Rewrite
From exhibitions on Zanele Muholi, Martin Creed and Frank Auerbach to powerful new plays, films and dance performances, here are our top tips for a marvellous month ahead
Zanele Muholi: Sawubona at Yancey Richardson, New York: Until May 23, 2025
In New York, a newly opened exhibition at Yancey Richardson offers visitors a rare chance to discover five early series of photographs by the fêted artist Zanele Muholi, whose work explores and celebrates Black, queer life in their native South Africa. Made between 2002 and 2013, these works reveal Muholi’s foundational quest to empower their subjects with images that project “affirmation, dignity and joy rather than struggle, tragedy or trauma.” Featured series include Muholi’s first project Only Half the Picture – fragmented snapshots of survivors of hate crimes shown in repose – and Beulahs, comprising tender portraits of queer couples.
Frank Auerbach at Galerie Michael Werner, Berlin: May 3 – June 28, 2025
Berlin is brimming with must-see exhibitions this month, timed to coincide with the German capital’s Gallery Weekend. One such show is the first posthumous exhibition of the late, great painter Frank Auerbach – which also happens to be the artist’s first exhibition in the city he was born in, and from which he fled Nazi persecution as a child. Curated by the art historian Catherine Lampert, Auerbach’s close friend and longtime sitter, the show presents a retrospective overview of the artist’s paintings and drawings, spanning impastoed urban landscapes and gestural portraits, through a remarkable self-portrait completed shortly before Auerbach’s death in November of last year.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at The Met, New York: May 10 – October 26, 2025
As this year’s Met Gala spectacle signifies, The Costume Institute’s annual spring exhibition is upon us once again. This time around, the New York institution will present “a cultural and historical examination of Black style … through the concept of dandyism” with Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Spanning the 18th century to today, the display will comprise garments, accessories, paintings, photographs, decorative arts and much more besides to investigate “the importance of style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora”, with a particular focus on the US and Europe. Expect to see everything from original Zoot suits to elaborate couture owned by André Leon Talley, to excellent exoskeleton tailoring by Ib Kamara for Off-White.
An upcoming show at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery will bring together over 130 works by more than 80 artists for a fascinating contemplation of the creative relationships that have shaped the last 120 years of British art. Featuring work by the likes of Lucian Freud, Lubaina Himid, Lee Miller, David Hockney and Paula Rego, the show will shine a light on “friendships and emulation”, as well as “homages to earlier artists, through intimate portrayals” – think: Tracey Emin in the guise of Frida Kahlo. After all, in the words of photographer Jenny Lewis, “Even when portraying others, it seems the search is motivated by the need to understand yourself.”
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers at the Guggenheim, New York: Until January 18, 2026
Back Stateside, Rashid Johnson’s new exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York makes for essential viewing – and, happily, is on display until January of next year. Johnson’s diverse practice draws on history, philosophy, literature and music to deliver shrewd musings on racial and cultural identity. This major show unites some 90 works from across the Chicago-born artist’s almost 30-year career – from black-soap paintings and spray-painted text works to large-scale sculptures and video works – foregrounding his role as “a scholar of art history, a mediator of Black popular culture, and as a creative force in contemporary art”.
Bex Wade: I Know Who I Am By Being With You at SLQS Gallery, London: Until May 17, 2025
“This work is a love letter to the queer nights that held me,” says trans non-binary photographer Bex Wade of the pictures that make up their first solo exhibition documenting New York’s queer nightlife in the early 2010s. “Under the strobes and amongst the sweat, we found each other. We made ourselves visible, irrepressible, undeniable.” Now on display at London’s SLQS Gallery, the photographs are as evocative and affirming as Wade’s description of the nights that spawned them – a vital archive of “moments where LGBTQIA+ people [have] come together to celebrate, resist and redefine belonging”.
