From Ghostbusters to Georgia O'Keeffe, 2016's cultural highlights

With a Coens’ comedy, a Scorsese show, and two new Harry Potter instalments also to look forward to, it's going to be quite a year

Scarlett Johansson in Hail, Caesar! (UPI Media)

Arts

Shakespeare 400 celebrations

The 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death is being marked by a year-long programme of events run by King’s College London right across the capital. There will be BFI screenings of classic productions such as David Tennant’s Hamlet and Macbeth with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, as well as concerts, exhibitions, talks, tours and creative activities.

From tomorrow and through 2016; shakespeare400.org

Pop

John Grant, UK tour

One of the modern great singer-songwriters, Grant is renowned for his traumatic personal subject matter, sly, dandy-ish wit, and eclectic musical mix of soft rock, abrasive electro and orchestral drama. This year’s third album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, cemented his reputation and he kicks off his UK tour next month in Glasgow.

26 Jan to 12 Feb; johngrantmusic.com

John Grant on stage (AFP)

Film

‘Spotlight’

This real-life story of the Catholic Church’s cover up of child abuse in Boston – and The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation to expose it – has become the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar. A sterling ensemble includes Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Michael Keaton.

On general release from 29 Jan

Theatre

‘Escaped Alone’

Following Caryl Churchill’s short play at the National this year, the Royal Court premieres her new full-length work. Churchill is famously tight-lipped about her work, but we know it will continue the Royal Court’s good work on providing juicy parts for women by featuring four female characters in their sixties and seventies, played by theatrical doyennes including Linda Bassett and Kika Markham.

21 Jan to 12 Mar; royalcourttheatre.com

Art

‘The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories’

The Rhubarb Triangle (Martin Parr)

Photographer Martin Parr’s first major exhibition for 14 years focuses on a region between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell in West Yorkshire that is famous for harvesting the humble rhubarb plant. Parr has captured every stage of the business, from picking to transporting to, of course, consumption.

4 Feb to 12 June, Hepworth Wakefield; hepworthwakefield.org

Television

‘Vinyl’

HBO is due another meaty drama hit and this might be it: a history of the 1970s music business, with Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger on board as executive producers. It traces the emergence of punk, disco and hip-hop through the eyes of struggling record exec Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale). Expect debauchery and excess aplenty.

From 15 Feb, Sky Atlantic

Pop

Savages

The post-punk group will follow up the release of their much-anticipated second album Adore Life (22 January) with a series of concert dates. But brace yourself: their live shows are famously “frottage-inducingly intense affairs”, as one critic had it.

18 Feb to 17 Mar; savagesband.com

Film

‘Hail, Caesar!’

The Coen brothers and Hollywood’s Golden Age? It sounds like a match made in heaven – and it is, if the trailer is anything to go by. This screwball comedy follows studio fixer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) over a single day as he contends with the kidnapping of one of his stars (George Clooney), and crosses paths with Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and (most excitingly of all) Channing Tatum in a sailor suit.

On general release from 26 Feb

Television

‘The Night Manager’

The stars are out in force for the first John Le Carré TV adaptation in more than 20 years: Tom Hiddleston plays an ex-soldier recruited by an operative (Olivia Colman) to investigate the shadowy alliances between the intelligence community and the arms trade. Hugh Laurie weighs in as an arms dealer while other top British thesps loom ominously.

From Feb, BBC1

Theatre

‘The Flick’

Annie Baker’s self-consciously banal play about underpaid workers at a dilapidated movie theatre was a surprise Pulitzer Prize winner, and makes its way to the National Theatre. Will British audiences get it?

From Apr, Dorfman Theatre, NT, London; nationaltheatre.org.uk

Television

‘Upstart Crow’

Peep Show is no more, but there’s enough David Mitchell: his next big project is this Ben Elton sitcom in which he’s Billy Shakespeare, no less. Liza Tarbuck plays his wife, Anne Hathaway, and Harry Enfield is his less celebrated father.

From Apr, BBC2

Art

‘Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear’

1950s display figure for Y-fronts pants from the V&A’s Undressed (Victoria and Albert Museum London)

Ooh er, Mrs! The Victoria and Albert Museum’s spring blockbuster focuses on our skimpies, from 18th-century fashions to the present day. Highlights include long cotton drawers worn by Queen Victoria’s mother, a 1960s Mary Quant body stocking; and flesh-coloured leggings decorated with a mirrored glass fig leaf by Vivienne Westwood.

16 Apr 2016 to 12 Mar 2017; vam.ac.uk

Dance

‘Frankenstein’

Frankenstein at the ROH (Camilla St Aubyn)

Liam Scarlett, the Royal Ballet’s wunderkind choreographer, will hope for a monster hit with this new narrative ballet focusing on the themes of love and innocence in Mary Shelley’s dark masterpiece.

4-27 May, Royal Opera House, London; roh.org.uk

Theatre

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II’

The stage continuation of J K Rowling’s magical franchise, written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany, is easily the biggest recent theatrical event, commercially at least. You’ll need to cast a spell to see it in 2016 though. The first batch of tickets vanished in hours, but this one might run and run.

From 7 June, Palace Theatre, London; harrypottertheplay.com

Classical

‘Tristan and Isolde’

The English National Opera’s first production of the Wagner classic for 20 years promises passion on a grand scale: most intriguingly, Anish Kapoor is in charge of the production’s design.

9 June to 9 July, Coliseum, London; eno.org

Pop

Rihanna tour

Rihanna’s yet-to-be-released eighth studio album Anti has been so long in the works as to become an industry joke. Whether it ever actually comes to pass or not, there will be a tour in honour of it next summer. And she’s bound to give us old bangers such as “We Found Love” and “Umbrella” right?

14-29 June; rihannanow.com

Art

Georgia O’Keeffe

Tate Modern has a particularly juicy summer blockbuster next year: the first major UK exhibition of the early 20th century Modernist-cum-feminist for decades. It looks at her work from abstract landscapes to stylised rendering of South-western locations.

6 July to 30 Oct; tate.org.uk

Film

‘Ghostbusters’

Thought you heard something go bump in the night? Don’t worry, that’s just the excitement building for this all-female reboot of the 1980s classic. It has had misogynists frothing ever since it was announced. Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wigg lead the team under the direction of Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) and cameos are expected from cast originals Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Sigourney Weaver.

On general release from 15 July

Television

‘The Crown’

“Two houses, two courts, one Crown”. Netflix’s first UK drama commission is a whopping £100m period piece about the Queen created by director-writer duo Stephen Daldry and Peter Morgan (of Elizabeth II bio-play The Audience). It stars Claire Foy, fresh from Royal duties as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall. The plan is for 60 episodes spanning the reign’s six decades.