What’s on in London – November 2017

The ritual burning of a traitorous dummy may seem to be strange cause for celebration but it is the one uniquely British festival we have and Londoners are enthusiastic participants. For a really good bonfire night it pays either to get up high or to have plenty of space so both Alexander Palace or Brockwell Park are good bets this year.

The fireworks display at Ally Pally will take place with the whole of the London skyline serving as a backdrop. There will also be a mini-Oktoberfest event running at the same time. The display in Brockwell Park is movie themed and will have live music and pop up street food stalls.

As war ravaged the European continent in the late nineteenth century, London became a haven of calm and safety for many artists including those of the famed impressionist movement. Led by Monet, Tissot and Pissarro, these French exiles did some of their most intriguing work along the foggy banks of the Thames.

The hazy view of Westminster by Claude Monet has since become an iconic cornerstone of impressionistic painting, but this exhibition delves deeper into the background events of the art. Letters from art dealers and the correspondence between the exiles and their loved ones give an insight into how London affected the artistic direction of these ground breaking visionaries. www.tate.org.uk

Somerset House is definitely one of the most picturesque ice rinks in the capital. Nine hundred square feet of pristine ice in the centre of London combined with a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop is an ideal mood setter for the festive season.

Skaters of all ages and abilities are welcome and there are lots of activities for non skaters as well. Guest DJs will be on hand to liven up the atmosphere and there is an upscale cocktail bar and pop up food stall. Somerset house has many ongoing exhibitions that run concurrently so why not make your visit educational as well as fun. www.somersethouse.org.uk

For sheer dramatic impact, black and white illustration is hard to beat. The artist is forced to use light and shade in the most inventive ways possible and the results in the hands of a true expert are often breath taking.

Rembrandt was a noted practitioner of this technique and used his formidable drawing skills to create finished masterpieces as well as preliminary sketches. Monochrome brings the art right up to date with modern experts like Chuck Close and Bridget Riley contributing some of their seminal works. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

If you want a chintz-free Christmas experience, look no further than the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. Here, the decorations and lighting are in harmony with nature and the emphasis is on creating moods rather than blasting visitors with megawatt cheeriness.

Lights are used as nature trail guides and the heritage trees form magical backdrops to some inventive displays. The glass enclosures have been rigged with lasers which turn the interiors into giant sci-fi film sets. For traditionalists there is a Santa’s grotto and a mulled wine stall. www.kew.org

An event that was born out of friction between monarchy and government is, not surprisingly, a gloriously mixed bag. The Lord Mayor’s Show is half pageantry and half street disco and that what makes it so compelling.

There are three main parts of the event. First there is the Flotilla, which is a procession of boats that make their way down the Thames towards the City. Next, there comes the procession which takes the new Lord Mayor to Westminster to greet the Monarch. Finally, things are rounded off by a massive fireworks display.

An ideal destination for anyone who wants to while away some time shopping, eating and generally getting into the Yuletide spirit. The Winter Festival takes up a large part of the Thames Path running from the London Eye to the Globe Theatre. Along there you’ll find purpose-built chalets housing everything from mulled wine stalls to jewellery concessions.

There’s live music at several locations and a collection of funfair rides for all the family with a particularly fun focus on the kids. Parents might want to try out the rooftop Finnish Sauna on top of Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Turning a Mel Brooks film into a musical must be one of life’s joys as funny songs and catchphrases are never far from the surface of his work. This production is a riot of physical slapstick and sly satire that will have audiences scared, singing along and in stitches – sometimes at the same time.

Being a Mel Brooks vehicle, Young Frankenstein relies on sharp gags and a brilliant ensemble cast. Russ Noble, Lesley Joseph and Summer Strallen attack their roles with gleeful relish and almost banish memories of Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in the original movie.

The London climax of the international tennis season is here and this year sees a couple of astonishing comebacks. One would think that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal would have been putting their feet up by now, but here they both are scrapping for top honours as if it was 2007 not 2017.

Not content with dividing up the majors between them this year, they seem to have outlasted their erstwhile successors Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the process. Djokovic and Murray are out of the finals due to injury so it’s a chance for young pretenders like Grigor Dimitrov to test their mettle against the two masters. www.nittoatpfinals.com

Treating a serious subject with well placed mirth is an area that Armando Iannucci has made his own with quality satire like The Thick of It and Veep. Politicians are in the habit of taking themselves way too seriously and we need people like Iannucci to maintain some balance.

Charting the confused scramble for power that ensued after the death of one of the world’s most feared tyrants, the film portrays Stalin’s successors as a bunch of cowardly hypocrites who, nevertheless are ruthless in their pursuit of power. In short: they’re human. The laughs come because even though their boss is dead, the apparatchiks still fear him and keep twisting themselves into physical and metaphorical knots. www.deathofstalin.co.uk