Five of the best ... films
1 Battle of the Sexes (12A)
(Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, 2017, US) 122 mins
Perfect timing for a re-enactment of a key equality showdown. The event is the tennis match between women’s champ Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and self-proclaimed “chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). By sketching King’s blossoming lesbian, feminist identity and the sexual politics of the era, this retro comedy underlines what was at stake.
2 The Florida Project (15)
(Sean Baker, 2017, US) 115 mins
A vibrant take on US poverty, seen through the eyes of a lovably mouthy kid (Brooklynn Prince) and her considerably less carefree single mother (Bria Vinaite), residents of a garish motel just outside Disney World. It’s both authentic and cinematic.
3 Jane (PG)
(Brett Morgen, 2017, US) 90 mins
Jane Goodall is a name greeted with the reverence of Darwin or Attenborough, so great has been her contribution to our notions of humanity, animal intelligence and scientific method. Having started out a curious, unqualified woman, whose observations of chimpanzee behaviour were dismissed by the (male) establishment, her story needs little embellishment. This doc shares in her wonder at nature, with interviews, archive footage and a stirring Philip Glass score.
4 Paddington 2 (PG)
(Paul King, 2017, UK/Fra) 102 mins
Good-natured family film, which retains all the charm, invention and gentle insistence on the virtues of civility that made the first movie a hit. Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson are new to the mix, as Paddington’s mission to buy a book for Aunt Lucy develops into a carnivalesque crime caper.
5 Manifesto (15)
(Julian Rosefeldt, 2015, Ger) 101 mins
Surely the artiest art film ever: Cate Blanchett plays 13 characters – including newsreader, tramp and choreographer – in a series of tableaux whose dialogue consists entirely of extracts from artists’ manifestos. The result is somewhere between surreal sketch show and gallery installation but crisply executed and educational, too.
SR
Five of the best ... pop and rock gigs
1 Gwenno
Following a tradition that stretches from Super Furry Animals to Cate Le Bon, Gwenno Saunders’s psychedelic, Welsh-language synthpop is both hazy and highly textured. She releases a second solo record, performed entirely in Cornish, next spring; see her debut her new material on this Welsh stop-off, before she hops across the border to Falmouth.
Redhouse, Merthyr Tidfil, 1 December; touring to 2 December
2 Jane Weaver
Another artist ploughing her psych-filled furrow is former Britpopper Jane Weaver, who folds krautrock and 80s synths into her sound. Recent album Modern Kosmology garnered universally excellent reviews for its cosmic vibes and increased polish.
Bath, 28 November; Birmingham, 29 November; Manchester, 30 November; touring to 12 December
3 Gorillaz
Having brought big names – from Ray BLK to Kelela to Mavis Staples – out for Humanz, their first record in six years, expect some top-drawer guests (both real and holographic), as well as typically impressive visuals.
Brighton, 27 November; Glasgow, 29 November; Manchester, 1 December; touring to 5 December
4 Songhoy Blues
From a Damon Albarn project to a Damon Albarn favourite, and a Malian desert blues outfit who have a knack for mixing old sounds with new tics. Songhoy Blues have collaborated with everyone from London grime MC Elf Kid to Iggy Pop, and this tour follows triumphant second album Résistance, released in June.
Dublin, 25 November; Brighton, 27 November; Leeds, 28 November; Manchester, 29 November; Bristol, 1 December; touring to 3 December
5 Queen + Adam Lambert
One of the world’s biggest bands and a former American Idol runner-up might sound like an odd pairing, but Adam Lambert has long proved his suitability as Queen’s honorary frontman. Now in his eighth year with the band, he continues to compliment May and Taylor’s unparalleled stadium rock chops.
Dublin, 25 November; Belfast, 26 November; Liverpool, 28 November; Birmingham, 30 November; Newcastle upon Tyne, 1 December; touring to 16 December
HDJ
Four of the best ... classical concerts
1 Nature Symphony
Premiered by the BBC Philharmonic under Ludovic Morlot, Arlene Sierra’s Nature Symphony is, she says, the biggest work yet to arise from her fascination with the natural world. Its three movements have differing inspirations: a mountain that’s the winter home of migratory butterflies; a Georgia O’Keeffe landscape; and how a colony of bees can sometimes rebel and destroy their own hive.
The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 25 November
2 Falstaff
Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic have established a close relationship with the European Opera Centre and its annual crop of aspiring young talent. Their latest project together is a concert staging of Verdi’s final opera. Bryn Terfel heads the cast, with other roles taken by EOC singers.
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 26 November
3 Total Liszt
Antonio Pappano’s latest appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra is devoted to a single composer. His all-Liszt programme begins with Salvatore Sciarrino’s orchestral transcription of Sposalizio from the Années des Pèlerinage and ends with A Faust Symphony. In between comes Totentanz, in which the dazzling Alice Sara Ott is the piano soloist.
Barbican Hall, EC2, 26 November
4 Anders Hillborg premiere
As well as continuing his Sibelius cycle with the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies, Sakari Oramo’s latest BBC Symphony Orchestra concert also includes the first UK performance of a work he introduced in Stockholm a year ago. Anders Hillborg’s Second Violin Concerto was composed for Lisa Batiashvili, who’s the soloist here, too.
