TV
Power Monkeys
Last year, C4 debuted Ballot Monkeys, an election sitcom that pulled off the high-wire act of writing scenes on the day of airing for maximum topicality. With the EU referendum looming, here comes a spinoff satirising both the pro- and anti-EU camps. It may struggle to top the farcical heights of the real campaigns, but the presence of Jack Dee and Amelia Bullmore should make it worth watching.
Music
This three-day rock fest’s bill is an embarassment of riches if you favour music of the heavy variety. Notable mentions go to post-hardcore yelpers Glassjaw, the new princes of pop-punk Neck Deep, horror-rap duo H09909, Japanese idol outfit Babymetal, psych-doom band Electric Wizard – and that’s before you get to the headliners, a mighty assemblage of metal: Rammstein, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. There are a few lesser curveballs – who knew InMe were still going? – but overall, Donington Park is set to slay.
Fri to 12 Jun
Film
The Nice Guys
This film made last week’s Guide cover, but this week you can go and see it in the cinemas so we thought it worth a spot here. Yes there may be enough testosterone to power a family sedan, but there’s also wit, plot twists and atmosphere. Not only can you suspend disbelief but enjoy something unusual in 2016, an entertaining story told on its own terms, and not just to flog a toy.
Theatre
This production by experimental Irish company ANU, led by Louise Lowe, explores the IRA’s 1996 bomb attack on Manchester’s city centre. That the same city will host the mixed-media performance in its new arts hub Home is an effective symbol of how it responded to the tragedy.
TV
Lady Dynamite
Maria Bamford’s Netflix sitcom mines the stand-up’s wonderfully all-over-the-shop comedic style, touching on mental health, race and even claymation odes to semen. There’s nothing else like it on TV at the moment.
Music
The arts festival that’s defined by a rotating curator returns to London. This year’s luminary is Guy Garvey and his choices are refreshing. Laura Marling and re-formed cult rockers Lift To Experience headline the music side, but there’s as much in the way of dance, circus and literary acts, all with an emphasis on participation.
Fri to 19 Jun
Film
Now surely the pre-eminent film festival of its kind, Sheffield celebrates its 23rd edition, and first for new director Elizabeth McIntyre, with a bevy of big names. Michael Moore opens the six-day event with his Where To Invade Next, there’s a Q&A with the director of Snow Monkey, and it ends with Tilda Swinton, who’s directed a study of the life of art critic John Berger. In between, Louis Theroux and DA Pennebaker make an appearance, and there’s a special live, David Bowie-themed edition of Adam Buxton’s Bug.
Exhibitions
AKA, A Salon de Refuses, this exhibition shows works that weren’t selected for at the RA’s summer exhibition. That’s not all the works, by the way, as there are hundreds of submissions, but organisers do at least pledge a prompt rejection to anyone unlucky enough to be dismissed twice.
Llewellyn Alexander Gallery, SE1, Tue to 20 Aug
Talks
First it was feminism, now it’s mental health: the latest extremely welcome trend in first-person journalism has seen commentators drag the taboo topic blinking into the light. This week, the Telegraph’s Bryony Gordon will publish her memoir Mad Girl, and to celebrate will be in conversation with a panel that includes writer Eleanor Morgan, who talks about anxiety with rare candour and impressive clarity.
Exhibitions
Sometimes, surrealism can be the very worst. Stick a shrimp in a swimsuit (or maybe a crab basque) and you’re there. But the new exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art will be testimony to the enduring impact of the school that emerged from Dadaism in the 1920s. Works from Magritte and Dalí (including his Mae West Lips sofa) will be front and centre, and perhaps dreams and reality will merge, too.
