From Sinners to Étoile: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment

A picture


SinnersOut now Michael B Jordan plays twins, Smoke and Stack, who return home to Mississippi during the prohibition era with the aim of setting up a juke joint.Ryan Coogler’s supernatural horror also stars Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell and Wunmi Mosaku.WarfareOut now Starring D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis and Joseph Quinn, this real-time thriller is based on US marines’ memories of a mission in Iraq.And it’s from an intriguing pair of directors: Alex Garland, one of the most brilliant of current film-makers, and Ray Mendoza, a former US Navy Seal who took part in the sortie.Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien StoryOut now The Irish author, who died last year, is the compelling subject of this documentary portrait, which features final interviews with O’Brien, a writer who counted Paul McCartney, Shirley MacLaine, Jane Fonda and Laurence Olivier among her friends.

A feminist icon ahead of her time, but unlucky in love, she is tremendously likable.The Penguin LessonsOut now British teacher Tom Michell, who taught at a boys’ boarding school in Argentina in the 1970s, was inspired to write an autobiography about an oil-soaked penguin he saved from a beach.This is the big-screen adaptation, starring the ever versatile Steve Coogan (as Michell, not the penguin).Catherine BrayGreentea Peng25 April to 9 May; tour starts Birmingham The south London musician, who has showcased her brand of psychedelic neo-soul and R&B on two albums, including last month’s Tell Dem It’s Sunny, takes to the road.Despite the warmth of that title, expect some chilly home truths hammered home via the likes of One Foot.

Michael CraggKaytranada23 to 27 April; tour starts Manchester Producer, DJ and artist Kaytranada brings his sweat-soaked Timeless tour to the UK in support of last summer’s third album.While there are plenty of bangers in his discography, fingers crossed he leaves space for his viral bootleg remix of Beyoncé’s Cuff It.MCMultitudes Southbank Centre, London, 23 April to 3 May The centre’s attempt to attract new audiences to its orchestral concerts is a series of encounters between resident ensembles and performers from across the arts.Collaborations include the Philharmonia and visual artist William Kentridge, and Chineke! Orchestra with George the Poet.Andrew ClementsGeorgia Mancio and Alan BroadbentSeven Arts, Leeds, 24 April; Sheffield Jazz, 25 April, touring to 4 May The quietly eloquent chemistry of UK singer Georgia Mancio’s connection with Grammy-winning New York pianist Alan Broadbent is rarely heard live.

They join forces on this UK tour, launching their new album, A Story Left Untold.John FordhamHelen ChadwickLeeds Art Gallery, to 4 November This powerful artist of desire, mortality and the flesh was ahead of her time.Chadwick anticipated and perhaps inspired later sensationalist artists with her photographs and installations that involved everything from urinating in snow to revelling in meat.This survey includes her surrealistic Viral Landscapes and metaphysical project Of Mutability.Tracey Emin and JMW TurnerTurner Contemporary, Margate, to 19 April 2026 Margate’s greatest living artist projects a poem for JMW Turner on to the outside of Turner Contemporary on his birthday (23 April).

Inside, you can further explore Turner’s Margate connection with a special showing through 2025 of his painting Waves Breaking on a Lee Shore at Margate (Study for Rockets and Blue Lights).Antony GormleyWhite Cube Mason’s Yard, London, 23 April to 8 June In the 1970s, a young artist started making casts of his own body in lead.The eerie sculptures that resulted – looking like nothing else, but with haunting echoes of statues, forensic records and mummified remains – are resurrected here.Gormley’s macabre monuments to his own being are still his best works.The Power of TreesShirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, London, to 14 September Trees, green lungs of planet Earth, are explored in art and culture in this show in a gallery surrounded by Kew’s rare collected woodlands.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila shows an artwork about a 30-metre spruce in her native Finland.Her preparatory works are also here, among other newly commissioned botanical illustrations.Jonathan JonesDee AllumAlma Tavern and Theatre, Bristol, 19 April; touring to 21 May The BBC New Comedy award finalist takes her acclaimed Edinburgh show of last year on tour.Deadname covers aspects of Allum’s gender transition, from her girlfriend’s unerring support to the HR worker who was unable to process the news.Rachel AroestiMoving Parts: Newcastle puppetry festivalVarious venues, 19 to 27 April Newcastle upon Tyne’s annual puppetry festival returns.