Kaari Upson: Doll House – a Retrospective at Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek: May 27 – October 26, 2026
When American artist Kaari Upson passed away in 2021 at the age of 51, she left behind “a rich, intense and strongly personal body of work that revolves around identity, body, relationships, emotions, illness and loss.” Now, in the first retrospective since her death, the Louisiana Museum will honour this remarkable artist who employed sculpture, drawing, performance, film and painting to examine the connection between the self and others, between our inner worlds and external realities. Upson’s work is both fantastical and entirely on-the-nose, reflecting “the many hidden layers, traumas and complexity of modern American society” and making for particularly timely viewing.
E-WERK Luckenwalde, the power-station-turned-art-space just outside of Berlin, will soon present Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death, the 2016 film by US artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa, in its Turbine Hall. A collage of self-shot footage plus clips from films, newscasts, sporting events, music videos, and citizen videos, the film is a stirring study of Black history and experience in America across the 20th century that will be well worth the train ride to see on the big screen.
Elliott Erwitt: Last Laughs at Staley-Wise Gallery, New York: May 15 – August 2, 2025
No one could encapsulate the inherent comedy of everyday life quite like the late US image-maker Elliott Erwitt. A master of canny composition, the photographer frequently raised a smile, or even elicited a chuckle, with his whimsical works. Now, two years after his death, the photojournalist’s gallery, Staley-Wise, is showcasing a selection of his funniest shots, captured in elegant black and white over the course of his storied career. From characterful dogs (an Erwitt favourite) to entertaining encounters in art galleries, the show is a tribute to Erwitt’s warm-witted – and keen-eyed – zest for life.
Martin Creed: Everything is Going to be Alright at Camden Arts Projects: May 9 – June 29, 2025
Londoners in search of such cheer, head to Camden Arts Projects – a new art space located in a former Methodist church – for a dose of British artist Martin Creed’s signature optimism. There, a new exhibition from the 2001 Turner-prize winner will offer up “a thoughtful exploration of comfort, vulnerability, and the ephemeral nature of reassurance.” From the neon sign declaring “Everything is going to be alright”, which will take pride of place on the building’s facade, to Creed’s playful installation Half the Air in a Given Space, where visitors can frolic in a room full of inflated balloons, the show looks set to deliver some much-needed levity.
Tom of Finland and Reverse Alchemy at Die Tankstelle, Berlin: May 2 – June 14, 2025
A final Berlin highlight comes courtesy of another new gallery space, set within a 1950s gas station. Die Tankstelle is a partnership between Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin, whose inaugural exhibitions at the space include a display dedicated to the inimitable 20th-century queer erotic artist Tom of Finland (bulging crotches and biker jackets, incoming), and Reverse Alchemy, a show bringing together works on paper by three artists of different generations – Jean Dubuffet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Nava – each of whom has “transgressed and disrupted the language of figuration.”
Gabriel Moses: Selah at 180 Studios, London: Until July 27, 2025
At 180 Studios, be sure to catch the new show from rising British photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Moses, who at the age of 26 has already shot campaigns and music videos for Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior, Nike, Travis Scott, Skepta and more. Stylistically, Moses’s output is defined by an opulent use of colour and sparse narrative context, while thematically, it often reflects on cultural signifiers, memory and personal history, especially the important role played by women in Moses’s life. This exhibition is the largest of Moses’s work to date, comprising 70 photographs and 10 films that spotlight his unique and utterly captivating approach to image-making.
This month is full of fantastic live performances and productions. At Soho Place from May 12, book your tickets for The Fifth Step, ascendent playwright David Ireland’s dark and provocative comedy starring Jack Lowden as Luka, a new member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Martin Freeman as his older sponsor, Jack. Stereophonic, the play with the most Tony awards to date, will enjoy its West End premiere Duke of York’s Theatre from May 24 to October 11. Written by David Adjmi, and featuring original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, it is the fictionalised account of the making of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s storied 1977 album.
At the Bush Theatre from May 6–17, meanwhile, catch the world premiere of Speed, which sees playwright Mohamed-Zain Dada join forces once again with director Milli Bhatia following the success of their Olivier-Award-nominated drama Blue Mist at the Royal Court in 2023. Set during a speed awareness course, the play homes in on a nurse, a delivery driver, and an entrepreneur, united by a bubbling anger.
