iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

1st visit to the renamed Tom Stoppard Theatre tonight to see Rent. For me it's overrated with an uninteresting story, but audience loved it, performances were superb, staging was dynamic, band great, and an anti-capitalist play championing art, community & marginalised people remains very relevant.

Red, neon sign showing RENT in block capitals against dark background.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

1st preview of James Graham's #TheStandardOfLiving at Theatre Royal Haymarket. Lacks drama but funny, intelligent, madly interesting & has a proper thesis. Rory Kinnear superb. Good cast recovered well from a real 'Is there a doctor in the house?' incident. #Culture #London #TheatreSky #Theatre

Classical, white, illuminated, pillared facade with portico of theatre. Poster for The Standard of Living hanging down. Night.

020

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Visited All Hallows-by-the-Tower in London, which has a painting of The Adoration of the Magi from the school of Reubens and I can't stop seeing a clawed ghost consuming Caspar. #Art #London

Painting of the Adoration of the Magi, closer.

Painting of the Adoration of the Magi, close-up on Caspar's shoulder where his ermine looks like a clawed ghost.

020

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The Batman: Part II filming at St. Paul's Cathedral this weekend. #London #TheBatman #TheBatmanPart2

Black, Corvette Stingray parked in the centre of a London street.

Large, black, police truck with "GCPD Emergency Service Unit" written in white, block capitals on the side. Steps of St. Paul's Cathedral with camera crew and crowds behind. Day.

White police car with blue trim and "Gotham Police" in blue capitals on the side. Early evening.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Final performance of Pride at @nationaltheatre.org.uk tonight. Very funny, very moving, good staging, great to have live music. Standing ovation. 10/10. Transferring to the Bridge. #Culture #London #LondonTheatre #NationalTheatre #Musical #PRIDETheMusical #TheatreSky #Theatre #ThingsToDoInLondon

Pride cast on stage taking audience applause.

011

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

A reminder that, in addition to MapQuest, the European alternative to Apple Maps and Google Maps, @cartes.app, also correctly names The Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. Leave Big Tech, kids! cartes.app

051

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Nice assertion of local bragging rights from the wonderful Chaucer Head Bookshop in Stratford-upon-Avon. #Books #BookSky #Shakespeare #StratfordUponAvon #VisitStratfordUponAvon

Bookshelves with 'Shakespeare' sign on top shelf and 'Local Author' sign just below.

070

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

If you ever go to Stratford-upon-Avon, I recommend visiting and supporting the ShakesPaw Cat Cafe tea rooms with their rescue cats. #CatCafe #Cats #StratfordUponAvon #VisitStratfordUponAvon

Exterior of Shakespaw Cat Cafe tea rooms. Flowers in window boxes and a couple of hanging baskets. Union and crown pennants in windows. Hanging side on right depicting cat wearing a Shakespearian ruff as if painted in a portrait.

Fluffy, flat-faced cat being stroked, sitting on a floral, plastic, table covering.

Fluffy, flat-faced, white cat sleeping inside an antique television set with Meow Time in 1950s-style text under the screen.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Press Night for Game of Thrones: The Mad King at the RSC in #StratfordUponAvon on Saturday. A spectacular production that answers many long-standing questions for fans. George R R Martin in attendance. #Culture #GameOfThrones #GameOfThronesOnStage #RoyalShakespeareCompany #TheatreSky #Theatre

George R R Martin wearing bowler hat looks toward camera from a crowd of four other people.

Photo of RSC building, looking up, with press and red carpet for The Mad King below.

RSC in glowing, blue-white illumination with WESTEROS in capitals on an LED screen below, over a couple of floors of the RSC building.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Moorhen chick being fed by the Barbican lakeside.

Small, black moorhen about to take food from the beak of its parent to the left. Other parent pecking on ground to the right. Tiled lakeside. Day.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

1st preview of Alan Ayckbourn's How The Other Half Loves at the Old Vic. A well-executed farce with plenty of laughs. Roger Allam excellent as always, and good to see two Ayckbourn alumi in Dorothy Atkinson & Ayesha Antoine. A good night out. #Culture #London #OVOtherHalf #TheatreSky #Theatre

Front of Old Vic theatre at night with HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES in glowing, reddy-orange, neon, capital letters on the front. Night.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

First visit to the newly opened The Terrace at One Leadenhall. Worth a brief visit to get some peace and quiet, or a better view of the building details in the City of London. #London

Rear view of devil grotesque squatting on plinth on church roof. Day.

Modern statue of woman in classical style on side of building. Day.

Looking along a viewing platform, perhaps 50 yards long, with trees on right and a mirrored roof. Day.

