Seven spectacular things to do this week

Your weekly guide to the best events in Beijing

MONDAY

Baby Driver

Cinemas around Beijing. Until Fri 22 Sep. 

Music sounds better when you’re on the road. In Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright takes the car-chase action film – loaded with tyre squeals – and weds it to a cracking jukebox playlist. The result is the most supercharged piece of motorised choreography since John Landis destroyed a fleet of cop cars in The Blues Brothers.

Wright’s hero, Baby (The Fault in Our Stars actor Ansel Elgort), still has a hint of peach fuzz on his cheeks, but he’s a genius with a gearstick. A getaway driver with dreams of going straight, Baby needs music to drown out the tinnitus-induced buzz in his head. The action sequences here, imbued with humour and break-on-a-dime timing, are the most beautifully sustained and jaw-dropping of Wright’s career. You’ll be rewinding them in your head for days.

TUESDAY

Scaramouche screening

Pop-Up Beijing. Tue 15. Free

This August, celebrate liberty, equality and fraternity as Pop-Up Beijing screens classic films that highlight the history, drama and glamour of France. In Scaramouche, a man sets out to avenge the death of his friend at the hands of a master swordsman during the 18th century in France. Starring Stewart Granger, Janet Leigh and Eleanor Parker.

WEDNESDAY

Shtuby

DDC. Wed 16. 100RMB; 80RMB (presale)

With a passion for live instruments and electronic music technology, Israeli multi-instrumentalist Shtuby combines the theremin, clarinet, synths and percussion with throbbing EDM. Wary of being categorised under a specific musical style or genre, Shtuby takes funk, jazz and groove influences to create unique and hypnotising shows. Think multiplayer concert meets off-the-wall party. 

THURSDAY

NT Live: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead 

Poly Theatre Thu 17 Aug; Sat 19 Aug. Ticket price variable

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, The Woman in Black), Joshua McGuire (The Hour) and David Haig (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Witness for the Prosecution) star in Tom Stoppard’s brilliantly funny situation comedy, recorded from The Old Vic theatre in London. Against the backdrop of Shakespeare's Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.

FRIDAY

Tom Odell

Beijing Exhibition Center. Fri 18. 280-1,080RMB

British singer-songwriter Tom Odell arrives in Beijing performing music from 2016 album Wrong Crowd, the highly-anticipated follow-up to his platinum-selling, Brit Award-winning debut. With his gut-wrenchingly honest lyrics and earworm-heavy choruses, the Ivor Novello award-winner creates catchy, piano-driven pop that's reminiscent of Keane and Elton John.

SATURDAY

Dash Berlin

Sir Teen. Sat 19. 180RMB (presale)

Dutch trance trio Dash Berlin has been in the Top 20 of DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ List for the last seven years running. Fronted by Jeffrey Sutorius, Dash Berlin have created platinum-selling bangers with dance acts like the Vengaboys and Alice Deejay, as well as remixed songs by Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and N.E.R.D. Head to Sir Teen for a killer night of progressive house and trance.

SUNDAY

Vegan outreach dinner

Ron Mexico. Sun 20. 100RMB (plus Yoopay transaction fee)

Vegan outreach meals was created with the goal of helping make Western restaurants in Beijing become more vegan-friendly. At these events, vegans and vegetarians are given the chance to get together, as well as introduce their meat-eating friends to a more plant-based diet. This August's meal will be a four-course dinner hosted by Ron Mexico; menu highlights include portobello and smoked tofu with chimichurri, and vegan chocolate cake. Places are limited to 50 spots, so registration and pre-payment are a must (see below for the Yoopay link).

For full event details and even more amazing things to do, hit '阅读原文' below.

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