From The Testament of Ann Lee to Gorillaz: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Amanda Seyfried is Shaker all over in a wild period drama, while Damon Albarn and his cartoon cohort return with a polyglot offeringThe Testament of Ann LeeOut now In Mona Fastvold’s critically acclaimed drama, Amanda Seyfried shakes things up as the founder of the restorationist Christian sect the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing,More commonly known as the Shakers, the egalitarian ecstatic worship group coalesced round the visionary female leader in the 18th century,Scream 7Out now The Kevin Williamson-scripted Scream films (1, 2, 4) are probably the best in the franchise, and this time he not only writes but directs the antics of Ghostface et al,Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Courteney Cox all make appearances, regardless of whether you thought their characters were dead or not,SirâtOut now In the deserts of southern Morocco, a man searches for his missing daughter, enlisting the help of a group of partygoers who tell of a rave deep in the desert where perhaps she can be found.
Óliver Laxe won the Cannes jury prize for this genre-defying drama, in which rave culture and survival thriller collide.Glasgow film festivalVarious venues, to 8 March The audience-friendly film festival continues, and closes with James McAvoy’s feelgood directorial debut, California Schemin’, based on the true story of the Scottish rappers who successfully pretended (for a while anyway) to be from California.Catherine BrayMGK5 to 12 March; tour starts London The US artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly brings his hyper blend of rock, pop and hip-hop to various arenas in support of last year’s Bob Dylan-approved (no, really) Lost Americana album.As subtle as a sledgehammer, expect a cacophony of pummelling riffs, huge choruses and stylised moshing.Michael CraggLondon Symphony Orchestra/Tarmo Peltokoski/Yuja WangBarbican Hall, London, 1 March Finnish 20th-century composer Einojuhani Rautavaara was hugely prolific, but his music is rarely programmed in the UK, which makes megastar pianist Yuja Wang’s performance of his Piano Concerto No 1 with the London SO a hot ticket.
Flora WillsonMarius NesetRonnie Scott’s, London, 4 March Norwegian saxophonist/composer Marius Neset has been a creative firebrand of European jazz since his startling emergence 15 years ago, fusing the flat-out sax power of New York postbop with the ethereal delicacies of the Nordic ambient jazz scene – and his exciting quartet, which includes drum star Anton Eger, is world-class.John FordhamLucy RoseGateshead, 28 February; Manchester, 1 March; London, 4 March; Birmingham, 5 March; Bristol, 6 March After battling health issues, English singer-songwriter Lucy Rose returns to the live circuit for her first tour in seven years.It’s a delayed chance to showcase 2024’s This Ain’t the Way You Go Out album, as well as debuting new songs including January’s undulating Scared of Loving Wild Again.MCRose WylieRoyal Academy of Arts, London, 28 February to 19 April The painter they couldn’t keep down gets free rein to strut her exuberant, unedited stuff.Wylie has a psychedelic sense of colour and a massive comic appetite for life.
Her art is a vibrant carnival.But do all her grand hilarities leave you satisfied or hungover? Drink deep and decide.GiantsNational Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, to 14 September Look out it’s the Meg! The giant shark, Otodus megalodon, which swam in the world’s oceans from about 23m years ago until 3.6m years ago, is one of the massive creatures this exhibition recreates, using modern models to bring to life the period after the dinosaurs became extinct.Don McCullinThe Holburne Museum, Bath, to 4 May There is an eerie fascination to broken statues.
When ancient Roman sculpture was first excavated in the Renaissance, it was usually restored to make it complete.But gradually people saw the tragic beauty of damaged antiquities.War photographer McCullin’s images of maimed Roman art clearly mirror the modern violence he has seen.Chiharu ShiotaHayward Gallery, London, to 3 May Everyone loves a spectacular installation that plunges you into its world of colour and mystery – I am trying not to use the word “immersive”, but damn, I did.Shiota gathers constellations of real, everyday objects from keys to beds to door frames and tangles them in vast webs of wool.
Jonathan JonesPierre Novellie28 February to 31 May; tour starts Brighton When it comes to back-to-basics observational comedy (no overarching themes, no heartstring-tugging payoff) vanishingly few can outdo this South African-born standup.Novellie’s latest show, You Sit There, I’ll Stand Here, reinvigorates well-worn topics – from dishwasher stacking to airport behaviour to house moves – with meticulously engineered and reliably side-splitting routines.Rachel AroestiBallet Black at 25Linbury theatre, Royal Opera House, London, 3 to 7 March, then touring The 25th anniversary of Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black is celebrated with a double bill featuring Ingoma, by Mthuthuzeli November, inspired by the 1946 South African miners’ strike, plus a joyful new work for the company by Hope Boykin, who was a longtime dancer with the Alvin Ailey company in New York.Lyndsey WinshipOne DayThe Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, to 19 April There’s a playful and soulful creative team behind this musical adaptation of David Nicholls’s much-loved novel – with writing from David Greig, direction from Max Webster and music and lyrics from US band Johnnyswim.Actors Jamie Muscato and Sharon Rose bring Dex and Em’s love story to life.
