Film
A United Kingdom
David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike play lovers on either side of a cultural divide in this grand romance from Belle director Amma Asante. When the king of Bechuanaland marries London office worker Ruth Williams, colonial forces conspire to keep them apart. In cinemas now
Hollywood Dreams Of Scotland
Scottish culture has long provided fodder for the US film industry, and now Glasgow film festival is highlighting some of the best cinematic depictions of the country’s history in honour of St Andrew’s Day. The bill nobly gives Braveheart a wide berth, instead opting for a lineup comprising Highlander, Pixar’s Brave and classic romance Annie Laurie. On Saturday 26 November
Exhibition
Strange And Familiar
Martin Parr is perhaps the most evocative British photographer of our time, so who better to helm a survey of this country’s social and geographical landscape as seen through the lenses of international snappers. First shown at London’s Barbican and now in Manchester, it presents a view of the UK that’s both odd and poignantly ordinary. Manchester Art Gallery, to 29 May
Robert Rauschenberg
This new retrospective at Tate Modern, SE1, is the first major Rauschenberg exhibition in the UK for 35 years; surprising, given how vital and influential the US pop artist’s work now feels. The show includes 1959’s startling Monogram, featuring a stuffed goat girthed by a tyre, along with video of his pioneering fusions of visual art with dance and technology. Tate Modern, SE1, 1 Dec 2016 to 2 Apr 2017
Music
PC Music
The post-ironic pop collective and former Guide cover stars hit London for a show that features Hannah Diamond, AG Cook and more. Heaven, WC2N, 30 Nov
Theatre
Licensed To Ill
With Hamilton validating the concept of a rap musical, this lo-fi (and unofficial) attempt to do a Jersey Boys with the Beastie Boys gets a run in London following a successful debut at Camden People’s Theatre last year. In a way, the Beasties’ thrillingly obnoxious mid-80s incarnation was itself a piece of theatre; allied to a string of fun, rap-along hits it makes them prime candidates for a jukebox musical. Licensed To Ill revels in their clever-dumb antics, without ignoring the hip-hop culture that shaped them. Southwark Playhouse, SE1, 30 Nov to 24 Dec
Books
Tranny: Confessions Of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout
Laura Jane Grace has fronted Florida punk outfit Against Me! since 1997, but it wasn’t until 2012 that she came out as a transgender woman. In this new memoir, she chronicles the reaction, while also dishing the dirt on a life spent in the midst of a rather unsavoury rock scene. Available to buy at bookshop.theguardian.com
Comedy
Vic And Bob: The Poignant Moments Tour
While its title was surely intended as a send-up of heartstring-tugging revivals, there’s nothing shameful in celebrating the life-affirming levity that Vic and Bob’s daft surrealism has brought these past 25 years. Plenty of favourites have been exhumed for this anniversary tour, but the duo’s penchant for competitive improvisation should ward off cosy nostalgia. Nationwide tour until 16 Dec
Online
MTV.com
First it was known for music videos, then it took a left-turn into reality trash. Now MTV has undergone another transformation, into – gasp! – a serious news media organisation. OK, that’s overstating things a little: the channel’s Teen Mom-saturated TV schedules remain. Yet it’s a different story over on MTV’s website, which offers up some excellent US election coverage – including Brian Phillips’s fine essay on how the Republicans became postmodern, as well as a strong roster of podcasts covering everything from feminism to film to, yep, music.
Television
Rillington Place
John Christie murdered eight women in his west London flat in the 1940s and 50s. Ten Rillington Place went down in history as a house of horrors, and now the Beeb returns to the scene of the crime with this three-part drama. The stellar cast includes Tim Roth and Samantha Morton as Christie and his wife Ethel. BBC1, Tuesday 29 Nov
