Fun in London this April 2013:
Project Colony, Trinity Buoy Whard
For fans of the seminal existential author Franz Kafka, this slightly unusual event Project Colony taking place at Trinity Buoy Wharf in Tower Hamlets is one that must not be missed. The interactive theatre experience is based upon Kafka's short story In the Penal Colony and is a show like no other.
Organised by the theatre production company Fourth Money, it begins with audiences being picked up by double-decker bus and transported to "the colony" that serves as the location for the show. On the island scene, punters will be able to experience what life in the colony is like from both perspectives, becoming inaugural colony tourists that get to see the realities of existing in a conflict stricken land. Once the show has finished, audiences are then safely transported back to where they came from.
Young theatre professionals James Yeatman and Hamish MacDougall conceived the idea for Project Colony and direct it, following collaborative work at the Barbican with Complicite Master and Margarita.
The show is taking place on all days over the weekend, as well as during the rest of the month.
FA Cup
April sees the epic closing stages of the FA Cup taking place at London's Wembley Stadium, as the football seasons slowly builds towards its monumental crescendo. Two exciting football fixtures are due to take place at the landmark stadium on Saturday, April 13th and Sunday, April 14th, with fans of the beautiful game up and down the country set to have their eyes transfixed on the proceedings.
On the Saturday, Championship side Millwall will venture out of The Den in south-east London to take on Lancashire's Wigan Athletic. The match will prove to be the Lions' most important in years, as the team try to make up for a lacklustre league season with a final match-up against the winner of Sunday's game.
The two teams due to battle it out in the second match of the weekend are yet to be finalised. Chelsea take on Manchester United in a quarter-final reply on Monday, April 1st to fight for a place in the following round against Manchester City at Wembley. Some may consider this match to be the real final, with all three teams a guaranteed clear favourite against either Millwall or Wigan Athletic should they may it to the last hurdle.
If you can't secure tickets for either match, then why not head to a pub in the Wembley area where you can be guaranteed lively atmosphere.
London Marathon 2013
One of the biggest dates on the long-distance running calendar, the London Marathon shuts down the streets of our nation's capital so everyone can get together and enjoy a few hours of unadulterated endurance.
Taking place on Sunday, April 21st, the race will see tens of thousands of elite professionals, amateur athletes and people looking to have a bit of fun traverse the 26.2-mile route set around the River Thames. Beginning at three separate points, racers converge at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich before passing through Greenwich and the Docklands, crossing the half-way point at Tower Bridge. Heading away from Canary Wharf into Poplar, competitors go along Commercial Road then begin the final leg of the race past the Tower of London and then along the Embankment. The photo finish occurs along The Mall, past Buckingham Palace and beneath St James's Palace.
It is sadly a little late to sign up to run the race, and wouldn't leave you very long at all to train. But watching all the keen racers dash past is an exhilarating spectacle, with visitors to London able to pick anywhere along the route to watch. It might be best to pick somewhere beneath a particularly impressive landmark, such as the London Eye or Big Ben.
Sundance London 2013
Sundance London is a fantastic film and music festival that takes place between Thursday, April 25th and Sunday, April 28th. Imported from stateside, it premieres some of the best independent American films from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, with many panel discussions, special events and filmmaker Q&As to keep attendees entertained.
Some of the highlights this year include the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Documentary Prize winner Blood Brother, as well as Muscle Shoals, a film featuring the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Alicia Keys and Bono telling the "greatest untold American music story". UK films are represented too, with Michael Winterbottom's The Look of Love retelling the story of King Midas in a modern setting one of key highlights.
Musical performers include a performance by Peaches, as well as Gregg Allman and John Paul White doing an acoustic 45-minute show following the screening of Muscle Shoals.
