Critical list: The best of what’s on this week

Camilla Long

Hilarious: The Comedy About a Bank Robbery

Theatre pick
THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY
Mischief Theatre follows The Play That Goes Wrong with a farce about a bungled heist. It’s a callow show, but at its best, it’s hilarious. See review, in this section. DJ
Criterion, London W1, until Oct 2

Theatre
THE FLICK
This Pulitzer-winning play by Annie Baker is a small-scale epic set in an ailing Massachusetts cinema. A lovesick treasure. DJ
Dorfman, National Theatre, London SE1, until June 15

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s country-house novel for English Touring Theatre is true to its melancholy spirit. See review, in this section. PN
Theatre Royal Bath, Tue-Sat, then touring

SHOW BOAT
Daniel Evans’s production of the classic musical, first seen in Sheffield, steams down the Mississippi with all flags flying. JE
New London Theatre, London WC2, until Jan 7, 2017

Jane Edwardes, Christopher Hart, David Jays and Patricia Nicol

Political, but poetic: Mona Hatoum at Tate Modern

AGOSTINO OSIO

Art pick
MONA HATOUM
Born in Beirut, Hatoum has been based in London since the 1970s, when she moved from performance pieces to sculpture and installation. She is highly respected in the art world: the Tate’s show looks to open up her work — political, but also poetic, ambiguous — to a wider audience.
Tate Modern, London SE1, from Wed until Aug 21

Art
MISSONI ART COLOUR
They’re known for vibrant knits, so it’s no surprise that the Italian fashion clan love a colourful tableau. Works by Sonia Delaunay, Lucio Fontana and the like sit alongside their clothes.
Fashion and Textile Museum, London SE1, from Fri until Sept 4

DUTCH FLOWERS
With spring in full swing (we hope), the National is showing a selection of its floral paintings from 17th- and 18th-century Holland. Tulips feature.
National Gallery, London WC2, until Aug 29

GIACOMETTI
Two shows for fans of the Swiss sculptor. There’s a large-scale retrospective in Norwich, while in London he is paired with his neighbour in Paris, Yves Klein.
Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich, until Aug 29; Gagosian Grosvenor Hill, London W1, until June 11

THE BIG HITTERS

Warhol Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until May 15 Final fortnight for this retrospective.

Botticelli Likewise: last two weeks to see his drawings at the Courtauld, London WC2 (until May 15). The V&A’s Botticelli show runs until July 3.

Louis Wise

EU? Mais ouis: Eddie Izzard’s multilingual Force Majeure

Comedy pick
EDDIE IZZARD
Izzard performs a slightly abbreviated hour-long version of his latest show, Force Majeure, to a small audience in three languages. There’s the German version at 7pm, French at 8pm and English at 9pm. Of course, it’s about Europe.
Lowry, Salford, Fri

Comedy
SARA PASCOE
The excellent comedian tours a new show called Animal. Based on her recent book — yeah, it’s kind of a book tour — it romps cheerfully between autobiography and evolutionary theory.
West End Centre, Aldershot, Fri; Concert Hall, Reading, Sat

SOFIE HAGEN
The Danish comedian is touring her award-winning Edinburgh show, which tells the story of her youthful inhibitions and their exotic cures.
Soho Theatre, London W1, Fri, Sat

KIERAN HODGSON
Lance — Hodgson’s justly celebrated tale of growing up a Lance Armstrong fan, then dealing with his fall from grace — gets more relevant after each sporting scandal. A surprising heart-warmer.
Junction, Cambridge, Sat

Stephen Armstrong

Gothic: Frankenstein

MICHELE TURRIANI

Dance pick
FRANKENSTEIN
Liam Scarlett’s first full-length main-stage production for the Royal Ballet explores the themes of Mary Shelley’s gothic novella.
ROH, London WC2, Wed, Fri, Sat (mat); in rep until May 27

Dance
CARLOS ACOSTA: A CLASSICAL FAREWELL
The incomparable Cuban retires from classical ballet with this tour. The programme has been selected from his favourite repertoire, with a live orchestra.
Theatre Royal, Nottingham, Tue, Wed; Hippodrome, Birmingham, Thu-Sat; touring until May 14

SWAN LAKE
In Scottish Ballet’s new production, Tchaikovsky’s classic is given a different story and a modern look by David Dawson.
Eden Court, Inverness, Wed-Sat; touring until June 4

