Front Row
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
Mon, April 28, 2025
Universal Theme Park, Olivier award-winning play Giant, Two to One
Mark Rosenblatt on Giant, his Olivier award-winning play starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl. As Universal Studios announce plans for a major new theme park in Bedfordshire, what does this mean for the UK entertainment industry? Samira is joined by entertainment journalist Ella Baskerville and Gareth Smy from Framestore to discuss its signficance and the kinds of rides it's likely to contain. German director Natja Brunckhorst on her comedy film Two to One, about an East German heist set in the days leading up to German Reunification, starring Sandra Huller. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Thu, April 24, 2025
Review: Self Esteem's album A Complicated Woman; RSC's Much Ado About Nothing; Julie Keeps Quiet tennis film
Journalist Siân Pattenden & critic Stephanie Merritt join Tom to discuss Self Esteem's third album A Complicated Woman, which features collaborations with Nadine Shah and Moonchild Sanelly. Ahead of the release, Self Esteem AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor showcased the album by staging a five-night theatrical presentation at London's Duke of York theatre. Tom and guests also talk about the Belgian film Julie Keeps Quiet, where a star player at a top tennis school deals with the aftermath of her coach being suspended. And they review the RSC's Stratford-upon-Avon contemporary production of Much Ado about Nothing which is set in the world of elite football. Plus, presenter Tom Service talks about the line up for the 2025 BBC Proms. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, April 23, 2025
The ethics of publishing posthumous diaries, Pianist Igor Levit, and Memorials to great women.
As the journals of the American writer Joan Didion (based on conversations with her psychiatrist) are published, writer and journalist Rachel Cooke and Alan Taylor, editor of actor Alan Rickman's diaries, discuss the challenges, responsibilities and ethics of posthumously publishing the diaries of great writers, artists and actors. Acclaimed German pianist Pianist Igor Levit talks about his own challenge - that of performing Erik Satie's pioneering piece Vexations, in a performance at the Multitudes arts festival at London's Southbank Centre. The performance is directed by leading performance artist Marina Abramovic and is expected to last approximately 15 hours, as Levit repeats Satie's one-page score 840 times. And how should great women be memorialised? Cultural critic Stephen Bayley and author and activist Sara Sheridan discuss what a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II might look like, and why, in comparison to their male counterparts, so few women have grand memorials in our towns and cities. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, April 22, 2025
Dante's Inferno in Jamaica, Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time re-examined, Shakespeare's first theatre
Jamaica's former poet laureate, Lorna Goodison, on setting Dante's Inferno on the island of her birth; Journalist Joanna Moorhead on Pope Francis' relationship with the arts; Poet and librettist Michael Symmons Roberts on writing a form-breaking book to re-examine French composer Olivier Messiaen's form-breaking masterwork - Quartet for the End of Time; and a visit to Shakespeare's first theatre. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, April 21, 2025
JMW Turner: 250th anniversary of Britain's greatest painter
Mr. Turner director Mike Leigh, art historian Charlotte Mullins and senior curator at Tate Amy Concannon join Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate the life and work of JMW Turner, as we approach the 250th anniversary of his birth. Also in this edition, David Hockney on Turner's skill as an artist, Alvaro Barrington talks about his continuing influence on artists today, and Tom goes to the conservation studio at Tate Britain to see what’s being done to protect Turner's bequest and look after his fragile and damaged works. Producer: Claire Bartleet Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Thu, April 17, 2025
Review: Alex Garland's film Warfare, Audition by Katie Kitamura, Shanghai Dolls by Amy Ng on stage
Alex Garland's latest film Warfare, which is co-directed by US military veteran Ray Mendoza turns back the clock back nearly twenty years to reconstruct a real-life surveillance mission in Iraq. Film critic Tim Robey and journalist Zing Tsjeng give their verdict on the analysis of the theatre of war, which unfolds in real time. They've also been to see Shanghai Dolls at London's Kiln Theatre - which spans six decades of Chinese history, focusing on the life of an actress who was to personify the terrifying face of the cultural revolution, Madame Mao. Literary critic Boyd Tonkin reflects on the legacy of Nobel prize-winning Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa who has died at the age of 89. Samira and her guests have also been reading Katie Kitamura's new book Audition, about an actress who agrees to have dinner with a young man who seems fixated on her, and includes a 'sliding doors' alternative reality. And as the actress Cate Blanchett announces her intention to retire, Radio 4 listeners have a chance to hear her star in her first major radio drama The Fever, in which she plays a privileged woman who travels to a war-torn country and reflects on her comfortable life amidst the poverty of others. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, April 16, 2025
Photographer Susan Meiselas, The Impact of Trump's Tariffs on Musical Instrument Manufacturers, Author Ewan Morrison.
American documentary photographer and President of the Magnum Foundation Susan Meiselas speaks about her fifty-year career, as she receives the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025, and as her work goes on display at Somerset House in London. We hear how President Trump's economic tariffs are affecting specialist manufacturers of musical instruments here in the UK. Author and screenwriter Ewan Morrison, whose previous books have explored cults and pandemics, talks about his latest novel For Emma, a concept thriller set in the world of artificial intelligence and brain computer interfaces. And In Holy Week Antoni Gaudi - nicknamed " god's architect" - has been confirmed by the Pope as on the path to sainthood even though his most famous work, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia Basilica remains unfinished. Art historian and reverend Dr Aila Lepeen, who’s associate rector at St James Church in London’s Piccadilly, assesses cultural figures who’ve become saints. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, April 15, 2025
Ryan Coogler on Sinners, The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, Book Bans in the US
US director Ryan Coogler on his supernatural horror film, Sinners. Anne Sebba discusses her new book, The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, about the orchestra formed in 1943 among the female prisoners at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. And as a new report looking at so-called book banning in the United States is published, we talked to author Ellen Hopkins, American Libraries Association President Cindy Hohl and Neal McCluskey Director of libertarian thinktank, The Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, April 14, 2025
Muriel's Wedding the Musical, Doctor Who new series & impact on culture, Anthony Hororwitz on Marble Hall Murders
Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Graham
Thu, April 10, 2025
Review: The Return reunites Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, Holy Cow film
Classics professor Edith Hall and writer Lawrence Norfolk join Tom to review The Return, a retelling of the end of Homer’s Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus returns to his kingdom decades after the battle of Troy to find his wife Queen Penelope fending off suitors out to take his throne. The film stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche talk to Tom about being reunited on screen for the first time since The English Patient. Tom and guests also review Holy Cow, an award winning film about youth, agriculture, and the comté cheese-making competition, in the Jura region of south-east France. Plus time-looping novel The Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Book I is the first of a planned septology, which was originally self-published in Denmark. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, April 09, 2025
Tracy Chapman, the Arthur Miller moment in UK theatres, Rock Royalty
Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman talks about the re-release of her eponymous debut album after 35 years, about how those songs of oppression and aspiration, written so long ago, speak to us today, and about going from almost unknown to world famous in one performance. We ask two directors of productions of The Crucible (by Scottish Ballet, and at Shakespeare's Globe) why there is an Arthur Miller moment in theatres this spring. And journalist Kate Mossman talks about her book about rock royalty, Men of a Certain Age, which includes interviews with Jon Bon Jovi, Roger Taylor and Gene Simmons. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, April 08, 2025
Kym Marsh on Abigail's Party, Severance creator Dan Erickson, film franchises in flux
Kym Marsh on stepping into the iconic role of Beverly in theatre classic Abigail's Party as the play opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Film critic Hannah Strong and George Pundek, co-host of the Pulp Kitchen film podcast, on why so many of the big film franchises are facing difficulties. Severance creator Dan Erickson on making a television hit with his debut project. Novelist Max Porter, who is chair of the judges for this year's International Booker Prize, on the books that have made the shortlist: On the Calculation of Volume One by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, April 07, 2025
Manhunt play by Robert Icke, new Edwardians exhibition, film director Waris Hussein
Theatre director Robert Icke's production of Oedipus won best revival and a best actress award for Lesley Manville at last night's Olivier Awards - but his new play Manhunt is now demanding his attention at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The drama focuses on the story of Raoul Moat who attacked his ex-girlfriend and killed her new boyfriend before a stand-off with armed police which ended in his suicide. Samira talks to Robert Icke and to Samuel Edward-Cook who plays Moat. The Edwardian era - from Queen Victoria's death to the start of the First World War - is the subject of a new exhibition at the King's Gallery in London. Samira is joined by its curator Kathryn Jones from the Royal Collection Trust and by the historian and Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era. The Swinging Sixties bring to mind films like Michael Caine's Alfie and the social realist dramas like Up The Junction. But A Touch of Love, released in 1969 and now getting a fresh outing on DVD, offers up an unusual female perspective on the era of free love. Margaret Drabble adapted her own novel the Millstone for the film which starred Sandy Dennis - alongside a young Ian McKellen in his first screen role. We hear from its director Waris Hussein - who also directed the first episodes of Dr Who.
Thu, April 03, 2025
Reviews of Mobland, The Most Precious of Cargoes and Giuseppe Penone exhibition
Nancy Durrant and Jason Solomons join Tom to review: The new offering from Guy Ritchie, Mobland, with familiar themes of drug gangs and violence and starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, amongst others. Giuseppe Penone's Thoughts in the Roots exhibition which is in and outside the Serpentine gallery, expanding on the significance of trees as a recurring motif in his work. The Most Precious of Cargoes, a new animation film which depicts some of the horrors of the Holocaust. And Tom talks to Jorge M. Perez and Darlene Perez about their philanthropic gift to Tate Modern. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, April 02, 2025
Tilda Swinton, Michael Sheen on the new Welsh National Theatre, Richard Burton's influential teacher
Tilda Swinton talks about her role in Joshua Oppenheimer's post-apocalyptic musical film The End, and about her intention to take a break from acting, Actor and artistic director of the new Welsh National Theatre Michael Sheen, and screenwriter Russell T Davies reveal plans for the company's first season. Plus we discuss the influence of schoolmaster Philip Burton on the legendary actor Richard Burton, as a new book, and a film starring Toby Jones, explore the impact of the teacher on Burton's life. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, April 01, 2025
Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker, Design Council at 80, The Women of Llanrumney
Charlie Brooker talks about the return of his wildly popular tech and sci-fi dystopian drama Black Mirror. This new six-part series includes Paul Giamatti as a man using AI to reconnect to a lost love who has died, Emma Corrin as a digitally recreated 40s screen star and, for the first time, follow-up episodes of two of the show's most popular episodes: Bandersnatch and USS Callister. The Design Council is 80 and is celebrateing with a new book, Eight Decades of British Design. The Chief Executive of the Design Council, Minnie Moll, and Thomas Heatherwick, the designer famous for, among many projects, the cauldron for the Olympic flame at the games in London, reflect on the impact of design on our lives here in the past, now, and in the future. The Women of Llanrumney sounds as if it might be the new Gavin and Stacey, but this Llanrumney was a sugar plantation in Jamaica, the setting for Azuka Oforka's first play which examines the links of Wales with slavery, its brutality, the role of slave revolts in bringing about abolition and, looking at the lives of three women, two enslaved and one enslaver, discusses the nature of freedom. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, March 31, 2025
Freedom of Expression in the Arts
Front Row looks at freedom of expression in the arts. From rows about cancel culture to allegations of censorship and the charge that the arts has become 'woke', we explore what is happening. Samira is joined by art curator, Ekow Eshun, novelist Philip Hensher, poet and author of Hounded, Jenny Lindsay and theatre critic Kate Maltby, who sits on the board of the campaign group Index On Censorship. We hear from David Austin, British Board of Film Classification Chief Exec, about how sex and violence are classified for modern audiences. And Shakespeares Globe Artistic Director Michelle Terry discusses her production of Richard III, which ignited a row over casting. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Thu, March 27, 2025
Review: The Studio, Grayson Perry, La Cocina
For our review programme Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Dorian Lynskey and Briony Hanson. They are looking at: New comedy series The Studio, set in Hollywood and starring Seth Rogan and Catherine O’Hara. Delusions of Grandeur, Grayson Perry’s new exhibition where he selects items from the Wallace Collection, adds 40 new works and a new alter ego. And the film La Cocina, which gives an insight into the drama of a bustling New York Times Square restaurant kitchen where the largely illegal immigrant workers are serving up to 3000 covers a day. Plus an assessment of Netflix's most viewed limited series ever, Adolescence. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, March 26, 2025
Peter Capaldi's new album, the great Ossian myth, Brian Friel's short stories
Peter Capaldi talks about his latest album – Sweet Illusions – a nod to the thriving 80s music scene in Glasgow where Peter made his musical debut fronting The Dreamboys. Through the Shortbread Tin is a new National Theatre of Scotland production about the supposed third century Scottish bard Ossian. Its writer – poet Martin O’Connor – and director Lu Kemp, share their exploration of one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time Should Brian Friel be known as short story writer, as much as a playwright? A decade after his death, a new edition of his stories has been published, many of which would inspire his plays such as Faith Healer, Dancing at Lughnasa and his breakthrough Philadelphia, Here I Come! Discussing the often overlooked work of the "Irish Chekhov" is a fellow master of the short story Louise Kennedy, and Dr Kelly Matthews, author of Brian Friel: Beginnings. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Tue, March 25, 2025
Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly, 100 years of Art Deco, Jonathan Pie
The actor and director Peter Mullan talks about taking on the role of Bill Shankly in the new theatre production in Liverpool, Red or Dead, about the much-loved Liverpool football club manager. In April 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a seven-month exhibition of contemporary design, opened in Paris. Arts Décoratifs’ was soon shortened to Art Deco, and a movement was born. A century later Art Deco is being celebrated across the UK. Professor Bruce Peter, author of new book Art Deco in Scotland :Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, and Dr Rachael Unsworth, who leads tours in Leeds that look at art deco buildings in the city, join Nick to discuss Art Deco and its legacy. Art Deco in Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, is also accompanied by an exhibition at the Glasgow School of Art in April 2025. There are also a range of commemorative events in Liverpool this weekend organised by the Art Deco Society UK. A decade ago, the comedian Tom Walker created the character of the roving news reporter Jonathan Pie, and his creation became an internet sensation, with the New York Times among his many fans. When he brought Jonathan Pie to Radio 4 with the radio phone-in comedy, Call Jonathan Pie, the critics were universal in their praise and it quickly became a podcast hit. As Call Jonathan Pie returns for a second series, Tom discusses creating a show that merges the personal and the political. And to mark the first week of Spring, musician and broadcaster Tom McKinney, who will be taking on the Radio 3 Breakfast Show, asks for us to listen properly to the music of birdsong. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, March 24, 2025
Bryan Ferry, Disney's Snow White, the impact of cash prizes on creativity
Bryan Ferry discusses his latest album, Loose Talk and reflects on his long career in music. Disney's new live action version of Snow White has just opened and has attracted criticism from those who felt it departed too far from the original film. Film critics Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Al Horner explore why Disney's reinterpretation of its own canon has become so controversial. The Windham Campbell Prize gives away over a million pounds, shared between eight writers across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Previous British winners have included the poet Zaffar Kunial. Samira is joined by two of this year's winners, playwright, Matilda Ibini and poet, Anthony V Capildeo, to discuss the impact of the prize. Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves changed cinema forever when the world's first animated film hit screens in 1937. Now the House of Mouse has just released a big budget live action remake of the beloved original that is arriving under a cloud of controversy. Larushka Iven-Zadeh, the Times films critic, and Al Horner, a Telegraph writer and host of the Script Apart podcast, joins to discuss. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, March 20, 2025
Review: Clueless the Musical, Oscar winning animated film Flow, Robert de Niro in The Alto Knights. Plus poetry from Seán Hewitt
Critics Hanna Flint and Boyd Hilton join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Clueless, a new musical based on the 1995 film staring Alicia Silverstone. They also discuss Flow, Oscar-winning, dialogue-free, animated film based around the story of a cat who must find safety after its home is devastated by a flood. Plus Robert de Niro playing two gangsters in the Mafia drama The Alto Knights. Plus, ahead of World Poetry Day, we talk to Seán Hewitt whose second collection Rapture's Road has today been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, March 19, 2025
Francois Ozon's new film When Autumn Falls, Pierre Boulez Centenary, Shona McCarthy on leaving Edinburgh Festival's Fringe
French auteur Francois Ozon, whose previous films include 8 Women, Swimming Pool and Potiche, talks about his latest, When Autumn Falls, a bittersweet story of age, youth and breaking the rules, set in a picturesque Burgundy village. As the centenary of his birth approaches, leading pianist Tamara Stefanovich and musicologist Jonathan Cross discuss the legacy and reputation of the iconoclastic composer and conductor Pierre Boulez. The outgoing director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Shona McCarthy talks about what she has achieved in her role, about the state of the Festivals sector in Edinburgh, and about the challenges facing her successor. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, March 18, 2025
Julian Barnes's new book Changing My Mind, Victor Hugo's artwork, Emma Donoghue's novel The Paris Express
Sculptor Antony Gormley and Professor of French literature, Catriona Seth discuss Victor Hugo's visual art with Tom Sutcliffe. Victor Hugo was a 19th century cultural colossus, known for monumental works such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables as well as his poems, plays and political writings. It's not so well known that throughout his career Hugo drew with pen and ink - the same tools he wrote with - creating some 4,000 pictures. The Royal Academy has gathered together about 70 of these in its exhibition 'Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo'. Julian Barnes, one of our greatest living novelists, talks about his latest nonfiction book Changing My Mind. A series of essays published today by Notting Hill Editions, it ponders moments in his life when he's reconsidered long-held views, from memories and politics to words and the writing of EM Forster. Bestselling author Emma Donoghue is known for her novel Room. She talks about mixing in real life characters to her latest work of fiction The Paris Express, which was inspired by seeing a surreal photograph of a nineteenth century French railway disaster. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, March 17, 2025
Vikingur Olafsson's lockdown piano performance, how the pandemic changed The Arts, Liz Pichon's interactive world of The Mubbles
Front Row's artist in residence, acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson, reflects on five years since lockdown, and we have another listen to his Front Row lockdown performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations. How were the arts affected when the country locked down five years ago? Matthew Hemley of The Stage and Louisa Buck of the Art Newspaper discuss how the covid crisis impacted theatres, galleries and artists. And the Tom Gates series children's writer Liz Pichon joins us to talk about her latest work for younger readers. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, March 13, 2025
Review: Edvard Munch portraits, Indian film Sister Midnight, Chekhov's The Seagull with Cate Blanchett
Samira Ahmed and guest critics - the novelist and anthropologist Tahmima Anam and Ben Luke from the Art Newspaper - give their verdict on the week’s cultural releases. They’ve been to see Cate Blanchett in Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull at the Barbican Centre. The classic drama still features characters from Russian nobility – but it’s given a modern-day treatment including VR headsets and quad bikes. They have also watched Sister Midnight, a film about a young bride called Uma who joins her husband in Mumbai but struggles to adapt to her new life and connect with the man she knew as a childhood friend. She wanders the streets, drawn to the moon and becomes an accidental outlaw. Also under consideration are portraits in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery by Edvard Munch – an artist best known for his painting The Scream. Plus we pay tribute to Five Star’s Stedman Pearson who's died at the age of 60. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, March 12, 2025
Former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins performs, Torrey Peters' new book, centenary of Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay
Songwriter and musician Edwyn Collins performs live from his latest album, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation, a series of 11 optimistic and defiant tracks released two decades on from two devastating cerebral haemorrhages. American novelist Torrey Peters, whose book Detransition, Baby became a bestseller and was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction, talks about her new book Stag Dance, a collection of four novellas which examines trans life past, present and future. And as exhibitions around the world celebrate the centenary of Scottish poet, writer, visual artist and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay, poet Alan Spence and the founder of Jupiter Artland sculpture park outside Edinburgh discuss his life and legacy. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, March 11, 2025
The Leopard, Natasha Brown, Manchester International Festival, Elizabeth Fritsch
As Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard is dramatised for television, director Tom Shankland and film critic Peter Bradshaw discuss the power of this classic Italian novel. Natasha Brown's first novel, Assembly, saw her favourably compared to Virginia Woolf and won a Betty Trask award. Her eagerly-awaited second novel Universality has just been published and she discusses leaving her career in finance to write fiction. Low Kee Hong, the new Creative Director of Manchester International Festival, shares his vision for the festival and talks about the 2025 programme which has been revealed today. Ceramicist Elizabeth Fritsch is the subject of a major retrospective at the Hepworth Wakefield. Curator, writer, and editor Natalie Baerselman le Gros, who specialises in contemporary ceramics, reflects on the work of an artist who describes herself as a painter who makes pots. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, March 10, 2025
Jack Thorne and Philip Barantini on Adolescence, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi
Adolescence – the new Netflix series starring Stephen Graham – explores every parent’s worst nightmare: a teenage son accused of a knife-crime. Co-writers and directors Jack Thorne and Philip Barantini join us to explain how the “single-shot” filming technique sheds light on the way toxic masculinity spreads online among young people. Fantasy fiction generated almost £25 million more in 2024 than the previous year - and, a big part of that is the surge in Romantasy, the literary genre fuelled by booktok and YA fans. So, what is Romantasy and what’s the appeal? We meet author Alwyn Hamilton whose fourth book is out this month and editor Natasha Qureshi. Ludovico Einaudi is the most streamed classical artist of all time, with nine billion streams a year and a track which recieved 16 billion TikTok views alone. He discusses his compositions for the screen and plays from his latest album The Summer Portraits. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, March 06, 2025
Review: film Mickey 17, David Szalay’s novel Flesh, Get Millie Black TV series
In Front Row's Thursday review, Ellah Wakatama and Rhianna Dhillon give their take on Bong Joon Ho's new film Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattison, David Szalay's new novel Flesh, and Get Millie Black, Channel 4's Jamaica-set crime drama from Marlon James. Plus we hear from Sophie Elmhirst, whose Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck Survival and Love has just been awarded the Nero Gold Prize for Book Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, March 05, 2025
Jessica Lange, Welsh National Opera's new joint leaders, artist Alison Watt
Actor Jessica Lange discusses her latest film, an adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize winning play Long Day's Journey Into Night, in which she plays Mary Tyrone, a woman with a morphine addiction at the centre of a dysfunctional family, and a role for which she previously won a Tony Award on Broadway. Welsh National Opera's new joint CEOs Adele Thomas and Sarah Crabtree talk about their plans for the organisation. And acclaimed artist Alison Watt talks about her latest exhibition, From Light, inspired by 19th century architect Sir John Soane and showing in his former home, Pitzhanger Manor in London. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, March 04, 2025
Raoul Peck on photographer Ernest Cole, the death of Bill Dare, 14th-century art in Siena, Colum McCann's novel Twist
A new exhibition at London's National Gallery hopes to shed light on artists in 14th Century Siena, who have often been overshadowed by their Tuscan neighbours in Florence. Samira is joined in the studio by one of the curators, Imogen Tedbury, and by Maya Corry, a Renaissance expert from Oxford Brookes University to discuss the astonishing colours and use of gold by artists like Duccio, the Lorenzetti brothers and Simone Martini. The death has been announced of Bill Dare, the creator of Radio 4's The Now Show and Dead Ringers. He nurtured new writers and performers including David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt, of The Mary Whitehouse Experience as well as the comedian Jon Holmes, who explains how they first met. Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, best-known for his Oscar and BAFTA nominated documentary about James Baldwin 'I Am Not Your Negro', discusses his latest film 'Ernest Cole: Lost and Found', about the brief life of a young South African photographer who had to flee his homeland in 1968 to publish his book of photos which exposed the horrors of apartheid to the world. The Booker and Oscar-nominated writer Colum McCann discusses his thrilling new novel Twist, a dive in to the dark depths of the modern human condition set on board a ship repairing the fragile cables which connect us on the ocean floor. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, March 03, 2025
Daniel Evans as Edward II, Laura Carreira's film On Falling, last night's Oscar winners
Sean Baker made Oscar history, becoming the first person to win four Academy Awards for directing, editing, writing and producing a single film, Anora. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh joins Samira to look at this year's Oscar winners and what they say about cinema today. The RSC's co-artistic director Daniel Evans discusses playing Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. Filmmaker Laura Carreira talks about her award-winning debut feature On Falling, about the social isolation and the injustices faced by a Portuguese woman working in the gig economy in Scotland. And, we look back at the work of late artist Jack Vettriano with Rachel Campbell Johnson. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, February 27, 2025
Review: Leigh Bowery exhibition, The Summer with Carmen film, Michael Amherst's novel The Boyhood of Cain
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests the film critic Ryan Gilbey and art critic and author Charlotte Mullins review the week's latest cultural releases including Tate Modern’s exhibition on the unconventional artist and performer Leigh Bowery, the Greek film featuring gay romance, The Summer With Carmen and Michael Amherst’s first novel, The Boyhood of Cain. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, February 26, 2025
Anjelica Huston, Tim Roth and British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan
Kirsty Wark talks to Anjelica Huston about playing a magnificent matriarch in the adaptation of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero, which begins on BBC One this weekend. The director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan, talks about the appointment of an architectural firm who will be redeveloping the Museum's galleries, about the pressures of running a national cultural institution and about recent controversies. And actors Tim Roth and Koki discuss their roles in the opening film at the Glasgow Film Festival, director John MacLean's reinvention of the samurai movie tradition, Tornado. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, February 25, 2025
New medical drama Berlin ER, Stacy L Smith, German Elections, Santanu Bhattacharya
As the Oscars hove into view this weekend, the news is the women are coming - Stacey L Smith from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on their research showing more women leading Hollywood box office hits. Berlin ER is the new medical drama from Apple set in a run down A&E department in the German capital. Creator and former doctor Samuel Jefferson on swapping his medical scrubs for television scripts. Berlin-based arts and culture journalist Catherine Hickley on the impact of the German federal elections on the country's creative sector. Writer Santanu Bhattacharya discusses Deviants, his new novel set in India which explores three gay love stories against the backdrop of anti-homosexuality legislation introduced by the British. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, February 24, 2025
25 Years of 21st Century: Theatre
We look back at the quarter century in performing arts, exploring the changes in live stage performance and asking how the theatrical landscape has changed over those years. Samira Ahmed hears about some of the big trends that have changed the experience - such as immersive theatre and discusses the challenges the sector has faced. She is joined by playwrights Mark Ravenhill and Lolita Chakrabarti, who is also an actor, by the producer and CEO of Nimax Theatres, Nica Burns and by the critic Sarah Crompton. Plus we hear from Felix Barrett, founder of Punchdrunk Theatre and Nikolai Foster the artistic director of the Leicester Curve. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, February 20, 2025
Review: A Thousand Blows, Richard II, Perspectives by Laurent Binet
John Mullan and Caroline Frost join Tom to review Steven Knight's new historical drama A Thousand Blows, Nicolas Hytner's production of Richard II staring Jonathan Bailey and novel Perspectives by Laurent Binet Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, February 19, 2025
25 Years of 21st Century: how art and architecture have changed since the year 2000
Kirsty Wark and guests discuss how visual art and architecture have evolved over the last 25 years. In the latest of our special series reflecting the changing cultural landscape since the start of the millennium, Kirsty Wark discusses the significant shifts in visual art and architecture in the 21st century with Director of Exhibitions and Programmes at Tate Modern Catherine Wood; Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak; Katrina Brown of The Common Guild in Glasgow; and founder of architectural practice Studio Gil, Pedro Gil. What did the boom in museum and gallery building in the early 2000s say about the public appetite for art? How has programming of exhibitions changed to reflect greater diversity? Is the auction market for contemporary art out of control? And is AI making an impact on contemporary art? Featuring an interview with Turner Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, February 18, 2025
Muhammad Ali in South Shields, Sheila Fell exhibition in Cumbria, Dame Myra Hess
Playwright Ishy Din on his new play, Champion inspired by the 1977 visit of celebrated boxer, Muhammed Ali, to South Shields. Art historian Frances Spalding and curator Eleanor Bradley on artist Sheila Fell - the subject of a major exhibition at Tullie Museum and Art Gallery. As a new biography of concert pianist Dame Myra Hess is published, its author Jessica Duchen, and Adam Gatehouse, artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition, discuss Dame Myra's distinctive playing style and how it compares to playing styles of today. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, February 17, 2025
Walter Salles on I'm Still Here, Matt Goss performs live, The Face magazine exhibition at National Portrait Gallery
Samira Ahmed talks to Brazilian director Walter Salles about his film I'm Still Here - which has already won multiple awards including the Golden Globe for Best Actress for its star Fernanda Torres. it's based on a true story about a family Salles knew when he was growing up in Rio de Janeiro - whose father was detained and disappeared during the military dictatorship which lasted for more than 20 years. The Face magazine was launched in 1980, offering a stylish approach to music, fashion and culture. A new exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery showcases some of the most iconic images created by photographers like Jurgen Teller and Ellen von Unwerth. The curator Sabina Jaskot-Gill and journalist and broacaster Miranda Sawyer discuss what made The Face such an important part of British culture. 80s hearthrob Matt Goss - one half of hit band Bros with his brother Luke - features in one of the images in The Face exhibition. He performs his new single and talks about his 11 year residency in Las Vegas - and why he's come back to the UK to tour. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, February 13, 2025
Review: Bridget Jones; Linder Stirling exhibition; Memoir of a Snall animation
Robbie Collin and Louisa Buck join Tom Sutcliffe to review the fourth Bridget Jones film Mad About the Boy staring Renée Zellweger, the Oscar nominated animation Memoir of a Snail and pioneering artist Linder's Danger Came Smiling retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, February 12, 2025
Future of TV soaps, Joseph O'Connor's new book, stage version of Murakami short stories
As scheduling changes are made to ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, and as the 40th anniversary of EastEnders is celebrated with a live special on BBC One, how is the future looking for continuing drama on TV? Former Executive Producer of EastEnders John Yorke and Entertainment Journalist Emma Bullimore discuss the impact of the audience's viewing habits on commissioning. Renowned Irish novelist Joseph O'Connor talks about his latest historical book, The Ghosts of Rome, a story of heroism set in Italy during World War Two. And we hear about Vanishing Point theatre company's stage adaptation of acclaimed writer Haruki Murakami's short stories Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, which is a co-production with the Kanagawa Arts Theatre of Japan. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, February 11, 2025
25 Years of 21st Century: Books
Front Row continues to look at how culture has changed in the first 25 years of this century with an edition focusing on books. Tom Sutcliffe is in the Front Row studio with two writers who've helped to shape the literary landscape over those years – the novelists Zadie Smith and Andrew O'Hagan. They are joined by the presenter of Radio 4's A Good Read and World Book Club, Harriett Gilbert, who's chosen Smith's White Teeth as one of her key books so far this century. Plus Editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones joins the discussion to reflect on the changes in publishing and the impact of technology on our reading habits Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Mon, February 10, 2025
Robert de Niro, Gladiators exhibition, Festen: Mark Anthony Turnage and Lee Hall's new opera
Hollywood legend Robert De Niro explains why he's starring in his first ever TV series Zero Day, where he plays a former US President out to find the culprits behind a deadly cyber-attack on America. He's joined by the show's screenwriter Eric Newman. With the British Council facing financial pressures it is considering the sale of its art collection, we hear from Jenny Waldman, Director of the Art Fund about what this might mean. Mark Anthony Turnage and Lee Hall talk about their new opera Festen, based on the Danish film by Thomas Vinterberg, which explores the impact of a dark family secret revealed at a birthday party. And, curator Anna Villi and author Elodie Harper discuss the British Museum and Colchester and Ipswich Museum's Gladiators of Britain exhibition. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, February 06, 2025
Review: The Last Showgirl, Oedipus, Nobel author Han Kang's novel We Do Not Part
Tom is joined by the writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright and the Observer's theatre critic Susannah Clapp to review another version of the Greek classic Oedipus, this time at the Old Vic in London and starring Rami Malek. Also reviewed: The Last Showgirl, which has Pamela Anderson starring as Shelley with Jamie Lee Curtis as her good friend. Shelley's Vegas cabaret show is closing and the imminent change forces her to confront her life choices. And: We Do Not Part, the new novel by Nobel Prize for Literature winner, the Korean writer Han Kang. We also hear about the Japanese collaborative SANAA, founded by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, which has won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal for architecture, from Professor Sadie Morgan. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, February 05, 2025
September 5 director Tim Fehlbaum, new Motherland spin-off TV series Amandaland, the history of Slapstick
Writer Holly Walsh and actor Lucy Punch on the Motherland spin-off series, Amandaland which also stars Joanna Lumley Director, screenwriter and producer of September 5, Tim Fehlbaum about his new film that explores what happened at the 1972 Munich Olympics from the perspective of the sports journalists who found themselves broadcasting the story As the Slapstick Festival returns to Bristol for its 20th anniversary, we look at the history of this enduring form of comedy Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Fiona McLellan
Tue, February 04, 2025
25 Years of 21st Century: Film and Television
Front Row continues to look at how culture has changed in the first 25 years of the century with an edition focusing on film and TV. Samira is joined by Radio 4's Screenshot presenters Mark Kermode and Ellen E. Jones, Jane Tranter, who relaunched Doctor Who in 2005 and co-founded Bad Wolf productions and Boyd Hilton, the Entertainment Director of Heat magazine. From reality TV to superhero franchises and the rise of binge-watching, the panel discuss how transformations have changed what we watch, how we watch it and who makes it. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Tue, February 04, 2025
Director Coralie Fargeat on The Substance, Josephine Baker's autobiography, poet Anne Carson on Elektra on stage
