GLASGOW/LONDON EXHIBITION

Auld Acquaintance

Leiper Fine Art, 

West George Street 

Glasgow

Until September 19

Guardian Press & Media Gallery

Kings Place, York Way London N1 

Until September 30 

Auld Acquaintance is a new exhibition that gathers together artwork from the Scottish and British press as well as cartoonists across the globe.  They’ve all been  asked to reflect on whether Scotland should vote Yes or No in the forthcoming referendum and their response can be seen in the range of caricatures, editorial cartoons and comic strips featured, many never before exhibited. All sides of the debate are represented but all the exhibitors take a look at the Scottish question through the prism of humour. Free. 

leiperfineart.com/kingsplace.co.uk

LONDON EXHIBITION

Radical Geometry: Modern Art From South America

Royal Academy

Piccadilly, W1

Until September 28

From the 1930s on major innovations in art took place in Latin America and this exhibition focuses on the work of artists who became regarded as pioneers in purely visual language. The works on show range from Helio Oiticica (pictured) and Lygia Clark in Brazil to Maldonado in Argentina and Gego in Venezuela. Inspired by Europeans such as Mondrian and Kandinsky, they experimented boldly with space, movement and colour and ruptured the boundary between the object and the space around it, introducing dynamic forms to give the illusion of motion and volatility. A must for devotees of abstract art.

royalacademy.org.uk

MANCHESTER THEATRE

Hamlet

Royal Exchange Theatre

St Ann’s Square

September 11-October 14

In a very welcome  development over the last few years, there have been theatre productions of Julius Caesar, King Lear and Othello in which women have taken the lead role. The latest — and probably most eagerly awaited — is this production of Hamlet with Maxine Peake as the eponymous tragic hero. It’ll be fascinating to see how she tackles the themes of loyalty, love, betrayal, murder and madness in Shakespeare’s play for, as director Sarah Frankcom says, the actor seems certain to  give “a compelling and extraordinary Hamlet for our time.”  

royalexchange.co.uk

NORTH SHIELDS THEATRE

Death At Dawn

Linskill Centre, Linskill Terrace

September 1-6

This play by local writer Peter Mortimer is based on a real case, that of a young North Shields soldier William Hunter who was court-martialled and executed in France in 1916 for desertion. His case is unusual because sentence was carried out even though the authorities believed at the time that he had signed on under-age. Yet, for reasons unknown, the sentence was carried out and the play examines possible reasons and explores the realities behind a policy that saw the army shoot its own men. Should be worth checking out. 

cloudninetheatre.co.uk