The Week UK 01Feb2020

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1February2020 THE WEEK

The List

Showingnow

Faustus: That Damned

WomanPlaywright Chris Bush

reimagines theFaust mythin

this radicalnewproduction,in

which the eponymous character

is awoman. Until22February,

LyricHammersmith, London

W6; then Birminghamandon

(headlong.co.uk).

Portraying Pregnancy

Spanningfivecenturies–from

aHolbeinsketch of Thomas

More’sdaughtertoAwol

Erizku’s 201 7photograph

of apregnant Beyoncé–this

exhibitionchartsthe artistic

representationofanexperience

that“unites women across

history”(FT). TheFoundling Museum, London

WC1 (foundlingmuseum.org.uk),until 26 April.

Book now

Aubrey Beardsley,atTate Britain,isthe

largestexhibitionin 50 years of drawings by

“the badboy offin-de-siècle

London”,whodied aged just25

(Guardian).4March-25May,

Tate Britain, London SW1 (tate.

org.uk).

NorthernBallet’s50th

anniversarycelebrations

continue withGeisha,anew

work by composer Alexandra

Harwoodandchoreographed

by Kenneth Tindall, about two

geisha drawn intoacollision

between East andWest.

Premieres at Leeds Grand

Theatre on 14 March,then

touring until 16 May

(northernballet.com).

Just out in paperback

Around theWorldin80Trainsby Monisha

Rajesh (Bloomsbury £9.99). Rajesh’s firstbook

recounted“a 25,000-mileodyssey”around

India;this time,she details an “enthralling swirl

of culturesand landscapes” acrossEurope, Asia

andNorth America (Guardian).

TheNeapolitanNovelsby

ElenaFerrante, 2 012-2 015

(EuropaEditions£12.99 each,

or£49.15 fortheboxset).I

realisethatthisisfourbooks

rather thanone,butI’m

cheatingbecauseFerrante

needs tobeswallowed up

whole.Iadorethe forensic

passionwithwhichshe writes

aboutfemale friendship,rage

and love,andthe wayinwhich

she adoptsthe style ofaclassic

19thcenturynovelinorder to

turn the malegazeinonitself.

The Bonfireof theVanities

byTomWolfe, 1987 (Vintage

£10.99).Ireadthisnovelon

my firsttrip toAmerica and

wasblownaway bythefizzing

energy of Wolfe’sprosestyle.

Iwasayoungjournalist,and

Iloved the way hewasableto

blendthebestbits ofnarrative

reportagewiththe best bits of

fiction tocreateapropulsive

plot,fullof colourandverve.

Americanahby Chimamanda

NgoziAdichie, 2013

(Fourth Estate£8.99).Epic

inscaleanddeeply human

inresonance,Americanahis

abrilliant dissection ofrace,

class,immigration and kinship.

It’salsoawonderful read.

Roget’sThesaurusbyPeter

MarkRoget,1852(Penguin

£10.99).I’vehadmy copy of

Roget’ssinceIwas17,andit

hashelped andfascinated me

inequalmeasure sincethen.I

adore the richness ofwords

andthe clevernessofsynonyms

andIdon’tthinkPeterMark

Roget ishonouredenough for

thisremarkableachievement.

Testamentof YouthbyVera

Brittain, 1933 (Virago£14.99).

Ireadthisastonishingmemoir

whenresearchingmysecond

novel,HomeFires,partof

whichdealtwiththefemale

experienceoftheFirst World

War.Therewas,Isoon

discovered, vanishinglylittle

writtenaboutit otherthanthis

book,whichisaprofoundly

compellingaccount ofthe

personalcostofwar.(I also

likedhowmuchattention

Vera Brittain paid toher

clothes–someof her

most enthusiasticsentences

concernthe particularpower

of apolkadot.)

Bestbooks... Elizabeth Day

The bestselling author andcreator ofthehit podcastHowtoFailWith

ElizabethDaychoosesherfavourite books. Herlatest,HowtoFail(Fourth

Estate£9.99)–part memoir, part manifesto–isout nowin paperback

The Week’s guide to what’s worth seeing and reading

Beardsley’s The Black Cape (1893)

Television

Programmes

AustraliaonFire:Climate

EmergencyDramatic

accountofthewildfiresastold

byfirefighters,wildlifeexperts

andpeoplewholosttheir

homes.Withdronefootageof

thedevastatedlandscape,the

filmalsoexploresthewider

concernsofclimatechange.

Mon3Feb,C420:00(60mins).

MaryBeard’sShockofthe

NudeTheclassicist’switty,

personaltakeonthenudein

artthroughtheages,covering

everythingfromclassical

sculpturetocontemporary

photography.Mon3Feb,

BBC221:00(60mins).

BaghdadCentralSetin

2003 afterthefallofSaddam

Hussein,thistensesix-part

dramaopenswithanIraqi

formerpoliceinspectortrying

tofindhisestrangeddaughter.

Mon3Feb,C422:00(60mins).

HomeSeasontwoofthe

gentlesitcomaboutaSyrian

refugeelivingwithafamilyin

Dorking.Samiisstillwaiting

forhisrighttoremain,buthis

patienceiswearingthin.Wed

5Feb,C422:00(30mins).

SecretsOfTheMuseumA

look behind thescenes at the

V&A, exploring the treasures in

itscollections. Part one takes

us inside Kylie Minogue’s 2007

tour dressing room. Thur

6Feb, BBC2 20:00 (60mins).

Films

HiddenFigures(2016)

Osc ar-n ominated drama about

three female mathematicians,

dealing with sexism and

racism while working for Nasa

in the 1960s. Sat1Feb, C4

21:00 (145mins).

WindRiver(2017)Thriller

set onafrozen reservation in

Wyoming,withJeremy Renner

and Elizabeth Olsen. Wed

5Feb, Film4 21:00 (130mins).

Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020-3176 3835. For out-of-print books visit biblio.co.uk

Comingup for auction

Nell Gifford, the creative

powerhouse behind Giffords

Circus, died in December, but

her passion for circus life is

celebrated in an exhibition

and auction of her paintings,

IntoaLandofPureMagic.

Her exuberant depictions of

horses and acrobats start

from £250. Exhibition 20-27

February, online auction

10-28 February; Olympia

Auctions, 25 Blythe Road,

London W14

(olympiaauctions.com).

The Archers:what happened last week
In protest at The Bull’s name change, Eddie and Lynda make plans for an alternative Burns Night
event. On an evening out together, an exhausted Natasha snaps at Tom. She later apologises and
says she wants to move her business to Ambridge to cut down on commuting–they could share
work space. When Kirsty confesses to Philip that the wedding plans are stressing her out, he says
they can call it all off. Later, Helen asks Kirsty if this is what she really wants. Ian and Lee have an
awkward meeting. Jim, Jazzer and Alistair head to Harold Jayston’s funeral but, in the end, Jim
can’t face it. As Rex brings his pigs to the abattoir,afarmer accuses him of stealing his trailer; later,
when Rex and Toby check the chassis number, they find it has been removed. Jim visits Jayston’s
grave and encounters Michael, another of his victims; they talk. Rejoining Alistair and Jazzer,
Jim says it’s time to go home. The Bull’s Burns Bop isaflop, so Tracyand Roman slink off to the
Grundy’s party. Kirsty says shedoeswant to marry Philip after all, but with just the two of them.
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