Le Carré, Bacchae and radical feminist punk art – what to see and watch this week

John le Carré was a master of the spy novel – not by glamorising espionage, but by stripping it of illusion. His stories abandoned the trope of the suave, heartless agent in favour of morally complex characters navigating the shadowy ethics of Cold War intelligence. Gritty, ambiguous and deeply human, his thrillers elevated the spy genre to literary art.

Much of that authenticity came from le Carré’s own experience in British counterintelligence with MI5. But as a new exhibition at Oxford’s Bodleian libraries reveals, his success was just as rooted in painstaking research, interviews and relentless editing.

John le Carré: Tradecraft offers a rare look into the creative process behind nine of his novels. On display are early character sketches, field notes, photographs, handwritten drafts and personal correspondence – many shown publicly for the first time.

Though some critics accused le Carré of becoming too political in his later years, the exhibition suggests that conscience was always central to his work. He consistently interrogated the global systems that enable corruption, reward self-interest and erode the freedoms promised by democratic societies.

As co-curator Jessica Douthwaite writes, this exhibition exposes “a worldview borne out in the idiosyncrasies of his factual research, acute observations, obsession with accuracy, compulsion to travel, and interest in the humans behind the news events”.

John le Carré: Tradecraft is open at The Bodleian Libraries in Oxford until April 6 2026.

Much maligned women

At London’s National Theatre, newly appointed director Indhu Rubasingham launches her tenure with a daring production: Nima Taleghani’s radical reimagining of Euripides’s Bacchae.

The ancient tragedy centres on King Pentheus of Thebes, who is punished by his cousin Dionysus (god of wine, ritual madness and theatre) for denying his divine status. In vengeance, Dionysus drives the women of Thebes, including Pentheus’s own mother, into ecstatic madness. They flee to the mountains to join Dionysus’s followers, the Bacchae, and chaos unfolds as Pentheus attempts to bring them back.

As performing arts critic Will Shüler observes, Greek tragedies have always been a mirror of their times – and this adaptation is no exception. Taleghani weaves in themes of decolonisation, feminism, race, LGBTQ+ identity and war, giving this ancient myth a modern political pulse. While occasionally heavy handed, it’s a bold, imaginative and thought-provoking debut for Rubasingham’s directorship.

Bacchae is at the National Theatre until November 1 2025.

Few historical figures have become so synonymous with Dionysian opulence and excess quite like France’s last queen, Marie Antoinette. Branded “Madame Déficit” and vilified for her extravagant lifestyle, she met a violent end during the French Revolution.

Yet modern research has revealed that much of this reputation was unfairly earned. Still, the myth endures.

A new exhibition at the V&A South Kensington, Marie Antoinette Style, aims to unpack that legacy – reframing the queen not as a frivolous spendthrift, but as a complex cultural icon with a keen eye for art and fashion.

“The exhibition confidently places Marie Antoinette not as an exuberant and frivolous monarch, as she is so often seen, but as an intentional, frequently playful, and decidedly modern patron of the arts,” writes reviewer and fashion historian Serena Dyer.

With most of her wardrobe destroyed by revolutionaries, the exhibition turns to creative means: showcasing dresses, furnishings, and glassware inspired by her influence. A few rare personal items do remain – a delicate shoe, fragments of a torn dress – offering glimpses of the refined taste behind the legend.

Marie Antoinette Style is on at the V&A South Kensington in London until March 2 2026.

Punk and political art

In Edinburgh’s Inverleigh House in the Royal Botanic Garden you can catch the first retrospective of the trailblazing artist, Linder. Spanning 50 years, Danger Came Smiling connects with its location as it dives into her fascination with plants.

The photomontages on show remix images from popular culture, ranging from early pin-up photography to house plants, to invite onlookers to challenge societal norms around gender and sexuality. It is a vibrant and transgressive show that is at once joyful and punk, in true Linder style.

Danger Came Smiling is on at Inverleigh House, the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, until October 19, and then transfers to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, in November 2025.

With rain and gale-force winds sweeping across much of the UK this weekend, staying in might be your best bet. Why not spend it exploring some of the most iconic presidential appearances and opening monologues in American late-night TV history?

The recent cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! — following controversial remarks by Kimmel that reportedly upset the president — has sparked renewed debate around free speech, state interference and censorship in the US. It’s also drawn global attention to the uniquely American tradition of late-night television.

Mocking presidents has long been a hallmark of the genre. In this piece, media expert Faye Davies traces the evolution of the opening monologue as a platform for social commentary and political satire. Many unforgettable moments are available on YouTube – from Richard Nixon’s appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to Bill Clinton’s saxophone solo on The Arsenio Hall Show, trying hard to sell his cool factor and win votes.

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