Walker Art<\/a> Gallery, Liverpool, to 31 August
With works by major artists such as\u00a0David Hockney, Catherine Opie, Grayson Perry and Zanele Muholi, this\u00a0show looks at how art can help us\u00a0figure out the meaning of gender, and how it shapes our everyday lives.<\/p>\n
Simeon Barclay
John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, to 29 August
The British conceptualist celebrates his nomination for this year\u2019s Turner prize with a complex exhibition about barriers, gatekeeping, pop culture, fashion, bus seats and giant inflatable mascots. Eddy Frankel<\/p>\n
Going out: StageUneasy listening \u2026 Frankie Thompson: Horrible Things. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Frankie Thompson
Beside at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, to 30 August
Somewhere between character comedy, performance art and drag, Thompson\u2019s latest show, Horrible Things, is a riot of lip-syncing (often to unsettling archive recordings), audience interaction and contemporary clowning. Rachel Aroesti<\/p>\n
A Slow Fire
Jermyn Street theatre, London, to 26 September
The UK premiere of Simon Stephens\u2019s post-apocalyptic play stars a fierce trio of Irish actors and sees two men trapped in a bunker \u2013 before they meet a mysterious stranger. Miriam Gillinson<\/p>\n
Sauna Sessions Arts Club
Summerhall, Edinburgh, to 31 August
This year\u2019s Edinburgh festival fringe hosts the UK\u2019s first arts centre set inside a sauna: the 80-seater venue will host a\u00a0series of immersive performances \u2013 including a morning rave, a ritualistic storytelling experience and a reworking of Virginia Woolf\u2019s The Waves, with towel-based choreography. MG<\/p>\n
Dan Daw: Exxy
King\u2019s theatre, Edinburgh, 23 August
Exxy (it\u2019s Australian slang for expensive) is the follow-up to the uncompromising and acclaimed Dan Daw Show, as seen at last year\u2019s Edinburgh international festival. This year, the queer, disabled dancer and choreographer Daw returns, thinking back to his youth as an outsider in working-class South Australia. Lyndsey Winship<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Inside Saturday<\/p>\n The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Staying in: StreamingIt\u2019s a knockout \u2026 Fightland. Photograph: \/Christopher Raphael\/Starz, LLC<\/p>\n Fightland The Airport Chaplain Dog Park Dark Matter Staying in: GamesSuper troopers \u2026 Star Wars Zero Company. Photograph: EA<\/p>\n Star Wars Zero Company Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Staying in: AlbumsMateria girl \u2026 Julia Holter. Photograph: Dicky Bahto<\/p>\n Julia Holter \u2013 Materia Sam Smith \u2013 Hazel Eyes Weezer \u2013 Weezer (Gold Album) Brandon Flowers \u2013 Thrasher RA Exchange.Staying in: Brain food<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782376450_973_500.jpg\")
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Sky Atlantic & Now, 27 August, 9pm
A Thousand Blows meets Top Boy in this 50 Cent-produced drama about the substantial overlap between London\u2019s boxing scene and its criminal underworld. Howard Charles plays a heavyweight champ who returns to the UK to wreak violent revenge on his former promoter, a drug kingpin.<\/p>\n
Netflix, 26 August
Dramas that revolve round mavericks doing highly skilled jobs under enormous pressure are all the rage right now, and this Australian series about a man who isn\u2019t afraid to ruffle feathers to ensure the smooth running of a busy airport is very much in that vein. Hugo Weaving and The Pitt\u2019s Shabana Azeez star.<\/p>\n
U, 24 August
Also from down under, this cute canine-dominated dramedy is TV at its most wholesome and nuanced. When Roland\u2019s wife moves abroad, he\u2019s left in charge of the family pooch and soon discovers his grouchy resistance to the hyper-friendly local dog-walking community may have been misplaced.<\/p>\n
Apple TV, 28 August
Blake Crouch\u2019s mind-boggling sci-fi about a physicist who split himself in two so he could enjoy family life and a\u00a0stellar career (with, obviously, catastrophic consequences) returns. Joel Edgerton reprises the role(s) of Jason Dessen, who has peaceably reunited with his wife and child \u2013 but will the calls of the multiverse prove too strong? RA<\/p>\n
PC, PS5, Xbox Series X\/S, out 27 August
A single-player tactics game set during the Clone Wars, this XCOM-alike has you managing a group of misfits with a range of backgrounds and abilities. The story unfolds linearly, but your choices still matter in the complex missions.<\/p>\n
PC, PS5, Xbox Series X\/S, out 27 August
This prequel deviates from previous Plague Tale games, starring not stealthy noble children but combat-confident smuggler Sophia. Instead of hordes of rats you face the maze of Minotaur\u2019s Island, and it\u2019s back to ancient Minoan times to learn more about the mysterious Macula. Jordan Erica Webber<\/p>\n
Out now
After releasing her sixth album Something in the Room She Moves in 2024, the US singer-songwriter turned her focus to its crystalline fourth track, Materia. On\u00a0this follow-up she reimagines that song not once but twice, as well as pushing her sound into interesting new shapes on the tactile My Lost One.<\/p>\n
Out now
For their fifth album, the singer-songwriter leans into a\u00a0more rustic sound, eschewing the elasticated pop\u00a0of megahit Unholy in\u00a0favour of low-key romanticism. Oh\u00a0Mother is head-spinning gospel, while the delicate When He\u2019s Gone overspills with longing.<\/p>\n
Out now
Perpetual teenagers Weezer return with their 20th album, and their seventh to be self-titled but differentiated by album colour. With production by Swedish pop producer Klas \u00c5hlund (Robyn, Katy Perry) and\u00a0hip-hop wizard Kenny Beats, plus\u00a0a\u00a0guest spot from alt-rockers Wednesday, it\u2019s another perfect mix of\u00a0existential angst\u00a0and frat anthems.<\/p>\n
Out now
With Mr Brightside still bobbing around the UK Top 100, where it has now spent more than 500 weeks (!), the Killers frontman returns with a third solo album. While 2015\u2019s The Desired Effect explored perky synthpop, Thrasher recasts Flowers as\u00a0a country troubadour. MC<\/p>\n