Two minutes and 39 seconds
BTS: Swim
In March, K-Pop megastars BTS returned from their mandatory South Korean national service to continue their global pop domination. Now Swim, from their recent album ARIRANG, has been named “song of the summer” by the American Music Awards. Breezy, dreamy, irresistibly synthetic, it’s the “glass skin” beauty trend made pop.
One hour
Propeller One-Way Night Coach (Apple TV)
Having screened at the Cannes film festival, actor John Travolta’s directorial debut moves on to the Apple TV platform tomorrow. Based on Travolta’s novella about his childhood love of aviation, it chronicles a boy’s first plane ride. Travolta also narrates, acts and stars alongside his daughter, Ella Bleu. With a vibe that’s Mad Men meets nostalgia-drenched Americana, it’s a cinematic curio.
An afternoon
Catherine Opie: To Be Seen at the National Portrait Gallery, London
It’s your last chance to see this Catherine Opie exhibition. The American photographer explores queer life through a politicised lens. One “butch” self-portrait shows her naked, adorned with radical tattoos, and breastfeeding her son. Elsewhere, there’s everything from a woman in a bathtub to quasi-historical portraiture to American footballers to her son (again) in a pink tutu. It’s an exhibition dedicated to representation, identity, candid realism, and the fightback against erasure, and it ends this weekend.
An evening
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Even These Things at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Rory Mullarkey’s play takes a deep dive through the centuries. A pugilistic 19th-century female Irish immigrant is full of rage. In 1996, there’s what appears to be an ordinary weekend morning. In 2026, a rich conversation begins. Even These Things stars Elaine Cassidy, Katherine Peace and Fionnuala Dorrity. Directed by James Macdonald, it explores the intersection between Manchester life and Irish heritage, and asks: who belongs? Runs until 15 June.
A night
Take That: The Circus Live at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
Take That are back, if not for good, then at least for their new tour, starting in Southampton tomorrow and Saturday and continuing across the UK and Ireland. Now whittled down to a trio (Jason Orange left in 2014) they have reprised their 2009 The Circus Live tour. Expect all the hits, as well as circus-ring shenanigans – clowns, acrobats, mechanical elephants – and more synchronised dancing than anyone could reasonably handle. Touring until 4 July.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance