Five of the best … films
The Laundromat (15)
(Steven Soderbergh, 2019, US) 95 mins
This is Soderbergh’s takedown of the Panama Papers scandal, showing how offshore money movers Mossack Fonseca (played by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas, explaining themselves directly to camera) enabled the ripping off of an entire generation. The main vessel is Meryl Streep’s widow as she chases her late husband’s insurance payout, from one shell company to another.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (PG)
(Joachim Rønning, 2019, US) 119 mins
Angelina Jolie is back in her role of the horned witch with a grudge against mere humanity. This sequel sees Aurora planning a wedding with Phillip, during which his nasty mum Ingrith is plotting to kill the fairy world. Maleficent ultimately swoops to the rescue – but not without some Disney life lessons.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (U)
(Will Becher, Richard Phelan, 2019, UK/Fr/US) 87 mins
The week’s other big kiddie-movie sequel: a second run-out for Aardman’s smart stop-motion sheep, who went from being a gag in A Close Shave to the star of his own series. Here the gang are visited by a cute rabbit-like alien, triggering dormant theme-park impresario instincts in the farmer (with rubbish theme park “Farmageddon”) as well as a cohort of government nasties trying to get their hands on the ET.
Official Secrets (15)
(Gavin Hood, 2019, UK/US) 112 mins
Whistleblower drama starring Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun, the GCHQ translator whose leak of classified info in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq caused a diplomatic storm after it was published by the Observer. The film follows Gun’s discovery of unsettling emails, through to top-level arguments at the newspaper and Gun’s prosecution by an angry establishment.
Singin’ in the Rain (U)
(Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952, US) 103 mins
The evergreen Hollywood musical gets a re-release as part of the BFI’s Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen season. Gene Kelly gives it his considerable all in the lead role, of a film star struggling to save his career after the studio decides to turn his new film into a sound musical.
AP
Five of the best … rock & pop
Cher
Arriving mane-first for eight UK and Ireland arena dates, it has been reported that the post-Mamma Mia Cher has installed an Abba medley at the heart of this non-stop hits-packed show. In case such a spectacle isn’t camp enough for you, her 60s tunes, disco-pop revival and a song from Burlesque all get a look in, too. Fabulous doesn’t cover it.
O2 Arena, SE10, Sunday 20 & Monday 21; Manchester Arena, Thursday 24 October; touring to 3 November
Squid
You couldn’t move through a festival this year without stumbling across pale lads talking over jittery post-punk, and Squid were among the best at it. With trumpets, lashings of cowbell and a yelping drummer, the quintet inject screwball Devo energy into LCD-style dance-punk rants.
Birmingham & Bristol, Saturday 19; Cardiff, Sunday 20; Liverpool, Monday 21; Manchester, Tuesday 22; Sheffield, Wednesday 23; Margate, Thursday 24; touring to 27 October
Summer Walker
This Drake-approved Atlantan trades in jazzy top lines meandering nicely over hazy R&B. Her involving debut album Over It could score sultry late-night escapades, until you realise it is full of the dramas that you left your last partner over. If you want more of the same but with a UK flavour, check out Miraa May’s three London dates.
Electric Brixton, SW2, Sunday 20 & Monday 21; Troxy, E1, Tuesday 22 October
Sunn O)))
Sunn O)))’s guitar chords are one of the most powerful sounds in rock: a track might typically have only about 12, but each one feels like something you can climb inside and examine from all angles. Recent album Life Metal – soon to be joined by new one Pyroclasts – sees the hooded doom squad positively clicking their heels in joy; raise a hand in their trademark claw formation and clamber through the noise.
SWX, Bristol, Thursday 24; Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow, Friday 25; touring to 28 October
BBT
Maria Chiara Argirò
Rising Italian composer and keys-playing original Maria Chiara Argirò and her cinematically evocative band blend electronics, jazz, folk and classical. Argirò will unveil the enticingly spacious soundscapes of her new Hidden Seas album, including French vocalist Leïla Martial’s remarkable palette of influences from Björk to Bobby McFerrin, and western and non-western sounds.
Nottingham, Wednesday 23; Leeds & Newcastle upon Tyne, Friday 25 October; touring to 2 November
JF
Three of the best … classical concerts
Britten and Russia
Benjamin Britten’s friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich lasted from 1960 until the Russian’s death in 1975. Their common denominator was the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom both wrote works, and those pieces provide the backbone to this weekend devoted to Britten’s relationship with Russia. Alban Gerhardt plays Britten’s Cello Suites and his Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, and the weekend will end with a recreation of the 1960 London concert at which the composers first met.
Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 October
Reich/Richter
For Steve Reich’s latest score he has worked with the German painter Gerhard Richter, who has produced digital images derived from his painting 946-3, to which Reich has composed music. Colin Currie conducts the Britten Sinfonia, and precedes Reich/Richter with Reich’s 2016 ensemble piece Runner.
Barbican Hall, EC2, Wednesday 23; Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Thursday 24 October
Wexford festival opera
There are plenty of operas from the last 100 years that need to be revived just as badly as Wexford’s usual 18th- and 19th-century pieces. But this year does include one contemporary work, La Cucina by Andrew Synnott, in a double bill with Rossini’s Adina; Massenet’s Don Quichotte also features.
