A monthly selection of forthcoming events recommended by The Spectator's

regular critics

EXHIBITIONS

Turner and Byron, Clore Gallery, Tate, London, from 3 June. Illustrations by one master of works by another. Romantic fellow travellers.

David Nash: Festival Artist, Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, from 12 June. Greener than thou, all-wood sculptures by friendly wielder of axe, auger and fire.

BP Portrait Award 1992, National Portrait Gallery, from 3 June. Pick of our younger portraitists — of those who sent in, at least.

Count the Plastic Kettles, Royal College of Art, 9-20 June. Ominous-sounding title for any degree show which includes work by supposed fine artists. Giles Auty

DANCE

Michael Clark & Company, Tramway, Glasgow (041 227 5511), 2-6 June; Kings Cross Depot (071 494 9780), 19-28 June. Clark's new work, Modem Masterpiece, changes its title to become Mmm on reaching London.

Rambert Dance Company, Royalty Theatre (071 494 5000), 15-27 June. New works by Richard Alston, Siobhan Davies and Guido Servien, plus the world premiere of Merce Cunningham's Touchbase, his first piece for a British company.

Sophie Constanti

CINEMA

Based on a seven-page short story by Stephen King, The Lawnmower Man (15) is a science fiction/ computer graphics extravaganza about Virtual Reality. Pierce Brosnan stars as Dr Angelo, a mad scientist who transforms a mentally retarded gardener (Jeff Fahey) into a genius Frankenstein who has digital 3-D 'cybersex' with his girlfriend Marnie (Jenny Wright).

Set in 1957, The Playboys is a picturesque British production shot in Ireland. Tara McGuire (played by the American actress Robin Wright) causes uproar in a rural backwater when she gives birth to an illegitimate child and conceals the father's identity, Aiden Quinn and Albert Finney co-star as members of a troupe of actors (the Playboys) who cause havoc in the village. Vanessa Letts

GARDENS

The garden and landscape photographer Clay Perry and the sculptor Peter Williams have a combined exhibition of some of their work at the Slaughterhouse Gallery, Charterhouse Street, London EC1, 8-21 June, Perry is well known for his atmospheric scenes of large English gardens, reproduced in works such as Mary Keen's The Glory of the English Garden. Peter Williams produces organic sculptures of the human form in natural stone.

Ursula Buchan

OPERA

Falstaff, London Coliseum (071 836 3161), from 3 June. Pountney's brash production of Verdi's crowning masterpiece is revived by ENO, with a strong cast Benjamin Luxon in the title role, Alison Hagley, WNO's marvellous Mdlisande, as Nanetta — and Mark Elder as conductor.

Der Fliegende Hollgnder, Covent Garden (071 240 1066), from 8 June. Ian Judge directs this new production of Wagner's early work; Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts, and the mesmerising Julia Varady sings Senta opposite the reliable American bass James Morris in the title role.

Kathleen Battle, in recital this month at Covent Garden Two great opera-singers give London recitals this month: American lyric soprano Kathleen Battle, little known in London, is due to present a mixed programme at Covent Garden (071 240 1066) on 14 June; the powerful German mezzo Brigitte Fassbaender continues her controversial exploration of the 'male' repertory when she sings Schumann's Dichterliebe, along with Brahms's Four Serious Songs, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (071 928 8800) on 26 June. Rupert Christiansen

MUSIC

Festivals this month include Spitalfleids, 3-26; Greenwich, 5-14; Bournemouth International, 5-21; Exeter, 12-27; Aldeburgh, 12-28; York, 13-5 July; Sevenoaks Summer, 17-25; Bradford, 19-5 July; Ludlow Summer, 27-12 July; Bath, till 7 June; Lufthansa Baroque, London, till 30 June.

The London Festival Orchestra under Ross Pople will again be touring our cathedrals, sponsored by British Gas. Some of their dates (all in local cathedrals) are: Canterbury (4); Edinburgh (7); Glasgow (8); Newcastle (9); Durham (10); Manchester (12); Westminster (16); Salisbury (17); Guildford (19); St Albans (24); Portsmouth (26); Lincoln (27); St George's Windsor (30).

Other eyecatching events include: the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Dutoit at the Barbican Centre on 22 June; an opportunity to hear Melvyn Tan playing Beethoven's own piano, in Bath on 4 June or in the Barbican Centre on 6 June; and Michael Chance singing at the Queen's Chapel, St James's on 10 June in a programme of Restoration music by Purcell, Blow and others. Peter Phillips

POP MUSIC

Prince, Earls Court, 15-17, 19 23, 24 June. As ever, much is expected of the vertically challenged master of funk-related activities, and even if you find his albums a little wearing, there's no one to touch him live. As well as his stint in the Earls Court barn, he is also playing two football stadiums, Manchester Maine Road on 25 and Glasgow Parkhead on 28 June.

Also recommended: Dire Straits, Earls Court, 3-8; Lyle Lovett, 12-19; two acoustic shows from Squeeze, Town & Country, 23, 24; Crowded House, touring 19-25; an impressive bill of Eric Clapton, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Curtis Stigers at Wembley Stadium, 26, 27 28; and, for sad old hippies and mud fetishists, the Glastonbury Festival, 26-28.

Marcus Berkman

CRAFTS

The People's Show, Walsall Museum & Art Gallery, till 11 July. Collections lovingly assembled by local people — ranging from carrier bags to old master drawings.

The Quaker Tapestry, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 4-7 June. Brief showing of project involving 2,000 embroiderers illustrating the history of the Quaker movement.

The Furnished Landscape: Applied Arts for Public Places, Crafts Council, from 25 June. Seats, railings, weather vanes, paving the kind of thing which invariably does more to enhance the environment than any amount of sculpture. Tanya Harrod

THEATRE

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (071 486 2431), 1 June. Traditional start to the summer with a very strong cast, including Dinsdale Landen as Bottom.

The Rivals, Nottingham Playhouse (0602 419419), 5 June. Sheridan's classic comedy of manners. Ann Mitchell plays Mrs Malaprop.

Six Degrees of Separation, Royal Court (071 730 1745), 11 June. British premiere of John Guare's hit play about New York in the Nineties Christopher Edwards