1 January
MUSIC Floating Factors
HERE at Outernet, London
New 12 months’s Eve is clearly an enormous evening within the clubbing calendar, however the next night is a surprisingly large deal, too. This sure-to-be transcendental six-hour set from Sam Shepherd – whose intelligent, refined and atmospheric digital music makes him the considering individual’s producer (the actual fact he has a PhD in neuroscience additionally helps) – is good for these decided to delay the second chilly January actuality units in. Rachel Aroesti
2 January
ART Frida Kahlo
Reel Store, Coventry, to 29 Jan
The lifetime of this nice Mexican artist was made for an immersive spectacular. Injured by an accident that left her with growing disabilities, married passionately however painfully to the muralist and revolutionary Diego Rivera – there’s heaps to point out and inform on this multimedia extravaganza based mostly on her diaries. There aren’t any work, however maybe Kahlo’s life was her true artwork. Jonathan Jones
3 January
THEATRE Nativity! The Musical
The Rep, Birmingham, to 7 Jan
Can a musical tackle a nationwide treasure standing? Nativity! is getting fairly shut. It’s written and directed by Debbie Isitt, who penned the smash-hit movie, set at a main faculty within the run-up to Christmas. Birmingham Rep’s manufacturing brims with vitality, humour and coronary heart, and boasts a cracking younger forged, robust lead actors, glowing songs and a colour-pop design. Miriam Gillinson
4 January
FILM I Wanna Dance With Any person
Out now
Biopics about large pop stars should decide: do you forged the actor who can sing or the actor who can act? This take a look at the lifetime of the New Jersey choirgirl who went on to turn into a world-famous actor and chart-topping singer has gone for the latter choice in Naomi Ackie, presumably as a result of Whitney Houston’s voice was fairly merely a one-off (the voice you’ll hear within the singing scenes in Kasi Lemmons’ rousing movie is Whitney herself). Catherine Bray
5 January
ART Lucian Freud: New Views
National Gallery, London, to 22 Jan
The work of this contemporary genius will stick with you. Every is an eye-popping encounter. The very good revelation of Freud’s early work on this epic present units his life in a brand new gentle: the exact, nearly spooky precision of his Nineteen Fifties portraits exhibits he deserved higher fame, sooner. However nothing beats his towering late portrayals of Leigh Bowery, Nicola Bateman and Sue Tilley. JJ
6 January
MUSIC Rockaway Seaside pageant
Butlin’s Bognor Regis, to 8 Jan
Music festivals aren’t only for (soggy) summers: this Bognor-based occasion boasts a lineup match for any season. Come for the headliners – Self Esteem, Peter Hook & the Gentle, Orchestral Manoeuvres within the Darkish (plus particular company Yard Act) – depart charmed by the small-font acts, together with punk trio Massive Joanie and the mesmerisingly eclectic Soften Your self Down. RA
7 January
JAZZ Alan Barnes performs Charlie Parker
Peggy’s Skylight, 6pm & 8.30pm, Nottingham
Essentially the most evocative tributes to previous giants are private ones, not makes an attempt to imitate the inimitable. American saxophonist Charlie Parker grew to become a messiah to fashionable jazz followers within the Forties, opening up a dance-oriented Nineteen Thirties artwork type to deeper implications and transformative flights with out sacrificing its blues roots. UK sax virtuoso Alan Barnes, a grasp of splicing the favored and the non-public, is a perfect information to Parker’s magic. John Fordham
8 January
STAGE RuPaul’s DragCon
ExCeL, London, starts 6 Jan
With the identify of the world’s most well-known drag queen on the door, DragCon UK will cram a stellar lineup of greater than 100 drag favourites (Child, Black Peppa, Cheddar Beautiful, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Raven, Jinkx Monsoon, Heidi N Closet and plenty of extra) into the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands, for a weekend-long jamboree. Count on panels, performances and, after all, merchandising. CB
9 January
COMEDY One Lady Present
The Ambassadors theatre, London, to 21 Jan
Liz Kingsman of sketch troupe Huge Dad has struck gold with this completely judged parody of a latest theatrical pattern: a monologue a couple of chaotic millennial lady that’s merely begging to be become a sitcom. Glowing opinions and restricted runs meant tickets had been like hen’s tooth final yr, however this West Finish switch will give greater crowds the possibility to revel on this very well timed satire. RA
10 January
FILM Empire of Gentle
In cinemas from 9 Jan
From director Sam Mendes comes a romance set within the Nineteen Eighties, starring Olivia Colman. The Empire of Gentle is a humble native cinema, so get able to ponder the attract of the silver display (see additionally: The Fabelmans, Babylon). A cynic may counsel there are such a lot of movies about cinema out this month as a result of we’re heading into Oscar season and Hollywood merely likes to self-mythologise, however one other rationalization is that we’re residing via the dying days of the big-screen expertise, so why not get pleasure from some elegantly heartfelt eulogies? CB
