Must-see: Giant
Harold Pinter Theatre. Until August 2
John Lithgow won an Olivier for his extraordinary performance as Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt’s debut play. After searing popularity at the Royal Court, there’s an opportunity to see it for anyone who missed out.
Set across a single afternoon at Dahl’s home, it is the summer of 1983 and he is making the final edits to The Witches. But there’s a public outcry plaguing him in the wake of an anti-Semitic article he had written weeks before and the author must decide whether to make a public apology.
Art fix: Tender Machines
Museum of Water & Steam. Until October 31
The London Museum of Water & Steam might not sound a thrill, but is an underappreciated gem, home to huge Victorian steam pumps that once kept the city’s water clean. This atmospheric new exhibition comes from its first artist-in-residence, Dr Jasmine Pradissitto, who has filled the space with huge installations, sculptures and paintings, exploring humanity’s relationship with nature and technology.
Hot table: Tatar Bunar
Shoreditch. @tatarbunar.london
Ukrainian restaurants are opening apace in London and the latest is Tatar Bunar in Shoreditch. It’s the work of restaurateurs Alex Cooper and Anna Andriienko, who are focusing on the country’s traditional cuisine, its heritage and people. The menu is inspired by Cooper’s mother, whose decades-old, classic family cooking has been reimagined. Dishes include varenyky (dumplings), beef with pickled tomato sauce, braised cabbage and smoked sour cream, and skewers of rabbit, cod and lamb. And borscht, of course.
Screen gems
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Disney+. Out now
In July 2005, Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was fatally shot in Stockwell tube station by a group of armed police who thought he was a terrorist. He was not. Now, the whole tragic story has been brought to life as a docudrama by Disney+ — and given that series creator Jeff Pope has said in advance that the Met won’t be happy with the show, we’re not expecting it to pull punches.
Cine International Film Festival
Soho. May 7-10
“Cinema is about raising hell,” says co-founder of the Cine International Film Festival, Ben Charles Edwards, which sets the tone nicely for this new addition to the London film scene. CIFF takes place at the Karma Sanctum Soho hotel, coming on like a punk Cannes with premieres, shorts and masterclasses. Rub shoulders with jurors Asia Argento, Sadie Frost and Roger Daltrey, and come away with inspiration to make your own La Haine (set in East Dulwich).
The big read: The Odyssey - translated by Daniel Mendelsohn
If you plan to see The Return, the excellent film of Homer’s Odyssey with Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche, you may want to prepare by reading the original. Luckily, there’s this excellent new translation written in Homer’s original metre. It’s in competition with Emily Wilson’s 2017 version. Stand by for a Trojan war of the translators.
Listen: Sable, Fable by Bon Iver
Out now
The musician Justin Vernon, best known as the frontman behind indie folk band Bon Iver, says his latest record emerged from “a long-gestating breakdown”. Each song is inspired by Vernon’s struggles with deep anxiety, how he dealt with pressure and thoughts that he might stop recording altogether. In Sable, the artist says he “unpacks years of built-up darkness just as the lockdown began”. The result is a melodic, deep album.
Don’t miss: Charles Pan-Fried Chicken
South Bank. May 2-25
Charles Pan-Fried Chicken is a New York institution, serving true Southern cooking in Harlem since the 1980s. For the first time, it’s coming to London, as founder Charles Gabriel collaborates with Truffle Burger for a residency on the South Bank. Gabriel is known for frying in a skillet rather than in deep fryers, a technique some chefs favour because the chicken is turned, watched over — it is instinctive rather than slapdash and, done properly, leaves the exterior perfectly crisp, the meat juicy and flavourful.
Book now: 101 Dalmatians
Hit musical 101 Dalmatians is coming this summer, bringing impressive choreography, puppetry and music best sung along to. The adaptation is true to the original story — telling the tale of Pongo, Perdita and their puppies as they try to escape the wicked clutches of Cruella de Vil — but runs with it, dramatising a story of courage and adventure with every theatrical trick in the book.
