Category Archives: culture

Summer Fun in Greater Kennington and Beyond

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Its summertime and we’re on board to tell you about two free (and we love free) festivals and the first is this Sunday (the 10th) in Kennington Park. We attended the Kennington Park Festival a few years ago and departed quickly after feeling like we’d just crashed a poorly attended family reunion. However, thanks to the guilty conscience of Berkeley Homes it is now properly funded and looks to be back with a vengeance. This is a family friendly event so one can expect face painting, non scary clowns, organised games, music, dancing and of course some pretty yummy looking food stalls. 

If you’re a regular reader you’ll be aware that we greatly caution against leaving Greater Kennington. However, if you do so just once in your life you could do a lot worse than attend the fantastic Lambeth Country Fair. This massive soiree accommodates over 100,000 people and includes a mind boggling selection of food stalls, bars, loads of music and stages, real life farm animals, and a fun fair. And the best bit is that the activities reflect the diversity and eclectisim of Lambeth. Our favourite bit is the competition where people carve their garden veg into famous people or pieces of anatomy. This bit of the Fair is so heralded that its been written about in Time Out

Lambeth Country Fair is next weekend (16 and 17 July) in Brockwell Park. Our top tip for this fandango is that if you happen to own a car don’t use it as you’ll still be looking for a parking spot come Christmas. Plus, you won’t be able to enjoy all the great craft beer on offer. 

North Lambeth Parish Fete

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The North Lambeth Parish Fete is coming up on Saturday and if we weren’t on a team building retreat (more on that later) we wouldn’t miss it. It’s  the new incarnation of the dearly departed Cleaver Square Festival. Fortunately it’s now much larger thanks to the intervention of Daniel Cobb and none other than Jesus Christ himself. 

While we may have never been to this Fete, we have been to the gardens of Lambeth Palace and they are stunning, extensive and almost never open to the public. The price of the ticket itself (£4) justifies a wander around.   According to our sources, the Fete is more kid friendly than its Cleaver processor and is known for its dog show and features prizes, including fastest sausage eater and least obedient (we assume these prizes are for the dogs and not humans). There is also face painting, live music, and races for the kids. And if you don’t like kids there’s a Pimms tent to keep you sane. And if you do have kids there’s a Pimms tent to keep you sane. And there are a number of local food stalls available looking pretty delish to us. 

The Fete is this Saturday, (25 June) from 12-5. To whet your appetite we found this totally manic video on YouTube. Did somebody say ‘free coffee mugs’?

And we would be absolutely thrilled to join you for this event but, alas, we will be on a team building long weekend at Glastonbury which will prove memorable. Or perhaps unrememberable. Look out for our pics on social media and please don’t hate us. *drops mic and leaves the room*

Cricket for the Cricketless

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If you’re a regular Runoff reader (and if you are, congratulations) then you might be aware that we are not the sportiest of offices. Just last summer during our staff picnic in Kennington Park, a young man asked Phil from accounts to kick his ball back and Phil suffered a panic attack requiring medical intervention. Having said that, we know there is a world class Oval pitch in beloved patch and we recently checked it out for you. Sort of. 

Our overall mission at Kia Oval was to see if cricket was a fun event for people who aren’t actually that interested in the game, in case someone invites you. The demographic was an eclectic mix of white middle class thirty somethings who apparently had just come from work, and usually in small groups. That doesn’t define us but we fit in nevertheless. There are a number of activates to busy yourself other than watching the game such as a raffle, catching a ball to win £1000, or finding the best looking player and simply Googling ‘shirtless’ after their name. For the uninitiated it is also interesting to notice the huge amount of security on the pitch, perhaps anticipating the moment when Tarquin flings an orange slice out of his Pimms. 

What surprised us most about our trip to the Oval was the vast selection of quality food and drink available. The street food stalls were organised by the uber on trend street food specialists ‘KERB’, and we saw stalls selling souvalki (which we recommend), pizza, curry, pies, venison burgers, jerk chicken and other fare. On the drinks front there was a vast array of lagers and ciders available, in addition to wines and even a cocktail bar. As you might expect from a sports venue this stuff doesn’t come cheap, with a wrap costing £9 and a pint coming in at £7. However, you can bring you own food (but not booze). 

The event we attended was T20 cricket and there are future dates listed here. It was on a weekday evening and was all over by 9:15. While you might not want to attend with a group of people who don’t know what they are looking at, if invited by a fan it’s a fun to learn more about the sport. 

And through all of the excitement, Phil finally overcame his phobia of objects being hurled at him by catching a T-shirt thrown from the boot of a Kia Sportage. 

Queens Jubilee at IWM

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The Queens Platinum Jubilee is getting nearer, and if your state of mind is along the lines of ‘well this is all very exciting but I can’t be bothered to leave Greater Kennington’ then we have something you might enjoy. The Imperial War Museum has just opened a compelling exhibit of the Queen in wartime and it is set out over three sections. 

