Highlights include being rowed across the Thames and denying your identity and being winched to safety overrooftops from the White Tower and suspending in the air. The team of twenty live actors are fantastic, challenging and in your face as the story demands. The final scene is frantic, intense, and scary as we’re locked in a cage and the future of London hinges on our decision.

More than just showing you videos, it makes you think – what would you do? Betray the plotters or save the crown? Deny your religion and save your life? Taking place in Tower Vaults, The Gunpowder Plot is the latest immersive experience from the award winning Layered Reality.

Tickets are on general sale now at www.gunpowderimmersive.com

We picked Hidden London on a Sunday morning, and had the city to ourselves, more or less. There’s something magical about exploring those sleepy streets that are usually so bustling with commuters and workers.

Between us, the boyfriend and I have lived and worked in London for over 25 years. I’m a big fan of exploring places through a quirky lens, liking to think of myself as a modern day flaneur. But Alex was able to show us places and spaces we hadn’t seen before, and put an interesting spin on those we had. Who knew that maypoles, trees, and cats had such a bearing on the history of our City?

We started off with an essential safety briefing, and some training. In those first few minutes I was ready to hang up the towel, convinced I’d fall off, crash, or break a bone, possibly all three at the same time. I persisted, and with reassurance from Alex, was soon up to a healthy speed. You ride predominantly in cycle lanes, which have had a lot of investment during Covid, so it feels pretty safe. I get bored easily, so the idea of over two hours had me pretty daunted, but the pace and rhythm of the adventure was perfect, and it never felt a slog. Not a moment to get bored.

eScooters are surprisingly affordable to hire. ScooTours partner and have a deal with Dott, but if you’re picking one up yourself, it’s just £1 to unlock, then 15p a minute. It seems a no brainer for a fast jaunt from meeting to meeting, or the tube to the office. I can see a day when it’s not just about tourist and weekend discovery, but a part of the commute.

Maybe the modern day flaneur will use an eScooter. Until then, jump on a ride with ScooTours.

ScooTours were kind enough to gift us the tour, and send some photos of another ride as I forgot to take any! Thank you!

Thames Rockets do things slightly differently. One warm September evening we embarked a bright red speed boat at London Eye Pier for a guided tour that genuinely blew our minds. The 50 minute Ultimate London Adventure. We might have started off at the Houses of Parliament, a place we all knew well, but never before had I been told that the flag at the top is the size of a tennis court – and it’s my new favourite fact. We were taken out east past Somerset House, the OXO Tower, the MI5 building, Tate Modern, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, Millennium Bridge and more as interesting facts and new revelations were told in a fun and interesting way to our merry band of six people – all socially distanced of course.

But it’s once you get past the river police building just up from Tower Bridge that things really start to get exciting. Because that’s when the speed restrictions lift. And the driver cranked up the engine as we zoomed and twisted and curved at speeds of 30 knots – which is 35 miles per hour for those of us without seafaring experience. Tunes blared out, we smiled and cheered, and it was an utter delight to be on board. We often walk along The Thames, or cross bridges over The Thames, but are rarely actually on this river that is the life blood of London.

As we cruised back towards our start point, the sun began to set on the city, and it looked as beautiful as ever. A can of Pimms helped. Thrills and spills aboard Thames Rockets are wholly recommended.

Boasting thought leaders such as Bill Bryson, Derren Brown, Richard Dawkins, Marie Forleo, Ruby Wax and Alain de Botton, the festival will see influential figures share their unique life lessons for a happier, healthier and more inspired life. With its writers and columnists at the forefront, The Sunday Times will ensure that ideas and information are not only cutting edge, but rigorously researched and, ultimately, scientifically sound. In an arena saturated with conflicting advice and opinions on wellbeing and healthy living, this weekend will offer festival goers not only a fresh perspective, but real, tangible knowledge to carry forwards into day-to- day life.

The weekend features over 40 talks from more than 80 speakers, along with an abundance of mindful activities including yoga, meditation, sound therapy, crafting and more. Designed with a structure that will allow guests to not only learn from experts but others around them, with taster sessions to explore new skills, and examine their career potential Life Lessons is a chance for attendees to design a better future for themselves.

Visitors will build their own bespoke programme from topics such as nutrition, health, sustainable living, business, society and psychology. The festival will tackle questions both big and small, from whether it’s possible to design a perfect society, to which foods are beneficial for both humans and the planet.

Eleanor Mills, Editorial Director of The Sunday Times, said of the event, “Every day, we are bombarded with new ways to improve ourselves, to be happy, to live well. It’s impossible to work out which ones are the real deal and which are just snake oil. Until now.

At the inaugural Life Lessons weekend, our mission is to find the answers to life, the universe and everything. With the help of a carefully curated line-up of smart thinkers, we’ll apply a healthy dose of scepticism and a large chunk of science to an industry and world built on promises. Is clean eating really good for you? What does a healthy society look like? Is it possible to parent mindfully? And where are we on butter?” 

Visit Life Lessons for more details and to buy tickets.

I caught up with Alex from Paint Jam to find out more.

Why did you set Paint Jam up? 

We want to give people who might not be ‘artists’ or work in a creative field the opportunity to discover their creativity in a relaxed, party-like atmosphere. We believe that everyone can be an artist, but many people are almost scared of being creative and we want to change that.

How successful has it been?

It’s lovely to see the transformation in people, sometimes they can be a bit shy at the beginning of the workshop but usually after a few minutes they become more and more confident and walk out with an amazing painting. To see someone who usually doesn’t paint become more confident and relaxed, and maybe helping them to discover a new hobby, is incredibly rewarding.

Why is it good for people who aren’t ordinarily creative? 

We believe that art is for everyone, not just trained artists. There are so many health benefits of being creative, but often people lack the confidence. We want to give everyone the opportunity to be creative in a relaxed, fun environment.

Bart Lambert plays Jonathan Harker and Sophie Greenham plays Mina, with the duo also taking on other roles and flitting between characters including Dr Seward, Professor Van Helsing and Renfield. It’s a tricky thing to pull off when the novel has so many narrators, and it did feel a bit disjointed at times. Having not read the book, I found it hard to follow the story, although I guess that most people paying for the privilege of seeing the first play staged in the London Library’s 178 year history are familiar with the novel.

Creation Theatre, Oxford’s largest producing theatre, (read an interview with Lucy Askew, the head of and creative producer at Creation Theatre), has for the last 22 years established a growing reputation for their innovative theatrical adaptations of famous books with performances taking place in dramatic and unexpected locations. Kate Kerrow wrote this play, which has been directed by Helen Tennison. Design by Ryan Dawson Laight was great, as usual, and Eva Auster’s visuals  and Matt Eaton’s audio track conveying the sense of looming dread.

Surprisingly, whilst humour would never be the right word to describe what we see on stage, there are a few smiles raised. There’s no vampires, but quite a lot of sex. Mostly, however, it’s dark, and macabre and sinister – exactly what you want from Stoker’s story. I just wish it had been a bit more comprehensible.

This atmospheric site-specific production, by Oxford-based Creation Theatre, transports the narrative to the 1950s, set amongst the emotional and social restrictions of the era. We meet a young couple reeling from their encounters with the demon Count. Jonathan struggles with his role as husband and protector, while Mina rails against the limitations placed on her as an intelligent woman.

I caught up with Lucy Askew, head of and creative producer at Creation Theatre, to find out more.

Why is now the time to revisit Dracula?

Is there ever a time when vampires aren’t terrifying, sexy, manipulative immortal aristocrats aren’t appealing? Apparently there’s a correlation between stories about zombies being popular in times of austerity and vampires in prosperity. We’re hoping it’s actually cause and effect and the vampires bring the prosperity. In all seriousness as a teenager in the 90’s who was obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Interview with a Vampire, and True Blood this is really 10 years of my waiting to geek on vampire culture again.

What’s different about site specific theatre?

It has enormous challenges. Everyday at the London Library we will be setting up and clearing our seating, set and technical equipment in the short time between the Library closing and the show opening. Off setting that though is the fact that we get the most incredible, money can’t buy sets. Our venues are a massive part of the experience and completely built into the fabric of the piece, they also completely immerse our audience. In a conventional theatre you can end up sat a long way from the stage and in all honesty. especially in the days of HD TV it isn’t really that different to going to the Cinema or watching Netflix. Site specific work is nearly always far more intimate and can totally transport the audience to feeling that they are a part of the piece.

How difficult was it to use the library space?