Strange and beautiful creatures emerge from paper, clay, wood and everyday objects for this year’s lineup, which includes puppet Olympics, cabarets and expert workshops,Kate WyverWhen the Cloud Catches ColoursBarbican, London, 24 to 26 April Part of Queer East, a festival celebrating LGBTQ+ work from east and south-east Asia, this verbatim play slides into the lives of Qing and E, two queer Singaporeans in their 50s,KWRichard Chappell DanceSterts Arts & Environment Centre, Liskeard, 21 April The newly reopened theatre on the edge of Bodmin Moor plays host to indoor and outdoor performances from Devon-based Richard Chappell Dance,They including Land Empathy, inspired by the challenges of the climate crisis,Lyndsey WinshipSign up to Inside SaturdayThe only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine.

Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.after newsletter promotionÉtoilePrime Video, 24 April The creators of Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel return with a smart, sharp series about two struggling ballet companies – one in Paris, one in New York – who swap principals in the hope it will revive their fortunes.Charlotte Gainsbourg, Luke Kirby and Simon Callow star.FakeITVX, 20 April From Sweet Bobby to Inventing Anna, scamming stories remain at the heart of the zeitgeist.This Australian series, whose tale of a journalist (Nine Perfect Strangers’ Asher Keddie) falling for a handsome conman is adapted from writer Stephanie Wood’s memoir and mines the subject in a psychologically subtle yet still terrifying fashion.

Joe Lycett’s United States of BirminghamNow & Sky Max, 22 April, 9pm In the battle against London-centricity, comedians such as Lycett are a gift: the 36-year-old has made his beloved Brum a bedrock of his output,In this series, the standup aims to promote the city by visiting its US namesakes (there are 18) to bond with locals and invite some of them back home,I, Jack WrightU&Alibi, 23 April, 9pm This new series from Unforgotten creator Chris Lang is the latest addition to the dynasty drama genre,When rich patriarch Jack (Trevor Eve) dies, his wife and children (Daniel Rigby, John Simm) are flabbergasted by his will – but there are more shocks to come when his cause of death is revealed,RAFatal Fury: City of the WolvesOut 24 April; PC, PS5, Xbox The classic fighting game series from genre stalwart SNK has been absent for more than 20 years, but now it’s back with a raucous new art style, ridiculous special moves and a cast that includes Chun-Li from Street Fighter and, um, Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal.

We’re not kidding.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Out 24 April; PC, PS5, Xbox A classic turn-based role-playing adventure inspired by the French belle époque in which your lusciously clothed heroes must stop a demi-god named the Paintress from bringing death to countless innocents.It boasts an interesting semi-real-time combat system and a turn-of-the-century Europe feel.Keith StuartJulien Baker & Torres – Send a Prayer My Way Out now After first discussing a collaboration back in 2016, American singer-songwriters Julien Baker and Torres, AKA Mackenzie Scott, finally make good on their promise via this 12-track country album.Dirt is a gritty, dustbowl sketch, while the lighter Sugar in the Tank rhapsodises about love over a skipping melody.

Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black BoltzOut now With his art-rock band TV on the Radio continuing to tour intermittently, frontman Adebimpe – who is also an actor – has found the time for this debut solo album,Channelling a more expansive electronic sound, songs such as Drop and Magnetic showcase Adebimpe’s high-wire voice to excellent effect,Beirut – A Study of Losses Out now This seventh album from the New Mexico folk band is their most ambitious to date,Across 18 songs, frontman Zach Condon muses on the disappearance of everything from extinct animal species to lost literary treasures,Covering chamber pop, choral music and ambient, it’s a multilayered opus ripe for discovery.

Keri Hilson – We Need to Talk Out now The R&B practitioner, and hitmaker for the likes of Britney, Usher and Mary J Blige, returns with her first album in nearly 15 years.On this follow-up to No Boys Allowed, Hilson showcases her silky voice on the sultry Bae, while Method Man adds some grit to Searchin’.MCStudio RadicalsPodcast Taking a trip behind the mixing desk, this fascinating series profiles the producers and engineers creating some of modern music’s most influential tracks.Episodes include Björk collaborator Marta Salogni and electronic pioneer Suzanne Ciani.Troubadour of the CaucasusRadio 3, 20 April, 7.

