Everything London

The debut of 5 writers hit the Kiln stage tonight. Each 15-minute play dealt with issues of our time: identifying as transgender, Hindu grief rituals and a painful realisation of the deceased double life, of Irish related, cultural identity in Kilburn, OCD or germ fallout from the pandemic, and mental illness. A call had been made for 16-30 year olds to submit their plays, from across the ‘borough’ although it wasn’t clear if it was Camden or Brent, and the best 10 writers were selected and offered the paid opportunity to develop their writing and have it develop and produced into tonight’s offering, and 5 others earlier in the week. The 6 actors reading the scenes, changing roles for each play, and an actor reading directions, ensured the sparse stage was filled with talent, from the drama and sometimes great humour from the writers, all in the professional delivery from the actors. It was free for locals to attend, at The Kiln in Kilburn, London.

It’s no secret that we, at Everything London, love some dumplings! Din Tai Fung, Covent Garden   When Art Sagiryan 'Ping Pong' arrived in London, founded in 2005, it was the most accessible all-day dumpling place my friends and I would love to visit. Now with branches all over London, you no longer have to suffer those awful queues to eat.  Make room for Din Tai Fung! We visited the one in Covent Garden, where that infamous long line has returned, but fear not, unlike a lot of other places they take reservations in advance, if you're just walking up by chance, they'll take your phone number to call you when your table's ready, or for us, they let us order boba tea and sit by the bar. The site is where the very huge 'Henry's' bar used to stand, and before that a Mexican restaurant, its refurb though wipes out all memory of those old haunts. You are greeted by their very open kitchen with staff huddled making the dim sum, and sha

This week I rushed to the Kings Fund to see "Open wounds” Created and developed by Tottenham Rights, the exhibition explores the connections between health, racism and inequalities, and how this has affected generations of Black people. It does so through the eyes of the Black community themselves.  I'm currently looking into digital health inequalities, and I've heard from AgeUK, ABILITY and some ground roots agencies from a House of Lords inquiry, so it seemed appropriate to hear the experience of the Black community, in a specifically curated exhibition by Tottenham Rights. OPEN WOUNDS exhibit I was impressed by the boards and it's very plain speaking from slavery and the dismissal that Black people were even human, and the cheap labour their lives represented, which informed from a very early time, that Black people could be mistreated, weren't as smart, or not as valuable a human as their white counterparts. Dehumanising Black people sav