting, and surround sound are used to create a fully immersive ABBA concert experience. Although the group’s last appearance in London was at Wembley Arena in 1979, they return technologically in this extraordinary production. These are not holograms or AI generated performances. This is a meticulously animated concert based on real performances by the band themselves. To achieve this effect, the group came together and re-performed their music using motion capture technology. They partnered with top visual effects experts to digitally recreate their younger selves. While the show includes a live band and backup singers, the Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid seen on stage appear every bit as real as their original counterparts. One quick...
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Black Comedy ★★★ Orange Tree Theatre | May 16 - Jul 11, 2026

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Working under considerable pressure, Peter Shaffer wrote Black Comedy as a companion piece to the 1965 Chichester Festival production of Miss Julie by August Strindberg. Despite significant reservations from the original production company, the play proved an immediate success. It has since been staged around the world and continues to delight audiences with its ingenious premise and relentless comic energy. At the heart of this delightful farce lies the theatrical conceit that the characters stumble about in what they believe to be complete darkness, while the audience watches their misadventures in full light. Conversely, whenever the stage is dark to the audience, the characters experience illumination. More than a clever gimmick, this inversion becomes a metaphor for the secret and seriously complicated amorous life of the struggling sculptor Brindsley Miller. Brindsley is preparing to meet two crucial visitors: his prospective father-in-law, a military man of rigid convictions, a...
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Avenue Q ★★★★ Shaftesbury Theatre | Mar 20 - Aug 29, 2026

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Avenue Q first arrived on Broadway in 2003 and, the following year, won the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. Now, twenty years after its London debut, it returns in a lightly updated production that retains the joy and warmth of the original. While some audience members will no longer know who Gary Coleman is, this Sesame-Street-for-adults show has lost none of its relevance. Its themes of underemployment, self-acceptance, mutual respect and the search for connection feel just as timely now as they did then. Sharp satire is wrapped in the velvet glove of a puppet-show-for-grown-ups and delivered with wit and affection rather than accusation. Songs such as “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “It Sucks to Be Me” continue to land well, presenting uncomfortable truths in a disarmingly approachable way. “The Internet is for Porn!” still earns knowing laughter, while “If You Were Gay” remains both funny and unexpectedly touching. The staging and...
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Power of Sail – A Moral Thriller ★★★★ Menier Chocolate Factory | Mar 20 - May 12, 2024

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The bon mot that academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small has various attributions, and its history of apparently being "borrowed" is not without some irony. Set in the context of a debate about free speech, Paul Grellong has written a piece that is less a moral thriller and more of a satire. It is really about the pettiness and lack of principle involved in navigating one's way through the choppy seas of academia. The play doesn't really do much to advance the debate about finding the line between hate speech and free speech, but it is a clinical dissection of the mendacity and petty ambition that infects the environment of those who are supposedly charged with exploring and refining that important distinction. Apparently under the rubric of free speech, Harvard professor Charles Nichols (Julian Ovenden) has invited a well-known white supremacist to participate in a panel at the university. The students are outraged and the dean is ...
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War Horse ★★★★★ National Theatre | Until July 30, 2026

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Michael Morpurgo’s tale of a horse caught up in the First World War was first published in 1982, but it remained largely under the radar until the National Theatre’s landmark 2007 production transformed it into a theatrical phenomenon. A successful film adaptation by Steven Spielberg followed, but War Horse has now returned to its natural home: the stage. Happily, this revival captures all the wonder, emotion and imaginative power that made the original production so unforgettable. The production’s greatest triumph remains the astonishing puppetry. Joey and his fellow horses are brought to life with such skill and sensitivity that within moments they cease to be stage constructs and become living, breathing creatures. It is a remarkable feat of theatrical illusion. The story begins when Albert’s hard-drinking father squanders an absurd sum on a riding horse at auction and then wagers with his brother that the animal can be trained to plough the family’s fields. The task falls to young...
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Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait ★★★★ National Portrait Gallery | Until September 6, 2026

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To mark what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery has mounted an exhibition exploring the actress’s enduring place in popular culture. While tracing the chronology of Monroe’s life, the exhibition interweaves her story with the ways in which artists and photographers have interpreted and presented this most elusive of icons. Photographs by Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon and many others attempt to capture the fascination she exerted, while works by Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol demonstrate how her image transcended Hollywood to become the raw material of modern art. Mesmerising clips from her films provide a reminder of the charisma that first made her a star. More than six decades after her death in 1962, Monroe remains a singular presence in the collective imagination. Other celebrities have enjoyed their moment in the spotlight and faded, but her allure endures. There is the classic rags-to-riches narrative, shadowed by an inability to find...
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White Christmas ★★★★ The Mill at Sonning | Nov 27, 2024 - Jan 25, 2025

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It's official! Christmas is here. With a traditional buffet meal and their always enjoyable holiday show, The Mill at Sonning has kicked off the season! White Christmas with its satisfyingly predictable story is all about the music and the dancing, and Director Jonathan O'Boyle does a brilliant job of taking a small stage and capturing the essence of a big film musical. The tale of two GIs who, following the war, become a famous double act, and who then team up with a pair of singing sisters to put on a show which will save the Vermont inn owned by their former commander, is as sweet as maple syrup. It certainly takes us back to a simpler, more optimistic time in America, and there's not a hint of irony anywhere. In this iteration of the classic, the cast dance up a storm with some terrific choreography from Gary Lloyd, and celebrate Irving Berlin's great song classics such as "White Christmas," "Blue Skies" and "Count Your Blessings." The...
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The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings