'A crying vacation – is that a thing?'

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( April 29, 2023 [View in browser](   Happy bank holiday weekend! I’m planning to spend it finishing the latest novel by Caroline O’Donoghue, who hosts the excellent Sentimental Garbage podcast. The Rachel Incident is about coming of age in the recession, struggling to make the rent, and wondering if you’re ever going to get a Proper Job. Highly relatable to many of us who found ourselves floundering about within the region of the year 2008. The novel comes out in June, and I predict big things. Next week I’m really looking forward to reviewing The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre. It’s all quite meta: a play about rehearsing a play. Johnny Flynn stars as Richard Burton in Jack Thorne’s reimagining of John Gielgud’s Broadway production of Hamlet; Sam Mendes directs the show. But of course, the big, big show will be taking place around Buckingham Palace for [King Charles’s coronation next Saturday](. We’ve got some really fun coverage planned, from the history of bizarre royal pop concerts to Isobel Lewis’s interview with Ellie White, who plays Princess Beatrice on The Windsors. Jessie Ware spoke to Adam White this week about her new album 'That! Feels Good!' We’ve been packed to the rafters with brilliant pieces this week. I really! Loved! Adam White’s [interview with the newly exclamation mark-wielding pop queen Jessie Ware](. Amanda Whiting’s [profile of BookTok favourite Emily Henry]( is fantastic (Henry uses SSRIs and romance novels to medicate her anxiety.) Mark Hudson found beauty in abundance at [Tate Britain’s Isaac Julien exhibition](, while Geordie Grieg wrote about [why Frank Auerbach’s self-portraits]( are “late greats”. Clarisse Loughrey reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and [declared it the best Marvel movie in years](. Elsewhere, Tom Murray [talked to the shape-shifting actor Bertie Carvel](, and Louis Chilton dissected [the utter creepiness of Lukas Matsson]( (played by Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd) in Succession. As Shiv put it: “Might be hard for you, but… stop sending people your blood.” Louis also gave his verdict on James Corden's final Late Late Show in the US, and what his tenure in the chat show chair has signified. Jim Farber[talked to singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams]( about her revealing autobiography, and I was [thrilled to speak to Frieda Hughes](, poet, painter and daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, about her new memoir George. We discussed her literary custodianship and her future plans to write more about her life. Have a great weekend, Jessie [@jessiecath](   What to do this weekend Exhibition | [Isaac Julien: What Freedom Is To Me]( The long-serving activist-artist-filmmaker’s [first retrospective at Tate Britain]( is a labyrinth of quasi-sculptural multi-screen environments. Ravishing images carry you bodily into his subjects, from Black British identity to Brazilian Brutalism, with outbursts of uproarious queer eroticism along the way. Whatever the territory, Julien’s theme, first and foremost, is beauty itself. Mark Hudson | Chief Art Critic   Theatre | [A Play For the Living in a Time of Extinction]( Is this the future of theatre? With Katie Mitchell’s eco-conscious new touring model, it is the play that goes on tour – “while the people and materials do not”. Oh, and it’s also powered entirely by bikes. It’s a Sin star Lydia West takes centre stage for Mitchell’s production [this week at the Barbican](, in a play written by Miranda Rose Hall and co-produced by Headlong, that sees one woman confront ecological disaster. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor [@jessiecath](   Film | [Peter Pan & Wendy]( David Lowery, of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints renown, directs a characteristically downbeat live-action reboot of the classic Disney film. Jude Law is Captain Hook this time around, while Ever Anderson – the daughter of Milla Jovovich and director Paul WS Anderson – makes for a sprightly Wendy. [Watch it on Disney Plus](. Adam White | Film Editor [@__adamwhite](   TV | [The Windsors Coronation Special]( To get us all in a silly mood ahead of the coronation on 6 May, Harry Enfield is reprising his role as King Charles III, and in this new special the monarch and his family are even more delusional and dysfunctional than ever. Expect the episode, [airing on Channel 4 on Sunday evening](, to pull no punches – it will contrast the wealth of the royals with the UK’s crippling cost of living crisis, as Hugh Skinner’s Wills decides that the celebration should reflect the nation’s plight. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry. Ellie Harrison | TV Editor [@Ellie_Harrison](   Books | [Happy Place by Emily Henry]( BookTok’s latest obsession is Emily Henry, who knowingly uses timeworn tropes (“the meet-cute”, “enemies to lovers”) to fashion smart, knowing romcoms. Her latest, Happy Place, sees two exes end up on holiday together with their pals – except they’ve not told anyone they’ve broken up yet. Don’t miss [Amanda Whiting’s brilliant interview with Henry](, in which they discussed how Nora Ephron and Gilmore Girls influence her work, and how she navigates her vocal online fandom. Jessie Thompson | Arts Editor [@jessiecath](     [The Saturday Interview – Melanie Lynskey]( [Oscars image]( Melanie Lynskey has found her spotlight as Shauna in Showtime’s thriller series ‘Yellowjackets’ (Dave Bennet) Melanie Lynskey is a gem. She shines brightly in this [wonderful interview with Annabel Nugent](, where she discusses her role in Yellowjackets, her recent career resurgence, how Cate Blanchett supported her as a new working mother, and wonders whether she should take a "crying vacation". Lynskey in 'Yellowjackets' (Colin Bentley/Showtime) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… Phonetically, her name might not lend itself as easily to a portmanteau as Laura Dern’s or Kathryn Hahn’s (mind you, Melanaissance isn’t half bad) but given the double whammy of Yellowjackets and The Last of Us, like them, she, too, is experiencing a career resurgence. “It feels very different, I have to say,” Lynskey gestures to the swanky London hotel suite where she is spending the day chatting about one of her recent hit shows. Shows – plural! “It’s funny, I’ve never had a publicity schedule before so it’s all new.” But the years have made her realistic about the business; she knows this is temporary. And she’s OK with that. “It’s not going to last forever so I’m trying to make the most of it.” [Read the full interview here](   Weekend Shelf-Care Weekend Shelf-Care Louise Kennedy The 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist was unveiled this week, and one of the hot favourites for the trophy is surely Louise Kennedy. Her debut, Trespasses, a love story set in Troubles-torn 1970s Belfast, is now out in paperback. It was named a book of the year by various publications when it first came out last year. A book I recently read and loved is… Tell Me What I Am, Una Mannion’s second novel, floored me. The haunting story of a missing woman, her sister, and her daughter, this book is beautifully written and has the pace of a thriller. Coming from Faber in May. My three fantasy literary dinner party guests would be… Characters rather than writers: Miss Havisham, Bertha Rochester and Clytemnestra. I’d make a round of large Negronis and wait. Not finishing books: my stance is… For years, a book had to be dire or hateful for me to abandon it, but now I think life is too short. If nothing’s shaking after a hundred pages I give up. My writing routine is… I am a better worker in the morning, and when I am getting a first draft down get up early without looking at my phone. I put on woolly socks, make the first of many large mugs of strong tea and approach my laptop with fear in my heart. Once I sit down I get over myself and do the work. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy is out now in paperback, published by Bloomsbury £99 £20 for 1 year ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   [INDYBEST]( / [BEST BUYS]( [M&S’s £45 basket bag is the perfect high-street alternative to Loewe’s £400 tote]( Get the designer look on a budget, thanks to [M&S' affordable option](. 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