Coralie Fargeat has been nominated as best director for her film The Substance which stars Demi Moore. She tells Samira about her inspiration for the satirical horror about a Hollywood star who takes a dangerous drug to create a younger version of herself. Josephine Baker’s memoir has been translated into English for the first time, fifty years after the death of the iconic performer. Cultural historian Dr Adjoa Osei and translator Anam Zafar discuss Baker's incredible life and legacy. The story of Greek heroine Electra has been written in play form by Sophocles, was made into an opera by Richard Straus and inspired Marvel comics and films. A new production, based on Sophocles' Electra which was translated by Canadian poet Anne Carson has just hit London’s West End starring Brie Larson and Stockard Channing. Anne joins Samira to talk about the translation. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Fri, January 31, 2025
Review: Mike Leigh's Hard Truths, Inside No. 9 on stage, film Saturday Night
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Dreda Say Mitchell and critic Scott Bryan to assess the week's cultural releases, including a new stage version of the hit TV series Inside Number 9. They've also been watching Mike Leigh's first film in 6 years, Hard Truths, which has reunited him with Marianne Jean-Baptiste who was nominated for an Oscar in his hit film Secrets and Lies. Finally they review Saturday Night, the new film about the beginnings of the cult TV series Saturday Night Live which launched the careers of many comedians including Tina Fey. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, January 29, 2025
The Great Gatsby centenary, The Testament of Gideon Mack, A New Prize for Contemporary Dance
We celebrate the centenary of the publication of F Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel The Great Gatsby, with Fitzgerald experts James West and Sarah Churchwell, Writer and performer Matthew Zajac talks about his new theatre production The Testament of Gideon Mack, based on James Robertson's acclaimed book about a Minister who doesn't believe in God, but then meets the Devil, And news of a new prize for contemporary dance productions, from SIr Alistair Spalding of Sadler's Wells, and one of the judges of the prize, Dame Arlene Phillips. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Fiona Maclellan
Tue, January 28, 2025
Jane Austen's sister, artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman, football in fiction
As new BBC One drama adaptation, Miss Austen, shines fresh light on Jane Austen's sister Cassandra, Gill Hornby, who wrote the eponymous novel on which Miss Austen is based, and Claire Harman, author of Jane's Fame, How Jane Austen Conquered The World, discuss how perceptions of Cassandra's burning of her sister's letters have been changing. Paris-based journalist and cultural critic Agnès Poirier reports on President Macron's announcement at the Louvre. Artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman reflects on weaving together personal, historical, and social stories in her exhibition , Chila Welcomes You, at Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. Alex Allison and George Harrison on their new novels which centre on football. Alex's Greatest of All Time is a tender gay love story set among a fictional premiership team in the North East while George Harrison's Season is a cross generational tale of two dedicated football fans that stretches over a season. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, January 27, 2025
Samira Ahmed on the seismic transformation of music and the music industry so far this century
Front Row looks at how culture has changed in the first 25 years of this century, starting with Music. Samira is joined by Radio 4's Add to Playlist hosts Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, music journalist Kitty Empire and former Spotify exec Will Page. They discuss how transformations in technology have impacted what we listen to and what music is being written, and what genres of music have come to the forefront in the last 25 years. Pete Waterman, one of the judges on the original Pop Idol, talks about the explosion of TV music competitions. And the Master of the Kings Music, composer Errollyn Wallen, explores how classical music has changed and evolved. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, January 23, 2025
Review: supernatural thriller film Presence, Edmund White's sex memoir and Brazil! Brazil! at the Royal Academy
Rowan Pelling, journalist and founding editor of the Erotic Review, and the film critic Tim Robey join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the Oscar nominations and review Edmund White's The Loves of My Life, Steven Soderbergh's supernatural horror thriller Presence and Brazil! Brazil! a major exhibition featuring 20th century artists at the Royal Academy in London. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, January 22, 2025
James Graham on Brian & Maggie, The Merchant of Venice, Live music from Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart
Writer James Graham on his Channel 4 drama Brian & Maggie, which stars Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter, and which tells the story of a hard-hitting interview between broadcaster Brian Walden and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which helped precipitate Thatcher's downfall in the early 1990s, John Douglas Thompson talks about playing Shylock in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as a black actor, in a production by Theatre for a New Audience which is at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, And live music from Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart, who have collaborated with Mary Chapin Carpenter on a new album, Looking for the Thread. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, January 21, 2025
Anora director Sean Baker, Caryl Phillips's new novel, Somerset House exhibition on Soil
Anora is one of the leading contenders in the current film awards season - and its star Mikey Madison looks likely to get an Oscar nomination too. Its director Sean Baker explains how he uses both violence and comedy to explore the story of a son of a Russian oligarch who becomes entangled in the world of a sex worker in New York. Caryl Phillips talks about his new novel, Another Man in the Street about a young Caribbean man's search for a new home in 1960s London and the other people, all migrants in different ways, who become part of his life there. And Soil is more than dirt - co-curators Claire Catterall and May Rosenthal Sloan explain how a new exhibition at Somerset House in London sheds light on how the ground under our feet has played a crucial role in human civilisation, with 50 artists in the show using sculpture, painting, tapestry and video to explore its qualities. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, January 20, 2025
The Brutalist director Brady Corbet and star Adrien Brody, Sidney Poitier season at BFI
The Brutalist's director Brady Corbet and star Adrien Brody talk about making the hotly anticipated film. With a season of Sidney Poitier's films underway at the British Film Institute and a play about a key moment in his early, Retrograde, transferring to London's West End in March we discuss the legacy of the great actor with - writer, Ryan Calais Cameron and programmer, Jonathan Ali. Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal discusses the cultural elements of the 47th President's inauguration ceremony. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, January 16, 2025
Review: Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, TS Eliot prize poetry, Italian wartime film Vermiglio
Lemn Sissay and Rhianna Dhillon review the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet, the TS Eliot Prize-winning poetry collection Fierce Elegy by Peter Gizzi and the Italian language film, Vermiglio set in a remote Alpine village during World War Two. We pay homage to David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive. Plus Mark Savage gives the latest on the feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, January 15, 2025
Franz Ferdinand play in the studio, Richard Price on his new novel Lazarus Man, verdict on BAFTA nominations
Franz Ferdinand play live from their new album The Human Fear, eleven songs which explore deep-set human anxieties and how overcoming and accepting them drives and defines our lives. Richard Price - the author of Clockers, and a writer on The Wire, talks about his latest novel, Lazarus Man, a chronicle of New York life set in the aftermath of a destructive explosion. Plus a response to this year's BAFTA nominations, which were announced today, from film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, January 14, 2025
Vivaldi's Four Seasons reimagined, impact of L.A. fires on culture, Leigh Whannell's new horror film, Dead Ink Books
Sir Michael Morpurgo and violinist Daniel Pioro discusss reimagining Vivaldi's Four Seasons for a recording with the Manchester Camerata featuring new poetry by Sir Michael and improvisations by Daniel. Pat Saperstein, Deputy Editor of Variety, and Peter Bowes, BBC Correspondent in Los Angeles reflect on the impact of the L. A fires on the film, television, music and visual arts worlds. Leigh Whannell, the co-creator of the blockbuster Saw horror film franchise, talks about his new film Wolf Man, which is the follow-up to his hit 2020 film The Invisible Man, bringing yet another of Universal's iconic monsters back to the big screen. Dead Ink Books, a small independent publisher in Liverpool began life in a bedroom but now it's winning major literary prizes. MD Nathan Connnolly discusses its success and its latest prize-winner. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, January 13, 2025
Michael Sheen, Matthew Bourne on Oliver! and ghostwriting
Actor Michael Sheen explains how he was rehearsing his role as the creator of the NHS, Nye Bevan when he heard about the demise of National Theatre Wales and decided to make plans for a new organisation, using some of his own money. Matthew Bourne talks about his new stage production of the musical Oliver! and the 30th anniversary tour of his groundbreaking version of the ballet Swan Lake. The society of authors has asked for Ghostwriters to be recognised, particularly when celebrities are involved. We speak to two ghostwriters about this potentially secretive process. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, January 09, 2025
Review: Angelina Jolie's Maria, AL Kennedy's novel Alive in the Merciful Country, Architecton documentary
Viv Groskop and David Benedict join Tom Sutcliffe to talk about Maria, the Maria Callas biopic staring Angelina Jolie. They also review Alive in the Merciful Country by A.L. Kennedy and Architecton, a study of concrete and stone from the Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky. Plus Jeremy Treglown, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, who talks about the changes that are happening within the organisation. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, January 08, 2025
Asif Kapadia's dystopian film 2073, anthology comic marks 25 years since armed forces "gay ban" lifted, Nick Frost in Get Away
Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Fiona MacLellan
Tue, January 07, 2025
Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin on their film A Real Pain, improving visual literacy in school, how Jerry Springer changed TV
Tom Sutcliffe talks to Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin about their new film A Real Pain - in which they play mis-matched cousins touring Poland to honour their grandmother. Can you teach someone to look at art intelligently? Oxford University is about to start a 3 year study on visual literacy – assessing how much looking at art can impact young people’s social and academic outcomes. Art historian Alison Cole, specialist primary school art teacher Mandy Barret and Professor Robert Klassen who’ll be working on the study discuss how strong the case is to include it on the school curriculum. Jerry Springer brought shock and sleaze into our living rooms between 1991 and 2018. As a new documentary, ‘Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action’ airs, we talk to its director Luke Sewell about what kind of impact the show had on our culture. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, January 06, 2025
Nicole Kidman on Babygirl, Brian Eno on art and Herod
Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson talk about their award-winning new film Babygirl, where she plays a married mum and high powered tech CEO who begins an affair with a young intern at her company after he realises she has sexual desires that she's not been able to embrace before. Novelist Tayari Jones and literary scholar Dr Deborah G. Plant discuss The Life of Herod the Great by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. Published for the first time, the manuscript was saved from being burnt after Hurston’s death and challenges the idea of Herod as a murderous tryant. Brian Eno, musician, song writer, record producer and visual artist has two new projects – he's written a book about what art does, and endorsed and taken part in a film about his life and work. He joins Samira. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, January 02, 2025
Review: Nosferatu, Lockerbie, Nickel Boys
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by the critics Bidisha and Peter Bradshaw to review the highlights of the week: Nosferatu - Robert Eggers' remake of F.W Murnau's 1922 silent vampire classic, which was itself based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. Nickel Boys - the Golden Globe nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's novel about two African American boys sent to reform school. Lockerbie - Sky's miniseries about the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the subsequent search for truth, starring Colin Firth. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser
Wed, January 01, 2025
Front Row on the Shipping Forecast, at the Cutty Sark
Samira Ahmed presents Front Row's contribution to Radio 4's New Year's Day celebration of the Shipping Forecast, marking a century since the BBC began broadcasting it. This edition of the arts programme explores how the Shipping Forecast inspires musicians, writers, artists of all kinds, and how it has become a powerful presence in the psyche of the nation, even among people with no connection to the sea. There is an irony here: the forecast is factual, devoid of metaphor, yet it moves millions emotionally. Recorded in front of an audience at Britain's most famous ship, the Cutty Sark, Samira's guests are novelist Meg Clothier, author of The Shipping Forecast: Celebrating 100 Years; musicians Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver; poets Sean Street and Zaffar Kunial; and Paddy Rodgers, Director of Royal Museums, Greenwich. They discuss the inspirational quality of the Shipping Forecast - the litany of names of sea areas, its rhythms, the factual yet evocative vocabulary of atmospheric and sea states, and how this vital information, demanding attention, has become a national lullaby. Sean Street, Britain's first Professor of Radio and author of several books about sound, considers the Shipping Forecast as a sound work, and reads his poem, Shipping Forecast, Donegal. Lisa Knapp performs, accompanied by Gerry Diver, her song 'Shipping Song' and 'Three Score and Ten', written by William Delf, a Grimsby fisherman, after a disastrous storm in 1889. There are two world premieres, commissioned by Front Row, an audio piece by the sound designer, Ross Burns, and a poem by Zaffar Kunial. And some quirky Shipping Forecast moments such as Alan Bennett reading it and Charlotte Green assaying the Forecast - in Arabic. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, December 31, 2024
Front Row Hogmanay live from Glasgow
Kirsty Wark hosts a Hogmanay edition live from Glasgow. Featuring performances by The Bluebells and piper Malin Lewis. Plus Alan Cumming; Scotland's new Makar, Peter Mackay; and an exploration of representations of New Year in cinema, literature and poetry.
Mon, December 30, 2024
Bradford UK City of Culture 2025
As Bradford limbers up for its year as UK City of Culture, in a special edition of Front Row, Nick Ahad meets: Steven Frayne, the award-winning Bradford-born magician formerly known as Dynamo. Frayne's magic skills have brought him success in arenas and television studios worldwide and his biography Nothing is Impossible: My Story became a bestseller. He returns to Bradford in the ultimate homecoming gig as co-creator of RISE - the opening show for Bradford's year as UK City of Culture. The 2022 documentary film, A Bunch of Amateurs, charmed critics and audiences alike. This portrait of one of the oldest amateur film societies in the world, Bradford Movie Makers, was the work of filmmaking duo Kim Hopkins and Margareta Szabo. On the set of their latest project, The Local, about another Bradfordian institution, the Jacob's Well pub, one of the oldest Beerhouses in Bradford, they discuss capturing the spirit of the community who walk through the pub doors. Shanaz Gulzar is the Creative Director of Bradford 2025 and she's also the curator of one of the year's public art events, Wild Uplands. She talks about her vision for celebrating culture in her home city, and the four visual artists that she's selected to create work in the moors landscape she grew up with. RISE co-creator and theatre director Kirsty Housley is known for the innovation that she brings to the stage in a wide variety of acclaimed productions including for the National Theatre. In poems such as BFD, poet, playwright, and cultural mentor Kirsty Taylor, has turned her home city into alluring verse. Kirsty H and Kirsty T talk about their work on RISE to create an opening show that reflects Bradford to its people and the rest of the world. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, December 19, 2024
Review: Better Man, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and How to make Millions before Grandma Dies
Boyd Hilton and Arifa Akbar join Tom to review: Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic with a twist – he’s depicted as a Monkey. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Almeida theatre’s new production of Tennesee Williams' play with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Kingsley Ben-Adir. And How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies, a new film from Thai director Pat Boonnitipat about family relationships, memories, death and inheritance. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, December 18, 2024
Chris McCausland, Lauren Mayberry and Barry Jenkins
Fresh from his success as the winner of Strictly Come Dancing, comedian and actor Chris McCausland joins us to talk about his new TV film Bad Timings, his forthcoming solo tour and of course triumphing in TV's biggest dance contest. Singer Lauren Mayberry, best known as the frontwoman of Scottish synth pop band Chvrches, talks about her debut solo album, on which her songs examine themes societal pressures, the mother-daughter relationship and her experiences as a female musician in a band alongside two men. And the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, speaks about his experiences making Mufasa, the prequel to Disney's hugely popular Lion King, which is in cinemas from this weekend. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, December 17, 2024
Simon Russell Beale, Rufus Wainwright and Kate Garner
The actor Simon Russell Beale speaks about playing the poet and scholar A. E. Housman in Tom Stoppard's play 'The Invention of Love', as well as discussing his memoir. The singer, songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright was inspired to write a Requiem by his love of the composer Giuseppe Verdi and the loss of his dog, named Puccini. He speaks about the project and the involvement of Meryl Streep. And Kate Garner performs songs from the music halls, alongside the historian and writer Oskar Jensen discussing the stories behind the songs. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Mon, December 16, 2024
Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas, Nick Park on new Wallace & Gromit film, Organs discussion
Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas talks to Front Row about writing the drama's Christmas special, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham discuss co-directing the new Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, and ahead of the Royal College of Organists' new initiative - Play The Organ 2025 - organists David Pipe and Claire M Singer join Nick to discuss updating perceptions of the "king of instruments". Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, December 12, 2024
Review: The Devil Wears Prada, 100 Years of Solitude, The Universal Theory
Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, December 11, 2024
Jesus and Mary Chain, The politics of pantomime & Video games of the year
Brothers William and Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain talk to Kirsty Wark about the ups and downs of their career in music. Plus a discussion on the politics of pantomime, And the video games of the year. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, December 10, 2024
Daniel Craig and Luca Guadagnino, Public Service Broadcasting perform live
Daniel Craig and Luca Guadagnino talk about their new film Queer, which is based on the William S. Burroughs novella about a love affair between an aging alcoholic and a young discharged serviceman in post-war 1950s Mexico City. Public Service Broadcasting perform The South Atlantic from their latest album The Last Flight, which is themed around the pioneering American pilot Amelia Earhart who disappeared in 1937 whilst attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. Could the late Agatha Christie soon be heard narrating her own audio books? The audio publishing industry is currently wrestling with the creative, ethical and regulatory implications of the increasing using artificial intelligence. Samira explores the issues with Jon Watt, Chair of the Audio Publishers Group and Audio Director at Bonnier Books UK and Dr Kerry McInerney from Cambridge University and co-host of the Good Robot Podcast. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, December 09, 2024
Kelsey Mann on Inside Out 2, Humphrey Bogart documentary, Susan Chardy
Disney's hit Inside Out 2 film explored youthful emotions to incredible success as the film is not only the highest grossing film of 2024 but it's also the most successful animated film of all time. Director Kelsey Mann explains how they made it. Humphrey Bogart remains one of Hollywood's most iconic screen stars and new the new documentary Bogart: Life Comes In Flashes looks at his life and career through the five women who had the greatest impact on him, including the equally iconic Lauren Bacall. The film's director Kathryn Ferguson and the film historian Pamela Hutchinson explore Bogie's enduring appeal. Tom talks to Susan Chardy, the star of new Zambian comedy-drama On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, who won Breakthrough Performance at last night's British Independent Film Awards. And the Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw talks about today's Golden Globe nominations, which celebrates the best in film and television. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, December 05, 2024
Review: Rumours, The Importance of Being Earnest, Grand Theft Hamlet
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Naomi Alderman and Mark Ravenhill to review a new production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the National Theatre, starring the current Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa, W1A’s Hugh Skinner and Sharon D Clarke. Plus comedy horror Rumours starring Cate Blanchett, and Grand Theft Hamlet – a documentary film which was shot inside the GTA game during the 2021 lockdown. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, December 04, 2024
New Makar, future of musical theatre, arts funding in Scotland
Scotland's new Makar (National Poet) Peter Mackay, whose appointment was announced this week, talks about how he intends to shape the role over the next three years. Elizabeth Newman of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Jon Gilchrist of Birmingham Hippodrome discuss new initiatives to boost the production of musical theatre around the UK. Plus Jacob Rees-Mogg on his reality TV series Meet the Rees-Moggs. And as the Scottish Budget is delivered, will arts organisations finally get some clarity on their funding? Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, December 03, 2024
Richard Curtis's new film, Purple Heart Warriors audio drama, Turner Prize announcement
Tom Sutcliffe hears from the Love Actually writer and director Richard Curtis about how much he's obsessed by Christmas - and how he's now moved into animation for his latest film That Christmas, based on his trilogy of children’s books. There's advice on the best books to buy this Christmas from the literary critic Alex Clarke and Toby Lichtig, Fiction and Politics editor at the Times Literary Supplement. Tom also talks to the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Iris Yamashita about her new audio drama Purple Heart Warriors, which tells the extraordinary story of a Japanese-American unit in World War Two. And art critic Zarina Muhammad is in the studio to assess this year's Turner Prize artists, just as the winner is announced this evening. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, December 02, 2024
Reopening of Notre-Dame, Jacob Collier, Marshall Brickman, King Winter's Birthday
In 2019 fire destroyed the much of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. As the restoration is completed, Agnes Poirier describes the work of skilled artisans that she has watched over the past five years. Her documentary series for the World Service In the Studio programmes can be heard on BBC Sounds. Jacob Collier discusses and plays from his new Grammy nominated album, Djesse, Volume 4. The novelist Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz was interned as an "enemy alien" on the Isle of Man during World War Two, where he wrote a children's story recently unearthed in archive 80 years later. Writer Jonathan Freedland and illustrator Emily Sutton discuss breathing new life into King Winter's Birthday. And we remember the late screenwriter, Marshall Brickman, who worked with Woody Allen on Annie Hall. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Fri, November 29, 2024
Review: Beatles 64, Electric Dreams @ Tate Modern, The Agency
Samira Ahmed's joined by this week's critics - Louisa Buck and Matt Everitt - to review Beatles '64, documenting the fab four's first trip to America with previously unseen footage shot by pioneering brothers Albert and David Maysles. They've also been to see Tate Modern's new exhibition Electric Dreams, exploring how artists were inspired to use machines and algorithms to create mind-binding art before the internet. Plus the star-studded new TV spy drama The Agency - starring Michael Fassbender, written by Jez Butterworth and produced by George Clooney - and we hear about this year's Deep Time music festival, taking it's inspiration from an imagined meeting between Jean-Michel Basquiat and John Cage in Edinburgh. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
Wed, November 27, 2024
Donny Osmond, Orhan Pamuk, Puccini's centenary
Nobel Prize winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk talks about the publication of his illustrated journals, Memories of Distant Mountains. As he takes on the role of Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh, Donny Osmond talks about his career in music. And in the week that marks the centenary of his death, artistic director of English National Opera Annilese Miskimmon and music critic and broadcaster Flora Willson discuss the perennially popular - but somewhat problematic - composer Giacomo Puccini. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, November 26, 2024
Edward Berger on Conclave, Ganavya performs, Tim Robey on film flops
Director Edward Berger joins Tom Sutcliffe to talk about his thriller Conclave, staring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, which focuses on the election of a new pope. Berger's previous film All Quiet on the Western Front won four Oscars - this success contrasts with a century of film flops which critic Tim Robey wrote about in his book Box Office Poison and discusses with Signature Entertainment's Ben Jacques. We also have New York born and Tamil Nadu raised singer and musician Ganavya who performs and speaks about her musical style and influences. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, November 25, 2024
Sigourney Weaver & Selina Cadell, Art forgery on the rise? Nitin Sawhney
Friends for fifty years, Sigourney Weaver and Selina Cadell discuss acting together in the Jamie Lloyd Company's new production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. As part of the BBC's Scam Safe week, we examine whether art fraud is on the rise with Georgina Adam from the Art Newspaper and and the lawyer Amanda Gray, a specialist from the firm Mischcon De Reya. And, musician Nitin Sawhney talks about his two new works Heart Suite, about by his recent heart attack, and Orbital, which is inspired by this year's Booker prize winner, Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, November 21, 2024
Review: Wicked, Cher's memoir, Maddaddam ballet
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Natalie Jamieson and Matt Cain to review: Cher, The Memoir, Part one - the pop icon and Oscar winning actor tells the story of her childhood and early success. The film version of Wicked is the long awaited film adaptation which is also the first of two parts, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo and telling the story of the Witches of Oz. Maddaddam: renowned choreographer Wayne McGregor has brought Margaret Atwood’s trilogy of sci fi novels to the stage with a ballet, new to London's Royal Opera House. And a look at how a new play, The Fight, about boxer Cuthbert Taylor has ignited primary school children in Wales to start a campaign. We talk to the play's author, Geinor Styles. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, November 20, 2024
Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Celebrity Children's Books and the Art and Writing of Maud Sulter
Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream speaks about Come Ahead, the band's first new album in eight years. We discuss how the publication of books for children by celebrities affects the wider industry and reading trends. And as an exhibition of work by Maud Sulter opens in Glasgow, the curators talk about the widespread influence of this artist, poet, photographer and gallerist, who died in 2008. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, November 19, 2024
Kathryn Tickell, Liverpool's carbon neutral gigs, drag queen romance film Layla
Kathryn Tickell talks about her new album Return to Kielderside, which reinterprets and updates the tunes and themes of her debut album, On Kielderside, which she released 40 years ago at the age of sixteen. Nihal is joined by Amrou Al-Kadhi, whose directorial debut feature film Layla tells the story of a British-Palestinian drag queen navigating life and love in London. As Massive Attack prepares to headline in Liverpool this month, Robert Del Naja, aka 3D, discusses the band's attempts to become carbon neutral with Mark Donne, organiser of their forthcoming Act 1.5 gigs, and Professor Carly McLachlan, who researches the environmental impact of music tours and festivals. Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, November 18, 2024
Malala Yousafzai, The art of writing recipes, Rebecca Hall
Malala Yousafzai talks to Front Row about her new film Bread & Roses, which documents the fight for women’s rights in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, alongside the director Sahra Mani. We hear from actress Rebecca Hall about haunting new BBC drama The Listeners. And what are the ingredients for writing about food? Is it an exact science or a literary art form? Food writer Bee Wilson and head chef of Quo Vadis Jeremy Lee chew over writers’ recipes. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
Thu, November 14, 2024
Paul Mescal on Gladiator II, Murakami's latest novel, Test Tube baby drama Joy
Tom Sutcliffe talks to Paul Mescal about slipping into Russell Crowe’s sandals in Gladiator 2 – as well as reviewing the film itself with classically-trained Guardian journalist Charlotte Higgins and film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. They also talk about Haruki Murakami's first new book for six years, The City and Its Uncertain Walls and the Netflix drama Joy, about how beginnings of IVF. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, November 13, 2024
American guitarist Pat Metheny, New initiatives to encourage musical theatre, and Does Glasgow look after its built heritage?
American guitarist Pat Metheny on how the discovery of a particular Argentinian guitar string took his latest album Moondial in a new direction. As a school by the renowned Victorian architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh comes to the open market, we discuss whether Glasgow does enough to look after its built heritage. And we hear from the outgoing artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the artistic director of Birmingham Hippodrome about new initiatives to promote musical theatre. Plus we remember actor Timothy West, whose death was announced earlier today. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, November 12, 2024
Winner of the 2024 Booker Prize announced live from the ceremony
Samira Ahmed is live from the Booker Prize 2024 ceremony. As well as hearing from the six shortlisted authors, Samira speaks to judges novelist Sara Collins and musician Nitin Sawhney. Campaigner for social justice Baroness Lola Young talks about the transformative power of literature. Chair of judges, artist and writer Edmund de Waal announces the winner of this prestigious award for fiction. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Tue, November 12, 2024
Booker Shortlisted Authors
Ahead of tonight's Booker Prize ceremony, Front Row hears from all of the shortlisted authors: Percival Everett, Samantha Harvey, Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels, Yael van der Wouden and Charlotte Wood. Then at 9.30pm, in a special extra edition of Front Row, Samira Ahmed hosts the ceremony. Find out who will win the prestigious literary prize. Producer: Claire Bartleet Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Mon, November 11, 2024
Ronnie Wood, the rise and fall of boybands, Mishka Momen
Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood discusses his parallel career as an artist. As a new exhibition of his work opens at the Andrew Martin showroom in London, Ronnie talks about how he has drawn inspiration from Delacroix, Caravaggio and Picasso. As a new three part series Boybands Forever starts on BBC2 and the iplayer, we explore what was behind the rise and fall of the boybands of the nineties and noughties with Richie Neville of Five and Hannah Verdier from Smash Hits. And, keyboard music from before the invention of the piano. Pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen performs from her new album Reformation, a collection of pieces by Tudor-era composers William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, November 07, 2024
Review: The Piano Lesson, Florence 1504, Jonathan Coe's The Proof of My Innocence
Nancy Durrant and Nii Ayikwei Parkes join Tom Sutcliffe to review The Piano Lesson, the latest August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by the family of Denzel Washington. Directed by Malcolm Washington and starring John David Washington, Samuel L Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler, a brother and sister argue over the future of an heirloom piano. We discuss Jonathan Coe's return with new novel The Proof of My Innocence, a satirical murder mystery. Florence in 1504 is the backdrop for the Royal Academy's new exhibition of drawings by Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, and we hear from ceramicist Felicity Aylieff at Kew Gardens where her new exibition featues large scale pots up to five metres high. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths
Wed, November 06, 2024
Pauline Black, Waters Rising at Perth Museum, and Posthumously Completing a Loved One's Creative Work
As a documentary about her life reaches cinemas, musician and activist Pauline Black, the lead singer in 2-tone hit band The Selecter, talks about her career. We hear from the curators of the Waters Rising exhibition at Perth Museum, which features representations of flooding in literature and art over many centuries. And as an unfinished play by award-winning writer Oliver Emanuel comes to Radio 4, and an unstaged play by writer, poet and musician Beldina Odenyo is produced in Glasgow, we discuss posthumously completing a loved one's creative work. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, November 05, 2024
Christopher Reeve documentary, Booker author Samantha Harvey on Orbital, Art auction news
Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui talk about their new documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which uses never-seen-before family archive to tell the story of the famed Superman actor. He became a champion of disability rights after being left paralysed from a horse riding accident. The final of Front Row's interviews with the authors on this year's Booker Prize shortlist - Samantha Harvey on her novel Orbital. As a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape is presented for auction with an estimated sale of 1 million dollars, FT columnist Melanie Gerlis, who regularly writes about the art market, explains what you get for the price and why someone would pay that. Councillor Liz Green - Chair of the Culture, Tourism, and Sport Board at the Local Government Association - talks about the impact of the Government's decision to reconsider £100m funding for six cultural regeneration projects across the UK. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, November 04, 2024
Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, political satire in US elections, how to write a book
Actors Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch on their modern day remake of The Day of the Jackal. Political satire in the US Elections: Helen Lewis of the Atlantic and Mike Gillis of the Onion discuss. We take a look at how to write a novel with Hattie Crisell and Sara Collins. and remember the music producer and innovator extraordinaire, Quincy Jones, who’s died at the age of 91. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, October 31, 2024
Review: film: Anora; theatre: Dr. Strangelove; book: Ali Smith's Gliff
Arifa Akbar and Peter Bradshaw join Tom Sutcliffe to review the film Anora which was written and directed by Sean Baker. Set in contemporary New York the romantic drama won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. They also review the stage production of Dr. Strangelove. The original film version of the black comedy starred Peter Sellers in three roles, in this version Steve Coogan takes on four parts. And they discuss Ali Smith's 13th novel Gliff which focuses on a brutal surveillance state in the future. Plus, French composer Gabriel Faure is best known for his Requiem – but to mark 100 years since his death, cellist Steven Isserlis tells Tom how he’s playing a series of concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall, to highlight his other work including his cello sonatas and piano quintets. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, October 30, 2024
Billy Crystal, Marina Diamandis, Nordic Music Festival
Actor Billy Crystal talks about his role as a child psychiatrist in Before, the new thriller series from Apple TV. Marina Diamandis on pivoting from songwriting to poetry, as she publishes her first collection, Eat the World. Live music from performers at the Nordic Music Days festival which celebrates contemporary classical music and is in Scotland for the first time. Plus response to Rachel Reeves' first budget, from the BBC's Media & Arts Correspondent David Sillito. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, October 29, 2024
Hugh Grant on Heretic, Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep, future of housing design
Hugh Grant talks about his new psychological thriller Heretic, where he plays a man who lures two young female missionaries into his home for an intense debate about belief and faith that takes increasingly sinister turns. The Government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029 - but what will they look like? Winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects' 2024 Neave Brown Award for Housing, architect Jessam Al-Jawad and the Observer's architecture critic Rowan Moore discuss the future look of our towns and cities and how Europe could provide inspiration for social housing. The Booker Prize will be awarded next month and Yael van der Wouden has been shortlisted for her first novel, The Safekeep. It examines the silent histories and repression of 1960s Dutch society through the prism of two very different women and the contested house they occupy. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, October 28, 2024
Steve McQueen on Blitz, Italian Renaissance drawings, Rachel Kushner on Creation Lake
Steve McQueen talks about his new film, Blitz, starring Saoirse Ronan and set in London during the Second World War. Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael are among the artists on show in the UK's largest exhibition of drawings from the Italian Renaissance, at the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Samira is joined by the curator Martin Clayton and Renaissance historian Maya Corry. Booker shortlisted author Rachel Kushner on her novel Creation Lake, about an American spy-for-hire. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Thu, October 24, 2024
Tim Burton on his exhibition at Design Museum, Review: films Emilia Perez and Dahomey
Critic and film producer Jason Solomons and BBC New New Generation Thinker Jade Cuttle join Tom Sutcliffe to review Emilia Pérez. The musical thriller follows a drug cartel leader who wants to fake their death and change gender. They also review Dahomey, an award winning documentary which follows 26 plundered artefacts as they are returned to their African home of Benin. Tim Burton talks about turning his life's work into an exhibition at the Design Museum, which includes childhood drawings, set designs and costumes from films such as Beetlejuice, Batman Returns and Corpse Bride. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, October 23, 2024
Musician and novelist Malachy Tallack, Cities of Literature and Textile Art.
