Death Comes to Pemberley
Catch the theatrical world premiere season of Death Comes to Pemberley this month. Step into the world of Pride and Prejudice like never before with this new production that combines Jane Austen’s timeless romance with the best-selling murder mystery by the ‘Queen of Crime’ P.D. James, skillfully adapted for the stage by Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff. Six years after Elizabeth Bennet marries Mr. Darcy, their idyllic life at Pemberley is shattered when a man is murdered on their estate.
Suspicion inevitably falls on the notorious George Wickham. As the investigation unfolds, dark secrets emerge, tensions rise and loyalties are tested, casting doubt on everyone’s innocence. After a great opening at the beautiful Theatre Royal Windsor, the play now tours to Cardiff, Bath, Guildford, Bromley, Wycombe, and Brighton, then finishing with a run at Richmond Theatre from 9-13 September.
This is a real treat, so don’t miss it!
Death Come to Pemberley plays in Cardiff, Bath, Guildford, Bromley and Wyeford in August: see the website for dates and details.
Gianni Versace Retrospective
Dive into the dazzling world of Gianni Versace at this stylish retrospective at Arches London Bridge. This is the largest collection of vintage Gianni Versace designs ever shown in the UK, featuring over 450 original garments and accessories.
The exhibition also includes personal sketches, interviews and photographs showcasing Versace’s impeccable craftsmanship, tireless innovation and unmistakable aesthetic. There’s a fabulous selection of silk shirts from Elton John’s personal collection and many of the iconic looks worn by Versace’s glamorous clientele including Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Liz Hurley, George Michael, and most famously, Princess Diana. A great exhibition in an amazing venue.
Gianni Versace Retrospective at Arches London Bridge to 1 March 2026.
Queen’s Park Book Festival
The Queen’s Park Book Festival is one of those wonderful London ‘insider’ events where you feel you’ve discovered something really very special. It’s a great celebration of the literary arts set in beautiful surrounds, right in the heart of London.
Queen’s Park has a deep literary history and has been home to authors, artists, poets, and actors for generations. This year the Festival welcomes 80 authors across 30 events, from those who are internationally renowned to debut novelists and many local voices.
Events in the Community Tent are free all weekend; others are ticketed but they are very affordable, with most tickets just £8.00 or £10.00. You can catch Hanif Kureishi in conversation with The Guardian’s chief theatre critic Arifa Akbar; art critic Richard Cork discusses his new book Encounters with Artists with the broadcaster, cultural historian and academic Christopher Cook; and one of my all-time favourite authors, Alan Hollinghurst, takes the stage on Saturday to talk about his latest novel, Our Evenings.
Nor are younger readers forgotten, with a vibrant program of children’s book events also programmed.
The Queen’s Park Book Festival is on 30-31 August at Queen’s Park.
Don’t Rock the Boat
Take a quick trip out of London to see the new play Don’t Rock the Boat by Robin Hawdon at The Mill at Sonning. This is a really special place with a theatre, great restaurant, cosy bar with a spinning waterwheel and sunny waterside terrace.
Set in a beautiful spot on the banks of the Thames, the Mill at Sonning is one of the few remaining dinner theatres in the UK. They premiere many new plays and the productions are fully created on site, including all sets and costumes. The intimate theatre seats 217 in the semi-round so you feel fully involved in the performance.
The restaurant is just steps from your seat and has views over the river. So how appropriate that their new show, Don’t Rock the Boat, takes place on The Bunty, a converted barge moored on the Thames. This is a classic ensemble comedy of clashing personalities and family tensions.
The set, made right there at the theatre, is a real treasure! Enjoy.
The Mill at Sonning, Sonning Eye, Reading, to 6 September 2025.
Bill Brandt: Beach Nudes at Atlas Gallery
Feel the summer heat at the stunning exhibition Bill Brandt: Beach Nudes at Atlas Gallery, featuring Brandt’s most celebrated body of work. The photographs were taken across two special locations, on the rugged and beautiful shores of East Sussex and the beaches of southern France.
These striking black and white images distort and elongate the human form, turning limbs into sculptural echoes of cliffs and pebbled beaches. A crossed knee mirrors a stacked boulder, a bent elbow becomes a weathered stone, fingers seem to intertwine with the pebbled shore.
These bodies become part of the landscape and seascape. Feel the warmth of the sun and the whisper of the waves as you explore these perfectly surreal photographic artworks. Just stunning!
