Going out: Cinema
Challengers
Out now
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist star in this sporting romance that sees off-court tensions played out through the medium of tennis, as a grand slam champion competes against his wife’s former lover. From Luca Guadagnino, director of Call Me By Your Name.
Kidnapped
Out now
Marco Bellocchio directs the true story of a six-year-old Jewish boy, kidnapped from his family in Bologna in 1858 by order of the pope, in order to be brought up Catholic. Naturally, his heartbroken family campaign for his return.
ISS
Out now
An International Space Station crew made up of Russian and American astronauts find themselves in a pickle when nuclear war breaks out between their respective countries while they’re in orbit. Much paranoia and double-crossing ensues for the crewmates, played by Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina and Masha Mashkova.
Cardiff animation festival
Various venues, 27 & 28 April; online to 12 May
Wales’s biggest animation festival returns to Chapter Arts, with a rich selection of workshops, activities and films, including Robot Dreams, the moving story of a lonely dog who buys a robot companion, only to become separated accidentally. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Olivia Dean
Manchester, 27 April; touring to 5 May
It has been a pretty hectic year for north London’s Olivia Dean. Last summer, Messy, her critically acclaimed debut album of richly layered neo-soul, hit the Top 5, and she’s also received three Brit nominations. This UK tour is essentially a lap of honour. Michael Cragg
Lil Yachty
London, 29 April; Birmingham, 1 May; Glasgow, 2 May; touring to 4 May
Having started out as a so-called SoundCloud rapper, last year mumbling lines over loose trap beats, Lil Yachty pivoted unexpectedly to psych rock with fifth album Let’s Start Here. It’s unclear on which lane he’ll focus here; expect the unexpected. MC
Cheltenham jazz festival
Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham, 1 to 6 May
Embracing contemporary jazz, blues, soul, R&B and global music, this festival runs for six days and includes luminaries from pianist Brad Mehldau to Snarky Puppy and singer Gregory Porter. Acid jazz stars Brand New Heavies join the powerful London Concert Orchestra on the 3 May bill. John Fordham
Atlas
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 1 May
Just over a month after its premiere, Anna Clyne’s first piano concerto reaches the UK, with Jeremy Denk, for whom it was composed, as the soloist and the CBSO conducted by Kazuki Yamada. Atlas is inspired by sketches and photos and photographs of the same name by Gerhard Richter, which, as Clyne says, “cut to the heart of the artist’s thinking”. Andrew Clements
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Going out: Art
Expressionists
Tate Modern, London, to 20 October
Gabriele Münter and her boyfriend Wassily Kandinsky are at the heart of this trip to early 20th-century Bavaria. Inspired by the desperation of Munch and Van Gogh, they and fellow artists formed the Blue Rider group in Munich in 1911. Franz Marc, Marianne Werefkin and Robert Delaunay share the shuddering mood.
Michelangelo: The Last Decades
British Museum, London, 2 May to 28 July
The drawings of Michelangelo uniquely combine soft immediacy and precision in an art of phenomenal expressiveness. His later sketches in this show are some of his most moving of all, from the mythological scenes he drew for his beloved Tommaso de’ Cavalieri to tormented depictions of the dying and dead Christ.
Tony Cragg
Castle Howard, near York, 3 May to 22 September
Brideshead isn’t what it used to be. What would the Jeremy Irons character in the celebrated TV series think if he saw modern art all over its lawns? Nowadays every stately home shows contemporary art, even Castle Howard, famous location of Brideshead Revisited, which now swarms with Cragg’s cosmic abstractions.
