Page 116 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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CITIES

Boats on Regent’s Canal in Little Venice
Hidden Green
Sign outside the King’s Head Theatre, Islington
Entrance to the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Pub Theater Spaces
Maritime

London’s theatrical scene can seem a bit moribund Surprisingly for such a large metropolis, London is London
if judged by the touristy offerings served up in the one of the world’s greenest cities. From the myriad
innumerable West End theaters, with their wall-to- tree-filled squares that dot the heart of the city to the
wall musicals and other populist shows. Despite sprawling golf courses, reservoirs, and woodlands London is intimately connected to all things watery
appearances, there is a thriving fringe scene in many that fringe the outer suburbs, nature is surprisingly – indeed, the city owes its very existence to the
of the capital’s pub theaters – London’s equivalent to close at hand. Meanwhile Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, River Thames. A boat trip to Greenwich from central
New York’s off-off-Broadway. These “theaters” usually Hampstead Heath, Greenwich, and Richmond are London offers a unique view of the city. En route
consist of a small room above a pub. They often landmarks in their own right – great expanses of you will pass spectacular waterfront developments,
have only basic equipment, forcing producers into grass, heath, and woodland that have somehow the imposing Tower of London, HMS Belfast (which
prodigious feats of improvization and putting actors survived centuries of frantic urban development. saw service during World War II) and a beautiful full-
and audience more or less in one another’s laps – all Many of London’s town squares are effectively scale reconstruction of the Golden Hinde – the Tudor
making for some intimate drama. There’s an eclectic miniature parks themselves, such as Soho Square galleon on which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated
repertoire on offer, too, taking in everything from and Russell Square. The expansive Lincoln’s Inn the globe in 1577–80.
new plays and adaptations to revues, cabaret, and Fields is said to have inspired the creators of New Greenwich itself is a veritable showcase of all
the occasional classic. Tickets are a snip compared York’s Central Park. Some of the city’s most beautiful things nautical, including the National Maritime
to those at mainstream theaters. green spaces today are, ironically, the result of its Museum and the Cutty Sark – a 19th-century tea
London’s oldest, and still the best-known, pub Victorian industrial heyday, such as the lovingly clipper. Facing Greenwich across the river is the
theater is the King’s Head Theatre, which has graced restored Regent’s and Grand Union canals, which fascinating London Docklands area, once one of the
Islington’s fashionable Upper Street since 1970. It once thronged with coal barges but now offer long most important ports in Europe, from where ships
has helped to launch the careers of some of Britain’s corridors of sylvan tranquillity through the eastern departed to all parts of the British Empire and
most celebrated actors, notching up 30 West End and northern suburbs. Abandoned railway lines also beyond. The great Victorian docks fell into sudden
and six Broadway transfers in the process. The nearby provide the city with pockets of unspoiled nature, decline during the 1960s but a massive regeneration
Old Red Lion Theatre, founded in 1979, also has an such as the beautiful Parkland Walk in north London, project transformed the area into a thriving business
illustrious pedigree. Other notable venues include which follows the line of the old train tracks from district, with the monumental Canary Wharf tower –
the Finborough Theatre in Earl’s Court, which has Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. A short way away the UK’s tallest building – at its heart. The absorbing
developed a remarkably big reputation for such a lies the peaceful wooded parkland of Highgate Museum of London Docklands nearby traces the
tiny venue, and the Landor Theatre in Clapham, Cemetery, famed as the final resting place of Karl history of the docks from Roman times to the present.
which is known for its offbeat musical productions. Marx, George Eliot, and many other local luminaries.
Practical Information
Practical Information Practical Information Cutty Sark Greenwich (under restoration; due to reopen summer 2010);
Finborough Theatre Earl’s Court; tel. + 44 20 7244 7439; Grand Union Canal Brentford to Paddington Basin; tel. + 44 20 8858 2698; www.cuttysark.org.uk
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk www.visitlondon.com/areas/river The Golden Hinde Southwark; tel. + 44 20 7403 0123; www.goldenhinde.org
King’s Head Theatre & Bar Islington; tel. + 44 20 7226 8561; Highgate Cemetery Highgate; www.highgate-cemetery.org HMS Belfast Southwark; tel. + 44 20 7940 6300; hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk
www.kingsheadtheatre.org Lincoln’s Inn Fields Holborn Museum of London Docklands West India Quay, Canary Wharf; tel. + 44 20
Landor Theatre Clapham; tel. + 44 20 7737 7276; www.landortheatre.co.uk Parkland Walk Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace; www.haringey.gov.uk 7001 9844; www.museumindocklands.org.uk
Old Red Lion Theatre Islington; tel. + 44 20 7837 7816; Regent’s Canal Little Venice to Limehouse Basin; National Maritime Museum Greenwich; tel. + 44 20 8858 4422;
www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk www.visitlondon.com/areas/river www.nmm.ac.uk

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