National Opera House, Wexford, Tuesday 22 October to 2 November
AC
Five of the best … exhibitions
Bridget Riley
This joyous retrospective of a great British artist is a blast of energy and light. Riley’s early experiments in the style of Seurat fill your eyes with colour, then her black-and-white 1960s abstractions take your mind for a spin. The rush continues on an optical magic carpet right up to her current works. Hallucinogenic.
Hayward Gallery, SE1, Wednesday 23 October to 26 January
Elizabeth Price
The work that won video artist Price the 2012 Turner prize, The Woolworths Choir of 1979, tells the story of a lethal fire in a Manchester Woolworths store 40 years ago that killed 10 people. Here it gets its first showing in the city. Price’s film remembers the events with atmospheric, dread-laden sound and images.
The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, Friday 25 October to 1 March
George Stubbs
This excellent survey of one of Britain’s strangest and greatest artists brings together his anatomical drawings with his animal paintings. Stubbs got a training in human anatomy before he dissected horses in the most detailed study of their bodies ever performed. Those powerful, pioneering scientific images are shown here alongside paintings including a portrait of a rhino.
MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, to 26 January
Albert Oehlen
The mug and mire of modern life hangs like a veil of rain over this German painter’s ambiguous canvases. Forms and words appear only to get lost in the urban mist. Oehlen has a reputation as a rebel and was friends with the heroically subversive Martin Kippenberger. He has also dabbled in electronic music – maybe you should listen to Kraftwerk while sampling his art. For all these countercultural associations his work is very painterly.
Serpentine Gallery, W2, to 2 February
Magnum Manifesto
The Magnum agency, founded by photographers themselves in 1947, has an unrivalled name for reportage. This survey amounts to a visual history of modern times, featuring some of the defining shots of our world by photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Olivia Arthur and Robert Capa with the courage, instinct and luck to freeze history.
Compton Verney, nr Warwick, to 15 December
JJ
Five of the best … theatre shows
The Antipodes
Annie Baker’s plays are strange and mesmerising – and often end up slowly transforming into an almost mystical experience. Baker’s latest work, which she also directs alongside Chloe Lamford, follows on from acclaimed National Theatre runs of The Flick and John and is about a group of people who sit around telling stories. It sounds simple, but will be anything but.
National Theatre: Dorfman, SE1, Monday 21 October to 23 November
Baby Reindeer
Richard Gadd’s Edinburgh hit transfers to London. The comic’s debut play, it is a chilling and deeply personal work about Gadd’s experience with a stalker. Baby Reindeer features real-life voicemails and messages from Gadd’s stalker and is an unflinching and deeply unsettling piece of theatre. Jon Brittain, himself a writer of great merit, directs.
Bush Theatre, W12, to 9 November
Hedda Gabler
Another month, another Hedda Gabler. No prizes for guessing why Ibsen’s play about an oppressed wife and mother is hitting a nerve right now. This production will use Brian Friel’s typically brilliant adaptation. Chelsea Walker will direct a talented trio of Welsh actors, with Marc Antolin as George Tesman and Richard Mylan as Judge Brack. Heledd Gwynn plays Hedda and she’s frankly terrifying – and that’s just in the trailer.
Sherman Cymru, Cardiff, to 2 November
Mold Riots
The miners of Mold stand trial for attacking their manager after their wages are lowered. A crowd gather to hear the verdict: will justice prevail? One hundred and fifty years after riots that tore apart a local community, the streets of Mold will be shut down for an epic piece of promenade theatre. Katie Posner will direct a roaming cast of 100, including a few professional actors, a heap of community volunteers and 30 children.
Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Monday 21 to 26 October
Little Baby Jesus
Arinzé Kene recently starred in Marianne Elliot’s phenomenal revival of Death of a Salesman, but he is also a playwright of real energy and passion. Kene’s breakthrough drama was Misty, an electrifying one-man show that ran to rave reviews. Little Baby Jesus is one of Kene’s earlier works and is a trio of interlocking monologues about the lives of three inner-city teenagers. The show will be directed by JMK winner Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.
Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, to 16 November
MG
Three of the best … dance shows
Scottish Dance Theatre
Featuring wearable art sculptures and a score from Squarepusher, The Circle – by Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat – is different every time it’s performed, as the 12 dancers make real-time decisions on stage. Extra treats in Dundee and London see The Circle as half of a double bill with Sharon Eyal’s Process Day.
Dundee Rep, Saturday 19; The Place, WC1, Tuesday 22; Tramway, Glasgow, Friday 25 & 26 October; touring to 5 November
Some Like It Hip Hop
A hit for choreographer Kate Prince and ZooNation back in 2011, this feelgood dance musical returns with its upbeat energy, zany comedy and hip-hop highjinks. Expect fantastic dancing, catchy soul and R&B songs and a convoluted but enjoyable plot.
Birmingham Hippodrome, Saturday 19; Peacock Theatre, WC2, Wednesday 23 October to 9 November
Rambert2
When it launched last year, Rambert’s junior company blew everyone’s socks off with its edgy work and youthful energy. Now a new cohort of dancers tackle works by Jermaine Spivey, Andrea Miller, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet.
NST City Southampton, Thursday 24 & Friday 25 October; touring to 30 January
LW
