Children's Shows Comedy Dance & Physical Film Music Theatre

Spring Bank Holiday Weekend 2014 in London

By TW Editorial | Published on Saturday 17 May 2014

In a bind for things to do this late-May Bank Holiday in London? Here are the TW Team’s weekend tips…

COMEDY: David Morgan – Pretty | Soho Theatre | 23-24 May
Exactly like the TLC track, natty specs-wearer David Morgan can, on an off day, “feel so damn un-pretty”. But he wishes things were otherwise. In his  solo show tonight, he examines the ideal of ‘beauty’ in a magnifying mirror; what it means, why (and if) it matters, and whether it’s possible to feel pretty even make-up free. Details and tickets here.

COMEDY: Mycenae House Comedy Club w/ Katherine Ryan + John Robins | Mycenae House | 23 May
Ruled over by maverick MC Tiernen Douieb, tonight’s Mycenae bill is split three ways, featuring barbed Canadian Barbie Katherine Ryan (likely giving an acid, ‘Sidebar Of Shame’-satirising commentary on plebs and celebs alike), anecdotal comic John Robins and ‘Heavy Metal’ headbanger Andrew O’Neill. Details and tickets here.

COMEDY: Olivier Giraud – How To Become A Parisian In One Hour | Leicester Square Theatre | 25 May
Comédien française Olivier Giraud’s crash seminar in all things Parisienne is filled with ‘les tips’ on taking taxis, shopping, dining and love-makin, au Français. Details and tickets here.

FILM/MUSIC: Gladiator + live soundtrack | Royal Albert Hall | 24-28 May
Ridley Scott’s Roman-times movie classic, the Academy Award-winning story of a Gladiator with ideas way above his station, soars in to the amphitheatre-like RAH, as the Crowe flies, dragging with it the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, who’ll deliver Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s grand and bloody score, live from the pit. Details and tickets here.

MUSIC: Little Mix | The O2 | 25 May
Bigtime pop troopers Little Mix, the ‘X-Factor’ sophomores it’s okay to like, give arena-sized props to their latest LP ‘Salute’, and probably do some formation dancing in matchy-matchy attire. And who doesn’t love that! Details and tickets here.

DANCE: English National Ballet – My First Coppelia | Churchill Theatre | 24-25 May
The ENB and its in-house school-for-dancers adapt the famous ballet ‘Coppelia’, the lively story of a toymaker and his lifelike moving doll, for particularly young children, adding narration to Delibes’s classic score. Details and tickets here.

THEATRE: The Animals And Children Took To The Streets | National Theatre | 23-26 May
Back for another six-show stab following two smash-hit seasons at the NT, it’s dramatists 1927’s bold juxtaposition of film, animation, theatre and live music. Based in the dark, tumble-down Bayou building block, the show pits wild child gangs against curtain-twitchers, whilst a woman and her daughter try to survive in the middle. Details and tickets here.