And just like that, it’s June – a month famous for heralding the beginning of summer, famous for Pride Month, and famous for being the month Paul Giamatti was born. Facts.

For true fans only
Think you know David Lynch? Think again. This weekend the Prince Charles Cinema is showing a curated collection of the auteur’s obscure short films. These deep-cuts include the animated Six Men Getting Sick, about, well, six men non-stop vomiting, The Alphabet, about a woman having nightmares about living reprsentations of the alphabet, The Grandmother, about a boy who grows a nan, and Lynch’s 2002 crudely animated mini-series, Dumbland, detailing the domestic routines of a low IQ man and his family.

The Short Films of David Lynch is being shown at Prince Charles Cinema on Sunday 1st June at 13:15.

Leather daddies in Mile End
For decades, the Backstreet in Mile End was London’s most famous leather bar. With a strict men-only policy, the club became a haven for men looking for a kinky night in E3. Shutting down after 37 years in 2022, the bar had weathered the height of the AIDS epidemic and numerous economic recessions, but its legacy lives on through its regulars and its owner John Edwards. Documenting the club’s final days, a new documentary called The Backstreet is being screened by Pink Palace at the Rio this Saturday, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and special guests.

More info can be found here

Cecil’s love of flowers
From his legendary parties in the grounds of Ashcombe House, to his later years dedicated to his garden, floral motifs followed Cecil Beaton throughout his life and career. Take note of an early photo he took of his sisters standing in a shubbery, or the famous floral costumes he designed for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, or the garlands of net flowers and coats covered in embroidered roses he crafted for guests attending his fabled 1937 fête champêtre. A new exhibition at the Garden Museum celebrates and documents Beaton’s love of gardens and flowers, curating photographs, paintings, drawings, costumes and set designs that explore the role nature played in his creative practice.

Cecil Beaton’s Garden Party is on display at the Garden Museum until 21st September 2025.

The final Sondheim
Prior to Stephen Sondheim’s passing in 2021, the legendary composer had been working on what would become his final project: a musical that intertwines two iconic films by Luis Buñuel – The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962). Titled Here We Are, the musical exists in an unfinished state, yet it has already made a remarkable impact with a successful premiere in New York. Now, it arrives in London on the Lyttelton stage of the National Theatre. Boasting a star-studded cast that includes Jane Krakowski, Denis O’Hare, Martha Plimpton, Rory Kinnear, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Here We Are is an unmissable opportunity to experience the final work of one of musical theatre’s greatest minds.

Here We Are runs at the National Theatre until June 28th. Tickets can be bought here.

Jonathan Anderson curates Paul Thek
A new exhibition of works by American artist Paul Thek, curated by Kenny Schachter and Jonathan Anderson, has opened at Thomas Dane Gallery in St James’s. The first UK exhibition of Thek’s work in over a decade, it showcases a diverse selection of his paintings, works on paper, and a previously unseen notebook containing sketches and writings. An enduring figure in the New York art scene of the 1960s and 70s, Thek was a contemporary of artists such as Eva Hesse, Andy Warhol, and Peter Hujar, with whom he had a brief romantic relationship.

Paul Thek: Seized by Joy, Paintings 1965–1988 runs at Thomas Dane Gallery until August 2nd

Suddenly you’re in an 80s acid house rave
Put on your VR headset and vibrating vest, and be transported on a pilgrimage through the urban suburbs of Coventry in 1989. You’re in the back of a red Peugeot, then a bedroom plastered in posters from past nights, then you arrive in the fabled warehouse – part of a movement, beats pulsing through your body. No, we haven’t just dropped a pill, we’re talking about In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats, a new immersive exhibition at the Barbican designed by artist Darren Emerson – read our interview with him here.

In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats runs at the Barbican until August 3rd.

Live out your Wes Anderson fantasy
Timing with the release of Wes Anderson’s new film, The Phoenician Scheme, Soho’s renowned Bob Bob Ricard has temporarily transformed its Red Room into Marseille Bob’s, in homage to the bar featured in the film. It’s beautifully aesthetic – of course – inspired by the film’s sets, costumes and characters. Staff are kitted out in white blazers, red carnations and fez hats to replicate the outfits in the movie, while a themed menu includes a Tycoon on the Rocks cocktail that changes colour to mirror a poison test, and tins of smoked anchovies with bread and butter.

The pop-up runs until 22nd June.

One Night Only
For the latest instalment of Rambutan’s Rambutan & Cousins series, the Sri Lankan restaurant is teaming up with Abby Lee, founder of Clapton’s much-loved Malaysian eatery Mambow. Demonstrating her take on traditional Sri Lankan ingredients and dishes, Lee will be serving up radish, green mango and peanut acar; brown shrimp vadai with green chilli sambal; and caramelised beef with rempah opor and goraka curry.

Rambutan is located at 10 Stoney St, SE1 9AD, more info here.