What's on: out and about

EVENTS

Literary festivals

Nationwide
Throughout October

Head to the Cheltenham Literature Festival (7-16 Oct) for a stellar line-up with speakers including Richard Coles, Bono, Stanley Tucci, Graham Norton, Clive Myrie, Raynor Winn, Mary Berry and our very own Alan Johnson. You’ll also hear Alan at the Isle of Wight Literary Festival (6-9 Oct), while actor Brian Cox and Vogue editor Edward Enninful are at the Cliveden Literary Festival (15-16 Oct). And, in what is the month for literary festivals, there are ones in Birmingham (6-9 Oct), Dorchester (15-22 Oct) and London (20-30 Oct), too.

EXHIBITION

Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt

The British Museum, London
13 Oct 2022-19 Feb 2023, then on tour Mar 2023-Feb 2024

The ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs for everything from romantic poetry to shopping lists and this exhibition marks 200 years since they were first deciphered by scholars – an achievement that finally gave a unique insight into one of the world’s oldest and most fascinating civilisations. Bringing together 240 objects, the exhibition will be at London’s British Museum until next February before going on a national tour.

THEATRE

Good

Harold Pinter Theatre, London
6 Oct-24 Dec

He’s in BBC1 thriller Inside Man and ITV drama Litvinenko this autumn, and has just finished filming a second series of Amazon Prime’s Good Omens, but former Dr Who star David Tennant has still found time to fit in an 11-week run on the West End stage. He stars in a reimagining of CP Taylor’s acclaimed play Good as a German professor who descends into Nazism. Book tickets here.

EXHIBITION

Lucian Freud: New Perspectives

The National Gallery, London
1 Oct 2022-22 Jan 2023

It’s 100 years since iconic British artist Lucian Freud was born, and to mark the centenary, the first major exhibition of his work in 10 years is opening at the National Gallery in London. The landmark show will feature more than 60 works spanning seven decades, charting the development of the late figurative painter through early pieces such as Girl With Roses (1947-8) to his intimate painting of his daughters, Bella and Esther (1987-88).

LIVE EVENTS

Black History Month

Nationwide
1-31 Oct

A Black History Bus Tour showing London’s top tourist attractions from an African/Caribbean perspective is one of the many events being held for Black History Month, which celebrates black history, heritage and culture. The biggest African fashion catwalk in the UK is at the centre of Africa Fashion Week in London, while in Leicester, BHM Live showcases emerging black talent in poetry, music, art and textiles. Manchester hosts an Empowered to Lead conference bringing together black female professionals, and author Bernardine Evaristo will be speaking at Warwick Arts Centre on 9 October. The theme is Time for Change: Action Not Words. Find a full list of events here.

EXHIBITION

The EY Exhibition: Cezanne

The Tate Modern, London
5 Oct 2022-12 Mar 2023

Matisse once said ‘Cézanne is the father of us all’; Monet described him as ‘the greatest of us all’; and Picasso called him ‘my one and only master’. This new exhibition at the Tate Modern, London, charts the extraordinary influence Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) had on younger artists as he laid the foundations for 20th- century modern art, breaking the rule book with his many still-lifes, landscapes and paintings of bathers. Set to showcase the broad scope of Cézanne’s work, it will feature 80 pieces, including some never seen before in the UK, such as The Basket of Apples (c.1893).

BOOK NOW

Spike

On tour until 26 November

Tormented comedian Spike Milligan is the subject of this play set in the Forties and Fifties and written by Nick Newman and Private Eye Editor Ian Hislop. It focuses on his early days as a comic when he battled with the BBC over The Goon Show while suffering from the after-effects of fighting in the Second World War. Book tickets here.

EXHIBITION

To Be Read at Dusk: Dickens, Ghosts and the Supernatural

Charles Dickens Museum, London
5 Oct 2022-5 Mar 2023

Charles Dickens created some of the most enduring fictional ghosts in literature in A Christmas Carol – which sees Ebenezer Scrooge visited by four spirits – and this new exhibition will explore the author’s intense interest in the paranormal. Opening just in time for Hallowe’en, the showcase explores the spooky apparitions that appear in many of Dickens’ works, not least the 20 ghost stories he wrote from 1836 onwards. Letters, objects, posters and books on display reveal how Dickens enjoyed creating eerie scenes and how much he admired ghostly fiction.

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