Coming Up in 2014

From the galleries and the gigs to the screen and the stage, we start to make our way through the capital’s cultural calendar to pick some of our highlights for the year ahead.

Should be enough to keep us all out of mischief…

THEATRE & DANCE
Harrowing and thrilling in equal measure, The Globe raises the curtain on the new indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with John Webster’s Jacobean tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi (9 January – 16 February) with Gemma Arterton in the eponymous role.

One of London’s hot theatre tickets for 2014, director Sam Mendes moves from screen to stage with his much anticipated production of King Lear at the National Theatre with Simon Russell Beale in the titular role. Performances start on 17 January but are sold out until March – more performances will go on sale from February. In the centenary year of the First World War, English National Ballet presents three new commissions from Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett combining the worlds of classic ballet with contemporary dance in Lest We Forget at the Barbican (1 – 12 April).

Elsewhere in Theatreland, guard your bunnies as the famous tale of obsession and revenge, Fatal Attraction comes to the West End at Theatre Royal Haymarket in March – casting information is still unannounced, make of that what you will. Gillian Andersen takes on Blanche DuBois as Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire pulls in to the Young Vic this Summer while the trailblazing Katie Mitchell directs arguably Chekov’s greatest play, The Cherry Orchard in October.

ART
If we can find one recurring theme in the art world in 2014 it’s that things are getting stylish. Celebrating the king of stripes and conical bras, the Barbican presents The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk in the French designer’s first major retrospective (9 April – 17 August) while over at the V&A, learn your Pucci from your Prada in The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014 (5 April – 27 July); a stunning collection of fashion from Second World War style to the present day.

Photographer David Bailey enjoys a worthy retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery in Bailey’s Stardust (6 February – 1 June), a collection of over 250 personally selected photographs from famous faces to anonymous strangers that came before his lens.

Following the Tate’s Lichtenstein retrospective in 2013 and the Barbican’s Pop Art Design (until 9 February), we’re still transfixed with the vibrant world of Pop as the Tate Modern unveils the first full retrospective of one of the British godfathers of Pop, Richard Hamilton (13 February – 26 May) encompassing his work with design, painting, photography and television. Colourful and instantly recognisable, the Tate will also premiere a landmark show celebrating the innovative work of Henri Matisse: The Cut Outs (17 April – 7 September). With innovation very much on the mind, the Barbican presents an impressive cross arts exhibition of art, design, film, music and videogames in Digital Revolution (3 July – 13 September), exploring the arts through digital technology since the 1970s bringing together artists, filmmakers, architects, musicians and developers plus a series of exciting immersive installations.

MUSIC
You’d be forgiven for not being familiar with the work of William Onyeabor, the elusive Nigerian synth pioneer who until his self-released records found their way into the hands of David Byrne and Luaka Bop remained something of a musical urban legend. But when the release of World Pyschedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor? became one of 2013’s most acclaimed reissues, people began to take notice. Finally bringing his music to the masses, the Barbican presents a one off performance, Atomic Bomb: Who is William Onyeabor? (1 April) and judging by the rumours of some very special guests taking to the stage, we’re imagining this could very well be one of our 2014 gig highlights.

Admittedly more a Field Weekend, East London’s famed festival Field Day (7 – 8 June) in Victoria Park boasts an impressive set of headliners including Metronomy, The Temper Trap and Pixies alongside Warpaint, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 plus more to be announced.

Later in the year, UNKLE’s James Lavelle is this year’s curator of the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown (13 – 22 June). Expect all things radical, innovative and non-conformist as Lavelle works with young people to curate a special programme inspired by the next generation.

FILM
Famed silent comedy actor, Buster Keaton gets a two month season at the BFI in A Serious Man, a Modern World (January – February) with beautifully restored Keaton classics in addition to more ‘recent’ films from the last half century that could be seen to have been inspired by Keaton’s legacy. Later, things get intergalactic in the BFI’s blockbuster project, Things to Come: Science Fiction (from October) with one off events and special screenings of sci-fi cult classics including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Planet of the Apes and British classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire. Swiftly becoming the world’s biggest box office, China is honoured by the BFI with an expansive four-month season from June including rare silent films from 1903 to the 1960s to more modern beauties such as Wong Kar-Wei’s stunning In The Mood For Love.

And of course, Redford and the Utah clan return for another Sundance London at the O2 (25-27 April) for the third year with independent film, music and special events for industry and film enthusiasts alike. And of course be sure to prepare to block out two weeks in October for the 58th BFI London Film Festival.

Image: Richard Hamilton, Just what was it that made yesterday’s homes so different, so appealing? 1992. Tate © Richard Hamilton 2005. All rights reserved, DACS.