With the cold weather setting in and the darkness descending earlier and earlier, going out can sometimes seem like a bit of a chore.

But across the capital there are dozens of plays, musicals, exhibitions and other cultural gems to take in, and sometimes you have to throw off the blanket for a night out you won't forget.

Here's out top picks of Thursday night shows coming to Finchley's artsdepot over the coming weeks.

Joan

November 2, artsdepot

Following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, Joan is performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, seeing history's Joan of Arc from early adolescence until she is burned at the stake at just 19 years old.

Parkinson's unique performance, with influences from cabaret, makes Joan an exciting 21st century gender warrior.

Tickets available at the artsdepot website.

Penelope Solomon: I was a penis at the Royal Festival Hall

November 9, artsdepot

Comedian and actor Penelope Solomon brings her unique combination of stand-up, character comedy and songs in this unique show, which was a great success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

She has previously starred in Goodnight Sweetheart with Nicholas Lyndhurst, appeared with Bradley Walsh in BBC Radio 2's King of the Road and Peter Davison in the TV drama Cuts - but how did she end up as a penis at the Royal Festival Hall?

Tickets are available at the artsdepot website.

Bubble Schmeises

November 16, artsdepot

Nick Cassenbaum and klezmer musicians invite their audience into the Canning Town Schvitz, the last authentic bath house in East London, as Nick takes you on a journey discussing summer camps, barber shops and Spurs games to find what he is looking for.

The writer and performer creates a story of intimate and personal stories about identity, home and getting washed by old men in his Bubbemeises (Yiddish for "old wives tale").

Bubbemeises is Yiddish. It translates as a grandmother’s story, a tall story, an old wives’ tale.

Tickets are available at the artsdepot website.

Leaf by Niggle

November 23, artsdepot

Richard Medrington recounts the story of how J.R.R Tolkien's short masterpiece was written, with many speculating that this tiny work was actually an example of an allegory of his own life and work.

The story follows Niggle, a painter who is obsessed with a particular canvas, with a vast landscape stretching and expanding behind a tree, showing him he has an important journey to make which starts with putting paint to canvas.

Medrington is surrounded by ladders, bicycles and heirlooms which help tell the story of a storyteller, accompanied by music from Karine Polwart and MJ McCarthy.

Tickets are available at the artsdepot website.