LFF 2013: Mystery Road

LFF 2013: MYSTERY ROAD Ivan Sen's smouldering evocation of some shameful Australian history

Ivan Sen's smouldering evocation of some shameful Australian history

Awful crimes are being committed in an Australian outback town: young girls murdered, and dumped in culverts. But what makes it worse for Aboriginal detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), newly returned to his small hometown from the city, is the barely coded and bare-faced racism he encounters, from his cop colleagues most of all; the sense that these girls, because they’re Aboriginal too, don’t matter.

Adult Supervision, Park Theatre

Class and race collide in a new play set on the night of Obama's 2008 election victory

It's often a sign of a good drama when, as it concludes, you find it hard to tell which character you dislike most. And so it is with Adult Supervision - all the way through, first-time playwright Sarah Rutherford skilfully manipulates your allegiances, causing your sympathies to shift and shift again until there is no one left to be redeemed.

CD: Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

CD: MILEY CYRUS - BANGERZ What could possibly live up to the hype?

What could possibly live up to the hype?

I am increasingly finding it almost impossible to express just how bored I am by Miley Cyrus. I mean, seriously, are we really in such a fix that this guff is a serious talking point? A second-generation celebrity and former child star seems to be going off the rails a bit? OH REALLY, GOSH, THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE, PLEASE TELL ME MORE. A young female celebrity is flashing her parts? SWEET BABY JESUS ON A BORIS BIKE THIS IS AMAZING. A white pop star is crassly adopting the tropes of black culture? WOW NO WAY, YOU'RE LITERALLY SHITTING ME.

Ronny Chieng, Soho Theatre

Refreshingly original material from Australian newcomer

Newcomer Ronny Chieng doesn't waste any time trying to get the audience on his side. He outlines his interesting ethnic background – born in Malaysia to Chinese parents, several years spent in the United States and Singapore, and he did a law degree in Australia - but that mix is distilled into his Chinese ethnicity and its innate superiority to anything Western.

He says he's tried reclaiming the word 'chink', in the style of black rappers and the n-word

Matt Okine, Soho Theatre

MATT OKINE, SOHO THEATRE Australian comedy newcomer makes a confident debut

Australian newcomer makes a confident debut

Australian stand-up Matt Okine made his UK debut at the Edinburgh Fringe last month and earned himself a best newcomer nomination in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, to add to his best newcomer award at 2012's Melbourne Comedy Festival (jointly won with Ronny Chieng). He's certainly an assured performer, even if his observational humour relies too heavily on the everyday in Being Black & Chicken & S#%t.

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington, BBC Two/MLK: The Assassination Tapes, BBC Four

Fifty years after his most famous speech, two very different documentaries consider Dr King's legacy

It was only today I learned that, for copyright reasons, it is impossible to use Martin Luther King’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech in its entirety without paying a hefty licensing fee to his estate. That knowledge made it easier to understand why a new documentary to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington seemed to gloss over its figurehead’s famous words.

Petrushka/ Song of a Wayfarer/ Raymonda, English National Ballet, London Coliseum

PETRUSHKA/ SONG OF A WAYFARER/ RAYMONDA, ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET, LONDON COLISEUM Tribute to Nureyev is a richly entertaining evening

Tribute to Nureyev is a richly entertaining evening

A magical folktale, a male duet, a classical jewel-box - programmes like this should be a rich part of the warp and weft of a ballet company, a night of rich interest and variety, stimulating dancers with challenges to their grace and storytelling skills. That it comes as the briefest glimpse in English National Ballet’s year is truly a pity, especially as it pays tribute to that superlative catalyst in ballet, Rudolf Nureyev.

Josephine and I, Bush Theatre

JOSEPHINE AND I, BUSH THEATRE Cush Jumbo avoids the obvious in a nuanced celebration of Josephine Baker

Cush Jumbo avoids the obvious in a nuanced celebration of Josephine Baker

Cush Jumbo could very easily have put on a hit show about Josephine Baker. There would have been a chorus line of flappers, replete with spangles and feathers. She would have belted out some of the more enduringly popular hits from Baker’s glory days in Paris. Perhaps the infamous banana skirt would even have made an appearance in what could, essentially, have been a crowd-pleasing jukebox musical.

The Color Purple, Menier Chocolate Factory

THE COLOR PURPLE, MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY John Doyle's reworking of the Broadway musical sets the soul soaring

John Doyle's reworking of the Broadway musical based on Alice Walker's acclaimed feminist novel sets the soul soaring

A joyful noise? Hell, yes. Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-winning 1982 feminist novel set in Georgia and spanning more than 30 years is crammed with suffering, injustice and cruelty. But in its characters’ journeys towards a realisation of identity – racial, sexual, spiritual – it is glorious.

Easy Money

EASY MONEY Crime pays very badly in multi-layered Swedish thriller

Crime pays very badly in multi-layered Swedish thriller

Based on Jens Lapidus's novel Snabba Cash (great title, even if it is meaningless to English-speakers), Easy Money is yet further evidence of the allure of the Scandi way of looking at the world. It's ostensibly a crime thriller, featuring healthy doses of violence and drug-dealing, but equally it's an examination of class warfare, divided loyalties and racial tension. It all adds up to a portrait of Stockholm and Swedish society which blows open comfortable assumptions about Scandinavia being some kind of benign social paradise.