Must-see: Roundhouse Three Sixty
Roundhouse, until April 30
Roundhouse 360 is a hot new cultural festival set to “push boundaries” and “create unforgettable moments” at the iconic north London venue. For one month, music, spoken word, theatre, visual arts, live podcast recordings and club nights will take hold, amplifying the voices of some of London’s most “vital and unapologetic” artists and performers. Names such as Munya Chawawa, Corinne Bailey Rae, below, and Jack Rooke are on the roster alongside many more.
Art fix: Cartier
Opens April 12 at the V&A
A 1938 rose clip brooch owned by Princess Margaret; a Crash wristwatch from the Sixties, bent but beautiful; a necklace, made in 1928 as a special order for Sir Bhupindra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala. These are just three of circa 350 pieces on display from the Cartier Collection, a diamond-studded new show at the V&A. The major exhibition includes precious jewels, historic gemstones, iconic watches and clocks, which together chart the evolution of Cartier’s legacy of art, design and craftsmanship.
Hot table: Tom Brown at The Capital
Knightsbridge
Almost full circle, this, for Tom Brown, arguably London’s most exciting chef when it comes to fish. At The Capital is where it all began for Brown, then a protégé of Nathan Outlaw. He returns on April 10 after winning a Michelin-star at Cornerstone (now closed; his more casual Pearly Queen remains) and with a menu that offers serious promise. Among the dishes, mussels in port, tuna with soy and quail’s egg, crab custard, and cuttlefish “ravioli”, where the “pasta” is made with a dough using the flesh of the mollusc. tombrownatthecapital.com
Screen gems
TV: Doctor Who
Out April 12 on BBC One & iPlayer
Ncuti Gatwa is back for his second series as the Time Lord, this time teaming up in the Tardis with actress Varada Sethu, who plays Belinda Chandra. Audiences will follow an epic quest to get Belinda back to Earth, with a mysterious force stopping the return of the time travellers. The BBC has promised new and wilder dangers than ever. And if that’s not enough, episode six will see none other than Rylan Clark guest starring as one of the hosts of a space-bound Eurovision.
Film: The Return
In cinemas from April 11
After 20 years away, the mythical Greek hero Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes, bare-topped, ripped and sinewy) returns from decades of war, landing on the shores of Ithaca a broken, haggard man. His wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is waiting for him, but a prisoner in her own home and hounded by suitors, all of whom want to take Odysseus’s place as king. This is a compelling retelling of the last parts of Homer’s Odyssey, a dramatic and emotional film from director Uberto Pasolini.
The big read: ‘I humbly beg your speedy answer’, edited by Mary Beth Norton
Subtitled Letters on Love and Marriage from the World’s First Personal Advice Column, this is the 17th century’s agony aunt. The Athenian Mercury advised one gentleman: “That fornication is damnable without repentance is believed by all but papists and atheists… You ought to flee the fair destroyer, though it were to the ends of the earth”. That’s telling ’em.
Listen: Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan Markle
Out now, lemonadamedia.com
Is Meghan Markle the hardest working woman in the world? Let’s not get carried away, but she has just launched a new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder. The Duchess of Sussex says of the series: “I’ve been having candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities, and scaled small ideas into massively successful businesses.” It follows her first $20 million podcast, Archetypes, on Spotify, which ran for a season but was not renewed.
Don’t miss: John Carey
Fortnum & Mason
This year marks half a decade since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a moment in history that changed the world. John Carey, one of London’s most celebrated photographers and one who is often used to shoot food, captured chefs during those dark days; their restaurants shut, their livelihoods in the balance. At Fortnum & Mason, Carey is to exhibit his series of portraits from his book, Chefs in Lockdown: When the Restaurant World Stood Still, for the first time. Until May 26
Book now: FA Cup Final
Wembley Stadium
Most of the ticket allocation to the FA Cup Final on May 17 will go to fans, notably those who are season ticket holders or members of their club. But this is the FA Cup, the most egalitarian trophy in the world’s most democratising sport, and so it is always worth trying if you fancy a grand day out to watch two teams battle it out for glory. This year, London side Crystal Palace could be in contention. They play Aston Villa at Wembley in the semi-final on April 26. May 17