Charleston Festival returns to the idyllic grounds of the former Bloomsbury Group bolthole in Lewes, East Sussex from May 14–26. This year’s line-up is a particularly good one, with highlights ranging from talks by the Russian activist Yulia Navalnaya and the American writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay; Richard E Grant telling tales of his life and career in a conversation with actor and writer Ruth Jones, and a new commission from writer, artist and activist Travis Alabanza. Plus a major multi-artform commission to celebrate the centenary of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, featuring Deborah Levy, Edmund de Waal and more.
Dance aficionados are sure to enjoy THE HEAT, a visceral and absurd dance-theatre piece by London-based artist and choreographer Becky Namgauds at Sadler’s Well from May 22–23. Inspired by Paula Rego’s Dog Woman paintings (picture: wild hair, bared teeth and raw physicality), the production sees an intergenerational all-female cast upend all preconceptions of placid domesticity. Last but not least, don’t miss A Night With Boy Blue – Generation Blue, an endlessly uplifting celebration of “the pioneers of hip hop dance theatre – and their creative mission to ‘Educate, Enlighten, Entertain’”, at The Barbican from May 10–11.
This month’s most anticipated films include steamy erotic thriller Motel Destino from Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, which sees a young man fleeing from a mob boss take refuge at a roadside sex hotel, with transformative results. For further thrills, make sure to see Hallow Road by British-Iranian director Babak Anvari. Set almost entirely during an urgent car ride, it follows married couple Maddie and Frank as they race to reach their teenage daughter in the wake of a traffic accident. Tensions, twists and moral quandaries ensue. For a slower-paced but no less compelling drama, don’t miss Chiang Wei and You Qiao Yin’s Mongrel – the story of an undocumented Thai migrant working as a caregiver for elderly and disabled people in rural Taiwan.
Good One, the debut feature from US writer-director India Donaldson, is a slow-burn coming-of-age story that follows 17-year-old Sam as she embarks on a three-day hiking trip with her father and his oldest friend, learning plenty of home truths along the way. Filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson returns with When the Light Breaks, a quietly powerful drama set over the course of a long summer’s day, during which a young woman wrestles with the news of the sudden death of her first love. Wes Anderson is back too, with espionage black comedy The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio del Toro as a wealthy businessman who appoints his only daughter, a nun, the sole heir to his estate. Soon, the tycoon’s latest enterprise places them both in imminent danger – and an epic Andersonian caper unfolds.
Top of the list of this month’s unmissable documentaries is Ocean With David Attenborough, the British wildlife documentarian’s latest deep-dive, zooming in on the Earth’s magical undersea habitats, and exposing the terrifying threats they face. Then there’s E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, Beatrice Minger and Christoph Schaub’s compelling docu-drama paying tribute to the life and legacy of the pioneering Irish architect and designer Eileen Gray. Finally, be sure to see Riefenstahl by Andres Veiel, which shines fascinating light on Leni Riefenstahl, the German filmmaker who achieved worldwide notoriety with her Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will but “kept denying any closer ties to the regime”.
For May’s most exciting new eateries and events, look no further. This month marks the opening of Town on Drury Lane, a forward-looking restaurant championing sustainable British produce. By investing in and growing alongside farmers dedicated to progressive and regenerative approaches, chef and restaurateur Stevie Parle is pioneering a new kind of relationship with growers. From May 12, the fruits of his labour will be plated up for guests in the form of tempura sage leaves drizzled in chilli and home-cultivated honey; day boat crudo with tomato water and Todoli grapefruit; Romney Marsh hogget served with Chianti and anchovy butter, and much more.
At the Capital Hotel in the heart of Knightsbridge, acclaimed chef Tom Brown has just lifted the curtain on his new flagship restaurant, Tom Brown at The Capital. Platforming “flavour-forward dishes with a deep-rooted focus on sustainably sourced seafood”, Brown and his team take a “nose-to-tail” approach that embraces underused cuts and unexpected pairings. The menu opens with perfectly paired-back offerings such as mussels, port and beetroot, charcuterie and an oyster, while main courses include cuttlefish “tortellini” crafted entirely from fish, and John Dory served with roast chicken and asparagus.