The biggest challenge is that working around library opening hours our time in the library if very limited. We will have 5 evenings for technical rehearsals in the evenings the week before the show opens where there will inevitable challenges we aren’t even aware of yet. Power supply in the room is very low with just a few domestic sockets, but technology thank fully has developed enough in the last few years to make lower power consumption shows far more feasible

How was the library’s connection with Bram Stoker discovered?

Phillip Marshall the Libraries Director came to see our production of Dracula at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Oxford. He loved the show and asked if we would consider bringing it to the library. We came to see the library and were blown away by what an amazing space it is and bit their hand off as fast as we could. The Library knew Stoker had been a member but Phillip asked his team to research the connection further. Their Development Director Phillip Spedding then made the most amazing discoveries. He discovered the very books Stoker checked out whilst researching Dracula and then as he went through them discovered pencil markings in Stokers handwriting in the margins.

The production has been transported to the 1950s – why did you choose this time period?
Our originally production in Oxford was staged in the Norrington Room of Blackwell’s bookshop (in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest room selling books in the world) which was built in the 1950’s. We wanted the show to fit to it’s environment so looked the 1950’s. Sexual repression and traditional gender roles play a big part in the original text which transposed perfectly to the 1950’s. It’s given the production a beautiful film noir feel and I can’t imagine it any other way now.

Do you think the story has resonance for all times?

Yes. Reduce it down and it’s really all about sex and death I think we’re quite a long way from either of them not resonating with the human experience.

The show runs from Sat 2 Feb – Sun 3 March and tickets are available here.

Daniel Llewelyn Williams is brilliantly confident and blustery as Sassoon whilst Owain Gwynn as Owen plays awestruck and slightly naïve brilliantly. Sketches of trenchlife are drawn out through conversations, expressions of war revealed in poetry. Weaving dialogue from their letters with their celebrated poetry, it elegantly weaves together the story of their friendship. We move between wartime exchanges and later reflections, as Sassoon looks back on their time at Craiglockhart.

These were men whose minds had been broken by the experience of war. But through poetry they hoped to rebuild the society that was being beaten by it. Sassoon says ‘We are the only ones who can help them imagine. If they know the truth they have to stop.’ It’s a sad truth that despite knowing the truth, war continues to be a part of life.

The pair didn’t agree on everything. Despite his criticism of war, Owen still wanted to ‘know how it feels to be hit by a bullet’ – for him there was some glory in the act. Sassoon was more overtly anti-war, and the production shows this.

Wilton’s Music Hall makes for an ideal setting, its faded walls and rustic décor adding an extra layer of shadow and smoke to Oliver Harman (designer) and Kevin Heyes’ (lighting) set. Not About Heroes was first performed in 1982 at the Edinburgh Festival, going on to tour and be revised over the next four decades into the play we see before us today. This London run by Flying Bridge Theatre Company and Seabright Productions concludes an acclaimed two-year tour, commemorating the centenary of the Armistice.  It’s lost none of its poignancy in that time.

The five-strong cast (Clare Lawrence Moody, Emma D’arcy, Clare Perkins, Sean Jackson, and Guy Rhys) flit between their array of different characters. Overlapping and shared lines aren’t the characters interrupting one another, but an example of how the book shifts and shakes its way through the consciousness of the characters. The echoes of the mind are made manifest, and the shades of existence delicately shown. At times it gets a little bit confusing, but then so does Woolf’s prose. It’s a story made up of moments, and the amorphous structure that does without traditional scene and act changes beautifully represents this. 

As we’re told in the opening scene, which acts of something of an explainer, Mrs Dalloway is a ‘book about London, and lots of other things.’ This production very much focuses on the other things – relationships, identity, mental health, the self – and London is part of the back drop. The set is sparse – the scenery is a simple blue sky, and we do not once hear Big Ben chime. Instead the focus is on the entry, exit, and exposition of the actors on stage. The Arcola is a simple theatre, and the production would work well in a grander setting. No doubt it will end up doing a tour or run elsewhere. 

Mrs Dalloway is made up of the people and places which complete her. For this reason, the vast array of characters are given just as much presence as Clarissa Dalloway herself. It works, because it’s not just about one person, but ‘life, London, this moment of June.’ This moment is made up of many things, and the play conveys both the inner and outer worlds with elegance and inventiveness. Visually simple, but emotionally exploratory, this version of Mrs Dalloway is well worth getting tickets for.

Which Woolf novel is next?