The Critical List

John Carter
Taylor Kitsch plays Carter, transported to Mars with superpowers and new battles to fight. It lacks originality, but has a sense of fun and a good lead. CL
12A, 132 mins

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s beautifully shot Turkish road movie, subtle and slow, showcases some of the best cinematography of the year. JD
15, 150 mins

Cosmo Landesman, Jonathan Dean, Olly Richards and Stuart Brumfitt

Theatre

THEATRE PICK: Benefactors
The truth is slippery and motives are complicated in Michael Frayn’s fascinating 1984 play, part of a season of his work. JE
Studio, Sheffield, until Sat

Absent Friends
A welcome revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s 1974 play, a characteristic suburban tragicomedy about the great themes of love and death. CH
Harold Pinter, SW1, until Apr 14

King Lear
No gimmicks, no outlandish concepts — all that counts is the acting and the words. John Shrapnel heads the company as a vigorous, vain Lear. JETobacco Factory, Bristol, until Sat

She Stoops to Conquer
The National’s revival of Oliver Goldsmith’s ever-fresh Georgian romcom is a riot, with silly walks and even sillier accents. CH
National, SE1, until Apr 21

Singin’ in the Rain
A sweet, splashy evening at the theatre — Adam Cooper mooches through puddles and spatters as many people as possible in this adaptation of the classic MGM musical. DJ
Palace, W1, until Sept 29

Christopher Hart, Jane Edwardes and David Jays

Art

ART PICK: Picasso and Modern British Art
Innumerable British artists, from Bacon to Hockney, were crucially influenced by the Spaniard. Here, seven of them, including Wyndham Lewis and Sutherland, are investigated.
Tate Britain, SW1, until July 15

Lucian Freud Portraits
Portraiture tends to be derided now, so it’s strange that Freud should be generally regarded as a great painter. This show gives a full account of his career.
National Portrait Gallery, WC2, until May 27

Mondrian/Nicholson in Parallel
Small but beautiful, this show has at its core geometric abstract pictures by Ben Nicholson and Piet Mondrian, done on Parkhill Road, Hampstead, in the mid-1930s. Deeply satisfying.
Courtauld Gallery, WC2, until May 20

Yayoi Kusama
Polka dots and infinite reflections are among the signature characteristics of the Japanese artist’s work.
Tate Modern, SE1, until June 5

Alberto Burri
Once celebrated, Burri (1915-95) is today all but forgotten. Yet he was ahead of his time, influencing the arte povera movement.
Estorick Collection, N1, until Apr 7

John Cecil Stephenson: Pioneer of Abstraction
A fine examination of one of the first abstract painters in Britain. On show are more than 50 works, most from the 1930s, compensating a little for the neglect to which Stephenson has been condemned.
Durham Art Gallery, until Apr 29

Frank Whitford

Comedy

COMEDY PICK: Russell Kane
The arch commentator manages to deconstruct class and culture with a superb tale of first-class travel and snobbery. All human life is here.
Arts Centre, Pocklington, tonight

Henning Wehn
As Germany bails out Greece, its funniest export tours a cheerfully ironic show called No Surrender. Worth the admission price just to hear him say “a right old ding-dong” in Bavarian brogue.
Town Hall, St Albans, Mon; South Street Arts Centre, Reading, Fri, Sat

Jimeoin
Beautifully silly knockabout material from the Irish comic.
Lowry, Salford, tonight; Town Hall, Cheltenham, Tue; Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, Wed; Town Hall, Birmingham, Thu; Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, Fri; Engine Shed, Lincoln, Sat

Pete Firman
Sleight of hand and sly gags from one of the few truly funny comedy magicians currently littering stand-up clubs.
Komedia, Brighton, Wed; Arc, Stockton-on-Tees, Thu

Stephen Armstrong

Dance

DANCE PICK: English National Ballet: Beyond Ballets Russes
This Diaghilev-inspired season opens with a premiere version of Firebird, by the young choreographer George Williamson; David Dawson’s Faun(e), alongside a revival of Nijinsky’s original; and MacMillan’s The Rite of Spring.
Coliseum, WC2, from Thu until Mar 27

Royal Ballet
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Christopher Wheeldon’s spectacular ballet, gets its first revival, alongside MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet.
ROH, WC2: Alice, Mon, Sat (mat), in rep until Apr 16; Romeo, Wed, Thu, Sat, in rep until Mar 31

Wayne Mcgregor/Random Dance: Far
McGregor reprises his 2010 creation for his dynamic company of 10 dancers.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1, Mon, Tue