The first gallery is a selection of 18 large format photographs outlining the Queen’s journey through conflict, from growing up in WW2 and more modern conflicts, to sticking decorative pins on people. The Royals in Wartime section is more of a dedicated route around the IWM exploring the Royal Family’s long connection to the armed services and the key role they’ve played in terms or morale and logistics over the years. The Royal Family in Wartime is the third exhibit and it features 53 photos outlining out the Royals commitment to the armed services over the decades, from directly serving in the army, to Elizabeth serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in spite of being told not to. Well done..

The exhibit has mostly been pulled together from the millions of items the IWN have in storage, and this is what they always do very well. This vast resource enables curators to carefully select items that even predate the Queen (if that’s even possible). 

‘The Queens Platinum Jubilee at IWM London’ is open from today until 9 June. Entry is free but nabbing a timed ticket is recommended. However, if you’ve forgotten to book, or you’re just lazy, turning up is usually fine as they haven’t checked our tickets recently. 

Getting Crafty @ City&Guilds

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Another high point on the Greater Kennington cultural calendar takes place this weekend and we’re here to tell you about it. City and Guilds in Kennington Park Road are taking part in London Craft week on Friday and Saturday and it looks as if they are hosting a number of free (and we love free) events and demonstrations. 

Various studios around C&GLAS will be open exhibiting a range of crafts and showing how stuff is made. In the paper studio students and tutors will be on hand to show paper related demonstrations and discuss paper conservation. In the printmaking studio, the head of printmaking will be hosting several (sadly now booked) workshops but others will be on hand giving demonstrations of different kinds of printing such as intaglio. We’ve been in this studio, and it is a fascinating space. Outside, students will be giving demonstrations of wood and stone carving and you can even have a go at carving yourself! Apparently there is a carving competition among students as well. This sounds frighteningly dangerous, but somebody losing a half a finger could be interesting nevertheless. 

The press release enticingly mentions a free talk and tasting event sponsored by Fabal Lager (we’ve never heard of them either) on Saturday afternoon which sounds fun. Indeed, we reached out to City and Guilds to see if they were having a launch event featuring free wine and canapés which might just influence our review. Their response was ‘no’, but we’ve picked up the pieces of our shattered dream and moved on with our lives. 

No ticket is required for this event, just turn up. 

Keith Cunningham at Newport St. Gallery

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The latest offering over at the Newport Street Gallery is the work of little known and exceptionally gifted artist Keith Cunningham, who mysteriously gave up painting just a few years after he started. Cunningham was on the periphery of the London Group of artists who among their number included Frank Auerbach and Leon Kosoff and the Group were intrigued by Cunningham’s powerful, if not at times gruesome and sinister, subject matter. 

At least there’s no queue for the toilet

Cunningham was certainly a man with something to say, but not very interested who heard him, as many of these 70 works accumulated in his studio as opposed to being seen. He used a very dark and tightly controlled palette of colours with think coats of impasto, giving the works that are not under glass a 3D element, with the added drama of huge brushstrokes. In this manner he captures commuters, rabbits, and even squid. 

At the moment there is an epic retrospective of Francis Bacon’s work at the Royal Academy (north of the river if you dare) and in way Cunningham’s depictions of blood crazed dogs, skulls, and angst is an interesting counterpoint to the great man’s work. It’s possibly not a coincidence that they’re being staged at the same time. 

As you move through the well organised exhibit Cunningham’s  work begins to tilt more towards abstraction and huge blocks of colour. The painting below is a still life. However, it rather reminded us of Phil from the accounts team when he fell over outside the Tommyfield pub after downing eight pints of cider at our Christmas party. 

‘Keith Cunningham, the Cloud of Witness’ is on now until 21 August at Newport Street Gallery and is totally free. 

Vito Project at the Cinema Museum

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Under the guise of ‘better late than never’ on this, the last day of LGBTQI+ history month, were here to tell you about some interesting films coming up at our very much loved and very much at risk Cinema Museum in Kennington. And by ‘at risk’ we mean ‘we better start going soon or it’s gonna be a Taco Bell’. 

The Vito Project is an LGBTQ+ Film Club which has a series of Spring screenings exploring queer representation in classic Hollywood flicks. The first of these is the Hitchcock Film ‘Rebecca’ with Laurence Olivier. There’s a conversation afterwards and it allows film buffs and their admirers a chance to discuss the coded queer meaning in the film and other films of the era. And there’s a bar in the cinema. It’s on 20 March and tickets can be purchased here. On 1 May the next Vito film will be ‘Tea and Sympathy’ directed my Vincente Minnelli (tickets here) followed by ‘Compulsion’ with Orson Wells on 31 May (tickets here). This will also involve a bar and lively chit chat afterwards.

A couple of Runoff fans went to Vito a dew years ago and confirmed that it’s very thought provoking for anyone interested in film.  The Cinema museum is a wonderful Aladdin’s cave of film and film related ephemera and your ticket allows you to pass through some of the corridors that are usually open only by appointment. And the auditorium is a fun mess of mismatched chairs and sofas. And did we mention the bar? 