Barbican Hall, EC2, 29 November
AC
Five of the best ... exhibitions
1 Rose Wylie
The deliriously slapdash paintings of Rose Wylie are what you might expect from a cool young artist with no respect for the rules. In fact, this veteran maverick is 83. She overturns any assumption that artists settle into respectability with age. This, of course, is why she has a show at the Serpentine and – who knows? – could soon be nominated for the Turner prize: her art crosses the generations in its dadaist mayhem and subversive spirit.
Serpentine Sackler Gallery, W2, 30 November to 11 February
2 Venom: Killer and Cure
This encounter with the horrific side of nature out-Hirsts the art world with sensational science. Scary specimens stare out of jars as texts and recordings explain the strange ways in which they use venom to sting, paralyse or kill. The krait, an Asian snake that bites people as they sleep, is one of the most frightening, but even in Britain the weever fish can give you a nasty prang. Another terrific show from a museum getting ever bolder in depicting the natural world.
Natural History Museum, SW7, to 13 May
3 Brice Marden
The tradition of US abstract art that goes back to Pollock and Rothko has a worthy torch-carrier in Marden. His art has echoes of mysticism and Chinese painting that complicate its romantic Americanness. Most of all, he makes you feel cleansed, renewed. In these new works, he explores the power of a vivid pigment, “green earth”, that Renaissance artists used to imitate the look of bronze. For Marden, it is a way of connecting with the earth itself.
Gagosian Gallery, Grosvenor Hill, W1, to 22 December
4 Where History Begins
Archaeology meets art in this exhibition that juxtaposes objects casting light on Derry’s past, from the Neolithic age to the turbulent 17th century, with works of art that question history and the way institutions tell it. Duncan Campbell’s film It For Others takes apart western attitudes to so-called “primitive” art. Ali Cherri explores cultural loss in the Middle East; Christodoulos Panayiotou documents the trade in archaeological fakes; and Kader Attia meditates on the “phantom limbs” of colonial memory.
Void, Derry, to 16 December
5 Hannah Ryggen
Long before Grayson Perry, this Norwegian (1894-1970) portrayed politics and history in tapestries. She lived in troubled times and her tapestries tell of terrible events. Ethiopia (1935) protests against the country’s invasion by Mussolini; 6th October 1942 deals with the Nazi occupation of Norway. There is a simplicity and rawness to this passionate artist.
Modern Art Oxford, to 18 February
JJ
Five of the best ... theatre shows
1 The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales
Emma Rice is one of the great theatrical storytellers of our times and she is in terrific form with these sly retellings of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales, adapted with Joel Horwood. Removing the icing sugar from the stories and giving them a dark veneer, this is an evening that’s also joyful as it mixes puppetry, music and clowning. An enchanting snuggle-down winter treat that offers slanted takes on familiar stories including The Emperor’s New Clothes, set in the fashion industry, and a Thumbelina who is a child refugee.
Bristol Old Vic, 30 November to 14 January
2 Beauty and the Beast
The one-way Christmas traffic between Cambridge Junction and Bristol’s Tobacco Factory has been fruitful and here’s another little gem: New International Encounter’s retelling of the 18th-century French tale. It’s a lovely little show, full of pared-back theatrical invention, which has a sharp comic edge, but also deeper thoughts about what we value and different kinds of beastliness.
Tobacco Factory: Factory theatre, Bristol, 30 November to 14 January
3 La Soirée
Back in the West End for the festive season, La Soirée offers the ultimate adult entertainment for those who can’t abide a panto and want something more sophisticated. Its roots lie in the variety acts of the 19th-century music hall, but it is overlaid with a slick, saucy showmanship that is very 21st-century. New this year is La Petite Soirée, an afternoon show for youngsters with all the skill but none of the sauce.
Aldwych theatre, WC2, to 3 February
4 Real Magic
Forced Entertainment is the experimental theatre company that just keeps on giving and giving. The idea here is very simple – a gameshow in which it is impossible to ever get the right answer – and the execution is sublime. Oh, and there are people in chicken suits, canned laughter and blindfolds, and round after round of perky failure. It’s almost purgatorial to watch but it’s also hilarious and tragic as the contestants never learn from experience and kid themselves that they may yet guess the right answer.
HOME, Manchester, 29 November to 1 December
5 Barber Shop Chronicles
Hairdressers and barber shops are places of confidences. This is the case in Inua Ellams’s joyous show set in six different barbers’ across the globe on a single day. It’s a razor-sharp portrait of African masculinity, fatherhood, diaspora and colonial legacy. A cut above in every way, and such fun.
National Theatre: Dorfman, SE1, to 9 January
LG
Three of the best ... dance shows
1 Vincent Dance Theatre: Shut Down
The “brother work” to Virgin Territory, this piece follows the experiences of different men – “bro”, hipster, nerd, absent father – to ask what the role models are for young men.
The Place, WC1, 28-29 November
2 Royal Ballet: Sylvia
Frederick Ashton’s setting of the shimmering Delibes score may be lumbered with a foolish narrative but it features one of the sparkiest, most engaging ballerina roles in the repertory, danced for the first time this season by Natalia Osipova.
Royal Opera House, WC2, to 16 December
3 Joan Clevillé Dance: The North
Last date for Clevillé’s surreal evocation of the poetry and strangeness of the far north.
Lyth Arts Centre, Wick, 26 November
JM
