Plus The Week's puzzles and latest podcast episode
The Week's guide to what's worth seeing and reading, plus fine listed properties |
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| | The actress Jennifer Coolidge is enjoying something of a renaissance – a "Jenaissance" – becoming an internet sensation after her Emmy and Golden Globe wins. |
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| New reviews include What's Love Got to Do with It?, Cocaine Bear, and Luther: The Fallen Sun. |
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| Why are broadband customers facing imminent price hikes? Are Arab nations about to re-engage with Syria? And what's going on with France's women's football team? |
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| Play The Week's daily Codeword, Crossword and Sudoku puzzles. |
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| This show tells the story of Welsh miners trying to raise spirits after a mining disaster. |
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| | Artist's "astonishing venture" involves "massive projections" in a subterranean venue. |
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| The Stratford Literary Festival, in partnership with The Week, kicks off on 2 May for six days of events, with a programme featuring headline names including Dame Judi Dench, actor Brian Cox, award-winning novelist Maggie O'Farrell, and Downton Abbey star Penelope Wilton. There's Coronation celebrations, comedy, fringe shows and events for families. |
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| | Featuring historical country houses, quaint cottages, and a farmhouse with a stone tower. |
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| A "charismatic" vehicle with a "great heart" and "single-minded purpose". |
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| The historian and bestselling author picks his favourite books about the
relationship between humanity and nature. His new book, The Earth
Transformed: An Untold History (Bloomsbury £30), is published this week
Holy Bible: The Book of Genesis (John Murray £8.99)
The opening book of the Bible is all about ecological and environmental change – from Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden to Noah's flood, a story that also appears in Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature. Fears about the transformation of the Earth go back a long way.
A Buddhist Ritual Manual on Agriculture by Gergely Hidas, 2019 (De Gruyter £47.50)
A glorious text written around 1,500 years ago with advice on how to influence the weather by calming winds, and preventing thunder, lightning, and the spread of "stinging insects, flies, locusts and worms". This too is part of a long tradition of trying to control the climate.
Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death edited by Monica H. Green, 2015 (Arc Medieval Press £99)
The last few years have seen a lot of interest in past pandemics. This sparkling volume is zinging with ideas and the latest research. Many have gone on to be at the forefront of how we think about the Black Death – and disease – in the decade since it came out.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 1818 (Penguin £7.99)
Apart from being a fabulous book, Shelley's novel is testimony to a "year without a summer", following the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. Shelley and her friends competed to tell spooky stories while stuck indoors in Switzerland. No surprise that torrential rain, thunder and other celestial events feature prominently.
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, 1904 (Digireads £6.99)
The main theme of this poignant play is how the world is changing. Alongside the social, political and economic transformation that Chekhov captures so elegantly is that of ecological change – with the play ending as the orchard gets chopped down. That serves as a motif for our times.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020-3176 3835. For out-of-print books visit www.biblio.co.uk. |
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Showing now
The sweeping exhibition Spain and the Hispanic World brings together more than 150 works revealing the sheer wealth and variety of Spanish and Latin American art, from illuminated manuscripts to masterpieces by Velázquez and Goya. Until 10 April, Royal Academy, London W1 (royalacademy.org.uk)
The South African choreographer Dada Masilo is on tour with The Sacrifice, a new work inspired by The Rite of Spring and featuring her signature fusion of ballet with traditional African dance. Until 12 April, various venues (danceconsortium.com)
Book now
Cambridge Literary Festival celebrates its 20th birthday with five days of events and an impressive line-up of speakers, including Maggie O'Farrell, Timothy Garton Ash and Jacqueline Wilson. 19-23 April, various venues, Cambridge (cambridgeliteraryfestival.com)
General booking opens for Chichester Festival Theatre's 2023 season. A highlight will be the new production of Amy Herzog's comedy-drama 4000 Miles, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Eileen Atkins. 4 May-10 June, Minerva Theatre, Chichester (cft.org.uk)
TV programmes
Paris Police 1905
Follow-up series of the Belle Époque French crime drama. On Christmas Eve, Inspector Antoine Jouin tries to identify a corpse in the Bois de Boulogne. Sat 4 Mar, BBC4 21:00 (60mins)
Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers
The comedian and fisherman travels around England and Wales to find out why waterways are in decline. Sun 5 Mar, BBC2 20:00 (60mins)
We Need to Talk About Cosby
A candid exploration of Bill Cosby's life and work and how his exploitation of his status ultimately led to his downfall. Sun 5 Mar, BBC2 21:00 (60mins)
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More from The Week | Thanks for reading Arts & Life. You might also enjoy our fortnightly Food & Drink or Travel newsletters. | |
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