11 January
ART Turner prize 2022
Tate Liverpool, to 19 Mar
January is a time for the coolness breath of actuality, a hungover meditation on the bleakness of all of it – a greater second, maybe, than the Christmassy interval that’s simply gone to ponder the Turner prize. There’s a lot right here to wake you up, with winner Veronica Ryan’s refined poetry, Ingrid Pollard’s investigations of a scarred historical past, Sin Wai Kin’s deconstructions of id, and Heather Phillipson’s baroque enjoyable. JJ
12 January
COMEDY Josie Lengthy
Various venues, to 28 Sep; tour starts The Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow
Scan the present titles in her again catalogue – Making an attempt Is Good, Kindness and Exuberance, Be Honourable! – and Lengthy’s MO turns into instantly apparent: mixing socialist polemic with feverish positivity and childlike marvel is what the 40-year-old does greatest. New present Re-Enchantment stays on an identical tip, telling of how the amiable standup’s agitating spirit has been rejuvenated by a latest transfer to Glasgow, the primary cease on this UK tour. RA
13 January
DANCE Cirque du Soleil: Kurios
Royal Albert Hall, London, to 5 Mar
The European premiere of Kurious, from the Canadian mega-circus troupe. The setting is a steampunk-inspired world, which is arguably a bit behind the curve, trend-wise, however this firm frequently attracts the world’s greatest, most eye-boggling acrobats, contortionists, trampolinists and extra, with top-level circus expertise and lavish units, lights and costumes. Lyndsey Winship
14 January
CLASSICAL Disney’s Fantasia in Live performance
Brangwyn Corridor, Swansea, 14 Jan; St David’s Corridor, Cardiff, 15 Jan
Ever because it was first seen in 1940, successive generations of kids have first skilled classical music via watching Fantasia. Whether or not it was Mickey Mouse because the sorcerer’s apprentice to Dukas’s rating, or life on earth evolving to the soundtrack of Stravinsky’s Ceremony of Spring, Walt Disney’s animations gave indelible imagery to the classics. Now the BBC Nationwide Orchestra of Wales heightens the expertise once more, performing the music dwell to accompany a screening of the movie. Andrew Clements
15 January
THEATRE The Unfriend
Criterion theatre, London, to 16 Apr
Staff Sherlock (Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat) have reunited for a viciously humorous and darkish play, blissfully devoid of festive schmaltz. Effectively-to-do Peter and Debbie dwell a really tidy and respectable life in west London. Above all, they’ve beautiful manners. Then a Trump-loving and fairly presumably murderous houseguest comes to remain. A top-notch forged is led by Reece Shearsmith, Amanda Abbington and Frances Barber. MG
16 January
FILM Tár
In cinemas from 13 Jan
With some actors it may not imply very a lot to counsel {that a} efficiency is a profession greatest, however within the case of Cate Blanchett it isn’t one thing you’d wish to say evenly. Nonetheless, we’re going proper forward and doing precisely that: her efficiency in Todd Discipline’s edgy drama concerning the meteoric fall of a world-famous classical music icon is nothing in need of miraculous. Give her each prize going. CB
17 January
COMEDY John Mulaney
Various venues, to 27 Jan; tour starts Waterfront Hall, Belfast
Mulaney is a giant deal within the US, a Saturday Evening Reside author turned standup star with the flexibility to straddle worlds: he’s an old-school entertainer and an web sensation, a traditional observational comedian and an alternate stalwart, a imaginative and prescient of suited-and-booted slickness and a recovering drug addict. Now he’s bringing his tales of his time going off the rails to the UK for a brief tour. RA
18 January
ART Marcus Harvey
Wellington Arch, London, to 19 Mar
This Younger British Artist of the Nineties brought about shock and sensation with a giant portray of Myra Hindley made of kids’s handprints. The controversy over that’s forgotten now and Harvey places lots of vitality into instructing and theorising portray at his Turps Banana artwork faculty. Right here he takes on historic figures together with Wellington and Blair in satirical ceramics. JJ
19 January
MUSIC Celtic Connections
Various venues, Glasgow, to 5 Feb
This whopping, city-wide fest celebrates Celtic music – and, this yr, its thirtieth anniversary – with performances from greater than 500 artists. It is going to be no shock to study that conventional folks music may be very properly represented, however this outward-looking, future-facing occasion additionally caters for various tastes, with loads of indie (Mull Historic Society, the Twilight Unhappy), jazz (Penguin Cafe), Americana (Lucinda Williams) and world (Vieux Farka Touré) on provide. RA
20 January
DANCE Julie Cunningham & Firm: how did we get right here?
