Things to do in London this week

The RA’s annual showcase of all the artists you need to know about right now is back to brighten up the summer holidays. Now in it’s 257th year, the world’s oldest open submission exhibition (which means anyone can enter their work to be considered for inclusion) is curated by a different member of the Royal Academy each year. The artist tasked with the big job in 2025 is British-Iranian architect Farshid Moussavi. The great thing about the Summer Exhibition is that it’s open to all, and the selectors pick from thousands of entries. That means that your mate’s mum’s weird little whittled sculptures of George Michael might be shown alongside something by Antony Gormley. 

The Cosmic House is one of those rare places deserving of the name ‘hidden gem’. A Victorian villa on a residential street near Holland Park station and the former home of revered postmodernist landscape architect Charles Jencks. Since 2021, it’s operated as a museum, and each year an artist responds to the surroundings. This time round, it’s a video work by Lithuanian-born musician Lina Lapelytė, composed of 12 screens dotted around the house to be hunted down like a game of hide and seek. Each screen shows a video of a musical performance taking place in the home, often right where you’re standing. There’s even a screen in the ‘Cosmic Loo’, complete with a mirrored ceiling and postcard-like tiling. Beautiful and peculiar, this is immersive art as it should be.

Spindly trees grow out of huge pots, the branches drape over tables and a buzzing open kitchen sits at the centre of Tatar Bunar – a new, buzzing Ukrainian restaurant in Shoreditch. Pickled cherry tomatoes arrive on a bed of lemon yoghurt covered in fresh herbs – noted as Tatar Bunar’s ‘best dish’ on its own menu. Tartare is served in a great wooden bowl with soft onion bread. The lamb chops are deeply smoky and tender, and the cheburek, a deep-fried pastry filled with tender minced lamb, is the perfect crispy, puffy vessel for sour cream and ajika, a spicy, red peppery chill sauce. For dessert – a Ukrainian dumpling, with a crème brûlée top. We can’t wait to come back. 

Obviously Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest is a ludicrous film to adapt for the stage ºthe absurdist conspiracy thriller is best remembered for two of the most audacious setpieces in cinema history), but whimsical auteur Emma Rice doesn’t attempt to faithfully recreate a given film or book, so much as drag it into her own private dimension. It follows Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant in the film, Ewan Wardrop here), a mediocre middle-aged adman who gets dragged into an elaborate conspiracy after being mistaken for a spy who doesn’t actually exist. Rice makes it overtly comic, with dance sequences, and a spectacularly knowing, fourth wall-breaking performance from Katy Owen as shadowy spymaster The Professor. It’s jarring at first, but Rice pulls it off. 

Part of Krankbrother's mega summer series, Eris Drew + Octo Octa will be co-headlining a Shoreditch street party that’s sure to pop off. To save yourself the FOMO of tapping through IG stories watching other people dancing, tinnies in hand, to euphoric house, techno and UK rave, then nab a ticket. The event itself will kick off on Clifton Street, with the T4T LUV NRG co-founders going back-to-back following sets from support acts Angel D'lite and Shana G, Expect biting high-energy performances that’ll remind you exactly why London in the summer is so damn great.

Clifton Street, EC2A 4LG. Sat Jun 21, 2pm. From £46.08.

Ever wanted to play on the pitch at Stamford Bridge like a true Blue? Well, now's your chance to do just that, and for less. Chelsea FC's Bring Your Boots Tour is back, and for a limited time only, fans can score 20% off this once-in-a-lifetime stadium experience.

Warmth and wit is central to Danny James King’s Miss Myrtle’s Garden, a tender play in which every cast member is as magnetic as the other. The story unfolds in the overgrown Peckham garden of Miss Myrtle (Diveen Henry) – a space dense with ghosts and flowers. Into this tangled setting steps her grandson Rudy (Michael Ahomka-Lindsay), who has just moved in with his (secret) boyfriend Jason (Elander Moore). Myrtle is also slipping into dementia. She spends her days bickering with Eddie, her kind but slightly oafish Irish neighbour (a charming Gary Lilburn). What begins as comedy softens into a portrait of two lonely people reaching – awkwardly – for connection. What the play gets so right is the way it creeps up on you: one moment you’re laughing, the next you’re holding back tears. 