Henry Moore in Miniature
Holburne Museum, Bath, 3 May to 8 September
The most ambitious sculptor of the human body produced by 20th-century Britain still dominates many horizons in sculpture parks and public spaces around the world. Here, however, his roly poly, reclining or enthroned, perforated and faceless figures are revealed on a more intimate scale. Get close to their surrealism. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Silence
Home, Manchester, 30 April to 4 May
A collision of the personal and political, this new piece of documentary theatre was commissioned to mark 75 years since the partition of India. Adapted from Kavita Puri’s book, it weaves together individual tales to show how this brutal point in history shaped Britain. Kate Wyver
English Kings Killing Foreigners
Camden People’s Theatre, London, to 11 May
The stage becomes a battlefield in this silly and serious show, as Shakespeare’s Globe performers Nina Bowers and Philip Arditti consider what it means to cast a global majority actor in a Shakespeare play. Diving into their own experience of performing Henry V, they ask essential questions of what nationalism looks like now. KW
Punt & Dennis
Slough, 27 April; Milton Keynes, 29 April; touring to 26 June
After a quarter century as hosts of The Now Show – and, in Hugh Dennis’s case, 17 years as a Mock the Week panellist – it’s no stretch to say this duo are world experts in sending up the news. See what they’ve learned on their first tour in a decade. Rachel Aroesti
Gateshead international festival of theatre
Various venues, 4 & 5 May
At this boundary-blurring performance festival you can see Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas and a cast of over-60s; see work by Rwanda-born practitioner Patrick Ziza; or do a Beatmotion workshop with Akeim Toussaint Buck to make your own choreography (no experience necessary). Lyndsey Winship
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Staying in: Streaming
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Now & Sky Atlantic, 2 May, 9pm
Jonah Hauer-King stars in this drama based on Heather Morris’s Holocaust novel, itself inspired by the testimony of survivor Lale Sokolov. Told through the lens of the latter’s interviews, it pits an intense love story against the abject horror of the camps.
A Man in Full
Netflix, 2 May
David E Kelley is known for fizzy, foreboding and starry dramas such as Big Little Lies. His latest, an adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s 1998 novel about an Atlantan real estate mogul facing bankruptcy, maintains the big names – Jeff Daniels, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu – for some knotty state-of-the-nation satire.
Miriam: Death of a Reality Star
Channel 4, 29 April, 9pm
Even in the wild west of early reality TV, There’s Something About Miriam – a dating format predicated on the “twist” that its titular model was transgender – felt uniquely queasy. This series looks at the legacy of its star, Miriam Rivera, from her pioneering celebrity to the exploitation she experienced before her passing in 2019.
Shardlake
Disney+, 1 May
In 2022, Arthur Hughes became the first disabled actor to star in an RSC production of Richard III. Now he jumps forward a few decades to depict Matthew Shardlake – a barrister and detective with spinal curvature in the employ of Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) – in this new series based on CJ Sansom’s historical novels. RA
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Staying in: Games
Sea of Thieves
PS5, out 30 April
A jewel in the crown of Xbox’s game lineup makes its way to the PS5 this week: a humorous, grog-soaked multiplayer pirate adventure, best enjoyed with a crew.
Stellar Blade
PS5, out now
Aliens have taken over Earth, and as the incongruously scantily clad supersoldier Eve, we must slice them into bite-sized pieces. This frame-perfect sci-fi action is a treat for the eyes. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless
Out now
The Pets return with their 15th album and first with producer James Ford (Jessie Ware, Blur). Recent single Dancing Star recalls their Please era, complete with Neil Tennant’s spoken-word verses, while Loneliness makes good on their aim to tap into the “unique and diverse emotions that make us human”.
Sega Bodega – Dennis
Out now
Having worked with Björk and FKA twigs, Irish-Chilean producer and artist Salvador Navarrete knows all about spectacular soundscapes. On this third album he augments his multi-layered electronic suites with guest spots from author and film-maker Miranda July and Sophie collaborator Cecile Believe.
Justice – Hyperdrama
Out now
Now Daft Punk are no more, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, AKA Justice, can claim their crown as France’s best dance duo. This fourth album, their first for eight years, continues their love for pummelling beats, blown-out synth riffs, and more than a dash of cinematic drama.
St Vincent – All Born Screaming
Out now
Shaking off her last album’s lounge-pop affectations, Annie Clarkhere can be found digging in the dirt. Featuring furious drumming from Dave Grohl, singles Broken Man and Flea strip everything down to the bone, the latter equating obsessive love with a parasite holding on for dear life. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
Sky Arts, 27 April, 9pm
Having co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965, Syd Barrett left three years later and lived as a semi-recluse, his later life becoming one of British music’s greatest mysteries. This engaging film uncovers his complex legacy.
Lost Patients
Podcast
Reporter Will James’s series on mental healthcare in the US is a vital and often uncomfortable listen. Focusing largely on the testimony of those who have experienced the system in Seattle, he traces a shocking decline in care.
Fictional Brands Archive
Online
Much more than just a collection of brand names that appear in TV and film, this database by designer Lorenzo Bernini contains a fascinating research section exploring how branding shapes the way we see the world. Ammar Kalia
