What’s on this week
MON 29 JAN – SUN 4 FEB
Spamalot, The Hexagon Reading, Tues 30 Jan
Monty Python’s award-winning musical Spamalot is coming to Reading. Yup, it really is. Lovingly ripped off from the 1975 film, this spammier than ever production is a riotous comedy full of misfit knights, killer rabbits, dancing nuns and ferocious Frenchmen. It’ll sell out in a flash.
Alpine Supper, Caldesi de Campagna, Thurs 1 Feb
Skiing or not this year, feel all the apres ski vibes (and the fashion) at Caldesi de Campagna‘s legendary Alpine Supper on the Bray slopes. Thinkt chalet chic decor, communal tables, great food and amazing wine. Digging out my salopettes as we speak.
Yoga & Meditation pop up, B The Lifestyle Shop Newbury, Tues 30 Jan
Namasté my yogi pals. If you’re mission for 2018 is find time for you, then this could be right up your street. B The Lifestyle Shop in Newbury is running a yoga and meditation workshop with Laura Routh-Parsons to bring some calm and yogi flow to your mind, body and soul. Bliss out baby.
Murder Mystery Treasure Hunt, Central Reading, Sat 3 Feb
Murder mystery has shrugged off its dusty Bridge crowd credentials to become cool. A Dish to Die For is the latest case to be solved in Reading. Answer the clues and discover whodunnit – you have just 2hrs and 15 minutes. So there’ll no time to nip into Zara.
Craft beer and comedy, it’s a match made in a brewery. Nothing like a few lagers (don’t panic, they’re serving wine too) to get the giggles at this very cool comedy club, live from the factory floor at Eton and Windsor Brewery. Crack on and organise the proverbial p*** up.
Dinner Pop-Up, Hinds Head Bray, Sat 3 Feb
Want to try Heston’s legendary Meat Fruit? Now you can. For one day only, – Chef Director Ashley Palmer-Watts’ 2-Michelin-star team from London’s Dinner will decamp to the Hind’s Head Bray to dish up a 5-course menu of signature dishes. Only a table for 4 and 6 left – £95 per head. Not to be missed!
Teddy, Watermill Theatre Newbury, Thurs 11 Jan – Sat 10 Feb
Come on January can be sooooo boring. Don’t make it an entirely no-fun zone. The Watermill is hitting 2018 hard with punchy new musical Teddy. After a successful run in London, Teddy is going on tour, first stop Newbury to unleash the teen rebellion. Let the good times rock ‘n’ roll.
Teechers, Whitty Theatre Wokingham, Mon 29 Jan
Dig out your old uniform and back to skool you go for John Godber’s comedy show Teechers. Berkshire-based Blackeyed Theatre kicks off its 47-date UK tour at South Hill Park Bracknell and Wokingham’s Whitty Theatre about 3 hopeless year 11 school leavers and the state of education.
luckleyhouseschool.org.uk/the-whitty-theatre
FURTHER AFIELD
Speakers, by Nicolas Party, Modern Art Oxford, until 18 Feb 2018
Running since late November at Modern Art Oxford, but if you’re yet to catch it now’s your chance. The Swiss artist Nicolas Party (formerly a graffiti specialist) has produced Speakers, a selection of 5ft female heads, complete with 2-hour looped soundscape that seems to speak to you as you brush past. Weird, and kind of wonderful.
George’s Marvellous Medicine, Aylesbury Waterside, Tues 30 Jan – Sat 3 Feb
A Roald Dahl adaptation that’s perfect for kids ages 5 plus, as George tries to cure his rather mean Grandmother of her nastiness with a special potion that sets him off on a big adventure. atgtickets.com
David Walliams’ Awful Auntie, Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe, Thurs 1 Feb – Sun 4 Feb
Another month, another David Walliams book transformed for the stage, but who cares when the kids love them so much? From the award-winning producers of Gangsta Granny comes the world premiere of Awful Auntie with its tiny ghost, huge owl and little person-pleasing humour.
Hip hop karoake, Terrace Bar, Tate Modern, Fri 2 – Sat 3 Feb
I feel cool just writing this. How about an evening of hip hop at Tate Modern’s Terrace Bar? Join DJ Rob Pursey and the Hip Hop Karaoke team as they lead the party, with craft beer from Brooklyn Brewery and old school gems from the 80s, 90s and 00s so you can still feel you know where it’s at. Add your stick on tooth diamond and remember not to talk about property prices.
Julius Caesar: First Encounters, RSC, Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Fri 2 Feb – Sat 3 Feb
Great idea this. A new version of Julius Caesar for 8 -13 year olds. Part of the RSC’s First Encounters with Shakespeare series, these engaging adaptations are 90 minutes long, use Shakespeare’s original language and ask audiences to participate in the story. Beats Lett’s Notes any day (come on admit it, you used them too!).
North – Fashioning Identity, Somerset House, now – Feb 4 2018
Alice-Hawkins, LOVE magazine, ‘The Liver Birds’, 2012
Forget the north/south divide, London doffs its hat to Manchester, Newcastle et al in this new exhibition. Social documentary film and photography detailing life in the north of England in the mid-20th century sits alongside works by photographers, designers and artists inspired by the parts of our green and pleasant land beyond the Watford Gap. Contributors include Nottingham’s finest Paul Smith and Manchester’s Factory Records designer Peter Saville. If you visit after 15 Nov, you can also take a twirl on Somerset House’s gorgeous outdoor ice rink.
