Do · 21 July 2026
Three jazz nights — Claire Martin's voice-and-bass duo among them — Nolan's Odyssey on the big screen, a solo Oscar Wilde and a Josh Radnor two-hander, Alexei Sayle live, and a five-day comedy festival at Somerset House. Warm and largely dry all weekend, highs 26–28°C with just a slim chance of a Saturday shower, so the outdoor picks are on.
Music
Claire Martin OBE, one of Britain's foremost jazz singers, strips right back to a voice-and-bass duo with Laurence Cottle. Intimate, sophisticated vocal jazz in Zédel's art-deco cabaret room — dead-centre of the Stacey Kent / Holly Cole register you go for. A 20:00 start puts you home a shade after 22:00; the one to book for a pure vocal-jazz night.
Music
Warm, smoky-voiced British jazz vocalist — the Guardian on Harrop: “a rare mix of delicacy and boldness — sheer perfection” — singing her own material alongside Great American Songbook standards with just piano and guitar in Ronnie's small upstairs room. Original plus standards, not a tribute.
Music
A straight-ahead jazz-guitar quartet in the Jim Hall / Metheny lineage — veteran guitarist John Etheridge and tenor Art Themen leading mature, soulful, melodic playing, not the free-leaning fare the Vortex often programmes. Early start, intimate room, cheap; two sets run close to 22:00, but it's a quick drive home from Dalston.
Cinema
Nolan takes on Homer: a mythic, large-format epic built for the biggest screen you can find. IMDb 8.3 and Metacritic 89 out of the gate; RT hasn't aggregated yet, so it clears on the IMDb-≥-7.5 rule. At 172 minutes it's well over the usual runtime cap, but this is Nolan doing epic narrative — squarely your lane. Pick your showing.
Cinema
PTA's towering study of ambition, oil and faith, Daniel Day-Lewis at his most volcanic, back on a big screen (Fri 31 Jul & Sat 1 Aug). A philosophical American epic in the epic-narrative, character-study lane. Pick your showing.
Cinema
Almodóvar's warm, structurally clever Oscar-winner about grief and reinvention — foreign-language, humane, precision-built, and comfortably under two hours. Screening Sunday in the Phoenix's Almodóvar season.
Theatre
Micheál Mac Liammóir's celebrated solo portrait of Oscar Wilde — his rise, wit and ruin, told through Wilde's own words, with Alastair Whatley the sole performer. The Arts Desk's Gary Naylor, four stars: “Wilde is resurrected through his words… Whatley speaks them beautifully… a quietly powerful performance.” Biographical, character-driven, razor-sharp — 110 minutes, home by 22:00. Selling fast, and dark on Sunday, so book the 31 Jul or 1 Aug dates promptly.
Theatre
A new play by Jonathan Caren: estranged brothers — a music producer living beyond his means and his broke, song-writing sibling — reunite and detonate over family, memory and who controls the story. Josh Radnor and Noah Galvin lead. ReviewsGate's William Russell, four stars: “the dialogue is sharp, the performances hold one's attention… the power of Caren's writing.” A straight play, not a musical (one performed song near the end); 90 minutes, no interval — home easy.
Comedy
A rare live recording of Alexei Sayle's freewheeling podcast — the godfather of British alternative comedy, unscripted and unfiltered, with co-host Talal Karkouti and special guest Diane Morgan (Philomena Cunk's deadpan). Bruce Dessau (Beyond The Joke) and Time Out both flag the festival's live podcast recordings as highlights. Dark, clever, political, zero slapstick — and a 2:30pm matinee, so timing's a non-issue.
Comedy
The festival's opening-night mixed bill: Frank Skinner headlining (deft, wordplay-driven observational stand-up), with Phil Wang and Celya AB (both sharp, absurdist), Rosie Jones, hosted by SNL UK's Paddy Young. Bruce Dessau names the line-up in his festival preview. One caveat: a 19:30 gala is likely to run past 22:00, and it's a broader bill than Sunday's podcast — book it if you want a big night rather than a pure-taste one.
Events · Comedy festival
The team behind Greenwich Comedy Festival brings a five-day festival to the Somerset House courtyard — seven mixed-bill shows with Sara Pascoe, Tom Allen, Tim Key, Nick Mohammed, Nina Conti, John Kearns, Sam Campbell and plenty more. The one event that straddles the whole weekend.
Events · Pop-up residency
Chef Josh Dalloway and sommelier Sinead Murdoch bring an Iberian-inspired residency to Shoreditch's Project 44 — gildas and loaded toasts, coffee-ground baked beetroot, mackerel crudo, a signature Cornish mussel-and-chorizo rice, and a low-intervention wine list.
Events · Street food
“Pop-up king” Jimmy Garcia takes a rotisserie concept for a spin on the river — chicken by the quarter, half or whole bird, cauliflower for the veggies, a spread of dips and chicken-dripping potatoes. A riverside cabana for a warm weekend afternoon.
Events · Outdoor music
Now in its 20th year, Bold Tendencies fills the upper decks of a Peckham multi-storey with orchestras, installations, dance and talks — plus a drink at Frank's rooftop bar afterwards. The furthest afield this week, but a proper summer set-piece.
Events · Outdoor music
For a 13th year, Woodburner turns the leafy Dalston Curve Garden into a festoon-lit open-air stage for intimate live sets — artists duetting with the birdsong. The closest of the outdoor-music options, and the gentlest.