London Entertainment
Best Entertainment on the Go: Covent Garden's piazza has long provided an alfresco stage for some of the capital's best street performers -- jugglers, unicylists, fire-eaters etc. On weekends, large crowds gather at the adjacent Punch & Judy pub to offer encouragement, applause, and raucous beer-fuelled criticism. A pound is considered a fair donation in you like what you've seen.
Best Free Music/Cheap Drink Combination: For over a decade the
Notting Hill Arts Club (21 Notting Hill Gate; tel.
020/7460-4459) has been giving up-and-coming bands both a place to perform and -- thanks to the cheap drinks deals and comfy sofas -- a ready made audience. The Saturday afternoon sessions from 4-6pm offer happy hour prices and are sponsored by the legendary Rough Trade shop, so expect plenty of Indie.
Best Mock-Shakespearean Experience: Follow in the footsteps of the "groundlings," the theatrical bargain hunters of Shakespeare's day, by foregoing your seats in favour of watching a play standing-up in front of the stage at the
Globe Theatre (21 New Globe Walk, Bankside; tel.
020/7902-1400), London's very own Bardic theme park. Tickets are just £5 (compared with £15-35 for a seat) for performances by this highly respected company.
Best Place to become a TV/Movie Buff: A sort of film-library-cum-viewing room, with an archive that covers the whole history of British film and television production, the
BFI Mediatheque (BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road; tel.
020/7928-3535;
www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/mediatheque) is a fantastic free resource for all cine- and TV-philes. Accessing the archive couldn't be easier. Just turn up, check in at the front desk, log into a 'viewing station' and get watching.
Most Affordable Opera: From Monday to Thursday the
English National Opera (London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane; tel.
0871/911-0200), London's second most prestigious opera company (after the Royal), makes 60 tickets available for just £10, a fraction of the normal cost. Just be sure to bring your opera glasses as your seat will be well towards the back.
