The writer of Shopping and Fucking will direct cycle of bawdy comedies inspired by scenarios from a 17th-century Italian collection

A premiere by Mark Ravenhill has been an event ever since the British playwright’s explosive debut 30 years ago with Shopping and Fucking . But Ravenhill is now set to unveil a staggering 10 new full-length plays over two days, performed by a cast of 80 actors and directed by Ravenhill.

An epic cycle of bawdy modern comedies, the plays borrow from scenarios collected in a 1611 publication by the Italian commedia dell’arte actor and manager Flaminio Scala. Ravenhill said he had been attracted to the “generosity of spirit and comic energy” of the scenarios. “They are sexually frank, with the women given as much agency as the men. They are socially acute, depicting the newly rich mixing with the urban poor and new migrants from the countryside. They are grounded in money, sex and the body.” Collectively, the storylines depict a world “in which we are all fools and we all need to find a way to get along”. His aim, Ravenhill said, was not to make a historical reconstruction but “to write plays that allow contemporary audiences to laugh and to celebrate our shared humanity”.

Ex-tabloid reporter shares how an encounter with Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan led to his acclaimed film about an Irish-language rap trio

He first came to national attention blowing the whistle on his own dubious practices at the Daily Star and earning 14 mentions in Lord Leveson’s 2012 report on the phone-hacking scandal.

Now Rich Peppiatt is heading for the red carpet and is in with a chance for six Baftas and 17 Iftas , the Irish equivalent, for Kneecap, the scabrous, semi-autobiographical story of the Belfast Irish-language rap trio.

This staggering Japanese programme from veteran Takeshi Kitano follows an ageing hitman … twice. First the story is played as a drama, then as a comedy. It’s so odd you’ll be glad it exists

It may only be February, but if Broken Rage doesn’t end up as the strangest show of the year I’ll be staggered. A one-hour, one-off, two-part episode that repeatedly mines the same material for different genre beats, Broken Rage is probably best described as an intermittently successful head-scratcher. It could also only have come from the mind of Takeshi Kitano.

Kitano is the consummate Japanese multi-hyphenate. A comedian who has been a household name since the 1970s, he also hosted Takeshi’s Castle. He has written books, designed video games and starred in everything from Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence to Battle Royale . Outside Japan, however, he is best known for writing, directing and starring in hard-boiled crime films such as Violent Cop, Sonatine and Outrage.

Yes, the TV reboot of the 80s martial arts classic is shot like a daytime soap and features dramatic moments that are often downright hilarious – but there’s a raw courage to this finale

Cobra Kai is an underdog story. It has been since 1984, when the movie The Karate Kid introduced Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a weedy teenager in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, who took up karate to combat bullies and ended up defeating his nemesis Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in the district under-18 final.

Then the franchise and its actors became the victorious underdogs. Macchio and Zabka had gappy CVs in the three decades after The Karate Kid and its so-so sequels, only to become stars again from nowhere in 2018 with a TV revival. Even that succeeded against the odds, starting as a YouTube original before transferring to Netflix on the back of a growing cult following.

Others to be remembered for their impact on capital’s cultural heritage include Una Marson and Graham Sutherland

Audrey Hepburn, Marc Bolan and Una Marson are among those receiving a blue plaque for their impact on London’s cultural landscapes, English Heritage has announced.

The charity paid tribute to Hepburn, whose global fame brought international attention and prestige to the capital; Bolan, whose “glam rock” innovation redefined the city’s music scene in the 1970s; and Marson, the trailblazing Jamaican poet, playwright, broadcaster and campaigner for racial and gender equality.

Royal Court theatre, London
A wonderfully precise ensemble cast make this sci-fi vision of resurrection and immortality stab directly at the heart

What makes a life? Kandinsky theatre company’s bruising sci-fi drama sweeps us thrillingly from 1803, when scientists electrocute a corpse to simulate stuttering new life, to 2074, when private tech companies experiment with downloading brain scans of the dead to infallible new bodies. A smartly composed exploration of greed, loss and the loneliness of eternity, More Life is an incredibly human play about technology.

Victor (Marc Elliott) is our futuristic Frankenstein, a bulldozing consultant obsessed with progress, preservation and a dead woman he hopes will be the first success in his company’s experiments. As Vic brings Bridget (Alison Halstead) to a kind of life, the wonderfully precise ensemble watches as she tries on her new body. Under James Yeatman’s delicate direction, the voice is dislocated, alienating the physical form. Halstead is wonderful here, estranged from her own body, limbs suddenly stiff and unknown.

Actor reportedly in final negotiations to follow up performance in Oscar-nominated hit Conclave with key role in much-anticipated HBO series

John Lithgow is nearing a deal to star as Professor Albus Dumbledore in HBO’s hotly anticipated Harry Potter series, sources told Deadline and Variety .

HBO did not confirm any casting for the show based on JK Rowling’s bestselling books. “We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation,” the network said in a statement to Deadline. “As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”

Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime often work exclusively on Apple’s hardware, something the company uses to keep customers inside its ecosystem and encourage people who buy one Apple product to buy other Apple products so they can keep using the features they like.

Apple’s streaming and media services have been an exception to this, going all the way back to iTunes for Windows —the company offers Apple Music on Android devices , for example, and Apple TV+ (the service) works on Roku devices, game consoles, and most other smart TVs. Even if people haven’t bought an iPhone or Mac, Apple’s fast-growing Services division relies on pulling in new subscribers regardless of the device they’re using to subscribe.

To that end, Apple announced today that it’s finally bringing an Apple TV+ app to Android devices for the first time since Apple TV+ launched in 2019. The app will work on all Android phones and tablets running Android 10 or newer and will be available today. The app will support both Apple TV+ subscriptions and subscriptions to Apple’s MLS Season Pass service for soccer fans.

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This year’s nominations were led by smaller, less expected films like The Brutalist, Anora and Emilia Pérez, which left bigger bets in the cold

While films such as Wicked and Dune: Part Two amassed multiple Oscar nominations this year, the Academy’s ongoing embrace of the smaller, less conventional movie pushed a number of more traditional contenders out. From the long-awaited sequel to a best picture winner to an inspirational boxing drama to a music biopic starring an Oscar favourite, here are some of the more primed picks that failed to register: