Peter Pan | National Geographic | Bucket | Chelsea Physic Garden | Kamaal Williams...
Every week we round up our top picks of the week from the latest food haunts and must-watch releases to our favourite podcasts, unmissable art exhibitions, and page-turning books. Our weekly previews are loaded with bright ideas for the week ahead.
WATCH: the spellbinding revival of Timothy Sheader’s 2015 production of Peter Pan, stunningly reinvented to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. Directed by Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel, the production is set against the backdrop of a WW1 nursing station, featuring a new-look cast with Fiston Barek (King, Lear, Old Vic) as Peter Pan and Dennis Herdman (Around the World in 80 Day – UK Tour) as Captain Hook. Transporting a generation of ‘lost boys’ to Neverland with a good dose of stagecraft, puppetry and striking set designs, the new production pays tribute to the nurses and soldiers of WW1. The show opened at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and runs until June 15.
Visit https://openairtheatre.com to book tickets and follow @openairtheatre on Twitter for updates.
READ: the highly anticipated June edition of National Geographic, which kicks off its long-term Planet or Plastic? campaign. Originally designed by the Mexican artist Jorge Gamboa, the photo illustration of a plastic bag as an iceberg, marks the start of a powerful and provocative campaign to raise awareness of plastic pollution. By the end of 2019 it is hoped that all global editions will be shipped wrapped in paper, with UK, USA or Indian editions already making the change. Long term subscribers will also notice the recent cover-to-cover editorial overhaul with punchier new front sections, an increased focus on visual and photography-led storytelling and more compact essays and features.
Look out for more eye-catching images on @NatGeo Instagram feed as the campaign gets fully underway and visit https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/plasticpledge/ to find out more and support the campaign.
DINE: by the Bucket or the board at Westbourne Grove’s new rustic beach-club inspired Seafood restaurant opening this week. Ideal for sharing, snacking or pigging out, the mouth-watering menu reflects the restaurant’s relaxed seaside vibe with its bucket and board options of sustainably sourced seafood. Choose from bucketloads of calamari, whitebait, sautéed prawns, or mussels in original sauces like lobster and brandy or coconut and chilli, and boards of seabass, chicken or sirloin beef served in the signature house sauce. As well as favourites such as the crayfish burger and seafood linguine, there is a bar offering an amazing selection of cocktails and lighter snacks including fishfinger sandwiches and lobster and prawn toasties.
Visit https://bucketrestaurant.com for more info or follow @bucketlondon on instagram.
VISIT: Chelsea Physic Garden. With the annual Chelsea Flower Show coming back into bloom this week, flower fans should not miss out on visiting another nearby gem of London horticulture. The enchanting Chelsea Physic Garden is a walled oasis with a ‘secret’ feel and a 345-year history of growing some of the rarest, most beautiful and important plants from around the world. Despite being situated only a stone’s throw from Sloane Square station, the garden enjoys its own microclimate which allows diverse and exotic species to thrive there. From the UK’s largest fruiting olive tree to a ‘tropical corridor’ of glasshouses where the temperature never falls below 15 degrees all year round, exploring the garden is like a miniature world tour of global terrains. Founded by the ‘Worshipful Society of Apothecaries’ in 1673, many plants were cultivated for medicinal properties and this unique garden reveals the fascinating history of medicine and botany. Strolling around the fantastically maintained flower-beds and pausing for a coffee and homemade cake in the tea-room makes for a perfect May day out.
Chelsea Physic Garden is open Monday-Friday, Sundays and Bank Holidays, from 11am- 6pm
@ChelsPhysicGdn.
LISTEN: to The Return by Kamaal Williams, the long-awaited album from a collective formed by one half of 2017’s breakthrough jazz duo Yussef Kamaal. The South-London born keys player, AKA Henry Wu, has been credited with making jazz cool again and is a leading figure in the capital’s explosive contemporary scene. The album sees him team up with bassist Pete Martin, drummer MckNasty and sound engineer Richard Samuels, to produce a worthy successor to Black Focus. It blends broken beats, mesmeric synth licks and visionary improvisational jazz while capturing the raw sounds of London streets and marrying them with more exotic influences from abroad. If you are a jazz purist this may not be for you, but if you are looking for a fresh and transfixing sound, every track on Kamaal Williams’ new masterpiece will simply blow your mind.
The Return releases on 26 May. A first listen of the full album is exclusively available on NPR Radio and you can also check out the music video for his track Salaam. Follow Kamaal Williams on Twitter @kamaalwilliams.
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