From Rumours to Rosé: a complete guide to the week’s entertainment in the UK | Culture

exit: Cinema

Rumors
Out now
Starring Cate Blanchett as Hilda Ortmann, the German Chancellor, and Charles Dance as Edison Walcott, the President of the United States, plus a host of other acting talent such as the rest of the G7, this dark comedy sees a bunch of world leaders lost in the woods during a global crisis.

Unstoppable
Out now
Produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, this sports biopic stars Jarrell Jerome as Anthony Robles, the wrestler who was born with one leg and won the 2011 NCAA Individual National Wrestling Championship.

night bitch
Out now
Amy Adams is in wild form as a stay-at-home mom who finds herself evolving, or perhaps regressing, to a primal state as the relentless grind of her existence wears her down. And we’re not talking metaphorically: she begins to literally transform into a dog. Drama by Mariel Heller.

To become a girl
Out now
Written and directed by Rungano Nyoni, this drama set in Zambia premiered at Cannes earlier this year, where it won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section. Exploring the darkest secrets of a middle-class family, the death of an uncle leads to a reflection on how the need to protect the image of abusers comes before the well-being of women. Catherine Bray

exit: Concerts

Jacob Collier
AO Arena, Manchester, December 8; O2, London, 9 December
has worked with everyone from SZA to Stormzy, garnering Grammy nominations in the process, including album of the year for February’s unusual opus Djesse Vol 4. Expect an exuberant live performance featuring plenty of crowd interaction. Michael Cragg

London Contemporary Music Festival
Hackney Church, London, 11 to 14 December
Places may change, but the character of this festival never changes. With another event in January, the four concert days this month feature more than 30 premieres, from the experimental to the staunchly modernist, and often exploring areas of new music overlooked the rest of the year. Andrew Clements

Elina Duni and Rob Luft
Jazz at Lescar, Sheffield, December 11; Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, 12 December
Jazz-inclined singers are free to interpret respected material as they wish, and Duni is one of Europe’s most delicate representatives. Her duo with creative British guitarist Rob Luft explores European, American, Kosovar, Albanian and original songs. John Fordham

Janis and Yau
December 9-11; the tour starts in Manchester
In 2016 Foals frontman Yanis Philippakis recorded with respected Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. While their jam sessions were crafted into songs over two more sessions, Allen passed away in 2020 before they could be completed. Not only did Philippakis complete them on August’s Lagos Paris London EP, but he’s now playing them on stage. MC

exit: Art

Bettina von Zwell
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until 11 May
Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum has its roots in the 17th century when it began as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’, a collection of wonders of all kinds, animal, plant and human. Von Zwell has immersed herself in the surviving treasures of this primal museum and created a photographic tribute to it.

Versailles
Science Museum, London, December 12 until April 21
When you think of the palace built for Louis XIV outside Paris, what do you picture – classical architecture, Marie Antoinette playing shepherdess in the gardens, or the peace treaty signed there after World War I? This exhibition reveals the lesser-known history of Versailles as a center of early modern science.

Keeping time
Wallace Collection, London, until 2 March
The Wallace Collection, possibly the best place outside of France to get a taste of French art and design before the 1789 Revolution, takes a close look at the ornate clocks made by André-Charles Boulle in the 1600s and early 1700s and connects them with paintings including Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time.

Apostolos Georgiou
Mostyn, Llandudno, until 25 January
This Greek artist has something in common with the German artist Georg Baselitz – he even sometimes turns his paintings upside down. Which is to say, he is an expressionist with a sense of irony. It depicts sleeping people, awakened by nightmares, lying in hospital beds. Introspective, intriguing scenes. Jonathan Jones

exit: Stage

Katie Norris
The Jesters, Bath, December 7; Soho theatre, London, December 11-14
As one half of the sketch duo Norris and Parker, Katie Norris’ comedy is characterized by a certain sinister darkness. Now she brings that same sensibility to her debut solo stand-up show, which covers bad dates, Gen Z roommates and the life of a childless catwoman. Unlike Kamala and Taylor, however, this reinstatement of the label involves an actual sexual fetish for cats. Rachel Aroesti

The Nutcracker in Havana
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 10-15 December
Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta stages a traditional Christmas ballet with a twist: instead of being set in snowy Central Europe, this one takes us to sunny Havana. Performed by members of Acosta’s Havana-based company, it transforms Tchaikovsky’s score with danceable Cuban rhythms to create truly danceable music. Lindsay Winship

Cyrano
Park Theatre, London, December 11 until January 11
She is a charmer, but are the words hers? Virginia Gay’s heartfelt, gender-bending retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac has delighted the Edinburgh environs. Now this tale of desire and deception comes to North London, just in time for a nice Christmas treat. Kate Weaver

Robin Hood
The Egg, Bath, until 11 January
do you hear that It’s the sound of rebellion raging in the forest as our hesitant hero Rob leads the fight for a better, brighter world. Daniel Bai’s adaptation celebrates above all courage, adventure and justice. KW