Atlas Gallery, 49 Dorset Street, London to 13 September 2025.
Barbican Outdoor Cinema Season
Outdoor Cinema returns to the Barbican this month with a stellar line-up to watch under the city stars. See iconic and exciting films from some of the world’s best visual storytellers including David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Claire Denis, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Koji Hashimoto and Sara Dosa.
These are films that demand to be seen on the big screen. The Outdoor Cinema season opens with Dune, David Lynch’s cult adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel – a thrilling sci-fi extravaganza. The season wraps up at the end of the month with the evergreen musical Little Shop of Horrors, about a nerdy florist looking for romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant.
With a catchy soundtrack and cameos from Steve Martin, Jim Belushi and Bill Murray, what’s not to love? Several of the screenings are part of Frequencies: the sounds that shape us,a Barbican cross-arts season that encourages audiences to go beyond music, exploring the power of sound and the sonic experience to shape how we move, think, feel, and to inspire change.
Outdoor Cinema in the Barbican Sculpture Court from 20-31 August 2025.
Pictograms at Japan House
There’s always something interesting and unique happening at Japan House on Kensington High Street. Right now, you can see a fascinating free exhibition, Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs, exploring Japan’s integral role in the development of this important form of visual communication. Pictograms are literally everywhere, both in the physical world and online.
From street signs and text messages to public loos and maps, pictograms are a universal visual language. This quirky and fun exhibition shows how Japanese design has shaped this vital art of communication.
At Japan House, 101-111 Kensington High Street, London, to 9 November 2025; the exhibition is free but timed booking is recommended.
The Camden Fringe
Now in its 20th year, the Camden Fringe has something for everyone with more than 400 shows playing across 40 venues. From theatre and comedy to dance, magic, music and more, this is an accessible and affordable alternative to the Edinburgh Fringe.
The Festival includes old hands and experienced performers alongside emerging companies and ambitious newcomers. My picks this year include Magpie Theatre’s hilarious musical reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s wonderful story The Canterville Ghost and Legroom Collective’s All my friends are in Australia.
Established in 2006, and still run by the founders Zena Barrie and Michelle Flower, 2025 is the biggest Camden Fringe ever with events taking place all across North London from Highgate to Covent Garden and beyond. There’s even Shakesfest this year, a new ‘festival within a festival’ featuring shows that play on the works of William Shakespeare.
Camden Fringe runs to 24 August 2025.
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Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II
This summer, American artist Leonardo Drew takes over the main space at South London Gallery with a new immersive installation. Known for his impressive sculptural works, this is Drew’s first solo exhibition in a London institution. He creates reflective abstract pieces that play on the tension between order and chaos.
Transforming and eroding materials by hand in the studio, Drew explores the cyclical nature of life and decay. This new site-specific work covers the walls and floor of the gallery. Fragments of wood are distressed, as though they have been through extreme weather events or ‘acts of God’.
Drew doesn’t attach meanings to the works, preferring to title pieces numerically so viewers can engage with them freely and discover their own meanings and experiences.
Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II at South London Gallery until 7 September 2025. Photo: Supplied.
Notting Hill Carnival
The famous Notting Hill Carnival is a colourful celebration of Caribbean culture in the heart of west London. It’s a vibrant expression of heritage, creativity, and community across the August Bank Holiday weekend. As the biggest street festival in Europe it attracts tens of thousands of spectators and performers from across the UK and beyond.
The fun starts on Saturday with the steel band extravaganza from 4pm to midnight. J’ouvert, the traditional pre-carnival celebration, begins at 6am on Sunday, before the official opening ceremony, followed by the Children’s Day Parade and Carnival. The main event, the Adults’ Day Parade and Carnival runs all day on Monday and is full of glitz and glamour, amazing dancing, incredible costumes and pulsating music.
The Carnival is fabulous fun but also totally chaotic, so check the website for maps and travel advice.
Across Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, 23-25 August 2025.
Faces
There’s always an opportunity to see a famous face from film and television live on stage in London. This month, catch Imelda Staunton alongside her daughter Bessie Carter in the George Bernard Shaw classic Mrs Warren’s Profession at the Garrick Theatre to 16 August; Rosamund Pike shines in Inter Alia at the Lyttleton Theatre, South Bank; Martin Shaw is magisterial as Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons at the Harold Pinter Theatre; and Dita Von Teese stars as Lady Luck in Diamonds and Dust at the Emerald Theatre.
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