Sadler’s Wells, London, to 29 Jan
The Spice Women have made quite a lot of post-chart profession strikes, from excessive vogue (Posh) to breakfast radio (Child) to TV road-tripping with Ruby Wax (Scary). However was anybody anticipating a swerve into experimental up to date dance? Melanie Chisholm (AKA Sporty) joins forces with left-field choreographer Jules Cunningham and sensible dancer Harry Alexander in a brand new piece based mostly on the lifetime’s price of experiences they’ve absorbed into their our bodies. LW
21 January
COMEDY Stewart Lee
Various venues, to 2 Jul; tour starts Festival theatre, Chichester
Following an prolonged London residency, standup’s meta maestro begins a mammoth nationwide tour in Chichester right this moment along with his new present Primary Lee. Billed as a simplified revamp of the comedian’s densely layered model, it’s one other cruel, frantically self-reflexive and reliably hilarious dissection of the tropes and cliches of the comic’s craft. RA
22 January
CLASSICAL Tan Dun’s Buddha Ardour
Royal Competition Corridor, London
Tan Dun’s music has frequently tried to deliver collectively japanese and western musical traditions. However Buddha Ardour, first carried out in Dresden in 2018, guarantees to be his most formidable fusion thus far, drawing on Chinese language and Sanskrit texts to current the legends of Buddhism throughout the framework of a Bach Ardour, with a quartet of solo voices, refrain and the composer himself conducting the London Philharmonic. AC
23 January
THEATRE Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons
Harold Pinter theatre, London, to 18 Mar
Parliament has launched a invoice that forbids folks from talking greater than 140 phrases a day. What’s going to this do to a younger couple in love? Sam Steiner’s debut play made a huge impact when it premiered in 2015 – and feels much more pertinent right this moment, because of Twitter’s affect. Starring Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman and directed by Josie Rourke. MG
24 January
FILM Babylon
In cinemas from 20 Jan
Diego Calva stars as Manny Torres, a Mexican-American would-be actor hoping to work his option to the highest of Tinseltown, in Damien Chazelle’s sprawling epic set in Hollywood when the business was making the thrilling however painful swap out of the silent period into the courageous new world of sound. The galaxy of stars rounding out a glitzy forged right here contains Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Jean Sensible. CB
25 January
ART Elizabeth Value
The Hunterian, Glasgow, to 16 Apr
The ghosts of Glasgow’s industrial previous are reanimated by Value’s paranoiac creativeness. She dwells on previous images of the town’s once-thriving carpet business, in addition to working with Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh to create her personal textile. Her inventive imaginative and prescient is a potent mixture of socially engaged analysis and gothic fantasy, so dive in for a New 12 months draught of the darkish stuff. JJ
26 January
THEATRE Titus Andronicus
Shakespeare’s Globe: Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London, to 15 Apr
The candlelit Sam Wanamaker theatre is a fascinating and sometimes magical venue however, with the suitable materials, it will possibly additionally create an intense and unsettling environment. It’s an intriguing backdrop for certainly one of Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedies, a couple of betrayed Roman normal who seeks justice the one means he is aware of how: tooth for tooth and limb for limb. Katy Stephens is Titus, and Jude Christian directs. MG
27 January
MUSIC Mighty Hoopla Massive Weekender
Butlin’s Bognor Regis, to 30 Jan
There’s no such factor as too tacky, too camp or too kitsch at this weekend-long shindig, whose nostalgia-heavy lineup lurches between 90s chart heroes (Mel C, 5ive, Honeyz), ITV expertise present stars (Liberty X, Michelle McManus) and 80s powerpop (Belinda Carlisle). Prime off all that rose-tinted backwards glancing with a sweaty voyage of self-discovery helmed by the most important names in queer membership tradition: Horse Meat Disco and Sink the Pink. RA
28 January
FILM The Fabelmans
In cinemas from 27 Jan
Movie-makers appear to be in memoir mode this decade, with lots of large names releasing fictionalised variations of a interval of their lives, from Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast to Joanna Hogg’s The Memento I and II and James Grey’s elegant Armageddon Time. Now welcome to the clubHere, one Steven Spielberg crafts a semi-autobiographical love letter to cinema that basically capabilities as his personal origin story. CB
29 January
JAZZ Ian Shaw and Claire Martin
Pizza Express Jazz Club, London
The longstanding vocal partnership between singer-pianist Shaw and Martin celebrates the artwork of tune from many angles, reframing the nice American songbook of 50s/60s Broadway classics alongside stylish up to date pop from Burt Bacharach, David Bowie, Stevie Surprise and Joni Mitchell. Shaw brings a soul-jazzy earthiness to a jazz programme, Martin brings the custom of Billie Vacation and Ella Fitzgerald to recent life. JF
30 January
THEATRE Sylvia
The Old Vic, London, to 1 Apr
Sadler’s Wells, the Outdated Vic and ZooNation: The Kate Prince Firm have joined forces to create this hotly anticipated hip-hop musical celebrating the lifetime of Sylvia Pankhurst, the lesser-known Pankhurst on the coronary heart of the suffragette motion. Starring Beverley Knight and Sharon Rose as mom and daughter Emmeline and Sylvia, and with authentic music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde. MG
31 January
MUSIC Abba Voyage
Abba Arena, London, to Nov
The long run has arrived – soundtracked, considerably unexpectedly, by the Nineteen Seventies smash hit-makers. This digital live performance residency – carried out by avatars of the group as they regarded in 1977 – has confirmed to be gentle – years forward of any naff hologram nonsense. The ensuing live performance, which mixes iconic tunes with deep cuts and new materials, is each an exhilarating style of tomorrow and a reminder of a 50-year-old band’s enduring greatness. RA
