Critics’ choices What to see this week
THEATRE I THINK WE ARE ALONE by Dominic Cavendish
An ingenious, compelling play by Sally Abbott – presented by Frantic Assembly – looking with humour and pathos at a bunch of interrelated Londoners who feel alone and lost, contending with various griefs and trying to lay ghosts to rest.
Theatre Royal Stratford East, London E15 (020 8534 0310), until Mar 21
FILM MILITARY WIVES by Ed Power
Director Peter Cattaneo ( The Full Monty) returns with another tear-jerking, feelgood hit, based on the true story of a choir of servicemen’s spouses. It’s saved from descending into mush by winningly unsentimental performances from Sharon Horgan and Kristin Scott Thomas.
12A cert, 113 min
JAZZ DAVE HOLLAND by Ivan Hewett
The world’s most celebrated jazz bassist has teamed up with pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Johnathan Blake for the most eagerly awaited jazz album of the year, Without Deception. The trio celebrate its release with three days at Ronnie Scott’s.
Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London W1 (020 7439 0747), tomorrow-Weds
POP BRYAN FERRY by Neil McCormick
The veteran lounge lizard is back crooning through classic art-pop hits. At 74, Ferry still qualifies as a pin-up.
De Montfort Hall, Leicester (bryanferry.com), tomorrow and touring
OPERA FIDELIO by Rupert Christiansen
Tobias Kratzer’s pretentious new staging muddles the narrative of Beethoven’s opera, but Lise Davidsen is sublime in the title role, alongside a starry cast including Jonas Kaufmann.
Royal Opera House, London WC2 (0207 304 4000), tomorrow, Fri and March 17
CLASSICAL HALLÉ ORCHESTRA by Ivan Hewett
Is there any way to refresh Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, the most hackneyed piece in classical music? Yes, invite brilliant theatre practitioner Gerard McBurney to recreate the world that gave birth to it, in a “dramatic exploration” of the composer’s life with live actors and visual projections. Which is, of course, exactly what the Hallé Orchestra has done.
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (0161 907 9000), Weds mat, Thurs eve and March 15 mat
COMEDY AUSTENTATIOUS by Tristram Fane Saunders
This improv troupe’s Austen parody started out as a tiny show in a room above a pub, but now it is a spoof universally acknowledged. A silly title suggested by the audience inspires a new period drama each night.
Fortune Theatre, London WC2 (0844 871 7626), in rep every Mon until July 27
EXHIBITIONS AMONG THE TREES by Alastair Sooke
This smart, urgent show of contemporary art is full of startling and moving things, including a 4,000-year-old yew still standing in a British churchyard, and a forest growing underground.
Hayward Gallery, London SE1 (020 3879 9555), until May 17