Signal One review – Dennis Quaid and David Thewlis star in high-concept, low-risk first contact yarn
Sci-fi about the inventor of a device to communicate with aliens, in which scientists spend too much time talking astrophysics at each other
Georg Baselitz review – a final, furious, chaotic reckoning with death
A body falls through the sky, figures flail and thrash, while sagging skin and brittle limbs are scrawled on every work. This is the German painter’s last collection – and it’s both brutal and beautiful
Pink Narcissus review – garish colour and dreamlike images in a homoerotic vision of 60s New York
Flamboyance by Jack Parlett review – a serious study of the spectacular
Book of the day
The End of Everything by M John Harrison review – near-future visions from an SF master
Manchester Camerata review – mental torments build up to a royal meltdown
A clever programme brought a mounting sense of lost grip, from Errollyn Wallen voicing the shame of Hamlet’s Ophelia, to Schumann’s fraught love declaration, and Peter Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs for a Mad King
Atonement review – guilt and love battle for an unhappy ending
This stage version of Ian McEwan’s devastating class novel shows inspiring touches and the cast play adeptly, yet the tale’s emotional sweep feels underpowered
The Marriage of Figaro review – Danielle de Niese’s deft direction weds finery with fun
A touring show was quite a challenge for the opera star’s first directorial gig, but dynamic singing, charismatic orchestral play and clever stage jokes pull it off brilliantly
