Skip to main content It s a Sin on HBO Max shows an utterly devastating view of AIDS in 1980s London
Peter-Astrid Kane
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Lydia West as Jill Baxter and Nathaniel Curtis as Ash Mukherjee in It s a Sin on HBO Max.Ben Blackall/HBO Max
“La!”
Sung cheerfully, that one syllable occurs again and again in HBO Max’s It’s a Sin as a marker of group identity. Set in London in 1981 (but filmed in Manchester), the show stars a group of gay men and their straight den mother who utter la to one another in every possible context. It s Liverpool slang, but sun-spoken in their staccato, theatrical way, it s more like aloha. It functions as hello and goodbye, but also “I’m here for you” and “I see you” and “I’m going out for the night, and when I get home, there’s a good chance something terrible may have happened and I will need you to help me get through it.”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Last we saw Anthony Mackie s Sam Wilson (aka the Falcon) and Sebastian Stan s Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier), Sam had inherited Captain America s star-spangled shield. Now, the odd couple are teaming up to take on a new threat. Daniel Brühl s villainous Zemo and Emily VanCamp s Sharon Carter are also back, with Wyatt Russell joining the MCU as the new Captain America. New episodes every Friday.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Marvel Studios
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Thunder Force
Melissa McCarthy has played a spy, a rowdy bridesmaid and now a full-on superhero in Netflix s comic book-inspired comedy. McCarthy and real-life best friend Octavia Spencer play estranged childhood friends forced back together to protect the world from supervillains. Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff and Jason Bateman play the baddies, the latter of whom is half-man, half-crab. Seriously!
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Les Misérables: The Staged Concert returns to the West End in June (Alan Davidson/Shutterstock)
It’s felt like an age since we were last able to visit the theatre, but the industry’s future is beginning to look hopeful again as venues are permitted to reopen this spring.
Under the step three of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, indoor and outdoor theatres in the UK are currently scheduled to reopen from 17 May.
However, there will be limits on how many people can attend events, with most venues requiring tickets to be booked within households or bubbles. We recommend checking out each theatre’s guidelines for returning before booking tickets.
The play will open on 18 June with Sheila Atim and Ivanno Jeremiah as the couple. That duo will then alternate with Peter Capaldi and Zoë Wanamaker, Omari Douglas and Russell Tovey, and Anna Maxwell Martin and Chris O’Dowd throughout the summer.
Constellations, which was a hit at the Royal Court in London in 2012 with Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins, will be staged by Michael Longhurst, its original director, who now runs the Donmar Warehouse. As the Donmar is undergoing essential building works to improve accessibility and ventilation the play will be performed at the Vaudeville theatre in the West End.
Chart-topping singer Alexandra Burke, who has carved out a career as a stage star, has been picked to play the Narrator in the musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Her casting marks her London Palladium debut. But more significantly, it is the first time a black performer has taken on the role: a sort of master of ceremonies, guiding us through the Old Testament tale that was turned into an enjoyable romp back in the 1960s by a youthful Andrew Lloyd Webber (only 19) and Tim Rice (just 23).
Burke, 32, has never seen the show, but knows the music well. I m going to bring a soulful vibe to it, and just be me, she said during a Zoom call this week.