Looking down on golden peacock statue with scaffolding below it. Day.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

2nd preview of Here Comes J. Edgar last night at @kingsheadtheatre.bsky.social. Story could have been stronger but overall very good - some brilliantly funny songs, very funny lines, hugely talented case and Bryan Batt superb. Enormous fun. #HereComesJEdgar #JEdgarHoover #London #TheatreSky

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

RIP northern, working-class David Hockney. After I saw the Yuja x Hockney exhibition at the Lightroom in 2024, we attended the Two Pianos concert at the Southbank Centre, performed by Yuja Wang & Víkingur Ólafsson, and found ourselves sitting right next to Hockney.

Large room with a projection on all three visible walls of a lemon colour with the words LOVE LIFE in different colours. Elevated view, audience seated below.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Mass at the Donmar Warehouse tonight. A play that comprises nothing but exposition and with no plot on a very dark subject really should not have worked but, amazingly, it did. Phenomenal performances from a phenomenal cast, and a play with something to say. #Culture #London #TheatreSky #Theatre

Poster for Mass projected on a wall depicting a school corridor with bags lying on the floor.

020

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Final performance of The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui at the RSC. A good, anarchic production with live band & music from #Placebo. Mark Gatiss deliciously sinister. Contemporary references, such as ICE thugs, horribly relevant. #Brecht #RoyalShakespeareCompany #StratfordUponAvon #TheatreSky

Raised platform with 4-piece band playing on stage, surrounded by theatre balconies, with red light. White light along vertices. Interior.

031

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

David Attenborough yarnbomb in Richmond-upon-Thames. #London #StreetArt

Knitted postbox topper depicting sea creatures with David Attenborough in the middle holding the Earth. Day. Sunny.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Black Comedy at the mid-revamp @orangetreetheatre.bsky.social this afternoon. A great, central conceit and a very funny farce with a terrific cast who nail their characters. Very much recommended. #London #TheatreSky #Theatre

Front of brick theatre, looking more like a school, with hoardings up saying "We're changing the scenery" and parts of the wall missing as part of a renovation.

031

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

1st preview of High Society musical at The Barbican Centre. Already pretty polished. Despite the almost non-existent plot it's a fun evening out with a ton of talent on stage, and quite a few laughs once it gets going. #London #TheatreSky #Theatre

Large poster, several yards high, for High Society showing lead cast, hanging from concrete wall of Barbican Centre interior, with another large poster on the glass entrance.

020

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Copenhagen at the Hampstead Theatre tonight. I saw the original production in 90s and this was just as brilliant, only with a more beautiful set. A 10/10 play. #London #TheatreSky

Theatre stage consisting of white, illuminated circle; 3 chairs; glowing lights in background reflected in shiny, transparent, plastic surface.

021

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

One of the highlights of each year - thousands of bluebells blooming in Bunhill Fields. #BloomScrolling #London

Dozens and dozens of bluebells among the gravestones of a cemetery. Sunny day.

0121

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Cherry blossoms have just opened in Charterhouse Square. #BlueSkyArtShow #BloomScrolling #London #New

Pink cherry blossom above. Elizabethan manor house in background. Grass and path below. Sunny day.

0130

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Recommend the small but very good Wright of Derby: From the Shadows exhibition at the #NationalGallery. Tenebrism applied to the start of the Industrial Revolution and the British Enlightenment. Marvellous. #ArtHistory

WRIGHT OF DERBY FROM THE SHADOWS displays in block capitals of glowing, honey-coloured text against a black background.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

1st preview of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Old Vic, tonight. Super production of very good, timely play about American colonialism and its violence against people who are different. Terrific cast, especially Aaron Pierre, Giles Terera & Arthur Boan. See it! #London #OVCuckoosNest #TheatreSky

Front of Old Vic Theatre, white, with THE OLD VIC in cream letters on front and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST in orangey-red neon letters above entrance, evening.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Spotted a young fox drinking at one of the ponds in the @barbicanwildlife.bsky.social garden.

Pond with lots of greenery, with fox just seen drinking from water through foliage.

130

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

It's World Theatre Day, so here's the enormous interior of the Sunderland Empire, the first theatre I ever visited. #TheatreSky #WorldTheatreDay

Empty theatre interior decorated in red and cream, looking down on stage from gallery.

131

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Our annual spring equinox ritual of seeing the cherry blossom by St. Bartholomew the Great, and each equinox there's a new martenitsa tied to a branch. #Equinox #London #Spring

White cherry blossom with a red and white string tied to a branch.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Final night of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at The Old Vic. A very good production. #London #OVArcadia #TheatreSky

Frontage of Old Vic theatre illuminated in the evening. THE OLD VIC in large, white, painted letter above, ARCADIA in red neon below.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Last night of Rattigan's #ManAndBoy, #NationalTheatre. 1st act superb, 2nd act the plot stops, but still good. Great acting all round, Ben Daniels sensational. Super direction, set design & movement direction. Emma D'Arcy in audience supporting Phoebe Campbell. #HOTD #LondonTheatre #TheatreSky

Large, art deco, illuminated board with MAN & BOY CAST in Art Deco writing, and the characters on the left with the actors name on the right. About 30ft long, 10ft high.

