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.

Mustonen, Nakariakov, BBCSO, Oramo, Barbican

New chief conductor sets out his stall with an orchestra on impressive form

This was Sakari Oramo's first concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra since taking over as chief conductor. Of course he knows the orchestra well already, but it was important to make this a good ’un, and so it 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.

Grand Theft Auto V

GRAND THEFT AUTO V State-of-the-art gaming on an epic scale

State-of-the-art gaming on an epic scale

If you think games are for kids, or not art, or beneath you – read on. Grand Theft Auto V, while flawed in many ways, proves you wrong. The latest in the controversial and 18-rated series has already broken first-day sales records for just about every artistic medium ever. Huge numbers of adults across the UK will be sitting down to play it tonight. Take that, Hollywood. Or, Vinewood, as the game would have it.

Farragut North, Southwark Playhouse

Max Irons and Rachel Tucker play dirty in Beau Willimon's drama of political shenanigans

They’re eating out of the palm of his hand. Or so he thinks. Stephen Bellamy is a spin doctor, only 25 years old but already a hotshot in American electioneering. At the off, in Beau Willimon’s fictionalised drama about modern-day Machiavels, Bellamy is presuming to manipulate the press, in Iowa's primary, with hubristic confidence. Two Democratic presidential candidates are going head-to-head. It's Morris versus Pullman and, in order to keep Morris leading in the polls, Bellamy and his boss – the campaign manager, Paul Zara – are about to dish some dirt on Pullman, without any qualms.