Writer / director Darren Aronofsky's Mother! is a horror film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. A young woman is single handedly restoring her husband's country home which has been destroyed by fire, when their seemingly tranquil life is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious couple played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris.

Booker prize winning Irish writer Roddy Doyle frequently returns in his novels to a childhood in the 1960s and 1970s on a housing estate in north Dublin. His new novel Smile returns to the trauma of school days when 54-year-old Victor Forde, separated from his television presenter wife, is confronted by memories of his experiences at the Christian Brothers school he attended as a child.

Kathe Kollwitz was one of the leading artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, notable for the emotional power of her drawing, printmaking and later sculpture. Portrait of the Artist: Kathe Kollwitz at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery includes around forty works from the British Museum's remarkable print collection. Known for painting, printmaking and sculpture, her most famous art cycles, including The Weavers and The Peasant War, depict the effects of poverty, hunger, and war on the working class.

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Terry Johnson's new play Prism, based on the extraordinary life of double Oscar-winning cinematic master Jack Cardiff. Cardiff is played by Olivier award winning actor Robert Lindsay and Prism also stars Claire Skinner.

And a look the art of the opening title sequences with reference to a number of recent dramas as well as classic favourites. How much has the aesthetic of the opening title sequence changed and what is the future for the form?

Image: Left to right: Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence in mother!. Credit: Paramount Pictures.