Northern Ballet: Beauty and the Beast
David Nixon and the designer Duncan Hayler’s imaginative production is on tour.
Lyceum, Sheffield, Tue-Sat

David Dougill

Pop

POP PICK: Paul Weller
Forget the comfy dad-rock years: at 53, Weller is in the midst of a creative rebirth, confirmed by his aptly titled new album, Sonik Kicks.
Roundhouse, NW1, tonight-Thu

Spiritualized
Ladies and gentlemen, we are spending a lot of time on a tour bus.
O2 Academy, Oxford, Tue; O2 Academy, Bristol, Wed; O2 ABC, Glasgow, Thu

The Waterboys
After reinterpreting Yeats’s poems, Mike Scott’s band return with a more conventional song list.
Sage, Gateshead, Tue; Town Hall, Leeds, Wed; Barbican, York, Thu; Philharmonic, Liverpool, Sat

Wu Lyf
The once mysterious Manchester band continue their tour.
Heaven, WC2, Wed, Thu

Chris Rea
The MOR star turned grizzled bluesman tours his Santo Spirito Blues album.
International Centre, Bournemouth, Tue; New Theatre, Oxford, Wed; Brighton Centre, Thu; International Centre, Harrogate, Sat

Mark Edwards

Classical

Hugh Canning and Paul Driver

CLASSICAL PICK: Life is a Dream

Graham Vick’s Birmingham Opera Company (part professional, part community) give the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s latest large-scale opera, based on Calderon de la Barca’s classic play. The American Eric Greene makes his British debut as Segismund, with Paul Nilon (as his father) leading a cast of BOC regulars. William Lacey conducts. HC
Argyle Works, Birmingham, Wed, Fri, Sat

The Turn of the Screw
Last chance to see Oliver Mears’s 1950s take on Britten’s ghost opera for NI Opera, his Belfast-based touring company. HC
Lyric, Belfast, Tue

Purcell School Symphony Orchestra
The country’s oldest specialist music school marks its 50th anniversary with a concert featuring a commissioned work by an alumnus, Joseph Phibbs. Paul Daniel conducts. PD
RFH, SE1, Mon

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati conducts Schumann’s Faust Overture, Berlioz’s Rêverie et Caprice, Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 and HK Gruber’s Nebelsteinmusik. PD
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Thu; City Halls, Glasgow, Fri

BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Andrew Davis’s reading of Tippett’s oratorio A Child of Our Time is preceded by the London premiere of Hugh Wood’s Violin Concerto No 2 (with Anthony Marwood). PD
Barbican, EC2, Fri

London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Mark Elder conducts the world premiere of The Discovery of Heaven, by Julian Anderson, along with Delius’s Sea Drift (with the baritone Roderick Williams), and Elgar’s Symphony No 1. PD
RFH, SE1, Sat

BOOK IT NOW

Heatherwick Studio: Designing the Extraordinary
Thomas Heatherwick’s designs have won heaps of acclaim and generated controversy — his popular Seed Cathedral was the UK pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Now his studio gets a retrospective.
V&A, SW7, May 31-Sept 20

A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer
A collection of monologues, performed to support women’s charities, curated by Eve Ensler, featuring Rosario Dawson, Meera Syal and Ensler herself.
Lyric, WC2, Mar 26

Fierce Festival
The streets of Birmingham will be taken over by unusual performances, readings and screenings. Love Letters Straight from Your Heart uses dedications from the public, who can also take part in Mobile Sinfonia, performed on mobile phones.
Various venues, Birmingham, Mar 29-Apr 8

The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned
All the glamour of the Restoration is called on for this exhibition examining charm and vice at the court of Charles II. Hampton Court’s royal apartments are filled with court beauties and courtesans by Peter Lely and Godfrey Kneller.
Hampton Court Palace, Apr 5-Sept 30

Carbon Life
The elements of Wayne McGregor’s latest Royal Ballet piece are now in place. Gareth Pugh provides the costumes and Mark Ronson the music (Rufus Wainwright orchestrates). It’s part of a triple bill that also includes a new work by Liam Scarlett and Polyphonia, by Christopher Wheeldon.
ROH, WC2, April 5-23

Written on the Heart
David Edgar’s play about the genesis of the King James Bible was a hit on its RSC debut in Stratford last year. Now the production, starring Stephen Boxer as William Tyndale, gets a welcome transfer.
Duchess, WC2, Apr 19-July 21

In the Next Room
Also known as The Vibrator Play, Sarah Ruhl’s Tony-nominated work takes us to New York in the late 19th century, where a new treatment for female hysteria has unexpected results.
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath, May 10-June 9