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The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( March 04, 2023 [View in browser](   The news is unremittingly bleak right now, so it’s nice to be able to [recommend a show]( that feels like a ray of sunshine. Sheridan Smith is back on stage in Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine, and it’s the[most uplifting evening](at the theatre I’ve had so far this year. It’s directed by Matthew Dunster, the man behind West End superhit 2:22 A Ghost Story (his next project is The Pillowman with Lily Allen), and he seems to have the golden remedy right now for pure audience entertainment. Read my [five-star review]( and bag your tickets before it totally sells out. Perhaps the biggest moment of the week was [Ken Bruce’s final sign off from Radio 2](, after over three decades in the mid-morning slot. For this week’s State of the Arts, Helen Brown wrote about [how he’s been like an “arm round the shoulder”](for listeners, and what his departure means for the station. (His[final song choice](, by the way: epic.) Also on Friday morning, this year’s[Glastonbury line-up was unveiled]( to a response that varied from muted disappointment to outright fury. Another festival, another set of all male headliners, it seems, with Arctic Monkeys, Elton John and Guns & Roses topping the bill, and Lizzo and Lana Del Rey somehow lower down. Roisin O’Connor [wrote about the worrying problem]( it indicates about the wider music landscape in the UK. Sheridan Smith in 'Shirley Valentine' (John Wilson) A few pieces I loved this week: Isobel Lewis [went behind the scenes of a new musical](about the homophobic law Section 28, which was only repealed 20 years ago. Katie Rosseinsky found out [what it takes to write made-up music for fictional bands like Daisy Jones and the Six](. And Sarah Crompton [spoke to Tracy-Ann Oberman]( about her new production of The Merchant of Venice, in which she plays Shylock and addresses the play’s antisemitism. Have a great weekend, Jessie [@jessiecath](   What to do this weekend Exhibition | [Jadé Fadojutimi, Hepworth Wakefield]( There are just two weeks left to see this first major exhibition for the fastest-rising young British painter of recent times. The 30-year-old London-born artist’s large, apparently abstract canvases fetch eye-watering prices but evoke otherworldly moods, with suggestions of hallucinatory forests in shimmering reds, pinks and purples. Mark Hudson | Chief Art Critic   Theatre | [The Woman in Black, Fortune Theatre]( In the late Eighties, a stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s spooky novel got its first staging. Reviews were good enough to carry it to the West End (although this esteemed publication had one complaint: why was there no live dog?). Thirty-three years on, and many screaming rite-of-passage school trips later, and the production is set to close; its final spine-chilling performance is [tonight](. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor [@jessiecath](   Film | [Empire of Light]( Sam Mendes’s Empire of Light carries the whiff of dashed Oscar buzz, having slinked ignominiously into cinemas in January and right back out again after poor reviews and paltry box office figures. Still, it’s worth your attention – an interesting [if not always successful drama]( about two lonely people (Olivia Colman and[Micheal Ward]() finding one another among the reels of a Margate cinema. Adam White | Film Editor [@__adamwhite](   TV | [Daisy Jones & The Six]( Taylor Jenkins Reid’s much-loved 2019 novel, about a Fleetwood Mac-alike rock band, is brought to life in this new drama starring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin. All the music, formerly imagined in readers’ minds, has been written specially for the TV series – a move that Katie Rosseinsky [delved into in this brilliant feature](. We’ll have to wait and see if the fictional tunes turn into real-life earworms. Ellie Harrison | TV Editor [@Ellie_Harrison](   Books | [Don't Think, Dear by Alice Robb]( Ballet demands the rigid policing of female bodies and the continued staging of very old-fashioned stories. This fascinating memoir from Alice Robb, who once trained to be a ballerina herself, explores whether an artform apparently founded on controlling women can ever be truly feminist. Look out for Sarah Crompton's [interview]( with Alice Robb next week. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor [@jessiecath](     [The Saturday Interview – Slowthai]( [Oscars image]( Slowthai's new album 'UGLY' is out this week (George Muncey) Fresh off a string of £1 pub gigs and an album release, [rapper Slowthai speaks with Will Pritchard]( about his left-turn to post-punk, trying out therapy (it's not for him), and shrugging off his tabloid bad boy image. Slowthai, real name Tyron Kaymone Frampton, performs at a gig (Thomas Broadhead) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… For a long time, chaos was the compass for Frampton’s life. He liked to party, stripping off at his shows, spitting in fans’ mouths (when they asked for it), and scaling the rafters. He liked a drink and other things, too. He didn’t mind making a scene to make a point, emerging from a landscape of bland, Boris head in hand, to remind everyone of the value of kicking off. His debut album, 2019’s Nothing Great About Britain, marked him out as a singular, snarling voice in a world of sanitised soundbites. Acolytes flocked to his messages of freedom and collectivism. But over time, touring and the appeal of all-day drinking, all-night adulation obscured what was becoming, well, a problem. The chaos, along with his worst impulses, was taking over. In 2020, he told VICE magazine that life on the road “made me into a f***ing wanker”. And by the moment of that realisation, things had all already come to a very blunt head, as he sat in the back of a car spiralling his way through Twitter watching the fallout of that year’s NME Awards. Lewd jokes aimed at the show’s host, Katherine Ryan, turned sour, and a heckler in the crowd took the violent brunt. Frampton was promptly turfed out, Hero Of The Year award still under his arm. He apologised, and gave his award to Ryan, but what hurt most was that there were so many people apparently waiting for him to fail. [Read the full interview here](   Weekend Shelf-Care Weekend Shelf-Care Nicole Flattery Show Them a Good Time, the debut short story collection from Irish writer Nicole Flattery, was one of the most admired books of 2019. Now this quietly brilliant author has released her first novel, Nothing Special, imagining one young woman's life at Andy Warhol's Factory in the 1960s. A book I recently read and loved is… I read Mao II by Don DeLillo. It was my first time reading it. I’ve been on a DeLillo kick – Libra, Americana. It’s about art, terror, violence. It’s a great book about life now except it was written in 1991. I underlined half the book, and then I was on a boat where all my belongings got soaked. It got warped and the pages fell out. I left it behind then. I’m not very possessive about books – I leave them in hotel rooms, give them away often. My three fantasy literary dinner party guests would be… Edith Wharton, only because I love her novels beyond measure. She’s very good on parties too. Flannery O’Connor would be a good guest. Am I inviting these people to pick their brains on writing? Do I have to feed them? Eve Babitz too, just to keep the party going. I hope they enjoy themselves. I’m not very good at cooking. Not finishing books: my stance is… Live your life! Although, I actually find it hard not to finish books. I can probably count the books I haven’t finished on one hand. I was raised Catholic; I like the misery of enduring something I hate. My writing routine is… Chaotic at the moment. I write in fitful bursts until I’m fully engrossed in a project, at which point I become obsessive. There is no in-between. 'Nothing Special' by Nicole Flattery is out now, published by Bloomsbury   Enjoying this newsletter? Unlock unlimited, ad-free reading on the website and in The Independent app when you subscribe – plus, benefit from our [welcome offer when you join today](.   [INDYBEST]( / [BEST BUYS]( [Best Mother's Day gift ideas]( Mother's Day 2023 is just around the corner on 19 March. Find a great gift with our guide [Shop now]( Also trending: [Swaps to make for Fairtrade Fortnight](       OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Climate News]( Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week]( Simon Calder’s Travel Week Weekly Written by Simon Calder [Join now]( [Climate News] Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week] Simon Calder's Travel Week Weekly Written by Simon Calder [Join now]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Download the free Independent app Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Culture_Newsletter_CDP). 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