SONGS OF THE WAYFARERS
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan return with a visually impressive production featuring a rain of golden rice grains. It’s set to Georgian folk songs.
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, Wed-Sat

David Dougill

Breakout: Heloise Letissier

EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES

Pop pick
CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS
Héloïse Letissier is already one of the year’s breakout stars, thanks to her excellent alt-pop LP Chaleur Humaine. After an acclaimed show in March, the French singer returns to London for another gig.
Roundhouse, London NW1, Tue

Pop
DIXIE CHICKS
The country stalwarts have, terrifyingly, been going for more than 25 years. They are big critics of George W Bush, so Lord knows what they’ll say about Trump.
O2, London SE10, tonight; SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Tue

SHAWN MENDES
Two variants on the teen sweetheart this week. First up, Mendes, whose earnest acoustic hits and perfect teeth have made the Canadian 17-year-old a social media superstar.
Eventim Apollo, London W6, Thu, Fri

RAT BOY
Our second sweetheart (see previous) is the Essex boy Jordan Cardy — just turned 20, he’s gained a cult following for his post-punk vignettes. His teeth are, we gather, fine.
O2 Academy, Newcastle, tonight; Waterfront, Norwich, Wed; O2 Institute, Birmingham, Thu; Electric Brixton, London SW2, Fri

A brave New World: Sir Mark Elder inaugurates the Halle Dvorak Festival

BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

Classical pick
HALLE: DVORAK FESTIVAL
Mark Elder inaugurates nearly three weeks of concerts devoted to the great Czech composer. The opening evening spotlights Francesco Piemontese in the rare Piano Concerto; on Saturday, the story of the New World Symphony is told with the help of actors and singers. HC
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Thu, Sat

Classical
PLEASURE
The soprano Lesley Garrett “works the toilets in Pleasure, a hedonistic gay club in the north of England”, in Mark Simpson and Melanie Challenger’s new chamber opera. Nicholas Kok conducts, Tim Albery directs. HC
Liverpool Playhouse, Wed; Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, Sat

TANNHAUSER
There’s a fine cast for this revival of Tim Albery’s 2010 Royal Opera staging. The tenor Peter Seiffert takes on the title role, and Christian Gerhaher returns as Wolfram von Eschenbach. See review, page 25. HC
ROH, London WC2, Mon, Thu

IGOR LEVIT
The remarkable young pianist performs Contrapunctus 1, 4 and 11 from Bach’s The Art of Fugue, Busoni’s Fantasia after JS Bach and the prodigious Fantasia contrappuntistica, and Kerll’s Passacaglia in D minor. PD
Wigmore Hall, London W1, Thu

ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Andrew Manze conducts a Vaughan Williams programme: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Symphony No 4 (Linden Lea), with the tenor Andrew Staples, and Symphony No 3 (Pastorals). PD
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, Thu

Pin-up boy: Picasso Portraits

Book it now

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, Theatre Royal Brighton, May 17-21, then touring
The National Theatre of Scotland’s adaptation of Alan Warner’s riotous cult novel The Sopranos, about a Scottish schoolgirl choir on the loose, was a charmer at Edinburgh last year. Vicky Featherstone’s production is now touring; it reaches the National Theatre, London SE1, in August.

Obsidian Tear, Royal Opera House, London WC2, May 28-June 11
Wayne McGregor premieres a one-act piece exploring myth and modernity for the Royal Ballet, set to music by Esa-Pekka Salonen. It’s on a bill with Kenneth MacMillan’s The Invitation and Christopher Wheeldon’s much-loved Within the Golden Hour.

Barn on the Farm, Over Farm, Gloucester, July 1-3
This intimate, expertly curated festival has the knack of booking up-and-coming talents before they hit the big time. This year’s headliner is Jack Garratt, well on his way as winner of the BBC’s Sound of 2016 award; other ones to watch are the alt-pop duo Oh Wonder, Honne, Frances and Billie Marten.

Picasso Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London WC2, Oct 6-Feb 5, 2017
The Spanish master’s portraits are a surefire autumn blockbuster. This NPG show of paintings and sculptures, a collaboration with Barcelona’s Museu Picasso, covers his many decades of achievement. His wives and lovers feature, along with peers including Cocteau, Stravinsky, Apollinaire...