The Royal Opera House is delighted to be featured as part of this year’s Open House Festival. Taking place on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September 2023, the festival celebrates the greatest architecture across London. The Royal Opera House will be open from 10 am across the Open House Festival weekend and we encourage everyone to explore the public spaces of our iconic venue.

As part of the festival, we’ll be offering a series of free tours of the Royal Opera House. Led by our expert guides, these tours will showcase the incredible history of the theatre, focusing on how the Royal Opera House has transformed from the 18^th century to now. Please note, this tour does not enter the backstage areas of the theatre.

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Come rain or shine, you can depend on the UK to put on an unforgettable outdoor experience, Battersea Park in Concert adding to a roster of summertime events both on a local and national scale celebrating our love of music. Organised by charitable organisation Enable in partnership with Wandsworth Music and Wandsworth Borough Council, the event takes over part of the 200 acre, Victorian park over 3 nights – Saturday 26th August – a West End themed soirée, Sunday 27th August – a classical music fuelled event fronted by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Monday 28th August with headliner Brit Award, Ivor Novello and MOBO Award Winning artist Gabrielle, renowned for her distinctive pop/soul sound which dominated the 90s pop music scene.

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Currently seen on the BBC’s DNA Family Secrets, Professor Turi King has played a significant role in the fields of forensics, history, genealogy and archaeology – her contribution to the identification of King Richard III a vital finding that has gone onto showcase the power of forensics, tying us ever closer to our personal lineages. Set to tour the UK with her latest live show Family History with DNA Detective Professor Turi King, Turi looks to delve deeper into her impressive decades long career, imparting the knowledge she’s gathered amongst the years. Ahead of the tour, which starts on 23rd September at the 1532 Performing Arts Centre – Turi tells us more about what to expect.

Hi Turi, your event Family History with DNA Detective Professor Turi King will tour the UK this September and October. How are you feeling ahead of the tour?

Very excited. I’ve been working in this area for over 20 years, I get to work on some really cool things. I’ve worked on the Richard III Project and early stuff around using DNA fingerprinting to look at people with the same surname, and whether they all related to one another through to doing DNA Family Secrets. I’ve worked on loads of really interesting projects, and it’s an area I’m quite passionate about, and I’m hoping that people will be able to learn tips and tricks as well as how they can use DNA when they’re doing their own family history.

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Courtesy of Peter Dibdin.

The 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe draws to a close today, Monday 28 August 2023, having brought together artists, arts industry, media and audiences from nearly 170 countries, with 2,445,609 tickets issued across the festival.

288 venues hosted a diverse selection of work from Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world, with 67 countries represented, and performance showcases from 17 countries. They were joined by nearly 500 of the world’s finest street performers, buskers and street artists, who brought vibrancy and joy to the Mound and Royal Mile as part of the Fringe street events.
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The power of the alter ego allows for the individual putting on a persona to release their inhibitions and access an authentic part of themselves perhaps many others themselves identify or connect with. A magnification of a facet perhaps overlooked normally, however realised dependent on circumstance. An exploration of drag, sexuality, performance, fleeting love and connecting with oneself, Tim Fraser crafts the production Candy.

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Returning for its eighth edition this year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Comedians’ Choice Awards 2023 – run by the British Comedy Guide, announce this year’s winners. Renowned for nominations being made solely by performers taking part in the festival, the awards are the only ones to do so – making the process that much more special and revered amongst comedy peers. The awards are broken down into three main categories – Best Show/Best Performer/ Best Best Person, with nominations whittled down to an eventual winner. Congratulations to all nominees and winners, continue reading to find out this year’s results.

Best Show

Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Performing at Monkey Barrel 4.

After being surprised on stage with the award, Masli said: “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha”.

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Sky Arts has renewed its partnership with the National Theatre as Headline Sponsor of NT Live as it approaches its 15^th anniversary next year. National Theatre Live films and distributes world-class theatre straight from UK stages to cinema screens around the world. Sky Arts has been a key partner and headline sponsor of NT Live since 2017, supporting the National Theatre’s aim to widen access to the best of British theatre nationwide.

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The Stage Debut Awards today reveals the much-anticipated nominees for its annual awards ceremony celebrating the best emerging theatre talent in the UK. This year’s 45 nominations across 8 categories celebrate an array of talented individuals from performers to composers and designers through to writers, lyricists and directors.

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The highly anticipated performing arts celebration spotlighting dynamic musicals and award-winning plays in London’s West End, makes its return this summer. Marking its 5th-year anniversary, the campaign offers audiences the opportunity to get tickets to the best of West End theatre at accessible prices by booking between 21 August to 3 September.

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The road to recovery is a tiring and tough one when undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The impact of a cancer diagnosis on a patient and their loved ones a life altering event. Supported by the Create Health Foundation, founded by Professor Geeta Nargund, with the purpose of empowering women of all ages about their health, writer Mark Oxtoby and director Mika Simmons crafts short film My Week With Maisy – a tale about Maisy, a young girl and Mrs Foster, an elder women both undergoing chemotherapy and the affect this has on them both.

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