From a rap school in Morocco to a TikTok tutorial: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment

Cinema

Casablanca Beats

Out now

A community leader, Anas (Moroccan actor and rapper Anas Basbousi) arrives at an arts centre in a difficult neighbourhood, where his attitude alienates his colleagues but endears him to his pupils, who appreciate the chance to express themselves in a conservative society. Acclaimed drama from director Nabil Ayouch.

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

Out now

A teenager’s bedroom may not be the most original setting for a horror, but the hook here is that much of the action is playing out online, in a coming-of-ager with a twist. Anna Cobb (above) stars as Casey, a teen about to take the World’s Fair Challenge, “the internet’s scariest” role-playing game.

The Velvet Queen: Snow Leopard

Out now

This documentary sees novelist Sylvain Tesson join forces with wildlife photographer Vincent Munier on an adventure in the mountainous valleys of Tibet, hoping to track down one of the world’s most elusive and beautiful animals: the snow leopard. With a new score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

Out now

There’s more to be wrung from one’s cash cow, or so the producers of this second big-screen outing for the drama will be hoping. In the grand tradition of filmed versions of British TV properties, the Crawley family go abroad, to a villa in the south of France – and, as a sign of encroaching modernity, a film crew descends on the house. Catherine Bray

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Gigs

Facebook Twitter Denzel Curry. Photograph: Jason Mendez/Getty

Denzel Curry

Olympia, Dublin, 1 May; Manchester Academy, 2 May; O2 Academy Brixton, London, 4 May

Released this March, Curry’s fifth and best album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, saw the south Florida rapper (above) retool his sound, trading intensity for introspection. Perfect for some emotional wallowing, but expect the big live moment to be the gonzo Ricky, the highlight from 2019’s excellent ZUU.

Rebecca Black

6 to 13 May; tour starts London

Over a decade since she became an internet laughing stock via 2011’s viral “hit” Friday, Black has been reappraised via choice collaborations with hyperpop exponents such as 100 Gecs and Dorian Electra. The latter even appeared on last year’s delirious, utterly confounding Friday remix. Michael Cragg

Hermeto Pascoal

St George’s, Bristol, 2 May; Barbican Hall, London, 5 May

Pascoal, the Brazilian composer and visionary, tours new music with his own ensemble spliced into the UK’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Back home, they call the 85-year-old one-off O Bruxo – “the sorcerer”. Find out why. John Fordham

Claude Vivier

Southbank Centre, London, 6 to 8 May

Claude Vivier was murdered in 1983 at the age of 34. The importance of his works has increased steadily in the decades since his death, although they are still heard too rarely in the UK. A weekend of concerts at the Southbank Centre includes eight of them, beginning with perhaps Vivier’s greatest achievement, Lonely Child, sung by soprano Claire Booth with Ilan Volkov conducting. Andrew Clements

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Art

Facebook Twitter Posing with my Parrot by Ajarb Bernard Ategwa. Photograph: Jack Bell Gallery

Reframed: The Woman in the Window

Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 4 May to 4 September

Rembrandt’s Girl at a Window is a treasure of this gallery. Here the Dutch theme of women framed or lit by windows (also a favourite of Vermeer) is updated with works by Cindy Sherman, Rachel Whiteread and Ajarb Bernard Ategwa (work pictured, above). As Tom Hunter’s photograph Woman Reading Possession Order shows, the motif has many modern resonances.

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, to 2 October

A retrospective of one of the most ambitious British modern artists, a woman who hammered her way into art history by taking on the heavyweight materials of sculpture. Hepworth’s carved and cast forms are like naturally eroded wonders, where the sea echoes through marble caves and abstract mermaids sing.

Radical Landscapes

Tate Liverpool, 5 May to 4 September

British art has had a love affair with landscape since the days of Turner and Constable. But forget that. This exhibition is not about pastoral escapism but land rights, climate crisis and protest, from Turner-nominated Ingrid Pollard’s images of belonging to Jeremy Deller’s green neon version of the Cerne Abbas giant.

Jeff Wall

White Cube Mason’s Yard, London, to 25 June

Fact and fiction artfully merge in Wall’s photographic works. Few have done as much to make us aware that a camera can lie just as well as a painting. Here he mixes reportage on mink-hunting in his native Vancouver with restaged memories from his childhood. Jonathan Jones

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Stage

Facebook Twitter Nick Blakeley, Estella Daniels and Kate Copeland in rehearsals for The White Card at Northern Stage. Photograph: Nat Fisher

The White Card

Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne, to 14 May, then touring

The debut play (pictured, above) from poet Claudia Rankine asks: can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? Directed by Natalie Ibu.

Oklahoma!

