A trip to Auschwitz raises painful family history in a film that fumbles its honourable intentions with overstuffed and miscast charactersStephen Fry and Lena Dunham play a Jewish father and daughter who miscommunicate their way through 90s Poland, until a visit to Auschwitz allows them to dig up the past (literally). There’s no doubting the good intentions...

The short-story writer’s debut novel, set in 1930s Italy, is a vibrant, Ferrante-esque tale of an intense relationship and revengeBeatrice Salvioni, who won the 2021 Italo Calvino prize for her short stories, will inevitably be compared to Elena Ferrante, and not solely because of the title of her debut novel. The Cursed Friend, translated by Elena...

He’s renowned for big-budget museums and galleries. But the architect’s long-term project in Galicia, northern Spain is all about fundamental, low-key ways to change communities for the better“We find ourselves doing workshops on seaweed growth,” says David Chipperfield, the much-honoured and acclaimed British architect, and “there are moments when...

Bristol Old Vic; Lyric Hammersmith; Southwark Playhouse, London The moving story of the invention of IVF gives space to the women affected; Alice Childress’s 60s interracial romance proves relevant still; but a musical about unplanned parenthood can’t find the dramaIn vitro fertilisation has become such a fact of life today that it’s hard to imagine...

Royal Opera House, London Frederick Ashton’s musicality, footwork and storytelling are showcased in a programme of gracefully danced favouritesWhen you watch the ballets of Frederick Ashton alongside the work of others, he can sometimes look traditional. Yet seeing a programme devoted entirely to his work at the start of a four-year international celebration...

The actor on playing a Polish Holocaust survivor alongside Lena Dunham, what he likes about hip‑hop and why a boring PM would be a reliefStephen Fry, 66, is an actor, broadcaster, writer, presenter and director. As a teenager, he was expelled from school, went to prison for credit card fraud and failed his A-levels before retaking them, resulting in...