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MoviesInterviewCountry-soul star Yola: ‘I have a mission. I’m extremely bloody-minded about it’Kate HutchinsonThe Grammy-nominated UK singer on her journey from guesting on dance bangers to starring in Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis, and her long battle for recognition in the white, male-dominated Americana scene When the rumours started that Baz Luhrmann was snooping around Nashville for someone to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in his Elvis biopic, Yolanda Quartey knew she had to step up.

ArizonaFour people killed and one injured in Arizona hot air balloon crashPilot among those killed in crash in remote section of desert after unspecified problem with balloon’s envelope, officials say Four people died and a fifth was critically hurt after a hot air balloon crashed early on Sunday morning in a remote section of Arizona desert. Micah Powell, mayor of the Pinal county town of Eloy near the crash site, said 13 people – eight skydivers, four passengers and a pilot – had been in the basket of the balloon.

‘A stage rippling with change’: Noma Dumezweni (Hermione), Jamie Parker (Harry) and Paul Thornley (Ron) in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photograph: Manuel Harlan/PA‘A stage rippling with change’: Noma Dumezweni (Hermione), Jamie Parker (Harry) and Paul Thornley (Ron) in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photograph: Manuel Harlan/PAThe ObserverHarry Potter and the Cursed ChildReviewPalace theatre, London Emotional punch, rich suspense and dazzling effects make for all-round magic in the latest twist in Harry Potter’s tale

Guardian SelectsLife and styleCoziness has become a powerful aesthetic, but are we using it to chase a feeling that the outside world denies us? Take a peek on social media, and it’s obvious we are burrowed deep within “cozy season”. It surrounds us with clouds of neutral-toned knits and the steam offreshly brewed hot drinks. Our socks encase our ankles with seasonal droopiness. Ourbeanies threaten to envelop our entire heads in their snuggly embrace.

The CureInterviewThe Cure's Robert Smith: 'I was very optimistic when I was young – now I'm the opposite'Dorian LynskeyThe singer and songwriter has been curating the Meltdown festival, and is planning to record the first Cure album in 10 years. But will it be fuelled by magic mushroom tea? The first thing Robert Smith does is apologise for the makeup. He hasn’t worn it since his last concert with the Cure, in December 2016, but he has a photoshoot today at the Royal Festival Hall and thinks his features are too indistinct without it.

TheatreReviewPlayhouse, London The actor best known as Chandler Bing returns to the London stage with a self-written confessional drama that feels like an extended sitcom Matthew Perry is a likable actor who brings with him a fund of goodwill from his 10-year stint as Chandler Bing in Friends. In writing, and starring in, his first play he has stuck closely to the format of the TV series: short scenes, smart lines, characters trying to make sense of their relationships.

Venice film festival 2014ReviewMohsen Makhmalbaf’s despot-on-the-run satire gestures to eastern Europe and the fallout of the Arab spring. It’s a gutsy and vivid parable, says Peter Bradshaw Xan Brooks reviews festival opener, Birdman More from the 2014 Venice film festival Perhaps even Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s most devoted admirers weren’t expecting his latest film - here opening the Festival’s Orrizonti sidebar section - to be quite so absorbing and gripping. But that’s what it is, and the director discloses a unsuspected gift for satire and suspense, along with some old-fashioned storytelling gusto.

OpinionReligion This article is more than 5 years oldThe Quakers are right. We don’t need GodThis article is more than 5 years oldSimon JenkinsThe group is considering dropping God from its meetings guidance as it makes some feel uncomfortable. This is the new religiosity The Quakers are clearly on to something. At their annual get-together this weekend they are reportedly thinking of dropping God from their “guidance to meetings”. The reason, said one of them, is because the term “makes some Quakers feel uncomfortable”.

Alan BennettB is for Betty's and S is for splother while O is for outside bucket … our guide to the Yorkshire-born playwright on his 80th birthday Alan Bennett at 80: everything but a national treasure 80 years on: Alan Bennett's career in pictures Average rock bunOncologist's description of the size of the tumour discovered in Bennett's colon in 1997. Forced to make the choice between conventional and homeopathic treatments, Bennett wrote: "