Musician and novelist Malachy Tallack talks about his new novel That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, and performs live from the accompanying album. To mark 20 years since Edinburgh became the world's first Unesco City of Literature, we hear about the growth of this international network which celebrates reading, writers and storytelling. Plus a visit to a new exhibition of magnificent textile art drawn from National Trust of Scotland properties, which showcases this intricate artform and represents the impact of King George III and international trade on interior fashions. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, October 22, 2024
Artist William Kentridge, British film industry expansion, Playing Brian Epstein
William Kentridge is one of the major figures in the contemporary art world with an award-winning body of work that includes drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. His latest creation -Self Portrait As A Coffee Pot - is a nine part televisual work of art which, filed with images, music, dancers, and actors, explores the joy and power of making art. Robert Laycock, CEO of Marlow Film Studios and Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland discuss the challenges of expanding the studio capacity in the UK for the British film industry. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd on playing Brian Epstein in new film, Midas Man, which looks at the life and career of the man who turned The Beatles from a scruffy band in Liverpool into international superstars Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, October 21, 2024
Pedro Almodovar, Vanessa Bell, Richard Bean
The acclaimed Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovor talks about this new film The Room Next Door, which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival the Golden Lion and stars Tilda Swinton as a woman dying of cancer who enlists her friend Julianne Moore to help her end her life at a time of her choosing. The Bloomsbury Group of writers and thinkers that included the likes of Virginia Woolf, Clive Bell and John Maynard Keynes has enduring appeal, so as a new exhibition at the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes opens to explore the life and legacy of Vanessa Bell, Virginia's sister, her granddaughter the writer Virginia Nicholson and the show's curator Anthony Spira talk about what made this circle of lovers and friends so unique. Playwright Richard Bean had a smash in the West End with his smash hit farce One Man, Two Guvnors, starring James Corden. Now he talks about his new play Reykjavik which is now on at the Hampstead Theatre and explores the British fishing trawler industry, which like coal, was once a mass employer of men and had a terrible safety record. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, October 17, 2024
Review: TV - The Franchise, Film - The Crime is Mine, Book - Juice by Tim Winton
Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, October 16, 2024
Rupert Everett, Scotland's Female Bands, artist Everlyn Nicodemus
Actor Rupert Everett on his debut collection of stories, The American No. Carla J Easton talks about her music documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands. And Lung Leg perform in the studio. And artist Everlyn Nicodemus on her belief that "art is resurrection" at her first retrospective, at the National Galleries of Scotland. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, October 15, 2024
Jodie Whittaker, Japanese food art, Booker writer Anne Michaels
Jodie Whittaker talks to Tom Sutcliffe about returning to the stage for the first time in over a decade to star in an updated version of John Webster's 17th-century revenge tragedy The Duchess [of Malfi]. The super-realism of Japanese food replicas is on show in London exhibition Looks Delicious! Curator Simon Wright and Japanese food expert Akemi Yokoyama reflect on this distinctive art. Baroness Ludford discusses buying single theatre seats. Canadian writer Anne Michaels talks about her Booker Prize shortlisted novel Held, which begins on the French battlefield in 1917 and spans 4 generations. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, October 14, 2024
Bronski Beat Age of Consent 40th Anniversary, Percival Everett, Horror on stage
Forty years ago Bronski Beat released Age of Consent, a record so loud and proud that it become an era-defining moment of gay liberation. We look back at the record's music, legacy and politics with novelist Matt Cain and Laurie Belgrave, who has produced the new 'The Age of Consent 40' concert at the Southbank Centre. Samira talks to Percival Everett about his Booker-shortlisted James, a potent retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which offers a new voice to the enslaved character Jim. And, we look at how the horror genre has developed on the stage with Jessica Andrews who has adapted Saint Maud for Live Theatre in Newcastle and Matthew Dunster who directed 2:22 A Ghost Story and the recent West End production of The Pillowman. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, October 10, 2024
Review: Film - Timestalker, Theatre - The Other Place, TV - Disclaimer
Tom Sutcliffe and his guests journalist Stephen Bush and theatre critic Kate Maltby review the latest cultural releases. These include Apple TV's thriller Disclaimer which stars Cate Blanchett and Sacha Baron Cohen, Alice Lowe's comedy sci-fi film Timestalker and Alexander Zeldin's modern reworking of Antigone at the National Theatre, The Other Place. And after today's announcement that Han Kang has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, her former editor at Granta Magazine, the author Max Porter talks about her poetic prose. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath and Natasha Mardikar
Wed, October 09, 2024
Booker author Charlotte Wood, Surrealism discussion & playwright Tim Price on Odyssey '84
Booker Prize-shortlisted author Charlotte Wood talks about her novel Stone Yard Devotional. In the month that marks 100 years since the publication of poet André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism, artist Gavin Turk and art historian Professor Alyce Mahon discuss the significance and impact of surrealism on art over the past century. And playwright Tim Price on Odyssey '84, an epic retelling of the 1984 Miners' Strike, inspired by Homer's Odyssey, which is being staged at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, October 08, 2024
Rick Astley, The West Wing at 25, Barbara Walker
Rick Astley on his new autobiography, Never, which reflects on hitting the big time twice courtesy of his debut hit single, Never Gonna Give You Up. The West Wing is 25 - television critic Scott Bryan and columnist Sonia Sodha discuss why the glossy American political drama series continues to inspire politicians worldwide. Artist Barbara Walker on drawing the Black British experience in her new exhibition, Being Here, at the Whitworth. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, October 07, 2024
Alison Moyet, Leigh Bowery exhibition, Adrian Sutton
Alison Moyet joins us in the studio to talk about her career, from Yazoo to going solo and a new album. Fashion renegades of the 1980s via Leigh Bowery, Taboo and the Blitz nightclub, we take a look at a new exhibition with Pam Hogg and Sue Tilley. War Horse composer Adrian Sutton on going back to his classical roots with his latest composition, a violin concerto. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, October 03, 2024
Review: Film: Joker Folie a Deux; Book: Alan Hollinghurst's Our Evenings
This week's big cinema release Joker: Folie a Deux is under scrutiny from Tom Sutcliffe's reviewers, broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika and film critic Tim Robey. They have also read Alan Hollinghurst's new novel Our Evenings. Gramophone Artist of the Year soprano Carolyn Sampson performs in the Front Row studio - and on National Poetry Day Tom and the critics pick their favourite poems. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, October 02, 2024
Paula Hawkins, Photojournalism, Tape Letters Archive project
Bestselling writer Paula Hawkins, whose book The Girl on the Train was a publishing phenomenon back in 2015, discusses her latest novel, The Blue Hour, a thriller set in the contemporary art world. As a new book of photographs of America by Magnum photographers is published, two photographers discuss the role of photojournalism in the contemporary world. And as three exhibitions of Tape Letters from the British Asian community open, we hear about the little-known custom of conducting conversations via audio cassette between the UK and Pakistan. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, October 01, 2024
The BBC National Short Story Award 2024 with Cambridge University
Tom presents live from The Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House the BBC National Short Story Award and the Young Writers' Award, now in it's tenth year. Chair of NSSA judges and presenter of Broadcasting House Paddy O'Connell, and chair of the YWA, Radio 1's Katie Thistleton tell us about this year's entries and announce the winners. We discuss the art of the short story with writers and judges Michael Donkor and Katherine Webber and hear from the first winner of the Young Writers' Award, Brennig Davies. The NSSA finalists: Will Boast with The Barber of Erice Lucy Cauldwell with Hamlet, a love story Manish Chauhan with Pieces Ross Raisin with Ghost Kitchen Vee Walker with Nice Dog The Young Writers Award finalists: Basmala Alkhalaf with A Human, a Robot and a Gosling Walk into a Post-Apocalyptic Bar Amaan Foyez with The Quiet Vivienne Hall with Confession Lulu Frisson with Special Aidan Vogelzang with Nathalie’s Flatmate Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producers: Corinna Jones and Claire Bartleet
Mon, September 30, 2024
David Oyelowo, Regulating the entertainment industry, Ralph Steadman
David Oyelowo talks about playing Coriolanus in the National Theatre's new production. He explains why it's the role he's always wanted to take on - encompassing tragedy, politics and the challenge of stage combat. Dame Eileen Atkins talks about her late friend, the great actress Dame Maggie Smith. We visit the studio of cartoonist Ralph Steadman and get an insight into the range of his work from children's book illustrations to eco-activism. And, what progress has been made to tackle harassment and exploitation in the entertainment industry? Heather Rabbatts has spent three years setting up the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority and Jenny Tingle is from the trade union BECTU and they join Samira to discuss what's happening. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, September 26, 2024
Review: art - Monet; book: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney; Joe Lycett's art book
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, September 25, 2024
David Mitchell on Ludwig, poet Kathleen Jamie and the world premiere of Helen Grime's Folk
Poet Kathleen Jamie, whose tenure as Scotland's Makar, or National Poet, recently came to an end, talks about her new collection of poems written in Scots, The Keelie Hawk. Composer Helen Grime, soprano Claire Booth and author Zoe Gilbert chat about the world premiere of Folk, an orchestral song cycle inspired by Gilbert's book of the same name. And David Mitchell discusses his role in the new BBC comedy drama Ludwig, about a reclusive puzzle setter who becomes a reluctant detective, following the disappearance of his identical twin. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, September 24, 2024
Chilly Gonzales performs, Dickens adaptations, Horror films
Classically trained pianist and rapper Chilly Gonzales performs from his new album Gonzo, ahead of his Royal Albert Hall gig, As Hard Times kicks off Radio 4's season of Dickens dramas - what makes a good adaptation? Writer Graham White and Dickens expert Professor Juliet John discuss how the characters and issues like social inequality help to keep the stories relevant to modern audiences. And what is the enduring appeal of horror films? Director Daniel Kokotajlo's folk-horror Starve Acre was inspired by his admiration for 70s classics like The Wicker Man and Anna Bogutskaya's book Feeding the Monster explores how horror films have evolved, and now often explore people's internal trauma and anxieties. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, September 23, 2024
John Boorman, Anya Gallaccio, The Halfway Kid performs
John Boorman talks to Samira about his 1974 science-fiction, fantasy film Zardoz as it is screened on its fiftieth anniversary at the BFI and his novel on which it is based is republished. He discusses the craft of film making and reflects on the film he wishes he'd made with Elvis. British artist Anya Gallaccio welcomes us into her London studio as she prepares for three major exhibitions: a major retrospective at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, a stores she's pained entirely with chocolate in her hometown of Paisley and a permanent AIDS memorial due to be unveiled in London in 2027. And, the folk singer and social media sensation The Halfway Kid, otherwise known as Saeed Gadir, discusses his upcoming album Myths In Modern Life and performs live in the studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, September 19, 2024
Review: film The Substance, Art Michael Craig-Martin, Book The Empusium
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Bidisha Mamata and Ben Luke who will be offering their verdicts on body horror film The Substance staring Demi Moore, a major new Michael Craig-Martin exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Nobel prize winning author Olga Tokarczuk. Plus BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted author Ross Raisin. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, September 18, 2024
A Very Royal Scandal, Glasgow Cathedral Festival & crime writer Peter May.
Screenwriter Jeremy Brock discusses Amazon's A Very Royal Scandal, the second dramatisation this year of Emily Maitlis' 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, which stars Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson. Mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier and pianist Jonathan Ware perform from the opening event of the Glasgow Cathedral Festival, an exploration of sexuality and seduction inspired by art from the 1920s. And crime writer Peter May talks about the inspirations behind his latest thriller set on the Outer Hebrides, The Black Loch. Plus an interview with writer Vee Walker, who is shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, September 17, 2024
David Peace, new plays crisis, Booker Prize 2024 shortlist
David Peace on his new novel, Munichs, about the plane crash that transformed Manchester United. Katie Posner, Co-Artistic Director of Paines Plough theatre company and Daniel Evans, Co-Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company discuss the new plays crisis in theatre. Matt Hemley, Deputy Editor of The Stage, reports on the cancellation of a new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Artist and author Edmund De Waal, chair of judges for the Booker Prize 2024, reflects on this year's shortlist. Manish Chauhan on his shortlisted story, Pieces, for this year's National Short Story Award. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, September 16, 2024
Edward Enninful, Lady Blackbird performs, Booker prize shortlist
Edward Enninful, Vogue Global Creative and Cultural advisor has just made a documentary series, In Vogue: The 90s. He discusses the decade that changed fashion forever. Sue Prideaux has just written the first biography of French post impressionist artist, Gauguin, in over thirty years. She argues it is time to reappraise the way we look at the man and his work. American singer Lady Blackbird has been called 'the Grace Jones of jazz' and she discusses her recent rise to fame and plays a song from her new album Slang Spirituals. And, Will Boast is one of five a finalists for this year's BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University and joins Samira to discuss his entry. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, September 12, 2024
REVIEW: Film: The Critic, Exhibition: Van Gogh, Book: Garth Greenwell's Small Rain
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by David Benedict and Catherine McCormack to review Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, the first exhibition the National Gallery has dedicated to the artist. They also discuss The Critic, which stars Ian McKellen as a fearsomely ruthless drama critic and Small Rain by Garth Greenwell, which focuses on the narrator's time and treatment in hospital after experiencing a sudden piercing pain. Chair of Judges Paddy O'Connell reveals the shortlisted authors for the BBC National Short Story Award 2024 with Cambridge University. The list includes Lucy Caldwell who talks about her short story Hamlet, a love story. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, September 11, 2024
Jacqueline Wilson, JRR Tolkien poetry, BBC TV thriller Nightsleeper
Dame Jacqueline Wilson talks about Think Again, the long-awaited adult novel which is the sequel to her much-loved Girls series of books. Actors Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole discuss their roles in BBC One's latest Sunday night drama series Nightsleeper, a thriller in which a night train from Glasgow to London is 'hackjacked'. And on the eve of the publication of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, the book's two editors talk about dozens of previously unpublished poems. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, September 10, 2024
Michael Cathcart talks to Simon Armitage, Paul Kelly, Jazz Summer and Shankari Chandran
The BBC's Contains Strong Language festival has left British shores for the first time - and Australian arts and culture presenter Michael Cathcart hosts a special Front Row from the event, recorded in Sydney. Known as the Aussie Bob Dylan, singer Paul Kelly performs Going To The River With Dad from his forthcoming album Fever Longing Still. First nations poet Jazz Money reads from her latest collection Mark the Dawn - inspired by the stories of her Wiradjuri ancestors and her feelings of respect for the country around her. As Australia prepares to appoint a Poet Laureate, the British poet laureate Simon Armitage reads a sonnet which describes his childhood desire to dig all the way to Australia from his Yorkshire garden. And lawyer Shankari Chandran - whose novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens won Australia's most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award - reflects on how she draws on her Sri Lankan Tamil heritage to describe the trauma of war and detention of those seeking asylum. Presenter: Michael Cathcart Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, September 09, 2024
Richard O'Brien & Jason Donovan on 50 years of Rocky Horror, Bella Mackie
Richard O'Brien and Jason Donovan on 50 years of the Rocky Horror Show, Bella Mackie on her new novel which follows the success her hit book How to Kill Your Family, a look at Chromatica, a new privately funded orchestra and the life and work of lyricist Will Jennings, who died last weekend. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, September 05, 2024
REVIEW: Film: Firebrand; BOOK: Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake; TV: Kaos
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by academic and critic John Mullan and Elodie Harper, the bestselling author of The Wolf Den Trilogy for the Front Row review show. They discuss Jeff Goldblum as a modern-day Zeus in the series Kaos, Rachel Kushner’s thriller Creation Lake, which has been longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, and the historical drama Firebrand, staring Jude Law as Henry VIII and Alicia Vikander as his 6th wife Catherine Parr. Plus Jason Solomons reveals his top picks from the Venice Film Festival. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, September 04, 2024
Jeremy Denk, Scottish Arts Crisis, Harry Mould
Members of Scotland's cultural community discuss the controversy around a cut to vital funding. Ahead of his third year performing at the Lammermuir Festival of classical music, leading American pianist Jeremy Denk talks about his passion for musical maverick Charles Ives, whose 150th birthday he is celebrating with a special concert and a new album of his sonatas. And debut playwright Harry Mould discusses their production The Brenda Line, which inspired by the volunteers who responded to obscene phone calls made to The Samaritans in the 1970s and 80s. The Brenda Line is on at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
Tue, September 03, 2024
TV: Colin from Accounts; Musical: Why Am I So Single? Hak Baker performs
Following the international success of SIX the Musical, writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss are in the studio to discuss their new work Why Am I So Single? They discuss maintaining their creative momentum after writing a global phenomenon. We hear from the creators of the award winning Australian comedy Colin From Accounts. Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall discuss writing and starring in the hit show as it returns to BBC Two and iPlayer for a second series. And, singer-songwriter Hak Baker performs from his new album, EP Death Act Nostalgia EP Act 1. He discusses his music which he describes as G-Folk, featuring tales of London life and honest lyrics suffused with poetic lyricism. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Tue, September 03, 2024
TV: Colin from Accounts; Musical: Why Am I So Single? Hak Baker performs
Following the international success of SIX the Musical, writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss are in the studio to discuss their new work Why Am I So Single? They discuss maintaining their creative momentum after writing a global phenomenon. We hear from the creators of the award winning Australian comedy Colin From Accounts. Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall discuss writing and starring in the hit show as it returns to BBC Two and iPlayer for a second series. And, singer-songwriter Hak Baker performs from his new album, EP Death Act Nostalgia EP Act 1. He discusses his music which he describes as G-Folk, featuring tales of London life and honest lyrics suffused with poetic lyricism. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Mon, September 02, 2024
Michael Keaton; The The play live; Tim Minchin on life, art and success
Michael Keaton on his new film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, coming over 35 years after the original film and which reunites him with director Tim Burton. Tim Minchin, the comedian, actor, musician, and songwriter behind the musicals Matilda and Groundhog Day, talks about how his experiences have shaped his first non-fiction book You Don’t Have To Have A Dream. On the eve of a British and American tour and with the release of Ensoulment, their first studio album in 24 years, The The play live in the Front Row studio and their leader Matt Johnson reveals the reasons for the lengthy absence. And following the Oasis ticket rush at the weekend, we look at dynamic ticket pricing with Kate Hardcastle, Host of the Rock and Roll Business Podcast. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, August 22, 2024
Review: film: Kneecap, TV: Bad Monkey, book: Ootlin by Jenni Fagan
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Leila Latif and Dorian Lynskey to review Kneecap, a debut film from Rich Peppiatt about a trio of Irish language rappers from West Belfast, Ootlin, a memoir from author and poet Jenni Fagan recounting her traumatic childhood in care and Bad Monkey, a television comedy cop drama set in Florida starring Vince Vaughn. George Orwell’s biographer D J Taylor considers the importance, or not, of the author’s archive being sold off. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, August 22, 2024
James Graham, Alexander McCall Smith, the art of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Sherwood writer James Graham argues that TV has a problem with working class representation, both in front of and behind the screen, as he delivers this year's MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Sherwood Series 2 starts on BBC1 on Sunday. Alexander McCall Smith, best-selling author of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, on his new stand alone novel set in Edinburgh, The Winds from Further West. Kirsty looks at the growing interest in the Scottish artist Wilhemina Barns Graham. She is joined by Scottish art expert Alice Strang and film-maker Mark Cousins, whose documentary about the modernist pioneer, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, is at the Edinburgh Film Festival before nationwide release. A new children's book is also published this week: Wilhemina Barns-Graham, written by Kate Temple and illustrated by Annabel Wright. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Timothy Prosser
Tue, August 20, 2024
Fran Healy, affordable artists' studios, climate change storytelling
Fran Healy, lead singer of indie-rock band Travis, on why their tenth album LA Times is the most personal since their breakthrough album, The Man Who, and why Los Angeles is a good place to be an artist. As Equity calls for better guidelines for how the video games industry treats actors and performers, Rebecca Yeo, a member of the union's Video Game Working Party discusses what's needed. Brian Watkins the playwright of Weather Girl, a one-woman show about an overheating California and one of the big hits at this year's Edinburgh Festival, and Ricky Roxburgh, screenwriter for new film Ozi: Voice of the Forest in which a young orangutan tries to save her forest home from destruction discuss the art of telling stories about climate change and environmental degradation for stage and screen. Castlefield Gallery in Manchester celebrates its 40th anniversary this year as a contemporary arts space but in 2012 it branched out into finding spaces for artists across the North West. Make CIC was established in 2012 as an arts social enterprise in Merseyside which provides spaces for artists and makers across the region. Castlefield Director and Artistic Director, Helen Wewiora, and Make CIC's Chief Operating Officer, Kirsten Little, discuss the work involved in creating and maintaining spaces for artists. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, August 19, 2024
Pat Barker, the films of Alain Delon, Proms played by memory, Orlando Weeks
Samira Ahmed talks to Pat Barker about the final part of her Troy trilogy, The Voyage Home. Alain Delon has died at the age of 88 - President Macron called him a French monument. Film critic Ginette Vincendeau assesses his impact on French film. At the Proms two orchestras are set to play works by Beethoven and Mozart from memory - conductor Nicholas Collon from the Aurora Orchestra explains how musicians manage without a score. And Orlando Weeks - formerly the frontman of Mercury Prize-nominated band The Maccabees - plays live in the studio and talks about the art he now creates, alongside music. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, August 15, 2024
The Outrun, Gwyneth Paltrow dramas, Comedy Roundup, Rebels & Patriots
Kirsty Wark reviews highlights from the Edinburgh Festival, joined by critics Ian Rankin, Chitra Ramaswamy and Dominic Maxwell. They discuss two adaptations of Amy Liptrot's bestselling memoir about addiction, The Outrun. The film version opens the Edinburgh Film Festival tonight and stars Saoirse Ronan in the lead. The stage play The Outrun is at the Royal Lyceum Theatre production for the Edinburgh International Festival. Gwyneth Paltrow's skiing incident and subsequent trial has been turned into two different musicals - I Wish You Well, starring Diana Vickers as the Hollywood star, and Gwyneth Goes Skiing. Dominic Maxwell, The Times theatre and comedy critic, gives his verdict on the funniest comedians at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. And they discuss Rebels and Patriots, a play about young soldiers in the IDF, a British Israeli Palestinian co-production. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Timothy Prosser
Wed, August 14, 2024
David Morrissey, Relaxed performances, Alien: Romulus
David Morrissey stars as a hapless father in the new BBC comedy Daddy Issues - alongside Sex Education's Aimee Lou Wood as his pregnant daughter. Samira Ahmed asks him about playing for laughs - as well as reprising his role in James Graham's Sherwood, which is about to return to BBC1, featuring local gangs in Nottinghamshire and a proposed new coal mine, an unwelcome reminder of past rivalries. Arts venues are increasingly offering relaxed performances and screenings. Some aim to increase access to neurodiverse audiences, while others want to dismantle the rigid etiquette that might put off newcomers. Lilliam Crawford - an autistic writer and co-host of the Autism Through Cinema podcast - and culture writer Emily Bootle discuss the appeal and the of relaxed performances and how they can change everyone’s experience of the arts. Alien: Romulus is the latest Alien movie - filmed 45 years after the original directed by Ridley Scott. So what has director Fede Alvarez brought to this latest Alien offering? Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Tue, August 13, 2024
Nish Kumar, Miriam Margolyes, Rose Matafeo, Teenage Fanclub
Kirsty Wark launches Front Row's regular Scottish editions with a live show from the Edinburgh Festival. Kirsty's guests are the comedians Rose Matafeo and Nish Kumar, Miriam Margolyes performs Dickens, and the Scottish band Teenage Fanclub play a song from their latest album. Plus Charlene Boyd performs a number from her hit show about the American country singer June Carter Cash. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, August 12, 2024
Emily Tesh and the Hugo Awards; Dating shows; Kelly Jones
This year’s WorldCon - the World Science Fiction Convention - took place in Glasgow and pop culture critic Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports on the international gathering where the winners of the Hugo Awards 2024 were announced last night. Emily Tesh on winning the Best Novel prize at this year’s Hugo Awards with her debut novel, Some Desperate Glory. Young playwright Kelly Jones discusses her Edinburgh Fringe debut play My Mother's Funeral: The Show, a play-within-a-play about a young playwright whose mother has just died and who has to turn her death into a play in order to afford to pay for her mum's funeral. And a look at whether the latest crop of TV dating shows are really breaking the mould with Scott Bryan and Olivia Petter. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, August 08, 2024
Pericles, Babes, Michael Longley
Critics Susannah Clapp and Tim Robey join Tom to review a new RSC production at Stratford of one Shakespeare’s less performed plays Pericles, the pregnancy comedy film Babes directed by Pamela Adlon and Michael Longley’s retrospective collection of poems, The Ash Keys. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producers: Harry Parker and Natasha Mardikar
Thu, August 08, 2024
Sky Peals film, documentary Doom Scroll, & could a book written 100 years ago be the ultimate millennial read?
Ex-Wife, a 1929 novel by Ursula Parrott, about the failure of a young couple’s marriage and the subsequent promiscuous partying of the wife in New York, was a huge bestseller when it came out. For many years it was out of print but has now been re-issued. Novelist and screenwriter Monica Heisey and American literature professor Sarah Churchwell judge whether it is one of the hidden gems of the jazz age. Moin Hussain discusses his debut feature film, Sky Peals – a meditation on alienation and loneliness set in a motorway service station. Doom Scroll: Andrew Tate and The Dark Side of the Internet is a new Sky Documentary which explores how social media is driving online hate towards women and minorities and causing real world harms. We discuss it with the film's director Liz Mermin and author Laura Bates, who wrote the 2020 book, The Men Who Hate Women. And, Freya McClements of the Irish Times tell us why Gracehill in Northern Ireland has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Tue, August 06, 2024
Joan Baez, Shakespeare in British Sign Language, Charlotte Mendelson
Joan Baez on her poetry collection inspired by her diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, called When You See My Mother Ask Her to Dance. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London has a new bilingual production of Antony and Cleopatra in English and British Sign Language. Tom talks to Blanche McIntyre, the director and Charlotte Arrowsmith, actor and associate director. Charlotte Mendelson on her new novel, Wife, about a disintegrating lesbian partnership and motherhood. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, August 05, 2024
Kensuke Kingdom, best Young Adult Fiction reads, do film trailers reveal too much?
Directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry on Kinsuke's Kingdom, their hand-drawn animated film which features a shipwrecked boy who learns about the natural world from a Japanese soldier who's been living secretly on an island since the end of World War II. How closely do we watch trailers when deciding which film to watch next? Film critic Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Sam Cryer from Intermission Trailer House discuss the art of the movie trailer, whether they are now too long and reveal too many spoilers. Author Amanda Craig recommends her summer reads from the latest Young Adult fiction releases: All The Hidden Monsters by Amie Jordan published by Chicken House is out now; Songlight by Moira Buffini is published by Faber and Faber on 27th August; Almost Nothing Happened by Meg Rosoff is published by Bloomsbury on 15th August; The Felix Trilogy by Joan Aiken is available in different editions. And Christopher Hall reveals his journey from TikTok to stand-up comedian, as he starts a run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, August 01, 2024
Didi and Echoes by Evie Wyld reviewed; Benjamin Grosvenor performs Busoni
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Rhianna Dhillon and Viv Groskop to review novel Echoes by Evie Wyld, which focuses on Max, a ghost who, stuck in the flat they had shared, watches his girlfriend grieving and discovers secrets about her. Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor talks about his upcoming performance of the longest concerto ever written, the Piano Concerto by Ferruccio Busoni, whose centenary is celebrated at this year’s Proms. We'll also review the film Didi, a coming of age film set in 2008, focussing on a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American boy learning how to navigate life, love and family relations. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, July 31, 2024
Dramatizing MPs, Jon Savage on LGBTQ and music, Stirling Prize shortlist, Screenwriters v AI
Labour MPs are having a moment on the stage with Jennie Lee, the UK's first Arts Minister, the subject of Lindsay Rodden's eponymous new play for Mikron Theatre, and Education Minister Ellen Wilkinson the focus of Paul Unwin's new play, The Promise, about the 1945 Labour Government. Lindsay and Paul join Front Row to discuss dramatizing parliamentary politics. Acclaimed music journalist writer Jon Savage joins to discuss his new book The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979), which explores how queer artists from the earliest days of rock 'n' roll to the heights of disco shaped the sound, look and attitude of popular music. From Little Richard to David Bowie and from Dusty Springfield to Village People, the book is rich in detail and explores how often closeted artists had a profound impact of modern culture. Architecture writer Paul Dobraszczyk on this year's Stirling Prize shortlist and how the six projects that have made this final category measure up to the the prize's aim to celebrate the "building considered to have made the most significant contribution to the evolution of UK architecture". With voice actors and motion capture performers in the US currently on strike over AI protections, the place of AI in the culture industries remains highly contested. The Writers Guild of America may have settled their strike but film critic Antonia Quirke explores whether screenwriters still have something to fear from the algorithm. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, July 31, 2024
Deadpool v Wolverine, Cherry Jones, Leyla McCalla
A new production of The Grapes of Wrath opens at the National Theatre with Cherry Jones taking on the role of matriarch Ma Joad. She joins Samira to talk about Steinbeck's tale of poverty and the hostility the poor face in America - plus her thoughts on art, violence and America today. Deadpool & Wolverine is the new Marvel film, its director Shawn Levy discusses the latest in the superhero film franchise. Plus, we have music from Haitian-American folk musician and multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla. And, Alex Clark takes a look at the longlist for the Booker Prize published today. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Tue, July 30, 2024
Deadpool & Wolverine, Cherry Jones, Leyla McCalla
A new production of The Grapes of Wrath opens at the National Theatre with Cherry Jones taking on the role of matriarch Ma Joad. She joins Samira to talk about Steinbeck's tale of poverty and the hostility the poor face in America - plus her thoughts on art, violence and America today. Deadpool & Wolverine is the new Marvel film, its director Shawn Levy discusses the latest in the superhero film franchise. Plus, we have music from Haitian-American folk musician and multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla. And, Alex Clark takes a look at the longlist for the Booker Prize published today. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts
Mon, July 29, 2024
James Baldwin Centenary Special
Colm Toibin, Bonnie Greer and Mendez join Samira Ahmed to celebrate the life and work of the American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, author of the landmark gay novel Giovanni's Room, as part of a series of programmes on BBC Radio 4 and 3 marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. Colm Toibin is author of the book On James Baldwin Bonnie Greer is writing a memoir of her own personal encounter with James Baldwin Mendez is author of the autobiographical novel Rainbow Milk Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser, Ciaran Bermingham and Robyn Read Other programmes marking the centenary: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin is this week's Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 The Lost Archives of James Baldwin - about how and why his personal effects ended up in a village in France - is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 30 July at 4pm James Baldwin's Words and Music is on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 4 August at 5.30pm and features special readings recorded by Adrian Lester set alongside music
Thu, July 25, 2024
Review: theatre: Hello Dolly; TV: The Decameron; film: About Dry Grasses
Novelist Stephanie Merritt and literary editor of the Spectator Sam Leith are Tom Sutcliffe's guest reviewers. They give their verdict on the new production of Hello Dolly at London's Palladium starring Imelda Staunton, Netflix's The Decameron - which depicts the haves and the have-nots in plague-ridden 14th century Florence - and the 3 hour long Turkish film, About Dry Grasses, which features the travails of a teacher posted to a rural school in a bleak but beautiful landscape. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, July 24, 2024
Keanu Reeves & China Miéville, The Cultural Olympiad in Paris, Making in Blackburn
Hollywood star Keanu Reeves and award-winning author China Miéville have joined forces for The Book of Elsewhere, which is based on Keanu's hit comic book series BRZRKR and tells the story of an immortal warrior and his journey through time. As Paris prepares to welcome the world for the Olympic and Paralympic Games this week, the writer and broadcaster Agnés Poirier reports on the City of Light's Cultural Olympiad. Nick visits Blackburn to meet co-founder and co-director of the National Festival of Making, Elena Jackson, and to see two of this year's festival commissions - Breathing Colour by textile artist and designer Margo Selby, and Invisible Hands by ceramic artist Nehal Aamir. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, July 23, 2024
Arts Sponsorship in Crisis?
Samira discusses the perilous situation facing arts sponsorship in the UK, amid growing protests and campaigns, with leading figures from the worlds of arts and finance. As literary and music festivals have been engulfed in sponsorship rows this summer, resulting in many severing ties with major donors such as the investment firm Baillie Gifford. what are the implications for the future of arts funding? She is joined by Peter Bazalgette, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non Fiction. David Ross, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, founder of Nevill Holt Opera Festival and Chair of the National Portrait Gallery. Julia Fawcett, Chief Executive of The Lowry in Salford. Author and journalist John Kampfner. Luke Syson, Director of The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. City Financier Malcolm Le May. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, July 22, 2024
Fangirls musical, countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski, Sam West
Tom talks to the creators of the hit Australian musical Fangirls, Yve Blake and Paige Rattray, as it opens in London. Countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski makes his Proms debut tomorrow night, and talks about combining his career as a top international soloist with breakdancing and modelling. Actor Samuel West discusses a new report from Campaign for the Arts, which reveals new findings about the state of the arts in the UK. Children's literature expert and broadcaster Bex Lindsay recommends summer books for younger children. Race to Imagination island: Mel Taylor Bessent The Nine night mystery: Sharna Jackson Super sunny murder club (collection) Mysteries at Sea: the royal jewel plot by AN Howell Ramzee: The cheat book Starminster: Megan Hopkins Fantastically great women, Sports stars and their stories: Pete Pankhurst Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Rebecca Stratford
Thu, July 18, 2024
Review: TV: Those About To Die, Film: Thelma, Theatre: ECHO
Jason Solomons and Kate Maltby join Tom to review Those About to Die, the new 10-part ‘sword and sandal’ series from Amazon Prime, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Anthony Hopkins. The film Thelma which follows an elderly grandmother who turns action hero to track down her scammer, inspired by her favourite film series – Mission Impossible. And Echo at the Royal Court, the new play from the Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, starring a new unrehearsed performer every night. The likes of Meera Syal and Adrian Lester take to the stage while guided by Soleimanpour live from his flat in Berlin. Plus Belle and Sebastian perform live ahead of their upcoming festival The Glasgow Weekender. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, July 17, 2024
Danny Dyer and Pete Bellotte on his hits for Donna Summer
Writer actor Ryan Sampson and actor Danny Dyer on their new sky comedy series Mr Bigstuff which explores the relationship between two brothers and masculinity . Pete Bellotte is one of the world’s greatest songwriters. With a catalogue of over 500 songs he is best known for his work with Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder. Earlier this year he won a Grammy after the 1977 song “I Feel Love” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. As an exhibition on Paris 1924: Sport, Art and the Body opens at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the exhibition’s co-curator and classicist Caroline Vout and the art historian Lynda Nead join Tom to talk about the Olympics, high-performing bodies, and the interplay between art and sport. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Tue, July 16, 2024
Disco Prom, fast-food themed immersive art, arts funding crisis in Wales, Bill Viola remembered
As Disco makes its debut at the Proms, conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, who will be leading the BBC Concert Orchestra at Saturday’s Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco Prom, talks about the link between the music which dominated the 1970s pop charts and the orchestral world. Today the Welsh First Minister, Vaughan Gething and four of his cabinet ministers including the Culture Secretary resigned. Jane Henderson, President of The Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales, and Emma Schofield, Editor of Wales Arts Review, discuss the current arts funding crisis in Wales and the impact of the political upheaval. Sweet Dreams is a new immersive installation at Aviva Studios in Manchester which explores our relationship with fast food. It’s been created by cutting edge arts collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, and the group’s co-founder and director, Robin McNicholas, talks to Nick about fusing theatre, gaming, and video art to tell new stories. Pioneering artist Bill Viola, who was known for his distinctive slow motion videos which reflected on life’s biggest questions, is remembered by Marshmallow Laser Feast director, Robin McNicholas. We also delve into the Front Row archives to hear Viola himself talk about how a "miracle" inspired his installation in St Paul's Cathedral. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, July 15, 2024
Anne-Marie Duff, Al Murray, Melvyn Hayes, A Real Woman billboard art
Anne-Marie Duff talks about her role in the crime thriller Suspect and her career from Shameless to Bad Sisters, Al Murray and Matthew Moss on the ongoing fascination with World War II in festivals, podcasts and films, an interview with Melvyn Hayes, well known for It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and curator Bakul Patki and artist Dawn Woolley discuss A Real Woman, a billboard art exhibition exploring representations of femininity. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Thu, July 11, 2024
Review Show: Theatre: Slave Play, Film: Fly Me To The Moon, TV: Sunny
Boyd Hilton and Dreda Say Mitchell join Samira to review the 12 time Tony nominated Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris which has just opened in London, having premiered, not without controversy, in New York in 2018. The film Fly me to the Moon starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum is a rom com set during the 1960s Space Race between the USA and Russia. Sunny is a future set thriller TV series in which an American woman living in Japan loses her family in a plane crash and is sent a robot by way of compensation and comfort, by the company her husband worked for, and who ends up helping her uncover some shocking secrets. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, July 10, 2024
Museum of the Year winner announced
For the first time ever, breaking (known commercially as break dancing) is going to be featured as a sport at the main Olympic Games when they are hosted in Paris this summer. But what exactly is breaking and where did it come from? Tom Sutcliffe speaks to DJ Renegade, one of the world’s top breaking judges who came up with the original judging system the Olympics competition is based on and Crazy Smooth, one of Canada’s top street dancers. We visit the Museum of the Home in East London to speak with the museum’s director Sonia Solicari about their new Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049 exhibition which features displays of seven distinct homes of people who lived in that area, and explores how migration and belonging shaped their home lives. Presenter and judge Vick Hope announces the winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024. Playwright Mark Ravenhill explains why he's offering online classes for aspiring writers. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Tue, July 09, 2024
Chariots of Fire staged, Pompidou Centre redeveloped, My Native Land republished
Playwright Mike Bartlett and theatre director Robert Hastie on their new stage production of Chariots of Fire As preparations are made for a major redevelopment of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Catherine Croft, Director of the 20th Century Society and Olivia Salazar-Winspear Culture Reporter for France 24 discuss the iconic building. BBC Russian senior reporter Sergei Goryashko on the sentencing of the Russian playwright, Svetlana Petriychuk, and theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich for their production of a play, Finist The Brave Falcon. Jason Allen-Paisant, who has won both the most recent Forward Prize AND TS Eliot Prize for his poetry collection Self-Portrait as Othello reflects on Aimé Césaire's epic poem Return to My Native Land as it is republished by Penguin Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, July 08, 2024
Laurie Anderson's album Amelia, and what's in the new Culture Secretary's in-tray?
