The 10 best things to do this week: Machynlleth festival, Arca and Mindhorn

Britain’s best standups hit the Welsh town, the Venezuelan producer plays London and Julian Barratt stars as a washed-up former TV cop

Books

From Cradle to Stage
Mum’s the word! Literally, actually, as Foo Fighter Dave Grohl’s mother, Virginia, has gone around the world to interview mothers about their famous offspring, from Pharrell Williams’s ma Carolyn to Amy Winehouse’s mummy Janis for a new book. It’s out on 25 April.
From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Hanlon Grohl is published by Coronet, £20

Streaming

City Girl
Actor Sarah Ramos recently discovered a romcom script she’d written as a 12-year-old – then decided to make it into a web series. The result is an emphatically weird – and very funny – take on 00s nostalgia.
Available now on YouTube

Festivals

Machynlleth comedy festival

Helmed by Henry Widdicombe (brother of Josh), this festival stuffs a small west Wales town with some of the country’s best comedians. Highlights include supremely silly sketch trio Daphne; masterly micro-observationalist James Acaster; the erudite Liam Williams; the equally erudite Sara Pascoe; and daddy of British indie comedy Stewart Lee.
At various venues, 28-30 April

Leeds international festival
A huge celebration of culture with art, music and more. Highlights include the Empowering Women with Tech conference, with the likes of Lauren Laverne and Susannah Lau discussing their digital endeavours; Live at Leeds with gigs from Slaves, Wild Beasts and more; plus a Museum of Youth Culture tracing yoof movements past and present.
At various venues, 22-30 April

V&A performance festival
As a possible antidote to a post-Brexit future Britain, the V&A’s latest festival aims to champion the relationship between British and continental European theatre. They’ll do that via a number of themed tours, workshops, talks, film screenings and performances, including a virtual reality version of the David Bowie-inspired stage musical Lazarus.
At the V&A, SW7, 21-30 April

Music

Feist
The poster girl for a certain breed of whimsical mid-00s indie is back, this time with a decidedly more brooding record. Pleasure – Leslie Feist’s fifth album – reflects on the happiness and satisfaction we are promised, and the disappointments life actually serves up. If that sounds a bit bleak, note that it’s also about how our perspective on the world – positive or negative – ultimately lies in our own hands.
Pleasure is released on 28 April on Polydor

Arca
Is that a clay sculpture or are you just pleased to see me? Venezuelan abstract electronic producer Arca has long been pushing boundaries with his fractured beats; now, with the encouragement of sometime collaborator Björk, he sings, too.
At Roundhouse, NW1, 28 April

Exhibitions

Cornelia Parker
The British sculptor’s installations Thirty Pieces of Silver – as the name suggests, shiny cutlery hung in groups from the ceiling – and Cold Matter: An Exploded View (like a shed that’s been blown apart, suspended in mid-blast) will probably be familiar to even the most casual of art fans. Her latest show at London’s Frith Street Gallery, however, explores the reactions to her work, namely the 2016 installation Transitional Object (PsychoBarn), in which she created the illusion of a traditional red barn on top of NYC’s Metropolitan Museum.
At Frith Street Gallery, W1, 28 April to 21 June

Theatre

How My Light Is Spent

Loneliness, longing and being left behind are at the centre of Alan Harris’s two-hander between Jimmy, a man in his 30s who lives with his mum, works in a doughnut drive-thru and starts to physically disappear, and Kitty, a sex-line operator. After winning a prize for playwriting, it gets its world premiere at Manchester’s Royal Exchange.
At Royal Exchange, Manchester, 24 April to 13 May

Film

Mindhorn
A has-been former TV cop who must return to the Isle of Man, where his series was shot, to negotiate with a killer and obsessed fan who thinks that the show’s titular character, Mindhorn, is real? Sure! Julian Barratt is wonderfully Partridgean as the leading man in this wacky film comedy, currently previewing.
Preview screenings with Q&A, 22 April to 5 May; in cinemas from 5 May

Contributor

The Guide

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
The 10 best things… to do this week
From Shura’s lush, assured pop to Maxine Peake talking Shakespeare: your at-a-glance guide to the next seven days in culture across the UK

The Guide

27, May, 2016 @12:00 PM

Article image
Whoopi Goldberg to Secret Cinema: top things to do in the UK this week
From the actor’s rarely seen character comedy to an immersive version of Moulin Rouge: your at-a-glance guide to the best in culture

The Guide

10, Feb, 2017 @9:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: Lovebox and Painting Pop
Frank Ocean tops the bill at the east London festival, while Abbot Hall in Cumbria celebrates Blake, Hockney, Boty and more

The Guide

07, Jul, 2017 @8:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things… to do this week
From Womad and The BFG to Billie Piper and Matt Smith treading the boards, it’s your cultural guide to the next seven days

22, Jul, 2016 @12:00 PM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: Love Supreme, Rotterdam and Okja
The jazz festival returns, Jon Brittain’s Olivier-winning play transfers to the Arts theatre and a porcine eco-fable lands on Netflix

The Guide

23, Jun, 2017 @8:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: The Great Escape and The Addams Family
Brighton’s new-music festival returns for the 12th year, while Les Dennis and Samantha Womack star in a musical take on the oddball aristocrats

The Guide

12, May, 2017 @8:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: Annie, Hay festival and Killology
Miranda Hart plays a spiteful orphanage owner, literature’s finest minds meet in Wales and the Royal Court parses out an apocalyptic future

The Guide

19, May, 2017 @8:00 AM

Article image
Bridget Christie and Drake: top things to do in the UK this week
From the super-sharp standup latest set to the hip-hop megastar’s mammoth tour: your at-a-glance guide to the best in culture

The Guide

03, Feb, 2017 @9:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: Against, Edinburgh book festival and Grizzly Bear
Ben Whishaw stars in a post-truth play at the Almeida in London, the Scottish literary event celebrates 70 years and the US rockers unveil a new album

The Guide

11, Aug, 2017 @8:00 AM

Article image
The 10 best things to do this week: Syd, Russell Brand and I Am Not Your Negro
The R&B up-and-comer performs with the Internet, the erstwhile king of British comedy reclaims his throne and radical writer James Baldwin is remembered

The Guide

07, Apr, 2017 @8:00 AM