Exhibition
From new exhibitions and West End openings to live music, hidden gems and seasonal flavours, there's plenty happening across the West End this September. Here's our pick of the cultural highlights, new experiences and reasons to make your next day out in the area one to remember.
📍Venue: Royal Academy of Arts
🗓️ Dates: Until 25 October
Enter the extraordinary imaginative worlds of Victorian artist Richard Dadd in this major exhibition at the Royal Academy. Bringing together more than 60 paintings and drawings, Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam explores an artist whose creativity flourished during 42 years spent as a patient at Bethlem and Broadmoor Hospitals.
🎟️ Tickets: Various prices | More information
📍Venue: National Portrait Gallery
🗓️ Dates: Until 7th October
Discover 51 outstanding examples of contemporary portraiture in this year's Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award. Now in its 44th edition, the exhibition brings together artists from around the world, showcasing an impressive variety of approaches to the enduring art of portrait painting.
🎟️ Tickets: Free | More Information
📍 Venue: National Gallery
🗓️ Date: 25th September, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Join acclaimed writer and poet Sir Ben Okri and artist Rosemary Clunie for an evening exploring the relationship between art, freedom and creativity. Part of the National Gallery's Friday Lates programme, the conversation takes inspiration from the idea that artistic expression can transcend physical and creative boundaries, promising a thought-provoking discussion about what it means to make art and why creativity matters.
🎟️ Tickets: From £8 | More Information
📍Venue: Duke of York's Theatre
🗓️ Dates: 26th September - 27th March 2017
Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking musical RENT returns to the West End in a new production directed by Luke Sheppard and starring Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo as Mark. Set in New York's East Village, the story follows a close-knit group of artists, musicians and friends as they navigate love, creativity, ambition and adversity.
🎟️ Tickets: Various prices | More Information
📍Venue: St Martin's Lane, London
🗓️ Dates: Opens 23rd September
One of the world's most famous jazz brands is coming to London. Blue Note London opens its doors beneath St Martins Lane in September, bringing the legendary New York club's distinctive combination of live music, food and late-night atmosphere to the West End. The opening programme kicks off with Grammy-winning jazz artist Robert Glasper, with an exciting season to follow.
🎟️ Tickets: Various prices | More Information
📍Venue: Piccadilly & Jermyn Street
🗓️ Dates: 12 - 20 September
Go behind the doors of some of the West End's most fascinating buildings during Open House Festival. Taking place across London from 12–20 September, this year's festival includes a dedicated Piccadilly and Jermyn Street programme, giving visitors the opportunity to explore architecture, heritage and spaces that aren't usually open to the public.
🎟️ Tickets: Prices vary | More Information
📍Venue: Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Studio, 3rd Floor
🗓️ Dates: 25th September, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
As summer turns towards autumn, learn how to make the most of late-season produce with chef Helen Graham. This hands-on masterclass explores the art of preserving ingredients and carrying the flavours of the harvest into the months ahead, drawing on Graham's distinctive vegetable-led cooking and culinary influences.
🎟️ Tickets: £60 | More Information
📍Venue: J. Sheekey
🗓️ Dates: 25th September, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Don't let the curtain call signal the end of your evening. J. Sheekey's Post-Theatre Club offers the perfect way to round off a night in Theatreland, with two elegant small plates and a classic cocktail for £21.30. Available Monday to Saturday from 9pm, the late-night offering is ideal for a post-show bite, a nightcap or simply an excuse to linger a little longer in the West End.
🎟️ Tickets: Various | More Information
From world-class art galleries and institutions, to the West End’s best theatres, cinemas, hotels, restaurants and bars, find the venues you’re looking for with our business listings.
Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery sits seconds away from Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, London. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856 and houses the world's largest collection of personalities and faces, from the late Middle Ages to the present day.
Gallery
The National Gallery is one of London's greatest art museums located in Trafalgar Square, London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.
Gallery
The Royal Academy of Arts is a world-renowned art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. For over 250 years, the RA has existed to champion art and artists and offers a place where art is made, exhibited and debated. Enjoy their expanded campus with free displays, new spots to eat, drink and shop, and much more.