NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE/TOURING
The Last Ship
Newcastle Playhouse
Barras Bridge
Until April 7

"It's a strange kind of beauty,/it's cold and austere,/And whatever it was that you've done to be here,/It's the sum of your hopes." Thus Sting, who wrote the music and lyrics for this Northern Stage "political and passionate musical" (book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey).

The Last Ship tells the story of a shipbuilding town and its people, in which a sailor comes back from sea to discover the shipbuilding life he left behind in chaos. The yard is closing and no-one knows what will come next.

With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as the community braces itself in the face the gathering storm. Should be well worth checking out, either in Newcastle or during the national tour which follows.

northernstage.co.uk

EDINBURGH MUSIC
The Leningrad Symphony
Usher Hall
Lothian Road
April 20

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Written for massed battalions of musicians, this stirring music is from the front line. It was blasted through loudspeakers at the nazi forces. One of the great, spine-tingling symphonic works of the last century, this monumental work is performed by the RSNO, conducted by Peter Oundjian (pictured).

Also on the bill, and in marked contrast, is Scriabin’s lush Piano Concerto played by Xiayin Wang. Not to be missed.

sherhall.co.uk

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL
Unrestricted View
Various venues
April 23-29

[[{"fid":"2464","view_mode":"inlinefull","fields":{"format":"inlinefull","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlinefull","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlinefull","data-delta":"1"}}]]Pickups, Jamie Thraves's latest film, kicks off this enterprising independent film festival based in Islington. It stars Aiden Gillen (pictured) as an insomniac whose marriage is breaking down and who finds solace in casual pick-ups.

But now he's worried that someone is stalking him and work is getting on top of him too — he murdered a couple of people last week and he still has more to kill … Intriguing, as is the rest of a programme which includes The 12, Hippopotamus, Consolation and a season of short films screened in the festival's mobile cinema.

unrestrictedview.co.uk

OXFORD EXHIBITION
America's Cool Modernism
Ashmolean
Beaumont Street
Until July 22

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In the 1920s and the ensuing Great Depression of the 1930s, many US artists expressed their uncertainty about the rapid modernisation and urbanisation of their country by producing work that had a cool, controlled detachment and a smooth, precise finish and the exhibition is a major reflection of those inter-war concerns.

ashmolean.org