Superhoe, Brighton Festival 2019 review - a darkly vital one-woman show

★★★★ SUPERHOE, BRIGHTON FESTIVAL 2019 A darkly vital one-woman show

Nicôle Lecky's raw, persuasive play about sex work, social media and female empowerment

Tonight comes with a caveat, delivered before proceedings begin by the one-woman show’s writer and performer Nicôle Lecky, who’s sitting in a chair centre-stage. She damaged her foot during Sunday’s matinee at the Brighton Festival, dancing about, and has since had to do the whole thing seated.

Cathy Wilkes, British Pavilion, Venice Biennale review - poetic and personal

★★★★ CATHY WILKES, BRITISH PAVILION, VENICE BIENNALE Poetic and personal

Deeply personal sculptural installation muses on different generations of women and passing time

Dried flowers like offerings lie atop a gauze-covered rectangular frame. Pebbles surround its base alongside plaster casts, a desiccated dragonfly and an animal foot charm. Their placement is purposeful; their exact significance unclear. Four rib-high figures with moon faces, sausage string necks and wafer-thin bodies face the frame. Three wear golden gowns like devotees or disciples; all bear pendulous, darkly bellying stomachs before them over their clothes.

10 Questions for actress and playwright Nicôle Lecky

10 QUESTIONS Rising star of stage and screen Nicôle Lecky talks grime, feminism, sex work and more

The rising star of stage and screen talks grime, feminism, sex work, Nicki Minaj and SENSE8

Nicôle Lecky’s one woman show Superhoe has added fire to the reputation of an already fast-rising actress and writer. Based around Sasha, a Plaistow girl who aspires to pop stardom, it’s a clear-eyed, very modern play, filled with its central character’s motor-mouthed bravado and examining the Instagram generation’s relationship with sexual objectification. It comes to the Brighton Festival in May.

Mary Quant, Victoria & Albert Museum review - quantities of Quant

★★★ MARY QUANT, V&A The triumph of commerce over snobbery

The triumph of commerce over snobbery

Mary Quant first made her name in 1955 with the wildly fashionable King’s Road boutique Bazaar. Initially selling a “bouillabaisse” of stock it was not until a pair of pyjamas she made was bought by an American who said he’d copy and mass produce them that Quant began dedicating herself to her own designs. Fittingly then, the V&A’s exhibition is not so much about the clothes as the attitude  commerce topped Quant’s priorities, fashion was the means.

Top Girls, National Theatre review - dazzlingly perceptive classic

★★★★★ TOP GIRLS, NATIONAL THEATRE Enjoyable high-definition revival of Caryl Churchill's 1982 feminist classic

Enjoyable high-definition revival of Caryl Churchill's 1982 feminist classic

Caryl Churchill is a phenomenal artist. Not only has she written a huge body of work, but each play differs in both form and content from the previous one, and she has continued to write with enormous creative zest and flair well into her maturity. Now in her 80th year, she can look over her shoulder at a back-catalogue which is stuffed full of contemporary classics, and a handful of masterpieces.

Emilia, Vaudeville Theatre review - shouting for change

★★★ EMILIA, VAUDEVILLE THEATRE Shouting for change

Triumphant, if crude, West End transfer of a heartfelt account of a Renaissance woman

Emilia Bassano Lanier is not a household name. But maybe she should be. Born in 1569, she was one of the first women in England to publish a book of poetry. And she was also a religious thinker, a feminist and the founder of a school for girls. Oh, and a mother too. And maybe, just maybe, at a long stretch, she was also the "dark lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. Anyway, she's a fascinating Elizabethan cypher and you can easily see why Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's account of her life and times was such a hit when it opened at Shakespeare's Globe last August.

Angry Alan, Soho Theatre review - superb monologue about the rise of 'meninism'

★★★★ ANGRY ALAN, SOHO THEATRE Superb monologue about the rise of 'meninism'

Penelope Skinner probes the men's rights movement

Penelope Skinner's monologue was a critical and audience hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, when its talking point found its moment. Here is Roger, a divorced father who lives in Walnut Creek and has lost his senior management job at AT&T, drifting along in middle age, when he discovers Angry Alan, his online saviour. 

I'm Every Woman, JW3, London - a musical celebration of International Women's Day

★★★★ I'M EVERY WOMAN, JW3 A musical celebration of International Women's Day

A journey through womanhood

In one of the award-winning club’s forays from its Camden Town home, Green Note welcomed International Women’s Day with a special one-off concert exploring and celebrating the many ages and stages of being a woman. Three generations of musicians were on stage at North London’s JW3.

Captain Marvel review – Brie Larson is the Avenger we’ve always been waiting for

★★★★ CAPTAIN MARVEL Brie Larson - the Avenger we've always been waiting for

A superhero movie that’s galactic in scale yet refreshingly down to earth

There have been two relatively recent, welcome correctives in what is grandiosely referred to as the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” – a move towards diversity (Black Panther) and a sharp injection of comedy (Guardians of the GalaxyThor: Ragnarok).

CD: Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs

★★★★ CD: STELLA DONNELLY - BEWARE OF THE DOGS Quiet confidence, razor wit

Quiet confidence and razor-sharp wit on Australian singer's excellent full-length debut

Stella Donnelly does not suffer fools gladly. On her debut LP, she calls out all manner of bad behaviours, from crappy bosses to creepy guys, annoying family members to disappointing boyfriends. Donnelly’s very much a part of the new guard of songwriters who aren’t going to sit in silence, and aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves and others.