Some of the screenings are a bit far from now but this is gives you the perfect opportunity to buy that lovely pocket diary we’re always bullying you into getting. Here’s one in sparkly gold

Getting Classy in Vauxhall

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As amazing as it is, only a few weeks ago none of us had heard of Wordle, Duolingo or, god help us all, Partygate. Now they seem to be dominating our lives at the expense of getting out and going things. If you fancy building those brain cells in a different way, we suggest the upcoming ‘Classical Vauxhall’ series of concerts at St. Mark’s Church in Oval. The press release boldly describes it as ‘a four day festival of live music and song, featuring top artists and four centuries of composers’. By that last comment let’s hope it doesn’t entail digging people out of the ground.

Classical Vauxhall returns on 10 – 13 February and is live after a year of streaming. We had friends who went in 2020 and they described it as both amazing and great fun.  Festival Director and the brains behind it Fiachra Garvey is joined by artists Elizabeth Llewellyn, Kangmin Kim, and Leonard Elschenbroich with pianist Alexei Grynyuk. We actually have no idea who any of these people are – But– we have seen some of their work on YouTube and it’s remarkable. Elizabeth Llewellyn and her great voice are here..

The concept behind these five concerts is to put on shows that are varied, lively, and accessible to people who (like us) are not habitues of the Royal Opera House. Each night is set to a theme, from Love and Loss to Brahams and feature a range of artists doing short pieces. We are particularly fascinated by ‘The Royal Opera House is Burning, Late Night Drag’ on 13 February which bills itself as a ‘classical drag opera like no other’ with works from Les Mis and Wicked.  

Tickets are £22.15 so not exactly cheap, but a great way to support local culture and artists who have probably not had much work for the past two years. And imagine the one-upmanship you can have with your friends who sat at home watching a TV show about Katie Price doing her house up. 

Romeo and Juliet at Southwark Playhouse

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We recently made a visit to the soon to be relocated Southwark Playhouse in Elephant and Castle to see a reworking of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. This production is set in Brixton (a popular neighbourhood south of us) in 1981 with a backdrop of Thatcher, The Specials and Madness. If these names mean nothing to you please ask your parents and feel free to read on. 

In this production the Montagues and Capulets become rival council houses. The presence of pop music has the potential to make the production has the cheesy, but it is subtly done and used in the background. The play sticks almost entirely to the original script, but manages to weave into it a fair degree of humour and levity and the odd bit of swearing and slang. One monologue is delivered while a women is folding laundry and asking audience members to help her. And when talking about Juliet, Paris and Romeo have a bad habit of condoms popping out of their pockets. Exceptionally strong characters are Yinka Awani as a Friar Laurence determined to make a wedding happen come what may, and Fiona Skinner as a hilarious Lady Capulet who at the end of the day just wants to have giant piss up for Juliet instead of a wedding.

This production is part of Southwark Playhouse’s ‘Shakespeare for Schools’ project, will enables over 2000 Southwark kids to see the play for free during a series of matinees, but hopefully with the fucks and shits taken out. This year Southwark Playhouse will be moving to the top of Kennington lane, in the giant and strangely named ‘Uncle’ high-rise. While this has been in the works for ages, we’ve been informed that the move is imminent. 

Romeo and Juliet is on now until 5 February and tickets can be booked here. There are six characters playing 13 roles, so it pays to pay attention. This is a very fast paced production and comes in at 1:45 with no interval, so get a large drink to take in from the very fun café.  And to the bosses at Runoff HQ, we too had a large drink but this counts as a business meeting, like it or not 

White Bear Theatre

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With our New Year resolution of daily marathon walks not quiet going to plan, we’ve decided to pursue our second goal – to attend more theatre. Last night we hopped  over to the White Bear Theatre Pub to catch a play called ‘A Final Act of Friendship’ which kicks off a season of exciting new theatre at our little and oft overlooked local playhouse. 

A Final Act of Friendship concerns two young men who have recently graduated from drama school. Caught in an industry where one ethnicity is favoured over another, it explores aspects of white privilege, alienation, communication and a human desire for connection that transcends race. The story is told in a semi autobiographical manner but does not come across as trying to teach a lesson to the audience. The residual story is that we impose many barriers in getting intimate with people, made all the more graphic when getting close to people has been inhibited over the past two years. 

White Bear Theatre is totally independent and not associated with the Young’s owned White Bear Pub downstairs. Your ticket gets you 10% off food, but we can’t really recommend the food there unless you like your dinner cooked by a sous chef named ‘Mike ro Wave’. Having said that, it is fun to have a drink before the show and peruse the Kennington/Oval/Vauxhall paraphernalia festooning the walls. The theatre itself is a very intimate and almost immersive experience. In fact, on a recent outing the naked people getting gouged with shards of glass on stage seemed almost personal. To make people safe they have reduced seating and the venue is very well ventilated.  

A Final Act of Friendship runs tonight (13 January) and through to Saturday and tickets are still available. This is the first of a whole season of other short plays which are an interesting mixture of new writing, horror, politics and comedy. The tickets are £12 (£10 concessions). These are all one acts so if you don’t like what you’ve seen you can just toddle off home and forget it ever happened.