Theater

Early May coincides with the start of cricket season and, weather permitting, the bank holiday allows for a long weekend of sleep in the spring sunshine with a paperback in one hand and a lukewarm pint in the other . Richard Bean’s The English Game has so much more to offer, however, with Sunday afternoon’s clash between the amateur Nightwatchmen and their more talented (and diverse) opposition providing the focus for a darkly entertaining exploration of migration, religion and the long shadow of empire which also appears prescient in the wake of Brexit. A M

Film

Bomb Brighton with your friends, do drugs, go dancing, sleep rough, have sex, have a massive fight, get arrested – you couldn’t ask for much more from a bank holiday weekend than Phil Daniels doesn’t get in on this cult favorite, even though there’s quite a comedown in store. Adapted from the Who’s 1973 concept album, inspired by real-life 1960s battles between mods and rockers on the beach, and filled with now-familiar faces, Quadrophenia gives you all the buzz of the big weekend, but also the harsh reality of a youth culture that is often seen through rose-tinted John Lennon glasses. RS

Books

Natasha Brown’s debut novel Assembly (2021) captures the internal monologue of a successful black British woman as she prepares to attend her boyfriend’s family’s lavish garden party in the English countryside during of a weekend. The anonymous narrator walks through her life before the “special” social event; from growing up in poverty, to dealing with his corporate banking colleagues who hate diversity in the workplace, to the utopian liberal politics of his white partner. It’s only 100 pages but packed with poetic laments, cold truths and electrifying aphorisms about class, race and love. KM

TV

The final season of London gang drama Top Boy is as heavy and gritty as ever. Murders are frequent and brutal, a pregnant woman tries to flee domestic violence in Liverpool, and the walls begin to close in on a criminal empire, with drug barons demanding retirement while struggling to keep their own noses clean. The fourth series takes the action to Morocco and features beautifully shot scenes of Jamie looking out over the Mediterranean coast, young boys running around the beach and the bows of yachts caressing the ocean waves. Between the storms, there are moments of mild sunshine that will make you want to fly (but hopefully not oversee the drug haul). OJ

Music

A bank holiday isn’t necessarily long enough to go abroad, but it can provide the perfect window of local escape, a glimpse of what the UK could be like if we kept our sun hat camaraderie all the year. A love letter to the South West coasts, Metronomy’s 2011 album The English Riviera is pure summer on wax – nostalgic and evocative in its easy, breezy rhythms. Press play on The Look and try not to immediately imagine yourself diving into a jumble with a sand ice cream in your hand. Isn’t life much better with your absence from the office? J.W.