6 great things to do in London this month

With so much going on around London it can be hard to know which things to pick and choose… So, here is my round up of events for the month ahead, and if you’re still looking for more, just head over to my calendar to be inspired even further!
Ready? Here you go…

ICEBAR LONDON
31-33 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BN
It’s ICEBAR LONDON’s 10th birthday this year.  The bar is designed by ice artist Jens Thoms Ivarsson and created by a team of skilled ice designers and sculptors, using ice brought over from Sweden.  Each new design is built on the tradition of the ground-breaking innovation and style for which ICEBAR LONDON has become famous.  The current theme is all about ‘Frozen Food’ with amazing crystal clear cupcakes (see picture above) frozen fruit and a hipster food truck carved from ice.  Although attention is always centred on these themed motifs, every block of the hand-selected ice is unique, revealing natural contours that enthral visitors and form phenomenal works of art.

Alexander Lindsay: Altitude
Until 19th June, Piano Nobile Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG
Alexander Lindsay’s Altitude was photographed during a 20,000 mile, eight-month overland expedition across South America.  Printed in extraordinary detail on a monumental scale, his photographs capture the endless variety of vistas, from the remote, high-altitude deserts of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, to the bleak desolation of the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn.  Each image demands attention.  It has a sense of finality and an insistent, pulsating, presence.  As you approach, a journey begins, the eye wandering through desolate valleys and angry skies.  Closer still and sharp, tangible details emerge in the distance: seams of copper, iron and sulphur on volcanoes and individual flamingos on distant salt lakes.

Chef by Sabrina Mahfouz
15th June –4th July, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Sabrina Mahfouz’s highly acclaimed, award-winning Chef starring Jade Anouka now comes to London.  Chef tells the gripping story of how one woman went from being a haute-cuisine head-chef to a convicted inmate running a prison kitchen.  Inspired by an interview conducted with Ollie Dabbous, Chef studies food as the ultimate art form taking stimulus from Dabbous’ obsession with simplicity and making something the best it can be.  Yummy!  Leading us through her world of mouth-watering dishes and heart-breaking memories, Chefquestions our attitudes to food, prisoners, violence, love and hope.

Keats Festival
Until 7th June, Keats House, 10 Keats Grove, London NW3 2RR
This year’s festival is themed New Beginnings to celebrate a new era in the House’s history with innovative new object displays and interactive exhibits.  The Festival has an exciting programme of performances, talks, films, workshops and family activities.  Its finale is an unmissable poetry party to welcome new Poet in Residence, Michael Rosen.  Keats House was the home of Romantic poet John Keats from 1818 to 1820.  Here, he wrote his most famous poetry and fell in love with the girl next door, Fanny Brawne.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter
27th May –4th July 2015, Landor Theatre, 70 Landor Road, London SW9 9PH
This amazing world premiere is an original story with original music set in the fictional Irish town of Spindlewood. It is a beautiful story built around themes of prejudice, discrimination, animosity and a fear of the unknown – a folk musical with a specific, yet timeless, feel.  Spindlewood, like most towns of age, has its traditions.  But no practice, custom or Old Wives Warning is so firmly adhered to as ‘The Turning of the Key’.  Every year, on the last night of winter, as the first day of spring unfolds, the townsfolk gather to take part in a strange ritual.  They meet in the centre of the town square, where a statue bearing the likeness of a young girl stands, poised and still, one hand raised as if to toast the sky.  Constance has stood in the square for as long as any can remember.  But she is never more lifelike than tonight.  Spindlewood is also home to a Clockmaker with a secret – something the simple folk of the town must never discover.  Through methods hidden even to himself, the Clockmaker has created something much, much more than a machine. . .

Bow Open Studios Weekend
19th – 20th June
Bow Arts’ renowned Open Studios Weekend seeks to make artists and art more accessible to the public by offering them the opportunity to meet the best of London’s emerging talent in their own creative workspaces.  This is a rare opportunity to explore artists’ private spaces, see works that are still in process, discover new methods and meet the face of art.  It coincides with Bow Arts opening a new artist studio complex at London Dock – in the former home to News International – that will see 90 emerging artists being granted affordable and secure workspace in the heart of London’s Artist Quarter.  This development marks the 20th anniversary of the east London-based educational arts charity.