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Wee liberties: Beauty and The Beast: A Horny Love Story at Charing Cross Theatre

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It may not be a tale as old as time, but it’s still the same old story, almost, with Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story currently playing at the Charing Cross Theatre .  As the title suggests, this is not family holiday entertainment, but neither is it all gay gore. And a surprisingly large number of clever gags, a gorgeous-looking production, costumes, and an ensemble make for a classy night out with the occasional lashing of sluttiness.  It’s been a while since I have seen an adults-only panto. Like many things at the theatre—ticket prices, opening nights, age of social media influencers—things have changed. Happily, things have changed for the better here. The show focuses on assembling an excellent cast. Elaborate costumes by Robert Draper and David Shields’ set pieces help give this adult panto a touch of class. There are the usual lewd jokes and a quick flash of buttocks.   The setting of the story is in the northernmost village of Scotland, Lickmanochers. Not...

Art: Yoko Ono smiles and light reflections

The Serpentine Gallery is currently showing Yoko Ono's To the Light. It is an opportunity to view new installations and films from Ono and escape what has been a busy summer period of sports. One of the things that keeps recurring as a theme is the role of the artist and the viewer, along with perspectives on peace, war and happiness.

It is hard not to like an exhibition that makes you take your shoes off and get lost in a maze to the amusement of others in the gallery, or watch a collection of smooth and hairy bottoms move about.

As the above video clip notes, technology has finally caught up with many of Yoko Ono's more ambitious ideas and this one is to capture the smiling face shot of everyone in the world. You are invited to sit down and have a photo taken and then it will be posted onto the Flickr page for #smilesfilm. It is bound to have you leave the gallery smiling, unless you are horrified by the results of your mug shot blown up on a giant video screen by the door.

The exhibition continues until 9 September and for those not in London you can find a variety of technological solutions to send your smiling mug into the #smilesfilm global collaboration via the website, app, social media et cetera...

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