Five of the best … films
The Hunt (15)
(Craig Zobel, 2020, US) 90 mins
This is fast becoming the most controversial film of the Trump era: from the Blumhouse production outfit, co-written by Damien Lindelof, and adapted from the human-hunt story The Most Dangerous Game, it pits “elites” against “deplorables” in a satirically charged twist. Hilary Swank leads the hunters, while Glow’s Betty Gilpin inspires the fightback by the presumed victims.
Misbehaviour (12A)
(Philippa Lowthorpe, 2020, US) 106 mins
Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays the first black Miss World in this comedy about the controversy-plagued 1970 edition. But that landmark is arguably overshadowed by the offstage shenanigans – primarily protests by women’s liberation activists. Keira Knightley plays Sally Alexander, the real-life feminist and historian who led the charge.
Bacurau (18)
(Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, 2019, Bra/Fr) 131 mins
A Brazilian contribution to the “weird western” subgenre from the director behind the festival hit Aquarius. It’s a freaky outback brew, in which a woman returns to the cut-off town of the title (the name also means “nightjar”) which seems to have dropped off the map, just as a group of heavily armed tourists gather nearby for some “sport”.
Onward (U)
(Dan Scanlon, 2020, US) 107 mins
Pixar’s first “original” since 2017’s Coco is about a pair of elf brothers who – for convoluted reasons – go on a quest to fix a messed-up spell that conjures up just the bottom half of their dead father (I know). In the contemporary manner, there is a lot of musing on personal growth and family bonding: a mashup, if you will, of Harry Potter and Frozen.
The Elephant Man (12A)
(David Lynch, 1980, US/UK) 118 mins
David Lynch’s brilliantly atmospheric study of Joseph Merrick, the 19th-century man whose unique physical appearance meant he ended up in a Victorian freak show, before being given refuge by hospital physician Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins). John Hurt played Merrick, under pounds of latex and makeup, earning an Oscar nomination for his performance.
AP
Five of the best … rock, pop & jazz
Kelis
Predictability has never been high on Kelis’s agenda – from her early avant-pop singles (Caught Out There, Milkshake) to her recent appearance on The Masked Singer, and current life living on a remote family farm in California. So, while this new tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of her breakthrough album Kaleidoscope, it is unlikely to be an entirely by-the-book shindig.
Albert Hall, Manchester, Monday 16; Roundhouse, NW1, Tuesday 16 March
Princess Nokia
Expressing the facepalm-inducing dichotomy of life in 2020, maverick NY rapper and actor Princess Nokia released two albums on the same day last month: Everything Is Beautiful, and Everything Sucks. The joy of Destiny Frasqueri’s deliciously minimalist, confident sound is that it gathers a multiplicity of identities in its fluid embrace; from the tender to the brash and way beyond.
EartH, N16, Friday 20; touring to 25 March
Jon Hopkins
Maybe you can please all of the people, all of the time: both “the loud stuff and the quiet stuff” are promised by electronica hero Hopkins on his Polarity tour. Early reports tell of shows dissolving into quasi-raves, which should satisfy tech-heads. And there are seated-at-the-piano moments, too, for those ambient types who love Hopkins’s poignant, luminous soundscapes.
Bath, Saturday 14; Brighton, Sunday 15; London, Wednesday 18 March
Sam Fender
“White boy with a guitar, fucking great, original, here comes another one,” remarked the North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender on the release of 2019’s debut album Hypersonic Missiles. But there is urgency and eloquence to his angular, heartfelt pop, and his crisp portraits of life on the margins are more necessary now than ever.
02 Victoria Manchester, Friday 20 March; touring to 3 April
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SEED Ensemble
Cassie Kinoshi’s Mercury-nominated SEED Ensemble is driven by rising young UK jazz stars as dynamic as Sons of Kemet tuba phenomenon Theon Cross, Kokoroko trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, and guitarist Shirley Tetteh – but the fuel is saxophonist Kinoshi’s vivid and sophisticated composing, embracing Afrobeat, hip-hop, classic worksong, neo-soul and contemporary swing.
Glasgow, Sunday 15; Clitheroe, Tuesday 17; Manchester, Wednesday 18; Leeds, Thursday 19 March; touring to 2 April
JF
Three of the best … classical concerts
Elektra
Kirill Karabits has been principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade now. But, although he first made his name in the UK at Glyndebourne, opera has never featured much in the BSO’s programmes. In 2015, he conducted Salome, and now he turns his attention to Richard Strauss’s other one-act masterpiece from the 1900s, Elektra. Catherine Foster takes the title role, with Susan Bullock as Klytämnestra and Allison Oakes as Chrysothemis; the concert staging is directed by Geertje Boeden.
Lighthouse, Poole, Wednesday 18; Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 21 March
The Choral Pilgrimage
It has been 20 years since Harry Christophers and the Sixteen began spending their summers touring the churches and cathedrals of Britain with carefully themed programmes of unaccompanied choral music. For their anniversary pilgrimage they are focusing on Rome, and on four composers from the late-16th and early-17th centuries who were especially associated with music in the Holy See: Josquin, Victoria, Anerio and Allegri.
Rochester Cathedral, Thursday 19; Kings Place, N1, Friday 20 March; touring to 6 November
Aurora
Double bass concertos are almost as uncommon as double bass virtuosos, although one does encourage the other. Péter Eötvös’s new work, Aurora, was inspired by his sight of the northern lights when flying over Alaska. First performed in Berlin last December, it gets its UK premiere from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Thomas Zehetmair; the SCO’s principal bass, Nikita Naumov, is the soloist.
