BOLTON THEATRE
An Enemy of the People
Octagon Theatre
Howell Croft
Until October 31
Henrik Ibsen’s great play explores the conflict between the need to stand up for the truth when faced with political and economic pressures. In a thriving spa town in Norway, the respected scientist Dr Thomas Stockmann discovers that the water on which the town’s prosperity depends is contaminated. But when he publicly announces his findings he is immediately faced with opposition from those with vested interests and, in his struggle to do the right thing, risks destroying his own career and sacrificing his family’s future. It’s a compelling drama, directed by David Thacker and adapted by Arthur Miller in the 1950s during the repressive climate of the McCarthy witch hunts in the US.
octagonbolton.co.uk

GLASGOW CINEMA
Havana/Glasgow Film Festival
Various venues
October 31-November 8
A rare treat for film fans in Glasgow this — the first-ever Cuban film festival in the city, which includes screenings, including British premieres, of La Pelicula de Ana, La Pared de las Palabras , Conducta, In Cuba They’re Still Dancing, Red Skirts on Clydeside, Day of the Flowers, Boccaccerias Habaneras, Mi Dicen Cuba and Never Ever Never Land. There’ll also be Q&A sessions with Cuban film-makers, an exhibition of three Cuban artists at Glasgow School of Art and the the launch of Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt’s book To Defend the Revolution is to Defend Culture at CCA.
hgfilmfest.com

LONDON BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar
Black Cultural Archives
Windrush Square, SW2
Until October 31
This free exhibition, a rich array of historical evidence, reveals the everyday lives of black people in Britain during the Georgian period from 1714 to 1830. It presents a surprising, sometimes shocking, and inspiring picture of Georgian Britain and challenges preconceptions of the black presence in Britain being restricted to post-WWII, speaking to us of a growing population that forged a new identity with creativity, adaptability, and remarkable fortitude. Among the figures explored is Ignatius Sancho, a composer, actor and writer of the period who was painted by Gainsborough in 1768 (pictured).
bcaheritage.org.uk

LONDON CONCERT
The Hollow of
the Hand
Royal Festival Hall
Belvedere Road, SE1
October 10
The Hollow of the Hand is an evening of poetry readings and new songs performed by PJ Harvey (pictured), with images and a short film presented by Seamus Murphy. Drawn from journeys they undertook between 2011 and 2014 to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington DC their collaboration combines words by Harvey images by Murphy for a book just published by Bloomsbury. Unsuitable for minors.
southbankcentre.co.uk