In need of a little Parisian joie de vivre? Then book yourself in to enjoy Levan and Bar Levan’s Paris a Londres series. Taking place on May 18, the latest iteration will see Thomas Vicente, co-owner of Le Verre Volé – Canal-St-Martin’s favourite wine bar – join forces with British chef Alice Newman to serve up a lunch menu of Le Verre Volé staples, followed by an afterparty at Bar Levan. Diners can expect to enjoy everything from boudin blanc with mashed potato to cappelletti de cervelle de veau, beurre blanc au safran. Délicieux.
Located in the former home and studio of the painter Sir John Lavery, newly opened South Kensington restaurant and cafe The Lavery has been garnering rave reviews. A daily-changing menu centred around “Mediterranean seasonality and influences from the British Isles” includes such tasty-sounding dishes such as pappardelle with slow cooked rabbit, tomato, bay, green olive and chilli; Scottish scallops served with alubia beans, radicchio, marjoram, caper, anchovy; and pork chop paired with braised endive, Dijon and tarragon.
For fabulous Greek fare from a Michelin-trained chef, meanwhile, head to Myrtos, a brand new restaurant opening on Brompton Road on May 12. Imbuing Greek classics with an elevated modern edge, their chef Asimakis Chaniotis will present a taverna-style sharing menu, with highlights including taramosalata finished with trout roe and dill oil, lamb belly and pickled turnip skewers, and lobster giouvetsi galore.
Or if it’s a singularly sumptuous Sunday brunch you’re after, check out the new, dedicated menu at Hakkasan Mayfair, made up of contemporary Cantonese dishes that are sure to delight. Tuck into a crispy duck salad and a tantalising trio of steamed dim sum or clear away the cobwebs with a plate of stir-fried, black-pepper rib-eye beef, finished with a dash of Merlot. Bottom’s up!
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From exhibitions on Zanele Muholi, Martin Creed and Frank Auerbach to powerful new plays, films and dance performances, here are our top tips for a marvellous month ahead
Zanele Muholi: Sawubona at Yancey Richardson, New York: Until May 23, 2025
In New York, a newly opened exhibition at Yancey Richardson offers visitors a rare chance to discover five early series of photographs by the fêted artist Zanele Muholi, whose work explores and celebrates Black, queer life in their native South Africa. Made between 2002 and 2013, these works reveal Muholi’s foundational quest to empower their subjects with images that project “affirmation, dignity and joy rather than struggle, tragedy or trauma.” Featured series include Muholi’s first project Only Half the Picture – fragmented snapshots of survivors of hate crimes shown in repose – and Beulahs, comprising tender portraits of queer couples.
Frank Auerbach at Galerie Michael Werner, Berlin: May 3 – June 28, 2025
Berlin is brimming with must-see exhibitions this month, timed to coincide with the German capital’s Gallery Weekend. One such show is the first posthumous exhibition of the late, great painter Frank Auerbach – which also happens to be the artist’s first exhibition in the city he was born in, and from which he fled Nazi persecution as a child. Curated by the art historian Catherine Lampert, Auerbach’s close friend and longtime sitter, the show presents a retrospective overview of the artist’s paintings and drawings, spanning impastoed urban landscapes and gestural portraits, through a remarkable self-portrait completed shortly before Auerbach’s death in November of last year.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at The Met, New York: May 10 – October 26, 2025
As this year’s Met Gala spectacle signifies, The Costume Institute’s annual spring exhibition is upon us once again. This time around, the New York institution will present “a cultural and historical examination of Black style … through the concept of dandyism” with Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Spanning the 18th century to today, the display will comprise garments, accessories, paintings, photographs, decorative arts and much more besides to investigate “the importance of style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora”, with a particular focus on the US and Europe. Expect to see everything from original Zoot suits to elaborate couture owned by André Leon Talley, to excellent exoskeleton tailoring by Ib Kamara for Off-White.