Edinburgh, Thursday 19; Glasgow, Friday 20; Inverness, 22 March
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Five of the best … exhibitions
Titian: Love, Desire, Death
This once-in-a-lifetime show brings together all the mythological paintings the Venetian genius Titian created for Philip II of Spain in the 1500s. It is the ultimate anti-Brexit exhibition. For one thing, Philip sent the Armada against Britain. For another, these masterpieces include the stunning vision of Europa, a painting that defines our continent.
The National Gallery, WC2, Monday 16 March to 14 June
Rineke Dijkstra
The Dutch photographer has a touching way of revealing the vulnerable essence of people. Here, she shows a video made for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, in which groups of visitors chat in front of The Night Watch, Rembrandt’s great painting of the human comedy played out against darkness. We look into faces from the 1600s and see ourselves.
Marian Goodman Gallery, W1, to 25 April
Lucas Cranach the Elder
This German Renaissance artist painted sinfully erotic nudes and sadomasochist images of Salome with a severed head in her hands. Yet he was anything but pagan. Cranach was friends with Martin Luther and the best man at the former monk’s wedding. His sensual and shocking art is a vision of original sin. The corrupt world he paints can only be redeemed by God’s mercy – or we can simply enjoy its decadence.
Compton Verney, nr Warwick, Saturday 14 March to 14 June
Imagine a Castle
Wales has some of the most picturesque castles in the world, from Conwy on a lofty rock above an estuary to Caenarfon posed against water and sky. Both were painted by Turner. This exhibition takes what is thus a locally relevant look at how castles have been depicted in art. Turner was comparing them with painted citadels by the likes of Bellotto, who features here. A brief history of the Romantic imagination.
National Museum Wales, Cardiff, to 10 May
Paul Klee
The late work of Paul Klee is like cave art from a world that has collapsed back into savagery. And that is exactly what it is. Klee was associated with the optimistic German Bauhaus school, but in the 1930s Hitler came to power. Modern art like his was attacked as “degenerate”. Klee reverted to a raw expressionism that conveys the horror and fear, in cartoons that claw at you out of Europe’s darkness.
David Zwirner, W1, to 18 April
JJ
Five of the best … theatre shows
The Seagull
Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke makes her West End debut as the idealistic young actor Nina in Chekhov’s classic play. She will be joined by a mightily impressive ensemble cast, including Daniel Monks as the tortured writer Konstantin, alongside Tamzin Outhwaite, Robert Glenister and another GoT alumnus, Indira Varma. Jamie Lloyd – who can frankly do no wrong at the moment – directs.
Playhouse Theatre, WC2, to 30 May
All of Us
Rufus Norris has signed up for another five years as the National’s artistic director, and his programming continues to be full of surprises. All of Us is the debut play from actor, comedian and disability rights campaigner Francesca Martinez. She will play a woman whose fulfilling life is threatened by austerity politics; Ian Rickson directs.
National Theatre: Dorfman, SE1, Wednesday 18 March to 16 May
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A rare chance to catch Canadian theatre-maker Robert Lepage’s stunning production. This mesmerising solo show is about the slipperiness of memory and identity. Lepage has been asked to talk about his early years in Quebec but is struggling to remember. Will a memory box – a model house of his family home – bring his childhood back to life? What are the moments that stay with us and shape the people we become?
The Lowry: Lyric Theatre, Salford, Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 March
Indecent
Paula Vogel’s probing play focuses on the contentious 1923 Broadway run of Sholem Asch’s Jewish comedy The God of Vengeance. Set in a brothel and featuring a lesbian love affair, the play resulted in the entire cast being convicted on charges of obscenity. Rebecca Taichman’s 2017 New York production of Indecent bagged the Tony award for best direction, and she returns to direct this revival.
The Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1, to 9 May
Our Lady of Blundellsands
Josie Lawrence stars in this astute comic drama by Jonathan Harvey. Directed by Nick Bagnall, the play is about families, truth and lies. Lawrence plays Sylvie, a fading beauty who retreats into her own imagination when life gets a little too intense. Annette Badland is her sister Garnet, who’s tired of propping up her sister’s existence. When the family gather for a birthday party, Sylvie’s fantasy world shatters.
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, to 28 March
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Three of the best … dance shows
Cunningham / Keegan-Dolan / Peck: Nico Muhly’s Drawn Lines
Here are three dance works set to the genre-crossing music of Nico Muhly, played live by the Britten Sinfonia. Michael Keegan-Dolan and Julie Cunningham choreograph to existing pieces, but New York City Ballet’s golden boy Justin Peck gets a new creation, Rotunda, performed by NYCB dancers.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1, Thursday 19 to 21 March
Northern Ballet: Geisha
This world premiere from Kenneth Tindall tells a story of ghosts and geisha, with beautiful designs by Christopher Oram. It has been created in collaboration with writer Lesley Downer, who lived among geisha in Kyoto.
The Grand Theatre & Opera House, Leeds, Saturday to 21 March; touring to 16 May
Alexander Whitley Dance Company: Overflow
The first chance to see a new work from Alexander Whitley. Overflow is part dance, part light sculpture (created by Children of the Light), investigating the ramifications of living our lives surrounded by digital data.
The Lowry, Salford, Wednesday 18 March; touring to 24 April
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Main composite image: David Zwirner; Pathé; Guy Farrow; Boston Globe/Getty
