Things to do in London: Part n of q
I've been living in London for about three years now, but it took my entire flat getting jobs and be running around the country every week for us to realise that we haven't actually taken advantage of the city we were living in. And so we're now trying to do something every weekend.
Museums
All of the major museums have been free for about a decade - and they're certainly worth the visit. I'm going to be mentioning the bigger ones / clusters that you can spend a day at without having to travel long distances in between; this has already been done to death on the web so, I suspect many will skip this section
The British Museum, a testament to the brutal expansionism and lack of tact that made this island a major power. As well as their primary collection, they have a lot of interesting visiting exhibits - some of which you may have to book for; for some of the bigger ones, like the Terracotta Warriors, they do some late evening slots so that more people can get to see them. Like most of the museums, if you've got some money spare to donate, you can do so - but much better than that is, if you're local, and have some time, to spare some time as a volunteer - On at least one occasion that I was at the British Museum, certain halls were closed due to lack of staffing.
For a slightly lighter, less sombre and ancient history-heavy experience, the Cartoon Museum is almost next door. Asides from the website with the main body of text taken as a screen shot out of a Word document1, a lovely place to go if you want to learn some real history.
Riverwards, near Charing Cross station, are the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, which house a rather extension collection of painted and sculpted art (if installations are more your thing, try the Tate Modern on the other side of the river). About a mile down the road is also the Tate Britain
On the subject of art, there are a large number of smaller private galleries interspersed between Oxford Street and Theatreland - a special call out for Osborne Samuel gallery, with whom I may have indirect financial connections.
South and West again is Albertopolis2, which contains the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Theatre and Musicals
The West End is one of the few places in the world to really see musicals. And the wide section of mainstream theatres is always showing a wide selection of different shows and, if you know someone who knows where to find them, even more productions can be found off the beaten track.
I think that the first important thing to mention is that the National Theatre has free membership for 16-25 years olds offering £5 tickets to certain shows. Given the quality of the performances, this is certainly a worthwhile opportunity that I wish I'd find out about before. My hat also goes off to the website designer that the National used, whose login system warns you about the fact you have cookies disabled before trying to log you in. I'm still slightly disappointed that they are using cookies, but there's a lot of inertia behind that.
As for musicals, well, there's a lot of information out there about them. I recently saw Betty Blue Eyes, which is an exceptionally good production of a rather silly concept - and, at a reasonable price, if you sit in the front row. I will note that you want to be at least 5'9" in order not to actually hurt your neck - even for me at 6-something, I was looking up to see the back of the stage. The acting and the singing was good, and the programme and ice cream weren't rounded up to the nearest £10 (although, there was no strawberry flavour, which loses the theatre at least two stars :P). The theatre itself was stunning, and simultaneously both perfectly fitting for the show, and an odd counterpoint to it. There were a couple of exceptional performances, such as the member of the company who played Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, mainly for having a non-faked smile throughout the entire performance. The scenery was well made, the scene changes smooth, and the pair of stage hands I spotted in the wings looked cute, a sure sign of a well organised production.
Some of the other musicals are...slightly more pricey. But still worth seeing - even if some like Phantom only has two tunes. Either way, I've barely scraped the surface - there's a lot to do round here.
EDIT, before this was even published, based on things I did on the weekend of the 8th: So, the National's Olivier Theatre is bigger and nicer than in my memory, and even the 'worst' seats command a spectacular view of the drum stage. The production of Checkov's "The Cherry Orchard" was excellent, with a marvellous set and props, lighting that looked surprisingly realistic. The acting, which would be considered excellent anywhere else, was what let it down the most, with a bizarre collision of a couple of out of place accents (even the slightest hint of Scottish put a crack in illusion of Russia a hundred years ago), and Zoë Wanamaker possibly over acted her role. Ticket for this show are available for only £5 with the entry pass and I highly recommend it.
Something else which is worthwhile if you're in the area, but probably not worth making a special trip for, is the Science Fiction exhibition at the British Library - free entry, and a couple of interesting exhibits (including a TARDIS, with a 'be right back' note from The Doctor)