Rough Trade turns fifty with three days taking over the
Southbank Centre — Pulp playing their new album in full, Scritti Politti
twice in one day, Jarvis Cocker introducing a live-scored Kes. The
National Gallery opens the UK’s first-ever Waldmüller show, free, and
Soho’s own parish fête turns 51 in a churchyard off Wardour Street.
Evan Parker launches a new duo record at the club that’s been his home for
years.
A hand-checked shortlist of the week in London culture
· new every Thursday
This is an anniversary week that keeps landing on the South Bank. Rough Trade
turns fifty with three days across the Southbank Centre — Pulp playing
their new album in full on Saturday, Scritti Politti doing a matinee and an
evening on the same day, caroline closing it out on Sunday alongside Jarvis
Cocker introducing a live-scored Kes. Away from the anniversary, Soho’s
own summer fête turns 51 in a churchyard off Wardour Street on Sunday,
free and capped at 500, and the National Gallery opens its first-ever
Waldmüller show, still in its opening weeks.
Service notes: Grimeborn’s Così fan tutte?! at the Arcola
is sold out for its entire run with no returns route, so it’s off the list
entirely — don’t chase it. The Mandy screening below carries our one
hedge of the week.
Southbank Centre · South Bank · Fri 17–Sun 19 Jul · individual shows £17–£77
Fifty years since the Ladbroke Grove shop opened, and Rough Trade
marks it with an actual weekend, not a nostalgia tour: Pulp playing their new
album More in full before diving into the back catalogue (Saturday,
Royal Festival Hall), Scritti Politti doing a matinee and an evening set on the
same day, and caroline closing it out Sunday alongside Jarvis Cocker
introducing a live-scored screening of Kes. Rough Trade Books runs
its own programme of readings across the same three days.
Evan Parker has been one of the defining voices in European free
improvisation since the 1970s; this is a new duo record with saxophonist Tom
Challenger, launched live, with cellist Hannah Marshall opening solo — a
working document of where the music is right now, not a legacy booking.
National Gallery, Room 1 · Trafalgar Square · Free · to 20 Sep
The first UK exhibition ever devoted to Ferdinand Georg
Waldmüller, a central figure of Austria’s Biedermeier period —
thirteen landscapes on loan from Vienna’s Belvedere, tracing how they grew
from a minor sideline into the paintings he’s remembered for. Free, and
still in its opening weeks.
Bush Theatre · Shepherd’s Bush · Thu 16–Wed 22 Jul, evenings 7.30pm, Sat & Wed mats 2.30pm · £10–£35
Eleanor Tindall’s two-hander opens as a chance-encounter
romance between Nadi Kemp-Sayfi and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, then swerves hard
into psychological horror. Critics are genuinely split on whether it holds
together under everything it’s trying to carry — which is more
interesting than another consensus rave. Wednesday’s evening show is
relaxed-performance.
St Anne’s Churchyard, Wardour Street · Soho · Sun 19 Jul, 12–6pm · Free
The 51st running of the parish fête: snail racing, the Soho
Waiters’ Race, a Police-v-Fire tug of war, a French House pop-up bar,
and a dog show where the prize goes to whoever’s dressed most like
royalty. Run by St Anne’s Church and the Soho Society, capped at 500
people — get there early.
Arcola Theatre, Studio 1 · Dalston · to Sat 18 Jul · £15–£39
Grimeborn’s opening double bill: Lisa Logan’s
After My Breath, a solo chamber opera built from moments in Greta
Thunberg’s life, paired with Eden 2.0’s rebooted Garden
of Eden. Two new works, gone after Saturday.
Young Vic, Maria Theatre · Waterloo · to Sat 18 Jul
Sophie Swithinbank’s drama ties a domestic-abuse survivor,
the researcher she falls for, and centuries of witch-trial records into one
psychological thriller. Time Out called it “brilliantly idiosyncratic”
— last chance Saturday.