Miles HedleyDec 12, 20192 minCITY OF ANGELS at Laban theatreIt’s impossible to come out of Trinity Laban musical theatre department’s epic production of the Broadway hit City Of Angels without...
Miles HedleyDec 11, 20191 minA CHRISTMAS CAROL at Greenwich TheatreOur modern idea of Christmas is almost entirely down to Charles Dickens – he’s why the iconography of the festive season remains so...
Miles HedleyDec 9, 20192 minTHE JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET at Blackheath HallsWhat could be musically more exciting than a live jazz-funk gig? One featuring James Taylor on Hammond organ, that’s what. His show at...
Miles HedleyDec 9, 20192 minROBERT VINCENT at Mycenae HouseRobert Vincent has been called the Scouse Springsteen but in fact he’s vastly more than that. Although his Americana-drenched...
Miles HedleyDec 2, 20193 minSLEEPING BEAUTY at Greenwich TheatreOne of the reasons audiences adore Pixar films such as Toy Story is that they are child-friendly fantasies shot through with whip-smart...
Miles HedleyNov 25, 20192 minSUMMIT DANCE THEATRE at LabanProducers routinely spend millions to satisfy the public’s apparently unquenchable thirst for special effects. Yet a simple idea that...
Miles HedleyNov 18, 20192 minROSIE KAY: FANTASIA at LabanArtists are drawn to the darker side of the human condition – for every enigmatic Mona Lisa smile or Ode To Joy there are any number of...
Miles HedleyNov 11, 20191 minLEST WE FORGET at Greenwich Theatre There’s a lot of really good stuff in Charlotte Green’s play Lest We Forget about the disgraceful treatment of black British troops who...
Miles HedleyNov 11, 20191 minSTEVE REICH at Trinity Laban Superstar composer Steve Reich came to Trinity Laban to be given an honorary fellowship, answer questions from students (above) and watch...
Miles HedleyNov 10, 20192 minLONDON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF EARLY MUSIC at Blackheath If anyone ever doubts the contemporary relevance of what’s played and displayed at the perennially marvellous London International...
Miles HedleyNov 8, 20192 minCURTAIN’D SLEEP at Greenwich Theatre Two Lady Macbeths, two Ophelias, a stage split into four quadrants of a circle each visible only to a quarter of the audience, the cast...
Miles HedleyNov 4, 20192 minCLIVE CARROLL & FRIENDS at Mycenae House There is at least one guitar hero for every kind of popular music - folk legend Richard Thompson, bluesman Buddy Guy or jazz giant Wes...
Miles HedleyOct 25, 20192 minSHAPESHIFTER at Blackheath Halls I’m not given to rating events out of 10 but if I had to I wouldn’t hesitate to award Trinity Laban’s Shapeshifter and Contemporary Music...
Miles HedleyOct 21, 20192 minJOHN TAMS & BARRY COOPE at Cutty SarkContrasts matter. Bad weather helps us appreciate good, sadness joy, chaos calm. And the banter between folk legends John Tams and Barry...
Miles HedleyOct 16, 20192 minHOCUS POCUS at the Albany Forty-something years ago, the tagline for the blockbuster Christopher Reeve movie Superman was You’ll Believe A Man Can Fly because the...
Miles HedleyOct 15, 20192 minDEAF MEN DANCING at Laban A stunning show at Laban theatre by Deaf Men Dancing contained any number of great moments – but the best for me was a simple...
Miles HedleyOct 7, 20191 minCREAK at Creekside Discovery Centre With half-term fast approaching, here’s a must-see for all ages at Creekside Discovery Centre – a chance to splash about in the river at...
Miles HedleyOct 7, 20192 minAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE at the Albany, Laban and across Lewisham Age Against The Machine, an epic three-week festival across Lewisham promoting creative ageing, reached its triumphant climax on Sunday...
Miles HedleyOct 6, 20192 minNICK HARPER at Mycenae HouseFifty years ago Nick Harper was a four-year-old boy living with his parents in a one-bedroom flat at 58 Fordwych Road in Kilburn. But...
Miles HedleyOct 4, 20191 minBKLYN THE MUSICAL at Greenwich Theatre If you love live performance, book a seat for BKLYN The Musical at Greenwich Theatre because the actors and band are as good as any I’ve...
Miles HedleySep 24, 20192 minLONDON INT SCREEN DANCE FESTIVAL at Laban Dance films have to be so much more than just performances captured on film – they have to be cinematic artworks in their own right. And...
Miles HedleySep 23, 20191 minZOE & IDRIS RAHMAN at Mycenae House Great jazz musicians seem to have an almost telepathic understanding with their bandmates. And when, as in the case of Zoe and Idris...
Miles HedleySep 21, 20192 minPARKSFEST at Mycenae House Traditional folk music, American blues and organ-driven jazz all on the same bill in the lovely surroundings of Mycenae House gardens -...
Miles HedleySep 20, 20191 minMUSE at the 02 LondonIn a full assault on the senses, rock giants Muse threw everything at their O2 London audience. Not only did they play a storming set of...
Miles HedleySep 17, 20191 minINSIGHT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR at the National Maritime Museum The annual Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer Of The Year winners’ exhibition returns to the National Maritime Museum with some of...