Laurie Anderson, the Grammy award-winning artist and musician whose career has spanned five decades, discusses her latest work. a song cycle based on the final flight of the aviation pioneer Amelia Earheart. And we hear her reflections on the unexpected chart success of of O Superman back in in 1981. While most of the incoming cabinet are already familiar with their briefs ministers, Lisa Nandy has just been appointed Culture Secretary having not shadowed the role. Lara Carmona of the industry body, Creative UK and Liam Kelly, senior culture writer at the Telegraph discuss some of issues that will be at the top of her in tray from the Arts Council to tax breaks and prioritising arts education. The Oldham Coliseum has been resurrected. After last year's decision to close the building, actor Julie Hesmondhalgh led the campaign to re-open the 128 year old theatre. She's joined by the Council Leader Arooj Shah to discuss the work involved in bringing the Oldham Coliseum back to life . Adelaide Hall sang with Duke Ellington, was a contemporary of Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, a jazz and scat pioneer who broadened out into popular tunes, entertained the troops for ENSA in the second world war and sang on the BBC, living in London for more than half her life. As she is remembered with an English Heritage blue plaque, we talk to her biographer and friend Stephen Bourne. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts
Thu, July 04, 2024
Review: Starlight Express, Anita Desai's book Rosarita, film: The Nature of Love
Author Abir Mukherjee and critic Sarah Crompton join Tom Sutcliffe for the review show. After opening 40 years ago, Starlight Express has been updated and opens in London in a specially designed auditorium. Rosarita by Anita Desai tells the story of Bonita, a young Indian woman who travels to Mexico to study and stumbles upon unknown evidence that her late mother had once been there. Monia Chokri's award winning French-Canadian rom-com The Nature of Love follows a philosophy professor navigating relationships. And, Dr Henry Gee discusses the world's oldest cave art which has been discovered in the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, July 03, 2024
Poet Paul Muldoon, film Unicorns and writer Stefan Zweig.
The Irish giant of verse Paul Muldoon is this year’s Writer in Residence at Ledbury Poetry Festival. He discusses the importance of workshopping and his new collection Joy in Service on Rue Tagore. Filmmakers Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd discuss their new film, Unicorns, a love story in which drag queen Aysha and mechanic and single father Luke embark on a romance against the backdrop of the gaysian club scene. As the play Visit from An Unknown Woman opens at Hampstead Theatre, we talk to writer Christopher Hampton about adapting Stefan Zweig for the stage. Also joining the discussion about renewed interest in Zweig, one of the most significant Austrian writers of the 20th century is Rachel Cockerell, author of Melting Point. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Tue, July 02, 2024
The Bear, Moonchild Sanelly, Dundee Contemporary Gallery
The hit series The Bear is back for a third series. Samira talks to Ebon Moss Bachrach, who plays Richie. His cousin Carmen has been trying to transform their family-run restaurant from a cheap and cheerful operation into The Bear - a serious dining experience. Series 2 ended with a successful but highly stressful first night with Richie as the maitre d' - and tensions are set to rise again in series three of the drama created by Christopher Storer who was inspired by a family restaurant where he once worked. There's live performance in the Front Row studio from Moonchild Sanelly after multiple Glastonbury shows. She talks about her collaborations with Self Esteem and Beyonce and we hear her new single Scrambled Eggs. Dundee Contemporary Arts is in the running for Museum of the Year 2024. We talk to director Beth Bate about this unique space. Frank Cottrell Boyce has been named as the new Children's Laureate. He wants to encourage more of us to read to young children so we hear him reading from one of CS Lewis's Narnia stories. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, July 01, 2024
Lynda la Plante, AI and copyright, funding literary festivals
Lynda la Plante discusses her final Jane Tennison novel, Whole Life Sentence and discusses the enduring legacy of Prime Suspect. Lea Ypi remembers the late Albanian writer and poet Ishmail Kadare, author of The General of the Dead Army and The Palace of Dreams. How is AI impacting music copyright? Hayleigh Bosher of Brunel University London, Reader in Intellectual Property Law and the music business journalist Eamonn Forde discuss. And Julie Finch, CEO of Hay Festival, discusses the future of books festival funding. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Thu, June 27, 2024
Reviews - Douglas is Cancelled, Ronald Moody Sculptures, The Importance of Being Earnest
Reviews of: The ITV comedy drama Douglas is Cancelled - a four part series written by Steven Moffat, starring Hugh Bonneville as middle-aged television broadcaster, Douglas Bellowes, who finds himself on the wrong side of 21st century social mores; A new exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield, Ronald Moody Sculpting Life, puts the spotlight on the Jamaican-born artist who engaged with key moments in 20th-century art; A new production at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest which places the Victorian comedy in a world of social media and pink fluffy cushions; And a visit to the Craven Museum and Gallery in Skipton which has been shortlisted for the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024 prize. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, June 26, 2024
Next to Normal, British TV history, In the Eye of the Storm
Next to Normal stormed Broadway in 2009 with its portrayal of a woman struggling with her mental health. It went on to win three Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize. Now staged in London, its creator Tom Kitt and star Caissie Levy talk about this deeply emotional musical and Caissie performs live. Early 20th century Ukrainian art is the focus of the Royal Academy’s In the Eye of the Storm exhibition. Curator Katia Denysova talks about how Ukrainian art was able to flourish in a brief window, between the cultural suppression imposed by the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. Bold artistic styles are seen in works by Alexandra Exter and Kazymyr Malevich. Marcus Prince talks about his time as the television programmer for the British Film Institute. He makes a case for why TV deserves a parity of respect with film – and shares some of his personal highlights from the archives. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Tue, June 25, 2024
The Marilyn Conspiracy, Rachel Podger, Emma Glass
Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, June 24, 2024
Kyoto, Nathaniel Rateliff, Midsummer Day poetry
The UN climate conference in Kyoto in 1997 is the setting for a new play at the RSC. Its writers Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson talk about the dramatic potential they saw in that moment and in the decade leading up to it. Nathaniel Rateliff is a singer songwriter based in Denver, Colorado whose style of Americana and collaboration with the Nightsweats has garnered a steady following of fans due to his talent in storytelling and performance. He joins us to play live. We celebrate Midsummer’s Day with poems that explore this heady midpoint in the year. Critic Tristram Fane Saunders chooses some of the most evocative midsummer verses, and Forward Prize-winning poet Sasha Dugdale reads “June”, a brand new poem specially commissioned for today’s Front Row. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Thu, June 20, 2024
Review: Film Green Border, Exhibition Stories of Henry VIII's Queens, TV: Federer: Twelve Final Days
Philippa Gregory and Briony Hanson join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the National Portrait Gallery’s Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, award winning film Green Border and Federer: Twelve Final Days co-directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia. Tom is also joined by the Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho who’s just been announced winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing for his book The Boy Lost in the Maze. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, June 19, 2024
Graham Gouldman, Jaws anniversary, queering Shakespeare
Musician Graham Gouldman performs live from his new album, as well as talking about his Lancashire upbringing and and playing in the band 10cc 50 years ago Steven Spielberg was filming his adaptation of Peter Benchley's shark thriller Jaws - a problematic shoot that nonetheless resulted in a classic movie. Critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and writer Robert Lautner assess the film's legacy and look at the many shark attack movies that have followed in its wake, including new releases Something in the Water and Under Paris. And Will Tosh from the Globe Theatre in London discusses his new book Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Tue, June 18, 2024
Stephen Fry, New Comedians, Questlove
Stephen Fry stars in Treasure, where he plays a jovial Holocaust survivor who returns to his native Poland from his home New York with his stubborn American-born daughter, played by Lena Dunham. She is keen to build a stronger relationship with him by helping him relive his traumatised past, while he tries to sabotage her plans at every turn. How do you make space for new stand-up comedians new stand-ups? Darrell Martin, founder of comedy club Just The Tonic which turns 30 this year, and comedian Nina Gilligan discuss the art of giving new comedians opportunities on the comedy circuit. The Grammy award-winning musician behind The Roots, Oscar winning-filmmaker, and much in demand record producer, Questlove, on writing Hip-Hop Is History - his exploration of the last five decades of this ever-changing genre. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, June 17, 2024
Kiss Me Kate, UK election: culture policies, Persephone Books
Broadway star Stephanie J Block performs So In Love from the new production of Kiss Me Kate, at London’s Barbican. Tom talks to her and the Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher about creating the musical show within a show, which is based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The BBC’s Culture Editor Katie Razzall on what the political parties have included in – and left out of - their manifestos on the Arts and Culture. We also hear from The Lowry’s CEO Julia Fawcett and The Times’ Chief Culture Editor Richard Morrison about their thoughts on arts education, tax breaks for filmmakers, Arts Council England and economic regeneration. And in Independent Bookshop Week – we hear from Persephone Books in Bath about 25 years of reprinting the work of neglected women writers, mostly from the mid-twentieth century, with recollections of the early days from publishing pioneer Nicola Beauman. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, June 13, 2024
Review of films Sasquatch Sunset and Ama Gloria and a look at Vivienne Westwood's clothes
Sasquatch Sunset has been dubbed the year's strangest film, about a family of mythological bigfoot monsters. Ama Gloria is a French film about the bond between a 6 year old French girl and her Portuguese nanny. Avalon is the latest show from Gifford's Circus, currently touring the UK. Peter Bradshaw and Nancy Durrant join Samira to review. We’ll also find out who’s won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Non Fiction, and the winner of the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction. And and as Dame Vivienne Westwood’s personal clothes collection heads to auction, Bella Freud and Professor Claire Wilcox give Samira a sneak peek. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, June 12, 2024
James Shapiro, BEKA, Molly Bloomsday
Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro has turned his attention to the incredible story behind the Federal Theatre in 1930s America in his new study “The Playbook: A Story of Theatre, Democracy and the Making of A Culture War”. He discusses the groundbreaking performances staged by its 12,000 employees, including Orson Welles’ all-Black production of Macbeth, and the extraordinary woman who ran it, Hallie Flanagan. BEKA is a singer-songwriter who’s gone from singing backing vocals with Honne to featuring with them as a performer, and supporting Laura Mvula and Griff. She has cowritten a soundtrack album for the Apple TV series Trying and joins us to play a track and talk about writing for herself and for TV. The YES Festival which runs from 13th to 16th June in Derry/Londonderry and Donegal focuses on Molly Bloom, the fictional character who appears in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. This culmination of the two-year-long Ulysses European Odyssey uses Molly as a springboard for a celebration of female power and creativity - the first all-women multi-arts festival on the island of Ireland. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Tue, June 11, 2024
Liverpool's Taylor Swift Art Trail, Les Dennis, the state of UK festivals
As Liverpool enters the Swiftularity with the arrival of the arrival of the record-breaking phenomenon that is Taylor Swift and her Eras world tour, Nick visits the Taylor Town Trail - the new art trail dedicated to the singer's albums/eras - in the city centre and talks to one of the trail's co-producer Rhiannon Newman from Culture Liverpool, Kirsten Little - artistic director of the trail, and three of the artists involved in the project - Simon Armstrong, Rachel Smith-Evans, and Catherine Rogers. Les Dennis makes his Shakespeare debut as Malvolio in a new production of Twelfth Night directed by Jimmy Fairhurst. Almost as soon as the final preview performance ends, Nick joins them backstage at Shakespeare North Playhouse to discuss finding the heart in one of Shakespeare's least-loved characters, and why songs by the Arctic Monkeys Blondie, and Charlie Chaplin have an important role in this retelling of the play set in the music industry. As the music festival season begins, news that 28 festivals have been cancelled or postponed with that number expected to rise to 100 by the end of the year prompted Front Row to reflect on the current state of music festivals in the UK with Nick Morgan, CEO of We Group - a live events production company, who has launched the Your Festival Needs You campaign, and BBC Radio 6 Music journalist and festival aficionado Georgie Rogers. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, June 10, 2024
Jon Bon Jovi, Clare Pollard & Marina Walker, Viggo Mortensen and Vikki Krieps
Jon Bon Jovi talks about his band’s new album Forever and their new documentary Thank You, Goodnight on Disney+ which celebrates the band’s 40th anniversary in rock and roll this year. Clare Pollard’s new book The Modern Fairies is set in 17th century France, where stories of trapped princesses and enchanted beasts are performed at the home of Madame Marie D'Aulnoy, who invented the term “conte de fée” or fairytale. Samira talks to Clare and cultural historian Marina Warner about the importance of pioneers such as D'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault, who brought many of these stories to subversive salons long before the Brothers Grimm. Viggo Mortensen and Vikki Krieps star in the new western The Dead Don’t Hurt, in which they play an immigrant couple trying to build a new life in Nevada as the American Civil War begins. This is his second film as writer and director.
Thu, June 06, 2024
Review: Film - Rosalie, TV - Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, Book - The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
Kevin Barry’s new novel is The Heart in Winter, a love story set in the American wild west in the 1890s. The film Rosalie is a period piece inspired by the true story of a French bearded lady who, together with her husband, ran a café in rural France in the late 19th century. And Disney’s Paris set drama series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld explores the late Chanel fashion designer’s life. Max Liu and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh join Tom Sutcliffe to review. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Wed, June 05, 2024
Christos Tsiolkas, Victoria Canal, Baillie Gifford festival sponsorship
Christos Tsiolkas, the Australian writer best known for The Slap, talks about The In-Between, his visceral yet tender new novel about two men finding love in their fifties. Victoria Canal performs her Ivor Novello award winning song Black Swan and talks about her life in music. And with several literary festivals severing their ties with Baillie Gifford, Martha Gill and Grace Blakeley discuss the growing story behind the sponsorship row along with Adrian Turpin, Director of the Wigtown Book Festival in Dumfries and Galloway Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Tue, June 04, 2024
Queenie, Female pirates, dating dramas
Presenter Samira Ahmed talks to Candice Carty-Williams who has adapted her award-winning novel Queenie for an eight-part series on Channel 4, starring Dionne Brown. It traces a year in the life of a young woman navigating a difficult course through her relationships with friends, family and casual partners, with the shadow of unresolved trauma always looming in the background. As two dramas, Strategic Love Play and Love In Gravitational Waves, explore the nature of that modern romantic encounter - the date, their respective playwrights, Miriam Battye and Testament, join Samira to discuss turning the tryst into theatre. Authors Briony Cameron and Francesca De Tores talk about the rise of female pirates in fiction. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, June 03, 2024
Richard Linklater, Ultimate 90s Bollywood Song, Esther Swift
American director Richard Linklater, who made his name with Boyhood and the Before Sunset films, talks about his new comedy thriller Hit Man, which stars Glen Powell as quiet teacher who leads a secret double life helping this police catch people trying to hire a hit man. The movie opens on Netflix on Friday. Asian Network is celebrating 90s Bollywood, revealing the Ultimate 90s Bollywood Song as voted for by listeners from a shortlist of 50. It was counted down on air on Friday and is available to listen to on BBC Sounds now. We are speaking to presenter Haroon Rashid live from Birmingham on Zoom. Harpist Esther Swift plays live and talks about her first solo studio album Expectations of a Lifetime. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, May 30, 2024
Review: The Beast, We Are Lady Parts, Beyond Fashion exhibition
Samira Ahmed is joined by author Anita Sethi and critic Tim Robey to review time-skipping sci-fi epic The Beast, where human emotions are perceived as a threat; the second series of Nida Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts, where the all-female Muslin punk band are recording their first album; they also give their verdict on the Beyond Fashion photography exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, which tracks how fashion photography has become an art form in its own right. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, May 29, 2024
Adrian Dunbar on Samuel Beckett, Degas exhibitions, Chigozie Obioma
Adrian Dunbar is co-curator of the Beckett Unbound Festival that takes place in various venues across Liverpool this weekend and sees him directing Beckett's radio play All That Fall in a disused reservoir in total darkness. He explains why he thinks Samuel Beckett is an incomparable writer whose appeal never fades. As two new exhibitions about Edgar Degas open at different ends of the UK, Nick looks at the importance and impact of this French Impressionist artist with Pippa Stephenson-Sit, the curator of Discovering Degas on now at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and with Anne Robbins, the curator of Discover Degas & Miss La La, which opens at the National Gallery in London on June 6th. The Biafran war, 1967 - 1970, was the first major conflict in post-colonial Africa, and when images of starving Biafran children with distended bellies began to be seen in the West, the modern humanitarian aid industry was launched. Award-winning novelist Chigozie Obioma has turned to the Biafran War for his new novel, The Road To The Country, which takes the reader to the front lines of the ferocious military confrontation. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, May 28, 2024
Bernard Butler, Kafka, Benedict Cumberbatch
Hollywood star Benedict Cumberbatch talks about his new series Eric, where he plays a troubled puppeteer in 80s New York whose life and marriage unravel when his young son disappears and the only help he has to find him is from a giant imaginary monster who follows him everywhere. Created by British screenwriter Abi Morgan, the show opens on Netflix on Thursday. Bernard Butler's first solo album in 25 years - Good Grief - is released on 31st May. He plays his latest single and reflects on a career that has involved highly successful collaborations with an eclectic range of artists including Duffy, Jessie Buckley, Tricky and The Libertines. 100 years after his death, Franz Kafka’s papers are on display at a new exhibition at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The curator Carolin Duttlinger discusses Kafka’s ongoing significance with the novelist Joanna Kavenna. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Mon, May 27, 2024
Hay Festival 2024 - Young Adult Fiction
In a special edition of Front Row recorded at this year's Hay Festival, school children and young people put questions to four giants of Young Adult Fiction. Anthony Horowitz has written books for both adults and younger readers, but here discusses his iconic creation Alex Rider. Manon Steffan Ros won last year's Carnegie Medal, the first translated book to read the prize having originally been written in Welsh. Alex Wheatle is the author of the hugely popular Crongton Knights series, having written his first novel Brixton Rock in prison. And Frances Hardinge is the only children's author other than Phillip Pullman to win the Costa Prize Book of the Year with the Lie Tree, as well as being the other behind other much loved YA novels including Fly By Night. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Thu, May 23, 2024
The Sympathizer, Ivor Novello Awards, Michelle Terry on Richard III
Samira Ahmed is joined by the Guardian’s music editor Ben Beaumont-Thomas plus cultural sociologist and music researcher Dr. Monique Charles to review espionage thriller and cross-culture satire The Sympathizer, a 7-part series based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. They also discuss the winners of the Ivor Novello Awards, and Samira talks to Michelle Terry about playing Richard III at the Globe theatre. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, May 22, 2024
Vicky McClure, LS Lowry and the sea, International Booker Prize 2024
Line of Duty star Vicky McClure on her new TV thriller Insomnia, in which she plays a lawyer losing her grip on the daily juggle of family life and work as old traumas start to make their presence felt. The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofman on winning the International Booker Prize with the novel Kairos which marries a love story with the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a new exhibition - Lowry and the Sea – opens this weekend at the Maltings’ Granary Gallery in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, art historian and Lowry specialist Jonathan Horwich, and contemporary seascape painter Jo Bemis discuss this little-known side of L. S. Lowry's work and the challenge of capturing the everchanging sea on canvas. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, May 21, 2024
Colm Tóibín, Miranda Rutter & Rob Harbron, Iain Sinclair on John Deakin
Colm Tóibín's not a fan of follow-ups so why has he written a sequel to his bestseller Brooklyn, which was made into a film starring Saoirse Ronan? He talks to Tom Sutcliffe about not overwriting sex - and how Domhnall Gleeson's screen performance as a "quiet Irishman" in Brooklyn inspired him. Miranda Rutter and Rob Harbron's new folk album, Bird Tunes, is inspired by birdsong they hear in woods in the Cotswolds. They perform a track on fiddle and concertina and talk about how manipulating the sounds made by blackbirds, wrens and cuckoos helped to inspire musical phrases in different keys. Photographer John Deakin is now often overlooked, but he chronicled the artistic underbelly of mid-century Soho with iconic pictures, including those used by Francis Bacon. Iain Sinclair, whose new book Pariah/Genius revives Deakin, retraces his footsteps around town. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, May 20, 2024
George Miller, Miranda July, Orchestral Qawwali Project
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the latest film from the writer director George Miller, 45 years after the first Mad Max film with Mel Gibson aired. He joins us to talk about where the vision for the film came from and how it's evolved, and about working with stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth. The visual artist, filmmaker, and novelist, Miranda July, discusses her second novel “All Fours” where a middle-aged woman’s detour from a planned road trip across America becomes a wry and provocative odyssey of self-exploration. Orchestral Qawaali Project is the brainchild of composer Rushil Ranjan and multi-instrumentalist and singer Abi Sampa. Fusing devotional south Asian qawwali singing with the western classical tradition, it has grown from a lockdown project that went viral to a performance at the Royal Albert Hall later this month involving 135 performers on stage. We hear a taster of their work live in the studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, May 16, 2024
Review: Big Cigar on AppleTV, Elton John’s photos at V&A, animated/live action film If
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by journalist Kevin Le Gendre and critic Hanna Flint to review The Big Cigar, which tells the story of Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton; Elton John’s Fragile Beauty exhibition at the V&A and IF, a family film about imaginary friends. Tom also announces the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Wed, May 15, 2024
John Cleese's Fawlty Towers on stage, Beatrice Harrison, Cannes
Fawlty Towers arrives on the West End stage nearly 50 years after it first appeared on TV. John Cleese talks about why the sitcom wasn’t initially regarded as a great success, his love and appreciation of comedy as an art form, and how a future project will see Basil running a hotel with his daughter. 100 years ago this month, the musician Beatrice Harrison was responsible for a landmark event in BBC history when she persuaded the corporation to broadcast live from her garden as she played her cello, accompanied by nightingales. Writer and cellist Kate Kennedy who has recreated this event for a new Radio 3 documentary and Patricia Cleveland-Peck who has edited a book about Beatrice Harrison join Front Row to discuss the significance of this historic event. Jason Solomons joins us from the Cannes Film Festival to tell us what people there are getting excited about and what's in store over the next ten days. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Tue, May 14, 2024
Withnail and I on stage, Women & Art at Tate Britain, Alan Murrin
Bruce Robinson has written a stage adaptation of his cult 1987 film Withnail And I - a tragicomedy that evokes the end of an era as the 60s give way to 70s and dreams collide with reality in the lives of the two main characters. The play has just opened at the Birmingham Rep, directed by Sean Foley. Both of them talk about the challenges of adapting and staging a much loved classic and the degree to which it needed to remain true to the original. Now You See Us - an exhibition spanning 400 years of women in art - opens at Tate Britain this week. Art critic Charlotte Mullins and art historian and biographer Frances Spalding give their verdict on how the collection represents the pioneers from Angelica Kauffman to Laura Knight.
Mon, May 13, 2024
Damian Barr on Maggie & Me, Italian neorealist film, A.I. and Fake Art
A memoir about growing up gay in Scotland under the shadow of Thatcherism, Maggie & Me was published to wide acclaim in 2013. Damian Barr joins to discuss how he as adapted it with James Ley for a new National Theatre of Scotland touring production. As Roberto Rossellini's classic 1945 film Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta) is re-released by the BFI, writer Thea Lenarduzzi and film historian Ian Christie reassess its role in launching Italian neorealism and compare it with There's Still Tomorrow (C'è ancora domani), a new film by Paula Cortellesi that borrows many of neorealism's visual and thematic hallmarks. With news last week that fake artworks by Renoir and Monet were being sold online, Samira is joined by art specialist and A.I. expert Dr. Carina Popovici and writer and art crime expert Riah Pyror to discuss the problem and how A.I. is being used to solve it.
Thu, May 09, 2024
La Chimera, Bodkin, a new novel called Great Expectations reviewed
La Chimera is a new film directed by Alice Rohrwacher and starring Josh O’Connor as a British archaeologist who gets caught up in a network of stolen Etruscan artefacts in 1980s Italy. Bodkin is a new comedy thriller series from Netflix starring Will Forte about a trio of true crime podcasters who head to rural Ireland to solve a mystery. and Great Expectations, the hotly anticipated debut novel from the New Yorker theatre critic Vinson Cunningham about a young man in America who gets swept up in a presidential campaign. Jo Hamya and Boyd Hilton join Nick Ahad to review. And we take a look at Spotify's latest figures on how it pays the music industry with Will Page. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, May 08, 2024
Sir Stephen Hough, Arab Strap, can authors make money?
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
Tue, May 07, 2024
Party Games play, 200 years of Beethoven’s 9th, literary editing
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, music critic Norman Lebrecht and conductor JoAnn Falletta discuss what makes it revolutionary and why it's so challenging to perform. Michael McManus spent most of his career as a political advisor but has subsequently become a playwright. His new play Party Games is a political comedy that questions the power of AI and the influence of unelected advisors. A new exhibition at the Bodleian Library in Oxford - Write, Cut, Rewrite - looks at the drafts, additions and omissions behind key artistic decisions from great writers. Writer Lawrence Norfolk and poet Alice Oswald talk about the importance of rewriting and editing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Mon, May 06, 2024
Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Jeremy Deller, Scarborough Spa Orchestra
Nick visits Scarborough and talks to Sir Alan Ayckbourn as he rehearses an old play - Things We Do For Love - and looks forward to the staging of his 90th play - Show and Tell. Turner prize winning Artist Jeremy Deller, whose public artworks include We're Here Because We're Here to commemorate the Battle of the Somme, reveals his plans for a new creation for Scarborough's Marine Drive. The Scarborough Spa Orchestra is the UK's only remaining professional seaside orchestra, and Nick meets its two of its members, music director Paul Laidlaw and flautist Kathy Seabrook. Poets Charlotte Oliver and Wendy Pratt discuss finding inspiration in Scarborough. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, May 02, 2024
The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Marc Quinn at Kew, The Fall Guy,
Harvey Keitel stars in The Tattooist of Auschwitz - a six-part Sky Atlantic series based on the best-selling novel by Heather Morris, inspired by the real-life story of Holocaust prisoners Lali and Gita Sokolov. Marc Quinn’s exhibition Light into Life is at Kew Gardens from Saturday (4th May) until Sunday 29 September 2024. The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch, stars Ryan Gosling as a stuntman and Emily Blunt as his film director ex who entices him out of retirement. All three are reviewed by Naomi Alderman and Jason Solomons. And producer Trevor Horn assesses the legacy of guitarist Duane Eddy whose death was announced yesterday. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Wed, May 01, 2024
Spirited Away at London Coliseum, Eurovision build-up, terminal diagnosis films
Award winning director behind Les Miserables John Caird and co-writing partner Maoko Imai talk about adapting the iconic Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away for stage, as it arrives at the London Coliseum from Japan. Two new documentaries are exploring how dignity, beauty and even joy can be found following a terminal diagnosis. Simon Chambers and Kit Vincent, the filmmakers behind Much Ado About Dying and Red Herring respectively, discuss. And the BBC's Eurovision reporter Daniel Rosney lifts a lid on preparations for the forthcoming song contest in Malmo. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Tue, April 30, 2024
Michelangelo exhibition at British Museum, Jembaa Groove perform, Inside Number 9
Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon and art curator Kate Bryan discuss Michelangelo: the last decades, a major new exhibition at the British Museum which focuses on the last thirty years of Michelangelo’s life. Reece Shearsmith discusses the ninth and final series of the BAFTA award winning Inside No. 9. Written with Steve Pemberton, the six episodes will feature new stand-alone stories, starting with ‘Boo To A Goose’ . Guest stars include Charlie Cooper and Katherine Kelly. Jembaa Groove perform live. The Berlin-based band produce Ghanaian highlife/American R&B fusion music, an optimistic and positive sound created when they got together during the covid pandemic. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
Mon, April 29, 2024
Hanif Kureishi, Ingrid Persaud, Arts Council funding
Hanif Kureishi has joined forces with Emma Rice to adapt his 1990 novel The Buddha of Suburbia into an RSC production that’s just opened at the Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. Kureishi discusses what it feels like to see himself and his fictionalised family onstage, why his first novel remains painfully relevant and how he has been able to continue writing despite the December 2022 accident that left him tetraplegic. Recently on Front Row we heard from some leaders of classical music organisations including the Wigmore Hall and LSO saying that Arts Council England, the body responsible for distributing funding, was putting inclusion before excellence. Today we hear from the Arts Council’s CEO, Darren Henley about Let’s Create, the ten year strategy behind the recent funding decisions. Ingrid Persaud discusses the real man behind her new novel The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh, an outlaw figure who looms large in the cultural memory of Trinidad and Tobago - an island nation with a wealth of contemporary novelists, including Persaud herself. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, April 25, 2024
Pet Shop Boys, review of Challengers film and Expressionists exhibiition
The Pet Shop Boys are the most successful duo in UK music history. Forty years after their first hit West End Girls they are about to release their new album Nonetheless. Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant join Samira Ahmed to talk about making sense of life through culture, their music being used in hit films like Saltburn and All of Us Strangers and their gay icon status. Also joining Samira in the studio are art critic Catherine McCormack and writer Jenny McCartney to review the new tennis film Challengers - which stars Zendaya and Josh O'Connor and Tate Modern's new exhibition Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and The Blue Rider. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, April 24, 2024
The Legend of Ned Ludd, Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist, Mohammad Barrangi
The Legend of Ned Ludd - writer Joe Ward Munrow and director Jude Christian discuss their new play at the Liverpool Everyman theatre which explores the changing nature of work over the centuries and around the world in the the face of automation. The shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction was announced today - journalist Jamie Klingler assesses the selection. As the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool prepares to show off its latest acquisitions, curator Kate O'Donoghue explains what the their new Degas and Monet works will bring to their collection. Artist Mohammad Barrangi discusses his new installation - One Night, One Dream, Life in the Lighthoue - at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery in Leeds University, inspired by his residency at the university's Special Collections. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, April 23, 2024
Women and Shakespeare, best beach reads, Black British music exhibition
The British Library isn’t all books; it has a huge sound archive, one of the largest in the world. It has drawn on this for Beyond the Bassline, the first major exhibition to documenting Black British music. Curators Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley guide Shahidha Bari through the 500-year musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain. Emily Henry is a giant of the Beach Read: indeed one of her best selling novels is literally called that. With her forthcoming Funny Book, she is joined by author of The Garnett Girls Georgina Moore to discuss what goes into an ideal summer book. And on Shakespeare's birthday, we discuss the women who made him as well as his female contemporaries with Charlotte Scott, from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Rami Targoff author of Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Mon, April 22, 2024
Designer Sir Kenneth Grange, Taylor Swift's new album, Venice Art Biennale
Taylor Swift returns with The Tortured Poets Department, a surprise double album that features 31 tracks that fans are saying is her most intimate and lyrically revealing yet. Joining Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the work are Times music writer Lisa Vericco and Satu Hameenho-Fox, whose new book Into The Taylor-Verse is out next month. The Intercity 125 train, the Kenwood mixer, the Morphy Richards iron, the Wilkinson triple razor, bus shelters, the black cab, and the Parker 25 pen all have one thing in common – they were designed by Sir Kenneth Grange. As a new book about his life and work comes out, we went to his house to meet him. Hettie Judah joins us fresh from the famous international cultural exhibition, the Venice Biennale, now in it’s 60th year. She’ll be reviewing the highs and lows. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, April 18, 2024
London Tide with music by PJ Harvey, Salman Rushdie's story of survival: Knife and tenor Ian Bostridge
Knife is Salman Rushdie’s memoir about surviving a near-fatal knife attack in August 2022 and the long, painful period of recovery that followed. Ben Power’s adaption of the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend – London Tide – which features songs that he co-wrote with PJ Harvey, has just opened at the National Theatre in London. Baby Reindeer is a new Netflix drama written by and starring Richard Gadd who drew directly on his own shocking experience of being stalked. All three are reviewed by Tahmima Anam and John Mullan. We also hear from tenor Ian Bostridge on mobile phone use in concert halls and why he stopped a performance of Britten's Les Illuminations with the CBSO last night. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, April 17, 2024
Lionel Shriver's new book Mania, Tyrell Williams on Red Pitch
Lionel Shriver on her latest novel Mania, in which she creates an alternative USA where the Mental Parity Movement insists that everyone is equally clever. Can a friendship between two women survive when they hold polarised views on this particular “culture war”? Why are universities all over the country closing arts courses and cutting jobs? Front Row investigates and considers the consequences. Playwright Tyrell Williams talks about his acclaimed play Red Pitch, about three young lads dreaming of football stardom. But what happens when their local football pitch is under threat, as a result of gentrification? Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, April 16, 2024
Sir John Akomfrah, bicentenary of Byron's death and sped-up music
Lord Byron died 200 years ago on Friday. Lady Caroline Lamb described him as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. Fiona Stafford has edited Byron's Travels, a new selection of his poems, letters and journals. He was only 36 when he died, but had written seven volumes of verse, thirteen volumes of journal and thousands of letters. The poet A. E. Stallings, who lives in Greece, where Byron died while supporting the Greek struggle for independence - and Fiona Stafford, join Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate this great, scandalous and very funny Romantic poet. We talk about the sped-up music phenomenon, and what it tells us about the constantly evolving relationship between the music industry and music fans. Music business writer Eamonn Forde and singer-songwriter Fiona Bevan are in the Front Row studio. And artist Sir John Akomfrah joins us from the British Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale where he is representing the UK, with his exhibition, Listening All Night To The Rain. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, April 15, 2024
The Book of Clarence, Liberation Squares, Northern Ireland's filming location boom
British director Jeymes Samueals discusses his new film The Book of Clarence, a Biblical comedy about a down-on-his-luck young man who tries to escape from a debt by pretending to be a messiah like Christ. Sonali Bhattacharyya on her new play Liberation Square, which just opened at the Nottingham Playhouse and explores the lives of three young Muslim women who fight back when they find themselves the target of the state surveillance ‘Prevent’ programme. With the hit Belfast-set drama Blue Lights returning to BBC One for its second season tonight, Kathy Clugston joins to look at why Northern Ireland is enjoying a filming boom that has seen such hits as Games of Thrones, Marcella and Bloodlands all shot there.
