Seagull Recommends 17/02

Hello and welcome back to Seagull Recommends! This week we've got poetry readings, sock puppet workshops, light shows and more. Enjoy!

If you come across anything coming up in the city that you think we should know about, let us know!

🎶Gigs: We Are Scientists are at Resident today for an intimate instore performance and signing to celebrate the release of their 8th studio album, Lobes (tickets); Gok Wan is doing a DJ set at Concorde 2 so make of that what you will, we couldn't not let you know (tickets); Isaac Gracie is at Patterns tomorrow—his beautiful voice (training at Ealing Abbey Choir will help with that) with raw, poetic, vulnerable lyrics make for indie-folk perfection (tickets).

🎭Theatre: Opening Tuesday and running only until Saturday is Noughts and Crosses. Adapted from a Malorie Blackman novel, the play tells the story of Sephy and Callum, two young people kept apart by bigotry, terrorism and injustice. Our editor saw this about 15 years ago, and is looking forward to seeing it again (tickets).

🎬Film: On Tuesday, head down to the Duke of York's cinema for a preview screening of Broker and pre-recorded Q&A with director Hirokazu Kore-eda. On a rainy night in Busan, So-young (Lee ‘IU’ Ji-eun) leaves her baby Woo-sung outside a 'baby box', a safe place set up in Korean churches for new mothers to leave unwanted infants. Instead, he’s picked up by Sang-hyun (Parasite’s Song Kang-ho) who runs an unofficial adoption brokerage and plans to find him a new home. So-young tracks down both Sang-hyun and his business partner Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) and decides to join their pursuit (alongside a seven-year-old stowaway from a nearby orphanage), but as they search for Woo-sung’s new family, the unlikely group evolves into something of a family themselves – unaware they’re being tailed by two detectives (Doona Bae, Lee Joo-young) who are determined to stop them. Heartwarming, funny and moving (tickets)!

🩰Ballet: The UK premiere of Dada Masilo's The Sacrifice is coming to the Brighton Dome on Tuesday and Wednesday. Exploring the concept of sacrifice in all its forms, and inspired by Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, The Sacrifice combines the European heritage of this ballet with the rhythmic and expressive movements of Tswana and the traditional dance of Botswana. There's also a post-show talk on the Tuesday (tickets).

✨Lights: Dynamic Dose is an ambient multi-media installation presented by Partial Facsimile - Immersive Sound & Visual Art Collective, and it's at Fabrica from Thursday 23rd February to Sunday 12th March. Combining specific sound and light frequencies, using a 3D sound system and light projection to bathe the space in orange hues, visitors are invited to experience the work in a reclining chair with a small group of other attendees for an intimate and reflective personal experience. Open to all, they say it specifically seeks to induce wellbeing in people suffering from anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia or Alzheimer’s disease. Visitors are recommended to observe a 20 minute 'Dynamic Dose'—the equivalent of taking an effective power nap. Sounds good to us (tickets)!

📚Book reading: The Queery is hosting Michael Handrick tomorrow for readings and discussions from his new book, Difference is Born on the Lips, in which he unpicks the toxic narratives and myths built up by society of what it means to be a man, gay and working class. Free, but ticketed (tickets).

🗣️Poetry reading: As part of LGBT+ History Month, join the Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) tomorrow from 11am to 3pm. Enjoy poetry read from LGBTQ+ and BIPOC poets, all to do with queerness and nightlife and how they intersect, hosted by drag queen Alex Fincher. There's also a silent disco if that's your kind of thing.

🏳️‍🌈The Ledward Centre: The Ledward Centre is running a Queer Makers Market tomorrow from 11am to 5pm. Go along to find goods made by local Queer artists, crafters and makers! There's also a Knit and Natter social from 11am to 1pm on Sunday.

🧦Sock puppet: Gather up your odd socks and take them to Revaluit HUB tomorrow, where Sew Fabulous will help you turn them into sock puppets! All materials provided, except for the socks (tickets).

☕️Coffee: The Trading Post on the corner of Kensington Gardens has a beautiful roof terrace, offering views across North Laine and beyond. Combine that with some delicious cake and coffee, and it's the perfect way to pretend we're closer to spring than we are.