Art, Theatre, Music & Shows

The Players of St Peter's, based in St Saviour's Church, Chalk Farm, will be holding auditions for their forthcoming December production of scenes from Medieval Mystery Plays on Thursday, 20th and Monday, 24th August, at 7pm. If you want to take part but can't come on either of those dates, please email to discuss an alternative arrangement. The audition pieces are on the Players' website: https:... Read More

Justin Butcher is playing in his beautiful and profoundly moving one-man play Scaramouche Jones at the Edinburgh Fringe in a celebratory silver anniversary run. He plays a centenarian holy fool who has witnessed atrocity and inhumanity throughout his life, with seven cataclysmic moments evoking the seven sorrows of Mary. Yet he manages to pour a balm upon the world with life-affirming comedy and c... Read More

A dancing Omer Meir Wellber conducted the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of Europe's leading orchestras, with brio, acuity and panache at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall last Friday. Wellber, a former Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted the DKam, as it is affectionately nicknamed, from the harpsichord for Haydn's Symphony No. 44 in E minor. Not for Wellber ... Read More

Genius? Madman? Saint? The story of Antoni Gaudí, internationally renowned visionary architect responsible for Barcelona's towering Sagrada Familia, is told in this new production at the Haldane Theatre, Surgeons Quarter, Nicolson St, EH8 9DW, Edinburgh from 7-15 August. Written and directed by Stephen Callaghan, this revised version of the 2014 sell-out Fringe play marks the centenary of Ga... Read More

The Sinfonia of London, under the baton of its brilliant conductor John Wilson, brought the house down with its delivery of Respighi's 'Roman Trilogy' at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall last Friday It was a thrill to witness one of the world's greatest orchestras bring to life Respighi's rhapsodic evocation of the Eternal City in all its colour and variety, from the spiritual to the festive... Read More

The first major UK exhibition to explore the legacy of Mary Magdalene through historic and contemporary art is to be staged by the National Gallery at three locations across the north of England in 2027. Partnering with the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield and The Auckland Palace in Bishop Auckland, this exhibition will explore the making of Mary Magdalene, lo... Read More

The first night of the Proms, 'the World's greatest classical music festival', at the Royal Albert Hall, had a heavenly send-off last Friday with Finzi's 'ceremonial ode' for St Cecilia, the (albeit legendary) patron saint of music, closing the scheduled works of the evening. Cecilia is figured as the divine source of musical inspiration and the ode celebrates English composers as diverse as the C... Read More

They've done it again. Student reporters at St John Bosco College in Battersea, south London, have just produced another fascinating edition of Faith Matters - this time leading with an exclusive interview by Alexandre Marques with Filippo Sorcinelli, the artist and fashionista responsible for designing the Popes' liturgical vestments. Steeped in fashion and theology, he describes how 'every detai... Read More

Luminescence is a state of the art multimedia version of 'son et lumiere' utilising a 360 degree video projection using 24 laser projections that has enlivened iconic churches and cathedrals across Europe, South America and the USA. Recently debuting in the UK at Manchester cathedral it is now lighting up the heart of the Metropolis. Last week, Luminescence premiered at Westminster Cathedral, conv... Read More

Luminiscence premiered at Westminster Cathedral on Wednesday night. (review coming soon). This spectacular immersive 360-degree video projection experience brings the story of Westminster Cathedral to life in breath-taking ways with colour and imagery, music and a narration by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville - culminating in a vision of what the Cathedral may one day look like fully covered in... Read More

Homeland Lost, at the P21 Gallery in 21-27 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD, is an exhibition of works by award-winning documentary photographer Alan Gignoux and the journalist and photographer Ahmad al-Bazz. The project juxtaposes portraits of Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 and their descendants with photographs of their former homes and villages inside Israel. Created between 2004 and 2005 ... Read More

Francisco de Zurbaran, 1598-1664, born in Fuente de Cantos, was one of the greatest artists of 17th century Spain, alongside Murillo and Velazquez. Exhibiting artistic talent from an early age his father, an affluent cloth merchant, sent Francisco aged fifteen to Seville as an apprentice to artist Pedro Diaz de Villnueva for three years. Seville, one of the wealthiest cities in Europe was a haven ... Read More

The Aeolian Sinfonia of North London, lead by Elizabeth Ann Binks, will be performing works by Ferdinand Herold and Brahms in their Summer Concert in Our Lady Help of Christians Church Hall, Falkland Road, London, NW5 2XT, UK, this Thursday, 2 July at 8pm. Keith Bramich and Charlotte Harber, will be conducting Hérold's Zampa Overture, and Brahms: Symphony No 2. Entrance is free. Light refreshme... Read More

This year, for the first time, The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre is excited to be taking part in the theatrical spectacle that is York Mystery Plays Festival. Every four years, the streets of York are transformed into an immersive historic stage as part of a local tradition dating back to Medieval times. The Bar Convent are thrilled to be included in the programme of special events taking ove... Read More