With over 100 stalls, a traditional Victorian fairground, a beer tent by Fuller’s, a dog show, tug of war, a charity raffle and live local bands, Kew’s midsummer fete is a lot more than simply a way to chill out on the village green this month. Entry is free, but all your well-spent cash will be going to some worthy local charities. 

The 99-year-old living legend that is Sir David Attenborough is still going strong: fresh off the back of his new documentary Ocean, he now drops a new film at the Natural History Museum in the form of Our Story. The 50-minute ‘immersive’ documentary will be projected across the walls of the Jerwood Gallery, subsuming you in what we can only describe as raw nature (it sounds like a relatively similar idea to 2023’s BBC Planet Earth Experience, albeit with more Attenborough and more of a narrative) as he takes us on the story of humanity, from origins to the present. Blending wildlife footage with animation, it’s human-centric but has plenty of room for animals too. 

This year’s 33rd edition of indie film festival Raindance isn't just a pitter-patter, it's an absolute thunderstorm of new cinema. After a few straitened post-pandemic years, the line-up is back up to speed, and a whopping 90 percent bigger than in 2024. This year its hosted exclusively by Vue Piccadilly, with an opening gala at Vue Leicester Square and a party at the Waldorf Hilton’s swish Palm Court. The opening film is Christopher M. Anthony’s debut feature Heavyweight, a boxing drama starring Nicholas Pinnock. The fest closes on Camilla Guttner’s The Academy, set at an art school. In between, there's a teeming line-up of international feature films and documentaries. And aspiring film-makers and camera heads are catered to by the festival's industry hub, Canon Lounge, which will have talks, workshops and panels galore.  

From the mind of David Mamet comes a razor-sharp noir thriller about risk, deception and obsession. When celebrated psychoanalyst Dr Margaret Ford takes on a troubled new patient, her clinical curiosity leads her into the seedy backrooms of Chicago’s gambling scene. As she infiltrates the House of Games, a dangerous underground poker lounge, she’s drawn into a complex psychological battle with a charming con man named Mike. Adapted by acclaimed playwright Richard Bean and directed by Jonathan Kent, this thrilling stage production is a masterclass in tension.

Enjoy £50 off 'House of Games' tickets at Hampstead Theatre with only with Time Out Offers.

Arab film festival Safar is back for its tenth edition this year with a line-up of 35 films, including six UK premieres, that showcase the diversity of a culture that spans the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond. The urgent state of affairs in Palestine is acknowledged with films including Mohammad Bakri's documentary Jenin Jenin (2002) and A State of Passion (2024), which follows a war surgeon working in Gaza's emergency rooms. The festival opens with the UK Premiere of the newly restored classic Watch Out for Zouzou (1972) at Ciné Lumière, while Sudan, Remember Us (2024) by Hind Meddeb at the ICA will close the fest, along with a director's Q&A. 

The Orange Tree’s new production is Terence Rattigan’s penultimate play In Praise of Love and Amelia Sears’s revival is exquisite. Its protagonists are Sebastian Cruttwell (Dominic Rowan) – champagne socialist manchild and superstar book critic – and his Estonian wife Lydia (Claire Price). As an intelligence officer in postwar Berlin, Sebastian married Lydia to get her out from behind the Iron Curtain, with little expectation that they’d stay together. But they have, rubbing along eccentrically for 25 years. It plays out as a melancholy farce: Lydia has discovered she’s dying, and doesn’t want to tell Sebastian, reasoning he’s too hapless to be able to cope with it. It’s an elegant elegy for Rattigan’s own war-time generation.

