{"id":466237,"date":"2025-10-01T16:51:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/466237\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:51:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:51:24","slug":"what-went-on-in-london-this-week-stephen-frys-earnest-turn-plus-matthew-mcconaughey-the-school-bus-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/466237\/","title":{"rendered":"What went on in London this week: Stephen Fry’s earnest turn, plus Matthew McConaughey, the school bus driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Fry<\/a> was looking decidedly low-key in an all black outfit at the press night after-party for The Importance of Being Earnest. The casual observer would never have known that hours earlier, he was on stage in a ruffly green dress with perfectly coiffed hair and giant pearl earrings, as the fearsome Lady Bracknell. After a hit run at the National Theatre<\/a>, director Max Webster\u2019s revival of Oscar Wilde\u2019s play has moved to the No\u00ebl Coward theatre, and has somehow become even camper.<\/a> It stars Olly Alexander, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Jessica Whitehurst and Kitty Hawthorne. Actors Sir Ian McKellen<\/a>, Natascha McElhone and Omari Douglas went along to watch. <\/p>\n

\""The<\/p>\n

Omari Douglas and Olly Alexander at the press night after party for The Importance of Being Earnest at 116 Pall Mall <\/p>\n

Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\""The<\/p>\n

Stephen Fry at the press night after party for The Importance of Being Earnest at 116 Pall Mall <\/p>\n

Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\""The<\/p>\n

at the press night performance of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Noel Coward Theatre<\/p>\n

Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\""The<\/p>\n

Sir Ian McKellen at the press night performance of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Noel Coward Theatre <\/p>\n

Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, comedian Grace Campbell went to a screening of Knife Edge, a documentary about chefs pursuing Michelin stars, presented by Topjaw frontman Jesse Burgess. Over in Mayfair, Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves were at Curzon for a special screening of The Lost Bus. The film is based on a true story and stars McConaughey as a school bus driver battling to rescue 22 children from a raging wildfire in California, alongside teacher America Ferrera. McConaughey told Radio 4\u2019s Front Row that he didn\u2019t use a stunt driver, even for scenes where he navigated hairpin bends on narrow mountain roads. \u201cI\u2019ve pulled trailers all over north America, so probably that\u2019s why I\u2019m a better school bus driver,\u201d he explained. There were no accidents, though he did knock a couple of wing mirrors off. <\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Jesse Burgess and Grace Campbell attend a special screening of Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars at Charlotte Street Hotel <\/p>\n

Jed Cullen\/Dave Benett\/Getty Ima<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Camila Alves McConaughey and Matthew McConaughey attend a Special Screening of Apple Original Films’ “The Lost Bus” at The Curzon Mayfair<\/p>\n

Dave Benett<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

America Ferrera attends a Special Screening of Apple Original Films’ The Lost Bus at The Curzon Mayfair<\/p>\n

Dave Benett<\/p>\n

The Standard\u2019s Autumn Lunch<\/p>\n

New York and London<\/a>\u2019s restaurant scenes continue to commingle with gusto. The capital\u2019s best Indian restaurants Dishoom and Gymkhana are set to cross the pond, while Italian-American classics like Carbone have landed over here. Such is the success of the special culinary relationship that Manhattan\u2019s Dante has extended its residency at Claridge\u2019s until the end of the year. The restaurant was the venue for the Standard\u2019s Autumn Lunch, hosted by Chief Content Officer Anna van Praagh. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Harris Reed and Anna van Praagh at The Standard Autumn Lunch at Claridge’s Hotel<\/p>\n

Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Suggestions were flying across the table for Nicky Haslam\u2019s infamous annual tea towel of things he finds common, while socialite Jack Guinness waxed lyrical about House of Guinness, the TV show based on his ancestors. Guests included designers Harris Reed and Oliver Cheshire, singer Pixie Lott, artists Zandra Rhodes, Mat Collishaw and Polly Morgan, and Soho House\u2019s Anouska Ruane. After a three-course lunch and rounds of cosmojitos (think Sex and The City goes to Cuba), guests went home with Diptyque scented candles. A Wednesday well spent.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Nicky Haslam<\/p>\n

Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Anouska Ruane and Dame Zandra Rhodes<\/p>\n

Dave Benett<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Mat Collishaw and Polly Morgan<\/p>\n

Dave Benett<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Jack Guinness and Martha Ward <\/p>\n

Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Oliver Cheshire and Pixie Lott <\/p>\n

Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Fry was looking decidedly low-key in an all black outfit at the press night after-party for The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,70585,257,19735,155575,5737,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-466237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-ian-mckellen","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-national-theatre","14":"tag-noel-coward","15":"tag-stephen-fry","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115299948936898458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}