Must see entertainment in London

One of the most famous playhouses in the world, Shakespeare’s Globe will knock your theatrical socks off. This dutifully authentic reconstruction will…

This splendid Victorian concert hall hosts classical music, rock and other performances, but is famously the venue for the BBC-sponsored Proms. Booking is…

This utterly charming marionette (aka puppet) theatre can be found in a converted barge moored in Little Venice – an area as pretty as it sounds. The…

Located in the former Passmore Edwards Public Library building, this West London theatre is renowned for encouraging new writing. Its success since 1972…

Named after its old address on the King's Rd, which cast a spell over London's jazz lovers back in the ’80s, this choice, tucked-away basement jazz club…

Wigmore Hall, built in 1901 as a piano showroom, is one of the best and most active classical-music venues in town, with more than 460 concerts a year…

Camden may be the home of punk, but it also has the Green Note: one of the best places in London to see live folk and world music, with gigs every night…

The last independent theatre in the West End, Prince Charles Cinema is universally loved for its show-anything attitude. Singalongs and quote-a-longs …

Currently run by PizzaExpress, the Pheasantry on King's Rd is a 19th-century building that has been a ballet academy, a boho bar and a nightclub (where…

This stalwart pub theatre hosts new plays and musicals, along with revivals of classics. Classical music and opera are part of the mix, too. It's always…

‘London’s Number 1 Jukebox’ is how Boogaloo flaunts itself: its celebrity-musician-selected jukebox playlists feature the favourite 10 songs of the likes…

Home to the English Folk Dance and Song Society, this institute keeps all manner of folk traditions alive. Performances and classes range from traditional…

Once the legendary Camden Palace, where Charlie Chaplin, the Goons and the Sex Pistols performed, and where Prince played surprise gigs, KOKO is…

Ronnie Scott's jazz club opened in 1959 and became widely known as Britain’s best, hosting such luminaries as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald…

Opened in 1920 as a cutting-edge golden-age cinema, Scala slipped into porn-movie hell in the 1970s, only to be reborn as a club and live-music venue in…

Opera and ballet have a fantastic setting on Covent Garden Piazza, and a night here is a sumptuous affair. Although the programme has modern influences,…

The nation’s flagship theatre delivers up to 25 shows every year across its three venues inside this brutalist block. Even if you're not here for a show,…

Having notched up its centenary in 2011, the Electric is one of the UK’s oldest cinemas, now updated. Avail yourself of the luxurious leather armchairs,…

For a few weeks each June and July, the sporting world’s attention is fixed on the quiet southern suburb of Wimbledon, as it has been since 1877. Most…

Opened in 1911, the single-screen Gate has one of London’s most charming art-deco cinema interiors, with director Q&As and a wealth of cinema clubs,…