Thu, April 11, 2024
Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Percival Everett's James reviewed
Back to Black is the Amy Winehouse biopic out this week and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. James is Percival Everett’s retelling of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, narrated by the enslaved Jim. The Wallace collection spotlights Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and the treasure trove of weapons that kept him in power. Writer Dreda Say Mitchell and journalist and broadcaster Bidisha join Tom Sutcliffe to review. We also look at the BAFTA games awards with scummy mummy and gamer Ellie Gibson. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, April 10, 2024
Folk musician Martin Simpson, movie icon Anna May Wong, and classical music leaders criticise Arts Council England
Anna May Wong was an international star who appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies in a career that spanned from the silent films of the 1920s, through the advent of talkies in the 30s, to television in the 1950s, despite all the obstacles in her path. A new biography, Not Your China Doll, examines how against all the odds Anna May Wong found international fame and became a trailblazer for Asian American actors. The English folk singer and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson performs material from his new album - his 24th - Skydancers. The title track, commissioned by naturalist Chris Packham, highlights the plight of the Hen harrier. Simpson talks about his love of birds, of traditional song, of writing his own, the influence on him of American music, and a lifetime playing the guitar and banjo. Some leaders of classical music organisations say that the attitude to funding by the Arts Councils in England and Wales is undermining excellence, and putting inclusion before professionalism. We hear from a range of voices, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Opera House; John Gilhooly, director of the Wigmore Hall and chair of the Royal Philharmonic Society; Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and a former music director at Arts Council England; and Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and former Executive Director of the Arts Council Northwest. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, April 09, 2024
Nathan Hill, Maggie Rogers, International Booker shortlist
Nathan Hill talks about his new novel Wellness, the follow-up to his acclaimed debut The Nix. Maggie Rogers, the singer-songwriter whose career was launched by a student performance for Pharrell Williams that went viral, talks about her latest album Don't Forget Me. Romesh Gunasekera discusses the novels on the International Booker Prize Shortlist, announced today. And Melanie Abbott reports on how the BBC and Netflix’s disability partnership is progressing over two years on from its much heralded launch. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Mon, April 08, 2024
Yinka Shonibare, Sean Shibe, cinema and digital decay
Artist Yinka Shonibare talks about his new exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, which explores the legacy of Imperialism. Guitarist Sean Shibe performs early Scottish lute music and previews a new classical guitar concerto live in the Front Row studio. And film experts Stephen McConnachie and Inés Toharia explain how fast changing technology and digital decay is putting preserving cinema under threat. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, April 04, 2024
Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter, Netflix drama Ripley, Io Capitano movie reviewed
Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter - Netflix drama Ripley starring Andrew Scott - Io Capitano, the Oscar-nominated movie about teens in Senegal in search of a better life - all reviewed by film critic Leila Latif and music writer Jasper Murison-Bowie. And novelist and critic John Domini remembers the American novelist (and his former teacher) John Barth, author of cult bestseller Giles Goat Boy, who has died at the age of 93. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, April 03, 2024
50 years of ABBA’s Waterloo, Harewood House exhibition, Trevor Griffiths remembered, the rise of eco fiction and drama
Almost 50 years to the day when ABBA's Waterloo triumphed at Eurovision, ABBA specialist Carl Magnus Palm and Millie Taylor, professor of musical theatre, discuss how the song became such an all-conquering hit. A visit to Harewood House to see a new exhibition, Colours Uncovered, which tells the story of this stately home through the prism of colour. Darren Pih, chief curator and artistic director of the Harewood House Trust and curator and archivist Rebecca Burton, take Nick through the house. Dramatist and screenwriter Trevor Griffiths is remembered by theatre critic Michael Coveney, who was at the first night of his ground-breaking play Comedians, which put Jonathan Pryce on his road to stardom. Griffiths also provided Laurence Olivier with his last stage role. However, working class, left-wing and politically committed, Griffiths preferred writing for television because it allowed him to communicate with millions rather than thousands. The environment and climate change is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream film, TV and fiction. Now Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, director of the 2022 Oscar-winning Japanese movie, Drive My Car, has his own eco-drama, Evil Does Not Exist, in cinemas this month. To discuss that and how climate change is breaking into the mainstream, Nick is joined by Eve Smith, the author of One, and by Greg Mosse, the author of The Coming Storm, both of which feature a near-future world significantly altered by environmental catastrophe. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, April 02, 2024
Dev Patel on Monkey Man, which books are on the curriculum?
Actor Dev Patel joins to talk about his directorial debut Monkey Man, a movie inspired by the Indian legend of Hunaman that tells the dark and brutal story of a young man in Mumbai out to avenge the life of his mother. As exam season approaches we ask which books are currently being taught in our schools, and why? We speak to Kit de Waal, whose breakthrough novel My Name is Leon has just been made a curriculum text, and Carol Atherton, English teacher and author of “Reading Lessons: The Books We Read at School, the Conversations They Spark and Why They Matter”. MGM was Hollywood’s most famous maker of lavish musicals like such classics The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St Louis and Singin' in the Rain. As the famed film studio turns 100, musician and broadcaster Neil Brand has made a new Radio 3 documentary looking at their legacy. Critic David Benedict joins to discuss.
Mon, April 01, 2024
The National Gallery at 200
The National Gallery opened its doors on 10th May 1824. The public could view 38 paintings, free. Now there are more than 2,300, including many masterpieces of European art by geniuses such as Rembrandt, Turner and Van Gogh. It is still free. The gallery's director, Gabriele Finaldi, guides Samira Ahmed through the collection. Artists Barbara Walker, Bob and Roberta Smith and Celine Condorelli, last year's artist-in-residence , choose paintings from the collection that are important to them, as does the critic Louisa Buck. The Sainsbury Wing is closed for building work, giving an opportunity to attend to the paintings there, and Samira visits the conservation studio and the framing workshop. She hears, too, from curator Mari Elin Jones in Aberystwyth about how during the Second World War the entire National Gallery collection was evacuated to a slate quarry in north Wales. The gallery's historians, Susanna Avery-Quash and Alan Crookham, show Samira photos of this period, and documents from the very beginning of the gallery. As part of the bicentennial celebrations 12 masterpieces are going to cities around the UK, to form the centre of exhibitions. Appropriately, Canaletto's 'The Stone Mason's Yard' will be going to Aberystwyth. From BBC Archive recordings we hear how Kenneth Clark and pianist Myra Hess organised lunchtime concerts held in the empty gallery, keeping cultural life going during the Blitz. Samira, Gabriele and Bob and Roberta first came to the National Gallery as children; Louisa Buck brought her children, who hunted for dragons in the paintings. The National Gallery is a welcoming, free, safe space for everyone, as a visitor, her baby asleep in his sling, happily explains. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, March 28, 2024
Steven Knight drama This Town reviewed, The Perth Museum re-opening
Peaky Blinders' writer Steven Knight's new drama, This Town, is out this week. Author Daniel Rachel and art historian Sarah Gaventa review. We'll also review a landmark exhibition on the Italian designer Enzo Mari which opens at the Design museum, showcasing his infinite calendar, self assembly book cases and beautiful children’s books. We take a look inside Perth Museum after its 27 million pound refurbishment. And we remember the American Sculptor Richard Serra who has died at the age of 85. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, March 27, 2024
Big Mood, how does comedy work? Bach St John Passion
Camilla Whitehill on her new Channel 4 sitcom Big Mood, starring Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West, which explores the lives of Millennials. Gareth Malone and Hannah French celebrate Bach's St John Passion, which was first performed in Leipzig 300 years ago this Easter. Joel Morris, author of Be Funny or Die, discusses how comedy works and what makes us laugh with Father Ted director Lissa Evans. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Tue, March 26, 2024
Norah Jones performs, Sir Ian McKellen on Player Kings, Keisha Thompson
Norah Jones discusses her new album, Visions, and reflects on the song, Come Away With Me, that made her name along with a special performance in the Front Row studio; Sir Ian McKellen and theatre director Robert Icke on tackling one of Shakespeare's greatest characters, Falstaff, in their new production Player Kings; and Keisha Thompson on how her year as artist-in-residence at Yorkshire Sculpture Park led to her creation of "sculpted poetry" in her new collection, Dé-rive. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, March 25, 2024
Poet Nikki Giovanni, Andrew Buchan on TV drama Passenger
Nikki Giovanni is one of only a handful of poets whose work has been published as a Penguin Modern Classic in their own life time. A key figure of America's Black Arts Movement as both a writer an activist, she speaks to Tom about her life and career. A well-known actor, Andrew Buchan has now turned to writing with Passenger, the new ITV crimes drama set in the gothic landscape of the Lancashire-Yorkshire border. And Oxford's Ashmolean museum has a new exhibition of Flemish drawings, Bruegel to Rubens. Artist Jonathan Yeo and critic Jonathan Jones, author of Earthly Delights: A History of the Renaissance, join to discuss. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Thu, March 21, 2024
Kristen Wiig drama Palm Royale and animation Robot Dreams reviewed, Michael Ondaatje on his new poetry collection
The Independent’s chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and the Telegraph’s film critic Tim Robey review the Oscar-nominated animation Robot Dreams which follows the friendship of a dog and a robot - can their bond survive Robot being locked up on Coney Island beach, after his joints rust over following a paddle in the sea? They also give their verdict on Apple TV’s drama Palm Royale, in which a former beauty queen longs to join the super-rich ladies who lunch in 1960s Florida. And on World Poetry Day the author of The English Patient Michael Ondaatje returns to verse in his new collection A Year of Last Things. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Wed, March 20, 2024
Kazuo Ishiguro on jazz, March hares and film ratings
Writer Kazuo Ishiguro and jazz musician Stacey Kent talk about collaborating on their new book of lyrics, The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain. What’s the significance of the hare in art and mythology? To mark the season of the March hare, writer Jane Russ, sculptor Sophie Ryder and musician Fay Hield explain. And following the British Board of Film Classification’s update to their guidance, film critic Larushka Ivan Zedah and professor of film Ian Christie ask what age ratings mean for audiences and film-makers. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Julian May
Tue, March 19, 2024
Marjane Satrapi, using AI for alternative history, and the Harlow Sculpture Trail
Marjane Satrapi is best known for being the cartoonist and film maker behind Persepolis. She talks to Samira Ahmed about her new book - Woman, Life, Freedom - which she has created with 17 Iranian and international comic book artists. It documents the story of the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a woman detained for allegedly not properly wearing the Islamic headscarf in 2022, and the subsequent protest movement which has swept Iran. In the Event of Moon Disaster is part of a new exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norfolk. It uses artificial intelligence to reimagine history, to ask what is truth? Centre Director Dr Jago Cooper and digital artist Francesca Panetta dive into conspiracy and misinformation, and discuss how an event as influential as the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing could be manipulated, and how doubt can be cast on even the most well-known facts. And Samira and producer Julian May follow the Harlow Sculpture Trail, encountering work by some of the greatest artists of the 20th century, including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Elisabeth Frink. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, March 18, 2024
Architect Daniel Libeskind, composer Karl Jenkins
Daniel Libeskind, the architect best known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the World Trade Centre masterplan in New York, talks about designing a building to house Einstein’s archive in Jerusalem. As Germany celebrates the 250th birthday of the painter Caspar David Friedrich with three major exhibitions, art historians Louisa Buck and Waldemar Januszczak discuss the significance of the Romantic artist famous for his paintings of people in evocative landscapes. And the musician and composer Karl Jenkins joins Samira to talk about celebrating his 80th birthday with a concert tour. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, March 14, 2024
Keir Starmer, Monster and Reading Genesis reviewed
Labour leader Keir Starmer joins to discuss his party's new arts strategy, which he unveiled this morning, aiming to boost access to the arts and grow the creative industries. Writer and theologian Professor Tina Beattie and critic and broadcaster Matthew Sweet review Marilynne Robsinson’s new book Reading Genesis which offers a fresh look at the story of creation as told in the first book of the Bible. They also give their verdict on the Japanese filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu's new film Monster. The mystery thriller won Best Screenplay at Cannes last May and is dedicated to Ryuichi Sakamoto as this was his final film score before his death last year.
Wed, March 13, 2024
Paul Theroux on Orwell, Patsy Rodenburg on training actors, musician Sam Lee
Paul Theroux discusses his new novel, Burma Sahib, about George Orwell’s formative years as a colonial police officer in what is now Myanmar. Voice expert Professor Patsy Rodenburg quit her job over fears that actors’ traditional “craft” skills are being lost, as screen acting overshadows theatre work. Sam Lee, Bernard Butler and James Keay perform live and talk about Sam's new album, Songdreaming. Sam draws on traditional songs to explore the richness and fragility of the natural world here in the UK. And we announce the winner of the Writers' Prize (formerly Rathbones Folio) Book of the Year 2024. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Tue, March 12, 2024
Philippa Gregory on Richard III, Blackpool's Showtown, has the superhero franchise bubble burst?
Historical novelist Philippa Gregory talks to Nick Ahad about writing her first stage play, Richard, My Richard, for Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot. Unlike Shakespeare's, Gregory's play is a tender, passionate, portrait of man in his time, surrounded by the women who influence his fate. With Marvel, DC and Sony superhero films boring fans and the box office, Nick speaks with Comic Crush editor Paul Dunne and film journalist Feyi Adebanjo about what's gone wrong and if these billion dollar blockbusters can get their mojo back. Showtown, Blackpool’s new museum of fun and entertainment opens on Friday. Liz Moss, the museum’s Chief Executive and journalist and former circus elephant girl Dea Birkett reflect on the museum’s ambitions. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, March 11, 2024
Beth Ditto of Gossip, Ethan Coen on Drive-Away Dolls, Michael Donkor
Beth Ditto talks to Tom Sutcliffe about reuniting with her band Gossip for their first new album in nearly a decade. Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke discuss collaborating as a husband and wife team on their new film, Drive Away Dolls. Michael Donkor discusses his new novel Grow Where They Fall, about a young British Ghanian teacher exploring his sexuality, heritage and past. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, March 07, 2024
Jordan Harvey in session, Nye and Copa 71 reviewed
The up'n'coming Scottish country singer performs songs from his debut album It Is What It Is ahead of his debut solo performance at the Country To Country Festival in London this weekend. Plus, Susannah Clapp, the theatre critic for the Observer, and Boyd Hilton, the entertainment director of Heat Magazine, join to review the new play Nye at the National, which stars Michael Sheen as the politician who helped found the NHS and to look at the new football documentary Copa 71 about the real life story of a women's football tournament held in Mexico in 1971.
Wed, March 06, 2024
Ava DuVernay on Origin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julianne Moore
Ava DuVernay talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her latest film, Origin. It stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, following her journey as she researches her best-selling book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents while dealing with personal tragedy. Gabriel García Márquez’s final novel Until August is being published posthumously today despite his final wishes. His son Gonzalo explains why, and critics Max Liu and Blake Morrison discuss the ethics of defying a writer’s final request. Julianne Moore and director Oliver Hermanus discuss their historical TV drama Mary & George, which explores the affair between King James VI and I and George Villiers. Julianne Moore plays Mary Villiers, a woman who goes to extremes to improve her social position. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Tue, March 05, 2024
Kate Rusby, Edward Bond, Eve Steele and the decline of female filmmakers
The acclaimed English folk singer-songwriter Kate Rusby performs live and chats about her new Singy Songy Session Tour. Theatre critic Michael Billington celebrates the life and legacy of the provocative British playwright Edward Bond, whose death was announced today. Dr Stacy Smith, and film data researcher Stephen Follows, discuss Dr Smith's recent report revealing that the number of female film directors in Hollywood has fallen. And playwright Eve Steele on her new play, Work It Out, inspired by real-life moments in a Zumba class and is now on at HOME in Manchester. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, March 04, 2024
Ray Winstone, K Patrick, Ferris & Sylvester
Ray Winstone, star of Sexy Beast and Nil By Mouth, talks about new Netflix series The Gentlemen brought to television screens by director Guy Ritchie. K Patrick’s in the studio to read from their first collection of poetry Three Births, which explores nature, contemporary queer experience and pop-culture icons like Catwoman and George Michael. And folk duo Ferris & Sylvester perform live and discuss their new album, Otherness. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, February 29, 2024
Dune 2, Brian Bilston, Angelica Kauffman RA, Nachtland
This week sees the release of the much anticipated Dune part 2, the sequel to 2021’s part 1, a series based on Frank Herbert’s 1960’s sci fi classic. We also look at Marius von Mayenburg’s play Nachtland directed by Patrick Marber at the Young Vic in London and Angelica Kauffman: the Swiss artist finally gets a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, more than 250 years after she was one of its founding members. Seán Williams and Sam Marlowe review. Plus, the 'unofficial poet Laureate of Twitter' Brian Bilston has broken some of his anonymity to go on the road with Henry Normal. To mark 29 February, Bilston reads An Extra Day from his collection Days Like These. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, February 28, 2024
Benjamin Britten, director Kaouther Ben Hania, music from Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell
Kate Molleson talks to Kaouther Ben Hania about her Oscar-nominated documentary Four Daughters, which explores the impact of two sisters fleeing to join Islamic State, by bringing in actors to play them alongside the rest of their family in Tunisia. We look at two new plays about British composer Benjamin Britten and the light they shed on a life shrouded with mystery and controversy. Kate is joined by Erica Whyman, the director of Ben and Imo by Mark Ravenhill, which is on at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, and also by Kevin Kelly, the writer of Turning the Screw, which I son at the King’s Head Theatre in London. Plus live music from Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell, two young musicians who play with the idea of "English" folk. Their forthcoming EP, 102 Metres East, was recently recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in less than a day. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer Paula McGrath
Tue, February 27, 2024
The Jury: Murder Trial, Bhangra Nation, Bluestockings
Channel 4’s new reality TV series, The Jury: Murder Trial features a real-life murder case, re-run in front of two juries who are unaware of each other’s existence. Its creator Ed Kellie and BBC News' former legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman discuss what the TV experiment tells us about how emotions can be swayed in the courtroom - and whether the juries will reach the same verdict. Susannah Gibson’s new book “Bluestockings: The First Women’s Movement” explores the often overlooked female pioneers of 18th century intellectualism, whose legendary salons were hotbeds of cultural foment and writerly wit. She is joined by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, the historical novelist to discuss the lives of the extraordinary women from this period. Bhangra Nation aims to do for Punjabi dancing what the films Bring It On and Pitch Perfect did for cheerleading and acapella singing. We hear from the co-writer of the new musical at the Birmingham Rep Theatre, Rehana Lew Mirza, and choreographer Rujuta Vaidya.
Mon, February 26, 2024
Sheridan Smith. Movement Coaches and Sexism in French Cinema
In an exclusive for Front Row, Sheridan Smith performs Magic, a song from her new musical Opening Night, which is directed by Ivo Van Hove, with music from Rufus Wainwright. They discuss creating the new musical, which is based on the 1970s film and follows an actress going through a breakdown as she prepares to open a new show on Broadway. Journalist Agnes Poirier on the French film awards the Cesars, and why they were overshadowed by allegations of male directors sexually abusing young female actors. Movement director Polly Bennett has worked on hits like The Crown, Bohemian Rhapsody and Killing Eve while Sarah Perry often works on animations, helping actors to perfect the movement of animals, using motion capture. As the BBC's Bring the Drama Festival highlights behind the scenes careers, we discuss the role of the movement director in TV and film. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corrina Jones
Thu, February 22, 2024
Minority Report at Nottingham Playhouse, Wicked Little Letters, and TV series Boarders reviewed
Minority report, the Sci-Fi classic by Philip K Dick, has already been adapted for film and television and now it’s a stage play that employs an innovative mix of technology, stagecraft and live performance. As it opens at the Nottingham Playhouse, Mark Burman talks to some of the creatives involved. We review Wicked Little Letters, a black comedy starring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley about a real-life poison pen letter writing campaign that scandalised a small seaside town in Sussex in 1920. And we look at Boarders, a new comedy series on BBC Three that follows five black kids from London who are invited to join a posh boarding school that has been embroiled in scandals of its own. Our reviewers are the author and writer Okechukwu Nzelu and the author and journalist Anita Sethi. Producer Ekene Akalawu Presenter Nick Ahad
Wed, February 21, 2024
Wim Wenders, Len Pennie and Angus Robertson
Wim Wenders on his new Oscar nominated Japanese language film Perfect Days, about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo as he goes about his work. Koji Yakusho won the Best Actor Award when the film premiered at this year’s Cannes film festival, and the film has been dubbed ‘slow cinema’. Len Pennie came to prominence as a poet on social media during the Covid pandemic. As she publishes her first collection, Poyums, the feminist performance poet talks about writing predominantly in the Scots language. Angus Robertson, SNP Cabinet Secretary for Culture, discusses the challenging situation facing the arts in Scotland, and his vision for the future. Kate Molleson also talks to arts campaigner Lori Anderson from Culture Counts. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Timothy Prosser
Tue, February 20, 2024
Rhiannon Giddens, Peter Sarsgaard, Casting Directors
Rhiannon Giddens, the musician, composer and former lead singer of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, performs live with her band. She talks about her work in uncovering the real history of the banjo and writing her first solo album of original material. Peter Sarsgaard discusses playing a man with early onset dementia in Memory, a performance that won him the Best Actor Award at last year’s Venice Film Festival. What is the role of a casting director? As the BBC launches Bring the Drama, a new programme giving untrained amateurs a chance to get into acting, casting director and judge Kelly Valentine and theatre casting director Nadine Rennie discuss the art of discovering new talent. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, February 19, 2024
Sir Peter Blake, David Harewood, John Logan
Sir Peter Blake is famous for his Pop Art paintings, collages and album covers – and not just Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But the artist, now 91, has throughout his career made three dimensional works. For the first time in two decades there is an exhibition devoted to these. Samira Ahmed meets the artist in the gallery on the eve of the opening of Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters. Actor David Harewood is appointed the new President of RADA – the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts. He shares with Front Row his vision for one of the world’s leading theatre schools. John Logan’s new play Double Feature explores the director-actor relationship through two of the most tempestuous relationships in cinema history. Samira talks with the Oscar-nominated Gladiator writer about how Alfred Hitchcock made Tippi Hedren’s life on the set of 1964 thriller Marnie a living hell, while Vincent Price and Michael Reeves could barely hide their hatred for each other during the making of the 1968 horror film Witchfinder General. The play opens tonight at the London’s Hampstead Theatre. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, February 15, 2024
Jed Mercurio on Breathtaking, Yoko Ono retrospective reviewed
The writer of Line of Duty, Jed Mercurio, a former doctor, turns his attention to the impact of the Covid pandemic on NHS staff and patients in the ITV drama Breathtaking. Tom Sutcliffe talks to him and co-writer Prasanna Puwanarajah, who’s also an ex-doctor, about the power of drama depicting recent events. The Arts Council England has come in for criticism for new guidance about “overtly political” art, guidelines that some artists felt could amount to censorship. Darren Henley, the Chief Executive of Arts Council England, explains their position on freedom of expression. Front Row also reviews the major new exhibition Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at the Tate Modern, which looks back over the career of this groundbreaking conceptual artist. We also review the new Apple TV+ series, The New Look, starring Maisie Williams and Juliette Binoche, about the lives and rival careers of pioneering fashion designers Christian Dior and Coco Chanel in Nazi-occupied and post-war Paris. . Our reviewers are Ben Luke, critic and podcast host for The Art Newspaper, and Justine Picardie, author of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, and Miss Dior: A Wartime Story of Courage and Couture. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, February 14, 2024
Ukraine drama A Small Stubborn Town, Emma Rice, The Hugo Awards
Andrew Harding on the Radio 4 drama, A Small Stubborn Town, inspired by his work as the BBC Ukraine correspondent Emma Rice is one the UK’s most celebrated theatre-makers known for her musical and comedic approach, and with numerous innovative and successful productions such as Brief Encounter, The Red Shoes, and Tristan and Yseult, under her belt. As her latest production goes on a UK tour, she talks to Nick about reimagining that darkest of fairy tales, Blue Beard, as a feminist cri de coeur. In the wake of the Hugo Awards scandal, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, culture critic and Hugo awards finalist, Han Zhang, editor-at-large at Riverhead Books, focussed on finding works in the Chinese language for translation and publication in the US, and Megan Walsh, author of The Subplot: What China is reading and why it matters, discuss the fallout and what is reveals about the popularity of Sci-Fi in China. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, February 13, 2024
Stephen Sanchez, Godzilla turns 70
Stephen Sanchez found fame on Tik Tok, bringing his 1950s inspired music and style to an audience of young fans. At just 20 years old, he was Elton John’s guest on the main stage at Glastonbury. He talks to Samira Ahmed about his UK tour and performs two songs from his new album, Angel Face. What do Gen Z’s viewing habits mean for the future of TV and film? Dr Antonia Ward, Chief Futurist at Stylus, and Entertainment Reporter Palmer Haasch explain how the preferences of younger viewers are shaping film and television. In 1954 Ishiro Honda changed the monster movie forever when he introduced the world to Godzilla. Now 70 years and nearly 40 films later, Godzilla is the star of the world’s longest running film franchise. Author Graham Skipper and film distributor Andrew Partridge explain why Godzilla holds a unique place in cinema and pop culture. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, February 12, 2024
Reinaldo Marcus Green on One Love, Bryce Dessner of The National
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green talks to Tom Sutcliffe about One Love, his biopic about the legendary reggae singer-songwriter Bob Marley and his music. Bryce Dessner, the guitarist of the award-winning rock band The National, discusses his other life in classical music and writing a new concerto for pianist Alice Sara Ott, which is having its UK premiere at the Royal Festival Hall. This week the liturgical calendar marks the moment when Joseph was warned by an angel of King Herod’s intent to harm Jesus, and told to flee with him and Mary to safety in Egypt. The painter Julian Bell and art historian Joanna Woodall consider how The Flight into Egypt has been the subject of great artists - Giotto, Gentileschi, Brueghel, Rembrandt - for centuries and shapes our perception of refugees to this day. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, February 08, 2024
One Day, American Fiction, Beyond Form
Tom Sutcliffe talks to the Evening Standard’s Arts Editor Nancy Durrant and art historian and curator Catherine McCormack about a new adaptation of David Nicholls’s book, One Day, which is released on Netflix today. It follows Emma and Dexter who meet at their graduation in Edinburgh in the late 80s, as they weave in and out of each other’s lives. They also discuss Beyond Form: Lines of Abstraction, a new exhibition featuring the work of women artists who pushed at the boundaries of art-making in the post-war period. American Fiction has been nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay – which was written by its director Cord Jefferson. He talks to Tom about how the book it’s based on resembled his own life so much it felt like it was written just for him, and how humour plays a crucial role in illustrating how black writers are still pushed into writing “ghetto fiction”.
Wed, February 07, 2024
The Chosen, Cymande, Tayari Jones
The Chosen, a self-funded TV drama about the life of Christ, has become an international hit with over 100 million views. The creator Dallas Jenkins explains why he wanted to make a bingeable series about Jesus and Priest Lucy Winkett and historian Joan Taylor discuss its impact and significance. The 1970s Soul Funk band Cymande has had a lasting influence on music globally, but they are little known in the UK where they first formed. Director Tim McKenzie Smith explored their music and impact in the new music documentary 'Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande' and he’s joined by two of the group’s original members, Patrick Patterson and Steve Scipio, to talk about it. The American writer Diane Oliver died in the 1960s aged just 22 but her short stories are now inspiring a new generation. Tayari Jones, author of the Woman’s Prize-winning An American Marriage, explains why Diane Oliver deserves a place in the in the literary canon alongside Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Tue, February 06, 2024
The Reytons, Phoebe Eclair-Powell, Andrew McMillan
The Reytons' second album, What's Rock and Roll, debuted at No 1 in the charts - a rare feat for a band without a label. They discuss following it up with Ballad of a Bystander which features songs about pulling and politics. Phoebe Eclair-Powell on her Bruntwood Prize-winning play, Shed: Exploded View, which was inspired by the work of art Cornelia Parker created when she asked the British Army to blow up a garden shed, capturing the fragments in a frozen moment. The play centres on three couples whose conversations coincide, clash, and chime - the play opens at the Royal Exchange in Manchester this week. Poet Andrew McMillan on his debut novel, Pity, an exploration of masculinity and sexuality in a small South Yorkshire town. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, February 05, 2024
Steve McQueen and Bianca Stigter, Jez Butterworth and Declan McKenna
Oscar-winning director and artist Steve McQueen has collaborated with his partner, the writer and historian Bianca Stigter, to document the hidden histories of World War Two beneath the streets of modern day Amsterdam. The couple join Samira to discuss their mesmerising and poetic new film. Mojo brought him great success when he was just 26. Later came Jerusalem, the greatest play of the 20th century in the Daily Telegraph theatre critic’s opinion. Then, The Ferryman, also highly acclaimed. He has also written a couple of James Bond films. So, Jez Butterworth’s new play The Hills of California is eagerly awaited and has gone straight to the West End. On the eve of press night, the playwright talks to Samira Ahmed about the play that its director, Sam Mendes, says is ‘about love, time, memory, parents and children. And England.’ Lots to talk about. Singer-songwriter Declan McKenna gives Front Row a preview of his new album What Happened To The Beach? – recorded in LA nearly a decade after winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition as a teenager.
Thu, February 01, 2024
Legion exhibition at the British Museum and Mr and Mrs Smith reviewed
Today the British Museum unveils a new exhibition – Legion: Life in the Roman Army – on the lives of soldiers who helped conquer more than a million square miles of land, settling in communities from Scotland to the Red Sea. Elodie Harper – author of the Wolf Den trilogy - and critic Amon Warmann give their verdict on the exhibition as well as the new Amazon Prime spy comedy Mr & Mrs Smith - and how it compares with the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie film version. And Tom Sutcliffe talks to Joe Powell-Main and Denecia Allen on dancing with disabilities, ahead of a gala at Sadler's Wells, Empower in Motion, which features disabled and non-disabled dancers.
Wed, January 31, 2024
Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, author Leo Vardiashvili and the Great Escapes exhibition at Kew
Award-winning actress Lily Gladstone on working with Martin Scorsese and Native American representation in his new film Killers of the Flower Moon. Leo Vardiashvili chats about his new book set in his hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia in the post-Soviet era. Curators William Butler and Roger Kershaw talk about their new exhibition, 'Great Escapes: Remarkable Second World War Captives' at the National Archives at Kew. It explores not just the creativity involved in physically getting away from prison camps, but in making life in confinement more tolerable, and bearing witness. P. G. Wodehouse wrote novels while interned; Peter Butterworth, best-known for his roles in the 'Carry On' films, staged plays in Colditz, the noise of performances masking tunnelling; Ronald Searle found solace in drawing while a prisoner of the Japanese, and his work is an important record of the neglect and ill treatment of fellow prisoners. Importantly, the exhibition includes material about people interned here in the UK. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, January 30, 2024
Jonny Greenwood of The Smile, Self Esteem on music industry report, Artes Mundi prize winner
The Smile is a trio comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. That Yorke and Greenwood are members of Radiohead assures keen interest the band. Nick Ahad talks to Jonny Greenwood about Wall of Eyes, The Smile’s second album. After many years Greenwood still enjoys making music with Yorke, and drummer Tom Skinner adds to the excitement. The winner of this year’s Artes Mundi prize, the UK’s leading international contemporary art prize is Taloi Havinian, an artist from the Autonomous Region of Bougainvillle – an island nation in the South West Pacific. Havinian joins Front Row to discuss her work which has been described as a “visual composition of the experiences of Bougainvilleans with colonialism, mining, resistance, and land and water protection, from the 1960s to the present day.” Sexism and misogyny are rife in the music industry, a boys club where sexual harassment and abuse are common, according to a Government report. The musician Self Esteem has her say. A report from the rugged, mythical coast just outside of Newcastle, the location which inspired David Almond’s A Song For Ella Grey, an award-winning novel being adapted for stage by Zoe Cooper and directed by Pilot Theatre’s Esther Richardson. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, January 29, 2024
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Gruff Rhys, Colin Barrett
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, who have been married for close to thirty years, talk to Tom Sutcliffe about playing three couples on stage in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite. They’re joined by director John Benjamin Hickey to explain why they wanted to bring this very New York show to London’s West End. Having won both awards and praise for his short stories, Colin Barrett discusses his funny and thrilling first novel Wild Houses, set in the margins rural Ireland. Welsh musician, composer, filmmaker and author Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals fame talks about his 25th album, Sadness Sets Me Free, and performs a track especially for Front Row. Producer: Olivia Skinner Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Thu, January 25, 2024
The Color Purple reviewed, and the pop concert as cinema phenomenon
The Color Purple reviewed, and the pop concert as cinema phenomenon.
