Happy Ending at the Arcola – stage review
Terminal cancer is the subject of new musical Happy Ending
East End Review
Snow in Paradise: How a boy from Hoxton swapped crime for Islam
Snow in Paradise is an East End gangster film based on the true story of screenwriter Martin Askew
World’s first ‘mindfulness opera’ to go ahead
Lost in Thought is based on an extended meditation and sees performers and audience members do yoga, eat and wash up
East London Painting Prize opens for entries
Bow Arts-run prize offers East London painters the chance to win £10,000 and a solo exhibition
Sex Shop exhibition to open this month
Transition Gallery is to be decked out with dildos and fetish objects for Sex Shop exhibition
Hackney artists to stand in the General Election
Two Hackney artists are the latest to announce they are running for Parliament. We speak to them about their political ambitions
Kay Adshead: 'I never thought I would be seeing women shot in the street for wanting an education'
Playwright Kay Adshead talks about giving a generation of forgotten, ignored and deleted women protesters a voice in her play The Singing Stones
The Singing Stones – stage review: 'reflecting a familiar feeling of impotence'
The Singing Stones carries an important message about the plight of women during the Arab Spring but suffers from a lack of structure
Made in heaven – with love from Yum Yum
Enjoy one of four special Valentine’s Day cocktails when you celebrate your evening At Yum Yum
Bob and Roberta Smith: 'Wealthy kids don’t tend to make terribly interesting art'
The Leytonstone artist running for Michael Gove’s seat in the general election outlines his views on art in schools
Kaffa Coffee brings a taste of Ethiopia to Dalston
Gillett Square coffee shop scores low on pretension and high on authenticity
East London designers to watch: Faustine Steinmetz
Designer Faustine Steinmetz talks about her work, inspiration and fledgling clothing brand
Book review: Salt by Lucinda Lloyd
Debut collection of poems by local actor is a powerful portrayal of coming to terms with tragedy
Vanity Bites Back: the quick witted clown cookery show about anorexia
Comedian Helen Duff is an eccentric cookery show host in a one-woman stage comedy tackling the taboo subject of anorexia
The Gentle Author on Spitalfields Nippers: 'These children were born in these circumstances and these photographs are the result'
Spitalfields Life anonymous blogger publishes book of rare photographs by Horace Warner that provide a window into the lives of children in Spitalfields at the turn of the 20th century
Sex Workers Opera: raising marginalised voices and challenging sterotypes
Escorts, strippers and webcam performers are among the cast of Arcola production opening next week