An upcoming show at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery will bring together over 130 works by more than 80 artists for a fascinating contemplation of the creative relationships that have shaped the last 120 years of British art. Featuring work by the likes of Lucian Freud, Lubaina Himid, Lee Miller, David Hockney and Paula Rego, the show will shine a light on “friendships and emulation”, as well as “homages to earlier artists, through intimate portrayals” – think: Tracey Emin in the guise of Frida Kahlo. After all, in the words of photographer Jenny Lewis, “Even when portraying others, it seems the search is motivated by the need to understand yourself.”
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers at the Guggenheim, New York: Until January 18, 2026
Back Stateside, Rashid Johnson’s new exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York makes for essential viewing – and, happily, is on display until January of next year. Johnson’s diverse practice draws on history, philosophy, literature and music to deliver shrewd musings on racial and cultural identity. This major show unites some 90 works from across the Chicago-born artist’s almost 30-year career – from black-soap paintings and spray-painted text works to large-scale sculptures and video works – foregrounding his role as “a scholar of art history, a mediator of Black popular culture, and as a creative force in contemporary art”.
Bex Wade: I Know Who I Am By Being With You at SLQS Gallery, London: Until May 17, 2025
“This work is a love letter to the queer nights that held me,” says trans non-binary photographer Bex Wade of the pictures that make up their first solo exhibition documenting New York’s queer nightlife in the early 2010s. “Under the strobes and amongst the sweat, we found each other. We made ourselves visible, irrepressible, undeniable.” Now on display at London’s SLQS Gallery, the photographs are as evocative and affirming as Wade’s description of the nights that spawned them – a vital archive of “moments where LGBTQIA+ people [have] come together to celebrate, resist and redefine belonging”.
Kaari Upson: Doll House – a Retrospective at Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek: May 27 – October 26, 2026
When American artist Kaari Upson passed away in 2021 at the age of 51, she left behind “a rich, intense and strongly personal body of work that revolves around identity, body, relationships, emotions, illness and loss.” Now, in the first retrospective since her death, the Louisiana Museum will honour this remarkable artist who employed sculpture, drawing, performance, film and painting to examine the connection between the self and others, between our inner worlds and external realities. Upson’s work is both fantastical and entirely on-the-nose, reflecting “the many hidden layers, traumas and complexity of modern American society” and making for particularly timely viewing.
E-WERK Luckenwalde, the power-station-turned-art-space just outside of Berlin, will soon present Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death, the 2016 film by US artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa, in its Turbine Hall. A collage of self-shot footage plus clips from films, newscasts, sporting events, music videos, and citizen videos, the film is a stirring study of Black history and experience in America across the 20th century that will be well worth the train ride to see on the big screen.
Elliott Erwitt: Last Laughs at Staley-Wise Gallery, New York: May 15 – August 2, 2025
No one could encapsulate the inherent comedy of everyday life quite like the late US image-maker Elliott Erwitt. A master of canny composition, the photographer frequently raised a smile, or even elicited a chuckle, with his whimsical works. Now, two years after his death, the photojournalist’s gallery, Staley-Wise, is showcasing a selection of his funniest shots, captured in elegant black and white over the course of his storied career. From characterful dogs (an Erwitt favourite) to entertaining encounters in art galleries, the show is a tribute to Erwitt’s warm-witted – and keen-eyed – zest for life.
Martin Creed: Everything is Going to be Alright at Camden Arts Projects: May 9 – June 29, 2025
Londoners in search of such cheer, head to Camden Arts Projects – a new art space located in a former Methodist church – for a dose of British artist Martin Creed’s signature optimism. There, a new exhibition from the 2001 Turner-prize winner will offer up “a thoughtful exploration of comfort, vulnerability, and the ephemeral nature of reassurance.” From the neon sign declaring “Everything is going to be alright”, which will take pride of place on the building’s facade, to Creed’s playful installation Half the Air in a Given Space, where visitors can frolic in a room full of inflated balloons, the show looks set to deliver some much-needed levity.
