For the most up-to-date listing of cultural events, pick up the monthly Guía del Arte de Lima, which is available free in most museums and cultural centers. Or view its website, http://guiadearte.perucultural.org.pe. El Comercio (www.elcomercioperu.com.pe) newspaper also has complete listings.

Lima’s performing arts received a body blow when the Teatro Municipal, the main venue for ballet, symphony, and opera, burnt to the ground in 1998. Some of these events have been transferred to the Teatro Segura (Huancavelica 265, central Lima, tel. 01/426-7189) or the Museo de la Nación (Javier Prado Este 2465, San Borja, tel. 01/476-9878).

Theater productions, always in Spanish, can be seen at Centro Cultural de España (Natalio Sánchez 181, Sta. Beatriz, www.ccelima.org), Centro Cultural PUCP (Camino Real 1075, San Isidro, tel. 01/616-1616, http://cultural.pucp.edu.pe), Teatro Canout (Petit Thouars 4550, Miraflores, tel. 01/422-5373), Teatro Marsano (General Suárez 409, Miraflores), Teatro La Plaza Usil in Larcomar (tel. 01/242-9266, www.larcomar.com), Alianza Francesa (Arequipa 4595, tel. 01/241-7014, www.alianzafrancesa lima.edu.pe), and Teatro Británico (Bellavista 531, Miraflores, tel. 01/447-1135, www.britanico.edu.pe), which occasionally has plays in English. Tickets are normally purchased at the box office for only US$8–12.

Other frequent cultural events, such as films, concerts, and expositions, are held at the Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (tel. 01/706-7000, www.icpna.edu.pe), with a location in central Lima (Cusco 446) and Miraflores (Angamos Oeste 106); the Centro Cultural Ricardo Palma (Larco 770, Miraflores, tel. 01/446-3959); and the Asociación Cultural Peruano Británica (Bellavista 531, Miraflores, tel. 01/447-1135, www.britanico.edu.pe).