Paul in London

Hangmen is Martin McDonagh's first new work on the London stage in a decade. But something is unsettling about this commentary on mob mentality and nostalgia. It’s grim world where the hero is the second best hangman in the country. And the smell of cigarette smoke and stale beer permeates the air. Well you don’t smell the beer but there is so much smoking on stage it wafts into the audience. It is 1963 when the show opens. A prisoner is desperate to delay his execution by any means possible. But Harry Wade, the resourceful and efficient hangman, keeps things on track. The scene is hilarious right up to the moment when the trapdoor opens and you hear his neck snap. Fast forward two years and Harry is running a pub in Oldham. Capital punishment has been abolished. A cub reporter from the local paper is chasing him for an interview. Still, he has his regulars at the pub. They are like his fans, clinging on to stories from the old days as if capital punishment was a sport.

Kitten in Heels, playing at the Lost Theatre , takes the Dick Whittington pantomime and adds lashings of filth and smut. It's a naughty night out where the King Rat bears an unusual resemblance to Theresa May, and Dick's love interests is more interested in buying lemons. But to really appreciate this show you need to be imbued with plenty of Christmas cheer. There is a bar both inside the theatre and outside of it to assist, which may help overlook the slow pacing and the amateurish production. Plenty of audience members were making the most of the bars, but the effect was that they were making their own entertainment.

Things take a gritty and violent turn in the  Royal Opera 's new production of  the short operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci.  With its sumptuous music and a production that moves the action to recent times, the melodrama and violence seem so palpable. 

If there is one way  to write a pantomime , Cinderella and The Beanstalk by Sleeping Trees at Theatre 503 tears up any rulebook.   It is a crazy little show full of as many pantomime or nursery rhyme characters. The end result is a frenzied and funny take on the pantomime and Christmas traditions. The premise of the show is that James, Joshua and George have written a script, booked a venue and hired one lonely musician (in the form of  Mark Newnham ). But they have forgotten one small thing. Hiring any actors. After checking that it is alright with the audience (who are we to say no?), they decide that they are going to have to perform all the roles themselves.

It's only on until Sunday 5 December, but Jest End at the Waterloo East theatre is a bit of a guilty pleasure of fine singing and silly musical send ups. Billed as London's answer to Forbidden Broadway, the show takes barbs at various successful (or not quite successful shows), social media obsessed actors and low pay. You don't need to be a musical theatre aficionado to enjoy the silliness of it all. But it probably helps... Particularly as many of the in-jokes are ripped from local news headlines, gossip and sending up themselves...

At a time when you could be forgiven that (apart from football), immigration is all that the nation is obsessing about, Bend It Like Beckham the musical is an infectious celebration of different cultures living together in London without much fuss in beautiful downtown Hounslow. What is memorable about the piece is the strong story about two women who have a passion for football. One just happens to be in a traditional Indian family and torn between her family's traditions and her passions.

Opening this week at the Royal Opera Arcade off Pall mall is Hugh Beattie's exhibition called London: Ancient and Modern. The exhibition brings together 30 new paintings by artist Hugh Beattie depicting views of London’s skyline which we do not normally see.  The works contrast the heritage of London and the new architecture of glass. Over 70% of the City of London’s buildings have been erected since the millennium. In Beattie’s canvases, Early Medieval buildings share the cityscape with towering Modernist flats.

It's once, twice, three times the er charm(?) at the Kings Head Theatre this Christmas when the ever popular play F*cking Men. The play already has been extended since starting last summer and enters its third month. This time there the production will be streamlined with three actors playing all ten roles... While that sounds exhausting there potentially is a touring future for the show. Check out details at the theatre's website . The play that dare not print its entire name runs through to 9 January.

After watching Gary Kitching’s improvised performance at Oval House Theatre , Me and Mr C, you realise that you probably had the most fun you could invent for an evening. On our night, audience members were chanting “Pigfucker! Pigfucker! Pigfucker!” as part of a lesson in organised heckling, while the remainder of us were rolling around in hysterics at the premise. Kitching has come up with an act that derives its humour from getting the audience to do stuff. Lots of stuff. And amazingly everyone does what they are told.

In it’s eleventh year of touring and sixth year in London, La Soiree still manages to thrill and excite like it has just burst onto the scene. It’s mix of old favourites and new acts still makes it the show to see over the next few months. Constantly changing, La Soiree keeps you second guessing what will come next. Whether it is Freddy Mercury obsessive in very tight jeans crowd surfing or a gorgeous acrobat dangling from the top smoking a cigar, this is a show that is determined to make sure you have a good time.