Critical list, June 4

Theatre

Gruesome and grown-up: Killology

MARK DOUET

Theatre pick
KILLOLOGY
Gary Owen’s gruesome, grown-up play about the depiction of violence is a must-see — a worthy follow-up to his hit Iphigenia in Splott. See review in this section. MS
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, London SW1, until June 24

HAMLET
Robert Icke’s virtuoso, endlessly inventive production moves into the West End. Andrew Scott skilfully captures Hamlet’s tortured complexity. CH
Harold Pinter, London SW1, from Fri until Sept 2

THE TREATMENT
Martin Crimp’s dark satire on the foolishness and greed of the film world spirals into a nightmare in New York. JE
Almeida, London N1, until Sat

WOYZECK
John Boyega is riveting as the tormented soldier in Büchner’s masterpiece, recreated by Jack Thorne. A tremendously impressive psychodrama. CH
Old Vic, London SE1, until June 24

JULIUS CAESAR
Robert Hastie makes his mark as the new artistic director at Sheffield with a highly topical production that hurtles towards its conclusion. JE
Crucible, Sheffield, until Sat

Jane Edwardes, Christopher Hart and Maxie Szalwinska

Art

Star potter: Grayson Perry

Art pick
GRAYSON PERRY
The star potter laughs at his fame (and possible overexposure) with The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! To be fair, it might well be. Expect new work dwelling on masculinity, celebrity, class and other Perry tropes.
Serpentine Galleries, London W2, from Thu until Sept 10

WOLFGANG TILLMANS
Final week to see the German photographer’s selection of pictures past and present.
Tate Modern, London SE1, until next Sun

HOKUSAI
This show takes as a starting point Katsushika Hokusai’s famous Great Wave — then reveals the depth and breadth of the Japanese master’s vision.
British Museum, London WC1, until Aug 13

RAPHAEL
A rare treat: 120 drawings by the Renaissance master. The Ashmolean is pooling its supreme collection with loans from the Uffizi, the Louvre, the Albertina and the Queen. See review in this section.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until Sept 3

GIACOMETTI
A satisfying retrospective for the Swiss artist, proving there was much more to him than the signature stick men.
Tate Modern, London SE1, until Sept 10

Louis Wise

Comedy

Satirical mockery: Rory Bremner

FRANCESCO GUIDICINI/THE SUNDAY TIMES

Comedy pick
RORY BREMNER
Hard to think of anywhere better to be than a Rory Bremner gig as the election crashes to its conclusion. Expect impressions, satirical mockery and dry wit as he dissects what remains of the body politic.
Theatre Royal, Wakefield, Wed; Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, Thu; Playhouse, Oxford, Fri

PENN AND TELLER
The Las Vegas superstars start a small UK tour in Manchester — essentially distilling their Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino show, which has been running for 15 years. It’s certain to defy the laws of physics — and good taste.
O2 Apollo, Manchester, Sat

STEPHEN K AMOS
A last chance to see Amos’s latest show — charting his experiences over the past year touring Europe, Tasmania and the Seychelles, among other places. Half of the show will be conjured up on the night by this expert audience-worker.
Underbelly Festival, London SE1, Fri

ZOE LYONS
In a quickfire stand-up show loosely following the theme of being a misfit (a rare trait in a comedian, no?), Lyons burns through routines that would stretch to an hour-long show in the hands of lesser comics.
Soho Theatre, London W1, Thu-Sat

Stephen Armstrong

Dance

Triple bill: Reece Clarke in Symphonic Variations

TRISTRAM KENTON/ROH

Dance pick
ROYAL BALLET: FREDERICK ASHTON TRIPLE BILL
The company ends its season with three celebrated works by its founder-choreographer: The Dream (set to Mendelssohn), Symphonic Variations (Franck) and Marguerite and Armand (Liszt). On Wednesday, Zenaida Yanowsky gives her retirement performance as Marguerite, relayed live to cinemas and BP Big Screens across the UK.
ROH, London WC2, Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat

SCOTTISH BALLET
A hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, this contrasted double bill features Crystal Pite’s Emergence, for a large corps de ballet as a swarming horde of insects, and Angelin Preljocaj’s all-male piece MC 14/22 (Ceci est mon corps), which takes the Last Supper and masculinity as its themes.
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, Wed-Sat

