The Little Mermaid, Bristol Old Vic

Hans Christian Andersen's heroine swims deftly between darkness and light

“The Little Mermaid”, along with many other classic tales, suffers from having been Disneyfied: Hollywood made sure that the shadows darkening Hans Christian Andersen’s original were softened for family viewing and his ambiguous end replaced by American-style positive closure firmly set in the mainstream comfort zone. Simon Godwin’s production pays homage to panto without being tied to the clichés and steers a sensible path between the pain and suffering evoked by the Danish master and the need for a joyful end in which the young lovers live happily ever after.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY Ben Stiller's all-encompassing take on a beloved daydreamer is fun, pacey... and patchy

Ben Stiller's all-encompassing take on a beloved daydreamer is fun, pacey... and patchy

Patchy but visual, actor/director Ben Stiller ignores the Hollywood motto of not remaking anything good to create an all-encompassing take on the daydreamer Walter Mitty.

Sonica, Glasgow

SONICA, GLASGOW You want to know what the future of music looks like? Read on

You want to know what the future of music looks like? Read on

At first it looked like a joke. But, as each muscle spasm, set off by an electric shock, did appear to produce a pained expression in the performer and a subsequent note, one slowly had to accept that these four string quartet players were indeed being electrocuted into performance. The Wigmore Hall, it wasn’t. Sonica, it certainly was.

Hofesh Shechter, Sun, Sadler’s Wells

HOFESH SHECHTER, SUN, SADLER'S WELLS Sunny, with the odd cloud is the forecast for Shechter

Sunny, with the odd cloud is the forecast for Shechter

The first time you see a Shechter piece, you feel it, literally as well as figuratively: percussive is a mild word for his forceful choreography, the stamping, churning, yearning of his sweeping shapes and rhythms. Percussive is the music, too (Shechter played drums in a rock band), which he co-writes, and it is played at volumes that make it vibrate through the theatre.

Bintley Triple Bill, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

BINTLEY TRIPLE BILL, BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET, SADLER'S WELLS David Bintley, a Living National Treasure, should be protected by statute

David Bintley, a Living National Treasure, should be protected by statute

Is David Bintley the one that got away, the wrong turning the Royal Ballet took in the early 1990s? I have long thought so, and watching their current triple bill, the feeling only grows. Bintley trained at the Royal Ballet School, graduated into Sadler’s Wells (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), and became house choreographer for the Royal in 1985.

LFF 2013: Blue Is the Warmest Colour

LFF 2013: BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR One fine relationship film with explicit lesbian sex for frills

One fine relationship film with explicit lesbian sex for frills

Go for the lesbian sex, leave knowing relationships are all the same: that's the nutshell of French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche's explicit, intimate and lengthy drama Blue Is the Warmest Color (aka Le Vie D’Adèle), the Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Crosby Stills & Nash, Royal Albert Hall

CROSBY STILLS & NASH, ROYAL ALBERT HALL Indestructible campaigners can still show the young 'uns a few tricks

Indestructible campaigners can still show the young 'uns a few tricks

There was much to be said for attending the third and final show of Crosby Stills & Nash's Albert Hall stint, because this was the night when they played their debut album in its entirety. Clearly much – almost everything, in fact – has changed since 1969, but though the musicians are four decades older, their original collective spirit survives remarkably intact.

Beyond: Two Souls

Ellen Page shines in a stunning interactive story, but where's the game?

Stunningly good entertainment, interesting art, rubbish game. Beyond: Two Souls does more than any other videogame around to further the cause of interactive narrative fiction – sadly, by jettisoning most of the "interactive" bit.

Drama Matters: Lawless, Sky Living

DRAMA MATTERS: LAWLESS, SKY LIVING Girl power runs riot in new season of one-off dramas

Girl power runs riot in new season of one-off dramas

There's no denying the allure of a well-crafted legal drama, and there's also  probably a hefty swathe of fans pining for the return of Maxine Peake in Peter Moffat's superior Grays Inn yarn, Silk. They will have found plenty to cheer in Suranne Jones's thumpingly enjoyable performance as Lila Pettitt in Lawless [****], one of the female-centric pilot shows in Sky Living's new Drama Matters series.