Critical list

Camilla Long and Edward Porter

Theatre

Uncomfortably funny: BU21

Theatre pick
BU21
Stuart Slade’s truthful, uncomfortably funny play describes how six millennials cope with the aftermath of a terrorist attack on London. JE
Trafalgar Studios 2, London SW1, until Feb 18

SHE LOVES ME
In this sweetly nostalgic musical, two antagonistic shopworkers are in fact each other’s unknown lonely hearts. DJ
Menier Chocolate Factory, London SE1, until Mar 4

MARY STUART
Lia Williams and Juliet Stevenson toss a coin before each performance to decide who will play Mary and who Elizabeth I in the Schiller classic. PN
Almeida, London N1, until Jan 28

DEAD FUNNY
Katherine Parkinson is superbly mournful at the centre of Terry Johnson’s black comedy, which raises as many winces as it does belly laughs. DJ
Vaudeville, London WC2, until Feb 4
Jane Edwardes, David Jays and Patricia Nicol

Art

Modern master: Paul Nash

Art pick
PAUL NASH
Tate’s retrospective affirms Nash as the greatest British landscape painter of the 20th century. You might also compare his paintings of the First World War with those on show at the Estorick Collection.
Tate Britain, London SW1, until Mar 5

WAR IN THE SUNSHINE
The Estorick Collection has reopened, newly refurbished and with an exhibition of pictures of Italy made during the First World War. See review, in this section.
Estorick Collection, London N1, until Mar 19

A CERTAIN KIND OF LIGHT
Artists are always responding to light in some way, but here this luminous relationship is brought to the fore. The kaleidoscope includes works by LS Lowry, Rachel Whiteread, Gary Hume, Anish Kapoor and Julian Opie.
Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, from Sat until May 7

BACON AND FREUD
Britain’s two 20th-century greats are often paired. This time, their respective takes on printmaking are under scrutiny.
Marlborough Graphics, London W1, from Wed until Feb 25

JOHN BALDESSARI
The American artist premieres new work inspired by Miro, in which details from paintings by the Catalan are twinned with stills from Hollywood movies. Mysterious and charming.
Marian Goodman Gallery, London W1, until Feb 25

Louis Wise

Comedy

Experimentation and outrage: Micky Flanagan

Comedy pick
MICKY FLANAGAN
Flanagan is preparing for his UK tour, which kicks off in May, and catching his warm-up shows is always worth it — there’s more experimentation and outrage. It’s watching him at his limits.
Hall for Cornwall, Truro, Mon, Tue; Leicester Square Theatre, London WC2, Sat

STEWART LEE
The axing of Lee’s BBC2 show has freed up his comedy a little: he sprinkles a routine about septuagenarian S&M over more typical material on Game of Thrones, Jimmy Carr, selfie culture, Brexit and Trump.
Leicester Square Theatre, London WC2, Mon-Sat

LUCY PORTER
Porter wrote a letter to her 16-year-old self for a magazine and decided to continue the correspondence — riffing on her middle-class married motherhood as seen through her music-obsessed, politically radical teenage eyes.
Lights, Andover, Thu

AHIR SHAH
Shah’s topical, satirical swipes are given extra heft by his tale of gigging in Paris on the night of the Bataclan massacre, with one bomb very nearby. Powerful stuff.
Junction, Cambridge, Fri

Stephen Armstrong

Dance

Making Waves: Alessandra Ferri in Woolf Works

Dance pick
WOOLF WORKS
The Royal Ballet revives Wayne McGregor’s 2015 three-acter based on the life and works of Virginia Woolf, with Alessandra Ferri and Mara Galeazzi alternating in the lead, and music by Max Richter. See interview, in this section.
ROH, London WC2, Sat; in rep until Feb 14

GISELLE
English National Ballet has revived the Romantic classic, in Mary Skeaping’s traditional production.
Coliseum, London WC2, until next Sun

BLAK WHYTE GRAY
Boy Blue Entertainment blends its trademark hip-hop with contemporary and African dance moves in this new triple bill.
Barbican, London EC2, Tue-Sat

THE MAD HATTER’S TEA PARTY
The first revival of Kate Prince’s exuberant Wonderland-set hip-hop show for ZooNation, in a newly expanded version.
Roundhouse, London NW1, until next Sun