Wed, January 24, 2024
Masters of the Air, Ronan Bennett on his Top Boy novel, hobbies and DIY art
Masters of the Air creator John Orloff, Literary spin offs from film and TV with Ronan Bennet and Robert Lautner, and when does a hobby turn into art? with Miriam Elia and Hetain Patel. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Tue, January 23, 2024
Oscar Nominations, Howard Jacobson, Culture Funding Cuts
Following today’s announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominations, film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh joins Front Row to consider how well this year’s shortlisted categories reflect the year in cinema. In Howard Jacobson’s new novel, What Will Survive of Us, nothing much happens but everything changes. Lily and Sam, in middle age and longstanding relationships – with other people - fall in love, then stay that way for years and years. The Booker Prize winning author talks to Shahidha Bari about love, sex and literature. Local Government funding has been rising up the political agenda with one in five council leaders fearing that their local authority is on the verge of municipal bankruptcy. However is cutting council spending on culture a false economy? Stephanie Sirr, Chief Executive of Nottingham Playhouse and joint president of UK Theatre, and Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Derbyshire County Council and member of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, join Front Row to discuss. Presenter Shahidha Bari Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, January 22, 2024
Andrew Haigh on All of Us Strangers, Lulu Wang on Expats starring Nicole Kidman
Andrew Haigh’s new film All of Us Strangers, is both a love story and a ghost story. Starring Andrew Scott, it explores the impact of a chance encounter in a deserted tower block, and how nostalgia draws him back to the suburban family home where his parents appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years ago. Tom Hibbert was a popular music journalist who wrote for Smash Hits, Q and many other top magazines in the 1980s and 90s and whose irreverent style of writing would inspire the generation that followed. Miranda Sawyer and Jasper Murison-Bowie join to talk about ‘Phew, Eh Readers’, a new book that compiles some of his best articles. Lulu Wang’s powerful new series Expats explores the lives of women in Hong Kong who are all outsiders for different reasons. It is an unsurprising theme given such female-led cast (including Nicole Kidman), as well as female-led production remains a rarity for shows of this scale and ambition. Writer and director Wang, who grew up in the US after her parents fled Beijing, joins Samira to discuss her expansive vision for it. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, January 18, 2024
Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne on The Holdovers and reivews of The Vulnerables and The Artful Dodger
Actor Paul Giamatti and director Alexander Payne on The Holdovers, their award-winning film about the unlikely friendship between a curmudgeonly teacher, a grieving mum and a troubled teen that forms when they’re stuck together over Christmas at a New England prep school. Critics Stephanie Merritt and Max Liu review a new novel, The Vulnerables, by Sigrid Nunez. Nunez has won many prizes for her fiction and in The Vulnerables turns her attention to the pandemic through a tale that focuses on a woman, a parrot, and a Manhattan penthouse apartment. They also review the new Disney+ television series, The Artful Dodger, in which Jack Dawkins has moved to Australia leaving behind his youthful pickpocketing and becoming a respected doctor. However the arrival of Fagin threatens to return him to criminality. Presented by Tom Sutcliffe Produced by Olivia Skinner
Wed, January 17, 2024
Daniel Kaluuya, the arts in Wales, shelving big budget films discussion, Jane Jin Kaisen
Daniel Kaluuya on making his debut as a director and screenwriter with his new film, Kitchen - a dystopian thriller set in London twenty years from now. Dafydd Rhys, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales, on the surprising and controversial decision to stop funding National Theatre Wales. Plus, as his organisation faces a 10% budget cut, he talks about the impact on the creative sector in Wales. Late last year, the decision by Warner Bros. to shelve a $70 million film which had been completed and scheduled for release in 2023 sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Film producer Stephen Woolley and Tatiana Siegal, Executive Editor, Film & Media at Variety, discuss what this reveals about the current state of filmmaking in Hollywood. Korean Danish artist Jane Jin Kaisen describes her work as giving aesthetic shape to histories that in different ways and for different reasons have been silenced or marginalised. As her solo exhibition at esea contemporary in Manchester prepares to open, the director of the gallery, Xiaowen Zhu, reflects on a show which weaves personal and political stories rooted in Jeju Island, South Korea. Presenter Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, January 16, 2024
Poor Things, Jodie Comer, RSC new season, TS Eliot poetry prize
Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos talk about their award-winning film Poor Things, based on Alasdair Gray’s novel Jodie Comer is a new mother struggling to survive after an environmental catastrophe in another new film The End We Start From – Samira Ahmed talks to its director Mahalia Belo. The new joint artistic directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans have announced their inaugural season of productions – including a stage version of Hanif Kureishi’s Buddha of Suburbia and Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet. And Jason Allen-Paisant who’s won this year's TS Eliot Prize for Poetry, for his work Self Portrait As Othello. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Mon, January 15, 2024
Jonathan Glazer, history of radio drama, Molly Tuttle
British director Jonathan Glazer tells Tom Sutcliffe about The Zone of Interest, his award-winning new film about Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss and family’s involvement in the Holocaust which is on wide release from February 2nd but there's previews in select cities on January 20th. Today is exactly 100 years since the BBC broadcast what is widely believed to be the first play for radio, A Comedy of Danger, set in a Welsh Coalmine. Ron Hutchinson has written an audio drama telling the story behind the story, A Leap in the Dark, which he is now adapting for a stage production at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme. He is joined by cultural historian David Hendy to discuss the significance of this ground-breaking moment a century later. Molly Tuttle won a Grammy award for best bluegrass album last year, and is nominated again this year. She plays live in the studio.
Thu, January 11, 2024
Mean Girls and Hisham Matar’s My Friends reviewed
Mean Girls is 20 years old and has its cult following - but will fans love the new film of the hit Broadway musical of the same name? Critics Sarah Ditum and Ashley Hickson-Lovence give their verdict on the new version. They also discuss with Tom Sutcliffe the new novel by Hisham Matar - My Friends, which explores themes of friendship and exile, as well as including real-life events like the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984 and the killing of General Gadaafi in 2011. And Mairi Campbell - who's about to start a new tour of her critically acclaimed Auld Lang Syne show - plays live in the studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, January 10, 2024
Jack Rooke on TV sitcom Big Boys, Eliza Carthy goes wassailing
Jack Rooke drew on his own life for his hit Channel 4 sitcom Big Boys which focussed on an unlikely friendship between two first year university students – both working class with one struggling to explore his gay sexuality and the other an apparent Jack-the-lad who is really anything but. As Big Boys returns for a second series, he talks to Samira about making comedy out of loss, mental health, and male friendship. Musician Eliza Carthy is Front Row’s wassail Queen as she sings live on the programme some traditional songs from Glad Christmas Comes - her new album with Jon Boden lead singer of Bellowhead. Her performance joins in with many others happening across the country this month to mark the January ritual of blessing fruit trees in hope of a bountiful harvest. Simon Broughton reports from the Mugham festival of music and poetry in Baku, Azerbaijan. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser
Tue, January 09, 2024
Ins Choi on Kim’s Convenience, why are so many films set in a dystopian future?
Ins Choi, the creator of the Netflix hit comedy series, Kim’s Convenience, talks about getting past stereotypes, keeping audiences on edge and bringing his original Korean-Canadian stage version of the show to the Park Theatre in north London. Tom Sutcliffe asks author and journalist Rachel Cooke and children's author and representative of the Society of Authors Abie Longstaff about the impact of the cyberattack on the British Library. Do we need to set more films and tv series in the present? Critics Joe Queenan and Stuart Jeffries consider why so much of what we watch is set in the nostalgic past or a dystopian future.
Mon, January 08, 2024
Golden Globe winner Poor Things reviewed, new deal for Warhammer 40,000
Yorgis Lanthimos’ black comedy Poor Things won Best Film and Best Actress for its star Emma Stone at last night’s Golden Globe awards, so this evening we’re joined by critics Leila Latif and James Marriott for a review of the much hyped film ahead of its release in the UK on Friday. Warhammer 40,000 is one of the most popular games in the world. Recently the makers finalised a deal with Amazon which has the potential to bring its miniature characters and battlefield stories to the big screen. The comic book writer Kieron Gillen, who has written new stories for the Warhammer universe, reflects on the significance of the deal. Have reviewers become more blandly positive in recent years - or more attention-grabbingly negative? James Marriott who reviews for The Times and Sarah Crompton who reviews for WhatsOnStage and the Observer discuss. Author Agri Ismaïl talks about his new novel Hyper which follows the family of a Kurdish Communist fleeing persecution, and his children who eventually find themselves in the hyper-capitalist centres of Dubai, London and New York. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Thu, January 04, 2024
Priscilla and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Kagami reviewed
Priscilla is Sofia Coppola’s film about Priscilla Beaulieu who first met Elvis Presley when she was 14 years old and later became his wife. Critics Hannah Strong and Ryan Gilbey review it. They also look at Kagami, a mixed-reality posthumous concert featuring the music of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The power of music often relies on the spaces between the notes. Sarah Anderson’s book The Lost Art of Silence explores the quality of absence and she discusses this with the music broadcaster Tom Service. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, January 03, 2024
Dan Levy, National Poetry Library at 70, Clarke Peters
In the work for which he is best known, the multi-award winning television sitcom, Schitt’s Creek, as well as being the show’s creator, Dan Levy played the capricious David Rose whose wedding with his business partner, Patrick Brewer, was the focus of the final episode. He discusses new Netflix movie, Good Grief, which marks his debut as a film director and in which he plays a man blindsided by the unexpected death of his husband. Poets Lemn Sissay and Lily Blacksell join Front Row to reflect on seventy years of the The National Poetry Library, and the 70-Poet Challenge to mark the anniversary. Clarke Peters talks about new television drama, Truelove, in which he stars as one of a group of friends in their 70s, who find that a jokey pact to help each other have dignified deaths suddenly has to be re-considered as a serious commitment. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, January 03, 2024
Front Row Special: Rachmaninoff – the 20th century’s great romantic
Samira celebrates the music and life of Sergei Rachmaninoff. With pianist Kirill Gerstein, who has released a new recording of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, Marina Frolova-Walker, Professor of Music at Cambridge, pianist Lucy Parham, who has created a Composer Portrait concert about Rachmaninoff that she is currently touring across the UK. Plus film historian and composer Neil Brand discusses the use of Rachmaninoff's music in film classics such as Brief Encounter. First broadcast on 1 May 2023. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Tue, January 02, 2024
George Clooney, writer Gwyneth Hughes, The Scala Cinema
The Boys in the Boat tells the story of the surprise success of the US rowing team at 1936 Munich Olympics. Samira talks to the director George Clooney and its star Callum Turner. Writer Gwyneth Hughes talks about her new ITV production, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which dramatises what has been called the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, the prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses as a result of a flawed computer accounting system. The Scala cinema in London’s Kings Cross was the leading alternative picture house from the late 70s to the early 90s. A new documentary, Scala!!!, traces its development as purveyor of eccentric films to an even more eccentric audience. The directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterall explain how it became a counter-cultural landmark. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, December 21, 2023
Final Ghosts, Tennant's Macbeth, Next Goal Wins, National Theatre of Wales
One of the TV hits of 2023, Ghosts returns for a one-off special on Christmas Day. Festive viewing for many families will also probably include other work by one of its creators, Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote Wonka as well as the Paddington films. Critics Kate Maltby and Boyd Hilton review Donmar Warehouse’s Macbeth starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo – which includes headphones for the audience. They also give Samira Ahmed their verdict on Next Goal Wins, the film version of the documentary about the true story of the American Samoan football team trying to qualify for the World Cup. And culture journalist Gary Raymond on whether the National Theatre of Wales has a future now it’s lost all of its Arts Council Wales funding.
Wed, December 20, 2023
The Unthanks, Lucinda Coxon, the North East Cultural Partnership
Acclaimed English folk group The Unthanks are currently touring the UK with what they describe as a winter fantasia - a mix of traditional and newly written songs inspired by winter and Christmas. They join Front Row, as the winter solstice draws near, to discuss and perform some of the songs they've been playing. Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon talks to Nick Ahad about her new film One Life which stars Anthony Hopkins as humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped to rescue Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in the months leading up to World War II. How successful has the North East Culture Partnership been so far? 10 years on from its launch and halfway through the 15 year timeline for the partnership's cultural strategy, Front Row hears from former Culture Minister Lord Ed Vaizey, Jane Robinson Co-Chair of the North East Cultural Partnership board, and Keith Merrin, Director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums,. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, December 19, 2023
Movie stars Adam Driver and Bill Nighy, author AL Kennedy, and the Process of Poetry
Adam Driver stars in Michael Mann’s film Ferrari, set in the summer of 1957 as the ex-racer turned entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari pushes his drivers to the limit on a thousand mile race across Italy while his business and marriage are failing. A poet would never publish a first draft. Well, not until Rosanna McGlone interviewed 15 of our finest poets – Don Paterson, Gillian Clarke and Pascale Petit among them. They revealed their first drafts alongside their finished poems in her book The Process of Poetry. Tom Sutcliffe talks to her and to Don Paterson about writing poetry. As radio drama turns 100 this year, Bill Nighy is stars in A Single Act, a new radio drama going out on Boxing Day written by long term collaborator AL Kennedy. They both talk to Tom Sutcliffe about their mutual love of the form – and whether the pictures really are better on radio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, December 18, 2023
Helena Bonham Carter and Russell T Davies, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Helena Bonham Carter and Russell T Davies talk to Samira about their ITV drama series Nolly, in which Bonham Carter plays Crossroads star Noele Gordon. As a new stage adaptation of the hit TV drama Stranger Things opens in London, writer Kate Trefry discusses how she made the much loved TV series work as theatre. And musician Laura Misch explains how technology can bring us closer to nature and performs songs from her debut album, Sample The Sky, live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Thu, December 14, 2023
Front Row reviews Cold War the musical and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Front Row reviews some of the week’s cultural highlights. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by film critic Hanna Flint and Will Hodgkinson, chief pop and rock critic for The Times, to discuss Cold War, a new musical with music from Elvis Costello, and animated film Chicken Run: Return of the Nugget. Luke Jones reports on the super-fans of the musical Operation Mincemeat, who have been investigating the story of one of the real characters involved, an MI5 secretary called Hester Legett. As a plaque is unveiled in her honour, Luke hears why this musical has such a cult following. In May of this year a South Korean art student added his own footnote to Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial artwork Comedian – a fresh banana stuck to the gallery wall with duct tape – by pulling it free and eating it. Niki Segnit, the author of The Flavour Thesaurus, muses on the use of food in art. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, December 13, 2023
Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan on Maestro, Noel Coward's Songs, Wien Museum reopens
Bradley Cooper directs and stars in the new film Maestro about the hugely influential American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein alongside Carey Mulligan as his wife, the actor Felicia Montealegre. Nick Ahad speaks to both of them about portraying a ‘marriage through music’ and how Cooper spent six years preparing to conduct Mahler’s Resurrection with the London Symphony Orchestra. Fifty years after his death, for many the playwright and composer Noel Coward is very much a figure of the British establishment. However as a new production of his most famous work, Brief Encounter, opens at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Front Row brought together its musical director Matthew Malone and Sarah K Whitfield, co-author of An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre 1900 – 1950, to discuss how Coward’s songs reveal a more radical side of his artistry. Kirsty Lang reports on the Wien Museum, the Viennese institution which has just re-opened and for the first time includes an acknowledgement of the city’s Nazi past. Critic Kate Maltby reflects on the news that Indhu Rubasingham has been appointed the next director of the National Theatre. She will be the first female and the first person of colour to lead the theatre. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, December 12, 2023
Margaret Cavendish, Margareth Olin, Christmas TV
Margaret Cavendish was born exactly 400 years ago, and her many achievements include writing The Blazing World, arguably the first ever sci-fi novel. Novelist Siri Hustvedt and biographer Francesca Peacock discuss the enduring legacy of this pioneering woman, with extracts read by Rhiannon Neads Margreth Olin tells Samira about her film Songs of Earth, for which she returned to the valley in Western Norway where she grew up, and the year she spent learning from her elderly parents and from nature. Graham Kibble-White, Deputy Editor of Total TV guide magazine and TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan share their top festive viewing tips – from ghosts stories to soaps, documentaries to children’s viewing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian Wilkinson
Tue, December 12, 2023
Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland on Ulster American, Panto and Gender Roles, Graphic Novels with Rachel Cooke and Ian Dunt
Tom Sutcliffe talks to Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland about Ulster American, a new play in which they star at Riverside Studios with Woody Harrelson. It's panto season (oh no it isn't), a form that has always played with ideas of gender. Megan Lawton explores how this year's crop continue that tradition. Plus Rachel Cooke and Ian Dunt choose their graphic novels of 2023, and we announce the winner of this year's First Graphic Novel Award. Rachel's picks of the year: Monica by Daniel Clowes Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki Juliette by Camille Jourdy Social Fiction by Chantal Montellier, translated by Geoffrey Brock Ian's picks of the year: The Lion and the Eagle by Garth Ennis and PJ Holden Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne Producer: Eliane Glaser
Thu, December 07, 2023
Benjamin Zephaniah, Wim Wenders' Anselm,The Famous Five, Xmas Ads
Fred D'Aguiar discusses the life and poetry of Benjamin Zephaniah, whose death was announced today. Tom Sutcliffe reviews Wim Wenders' film about the artist Anselm Kiefer and the BBC's adaptation of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five, with film critic Leila Latif and children's author Candy Gourlay. Which is the standout Christmas TV advert this year? Tom discusses the art of selling Christmas with Matt Gay, creative director of several high-profile John Lewis ads and media journalist Liz Gorny. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Wed, December 06, 2023
Paul King on directing Wonka, Best non-fiction books of 2023, British pop art artist Pauline Boty
Paddington director Paul King returns with Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role. He talks with Samira about exploring the backstory of Willy Wonka and Roald Dahl’s surprising vision for fiction’s greatest confectioner. Front Row rounds up the best non-fiction books of 2023 with Caroline Sanderson - non-fiction books editor for The Bookseller and chair of judges for the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2022, Stephanie Merritt - critic and novelist, and John Mitchinson - cofounder of Unbound, the independent crowdfunding publisher and co-presenter of literary podcast, Backlisted. The extraordinary work of the artist Pauline Boty (1938 – 1966) is explored by the curator of a new exhibition, Mila Askarova, and the art historian Lynda Nead. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath Front Row non-fiction recommendations for 2023 Toy Fights: A Boyhood by Don Patterson published by Faber and Faber Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art, Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming published by Chatto & Windus How To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair published by Fourth Estate Twelve Words for Moss by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett published by Allen Lane The British Year in 72 Seasons by Kiera Chapman, Rowan Jaines, Lulah Ellgender and Rebecca Warren published by Granta Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside by Rebecca Smith published by William Collins High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia's Haunted Hinterland by Tom Parfitt published by Headline Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon published by Hutchinson Heinemann Shakespeare’s Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio by Chris Laoutaris published by Williams Collins
Tue, December 05, 2023
Shane Meadows on the British film industry, Children’s books round-up, the Turner Prize
Shane Meadows talks about his unconventional journey into the British film industry and his vision for more diversity in film, as he prepares to give the David Lean lecture at BAFTA. The founders of independent publishers Oneworld, Juliet Mabey and Novin Doostdar, discuss their Booker Prize hat trick as Paul Lynch becomes the third of their authors to win the prestigious literary prize. Which books will be a hit with the children in your life this Christmas? Children’s broadcaster Bex Lindsay has a run down of the outstanding titles she’d recommend. And Front Row goes live to the Turner Prize ceremony at the Towner Eastbourne to find out who has won this year’s prestigious prize. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner Bex Lindsay's recommendations: The Ice Children by MG Leonard Foxlight by Katya Balen Sunshine Simpson Cooks Up a Storm by GM Linton The Football Encyclopaedia by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton Luna Loves Christmas by Joseph Coelho Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen The Wonder Brothers by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Mon, December 04, 2023
Julia Roberts on Leave the World Behind, guitarist MILOŠ, The Peasants
Julia Roberts, and the director of her latest project, Sam Esmail, discuss their new film, Leave The World Behind - a psychological thriller which explores what happens when all the things that make modern life possible stop working. With their last film, the much-garlanded ‘Loving Vincent’, an exploration of the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh, the co-directors and co-writers Dorota and Hugh Welchman created what has been described as the world’s first oil-painted feature film. Hugh joins Front Row to discuss how they’ve used their ground-breaking technique for their new film, The Peasants, a tale of 19th century life in rural Poland. Guitarist MILOŠ has been in the forefront of the classical guitar revival. He talks to Nick about feeling like a time traveller with his new album, Baroque, where he explores music of the baroque period. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Eliane Glaser
Thu, November 30, 2023
Front Row reviews Eileen and The House of Bernarda Alba
Front Row reviews the week’s cultural highlights. Samira Ahmed is joined by critics Sarah Crompton and Isabel Stevens to discuss William Oldroyd’s new film Eileen and a production of The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre. The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, who is often described as one of the 20th Century’s greatest song-writers, has died age 65. Irish broadcaster John Kelly remembers him. Ian Youngs reports from Bristol’s new music venue Bristol Beacon, formerly Colston Hall, which is re-opening after a five year refurbishment and a name change. It’s now a state of the art concert venue, but the work has proved controversial due to escalating costs. And Barbara Walker, who is shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, talks about how her portraits capture people affected by the Windrush scandal. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Wed, November 29, 2023
Billie Marten, Yinka Shonibare, Richard Mantle on Opera North
Since 1994 Sir Richard Mantle has been General Director of Opera North. He's led the company through the creation of a new home in Leeds; the establishment of the Howard Assembly Room - a performance space for all kinds of music; and many award-winning opera productions. As he leaves the company, at a time when cuts to opera funding have been making headlines, he joins Front Row to discuss why he thinks opera has much to contribute to culture in the UK. Singer-songwriter Billie Marten, from Ripon in Yorkshire, performs tracks from her fourth album, Drop Cherries, ahead of her UK tour, which starts this Saturday in Liverpool. As his new public sculpture, Hibiscus Rising, is unveiled in Leeds, artist Yinka Shonibare talks to Nick about creating a work that marks a dark episode in the city's history and provides a place to come together for all the communities in the city today. Presenter Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, November 28, 2023
AI and publishing, terrible record covers, Fred D'Aguiar
Michael Connelly is one of several authors suing the tech company OpenAI for "theft" of his work. Nicola Solomon, outgoing Society of Authors CEO, and Sean Michaels, one of the first novelists to use AI, discuss the challenges and opportunities facing writers on the cusp of a new technological era. What makes a great piece of terrible album artwork? The Williamson Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead is currently displaying nearly 500 albums which have been collected over a seven year period by Steve Goldman from record fairs and online market places as part of their ‘Worst Record Covers’ exhibition. Samira is joined by the exhibition curator Niall Hodson and the writer, journalist and author of “The Sound of Being Human” Jude Rogers. The most famous event in Los Angeles in 1852 was a horse race. Fortunes were won and lost on Pio Pico's horse Sarco and Jose Sepulveda's Black Swan. Widespread press reports included the horses’ names and the names of their owners - but not the name of the black jockey who won. Apart from his colour, we know nothing about him. Fred D’Aguiar talks to Samira Ahmed about his latest collection of poems, 'For the Unnamed', in which he recovers and re-imagines the story, giving the black jockey the presence today he was denied in his lifetime.
Mon, November 27, 2023
Maria Callas, Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane, Rory Pilgrim
For what would have been the 100th birthday of soprano Maria Callas, Front Row brought together singer Dame Sarah Connolly and music critic Fiona Maddocks to reassess her achievements and influence in the world of opera. After successfully teaming up during the pandemic to create the album, Lost in the Cedar Wood, musician and actor Johnny Flynn and nature writer and poet Robert Macfarlane talk to Tom about their second collaboration – The Moon Also Rises, and Johnny performs live in the Front Row studio. Rory Pilgrim is one of the artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize. He discusses his work which combines song writing, composition, films, texts, drawings, paintings and live performances. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Sun, November 26, 2023
The Booker Prize Ceremony 2023
A special edition of Front Row, live from the Booker Prize for Fiction. Samira Ahmed is joined on stage by Booker Prize judges actor Adjoa Andoh and Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro to discuss this year’s shortlist, before the chair of judges, novelist Esi Edugyan, announces the winner live on air. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years in detention in Iran, gives the keynote speech about the power of literature to take us to another world. Front Row will also hear from all this year’s shortlisted authors, whose novels cover climate change, a democracy sliding into extremism, prejudice, grief and the complexities of race in America. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, November 23, 2023
Maestro, reality TV Squid Game, Brutalist architecture
Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose has attracted a lot of media attention for Maestro, his portrayal of the composer Leonard Bernstein. Tom Sutcliffe asks music critic Nicholas Kenyon and writer and cultural commentator Zoe Williams what they thought of Cooper’s directorial debut – which he spent years preparing for, studying his speech patterns and copying how he conducted Mahler symphonies. They also review Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge – a new reality TV spin-off of the hit Korean drama. Love it or hate it, Brutalism is an architectural form which could get its own museum – in a school assembly hall in north London. Architectural designer Ben Pentreath who works in traditional and classical styles and Catherine Croft, Director of the Twentieth Century Society assess its impact.
Wed, November 22, 2023
Joanna Hogg, map making, Ghislaine Leung
In her acclaimed films Joanna Hogg blurs the lines between her art and her life. As she releases her first ghost story film, The Eternal Daughter - an exploration of a mother and daughter relationship with Tilda Swinton playing both roles, she talks to Antonia Quirke about the craft involved in making art inspired by her life. Satellite imagery might make maps today more accurate, but we haven’t stopped wanting to see creative, imaginative maps that are also about story telling, from illustrations in books to mapping out fantasy worlds. Antonia meets two contemporary map makers: Jamie Whyte who creates illustrative maps and Luke Casper Pearson who maps the virtual worlds in computer games. Artist Ghislaine Leung who’s been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize uses a “score” – similar to musical scores – to create a relationship with those who help to construct her work in galleries. Re-using discarded objects and highlighting her conflicting demands as both artist and mother are central to her work. Her work can be seen at the Towner Eastbourne, and the winner of the prize will be announced in December.
Tue, November 21, 2023
Ridley Scott's Napoleon, Albert Hall tickets resales, Bob Mortimer's winning comedy fiction
Tom Sutcliffe talks to director Ridley Scott about his new film Napoleon - a subject that takes him back to an actor who’s played an emperor for him before – Joaquin Phoenix was Commodus in Gladiator – and back to the period in which his very first film. The Duellists was set. A fifth of the seats at the Royal Albert Hall are owned by just over 300 people - who can choose to enjoy performances or sell the tickets on at a profit. We hear from Richard Lyttelton, a former President of the Royal Albert Hall who believes that making money out of the seats doesn't really align with the original vision of the venue. A Gloucester Old Spot pig has been named The Satsuma Complex - in honour of comedian Bob Mortimer's first book, which has won this year's Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for the best comic novel. He's joined by fellow comedian and member of the judging panel Pippa Evans to explore what makes fiction funny.
Mon, November 20, 2023
The Alehouse Boys, Sarah Bernstein and AS Byatt
Thomas Guthrie and “The Alehouse Boys” bring the music of Schubert to pubs with their new album Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin. Their arrangements of Schubert’s song cycle intend to break free from the formality of established lieder recitals, returning to its original improvisational form. In the last of our Booker shortlist series this week, Samira interviews Canadian 2023 Giller Prize-winning novelist Sarah Bernstein. Her second novel, Study for Obedience, explores the inner thoughts of its unnamed protagonist who moves to a new area to stay with her brother and quickly becomes a feared stranger. And the critic Boyd Tonkin discusses the remarkable literary output of the author, critic and poet AS Byatt who has died aged 87.
Thu, November 16, 2023
Annette Bening and Jodie Foster
Annette Bening and Jodie Foster star in a new sports biopic Nyad, the eponymous story of Diana Nyad who attempted to swim between Cuba and Florida in her 60s. In an exclusive interview for Front Row, Tom Sutcliffe talks to them about meeting their real-life counterparts, the importance of on screen friendship and getting time to train in the ocean. Briony Hanson, British Council’s Director of Film and Kevin Le Gendre, author and journalist, review Rustin, a film about Bayard Rustin, the influential gay Black Civil Rights leader responsible for the 1963 March on Washington, and the book Amazing Grace: A Cultural History of the Beloved Hymn by James Walvin. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, November 15, 2023
The Barber of Seville in Yorkshire dialect, Art as experience, Turner Prize nominee Jesse Darling, Northern Creative Corridor
Ian McMillan explains the challenge of translating Rossini's comedy opera, The Barber of Seville, into Yorkshire dialect and singers Oscar Castellino and Felicity Buckland along with pianist Pete Durant perform two of the Yorkshire-ised arias from this new production live in the Front Row studio. Our relationships with art objects is a subject that many visual artists are currently exploring. Two such artists are Johanna Billing and Stuart Semple who joined Nick in the Front Row studio to discuss why they think art as an object is getting in the way of appreciating art as an experience. Jesse Darling is the first in Front Row' series of interviews with the artists who are nominated for this year's Turner Prize. He uses sculpture, installation, text and sound in his work to react to the world around him, for instance contorting roller coaster tracks in an expression of life's messiness. The exhibition continues at the Towner Eastbourne, and the winner of the prize will be announced in December. The Royal Society of Arts is leading a coalition to create a ‘Northern Cultural Corridor’. Comprising leading figures in the creative industries, alongside local governments across the North of England, it is looking for ways to boost the cultural potential of the north. Andy Haldane CEO of the RSA explains how they will set about it. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, November 14, 2023
Emerald Fennell, Lucy Frazer and Paul Harding
Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her award-winning film Promising Young Woman aims to have cinema-goers squirming in their seats. The mystery drama Saltburn explores class, as an awkward outsider spends the summer at a large country house. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP discusses her plans to reach the targets set out in the Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision. In this week’s interview with a Booker shortlisted author, Tom speaks to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Paul Harding. His third novel, This Other Eden, uses the historical story of an island in Maine harmoniously inhabited by a mixed-race community in the 19th century as a point of poetic departure, until the unsettling arrival of missionaries.
Mon, November 13, 2023
Todd Haynes, Trevor Horn, new galleries at the Imperial War Museum
The UK’s first art, film and photography galleries dedicated to war and conflict have just opened at the Imperial War Museum. Al Murray, who has made several documentaries about Britain’s wars, and Rachel Newell, Head of Art at the Imperial War Museum, join Samira Ahmed to discuss the new galleries. Director Todd Haynes talks about his new film May December which stars Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. The black comedy drama follows an actress who travels to Georgia to meet a controversial woman she is set to portray in a film. And musician and producer Trevor Horn, known for creating the sound of the 1980s, talks about his new album Echoes – Ancient and Modern. It reimagining songs from 1982 to 2012 and includes performances from Iggy Pop, Tory Amos and Marc Almond. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, November 09, 2023
Anatomy of a Fall, Pete McKee, Wu-Tang Clan 30th anniversary
Tonight on Front Row - reviews of something old and something new. At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Anatomy of a Fall, a whodunnit fused with a portrait of a marriage and wrapped up in courtroom drama, won the Palme d'Or, and thirty years ago today, hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan released their seminal debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers). Musician and writer Bob Stanley, and music journalist Vie Marshall have been watching and listening and share their thoughts On the side of a pub in Sheffield "The Snog" - a mural of a middle-aged couple in a tight-embrace - by the artist Pete McKee has become a much-loved work of public art. Now McKee has expanded the story of the couple, Frank & Joy, into an immersive installation - the creation of fictional pub The Buffer's Rest - at Trafalgar Warehouse. He talks to Nick about creating Frank & Joy - A Love Story. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, November 08, 2023
Front Row reviews 1623, to mark the anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio
To mark 400 hundred years to the day since the First Folio of Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies was published according to the True Original Copies, the BBC is celebrating this with a season of Shakespeare programmes. Front Row is looking aslant at the other artistic, literary and cultural events of 1623. Tom Sutcliffe hears from artist historian Karen Hearn about the impact of the first Palladian building in England and what was being painted. Lucy Munro traces the influence of The Spanish Match (which didn’t happen) on drama. The conductor Jeremy Summerly tells Tom about the music being played and sung that year. Folklorist Steve Roud reveals how the news was delivered in broadside ballads, which found their way into Shakespeare’s plays, and singer Lisa Knapp sings one. This was the year when John Donne wrote ‘no man is an island’. The big draw, apart from Donne’s preaching, was the elephant sent by the King of Spain. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Tue, November 07, 2023
Billy Bragg, Paul Murray, feminist art of the 1970s
Singer, songwriter and activist Billy Bragg joins Samira Ahmed to perform live in the Front Row studio and discuss The Roaring Forty, a box set and nationwide tour to mark his forty years in the music industry. Women in Revolt, a new exhibition of Feminist art of the 70s and 80s, opens this week at the Tate Britain in London. Musician and punk artist Helen McCookerybook and art historian Catherine McCormack discuss the impact of the era. In the latest in Front Row’s series of interviews with the authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Paul Murray discusses The Bee Sting. A family saga set in contemporary Ireland, it examines our capacity for denial in the face of disaster. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
Mon, November 06, 2023
Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem, Judi Jackson, the rise of the Ghanaian art scene
Rebecca Lucy Taylor also known as Self Esteem is making her stage debut in the Olivier-award winning production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in London as Sally Bowles, the English nightclub singer in thirties Berlin. She tells Samira how the late Paula Yates was an inspiration. The details of a long awaited UK wide Arts Access Scheme are finally being revealed tonight on Front Row. The scheme aims to improve the experience of people with disabilities and neurodivergent people going to creative and cultural events. Andrew Miller, UK Arts Access Champion at ACE, explains how the new scheme will work. The art scene is Ghana is becoming one of the most creative globally, with international collectors showing a new interest in Ghanian artists. Stephen Smith reports from Accra, where artists are drawing on West African traditions to make exciting new work. Judi Jackson was singing from a young age in her church choir, but it was a music teacher at school who really encouraged her and put her in contact with some hugely successful artists, leading to her opening for the legendary Mavis Staples aged 16. She won vocalist of the year at the 2020 Jazz FM awards, and her recent album is a collection of tracks from the Great American Songbook. She performs live in the studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Thu, November 02, 2023
Kenneth Branagh in King Lear, Andrew Motion on Elegies
Coming under the Front Row spotlight today are: Kenneth Branagh’s new stage production of King Lear, in which he both stars and directs, and How to Have Sex, a new coming of age film about the trend for post-exam holidays abroad, by first time director Molly Manning Walker, and which won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes this summer. Theatre critic Susannah Clapp and journalist and Good Bad Billionaire podcast host Zing Tsjeng review. A new track by The Beatles dubbed their “final song” has been released 45 years after it was first conceived. The track, Now and Then, uses John Lennon’s vocals and all four Beatles feature on it. We'll have a listen and review. ‘He first deceased; she for a little tried To live without him, liked it not, and died.’ Lady Morton’s epitaph, written in the 17th century, is the shortest verse in The Penguin Book of Elegy. The new anthology gathers hundreds of poems of memory, mourning, and consolation, by writers ranging from Virgil, born in 70 BCE, to Raymond Antrobus, born in 1986. Andrew Motion, the book’s co-editor, discusses the ways elegy shapes memory, giving it meaning. He also reflects on the variety of elegy and how it stretches beyond the human, honouring loss of landscape, species and cultures. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, November 01, 2023
Henry Winkler, Northern Ballet, David Fennessey
From 1974 to 1984 Henry Winkler played the character of Arthur Fonzarelli, “The Fonz”, in the hit American sitcom, Happy Days. The role dominated the public’s perception of him, but despite being seen as the epitome of cool, he had many of his own demons to wrestle with. Henry joins Front Row to discuss his new autobiography, Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond. The composer David Fennessy on his piece Conquest of the Useless which is being performed in Glasgow this weekend. It was inspired by Werner Herzog’s obsessive film Fitzcarraldo which features a large steamship being dragged over a hill in the Amazon. And with Northern Ballet planning to tour without a live orchestra from Spring 2024, executive director David Collins discusses the move with Naomi Pohl, General Secretary of the Musician's Union; and Debra Craine, chief dance critic of the Times, reflects on the difference live music makes to dance performances.
