August’s Culture Fix: 7 Things To Do, See & Watch This Month
In this month’s Culture Fix, we take a look at the best events, shows and festivals to look out for this August. From the return of the Greenwich & Docklands Festival to the intriguing new release from author Claire Keegan, these are our top picks for August.
The Film We’re Excited For: Joy Ride
If you loved Crazy Rich Asians, you’ll want to book cinema tickets for this new unfiltered comedy.
Joy Ride is the latest creation from Crazy Rich Asians’ co-writer Adele Lim and stars Emily in Paris’ Ashley Park, Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu, comedian Sabrina Wu and Good Trouble’s Sherry Cola.
It sees the four friends travel through Asia in the hope to find Audrey’s (Park) long-lost birth mother. While this begins as a bonding experience, things don’t always go as planned and there are plenty of antics packed into this journey.
Release Date: 04.08.2023
www.picturehouses.com
The New Podcast To Listen To: It’s Not You, It’s Them… But It Might Be You with LalalaLetMeExplain
If you aren’t already familiar with the Instagram account, @LalalaLetMeExplain, let us introduce it to you. Created by an anonymous creator named ‘Lala’, the account shares dating advice and delves into the grittiest of detail about all things sex-related.
This new podcast, created with Sony Music Entertainment, takes her topics one step further, offering bite-sized pieces of advice covering a range of subjects. Three episodes are released each week – Monday’s episodes tackle a hot topic of the week, Wednesday’s sees her step into an agony aunt mode and answer listener’s questions and Friday’s is a space where her Instagram will come alive in audio form, with special guests joining twice a month.
The Must-See Exhibition: Black Venus: Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture
The latest Somerset House exhibition takeover has been curated by Aindrea Emelife and brings together work from 18 Black women and non-binary artists exploring the topic of othering, fetishisation and reclaiming narratives around Black femininity.
Boasting over 40 contemporary artworks, it primarily focuses on photography, with the hope to showcase and celebrate the many faces of Black femininity.
Artists include Sonia Boyce, Widline Cadet, Tabita Rezaire, Kara Walker, Zanele Muholi and more.
Running until 24.09.2023
www.somersethouse.org.uk
The Book Everyone’s Talking About: So Late in the Day – Claire Keegan
Those who love a short story should pick up a copy of Claire Keegan’s latest release, So Late in the Day.
The narrative follows a young man Cathal who, after a long Friday at work, takes the bus home and here, his mind races back to thoughts of a lost love. All evening long he can’t help by relive the memories and how, if he had acted differently, they would be together.
Release Date: 31.08.2023
www.waterstones.com
The Event Of The Month: Greenwich + Docklands Festival
Every August through to September, Greenwich & Docklands Festival brings Londoners together with the very best of free outdoor theatre and performing arts productions.
This year’s edition is no different, with performances set to take place across public spaces around the Royal Borough of Greenwich, East London and the City of London areas. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Acts of Hope’, so you can expect shows to be offering up moments of reflection and a true celebration of creativity.
Highlights include Ancient Futures, a ritual celebration that blends circus, West African folklore and Afrofuturism together; The Air Between Us, an aerial performance taking over Greenwich Park Hill; and Cygnus, a light and sound installation fusing robotics and romanticism.
Running 25.08.2023 – 10.09.2023
www.festival.org
The New Theatre Show: The Effect
At the Lyttelton Theatre, this month sees the arrival of a new play starring Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) and Taylor Russell (Bones and All).
The Effect follows the pair as they fall for one another in a quick environment, but questions if their chemistry is real or just a side effect of a new antidepressant. The pair are volunteering in a new clinical drug trial and the romance brings up dilemmas for the supervising doctors.
Created by Lucy Prebble (Succession), this new production is set to be directed by Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac).
Running 01.08.2023 – 07.10.2023
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
The Series To Binge: Heartstopper Season 2
Netflix’s beloved Heartstopper was quickly renewed for a second season following the success of last year’s eight-part narrative. Praised for how it tackled LGBTQI+ issues and its heartwarming central cast, the series is set to once again follow Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor).
Based on the graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, season two is set to see the cast “go on more of a journey”, with the story being a bit more mature says Kit Connor.
Release Date: 03.08.2023
www.netflix.com