From The Beast to The Acolyte: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment
Going out: Cinema
The Beast
Out now
Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Colour) and George MacKay (Femme) star as the couple at the heart of this arthouse sci-fi epic, loosely based on Henry James’s 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle and spanning three time periods, from director Bertrand Bonello (House of Tolerance).
Young Woman and the Sea
Out now
In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the 21 miles from England to France. Now, nearly 100 years later, director Joachim Rønning is bringing her story to the big screen, with Daisy Ridley as the Olympic gold medallist who conquered the Channel.
My National Gallery, London
Out 4 June
This doc has assembled a glittering grab bag of celebs, from Claudia Winkleman to Michael Palin, via Jacqueline Wilson and Princess Eugenie, to each share a favourite art work in the National Gallery, talking about what their chosen piece means to them.
Sting
Out now
When lonely 12-year-old New Yorker Charlotte decides to nurture a spider that emerges from an egg that falls from the sky, it’s all fun and games – until it isn’t. Fans of Little Shop of Horrors might be able to guess the rough trajectory of subsequent events – Charlotte’s Web this isn’t. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Alina Bzhezhinska & Tony Kofi
Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham, 6 June
Harpists are rare in jazz, but one of the most revered was Alice Coltrane, wife of jazz revolutionary John. Polish-Ukrainian harp virtuoso Alina Bzhezhinska and Coltrane-esque saxophonist Tony Kofi recreate the couple’s magic. John Fordham
Blond Eckbert
Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, 7 June
Judith Weir is a featured composer at this summer’s Aldeburgh festival, which opens with a new production of her third full-length opera, first seen at English National Opera in 1994, and based on a short story by 18th-century German writer Ludwig Tieck. Robin Norton-Hale directs for English Touring Opera, with Simon Wallfisch as Eckbert and Flora McIntosh as his wife Berthe. Andrew Clements
LA Priest
1 to 8 June; tour starts Salford
Having recorded 2023’s Fase Luna in a South American jungle, former Late of the Pier frontman Sam Eastgate decamped to his shed in Wales to create last month’s EP, the psych-pop opus La Fusion. Both will be given an airing during this week-long tour that includes no jungles or sheds. Michael Cragg
Liam Gallagher
1 to 28 June; tour starts Sheffield
The Little James hitmaker returns to UK arenas to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Oasis’s debut album Definitely Maybe. The next best thing to a reunion will be to see Liam growl through the record in full, plus some B-sides, to honour “the most important album of the 90s bar none”. MC
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Going out: Art
Johnny Vegas and Emma Rodgers
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, to 31 March
Liverpool sculptor Rodgers, whose public commissions include the city’s statue of Cilla Black and a giant Liver Bird, collaborates with comedian and potter Vegas in a show that entwines their preoccupations. Both are fascinated by the symbolism of flight, and their work is built around the myth of doomed birdman Icarus.
John Lyons
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, to 25 August
Strange beings abound in the paintings of this Caribbean British artist and poet whose art and writing illuminate the folk tales of Trinidad. Expressive brushwork and magic realist colours enflame his fantastical scenes yet he has a toughness that prevents them drifting off into whimsy. There are shades of Max Beckmann.
Vanessa Bell
The Courtauld, London, to 6 October
The Bloomsbury artist, sister of Virginia Woolf, gets an intimate focus amid the art that inspired her. Bell and friends were among the first people in Britain to appreciate the vision of Cézanne, in whose paintings the Courtauld specialises. Her portraits and still lifes are sensitive responses to French modernism.
Reverb
180 Studios, London to 28 September
Whatever your taste in music or art, you are likely to find something that suits in this echoing subterranean wonderland. It’s a retrospective of London sound art instigators The Vinyl Factory, with a new installation by Theaster Gates, artworks by Caterina Barbieri, Jeremy Deller and more, plus 100 vinyl pressings by artists from Nan Goldin to Fred Again. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
A Lovely Weekend
Fairfield Social Club, Manchester, to 9 June
This three-day comedy fest looks especially enticing thanks to a carefully curated lineup of great newcomers (Kyrah Gray, Paddy Young) and the more established likes of Amy Gledhill and Olga Koch. Rachel Aroesti
A Hunger Artist
Old Fire Station, Oxford, 4 & 5 June
Choreographer Arthur Pita and ex-Royal Ballet principal Edward Watson are reunited following The Metamorphosis for another Kafka adaptation – this time his final book about an artist who locks himself in a cage and starves himself as a public spectacle. Lyndsey Winship
A Child of Science
Bristol Old Vic, 5 June to 6 July
Tom Felton stars in this new production about the pioneers behind IVF. Bruntwood prize winner Gareth Farr’s play explores the true story behind the way Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy changed the world – and the many obstacles they had to overcome. Kate Wyver
Wedding Band: A Love Hate Story in Black and White
Lyric Hammersmith, London, to 29 June
Alice Childress’s 1966 play sees a Black seamstress fall in love with a white baker in South Carolina during the first world war. This revival is courtesy of Monique Touko, after the success of her production of School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play. KW
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Staying in: Streaming
Queenie
Channel 4, 4 June, 10pm
Candice Carty-Williams’s hit novel was marketed as a “Black Bridget Jones”, but its tale of a Londoner’s quarter-life crisis turned out knottier and more political than the 90s heroine’s wry confessionals. Now it’s finally coming to the small screen in an adaptation starring newcomer Dionne Brown, with Jon Pointing, Sally Phillips and Laura Whitmore in supporting roles.