Tue, October 31, 2023
Duran Duran, Dobrivoje Beljkasic at 100 and Sandra Newman on retelling Orwell’s 1984
To mark Halloween, Duran Duran have released Danse Macabre, a “spooky concept” album. Samira talks to Simon Le Bon and John Taylor about working with Nile Rogers, covering The Specials’ Ghost Town and taking pop music seriously. This evening Filkin’s Drift play the last of almost 50 concerts, concluding their two month that has seen them travel 870 miles…on foot. The duo has walked from gig to gig, carrying their instruments. As they reach Chepstow they tell Samira about their approach to sustainable touring and how this connects with ancient Welsh bardic tradition. Born in 1923, the artist Dobrivoje Beljkasic found refuge in Bristol after the outbreak of the Bosnian War. His daughter Dee Smart and author Priscilla Morris celebrate his life and legacy on the centenary of his birth, marked by a new exhibition in Sarajevo. George Orwell’s seminal Nineteen Eighty-Four continues to occupy a lauded, and sometimes controversial, position in political discourse and popular culture three-quarters of a century after it was first written. Sandra Newman discusses reimagining the story from the perspective of Winston Smith’s underwritten lover in her new novel, Julia.
Mon, October 30, 2023
Backstairs Billy, Jonathan Escoffery, National Theatre Wales
Backstairs Billy is a new play about Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, and her loyal, camp and working class servant, William Tallon. Penelope Wilton, who plays the Queen Mother, and Luke Evans, who plays her Steward and Page, talk to Tom Sutcliffe about creating these characters. Jonathan Escoffery has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel If I Survive You. Through a series of interlinked short stories it explores issues of race, masculinity and living in the United States as a second-generation Jamaican immigrant. The decision by the Arts Council of Wales to stop funding National Theatre Wales has made headlines in and outside Wales. Executive Editor of Wales Art Review, Gary Raymond, and theatre director and producer, Yvonne Murphy, join Front Row to discuss the ramifications. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, October 26, 2023
David Fincher’s The Killer and the week’s highlights reviewed
The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, has been hailed as a return to tense and stylish form for the director David Fincher. Critics Rhianna Dhillon and John Mullan join Tom Sutcliffe to give their views on this new take on the assassin genre. They also venture into uncanny realms with a review of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination, a new exhibition at the British Library which charts tales of fairies, folklore and flights of fancy from Ancient Greece to the modern day. Comedian and gamer Ellie Gibson gives her round up of the cornucopia of new video games out this month, including the Playstation’s fastest ever seller Spider-Man 2 and family favourite Super Mario Bros Wonder. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, October 25, 2023
A history of 2 Tone, actor Martin Shaw remembers producer Bill Kenwright, Booker-shortlisted author Chetna Maroo, Lyonesse
Daniel Rachel’s book Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story is a new history of the iconic record label. He’s joined by Pauline Black, lead singer of The Selecter, to discuss the cultural impact of the Ska music it released. Actor Martin Shaw remembers the late, great theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, whose productions included Willy Russell's Blood Brothers and Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, who has died at the age of 78. The game of squash and a family overcoming grief are at the heart of Chetna Maroo’s debut novel, Western Lane, which has been shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. She talks to Samira about creating the story which centres on a spirited 11-year-old protagonist, Gopi. In Lyonesse, Kristin Scott Thomas plays Elaine, a star who gave up her career and retreated to a remote house on a Cornish cliff. 30 years later she decides she must return and tell her story. Kate, played by Lily James, is a young film executive, juggling work, a toddler and a peripatetic director husband. She comes to help Elaine – and is transformed. But who will control her story, who will get to tell it? Playwright Penelope Skinner tells Samira Ahmed about her new drama of female solidarity and male power. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Tue, October 24, 2023
Patrick Stewart, Steven Isserlis, The art of skateboard design
Sir Patrick Stewart's memoir Making It So looks back over his long and eclectic acting career encompassing stage, film and television and video games. He has played roles in productions as varied as I, Claudius, Shakespeare and Star Trek: the Next Generation. Samira talks to him about his journey from a poor childhood in Yorkshire to Hollywood. The history and culture of the skateboard is the subject of an exhibition at London's Design Museum. Associate curator Tory Turk and film-maker and skateboarder Winstan Whitter discuss its development from a makeshift practice device for Californian surfers in the 1950s to a high-tech worldwide sport. The great cellist, and advocate for peace, Pablo Casals died 50 years ago this week. Steven Isserlis explains his importance in redefining the role of the cello in music. In the Front Row studio Steven demonstrates on his cello the influence of Casals on cellists to this day and performs Song of the Birds one of Casals's own compositions for the instrument.
Mon, October 23, 2023
Aviva Studios, The Chemical Brothers, Rufus Norris on 60 years of the National Theatre, Danny Boyle's Free Your Mind
Aviva Studios, a reportedly £240 million pound arts complex, has opened in Manchester with Free Your Mind, an immersive stage version of The Matrix from Oscar winning director Danny Boyle. Joining presenter Nick Ahad to discuss the arrival of the UK’s biggest new cultural venue - and its inaugural production- are playwright and critic Charlotte Keatley and architecture writer and lecturer Paul Dobraszczyk. The Chemical Brothers- AKA Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons- reflect on their 30 year journey from a Manchester house share to superstar DJ status, as they release their book Paused in Cosmic Reflection and embark on a UK tour. The 22nd October 1963 saw the opening night of the first production by the National Theatre. Peter O’Toole played Hamlet, directed by Laurence Olivier. Front Row hears from Rufus Norris, the current artistic director, about the role of the National Theatre 60 years on. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, October 19, 2023
The Rolling Stones; Foe; television food consultant; Doctors axed
Film critic Ryan Gilbey and music and club culture writer Kate Hutchinson deliver their verdict on Hackney Diamonds - the first new Rolling Stones album for 18 years – and Garth Davis’ film Foe, which is based on a sci-fi novel by Iain Reid and stars Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Lessons in Chemistry was 2022’s hit novel about a thwarted chemist who becomes an early TV cook. It’s now been turned into a series for Apple TV, starring Brie Larson, complete with authentic 1950s food. Chef and cookbook author Courtney McBroom, who was the show’s food consultant, gives us an insight into what this involved. Doctors - the long running BBC TV drama - is ending after more than 23 years. The last episode will be broadcast in December 2024. The show follows the lives of medics and their patients in a GP surgery in the fictional town of Letherbridge. Tonight on Front Row we speak to one of the shows former writers, Joy Wilkinson, who cut her teeth in TV drama writing on the show. She says it was a friendly, creative environment and a great training ground for many writers and actors. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, October 18, 2023
Bonnie Langford performs Sondheim, film director Maysoon Pachachi, the portrayal of nuns in culture
Musical theatre legend Bonnie Langford performs Stephen Sondheim's I'm Still Here from the musical Follies, in tribute to the late composer and lyricist. The actress, singer and dancer reflects on her career from West End child star to appearing in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, the starry revue show running at London's Gielgud Theatre. Documentary filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi makes her feature film debut with Our River…Our Sky, set in Baghdad during the winter of 2006, three years after the US-led invasion. Maysoon’s film reflects on how those who remained tried to get on with their lives in a city riven by sectarian violence. “Nuns are always box office, aren’t they?” said film director Michael Powell and he was right. His 1947 classic Black Narcissus, about missionary nuns in the Himalayas, is being screened around the country; The Sound of Music ran at Chichester Festival Theatre over the summer and midwife nuns will soon return to our screens in Call the Midwife. Critic David Benedict and Samira Ahmed discuss the attraction and importance of nuns in art. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Tue, October 17, 2023
Front Row from Belfast with writer Paul Lynch and singer Cara Dillon
Two adaptations of Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco open this month, one in Belfast and a Welsh language adaptation in Cardiff. The adaptors Patrick J O’Reilly and Manon Steffan Ros both join Kathy Clugston to discuss how this 1950s play about the rise of Fascism speaks to audiences now. Singer Cara Dillon is known globally for her interpretations of traditional Irish songs. As she performs at the Belfast International Arts Festival, she explains why she’s taking a new direction with her upcoming album, the first time she’s released an album of original songs. In the first of Front Row’s interviews with the authors shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, Paul Lynch talks about Prophet Song, his dystopian novel which imagines a future in which Ireland is in the grips of an oppressive regime. And as Glasgow Museums say that they are unable to locate a sculpture by the French artist Auguste Rodin, arts correspondent Jan Patience explains that it may not be the only major work of art that’s gone missing. Presenter: Kathy Clugston Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, October 16, 2023
Martin Scorsese film, John le Carré’s legacy, Madonna on Tour
Madonna is still in the spotlight 45 years after bursting onto the pop scene in the 1980s, inspiring fashion, dance and youth culture, as well as being the world’s best-selling female artist of all time. Author of the biography Madonna: A Rebel Life, Mary Gabriel explores what’s behind her enduring influence and music critic Pete Paphides assesses last night’s Celebration tour performance, rescheduled after her recent serious health scare. The latest film from director Martin Scorcese focuses on the Osage Nation community, who back in the 1920s had become rich overnight when oil was discovered beneath their land in Oklahoma. Based on a true story, Killers of the Flower Moon sees an improbable romance develop between Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest and Lily Gladstone’s indigenous Mollie, as members of her Osage tribe are murdered under mysterious circumstances, killings which are investigated by what was to become the FBI. Published in 2015, Adam Sisman wrote what is considered to be the definitive biography of John le Carré. What he left out about the author befits a Cold War spy novel: he was secretive, self-mythologizing and even deceptive. Sisman’s new book, The Secret life of John le Carré, reveals for the first time the frustrating process of writing a biography about the writer who hid his infidelities and inconsistencies. The Forward Prizes are among UK and Ireland’s most coveted poetry awards. These include best poetry collection, first collection, single poem - written and, new for this year, best single poem – performed. Tonight in Leeds the judges will announce the winners as Front Row is on-air - and we should know who has won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Written, and be able broadcast the poet reading it.
Thu, October 12, 2023
Front Row reviews the Frasier reboot and performance from folk musician Martin Hayes
Samira Ahmed is joined by critics Anne Joseph and Nancy Durrant to review some of this week’s cultural highlights. They discuss the new series of the classic TV comedy Frasier, which is returning to our screens after nearly two decades, and a new exhibition, Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style. Martin Hayes has gone from playing the fiddle in his father’s ceilidh band in County Clare to performing for President Obama at the White House. Martin brings his band, The Common Ground Ensemble to perform in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, October 11, 2023
Lubaina Himid, Richard Armitage, David Pountney’s new opera
Actor Richard Armitage – who starred in North and South and the Hobbit - joins Nick to discuss writing his debut novel, the bio-tech thriller Geneva, which is about to be published in hardback but was originally commissioned as an audio book. Autumn 2023 has seen Opera North launching its first sustainable ‘Green Season’. This includes the world premiere of an ambitious new production, Masque of Might which repurposes the music of composer Henry Purcell in a spectacle of song and dance. We hear from its director Sir David Pountney and soprano Anna Dennis. The Leicester Indie band EasyLife is about to play its last gigs under that name - because the owners of the airline easyJet said their name was too similar to that of the budget airline. EasyGroup confirmed they'd received an agreement from the band saying they would cease using the name after playing at Leicester's 02 Academy and London's Koko. It's not yet known what their new name will be. The Turner prize winning artist Lubaina Himid was once told “black people don’t make art”. Part of the 1980s movement of Black and Asian British artists, it was decades before her contribution to the arts was recognised with a CBE. She’s now curated an exhibition called A Fine Toothed Comb that looks at the hidden communities of Manchester though her own work and that of other women artists. She steers Nick Ahad around the show and talks about belonging, removing statues and the joys of opera
Tue, October 10, 2023
Nigel Kennedy, art gallery labels, how do museums recover stolen art?
Nigel Kennedy remains the best selling violinist of all time with a repertoire that spans jazz, classical, rock, klezmer and more. Ahead of his four night residency at Ronnie Scott’s in London this week, Nigel Kennedy and cellist Beata Urbanek-Kalinowska join us in the Front Row studio to perform two reworkings of pieces by Ryuichi Sakamoto and the Polish film score composer, Krzysztof Komeda. Author Christine Coulson discusses her novel ‘One Woman Show’ written entirely through the medium of art gallery labels – and why we should be looking for longer at the paintings themselves. She’s joined by Dr Catherine McCormack, an independent curator and lecturer at Sotheby’s Art Institute, who reveals more about how labels have changed over the years and provide valuable context for visitors to galleries and museums. New figures compiled exclusively for Front Row reveal that 65,000 items are currently missing from museums around the world and listed on the Art Loss Register. Carolyn Atkinson goes on the trail of one of those missing artworks, a painting stolen during a brazen art heist in 1989, that has just been returned to a Glasgow museum. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Mon, October 09, 2023
Piper Kathryn Tickell performs, film director Terence Davies remembered, author Jhumpa Lahiri, £200 million for Heritage Places
Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening’s new album, Cloud Horizons, fuses synthesizers with a bone flute, a sistrum – very old Egyptian instrument - and lyrics based on an inscription in Latin carved on a stone in Northumberland nearly 2 millennia ago. Kathryn talks to Samira about this ancient Northumbrian futurism and plays her smallpipes, live. We remember the film director Terrence Davis, perhaps best known for the film Distant Voices, who has died aged 77. Samira spoke to him for Front Row last year, about his Netflix drama Benediction, which followed the life of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Samira talks to Jhumpa Lahiri, the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, essayist and editor. Her latest offering Roman Stories marks a return to shorter fiction, presenting snapshots of a city and its unnamed residents in flux. Today the Heritage Fund announces nine ‘Heritage Places’ across the UK- the first of twenty to receive a share of £200 million in National Lottery funding over the next 10 years to support local heritage. We hear from Eilish McGuinness, Heritage Fund Chief Executive about how the money will be spent and from Eirwen Hopkins, founder of the heritage group Rich History in Neath Port Talbot, one of the nine places to receive the cash injection. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, October 05, 2023
Front Row reviews Philip Guston at the Tate Modern and new film Golda
The winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature is Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, who is best known for his innovative plays. Playwright Simon Stephens, who has translated his work, talks about the impact of his plays which are widely performed across Europe but little known in the UK. Front Row reviews Golda, which stars Helen Mirren as Israeli prime minster Golda Meir, and an exhibition of work by the artist Philip Guston at the Tate Modern in London. Poet Aviva Dautch and art critic Ben Lukes give their verdict. Musician Tim Ridout discusses recording Elgar’s famous cello concerto on the viola, a performance for which he won the concerto category at this year’s Gramophone Award. The theme of this year’s National Poetry Day is refuge and to mark it Front Row hears a poem on the theme, A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, October 04, 2023
The Streets, the British Textile Biennial, Kate Prince on her mentor
Mike Skinner helped define an era with The Streets' album Original Pirate Material in 2002. Now he's back with not only new music but an accompanying film, The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light. He talks to Nick Ahad about guerrilla filming in nightclubs and the influence of Raymond Chandler. The choreographer, writer and founder of hip hop dance company ZooNation, Kate Prince, tells us about a dramaturg who has been a key influence on her. We hear about the advice and inspiration offered by Lolita Chakrabati ahead of her work inspired by the music of Sting and The Police. The British Textile Biennial 2023 is highlighting the extraordinary influence of Lancashire. From the moors to the mills, it's a region which defined the modern world's approach to the clothes we wear. That troubling and complex legacy is explored by a series of installations. Evie Manning, co-creator of Common Wealth, talks to Nick Ahad about Fast Fast Slow - a community-led catwalk experience which explores throwaway fashion and our relationship with clothes. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Kevin Core
Tue, October 03, 2023
Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film
The actor Patsy Ferran talks to Samira about her transformation from flower girl (with some autonomy) to duchess (with none at all) in Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and a career in which she transformed from Edith, the maid in Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury to Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal, via Jem in Treasure Island. “Rubenesque” has long evoked a voluptuous image of female nudity in art, but a new exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery seeks to explore the complex relationship between Peter Paul Rubens and the women in his life. Co-curator Amy Orrock and critic Louisa Buck discuss how they influenced, and in many cases financially supported, the 17th century Flemish painter. And as Netflix airs the fifth and final series of ‘Top Boy’, which first appeared on Channel 4 starring Ashley Waters, Clive Nwonka, author of ‘Black Boys The Social Aesthetics of British Urban Film’ and film critic Leila Latif discuss representations of black urban culture on screen. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman
Mon, October 02, 2023
Claudette Johnson, ghosts in literature, the Dutch Golden Age
The portraits in the National Gallery’s new retrospective of the artist Frans Hals capture his informal and fresh style which contrasted with other masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt. We hear from the exhibition’s curator Bart Cornelis and by the writer Benjamin Moser whose forthcoming book The Upside-Down World describes his lifelong passion for the art of what’s often called the Dutch Golden Age. The enthusiasm of politicians for the spectacular U-turn has reached the cultural sphere; in Scotland the government has U-turned a U-turn in its arts funding. Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman’s theatre critic and political columnist, explains what has happened and not happened and what it all means for the arts in her country. As a retrospective of her work opens at the Courtauld Gallery in London, Claudette Johnson talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her portraits of Black women, her work in the 1980s with the BLK art group and how Rembrandt and Toulouse Lautrec’s approach to painting women has inspired her. And Ghosts are in the ether… an upsurge of interest in the supernatural often coincides with disruptive events like the Covid pandemic. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Jeanette Winterson whose new book Night Side of the River tells 13 ghost stories, and by Danny Robins’ whose book Into the Uncanny has just been published. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, September 28, 2023
Víkingur Ólafsson on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Ken Loach’s The Old Oak
Front Row reviews two of this week’s cultural highlights. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Hettie Judah and film critic Peter Bradshaw to discuss Happy Gas, a retrospective of work by Sarah Lucas at the Tate Britain, and The Old Oak, which director Ken Loach has said will be his final film. Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, was Front Row’s artist in (remote) residence during the lockdown, playing for us live in the empty Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik. At last Víkingur comes to the Front Row studio in person to talk to Tom Sutcliffe about his recording of the Goldberg Variations which, he says, are a musical metaphor for life itself. And the actor Sir Michael Gambon has died at the age of 82. Best-known for his role as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, his work also encompassed theatre, TV and Radio drama. Theatre writer Paul Allen and film critic Peter Bradshaw discusses his career on both stage and screen. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones Michael Gambon 1:12 Happy Gas 8:41 Vikingur Olafsson 16:32 The Old Oak 33:12
Wed, September 27, 2023
James Graham on Boys from the Blackstuff, and are maestros behaving badly?
Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff is widely regarded as television drama at its best with a cultural footprint that led to the phrase “Gi’s a job” being heard up and down the country. Forty years on from the first broadcast, James Graham, known for plays such as This House, about the UK’s hung parliament of the 1970s, and Dear England about the England football team, has adapted Alan’s screenplays for a stage production at the Royal Court theatre in Liverpool. He discusses why now was the right time to revisit and remodel. Chester Contemporary is a new visual arts biennial curated by artist Ryan Gander who was born and raised in Chester and has created a citywide event that features some of the visual art world’s biggest names. Front Row visited Chester on the opening weekend to talk to Turner Prize-nominated artist Fiona Banner, emerging artist William Lang, Chester native Tim Foxon whose art pops up all over the city centre, and Turner Prize-winning artist Elizabeth Price, about their creations for the cathedral city. The renowned conductor John Eliot Gardiner has cancelled all his appearances for the rest of this year after allegedly slapping and punching a singer backstage after a performance. He is far from the only conductor linked to reportedly bad behaviour. But as society puts conductors on a cultural as well as physical podium, and addresses them as ‘maestro’, perhaps such behaviour isn’t surprising. Perhaps, too, marshalling a large orchestra requires dictatorial leadership. Igor Toronyi-Lalic, music critic of The Spectator, and the conductor Ben Gernon join Nick Ahad to discuss how conductors conduct themselves, and how they should. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Lorne Campbell 1:30 James Graham 6:09 Conductors 16:33 Chester Art 29:36
Tue, September 26, 2023
Front Row hosts the BBC National Short Story Award Ceremony
The announcement of the winners of the BBC National Short Story Award and the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University, live from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House in London. Joining presenter Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate and interrogate the short story form are the broadcaster and NSSA chair of judges Reeta Chakrabarti, alongside fellow judges and writers Jessie Burton, Roddy Doyle and Okechukwu Nzelu. The shortlisted stories and authors in alphabetical order are: 'The Storm' by Nick Mulgrew, 'It’s Me' by K Patrick, 'Guests' by Cherise Saywell, 'Churail' by Kamila Shamsie and 'Comorbidities' by Naomi Wood. The BBC Young Writers Award, for writers aged between 14 and 18, will be announced by the BBC Radio One presenter Katie Thistleton, who’ll be joined on stage by fellow judge, the psychotherapist, writer and rugby player Alexis Caught. The shortlisted stories and authors in alphabetical order are: ‘Fridays’ by Evie Alam, 16, from South Shields, ‘Jessie’s God’ by Elissa Jones, 16, from Merseyside, ‘Creation’ by Daisy Kaye, 16, from Nottingham, ‘Skipper’ by Iona McNeish, 17, from Glasgow and ‘The Wordsmith’ by Atlas Weyland Eden, 18, from Devon. All of the stories are available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Nicki Paxman
Mon, September 25, 2023
Philip Barantini on Boiling Point, The Archers cast on Lark Rise to Ambridge
As the cast of the Archers star in a new adaptation of Flora Thompson's Lark Rise to Candleford, Samira is joined by actors Louiza Patikas, who plays Helen in the Archers, and Susie Riddell, who plays Tracy, to discuss the two-part Radio 4 drama, now called Lark Rise to Ambridge. Actor and chef turned director Philip Barantini joins Samira to discuss making the sequel for BBC television to his BAFTA-nominated, one-take film, Boiling Point, set in the febrile atmosphere of a high-end restaurant kitchen. An ambitious series of spaces at the National Gallery of Scotland opens this week to display Scottish art created in the last 150 years. BBC Scotland’s arts correspondent Pauline McLean visits the new galleries and explains what the building and the works tell us about Scottish identity and how Scottish artists have been representing their country and people. The Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and producers, to end the strike by writers over pay and AI. The strike has had an impact on film and television production here and Lisa Holdsworth, Chair of the Writers Guild of Great Britain, explains the significance of the settlement for the UK. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, September 21, 2023
Live from the Contains Strong Language festival
Front Row opens this year’s Contain’s Strong Language festival live in Leeds. Nick Ahad talks to Detectorists star Toby Jones about his stage adaptation of Italo Calvino’s If On A Winters Night A Traveller, to the festival poet and rapper Testament about 50 Years of Hip Hop and the choreographer and artist Katja Heitmann about turning the everyday gestures of Leeds citizens into art. Plus poetry from the newly appointed Yorkshire Young Laureate.
Wed, September 20, 2023
Marina Abramovic and The Long Shadow reviewed, Dmitry Glukhovsky's The White Factory
Writer Joan Smith and art historian Katy Hessel review a retrospective exhibition of the performance artist Marina Abramovic at the Royal Academy and a new ITV drama about the Yorkshire ripper, The Long Shadow. The Russian journalist, novelist and now playwright Dmitry Glukhovsky talks about his stage drama The White Factory telling the story of the ghetto in Łódź, Poland during the second world war. In it he explores the corrosive nature of compromise as the Jews are forced to choose which amongst them will be sent to the death camps and which will survive. He also talks to Tom about his exile from his homeland having spoken out against the war in Ukraine. And Front Row celebrates of the centenary the publication of Harmonium, the first collection of poetry by the American Wallace Stevens. John Lightbody reads The Emperor of Ice Cream. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Marina Abramovic 1:10 The White Factory 13:05 Wallace Stevens 24:42 The Long Shadow 26:31
Tue, September 19, 2023
Carlos Acosta on the Black Sabbath ballet; Birmingham arts funding; the business of British fashion
Birmingham Royal Ballet is celebrating the city’s pioneering heavy metal band in a new production, Black Sabbath – the Ballet. Tom Sutcliffe talks to the director of BRB Carlos Acosta about how the marriage of apparently conflicting cultures came about. He also hears from the composer and arranger Christopher Austin on adapting the music for contemporary choreography and the dramaturg Richard Thomas about creating a narrative structure for an abstract dance form. Today it was announced that Michael Gove has appointed commissioners to take over Birmingham Council. To find out how this might affect arts organisations in the city, Tom speaks to the Birmingham-based journalist and broadcaster Adrien Goldberg. In our occasional series on cultural bugbears we hear from the author and Guardian journalist Tim Dowling. As London Fashion Week draws to a close, we put the business of the British fashion industry under the spotlight with the Yorkshire-based designer and Professor of Fashion Matty Bovan, the New York Times fashion journalist Elizabeth Paton and the designer, academic and curator Andrew Ibi, whose exhibition The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion is about to open at Somerset House. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Black Sabbath Ballet 1:18 Birmingham Funding 17:20 Immersive Theatre 22:18 Fashion 28:12
Mon, September 18, 2023
Jane Austen fashion, poet Daljit Nagra, musician Alice Phoebe Lou performs live
From the enduring legacy of Colin Firth’s wet shirt to the colourful extravagance of Bridgerton, costumes have always been central in period dramas. But how much does adaptation match up to reality when it comes to regency fashion? To discuss this - and what’s revealed by the closet of the real-life Austen - Samira is joined by Hilary Davidson, author of ‘Jane Austen’s Wardrobe’, and the award-winning costume designer Dinah Collin. Radio 4’s first poet-in-residence, Daljit Nagra, discusses his new poetry collection, indiom, set in an imaginary workshop where Indic heritage poets discuss the future of poetry and the kind of language(s) they should write in in these post-colonial times. It's a wide ranging mock heroic epic, with references ranging from Shakespeare to The Simpsons, written in Daljit Nagra's innovative, idiosyncratic and exuberant style. The South African singer songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou discusses her music, which has been described as a melding of folk, jazz, electronic and dance music. Her song ‘She’ was shortlisted for the Oscar for best original song in 2018 for the documentary film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. She performs live. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones Jane Austen Fashion 1:03 Daljit Nagra 17:28 Alice Phoebe Lou 28:39
Thu, September 14, 2023
Paul Simon and Charlie Mackesy, the V&A’s Chanel exhibition and author Kamila Shamsie.
