What’s on this weekend? From Evita to Chances Are... A novel

Evita will ‘play out under starry skies’ in Regent’s Park from tonight

(Image credit: Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)

By The Week Staff

last updated 2 August 2019

The Week’s best film, TV, book and live show on this weekend, with excerpts from the top reviews.

TELEVISION: Hold on the Sunset - season two

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“Following the success of series one and the hilarious 2018 Christmas special, season two will once again be written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Charles McKeown...The comedy series follows the lives of two pensioners, who are forced to put their life-long dreams on hold when an unexpected guest arrives. In series one Edith, a widower, rekindled her romance with former boyfriend Phil and they planned to move aboard. But their dreams were scattered when Edith’s 50-year-old son Roger turned up unannounced, revealing he had left his wife, kids and quit his job and come home ‘in an attempt to find his lost happiness again’... Stars including Alison Steadman and Jason Watkins have all won awards for their incredible acting skills.”

“With all due respect to Vin Diesel, the best thing about the last Fast & Furious film was the bickering banter between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s rival secret agents, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw. Now the follicularly challenged frenemies have their own spin-off, in which they team up against Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a villain who may sound like a self-published book of south London anecdotes, but who is actually a ‘cyber-genetically enhanced international terrorist’. Adding to the fun, Helen Mirren cameos as Shaw’s cockney mum Queenie, Vanessa Kirby is his sister, and the whole thing is directed by David Leitch, whose CV – John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 – suggests that no one is better at making ridiculously over-the-top action extravaganzas.”

“Russo, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2001 novel, Empire Falls, has become our senior correspondent on masculinity. No one captures so well the gruff affection of men or the friction between guys from different classes. By some accident of fate, the three men at the center of Chances Are... were classmates at a small Connecticut college in the late ’60s and early ’70s. One way or another, they all managed to stay out of the Vietnam War, but the resin of their lives was set in that turbulent era, hardening into the cherished amber of friendship. Chances Are... rotates gently through these characters - each one so appealing that you hate to let him go, though you’ll quickly feel just as fond of the next one.”

“Evita, another Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber hit, will play out under starry skies in Regent’s Park this summer. Director Jamie Lloyd, who’s best known for sharp Harold Pinter revivals and assisted Michael Grandage in the 2006 West End production of Evita, will re-imagine the show for the alfresco stage. Telling the life-story of Evita Peron, the 1978 musical charts her rise from poverty to become the First Lady and spiritual leader of Argentina. At once the voice of the poor, and glamorous film star, she was loved in Buenos Aires and around the world.”

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