Miles HedleySep 14, 20192 minNICK RAYNSFORD at The Greenwich Gallery There are pictures in Reflections 4 Labour, the gorgeous new exhibition of works by Nick Raynsford at the Greenwich Gallery, which are so...
Miles HedleySep 14, 20191 minIN AND OUT OF CHEKHOV’S SHORTS at Greenwich TheatreAnton Chekhov may be best known as a chronicler of tragedy but even amid the despair he will always find moments of comedy. It’s even...
Miles HedleySep 6, 20192 minJADE CITY at The Bunker in SouthwarkThe harrowing damage to mental health caused by poverty, lack of opportunity and official indifference is the theme of Alice Malseed’s...
Miles HedleyJul 19, 20192 minNELL GWYNN at Severndroog Castle Restoration comedy is about mocking the ruling class and shocking audiences. Both feats are hilariously achieved in Nell Gwynn, Jessica...
Miles HedleyJul 18, 20194 minTHE MOON at the National Maritime Museum Two of the most iconic photos ever are Earthrise, the shot of our blue planet taken from Apollo 8 as it orbited the moon, and the picture...
Miles HedleyJul 17, 20193 minROD KITSON: ART BY THE SQUARE FOOT at Surrey Quays The spaces where artists work have inspired some of the finest paintings in history - just think of Velasquez’s mysterious Las Meninas or...
Miles HedleyJul 17, 20192 minLA BELLE HÉLÈNE at Blackheath Halls Get it wrong and comic opera can be a disaster. But get it right, like this year’s sold-out Blackheath Halls opera La Belle Hélène, and...
Miles HedleyJul 12, 20192 minNONCLASSICAL at the Albany Pure sound, like pure colour in a painting, can be transcendent, revealing depths of consciousness undreamt of in daily life. I had that...
Miles HedleyJul 8, 20193 minGREENWICH & DOCKLANDS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL The divisions in British society today are as wide and bitter as they have been in decades, which is why events that celebrate...
Miles HedleyJul 4, 20191 minSVADBA at the Queen’s House A brilliant contemporary opera written by a woman with an all-female cast – there could be no better way to round off Trinity Laban’s...
Miles HedleyJul 4, 20192 minTHE WINTER’S TALE at St George’s Garrison Church By Reeva Charles On a glorious summer’s evening Changeling Theatre used a stunning outdoor setting in Woolwich for a production of The...
Miles HedleyJun 30, 20192 minCHRIS WOOD at Mycenae House Singer-songwriter Chris Wood is not only a great musician, he’s also one of our greatest ever lyricists. His ear for the sort of minutiae...
Miles HedleyJun 28, 20191 minM.E.H at Greenwich Theatre One of the great questions posed by art is this: What is real? It is the theme of The Outbound Project’s latest stagework MEH, which is...
Miles HedleyJun 26, 20192 minROOTS, RIOTS, REMEMBRANCE at the Albany The three Rs usually refers to reading, riting and rithmatic. But if you’re a Trinity Laban student it can also mean Roots, Riots,...
Miles HedleyJun 24, 20192 minSWEET CHARITY at Blackheath Halls Sweet Charity has a heck of a musical pedigree – the original director was Bob Fosse, the book was by Neil Simon and the near-perfect...
Miles HedleyJun 24, 20191 minSURGE at the Albany Close to the Albany stands a house where, in 1981, a fire killed 13 black youngsters and injured many more during a 16th birthday party....
Miles HedleyJun 17, 20193 minGREENWICH BOOK FESTIVAL at University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College & Greenwich Theatre This year’s Greenwich Book Festival fulfilled the basic requirement of any event designed to promote the arts – it truly offered...
Miles HedleyJun 14, 20191 minBIRTH ENSEMBLE at St Alfege’s ChurchThere are free lunchtime recitals at St Alfege’s pretty much every week of the year and the range of programmes on offer is...
Miles HedleyJun 9, 20192 minWORLD OCEANS DAY at the National Maritime Museum There were some terrifying statistics highlighted at World Oceans Day at the National Maritime Museum. For example, without radical...
Miles HedleyJun 9, 20192 minTHE HUNTERS GRIMM at Catford BroadwayIf I walked down a busy shopping street and saw a talking wolf on the pavement, a bevy of dancing princesses in red capes or a pack of...
Miles HedleyJun 7, 20192 minTRANSITIONS Dance triple bill at Laban If you ever wanted an example of the diversity dance is capable of providing you’d struggle to find a better one than Transitions’ triple...
Miles HedleyMay 27, 20192 minTHE WIND IN THE WILLOWS in the Royal Observatory Garden Is there a story in the English language that’s better known or more loved than The Wind In The Willows? I doubt it – but that makes it a...
Miles HedleyMay 26, 20192 minSECRET RIVERS at the Museum of London Docklands We’re rather spoilt for enjoying rivers in Greenwich because not only do we have the Thames but a stone’s throw away is Deptford Creek...
Miles HedleyMay 19, 20192 minCHURCHFITTERS at Mycenae House Pound for pound, folk music has more than its fair share of virtuosi - but can sometimes come across as rather worthy, a strange...
Miles HedleyMay 19, 20192 minSALOMÉ at Greenwich Theatre You need to be at the top of your game to make a success of Salomé, Oscar Wilde’s challenging symbolist prose-poem about the beheading of...