Lost Boys & Fairies
BBC One & iPlayer, 3 June, 9pm
Playwright Daf James converts his experience of adopting three children as one half of a gay couple into sincerely felt, life-affirming fiction. Lost Boys & Fairies follows drag queen Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young) and his husband, Andy (Hawkeye’s Fra Fee) as they struggle through the adoption process while reckoning with their own childhoods.
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
Disney+, 7 June
Fashion designer dramas are very much in: 2024 has already brought us shows about Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior (The New Look); now it’s time for the origin story of the famously exacting Chanel boss. Starring Daniel Brühl, this French series charts Lagerfeld’s early career as he furiously chased success in 1970s Paris.
The Acolyte
Disney+, 4 June
Yes, it’s yet another Star Wars spin-off – but this new series set 100 years before The Phantom Menace has some novel twists. Helmed by Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland who pitched it as “Frozen meets Kill Bill”, it recruits Amandla Stenberg and South Korean star Lee Jung-jae for a mystery-thriller with a martial arts influence. RA
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Staying in: Games
Star Wars: Hunters
iPhone, Android, Nintendo Switch, June 4
This long-delayed mobile game pits squadrons of 4 players against each other in arena battles - think Star Wars, but it’s Overwatch. Characters include Wookiees, aliens, stormtroopers, bounty hunters and, of course, (robot) Jedis/
F1 24
All platforms; out now
Every year, Codemasters comes out with a ludicrously detailed tribute to the year’s F1 season that lets you get as nerdy as you like with the endlessly configurable cars, or simply take one for a spin around Monaco with all the assists turned on. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Richard Hawley – In This City They Call You Love
Out now
As Standing at the Sky’s Edge, the musical featuring new and existing songs by Hawley, continues its award-winning West End run, the Sheffield singer-songwriter returns with his 10th album. The singles Heavy Rain and Prism in Jeans showcase his skill for richly melodic vignettes that conjure up vivid imagery.
Bat for Lashes – The Dream of Delphi
Out now
Inspired by the birth of her daughter Delphi during the pandemic, Natasha Khan’s sixth album as Bat for Lashes was trailed by the ethereal title track, a Björk-esque merging of bubbling electronics, harp and Khan’s featherlight vocal, while Home is a typically gorgeous slice of tactile pop.
Ayra Starr – The Year I Turned 21
Out now
The follow-up to 2021’s debut 19 & Dangerous finds the Nigerian Afrobeats superstar getting in early for the summer soundtrack crown. The excellent Commas is perfect for a pensive sunset moment, while Bad Vibes picks up the tempo slightly without breaking a sweat.
Becky Hill – Believe Me Now?
Out now
Becky Hill has firmly established herself as the go-to voice of UK dance, with consecutive Brit awards for best dance act to prove it. On this more expressive second album, she expands that template ever so slightly, collaborating with Self Esteem on opener True Colours. MC
Staying in: Brain food
Broomgate: A Curling Scandal
Podcast
Curling may not seem like the most probable topic for an international scandal but this riveting series from comic John Cullen tells the story of how a new all-powerful broom almost destroyed the winter sport.
Is the Downfall of Celebrity Idolisation Upon Us?
Online
Khadija Mbowe’s video essay on the growing TikTok trend of young people turning away from the celebrity attention economy is a fascinating insight into modern digital culture and the possible death of influencer power.
Trending: Love and Deception in the Age of AI
BBC World Service, 2 June, 11.30am
This intriguing programme tracks down the Russian man who claimed to use ChatGPT to talk to thousands of women online and ultimately find his fiancee. In the process, we examine technology’s possible role in romance. Ammar Kalia