Tom of Finland and Reverse Alchemy at Die Tankstelle, Berlin: May 2 – June 14, 2025
A final Berlin highlight comes courtesy of another new gallery space, set within a 1950s gas station. Die Tankstelle is a partnership between Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin, whose inaugural exhibitions at the space include a display dedicated to the inimitable 20th-century queer erotic artist Tom of Finland (bulging crotches and biker jackets, incoming), and Reverse Alchemy, a show bringing together works on paper by three artists of different generations – Jean Dubuffet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Nava – each of whom has “transgressed and disrupted the language of figuration.”
Gabriel Moses: Selah at 180 Studios, London: Until July 27, 2025
At 180 Studios, be sure to catch the new show from rising British photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Moses, who at the age of 26 has already shot campaigns and music videos for Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior, Nike, Travis Scott, Skepta and more. Stylistically, Moses’s output is defined by an opulent use of colour and sparse narrative context, while thematically, it often reflects on cultural signifiers, memory and personal history, especially the important role played by women in Moses’s life. This exhibition is the largest of Moses’s work to date, comprising 70 photographs and 10 films that spotlight his unique and utterly captivating approach to image-making.
This month is full of fantastic live performances and productions. At Soho Place from May 12, book your tickets for The Fifth Step, ascendent playwright David Ireland’s dark and provocative comedy starring Jack Lowden as Luka, a new member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Martin Freeman as his older sponsor, Jack. Stereophonic, the play with the most Tony awards to date, will enjoy its West End premiere Duke of York’s Theatre from May 24 to October 11. Written by David Adjmi, and featuring original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, it is the fictionalised account of the making of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s storied 1977 album.
At the Bush Theatre from May 6–17, meanwhile, catch the world premiere of Speed, which sees playwright Mohamed-Zain Dada join forces once again with director Milli Bhatia following the success of their Olivier-Award-nominated drama Blue Mist at the Royal Court in 2023. Set during a speed awareness course, the play homes in on a nurse, a delivery driver, and an entrepreneur, united by a bubbling anger.
Charleston Festival returns to the idyllic grounds of the former Bloomsbury Group bolthole in Lewes, East Sussex from May 14–26. This year’s line-up is a particularly good one, with highlights ranging from talks by the Russian activist Yulia Navalnaya and the American writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay; Richard E Grant telling tales of his life and career in a conversation with actor and writer Ruth Jones, and a new commission from writer, artist and activist Travis Alabanza. Plus a major multi-artform commission to celebrate the centenary of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, featuring Deborah Levy, Edmund de Waal and more.
Dance aficionados are sure to enjoy THE HEAT, a visceral and absurd dance-theatre piece by London-based artist and choreographer Becky Namgauds at Sadler’s Well from May 22–23. Inspired by Paula Rego’s Dog Woman paintings (picture: wild hair, bared teeth and raw physicality), the production sees an intergenerational all-female cast upend all preconceptions of placid domesticity. Last but not least, don’t miss A Night With Boy Blue – Generation Blue, an endlessly uplifting celebration of “the pioneers of hip hop dance theatre – and their creative mission to ‘Educate, Enlighten, Entertain’”, at The Barbican from May 10–11.
This month’s most anticipated films include steamy erotic thriller Motel Destino from Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, which sees a young man fleeing from a mob boss take refuge at a roadside sex hotel, with transformative results. For further thrills, make sure to see Hallow Road by British-Iranian director Babak Anvari. Set almost entirely during an urgent car ride, it follows married couple Maddie and Frank as they race to reach their teenage daughter in the wake of a traffic accident. Tensions, twists and moral quandaries ensue. For a slower-paced but no less compelling drama, don’t miss Chiang Wei and You Qiao Yin’s Mongrel – the story of an undocumented Thai migrant working as a caregiver for elderly and disabled people in rural Taiwan.
