What’s On This Week: October 30th – November 3rd
Telling Tales
A family festival is back and packed full of events and activities this October half-term.
Uncover the magic of storytelling in a family workshop, explore Shakespeare’s plays in a storytelling session, jump into the action in an on stage workshop, learn the secrets of the Globe on a family guided tour, and so much more.
Until October 30
The Globe Theatre
When This Is Over
“Does anyone really know where their story starts? Do you? Maybe it only really starts when you tell it. Maybe it’s starting right now.”
Hopeful, energetic and urgent, When This Is Over is a new performance created with seven members of Company Theatre, all aged 14 to 18.
While being part of a young generation grappling with the global crisis, the cast share with us the extraordinary, funny and sometimes embarrassing small moments that make up a life – from childhood pasts, to the impossible imagined hope of what is to come.
Until October 30
The Unicorn Theatre
Surviving the Ice: October half term at Cutty Sark
This half-term, journey through ice and time to discover how the Cutty Sark crews survived the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic.
Find out about weather records, distress signals and hear stories from sailors aboard the clipper.
Until October 31, Cutty Sark
Ai Weiwei: 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows
Join Ai Weiwei, the world-famous artist and activist, for a conversation about his widely anticipated memoir 1,000 Years of Joys and Sorrows.
This ambitious yet intimate book tells a century-long tale of China through the story of his own tumultuous life and that of his father, Ai Qing, the nation’s most celebrated poet.
From his family’s banishment during the Cultural Revolution to the difficult decision to leave them to study art in America, and his subsequent rise from artistic
unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist, Ai discusses an extraordinary life lived under extraordinary circumstances.
October 29
Royal Festival Hall
English National Opera – HMS Pinafore
Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera is a hilarious tale of love, honour and duty.
Packed with absurd characters, unforeseen plot twists and a delightfully farcical finale, HMS Pinafore is a satirical take on the British class system and the promotion of unqualified people to positions of power.
When Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran, falls for the lowly sailor Ralph Rackstraw, she’s torn between her heart’s true love, and her desire to honour her father’s wish for her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty.
October 29 to December 11
London Coliseum
Malika’s Poetry Kitchen: Friends and Family
Join Malika Booker and members of her poetry collective as they celebrate the publication of their anthology Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different.
Also appearing are Jill Abram, who has been director of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen since 2010, Nick Makoha, Yomi Sode, Kareem Parkins-Brown, Katie Griffiths and Kostya Tsolakis.
October 30
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall
Tim Peake: My Journey to Space
Get a fascinating insight into what it’s really like to be an astronaut as Mr Peake reveals the secrets, the science and the everyday wonders of how and why humans journey into space.
In December 2015, he became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station to conduct a spacewalk while orbiting Earth.
Now, join him on a thrilling journey to the International Space Station as part of his first ever UK tour, sharing his passion for aviation, exploration and adventure.
October 30
Royal Festival Hall
The Story of Adi Yeta
This talk examines the history and voyage of Fijian canoe Adi Yeta to discover the significance of boats to Fijian traditions and the importance of the oceans to Fijian lives.
The talks will also explore how museums can approach the use and display of ‘taonga’, a treasured possession in Maori culture, such as Adi Yeta.
November 3
The National Maritime Museum
Mixing It Up: Slippery Images Panel Discussion
Artists featured in Mixing It Up, Allison Katz, Caragh Thuring, Issy Wood and Vivien Zhang, talk to Hayward gallery director Ralph Rugoff.
This panel discussion explores the way that painters treat the canvas as a landing pad where references come together from different territories and time periods to create deeply ambiguous, composite images.
November 3
Royal Festival Hall
Hogarth & Europe
Tate Britain’s major exhibition Hogarth & Europe will present his work in a fresh light, seen for the first time alongside works by his continental contemporaries.
Hogarth’s best-known paintings and prints, such as Marriage A-la-Mode 1743, The Gate of Calais 1748 and Gin Lane 1751, will be shown alongside works by famed European artists, including Jean-Siméon Chardin in Paris, Pietro Longhi in Venice, and Cornelis Troost in Amsterdam.
Together they will reveal how changes in society took art in new directions, in Britain and abroad.
November 3 to March 20
Tate Britain