FRIDAY 8th April – SUNDAY 10th April

Staying on track
Who you’re sat next to on a long journey can make or break the trip. We all have our own unique experiences of this. But when it’s a multi-day journey from Moscow to the Arctic Circle, this serendipitous pairing takes on further significance. This is the backdrop for Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes Grand Prix winning film Compartment No. 6, which is being screened at Barbican’s cinema as it finally debuts in the UK.

Based on Rosa Liksom’s 2011 novel of the same name, this film adaptation stars Seidi Haarla as Finnish student Laura and Yuri Borisov as Russian miner Lyokha, the protagonists thrown together in the spring of 1998. This chance encounter between the two occupants of compartment no. 6 arouses something within them both, forming a bond they never expected and will never forget.

Back of the net
Turns out, football has come home. To London’s Design Museum specifically, whose current exhibition takes a deep dive into the technicalities and craftsmanship that goes into making the beautiful game.

Guiding visitors behind the scenes both on and off the pitch, this exhibit explores everything from the design innovation used to create today’s kits to the graphic design skills used to shape a club’s identity, the architecture of the world’s most iconic stadiums and how grassroots initiatives are reacting against the sport’s commercialisation. Curated in partnership with the National Football Museum in Manchester, Football: Designing the Beautiful Game opens this weekend bringing together over 500 artefacts, films and interviews that shed light on how the sport came to be what it is today.

Football: Designing the Beautiful Game runs at The Design Museum until August 29th, more info here. 

Get down
We’ve been waiting (not very) patiently for Wet Leg’s debut record to land, and today is the day. Packed with bouncy riffs, sharp humour and the sort of hooks you’ll find yourself humming indefinitely, the Isle of Wright duo have hit it out of the park with a stunning debut. Celebrating the launch, they’ll be at Rough Trade East today for a double celebration: a matinee show at 12:00 followed by an evening performance at 18:00. Tickets include a physical copy of the album which Wet Leg will on hand to sign. Real fans will do both shows.

Wet Leg play Rough Trade East on Friday 8th at 12:00 and 18:00 – tickets here.

A true horror
Eight years after his daring stage breakthrough with King Charles III that saw a fictional Prince Charles wreak havoc on his rise to the throne, Mike Bartlett is back with his next audacious offering. Reuniting with director Rupert Goold to produce The 47th, a dark comedy imagining the 2024 US Elections in which Donald Trump is back in the running – in other words, a dystopian nightmare. British Olivier Award winner Bertie Carvel will star as Trump, and having played Rupert Murdoch in James Graham’s Ink a couple of years ago, this man is no stranger to taking on a terrifying tycoon.

The 47th runs at the Old Vic until May 28th, more info here. 

Very Jazzy
Now in its fourth year, NOW Gallery’s Young Artist Commission has become a key platform showcasing up-and-coming talent. This year, Joy Yamusangie has transformed the North Greenwich space into the fictional Feeling Good Jazz club, conjured via her vivid illustrations and ephemeral subject matter. Bringing to life the conversations shared between punters in a bar, this series of paintings on fabric and paper are soundtracked by an immersive original jazz score to really set the mise-en-scéne. There’s even a piano centre stage for visitors to play – so if you’re a dab hand on the keys head down and do your best Thelonious Monk impression.

Feeling Good runs at NOW Gallery until June 5th, more info here.

Not quite how mama used to make
Following a series of successful pop-ups across the city, Manteca found its permanent home on Curtain Road in November with an ethos focused on nose-to-tail cooking, hand-rolled pasta and fire-cooked cuts to share. It’s a carnivore’s heaven as the menu offers up their infamous pig skin ragu alongside pig head fritti and a creamy strozzapreti alla norcina, but if you’re veggie fear not because the kale sauce rigatoni hits just the spot. This imaginative Italian menu is best enjoyed with a large glass of their house wine and some good company – get booking.

Manteca is located at 29-51 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT, more info here.