Miriam GillinsonThe Manningtree WitchesMercury theatre, Colchester, 28 February to 14 MarchBased on AK Blakemore’s novel, The Manningtree Witches is set in 1643 Essex and tells the true story of England’s first witchfinder general.But what of the women he killed? From Ava Pickett, whose debut play, 1536, was such a blinder.MGVladimirNetflix, 5 March Rachel Weisz is an English professor who becomes dangerously infatuated with her new colleague (One Day’s Leo Woodall) in this erotic thriller about desire, consent and power dynamics, adapted by Julia May Jonas from her own 2022 novel.John Slattery (Mad Men) and Ellen Robertson complete the cast.Molly vs the MachinesChannel 4, 5 March, 9pm Eight years ago, 14-year-old Molly Russell took her own life.
Ever since, her father, Ian, has been attempting to hold those he believes are responsible – namely, the social media platforms that fed Molly horrific content about suicide – to account.This film documents his efforts while explaining the harm the internet is doing to us all.Young SherlockPrime Video, 4 March Fans of punchy, cheeky period dramas (A Thousand Blows, House of Guinness) can get yet another fix courtesy of Guy Ritchie’s take on Holmes’s adolescent adventures.Starring alongside Colin Firth, Natascha McElhone and his uncle Joseph, Hero Fiennes Tiffin takes on the role of the fledgling detective during his time at Oxford in the 1870s.DTF St LouisSky Atlantic/Now, 2 March, 9pm This quirky murder mystery about midlife sexual liberation in the suburbs features David Harbour as a man whose involvement in a love triangle leads to his death.
Could his wife and closest friend (Linda Cardellini and Jason Bateman, respectively) be responsible? RAPokémon PokopiaSwitch 2; out 5 March If the white-knuckle intensity of the mainline Pokémon games is too spicy for you, this new, relaxing-to-the-point-of-soporific entry in the franchise takes its cues from pottering sims such as Stardew Valley, and tasks you with creating and maintaining the perfect habitats for your coterie of husbanded fuzzballs.MarathonPC, PS5, Xbox; out 5 March Superflops such as Sony’s Concord (which was taken offline after just two weeks) show how risky it can be to birth another shooter into the crowded multiplayer market.The pedigree of Halo and Destiny creator Bungie is at least cause for optimism that this hectic brap-em-up will offer something to woo enough new players.Luke HollandMitski – Nothing’s About to Happen to MeOut now On Mitski’s eighth album, the singer-songwriter, whose single My Love Mine All Mine unexpectedly went viral in 2023, channels the character of a reclusive woman in an unkempt house.In the case of the ballad I’ll Change for You that means dramatically mourning a lost love, while on Where’s My Phone? despair turns to rage.
Gorillaz – The MountainOut now Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s virtual band returns with their ninth album, and first on their own label.Featuring songs sung in English, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba by guests including Sparks, Omar Souleyman and Kara Jackson, it’s a typically large-scale trip through various musical genres.Iron & Wine – Hen’s TeethOut now The spectacularly bearded Sam Beam returns with his eighth album of expertly crafted folk, a sibling record of sorts to 2024’s Light Verse.Featuring his touring band, alongside Americana trio I’m With Her, songs such as the elegant Roses and In Your Ocean sound like lost standards.Bruno Mars – The RomanticOut now While it’s been a decade since the pint-sized hitmaker released his solo album 24K Magic, Bruno Mars’s chart ubiquity has barely slackened.