Young Vic Theatre, London, to 25 June

Daniel Fish’s revival makes its UK premiere. Stripped back and sexy, immersive and politically charged, it stars Arthur Darvill and Anoushka Lucas. Miriam Gillinson

Matsena Productions/House of Absolute

Sadler’s Wells, EC1, 6 & 7 May

Political dance from Anthony and Kel Matsena in Shades of Blue, examining attitudes to the police in light of BLM; and stories of matriarchal power in Warrior Queens from Julia Cheng. Lyndsey Winship

Stand-Up Under the Stars

Brighton Open Air Theatre, 6 May & 17 June

Outdoor gigs aren’t just for lockdowns. May plays host to Reginald D Hunter, Suzi Ruffell and brassy newcomer Esther Manito, while Kerry Godliman and Felicity Ward perform in June. Rachel Aroesti

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Streaming

Facebook Twitter Colin Firth and Toni Collette in The Staircase. Photograph: Sky

The Staircase

28 April, 9pm, Sky Atlantic & Now TV

Some true-crime cases spark only fleeting interest, while others weather years of exposure: the strange death of Kathleen Peterson belongs firmly in the latter category. Following an extensive docuseries, the story now gets the prestige drama treatment, with Colin Firth and Toni Collette (above) in the lead roles.

The Pentaverate

5 May, Netflix

Mike Myers’ Netflix-indulged passion project is here: this new series tells the full story of the illuminati-style conspiracy first mentioned in his 1993 film So I Married An Axe Murderer. Inevitably, the comedy stalwart bagsies most of the leads, but the supporting cast – Jennifer Saunders, Ken Jeong, Lydia West – is a draw in itself.

The Other One

6 May, 9.30pm, BBC One & iPlayer

Ellie White and Lauren Socha play chalk-and-cheese long-lost sisters in this odd-couple sitcom from Holly Walsh. Series two sees the pair discover their philandering dad has also blessed them with a brother: cue more soothingly silly plotting and brilliantly pitched performances.

Tehran

6 May, Apple TV+

Finding the news a bit too relaxing? This Emmy-winning Israeli drama – about a Mossad agent who goes undercover in Iran in order to disable a nuclear reactor – should get your heart rate up. It returns with added Glenn Close, who joins the cast as a fellow agent. RA

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Games

Facebook Twitter Nintendo Switch Sports. Photograph: Nintendo

Nintendo Switch Sports

Nintendo Switch, out now

Remember bowling and playing tennis on the Nintendo Wii? This sports medley (above) brings controller-waving fun back to the living room.

Trek to Yomi

PC, PlayStation, Xbox, out 5 May

A black-and-white action game with an aesthetic ripped straight from Akira Kurosawa’s classic samurai films. Keza MacDonald

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Albums

Facebook Twitter Kelly Lee Owens. Photograph: Kim Hiorthøy

Kelly Lee Owens – LP.8

Out now

Despite this being only her third album, the Welsh electronic artist and producer (above) has said she titled it LP.8 due to its conceptual links to completion and infinity. Created in Norway alongside the noise artist Lasse Marhaug, it showcases a more abrasive electronic sound.

Bloc Party – Alpha Games

Out now

Six years after their transitional last album, Hymns, the enduring indie outsiders – who swapped out two members in 2015 – settle into their rhythm on this Nick Launay (Idles, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) produced follow-up. Last November’s frantic lead single Traps is a case in point.

Kehlani – Blue Water Road

Out now

The Californian R&B practitioner returns with her Justin Bieber-assisted third studio album, the follow-up to 2020’s excellent It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. That album’s occasional producer Pop Wansel takes the executive producer reins here, giving it a cohesive, soulful sound that anchors tracks such as the lead single Altar.

Toro y Moi – Mahal

Out now

Chaz Bear flits between personas with lightning speed. After releasing an EP under his more dance-leaning Les Sins guise in 2020, the South Carolina native is back to channelling psych, hip-hop and funk via his latest album as Toro y Moi. His musicality is on full display on recent undulating, bass-heavy single Postman. MC

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Brain food

Oprahdemics

Podcast

Historians Kellie Carter Jackson and Leah Wright Rigueur host this incisive podcast examining the enduring cultural phenomenon that is Oprah Winfrey. Each week they analyse how Oprah’s talkshow episodes cannily reflected the zeitgeist of the time.

@samseats

TikTok & Instagram

Cooking tutorials are ubiquitous, but chef Sam Way has made them into a social media artform over the past two years. Combining mesmeric editing with complex recipes, his posts cover everything from duck to deep-dish pizza.

Our Lives: Born Deaf, Raised Hearing

6 May, 7.30pm, BBC One

Our Lives, a uniquely informative strand of documentaries exploring the extraordinary lives of everyday Britons, returns for a new series. The first instalment follows deaf actor Jonny Cotsen as he examines his identity in a majority-hearing world. Ammar Kalia


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