David Dougill

Pop

Back on form: Flaming Lips

Pop pick
FLAMING LIPS
A pair of UK dates to celebrate Wayne Coyne’s band’s return to the UK — and to form — with their new album, Oczy Mlody.
O2 Academy Brixton, London SW9, Sat; Manchester Academy, next Sun

RAE SREMMURD
Rapping siblings “Swae Lee” and “Slim Jxmmi” have dominated the airwaves with their hits Black Beatles, No Type and No Flex Zone. As for the band name, spell it backwards...
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London W12, Tue, Wed; O2 ABC, Glasgow, Thu; O2 Ritz, Manchester, Fri; O2 Academy, Bristol, Sat

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
The naughty daughter of the Wainwright clan is now more of a mature chanteuse. With a new album just out, she’s touring.
Redeemer Church, Belfast, Thu; Sage, Gateshead, Sat; touring until Feb 3

MARGO PRICE
Country music’s current big crossover star has become a critical and commercial darling thanks to her debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.
Islington Assembly Hall, London N1, Thu; Bullingdon, Oxford, Fri; Leaf on Bold Street, Liverpool, Sat; touring until Jan 25

Louis Wise

Classical

Surreal comedy: Simon Rattle conducts Le Grand Macabre

Classical pick
LE GRAND MACABRE
Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Peter Sellars’s semi-staging of Ligeti’s surreal comedy, with Pavlo Hunka starring as the bringer of death. On Thursday, the conductor and orchestra give the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Remembering, followed by Mahler’s Symphony No 6. HC
Barbican, London EC2, tonight

THE SNOW MAIDEN
To inaugurate Opera North’s “fairy tale” season, John Fulljames directs a delicious rarity: Rimsky-Korsakov’s winter fantasy, unstaged professionally in the UK for more than 50 years. Aoife Miskelly sings the title role; Leo McFall conducts. HC
Grand Theatre, Leeds, Sat

WRITTEN ON SKIN
George Benjamin conducts the revival of his 2012 opera, based on a 12th-century Occitan fable of love and violence in the age of the troubadours, but with a 21st-century twist. As before, Christopher Purves and Barbara Hannigan star in Katie Mitchell’s production for the Royal Opera. HC
ROH, London WC2, Wed

ANGELA HEWITT
The distinguished pianist’s recital comprises all six of JS Bach’s French Suites, written between 1722 and 1725. PD
Wigmore Hall, London W1, Fri

PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA
Andris Nelsons conducts Bruckner’s Symphony No 5. Beforehand, at 6pm, the orchestra’s free Music of Today series continues with a portrait of the Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch, under the baton of Jean-Philippe Wurtz. PD
RFH, London SE1, Thu

Hugh Canning and Paul Driver

Book it now

Stepping out: the Richard Alston Dance Company starts a nationwide tour in Wales this month

Richard Alston Dance Company, Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Jan 26 and 27, then touring
Alston’s company tours new work and old, including the premiere of Chacony, set to Purcell’s Chaconne and the Chacony from Britten’s String Quartet No. 2. The tour reaches Sadler’s Wells in June.

Angels in America, Lyttelton, National Theatre, from Apr 11
General booking opens on Friday for Marianne Elliott’s new production of Tony Kushner’s Aids-era epic. Andrew Garfield heads a stellar cast; Nathan Lane, Denise Gough and Russell Tovey also feature.

Rag’n’Bone Man, O2 Academy, Bristol, Apr 18, then touring
Rory Graham’s gravelly soul has already bagged him the Brits Critics’ Choice award for 2017. Catch him now, before the big arenas start beckoning.

Into the Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction, Barbican, London EC2, June 3-Sept 1
Sci-fi aficionados will be sated this summer by a Barbican show that will take over the whole centre, looking at the genre’s sprawling influence on film, art, literature and much more. From Jules Verne to Ridley Scott, it’s a definite trip.

Aldeburgh Festival, Suffolk, June 9-25
This year’s Britten fest serves up a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Netia Jones, with a fine cast including Iestyn Davies, Sophie Bevan and Matthew Rose. Elsewhere, the CBSO visits with its new music director, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.