Globe-straddling megahits with Lady Gaga (Die With a Smile) and Rosé (APT.) have paved the way for this new album, featuring recent US No 1, I Just Might.MCNorah Jones Is Playing AlongPodcast Norah Jones’s entertaining series sees the singer paired with a different, genre-spanning musician each week to talk about their creative lives and create a spontaneous cover version in the process.LumoTVlumotv.co.
uk Britain’s streaming service for deaf and sign-language content, LumoTV, is a treasure trove of lesser-known but fascinating programming,Highlights include the music documentary series Deaf Jams and Hold My Hand, a BSL reality dating show,The Women of ISBBC World Service/BBC Sounds, 5 March, 10,32am This moving three-part series follows the ongoing and complex repatriation of the thousands of women and children who lived under the Islamic State caliphate and who are now housed in refugee camps in Syria,Ammar Kalia
Doom Bar maker Sharp’s Brewery in Cornwall to be closed by US owner
The Cornish brewery that makes Doom Bar ale is to be closed by its US owner, throwing the popular beer brand’s future into doubt and putting about 200 jobs at risk.The drinks company Molson Coors said it plans to shut Sharp’s Brewery in Rock, along with its national call centre in Wales, saying it was “no longer financially sustainable”.The Chicago-based company, which bought Sharp’s 15 years ago, said it was planning to close the site by the end of this year but it “remains committed” to Sharp’s beer brands.Sharp was founded in 1994, and most its sales come from Doom Bar, which is among the bestselling cask ales in the UK, and was named after a notoriously dangerous sandbank in Cornwall’s Camel estuary. Sharp’s also makes Atlantic and Twin Coast pale ales
Table for one: is eating lunch at work on your own a bad thing?
Name: The lonely lunch.Age: Recent, but growing.Appearance: Très misérable.Why are you talking French to me? Have you gone all pretentious? I am talking French to you because this is a French problem.It is? Oui
How to use on-the-turn milk to make an Italian classic – recipe
According to the Sustainable Food Trust, “the milk from 40,000 cows (300,000 tonnes) is tipped down the kitchen sink each year – a real slap in the face for the farmer”. Even though some supermarkets have now swapped use-by for best-before dates on their milk, those dates can still be confusing, so always do the sniff test before binning it: even if it’s a little sour, you can still cook with it.The Food Standards Agency advises that food with a best-before date can usually be tested using sensory cues such as the sniff test. And what better way to use up spent or sour milk than maiale al latte, or milk-braised pork, for which pork is slowly braised in milk and flavoured with a few aromatics until tender. The milk splits and forms large curds that thicken and caramelise the sauce, so creating a creamy rich dressing for the meat
Nadiya Hussain on food, faith and finding her voice: ‘I get paid less than the white version of me’
In a food world where the trend is for protein and weight-loss injections and sugar is the supervillain, Nadiya’s Quick Comforts seems somewhat contrary. There are golden syrup dumplings. There is a chapter devoted to deep frying, with cheese balls and ingenious deep-fried cannelloni.“If I could write an entire book on deep frying, I absolutely would,” says Hussain with a laugh. “This is how I cook, this is how I eat, this is how I show love to my family
Should you sanitise your strawberries? Experts on the right way to wash fruit and vegetables
You know the cost-of-living crisis is biting when videos of influencers unpacking their grocery “hauls” are viral on TikTok. Chewing through millions of views, fruit and vegetables are aesthetically plopped into a sink filled with water, piece by piece. “Sanitising” products are then added, ranging from the fizz of baking soda and vinegar to specialised vegetable soaps (“Amazon link in my bio!”). There are even expensive electronic purifiers, which shake, shimmy and bubble away in the basin, supposedly removing any nasties.But is ASMR deep-cleaning your fresh produce really necessary? And is it all too late for those of us who can barely remember to rinse our pears?For Queensland’s Rebecca Scurr, who shares what it’s like to “sell fruit for a living” to her 26,000 TikTok followers, fruit-washing videos make her “cringe so much”
Do you really need to chill cookie dough? | Kitchen Aide
Does chilling cookie dough really make for a better result?Emily, by email “It all depends on what kind of cookie it is,” says Guardian baker Helen Goh. “Let’s say it’s a cookie that you need to stamp out – the dough needs to be firm enough to roll it, but not so firm that you can’t.” That said, the question of whether to fridge or not to fridge is probably most prevalent in the chocolate chip cookie sphere. “There’s a perceived wisdom that chilling helps the dough develop the flavour and caramelisation,” Goh says, “but, to be honest, it also makes the dough a little easier to roll and ensures it bakes evenly, which is worth far more than that slight improvement in flavour.”Recommended chilling times vary from 30 minutes to overnight, although Goh finds the latter results in a “cakey” cookie: “I’m a real Goldilocks, so I like crisp at the edges with a chewy centre
Diagnosing mental health conditions need not be a case of yes/no | Letters
‘Violent bully’ who broke partner’s neck and left her paralysed jailed for 16 years
European girls aged 13-15 have world’s highest rate of tobacco use for age group
Vegetarians have ‘substantially lower risk’ of five types of cancer
Kinship carers in England to be given financial support in government pilot
Drop in overseas workers is ‘car crash’ for UK hospitals and care homes, say experts