Restaurant pop-ups and chef residencies and great new bar and pub openings are happening apace this July, but important too are London’s cultural offerings. There’s true joy to be found in the capital’s cultural output, not least because of how the most established spaces in London are becoming the most adventurous.
With that in mind, included in this month’s best happenings are the Royal Court, the Hayward Gallery and the Old Vic, alongside a huge sporting overhaul at the Battersea Power Station and a new site-sympathetic installation from Punchdrunk in Woolwich.
To scratch your cultural itch this month, don’t miss these shows, exhibitions, and installations.
ECHO: Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen
Full of FLAs — four letter acronyms that is — and part of LIFT (that’s the London International Festival of Theatre), ECHO (that’s Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) is a showing from Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour pushing the boundaries of unrehearsed live theatre. The show is scripted, but the actors, who change at every performance, haven’t seen the script before, nor have they rehearsed the plot in any way. The script is the guiding light as the actors journey through the playwright’s story. It’s enigmatic stuff, not to be missed.
July 13 to July 27, Royal Court Theatre, SW1W 8AS, liftfestival.com
Viola’s Room
Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, Viola’s Room is the latest immersive theatre from Punchdrunk, the firm behind some of the most visceral and exciting productions across theatre, film and fashion. Here, the audience moves through a vast set of rooms, barefoot and wearing headphones, they are set to feel their way through this labyrinth installation as Bonham Carter narrates an intense story of loss and obsession. With stellar reviews, this is a must-visit.
Until August 18, One Cartridge Place, Woolwich, SE18 6DJ, punchdrunk.com
The Battersea Games
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Opening this July is the Battersea Games. Timely too, with the Euros, Olympics, Wimbledon on now, and the cricket imminent. Dare we say there’s a summer of sport? The Power Station pop-up features a 100m running track, table tennis tables, a climbing wall, football, cycle speed racing, fitness classes and a Rocket Padel pop-up court, among many other sporting installations. For a family-friendly distraction from indoor shopping, or for the hyper-competitive among you, go here.
Until September 8, Nine Elms, SW11 8DD, batterseapowerstation.co.uk
The Constituent
James Corden has returned from the States and has remembered he was once an actor. In fact, the BAFTA winner gives a strong showing in the Constituent, the new play from Joe Penhall. Corden is the begrudged constituent who becomes increasingly irritated by the system within which his MP, played by Anna Maxwell Martin, operates. That irritability leads to anger, and through the 90-minute play, demonstrable suffering: a psychological drama which, as it unfolds, teeters on the edge of violence. Who said Corden can only do funny?
Until August 10, 103 The Cut, London SE1 8NB, oldvictheatre.com
Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere
Tavares Strachan has been described as “vivid” and “inventive”, his work is unique and bold, continually shaking a tree that only true artists can. The Bahamian has won the MacArthur Grant, has spent years at the Yuri Gagarin space training centre in Russia, completed several trips to the North Pole, and now takes over the Southbank’s Hayward Gallery. There Is Light Somewhere is set to take visitors on a journey “across time and space” which when it comes to Strachan, for once, isn’t hyperbole.