Good One, the debut feature from US writer-director India Donaldson, is a slow-burn coming-of-age story that follows 17-year-old Sam as she embarks on a three-day hiking trip with her father and his oldest friend, learning plenty of home truths along the way. Filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson returns with When the Light Breaks, a quietly powerful drama set over the course of a long summer’s day, during which a young woman wrestles with the news of the sudden death of her first love. Wes Anderson is back too, with espionage black comedy The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio del Toro as a wealthy businessman who appoints his only daughter, a nun, the sole heir to his estate. Soon, the tycoon’s latest enterprise places them both in imminent danger – and an epic Andersonian caper unfolds.
Top of the list of this month’s unmissable documentaries is Ocean With David Attenborough, the British wildlife documentarian’s latest deep-dive, zooming in on the Earth’s magical undersea habitats, and exposing the terrifying threats they face. Then there’s E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, Beatrice Minger and Christoph Schaub’s compelling docu-drama paying tribute to the life and legacy of the pioneering Irish architect and designer Eileen Gray. Finally, be sure to see Riefenstahl by Andres Veiel, which shines fascinating light on Leni Riefenstahl, the German filmmaker who achieved worldwide notoriety with her Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will but “kept denying any closer ties to the regime”.
For May’s most exciting new eateries and events, look no further. This month marks the opening of Town on Drury Lane, a forward-looking restaurant championing sustainable British produce. By investing in and growing alongside farmers dedicated to progressive and regenerative approaches, chef and restaurateur Stevie Parle is pioneering a new kind of relationship with growers. From May 12, the fruits of his labour will be plated up for guests in the form of tempura sage leaves drizzled in chilli and home-cultivated honey; day boat crudo with tomato water and Todoli grapefruit; Romney Marsh hogget served with Chianti and anchovy butter, and much more.
At the Capital Hotel in the heart of Knightsbridge, acclaimed chef Tom Brown has just lifted the curtain on his new flagship restaurant, Tom Brown at The Capital. Platforming “flavour-forward dishes with a deep-rooted focus on sustainably sourced seafood”, Brown and his team take a “nose-to-tail” approach that embraces underused cuts and unexpected pairings. The menu opens with perfectly paired-back offerings such as mussels, port and beetroot, charcuterie and an oyster, while main courses include cuttlefish “tortellini” crafted entirely from fish, and John Dory served with roast chicken and asparagus.
In need of a little Parisian joie de vivre? Then book yourself in to enjoy Levan and Bar Levan’s Paris a Londres series. Taking place on May 18, the latest iteration will see Thomas Vicente, co-owner of Le Verre Volé – Canal-St-Martin’s favourite wine bar – join forces with British chef Alice Newman to serve up a lunch menu of Le Verre Volé staples, followed by an afterparty at Bar Levan. Diners can expect to enjoy everything from boudin blanc with mashed potato to cappelletti de cervelle de veau, beurre blanc au safran. Délicieux.
Located in the former home and studio of the painter Sir John Lavery, newly opened South Kensington restaurant and cafe The Lavery has been garnering rave reviews. A daily-changing menu centred around “Mediterranean seasonality and influences from the British Isles” includes such tasty-sounding dishes such as pappardelle with slow cooked rabbit, tomato, bay, green olive and chilli; Scottish scallops served with alubia beans, radicchio, marjoram, caper, anchovy; and pork chop paired with braised endive, Dijon and tarragon.
For fabulous Greek fare from a Michelin-trained chef, meanwhile, head to Myrtos, a brand new restaurant opening on Brompton Road on May 12. Imbuing Greek classics with an elevated modern edge, their chef Asimakis Chaniotis will present a taverna-style sharing menu, with highlights including taramosalata finished with trout roe and dill oil, lamb belly and pickled turnip skewers, and lobster giouvetsi galore.
Or if it’s a singularly sumptuous Sunday brunch you’re after, check out the new, dedicated menu at Hakkasan Mayfair, made up of contemporary Cantonese dishes that are sure to delight. Tuck into a crispy duck salad and a tantalising trio of steamed dim sum or clear away the cobwebs with a plate of stir-fried, black-pepper rib-eye beef, finished with a dash of Merlot. Bottom’s up!
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