#old-vic

#old-vic

The Page & Overton's Brewery started in a small red brick building on Overton's Yard and slowly expanded into buildings on the other side of the yard, dominating the area for decades.

The museum, which displays Walthamstow's colourful cultural history - not to mention Britain's first ever petrol-fuelled car - closed for renovation in December 2023.

The Victorian building is set to become a 2,300-capacity venue, which the company says will showcase 'a wide range of artists'. The building dates back to 1896, when it was used as a theatre and opera house, before closing its doors in 1933. After that, it became a cinema - though this, too, closed in 1969.

At the heart of the scheme is a substantial upgrade to the Barbican's Conservatory. Longstanding maintenance and accessibility issues will be addressed, alongside the creation of a climate-controlled environment to protect its plant collection. The revamped Conservatory is intended to become a more prominent visitor attraction, with regular free public access and new routes to raised balconies offering views across the tropical landscape.

The first floor is now home to The Ballroom, a cocktail bar and events space with room for 250 people to sip cocktails and listen to vinyl. The room gives strong '70s vibes, with raspberry-pink walls, leather and PVC booth-style seating and oak details all adding to the old school aesthetic.

At Troubadour, we are driven by a belief in creating extraordinary spaces that inspire artists, audiences, and the stories they come together to share. The 3,000 seat venue is to be built in Greenwich Securing planning permission for the new Troubadour Greenwich Peninsula Theatre marks a major milestone for us, and an exciting new chapter in our commitment to bold, large-scale live performance.

The City of London Corporation described the resulting plan as 'sensitive, conservation-led, yet future facing'. Changes will be made to the Barbican's famous Conservatory, beloved among Londoners for its lush greenery, to address long-standing maintenance issues and to improve accessibility. This will include a new lift (providing step-free access to the fly tower for the first time) and stairs up to the Conservatory's raised balconies, offering eye-popping views over the flora below.

So another word about tickets. They did finally announce single-game tickets were going on sale, but only for games though June. It's not enough to keep season plans limited to those requiring fans to buy more tickets than they can use, feeding the secondary markets which the Mets also get a cut of, but "make-your-own-plan" fans like me who've reliably occupied seats for decades,

The Castle Cinema, which opened on Chatsworth Road in 2015 after a crowdfunding campaign, has become one of the best places to catch a film in the whole of London, so there's no better team to revitalise Catford Mews. Reopening at The Castle Catford some time in 2026, the venue will boast three screens, a community space, a bar and a cafe.

The Richmond Theatre opened in 1899 as the Richmond Theatre and Opera House. Designed by the prolific theatre builder, Frank Matcham, barring some modest changes, it's pretty much still the same theatre that opened over 125 years ago.

A Valentine's date doesn't have to be anything extravagant. Sure, a fancy meal is nice and all, but St Valentine's Day is really about giving quality time to your favourite people, whether that be a partner, pals or a situationship that you're trying to turn into something a bit deeper. This year V Day falls on a Saturday, which means there's an awful lot of time to fill. But, like we said, that doesn't have to involve big spending.

The Donmar's programme is as eclectic as ever, with the opening play being (Apr 18-Jun 6). US actor-writer-director Fran Kranz's adaptation of his own hit indie film is about two sets of couples - the parents of the victim of a high school shooting, and the parents of the shooter - who attempt a painful reconciliation years after the event. Carrie Cracknell directs a top cast that includes Adeel Akhtar, Amari Bacchus, Monica Dolan, Paul Hilton, Lyndsey Marshal, Rochelle Rose and Susie Trayling.

But at the end of this month, there's a brand new festival arriving to inject some colour into the financial district. 'Vibrance' will light up Roman ruins, medieval churches and secret gardens across the Square Mile on Thursday January 29 and Friday January 30 from 5.30pm until 8.30pm. Created by Guildhall Production Studio, it brings together more than a dozen artworks and live performances by emerging artists from Guildhall School of Music & Drama.