06-03-2025
Things to do in London this weekend, from Leigh Bowery to The Monkey
Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, March 8, @bgwmc
Two-for-one: a chance to support both International Women's Day and Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, which is battling to ensure its survival. For the meantime, it's still open, and this weekend is hosting an IWD-themed party promising the 'biggest bangers from the ultimate queens of pop', with performances from drag artists and DJ Sara Blow on the decks. It's also set to make much of Lady Gaga's new album, released the day before.
The Barbican, until May 11,
This debut retrospective covers one of the most original painters to have emerged in recent years and celebrates the late artist's expansive creativity. Davis, who died at the age of 32, captured Black life in a desire to 'represent the people around me'. The result is a body of work that explores lives too uncharted in mainstream media; in turn, figurative paintings that are simultaneously 'realistic and dreamlike, joyful and melancholic'.
The Dorchester, until March 9,
G Kelly, noted eel and pie shop, was founded by George Kelly in 1939. Still in situ on the Roman Road, the family has been dishing out traditional East End pie and mash ever since. But in west London? For British Pie Week, The Dorchester hotel will be serving pie and mash, too, albeit in a far more upmarket fashion: Tom Booton has teamed up with G Kelly, both below, to put his own spin on the London classic. Expect much fancier pies with old-school mash, parsley liquor and ever-necessary chilli vinegar.
Towards Zero
BBC One, out now
An Agatha Christie adaptation? When it's not Christmas? The BBC is spoiling us. This one takes its time, an elegantly-paced three-parter which heads to Devon, where the wealthy Lady Tressilian (Anjelica Huston, channelling Medusa) hosts her tennis star nephew Neville Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), his wife Kay (Mimi Keene) and his ex, Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland). Awkward enough. Add in a creepy valet and an inspector troubled by booze and his wartime memories (Matthew Rhys, best in class), and the mystery begins. It intoxicates slowly and then all at once, like an icy martini.
Mickey 17
In cinemas, March 7
Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7 is here adapted for the big screen, with Robert Pattinson starring as Mickey Barnes, an 'expendable' worker blasted into space and assigned to colonise an ice world, Niflhelm. As an expendable, he can die and be 'reprinted' as often as his company needs. Three-time Oscar winner Boon Joon-ho (Parasite) directs this darkly comic story of existential dread, survival, identity and corporate exploitation.
Pan Macmillan, out now
How much do you actually like your job? It's a question most of us ponder to ourselves — but something Charlie Colenutt decided to ask 100 strangers. Colenutt, a former trainee barrister, speaks to people from all walks of life — bakers, cleaners, bankers, church ministers, trade unionists and more — for a picture of how we work now.
Released March 7
Out of Hastings comes female-led alt-rock trio HotWax, below, whose debut album Hot Shock is as powerful as it is passionate. The band, comprising Tallulah Sim-Savage, Lola Sam and Alfie Sayers, has toured the world and clocked up more than 150 shows ahead of the record and the result is an adrenaline-fuelled collection of big, punchy anthems. To be played loud and proud at parties as lighter evenings arrive.
Young Vic, until April 26,
On a night out in Nottingham, a single punch has fatal consequences. The latest piece from Olivier-winner James Graham brings Jacob Dunne's powerful true life story to the stage. Once a directionless teenager spending his Saturday nights seeking thrills with friends, a fateful evening leads to prison time. Later, the parents of his victim, James, ask to meet Dunne, transforming his life with profound effect. Read the true story behind it.
London Palladium, September 13-24,
The American megastars Penn & Teller have never before performed in the West End. In tribute to their 50th anniversary as a mind-blowing duo of comedy and magic, a rare UK show will allow British audiences to witness incredible new tricks. The longest-running headline act in Las Vegas, their performances in London will sell-out fast.
