Discover a fascinating free exhibition of the finds unearthed by the Crossrail project at its Tottenham Court Road Visitor Information Centre. From the remains of a Bedlam inmate to rare pieces of amber, this display is an astonishing insight into the rich variety of London’s history.

Designed to provide a train service between Berkshire and Buckinghamshire via Central London, the mammoth Crossrail project is currently tunnelling its way through the city. To celebrate the halfway point of the project’s archaeology programme, it has staged a free display of some of the most spectacular finds.

One key exhibit is a skeleton from the Bedlam graveyard, the last resting place of those incarcerated in London’s notorious insane asylum. This is one of the younger discoveries, however, and you can also see an ancient segment of mammoth jaw displayed next to pieces of amber that are 55 million years old. A lighter note is provided by Saxon ice skates, which would have been used for gliding over the frozen Moorfields Marsh, as well as a rather amusing chamber pot – something best seen for yourself!

More information about the exhibits is provided both by the friendly staff and a series of free Wednesday evening seminars. These are given by the project’s archaeologists and take place from 6.30pm.

Bison to Bedlam is at the Crossrail Visitor Information Centre at 16-18 St Giles High Street. Opening times are 11am to 7pm Tuesday to Thursday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. The exhibition is open until 27 October

Secondly, there’s a lot of excitement in my household over the news that Complicite’s A Disappearing Number is coming back to London. Book now to see the production’s original cast at the Novello Theatre for a limited run between 10 and 25 September.

Casting news this week includes

• Tom Burke (Alan Rickman’s godson, no less), Lisa Dillon (from the BBC’s Cranford) and Olivier-award winner Andrew Scott take on Noel Coward’s Design For Living at the Old Vic in September
• Ella Smith, who won a heap of awards for her performance in Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig in 2008 is back. She’ll play in Bedlam at Shakespeare’s Globe also from September
• Real life husband and wife Alexander Hanson and Samantha Bond will play husband and wife in Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre from 4 November
• And Gina McKee, last seen on the London stage in the brilliant Ivanov, will star alongside Derek Jacobi in a star-laden King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse this Christmas

And finally for this week, Kids Week is going to have to rethink its name, following a hugely successful promotion in 2010. The project, which offers one free child’s ticket (aged 5 to 16) with every full paying adult for a whole load of London’s most popular shows, has now extended into a THIRD week. It’ll now run from 13 August to 3 September. Apparantly, they’ve sold more than 40,000 tickets for performances during its original fortnight (13 to 27 August) since booking opened on 13 July. Incredible!

More information about Kids Week, including travel, accommodation and restaurants, can be found at www.kidsweek.co.uk.