A sun-soaked dream – okay, nightmare – of a midnight movie, this Australian survival horror asks the question: what if Steve Irwin was basically the devil? The answer would probably look like Jai Courtney’s shark dive owner Tucker, a brawny bogan who takes tourists onto his rusty old boat to introduce them to the bull sharks, makos and great whites that swim off the Gold Coast. First in a cage, then sedated and trapped into a harness, lowered into the water while the sweaty psychopath records it all on his VHS camera. The movie’s two heroes are American hippie-chick surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) and hunky local softboi Moses (Josh Heuston) who are likeable enough for you to hope they don’t end up chomped on by a peckish mako. It takes a steady hand to pull off a horror film as outlandish as this, but Byrne has pulled off something slick and confident here. 

Dangerous Animals premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s in US and UK cinemas Jun 6, and Australian cinemas Jun 12. 

Looking for a wholesome, creative night out that doesn’t involve a hangover (unless you BYOB)? Token Studio in Tower Bridge offers relaxed, hands-on ceramics classes where you can spin, shape and decorate your own pottery piece. Whether you fancy throwing a pot on the wheel (£32) or painting a pre-made mug or plate (£23), it’s the perfect mix of fun, mindful and surprisingly therapeutic. And to top it all off, you can sip while you sculpt as it’s BYOB and super chill.

Enjoy your Token Studio session from just £23, only with Time Out Offers. 

The Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival has long since established itself as a key date in London’s cultural calendar. Each year, the Southbank invites one celebrated artist to curate the festival. This year it’s the turn of Mercury Prize-winning rapper, Top Boy actor and previous Time Out cover star Little Simz. She’s promising a boundary-pushing line-up for the eleven day festival, featuring plenty of local organisations and grassroots collectives, plus the one-of-a-kind performances that have characterised Meltdown over the years. As usual, it’ll culminate in a headline show from the Brit Award-winner herself. 

Vision Cinema has stopping by several London locations this summer for a series of summer al fresco film screenings. It’ll be at Cator Park in Greenwich from June 20-22, Millenium Green in Poplar from July 11-13, Royal Arsenal Riverside in Berkeley on July 18-20 and at Hackney’s Britianna Leisure Centre from August 8-10. Expect a line-up that’ll satisfy any kind of film fan, like ‘The Hangover Part Two’ for the comedy buffs, ‘The Monkey’ for the horror freaks and ‘Despicable Me 4’ for something more family-friendly. 

Treat yourself to a Mediterranean feast in the heart of Soho at Maresco, where Scottish seafood meets bold Spanish flavours. With this exclusive deal, you’ll get two courses, house sourdough and a glass of wine for under 20 quid – a serious steal in central London. Whether you're craving jamón ibérico, fresh octopus or rich paella, this buzzing spot brings sunshine to your plate without breaking the bank.

Get two courses with sourdough and wine, for £19.95 (originally £31), only with Time Out Offers.

Think clowning is a dying art that’s limited to circus big tops? The London Clown Festival will make you think again. The event returns for another year in its biggest incarnation yet, with an eclectic line-up of British and European clown work that will run at first Soho Theatre and then on to Jacksons Lane for the last few shows. As you might imagine, it’s a thoroughly contemporary affair that won’t simply consist of people dressed like Ronald McDonald squirting flowers at each other: shows vary from Sasha Krohn’s elegant The Weight of the Shadow – a piece that examines the turmoil of a psychiatric patient over a single day – to monstrous bouffon Red Bastard, in his first London dates in eight years.

For full listings, go to the official Clown Festival website. 

Chaotic explosions of wood, scrap metal and cotton cascade through the gallery in the work of Brooklyn-based artist Leonardo Drew. Known for using found natural materials that are oxidised, burned, and left to decay, Drew creates visceral, large-scale installations that reflect on the cyclical nature of existence. His sculptures evoke the scars of America’s industrial past, while also suggesting forces beyond human control. At the South London Gallery in London, Drew will unveil a new site-specific work that engulfs the walls and floor of the main space, with fragmented wood appearing as if battered by extreme weather, natural disasters, or what he calls ‘acts of God.’