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS
A novel, a film and now a ballet on a Second World War story of friendship. Northern Ballet’s touring production is by Daniel de Andrade.
Richmond Theatre, London TW9, Tue, Wed; Waterside, Aylesbury, Fri, Sat; touring until Oct 21

David Dougill

Pop

Canadian giants: Arcade Fire

TIM MOSENFELDER/GETTY

Pop pick
ARCADE FIRE
When the Canadian giants released the single I Give You Power in January, fans got into a froth about a fifth studio album. Residents of, erm, Scunthorpe will be among the first to hear the new material live.
Baths Hall, Scunthorpe, Wed; Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Thu; Isle of Wight Festival, Sat

ZARA LARSSON
The Swedish pop princess and Beyoncé superfan has been compared with early Britney Spears. She’s stopping in London before hitting the festivals, including Isle of Wight and Parklife.
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London W12, Wed; Wild Life Festival, Shoreham-by-Sea, Fri; Isle of Wight Festival, Sat

KINGS OF LEON
The Nashville rockers may have dialled down their wild side with families, but they still sound big, as their latest album, WALLS, testifies.
Manchester Arena, Fri; Sheffield Arena, Sat

PARKLIFE
Following the recent tragic events, Manchester continues to be united. In a move to show the city is still open for business, the Parklife festival will go ahead as planned, with the 1975, Frank Ocean, Stormzy and more.
Heaton Park, Manchester, next Sat and Sun

Mary O’Connor

Classical

Birthday boy: Mark Elder

Classical pick
GURRELIEDER
Mark Elder celebrates his 70th birthday with his first performances of Schoenberg’s huge Wagnerian cantata, leading the joint forces of his Hallé Orchestra and Choir, the BBC Philharmonic and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus. The soloists are starry: Brandon Jovanovich as Waldemar, Emily Magee as Tove and Johan Reuter as the Peasant. HC
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, tonight

DER ROSENKAVALIER
The Welsh soprano Rebecca Evans, renowned as Sophie von Faninal, takes on the role of the Marschallin in Olivia Fuchs’s new production of Strauss’s comedy for Welsh National Opera. Tomas Hanus conducts. HC
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, tonight

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Netia Jones directs a new production of Britten’s comic Shakespearean masterpiece for the Aldeburgh Festival. Ryan Wigglesworth conducts a cast led by the finest Oberon and Bottom of their generation, Iestyn Davies and Matthew Rose. Sophie Bevan sings her first Tytania. HC
Snape Maltings, Fri

LONDON SINFONIETTA
Pierre-André Valade conducts a Nordic programme that includes Graal théâtre, by Kaija Saariaho, and Rolf Wallin’s Spirit. PD
St John’s Smith Square, London SW1, Tue

BIRMINGHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP
Under Oliver Knussen, the ensemble perform the world premiere of Colin Matthews’s A Land of Rain and two works each by Knussen and Harrison Birtwistle. PD
CBSO Centre, Birmingham, Sat

Hugh Canning and Paul Driver

Book it now

Shining example: see John Hoyland’s Sun and Jewels at the British Art Fair in September

DOMINIC KEMP

The Marriage of Kim K, Old Fire Station, Oxford, July 1, then touring
Classical meets pop in Leoe & Hyde’s take on Mozart. This marriage is not Figaro’s, but that of Kim Kardashian to the NBA player Kris Humphries in 2011, and the music will be given a contemporary twist.

Christopher Nolan Presents, BFI Southbank, London SE1, July 1-31
Nolan’s next blockbuster, Dunkirk, goes over the famous events of 1940. Ahead of its release on July 21, he curates a season of films that inspired him, including The Battle of Algiers, All Quiet on the Western Front and Speed.

SummerTyne Americana Festival, Sage, Gateshead, July 21-23
The Shires are the stars of this country’n’blues weekender. Also on the bill are William Bell and the late Merle Haggard’s sons, Ben and Noel.

The Weir, Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Sept 8-16, then touring
Fans of the Irish playwright Conor McPherson, whose thriller Paula is a hit on BBC2, can enjoy one of his best dramas on tour this autumn. In The Weir, reminiscences and unearthed secrets on a dark night in an Irish pub lead to a shattering conclusion. Adele Thomas directs this co-production between English Touring Theatre and the Mercury.

British Art Fair, Mall Galleries, London SW1, Sept 13-17
The only UK art show to specialise exclusively in modern and postwar British works returns for its 28th year, featuring John Hoyland, Barbara Hepworth, Lucian Freud and many more.