022

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Children of the Night at @swkplay.bsky.social tonight. Transports you to the 90s. Cleverly-used set. Great lighting. Slightly thin on plot but never dull. Tour de force performance from Danielle Phillips deserves awards noms. Fantastically northern & working-class. Recommend! #London #TheatreSky

Poster for Children of the Night in window of modern theatre, with large, white, glowing sign stating SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE above entrance.

110

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Shoreditch Grind weighs in on Timothée Chalamet. #Culture #Dance #London #Opera

Cafe front with cinema-like hoarding that reads SHOREDITCH GRIND - YES WONKA IS FAMOUSLY MORE TIMELESS THAN BALLET OR OPERA.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The magnolias are in bloom. Be sure to catch them before they're gone! #London

Magnolia blossoms, pink and white, foreground and framing the picture. Modern moat below.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Winter begins when you walk back from work and the gates to Bunhill Fields are locked. Spring begins when you walk back from work and the gates to Bunhill Fields are still open. #London

Dozens of daffodils among gravestones and a box tomb. Day.

082

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Live footage of Anthropic 'trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War'. #Anthropic #Trump

Monty Python sketch where two brothers trying to pressure a head of the army.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Final hour, final day, just caught 'Blondie in Camera 1978' at the Barbican Centre. Super memorabilia & behind-the-scenes photos from Martyn Goddard of @blondieband.bsky.social whose music is pure distillation of those years yet never dates. Magnificent! #BarbicanMusicLibrary #DebbieHarry #London

Textured concrete wall, left, with sign pointing to General Library, Arts Library, Children's Library. Right, above a table, a poster with Debbie Harry in sunglasses singing up to a microphone, with 'Blondie in Camera 1978' in orange-red letters.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

'Handel and Hendrix' performed by the National Youth Theatre at St. James's Church, Piccadilly tonight. A weak play with a poor story that fails to explore its subject matter. Poor acoustics too. Talented cast with great voices.

Interior of Sir Christopher Wren church. Barrel ceiling in white and gold with arched choirs lining nave.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

The Hunger Games On Stage this afternoon. Technically very good. Imaginative use of the purpose-built theatre but arena so big it dissipates emotion & distances the audience. More a show & spectacle than a play but the cast do well. A decent effort. #London #TheatreSky #TheHungerGamesOnStage

011

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

A Ghost In Your Ear matinee at the Hampstead. Disappointing for me. An unoriginal mix of The Woman in Black, Ringu, The Dead Room and Darkfield's binaural performances. The narrative element takes place in the Pennines yet all northern characters are, yet again, deleted from the story.

Poster for A Ghost In Your Ear inside the Hampstead Theatre with stairs leading up to the ground floor and the curving wall of the interior theatre looming up on the right.

000

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

The Rivals at @orangetreetheatre.bsky.social tonight, starring Patricia Hodge, Robert Bathurst, Kit Young & Zoe Brough. Superb performances all round. One of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. A brilliant 10/10 production. #Culture #TheatreSky

Art deco design and gold text on a blackboard advertising THE RIVALS.

060

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

UK preview of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms at the BFI tonight, followed by Q&A with Ira Parker, Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, moderated by Jamie East. #AKnightOfTheSevenKingdoms #AKOTSK #GOT #London

Jamie East, Ira Parker, Dexter Sol Ansell and Peter Claffey sitting in a row on a stage, with a large, promotional poster for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, projected onto the screen behind them. Close up.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Visited vegan restaurant Unity Diner in Shoreditch tonight. Food was sensationally good. 10/10 recommendation from me. Definitely going back to try their vegan carvery on a Sunday. #London #PlantBased #Vegan #Veganuary

White neon sign in window: 100% VEGAN DINER & COCKTAIL BAR. Top right, sign with UNITY DINER in white, lit letters. Night.

192

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Watched the annual blessing of the River Thames. Joint processions by St. Magnus the Martyr and Southwark Cathedral, meeting in the middle of London Bridge. #London

Ecclesiastical members in robes and surpluses walking across a bridge, one holding an image. Gloomy day.

021

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Press night for High Noon at the Pinter tonight, starring Billy Crudup, Denise Gough, Billy Howle, Rosa Salazar. Good play with theme of Americans standing up to thieves, liars and murderers. Red carpet with Pierce Brosnan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helen Mirren, and many more. #HighNoonPlay #TheatreSky

Dame Helen Mirren and Anne-Marie Duff pose for photographs.

Pierce Brosnan in suit poses for photos.

Front of theatre with HIGH NOON in orange letters on blue, lit hoarding. Crowd in front of theatre. Night.

HIGH NOON in big, orange letters on blue, illuminated hoarding on theatre, with THE HAROLD PINTER THEATRE on a sign below it.

010

Darren Ross @dazzaross.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Dreikönigskuchen baked for Dreikönigstag. #Epiphany #TwelfthNight

A brioche-like bread. Circle in the middle surrounded by 8 smaller circles of bread, topped with flaked almonds.

020