15pm Lucy Ash’s feature on the life and legacy of Ukrainian film director Sergei Parajanov is a tribute to art’s power over authoritarianism.We hear the impact of his experimental work, which landed him in a Soviet prison.George CollierYouTube Musician Collier’s videos seem simple on the surface: providing transcriptions of live performances.Yet within his scores of everything from Coldplay gigs to viral Instagram clips, he reveals the hidden genius behind their improvisational artistry.Ammar Kalia This article was amended on 19 April 2025 to correct a misspelling of the surname of Tom Michell, author of The Penguin Lessons.

politicsSee all
A picture

Nigel Farage defends allowing US chlorinated chicken into UK as part of trade deal

Nigel Farage has defended allowing labelled chlorinated chicken from the US into the UK as part of a trade deal, as a poll suggested his Reform UK party could be on course to take the highest number of seats at a general election.Speaking before the local elections in England on 1 May, Farage said British consumers already ate chicken from places such as Thailand reared in poor conditions, and accepted chlorine-washed lettuce.He told the Sunday Times: “If you have a look at the chicken we are currently importing from Thailand, you look at the conditions they’ve been reared in, and that every single bag of pre-made salad in every single supermarket has been chlorinated … once those basics have been accepted I’ll have a debate with you.”Asked how he would prevent British chicken farmers being undercut by cheap producers from the US, he said: “I want to promote British farming as being a high-end product. I think the growth of farmers’ markets, they are a much more discerning audience that wants to know where their meat comes from

A picture

Two-party politics is dying in Britain. Voters want more than just Labour and Tories | Robert Ford

A byelection in a normally safe Labour seat was Keir Starmer’s first big electoral test as Labour leader. A similar scenario now provides his first test as prime minister. The loss of Hartlepool to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2021 provoked the biggest crisis of Starmer’s time as opposition leader, forcing sweeping changes in personnel and approach. The loss of Runcorn and Helsby to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could be similarly bruising. Labour ought to start as favourites, having won this socially mixed marginal corner of Cheshire by a massive margin less than a year ago

A picture

Tories and Reform use the steel crisis to knock clean energy. They’re wrong: it will secure all our futures| Ed Miliband

The world feels more uncertain and unpredictable just now than at any time in my political lifetime. For Britain – in our values, our approach and our consistency – we owe it to today’s and future generations to be the port in the storm. Nowhere is that more true than on energy and climate. The decisions we take today will shape not just the years ahead but the generations ahead.That is why it is so important that Keir Starmer set out more than three years ago his mission for Britain to become a clean energy superpower

A picture

Cutting business ties with China would be ‘foolish’, Reeves says amid reports of US pressure

Rachel Reeves has dismissed the idea of economically disengaging from China, amid concerns the US may put pressure on the UK to limit its deals with Beijing.The chancellor, who will discuss a trade deal with the US on a trip to Washington next week, said it would be “very foolish” for Britain to have less involvement with Xi Jinping’s administration.The Wall Street Journal reported this week that US officials would attempt to use trade deals and tariff discussions to economically isolate China.Keir Starmer spoke to Donald Trump on Friday about the “ongoing and productive discussions” over a trade deal. It was the first conversation between the British prime minister and the US president since the imposition of 10% tariffs by Washington

A picture

Labour MPs urge Starmer to ‘get out there’ with Trump-style media strategy

Senior Labour figures are urging Keir Starmer to take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book and make more frequent media appearances in an attempt to dominate the political agenda as the US president does.MPs told the Guardian they want the prime minister to act more like Trump, who has upended political convention by televising large parts of his cabinet, holding long bilateral meetings on camera and calling in to live television shows.The strategy is very different from that employed by the prime minister, who has said he wants politics to intrude less in people’s lives, and sometimes goes several days without doing a public appearance.Some in his party believe that Starmer’s safety-first approach to media is ill-suited to modern politics, where the news agenda moves rapidly and traditional outlets have less power than ever.One minister said: “Trump and [the vice-president] JD Vance have shown the advantage of getting out there and not worrying about making mistakes

A picture

‘We need to get back to British’: concern over immigration in Doncaster before local elections

“You can’t fix the system with the same hands that broke it,” Richie Vallance shouted through a megaphone from his mobility scooter. “Let’s make Doncaster Doncaster again,” he yelled at passersby in the city centre, who mostly politely ignored him.Vallance is standing as an independent candidate for mayor in the local elections on 1 May, when all 55 seats on the city’s council will also be up for grabs. The small South Yorkshire city is a key battleground that will be a test of Labour’s resilience in the face of rising public support for Reform UK.Nigel Farage’s party is surging ahead in the polls and in Doncaster there is a good chance it will wrestle control from Labour, which has been in power for nearly 50 years