When the artist Charlie Mackesy, best-known for his book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, heard Paul Simon’s most recent album, the acclaimed Seven Psalms, he was inspired to create a sketch for each ‘psalm’. They both join us on Front Row. In the last of our interviews with all the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award we talk to Kamila Shamsie about her story Churail. Gabrielle Chanel opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and Das Rheingold, the first part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle opens at the Royal Opera House in London. Head of Fashion at the Telegraph, Lisa Armstrong and writer Philip Hensher join us to review them both. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner Paul Simon 1:10 Chanel 11:12 Kamila Shamsie 22:04 Das Rheingold 30:52
Wed, September 13, 2023
Katherine Rundell on Impossible Creatures, the rise of crafts on social media
Katherine Rundell on her new children’s fantasy book, Impossible Creatures. It's a story of two worlds, ours and one where the animals of myth and legend still survive, and thrive. A fantasy which does not shirk from dark themes, and was inspired by the metaphysical poetry of John Donne. The next finalist in the National Short Story Award is South African writer Nick Mulgrew . His story, The Storm, is set in suburban Durban describes a toxic family dynamic against a backdrop of the dramatic and dangerous thunderstorms he remembers from his own childhood. Traditional crafts are associated with homeworking: individuals squirrelled away in studios producing things that end up in galleries or shops. But social media has completely changed that for makers - whose films can attract the interest of the public for reasons as varied as teaching, selling, relaxing or even ASMR, and which at the same time open that craft and maker to a wider world. We talk to two makers – Florian Gadsby, a potter who sells online to his 1.39m followers on YouTube and 788 thousand on Instagram, and Marion Deuchars, illustrator of 20 books, who also has an online audience of thousands. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire Katherine Rundell 1:00 Crafts 14:36 Nick Mulgrew 31:34
Tue, September 12, 2023
The impact of the Hollywood strikes, author K Patrick, the iconic chant from the Halo video game
Front Row looks at the impact of the Hollywood strikes. Film critic Leila Latif, Equity UK’s Secretary General Paul Fleming, and Lisa Holdsworth, screenwriter and Chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain explain the impact and the knock on effect on UK film and TV. The theme to the video game Halo has become one of the best known pieces of game music ever released. Earlier this year fans from around the world were invited to join a virtual choir of thousands to sing the iconic chant. The BBC's Will Chalk signed up to take part. Author K Patrick, talks about their short story, It’s Me, which has been nominated for this year’s BBC National Short Story Award. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Hollywood Strikes 01:09 Halo Chant 19:56 K Patrick 34:16
Mon, September 11, 2023
The British Museum’s missing gems, a drinking game drama, National Short Story Award
Front Row gets an exclusive look at some of the treasures confirmed as missing by the British Museum, as art dealer, academic and whistleblower Dr Ittai Gradel, who says he bought them in good faith on eBay, returns them. Deborah Frances White, the comedian and writer behind the hit podcast The Guilty Feminist, joins Samira to discuss her debut play, Never Have I Ever. Named after the confessional drinking game, at its heart is an explosive dinner party dissecting identity politics and infidelity, running at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester. And we hear how writer Cherise Saywell transformed the making of a cup of coffee by a refugee neighbour into a special act of hospitality in her shortlisted National Short Story Award tale, Guests. Missing Treasures 1:22 Deborah Frances White 16:05 Cherise Saywell 28:47 Fake Encores 37:29
Thu, September 07, 2023
Lise Davidsen, film Past Lives and Black Atlantic: power, people, resistance exhibition
Presenter Samira Ahmed is joined by the broadcaster and Chair of Judges Reeta Chakrabarti to announce the shortlist of the 2023 BBC National Short Story Awards with Cambridge University. Front Row will interview each of the shortlisted authors in the coming weeks, ahead of hosting the award ceremony live from the BBC Radio Theatre on 26th September. Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen has been described as possessing “a once-in-a-generation-voice.” Samira spoke to her between performances as Elizabeth of Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House, looking ahead to her starring role in the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and the BBC on Saturday. Our reviewers Alayo Akinkugbe, art historian and founder of the Instagram platform A Black History of Art, and Amon Warmann, Contributing Editor of Empire magazine and co-host of the Fade To Black podcast review the exhibition “Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance” at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, which asks questions about Cambridge’s role in the trade of enslaved people and how related objects and artworks have influenced our history and perspectives. We also review “Past Lives” from South Korean director Celine Song, about two childhood friends, Nora and Hae Sung, who are separated when Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, with Nora married to an American, they are reunited in New York for a week as they consider what might have been and perhaps still could be. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones NSSA Shortlist 00:57 Fitzwilliam Museum review 03:57 Naomi Wood 13:25 Past Lives review 21:14 Lise Davidsen 30:02
Wed, September 06, 2023
Sir Ken Dodd exhibition; RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture shortlist; A Life on the Farm documentary
Curator Karen O’Rourke, and the actor and writer Arthur Bostrom discuss Sir Ken Dodd - the man behind the the tickling stick, the Diddymen, and the new exhibition, Happiness! at the Museum of Liverpool. The Stirling Prize shortlist, the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize, was announced today. Architecture critic Oliver Wainwright and Catherine Croft, Director of the Twentieth Century Society, discuss what this year’s shortlist reveals about the state of architecture in Great Britain. When his grandfather died in rural Somerset, filmmaker Oscar Harding inherited a bizarre home movie video made by a neighbour, Charles Carson. Harding was intrigued and inspired by it and talks to Nick about his new debut documentary, A Life on The Farm, which reflects on Carson’s life and work. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Happiness: 1:28 Stirling Prize: 16:32 A Life on the Farm: 31:54
Wed, September 06, 2023
Stephen Lawrence anniversary drama; small publishers; Pablo Larrain on his film El Conde; RAAC in theatres
The Architect - a play marking the 30th anniversary of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence - will take place on a double-decker bus travelling the route on which Stephen was attacked in 1993. Presenter Allan Little speaks to the director Matthew Xia and one of the playwrights, Bola Agbaje. Small independent publishers appear to be on a winning streak - last year several prestigious literary prizes were won by small presses, despite the inflationary pressures that have put some out of business. To discuss what’s behind the rise - and fall - of small publishers, Allan is joined by Natania Jansz of Sort of Books, Valerie Brandes of Jacaranda Books, and Kevin Duffy of Bluemoose Books. Chilean film director Pablo Larrain has switched from biopics on Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana to create a world in which dictator General Pinochet is a vampire - he talks to Alan about his new film, El Conde. Schools are being closed because of the discovery in their buildings of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), which can crumble and cause sudden collapse. It was used from the 1950s to the 1980s, not only in schools and hospitals, but also in theatres and venues. Already, two theatres and a concert hall have had to close. Matthew Hemley of The Stage newspaper has been investigating and discusses the implications. Presenter: Allan Little Producer: Julian May The Architect 05:59 Small Publishers 14:56 El Conde 29:50
Mon, September 04, 2023
Anna Wintour on Vogue World; Bloomsbury Group fashion; BBC Singers conductor Sofi Jeannin
Dame Anna Wintour, Global Editorial Director of Vogue, tells Samira Ahmed about Vogue World, the magazine’s fashion and performance spectacular which makes its UK debut this month at the start of London Fashion Week. You may know the early 1900s Bloomsbury Group for its art and philosophy, but the collective was also in the vanguard of sartorial revolution. In the studio to discuss its impact on fashion are writer Charlie Porter, author of Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion, and British-Turkish fashion designer Erdem Moralıoğlu. The Swedish-French conductor of the BBC Singers, Sofi Jeannin, joins Samira to discuss the choir's range, reputation and morale after a period of uncertainty over its future. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, August 24, 2023
Front Row reviews new British film Scrapper, French writer director Louis Garrel
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Mickey-Jo Boucher discuss A Mirror, a new play by Sam Holcroft about staging a drama in a country where state censorship controls the arts. It stars Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller. They’ll also look at Charlotte Regan’s film Scrapper about a young girl who is left living alone after her mother dies, then her father turns up. What happens next? Many will know Louis Garrel from his role as Professor Bhaer in Greta Gerwig’s film Little Women but he is also an accomplished filmmaker in his own right. As his new film, The Innocent, opens in the UK, after multiple César Award nominations and wins for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress, he discusses what it’s like to move from writing, directing and starring in his own films to acting in films by other directors. 01:42 A Mirror Review 12:57 Louis Garrel Interview 28:55 Scrapper Review
Wed, August 23, 2023
Authors Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché, Stewart Lee on Macbeth, musician Connie Converse rediscovered
Authors Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché are live in the studio to discuss their new queer sci-fi thriller Prophet. Theatre director Wils Wilson has invited the comedian Stewart Lee to rewrite the Porter’s scene in a new RSC production of Macbeth. Wils and Stewart join Samira Ahmed to discuss drawing on stand-up comedy, pantomime and the politics of today to refresh Shakespeare's comic relief. And we rediscover the American singer-songwriter Connie Converse, fifty years after she disappeared without trace. Samira speaks to Howard Fishman – writer, songwriter, bandleader, producer of Connie’s Piano Songs, and author of To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse. PRESENTER: Samira Ahmed PRODUCER: Olivia Skinner
Tue, August 22, 2023
Louise Doughty, sign language at music festivals, The Missing Madonna podcast
Author Louise Doughty talks to Samira Ahmed about her new novel, A Bird in Winter. A fast-paced thriller set in the world of espionage, it follows a woman on the run who must work out who is on her trail. This summer for the first time British Sign Language interpretations were streamed live for all acts on the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage. Samira speaks to professional BSL music performance interpreters Stephanie Raper - who has signed for Stormzy and Eminem - and @Fletch, who is deaf and has signed for Ed Sheeran and P!nk. We also hear from deaf music lover William Ogden, who pushes for more interpretation at music events. New BBC Sounds podcast The Missing Madonna features the daughter of a Liverpool publican who played a key role in recovering a stolen Da Vinci masterpiece – and the Dutch “art detective” Arthur Brand who traces stolen art for a living. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, August 21, 2023
Corinne Bailey Rae, playwright Peter Arnott, new short story collections
Musician Corinne Bailey Rae performs live in the studio and discusses the inspiration for her new album, Black Rainbows. Writer Peter Arnott on his new play about the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, Group Portrait In A Summer Landscape, opening at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Friday. Plus short stories: critics Stephanie Merritt and Suzi Feay on two new collections - by Kate Atkinson and by US 'flash fiction' writer Diane Williams. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace
Thu, August 17, 2023
Edinburgh Festival review: The Grand Old Opera House Hotel; Funeral; Kieran Hodgson: Big In Scotland; Vanessa 5000; AI Art; Food
A review of two of the big shows at this year’s Edinburgh Festival: Olivier award-winning writer Isobel McArthur has had great success with her genre-busting works Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) and Kidnapped. Her latest play The Grand Old Opera House Hotel is a rom-com set in a haunted house filled with opera arias – it’s worlds apart from Funeral, a calm, interactive meditation on the nature of life and death by the Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed. Our reviewers give their verdicts on the comedy shows they’ve sampled this year. Kieran Hodgson is a Yorkshireman outsider in TV’s Two Doors Down: his new show Big in Scotland reflects on identity and belonging; magician and clown Geoff Sobelle explores the comedy of consumption in his show Food; and Sonja Doubleday’s comedy of the absurd – Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe, ‘n’ Stuff – features a nonsense trip through space. The impact of artificial intelligence has been cited as one of the reasons for the current writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood. AI is also the topic at the heart of Courtney Pauroso’s Vanessa 5000, which features a sex robot and in Edinburgh University’s Inspace gallery exhibition, The Sounds of Deep Fake, where the human voice is put through its paces by AI. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, August 16, 2023
TV's I Claudius; Jules Buckley's Stevie Wonder Prom; the difficulty buying concert tickets
As the acclaimed 1976 Roman Empire drama series I Claudius returns to television screens, classicist Natalie Haynes and cultural critic Charlotte Higgins discuss the reasons for its success, whether its historical inaccuracies are any bar to its enjoyment, and if it stands the test of time. Plus conductor, curator, and composer Jules Buckley discusses his Stevie Wonder Prom celebrating 50 years of the ground-breaking album Innervisions. And why is it often so hard to buy tickets for big gigs, like Taylor Swift’s Eras tour? We talk to ticketing security expert Reg Walker, and to Martin Haigh of ticketing system provider Total Ticketing and a previous head of Ticketmaster Asia. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Tue, August 15, 2023
Live from the Edinburgh Festival: Nicola Benedetti, Colson Whitehead, Karine Polwart, Susie McCabe, Andrew O’Hagan
Front Row is live from Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh for festival season, presented by Kate Molleson. Scotland’s own Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti will be with us to share her vision for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, as she makes her debut as Festival Director. Kate will also be joined on stage by the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Colson Whitehead to discuss Crook Manifesto, the latest instalment in his Harlem saga, set in 1970s New York. We’ll have music from the Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart with pianist Dave Milligan, ahead of their appearance at the Book Festival. Glasgow comedian Susie McCabe will share stand-up from her new Fringe show exploring her womanhood, Femme Fatality. Novelist and fellow Glaswegian Andrew O’Hagan will reflect on making his directorial debut, as he brings his new play The Ballad of Truman Capote to the Fringe. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, August 14, 2023
Christy Lefteri's The Book of Fire, Artistic Directors in theatre, Palestinian Embroidery
As the death toll from wildfires in Hawaii rises, The Beekeeper of Aleppo author Christy Lefteri explains how similar tragedies in Greece inspired her new novel The Book of Fire. Battersea Arts Centre’s Artistic Director and CEO Tarek Iskander, critic Andrzej Lukowski and theatre consultant Amanda Parker discuss what could be behind the current exodus of artistic directors from theatres across the UK. Curator Rachel Dedman and artist Aya Haider reflect on the roots of the striking needlework in Material Power, an exhibition of Palestinian Embroidery. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer Paula McGrath
Thu, August 10, 2023
Composer György Ligeti, L'immensità starring Penelope Cruz, La Cage Aux Folles
György Ligeti: on the 100th anniversary of his birth, we celebrate the Hungarian-Austrian composer and the 2023 Proms performances of his work - music which was famously used by filmmaker Stanley Kubrick in The Shining and A Space Odyssey. Pianist Danny Driver, and music critic, author and librettist Jessica Duchen join Tom to discuss. Plus we review La Cage Aux Folles - the musical story of a gay couple running a drag nightclub, and new Italian film L'immensita, starring Penelope Cruz - about a young girl in 70s Rome who yearns to be a boy, Our reviewers are theatre critic David Benedict, and writer, editor and podcaster Thea Lenarduzzi. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace
Wed, August 09, 2023
Anohni, artists' intellectual property, Bruntwood Prize-winning play Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz
Mercury Prize winning and Oscar-nominated artist Anohni returns with a soulful new album, My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, released under the moniker Anonhi and the Johnsons for the first time. The artist Michael Moebius is preparing to launch another legal battle to protect his intellectual property, after successfully suing 399 companies for infringing his copyright in a landmark lawsuit. To discuss why artists and designers need better protection, Nick Ahad is joined by US lawyer Jeff Gluck and Margaret Heffernan, Chair of the Design and Artists Copyright Society. Playwright Nathan Queeley-Dennis is in Edinburgh appearing in his debut play, a monologue which won the Bruntwood Prize last year. Nathan tells Nick about writing and performing Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, a love letter to Brimingham, barbers and love itself. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, August 08, 2023
Bruce Lee, mental health in reality TV, poet Sean Street on birdsong
On the 50th anniversary of the release of the martial arts film Enter The Dragon, actor and filmmaker Daniel York Loh and Bruce Lee’s biographer Matthew Polly discuss the star of the film, Bruce Lee, and his continuing influence across culture. As reality TV remains a staple of our television schedules, Carolyn Atkinson reports on the work that television production companies are now doing to support the mental wellbeing of the members of the public who become contestants on their shows. The author, poet and sound recordist Seán Street talks about how the challenge of describing the sounds of nature in words makes us listen differently, and why it may encourage us to care more for our environment. His new book is Wild Track - Sound, Text and the Idea of Birdsong. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, August 07, 2023
Lucy Prebble on The Effect, Welsh band Adwaith perform and Is the Critic Dead?
When you fall in love how do you know it’s for real, and not just the result of chemicals in your brain? Lucy Prebble’s play The Effect is back at the National Theatre - Tristan and Connie fall in love during a clinical trial for a new antidepressant and wonder if their passion is merely drug-fuelled. The Welsh band Adwaith play their online hit Fel I Fod (How To Be) – just before the Camarthen band appear at the National Eisteddfod. And could it be true that the art of criticism is dying? Theatre critic Mark Shenton believes it might be – but social media influencer Mickey-Jo Boucher says he’s bringing in new audiences. Head critic and reviews editor at The Stage Sam Marlowe says the art of reviewing is evolving and there’s room for both approaches. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, August 03, 2023
Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha; Joy Ride film and Ann Patchett’s novel Tom Lake reviewed; composer Carl Davis
The South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha talks to Front Row ahead of returning to the Proms this Saturday to sing Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the National Youth Orchestra. Critics Sharlene Teo and Max Liu review Joy Ride, the feature film debut of Adele Lim, who also wrote Crazy Rich Asians - and also Ann Patchett’s new novel Tom Lake, a story about how we tell the story of our lives – and how we fill the inevitable gaps. And the composer and conductor Carl Davis has died. His film and television successes include the themes for the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, ITV's landmark history series the The World At War, and the TV adaptation of Far Pavilions. He wrote part of the Liverpool Oratorio with Paul McCartney to mark the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary. The composer and author Neil Brand joins us to celebrate the work of Carl Davis. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, August 02, 2023
Welsh Fleabag, Social media and comedy in Edinburgh; Moon Palace in Leeds
A new Welsh version of the comedy hit Fleabag is about to premiere at the National Eisteddfod in Boduan. Branwen Davies’ adaptation of the one-woman show for Theatr Clywd has been given the thumb’s up by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who wrote and starred in the original version ten years ago at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It was later turned into an award-winning BBC television series. Davies says she wanted to create a Welsh voice for Fleabag rather than do a word-for-word translation. Her Fleabag talks about her interactions with men in English – but it’s the Welsh language she shared with her dead mother that reveals her most honest and vulnerable moments. Just over halfway through Leeds2023, the city's year-long celebration of culture, Nick visits one of the major commissions - Moon Palace. A new social sculpture and working mobile observatory created by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison. They took inspiration from the man known as the "father of civil engineering", John Smeaton, who was born in East Leeds nearly 300 years ago and as well as building his own observatory, designed and built many bridges, canals, water mills, and lighthouses across the UK. And how is social media transforming comedy? Comedian Abi Clarke who’s in Edinburgh did standup for a year but gained more than 900,000 followers on TikTok after posting sketches since the pandemic. Comedy promoter Toby Jones believes it’s a bigger revolution than television and takes comedy directly to consumers, helping to improve diversity and build audiences without so much financial risk. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, August 01, 2023
The Booker Prize longlist; Freddie Mercury's costume archive, Scottish theatre
As the Booker Prize longlist is announced, literary critic Alex Clark takes us through the contenders for the £50,000 literary award for fiction, to be announced on 26th November. In September, a treasure trove of personal items belonging to Freddie Mercury - from fine art to furniture and fashion - will be sold at auction. In the run up to the sales, the collection will go on display to the public at Sotheby’s New Bond Street Galleries. Ahead of the exhibition, Samira gets an exclusive tour of Freddie’s on and off-stage wardrobe by entertainment memorabilia specialists, Wallace and Hodgson. A new report into Scottish theatre is calling for a commercially driven theatre company specialising in new work to be established in Scotland. To find out why, we’re joined by David Brownlee, chief executive of the arts data specialists Data Culture Change, theatre critic of the Scotsman Joyce MacMillan, and Patricia Stead who's executive director and Joint CEO of the Tron Theatre company in Glasgow. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath
Mon, July 31, 2023
West End producer unmasked, Reassessing the poetry of Virgil, Adjani Salmon on Dreaming Whilst Black
Adjani Salmon is the writer of the award-winning web-series Dreaming Whilst Black, now on BBC Three. He tells Tom Sutcliffe about the reality and his fictional portrayal of the everyday struggles of being an aspiring filmmaker. Also on Front Row - the Aeneid, the epic poem written by Virgil more than 2000 years ago. As well as being one of the great works of classical literature, it's also one of the earliest examples of a work commissioned as political propaganda. Maria Dahvana Headley - the writer behind Vergil! A Mythological Musical, a new audiobook that fuses the life of the poet with that of his greatest work, and Sarah Ruden, who recently updated her translation of the Aeneid and publishes a new biography of the poet in October, discuss why the Aeneid still packs a punch today. And - the Twitter sensation known only as West End Producer, has finally removed his mask and revealed his true identity - one of the theatre industry's biggest secrets. He's... actor Christian Edwards and he's telling Tom about life behind the mask and why he did it. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, July 27, 2023
Cellist Ana Carla Maza performs, the Mercury Music Prize shortlist
Cuban composer, cellist and singer Ana Carla Maza performs live in the Front Row studio, ahead of her appearance at WOMAD, and discusses the unusual combination of cello and vocals. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Neil McCormick and Tara Joshi to review two of the week’s cultural highlights – the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Music Prize and a new documentary Reframed: Marilyn Monroe. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, July 26, 2023
Sinéad O'Connor tribute, Edinburgh Fringe previews, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Efua Traoré on children’s books
Kathryn Ferguson, director of the documentary feature Nothing Compares, pays tribute to Sinéad O'Connor whose death was announced today. The film explores the five years at the start of Sinéad O’Connor’s career. Before appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe many performers hone their acts in a series of previews round the country. How does road-testing the shows prepare them for the festival? To discuss, we're joined by experienced comedian Paul Sinha, by Ned Blackburn - producer of a student revue at the Fringe for the first time, and by the artistic director of the Clapham Omnibus Theatre, Marie McCarthy, who is running a season of previews. Frank Cottrell-Boyce's new book The Wonder Brothers tells of two young aspiring magicians who witness the disappearance of Blackpool Tower and vow to get it back. Efua Traoré was frustrated by the lack of diversity in children’s books so decided to write her own. In her latest, One Chance Dance, the hero Jomi heads to Lagos to audition for his missing mother's favourite television dance show so she will spot him. Frank and Efua discuss the magical appeal of pre-teen literature. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Tue, July 25, 2023
Pianist Christian Blackshaw, tech-inspired funding for artists, playwright Rabiah Hussain
Christian Blackshaw is a renowned classical pianist but has made only a handful of records preferring the concert platform. Ahead of his appearance at the Oxford Piano Festival on 29 July and as a prelude to that talks to Samira about his career and plays in the Front Row studio. What can the world of fine art learn from the tech start-ups of Silicon Valley? Samira speaks to entrepreneur and musician Joey Flores, the co-founder of Inversion Art, a company proposing a new training programme and business model for artists. We also hear from painter and sculptor Servane Mary, one of the first artists to sign up to the programme and from Melanie Gerlis, art market author and columnist for the Financial Times. Rabiah Hussain’s new play at the Royal Court explores the power of words – how the ripple effect of what someone in a position of power says publicly can influence views, create mindsets and even incite violence. She joins Samira to discuss. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, July 24, 2023
Elizabeth Fremantle on Artemisia Gentileschi, French horn player Felix Klieser, logo design
Elizabeth Fremantle talks about her novel ‘Disobedient’, which explores the story of the extraordinary C17th woman artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, and how the traumatic events of her seventeenth year influenced her visceral biblical paintings like ‘Judith Slaying Holofernes’. Ahead of his premiere at the Proms, French horn player Felix Klieser plays in the studio for Front Row and tells Samira Ahmed how, aged four, he surprised his family with his choice of instrument. Born without arms, he explains how he plays by pressing the valves with the toes of his left foot. The potential of digital logo design is investigated by graphic artists Adrian Shaughnessy and Marina Willer.
Thu, July 20, 2023
Sarah Phelps on BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, Blur's new album reviewed
Sarah Phelps on BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, Blur's new album reviewed.
Wed, July 19, 2023
Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer, what is Cynghanedd?, club culture under threat
Presenter Nick Ahad meets Christopher Nolan, director of the much anticipated Oppenheimer film. It tells the story of the American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who, in 1943, assembled a group of scientists in Los Alamos to create the world’s first atomic bomb. Ahead of the National Eisteddfod, the annual festival of Welsh poetry and music, we learn about the poetic tradition of Cynghanedd from Dr Mererid Hopwood and Ceri Wyn Jones. And as nightclubs continue to close across Britain, we look at club culture and why people need to dance together. Nick is joined by the music journalist John Harris and Emma Warren, author of Dance Your Way Home. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Simon Coe
Tue, July 18, 2023
20 years of Podcasting, Black Venus, AI Songwriting Challenge
Aindrea Emelife and black women in art. Nigerian-British curator on her Somerset House exhibition Black Venus, addressing colonial history and the representation of black women in art as subject and artist, and her new curatorial role at the Edo Museum of West African Art, opening in Nigeria from 2024. Earlier this year a viral song purporting to feature Drake and The Weeknd was removed from streaming services when it emerged that vocals on the track were not the artists, but were generated by Artificial Intelligence. Songwriters are increasingly concerned that AI could put them out of business, but how worried should they be? The BBC’s Will Chalk is joined by two professional songwriters, Aaron Horn and Holly Henderson, to see who can write the most convincing pop hit – the humans or the machines. 20 years since the launch of the first ever podcast, we look back at the highlights of the medium’s explosive growth. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by podcast pioneer and host of The Allusionist, Helen Zaltzman, and by Dino Sofos, founder and CEO of audio production company Persephonica.
Mon, July 17, 2023
Greta Gerwig, Tudor tapestry, Tanika Gupta, Jane Birkin farewell
This Friday sees the release of the much anticipated ‘Barbie’ starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Samira meets director, Greta Gerwig to discuss the making of the film and her myriad of influences. A tapestry commissioned by Henry VIII has come up for sale in Spain. Historian of early modern textiles Isabella Rosner tells Samira why ‘Saint Paul Directing the Burning of the Heathen Books’ is so significant. We also hear from the collector and philanthropist behind the Auckland Project, Jonathan Ruffer, about why he's campaigning for the tapestry to be saved for the nation and installed at Auckland Castle. Last year, Tanika Gupta’s play, The Empress, was put on the GCSE curriculum for the first time. Set in the late 19th century, the play intertwines the story of Queen Victoria’s relationship with her Indian teacher Abdul Karim, with the story of Rani Das, a young Indian woman brought to the UK by an English family. It was premiered by the RSC in 2013 and Tanika joins Front Row to discuss updating it for a new production. Front Row bids farewell to the actress and singer, Jane Birkin, whose death was announced yesterday. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Thu, July 13, 2023
Mission Impossible, Herzog & de Meuron, Walter Murch
Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One - the long awaited seventh film in the series - and the Royal Academy's new exhibition about architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron. Ryan Gilbey and Oliver Wainwright review. Plus Walter Murch. The renowned film editor and sound designer has won Oscars for his work with directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Anthony Minghella. On the occasion of his 80th birthday he leads Antonia Quirke through several key scenes from his films, including the Godfather and Apocalypse Now, and explains his use of sound. He also talks about his own films, Return to Oz and the documentary Coup 53. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, July 12, 2023
Remembering Milan Kundera, author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Northern Soul Prom, the winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year
Front Row remembers the renowned Czech-born novelist, poet and essayist Milan Kundera who has died aged 94. Novelist Howard Jacobson and French journalist Agnès Poirier discuss the influence of his magical realist writing. Imagine a world where prison inmates fight to the death, for entertainment. That’s the premise of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the debut novel of Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, who joins Samira live in the studio to discuss writing inspired by his dislike of the American justice system. The first Northern Soul Prom is happening this weekend. Writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie, who has co-curated the Prom, joins Samira to discuss this celebration of the northern club culture of the 1960s and 1970s. And the £120,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year award is announced this evening. In recent weeks, we’ve been spotlighting all of the shortlisted nominees: The Burrell Collection, Glasgow; Leighton House, London; The MAC, Belfast; Natural History Museum, London and Scapa Flow Museum, Orkney. Samira will be speaking to the Director of the winning museum, live from this evening’s ceremony at The British Museum. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Tue, July 11, 2023
Film-maker Sally Potter on her first music album, the British Library turns 50, romance in later life on stage
Sally Potter is best known as a filmmaker- from Orlando starring Tilda Swinton to The Roads Not Taken with Javier Bardem. But she's also a musician, collaborating on the scores for all of her films. Now Sally has released her first album as a singer-songwriter, Pink Bikini and joins Nick Ahad to reflect on this musical coming of age. This month the British Library celebrates its 50th anniversary - a half century of caring for the UK’s research collection. For Front Row, reporter JP Devlin hears the stories of the people gathered at the UK’s national library for their own unique purposes. Why are love stories so often centred on the young? Two playwrights join Nick to discuss dramatizing love in later life. Jennifer Lunn has written Es & Flo about two women in a four decades-long relationship that began in Greenham Common. In Ben Weatherill's Frank and Percy, two men, neither of whom will see sixty again, embark on a romance after meeting while walking their dogs. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, July 10, 2023
PJ Harvey, the Scapa Flow museum, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor performs
PJ Harvey talks to Samira Ahmed about her new album, I Inside the Old Year Dying. She explains how her poetry and lyrics were influenced by the Dorset dialect and how the film-maker Steve McQueen helped her to find new inspiration. Benjamin Grosvenor wowed audiences for the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year competition when he was just eleven years old and is now regarded as one of the most exciting pianists working today. As he prepares for this year’s Proms, he performs in the Front Row studio and explains what drew him to the music he will play. Front Row is hearing from the museum’s shortlisted for this year’s Art Fund Museum of the Year award and tonight reporter Huw Williams is at the Scapa Flow Museum on the island of Hoy in Orkney. He hears about how the refurbished museum, which is named after the Scapa Flow body of water off the island of Hoy, reflects the area’s wartime history. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, July 06, 2023
Kwame Kwei-Armah, Disney Pixar film Elemental reviewed
Kwame Kwei-Armah discusses his play Beneatha's Place, which imagines a future for Beneatha Younger, a character from Lorraine Hansberry’s ground-breaking 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. He talks to Samira Ahmed about the themes of race and politics in the play, which is set in 1950s Nigeria and the present day. Samira is joined by critics Leila Latif and Ekow Eshun to review some of the cultural highlights of the week: A World in Common, an exhibition of contemporary African photography at Tate Modern in London and Disney Pixar film Elemental, which imagines a world where the inhabitants are all elements. The Edinburgh Film Festival re-launches today, following its forced closure in 2022 when the charity that ran it went into administration. The festival’s director Kate Taylor joins Samira to outline the plans for the re-vamped festival. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, July 05, 2023
Manchester International Festival Special
Yayoi Kusama: You, Me & The Balloons is the inaugural show in Aviva Studios, the new headquarters for the Manchester International Festival. In a variety of ways Kusama’s distinctive polka dots fill the new Warehouse space. Economics the Blockbuster – It’s Not Business As Usual at The Whitworth is a very different kind of visual art show which asks artists to re-imagine that most topical of subjects, the economy. Art critic Laura Robertson and novelist Okechukwu Nzelu review. In his illustrious career Benji Reid has moved from the world of breakdancing, to contemporary dance, to physical theatre, to hiphop theatre. After pursuing his interest in photography, he has now created a new art form which he calls Choreo-Photolism. He talks to Nick about the importance of curiosity both for artists and the arts. Grammy award winning composer John Luther Adams and the composer Ailís Ní Ríain have been commissioned to create brand new work inspired by the environment as part of the Manchester International Festival. The premiere is Friday, we’ll hear all about it on tonight’s programme. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, July 04, 2023
Ben Okri, film director Shamira Raphaela, Leighton House Museum
The Booker Prize-winning author Sir Ben Okri joins Antonia Quirke to reflect on his new collection Tiger Work, intended as a wake up call for a warming world. It blends fiction, essays and poetry inspired by environmental activism in the face of climate crisis. Film director Shamira Raphaela discusses her documentary Shabu, which follows an aspiring teenage musician from Rotterdam during a single summer. Antonia visits Leighton House in London, one of five finalists for this year's Art Fund Museum of the Year award. The Victorian 'studio house' was once the home of Fredric Leighton, artist, collector and former president of the Royal Academy. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, July 03, 2023
The legendary Dolly Parton and celebrating children's books
Dolly Parton, one of the few global stars to have truly earned the title icon, talks to Samira Ahmed about departing from her Country sound to record an album of Rock songs. Rockstar sees her collaborate with some of the biggest names in music including Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John and new generation of musicians such as Miley Cyrus and Lizzo. She discusses her long career and mentoring women in music as well as her philanthropy, funding for the COVID vaccine, and the influence of her films and music on feminism. Are musicians at home being unfairly hit with noise abatement notices? Lewisham council have recently issued a notice which prevents one musician from practicing in her own home. We find out more. The Booktastic schools programme: author Patrice Lawrence on the importance of the UK’s only book festival to focus on engaging disadvantaged children and reflecting the diversity of children’s lives in literature. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, June 29, 2023
Front Row reviews Indiana Jones; author Brandon Taylor; Young V&A reviewed
Our critics Hanna Flint and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh watch Harrison Ford’s last outing as the title character in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, also starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Is it a crowd-pleasing exit? Presenter Tom Sutcliffe talks to Brandon Taylor about his new novel, The Late Americans. Taylor's debut, Real Life, was Booker Prize nominated and his collection of short fiction, Filthy Animals, won the Story Prize. He discusses interweaving tales of sex and aspiration, played out amongst friends in a mid-western university town. Hanna and Larushka also review Young V&A, the new incarnation of the Museum of Childhood in London’s Bethnal Green, which is reopening after a £13 million 3-year redevelopment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, June 28, 2023
Playwright Kimber Lee, the art of pattern discussed, Elgan Llŷr Thomas on queer culture in classical song
In 2019 Kimber Lee won the first International Award from the Bruntwood Prize, the UK’s biggest national competition for playwriting, with her work - Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play. As the play’s world premiere production prepares to open this year’s Manchester International Festival, Kimber joins Front Row to discuss how Groundhog Day helped her to take on a century of East Asian stereotypes. Finding queer musical stories: tenor and composer Elgan Llyr Thomas has been exploring LGBTQ+ representation in vocal music and performs live. Eric Broug, writer and artist specialising in Islamic geometric design and Annemarie O’Sullivan, basket-maker and artist, join Nick Ahad to discuss the nature of pattern in their respective fields and its fundamental presence in culture. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, June 27, 2023
Michael R Jackson on his hit musical, Ray BLK on Champion, the Natural History Museum
Playwright and composer Michael R Jackson talks about his musical A Strange Loop, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The musical is based on his own experiences and follows a black man working as an usher at the musical The Lion King, who is himself writing a musical about a black male usher writing a musical. Michael R Jackson talks about why his reflective drama was such a hit in the United States. Singer songwriter Ray BLK discusses making her acting debut in new BBC and Netflix drama Champion. Written by Candice Carty Williams, the series is set in the cut-throat world of the British music industry. Samira Ahmed is at the Natural History Museum in London, which has been shortlisted for the Art Fund Museum of the Year Award. She takes a tour of the Titanosaur exhibition and hears about the museum’s expertise in mammals and dinosaurs. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, June 26, 2023
Wes Anderson on Asteroid City, Bob Stanley on his biography of the Bee Gees
Wes Anderson, known for his quirky storylines and individual aesthetic, talks about his latest film Asteroid City. Set in 1955, at a science competition in the middle of the desert, it follows a cast of characters who are thrown into close contact when an alien appears. Wes Anderson discusses his fascination with America in the 1950s and working with his high profile cast, including Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks. The Bee Gees were megastars across four decades, but to musician and music journalist Bob Stanley, they remain critically underrated. In his new biography, Bee Gees: Children of the World, Stanley argues that the Gibb brothers were far more influential than they’ve been given credit for since they emerged in the 1960s. He joins Samira to discuss their rise, endless reinvention and why he believes they should be reclaimed. Stephen Smith reports on the opening up of Pompeii's treasures at the Naples Museum of Archaeology. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones
Mon, June 26, 2023
Elliot Page, Wicker Man music, Jewish Museum and Holocaust Memorial
Oscar-nominated Elliot Page, best known as star of comedy drama Juno, on coming out as gay and as a trans man, all in the glare of the Hollywood spotlight - and sharing this now in his new memoir, Pageboy. Marking Jewish history. With proposals for a Holocaust Memorial in London, and the closure of the Jewish Museum building, historian Sir Simon Schama, and Aviva Dautch, poet and Executive Director at Jewish Renaissance, discuss what recent developments mean for Jewish culture. The Wicker Man. As the cult horror film turns 50, Scottish folk musician Alasdair Roberts and ex-Pogues hurdy gurdy player Jem Finer celebrate with music, live in the Front Row studio. Plus, writer on architecture Gillian Darley appreciates the work of the late Sir Michael Hopkins. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker This programme has been edited since broadcast
Thu, June 22, 2023
National Portrait Gallery refurbishment and play Dear England reviewed, violinist Rachel Podger
Tom is joined by reviewers Boyd Hilton and Susannah Clapp who look at Dear England, a new play by James Graham at the National Theatre which examines the changes in England’s football since Gareth Southgate became manager. And the National Portrait Gallery reopens today having had the most extensive refurbishment since 1896, including a redisplay, a new entrance and public spaces. Violinist Rachel Podger performs from the Baroque repertoire live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, June 21, 2023
The winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal, the MAC in Belfast and does the UK need more music arenas?
Front Row hears from the winner of this year’s Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, which is awarded for a book for children or young people. Manon Steffan Ros has won for her novel The Blue Book of Nebo, the first time the prize has been awarded to a book in translation. Originally written in Welsh, it explores Welsh identity and culture. There are plans for eight new arenas across the UK, including ones in Cardiff, Bristol, Gateshead and Dundee. But does the UK really need more arenas when smaller, grassroots music venues are said to be struggling, closing at the rate of one per week? Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, and Tom Lynch of ASM Global, who run arenas all over the world, discuss. Steven Rainey reports from the MAC, the Metropolitan Arts Centre, in Belfast, which has been shortlisted for this year’s Art Fund Museum of the Year. The museum’s chief executive Anne McReynolds and creative director Hugh Mulholland discuss how the venue has thrived as a creative hub in a Belfast looking to the future after the Troubles. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, June 19, 2023
The Beatles at Stowe, Nick Drake, Maggi Hambling
The Beatles at Stowe School: Front Row made the news with the discovery of the earliest recording of a concert by The Beatles in this country, at Stowe School in April 1963. Today Samira brings news of a new home for that recording, one where anyone interested will be able to hear it. And, remarkably, another Beatles recording, made that day, has surfaced too. Plus Maggi Hambling discusses her new exhibition, Origins, which has just opened at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury in Suffolk. Like Gainsborough, Maggi Hambling was born in Sudbury and these works reflect on her early life as an artist and the influence of her parents and lifelong friends on her career. And Nick Drake. Today would have been the musician’s 75th birthday. He died aged 26, before he found worldwide fame and admiration. His sister Gabrielle Drake and biographer Richard Morton Jack join Samira to remember his life and music. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Emma Wallace
Thu, June 15, 2023
Glenda Jackson remembered, Wayne McGregor, Black Mirror reviewed
Front Row plays tribute to Oscar winning actor Glenda Jackson, who has died aged 87. Theatre critic Sarah Crompton remembers the power of her stage performances, and Aisling Walsh discusses directing her in her TV drama Elizabeth is Missing. Choreographer Wayne McGregor talks about his new ballet, Untitled 2023, which was inspired by the works of Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera. And Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Erica Wagner and Isabel Stevens to review some of the week’s cultural highlights, including the new series of dystopian TV drama Black Mirror and the new novel from Lorrie Moore, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, June 14, 2023
The Burrell Collection, Accordion Quartet, Women's Prize Winner Barbara Kingsolver, Folk Film Gathering
Allan Little visits the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, which re-opened last year after a £68 million transformation and is now a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023. He talks to Director Duncan Dornan and Caroline Currie, Learning and Access curator. Ahead of their performance at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney which gets underway on Friday we have a live performance from members of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Accordion Ensemble whose theatrical performances breathe new life into existing repertoire from tango to classical. We hear from one the players who'll be performing in the ensemble and in a number of other concerts throughout the festival; BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Ryan Corbett and Serbian born accordion professor at the RCS, Djordji Gajic who'll also perform with Ryan a duet of Puccini's Crisantemi. The winner of the Women's Prize is announced tonight. We hear live from the winner direct from the ceremony. Jamie Chambers founded The Folk Film Gathering in 2015. He explains what that is to Allan Little and introduces the focus this year on Ukrainian folk filmmaking. There are also documentaries about second sight in the Hebrides, and rarely screened Scottish classics from the 1970s. Each screening is preceded with live music and storytelling. Presenter: Allan Little Producer: Tim Prosser
Tue, June 13, 2023
Two debuts: novelist Cecilia Rabess, film director Dionne Edwards; the cost of maintaining arts organisations' buildings
Author and former data scientist, Cecilia Rabess joins Samira Ahmed to discuss her debut novel, Everything’s Fine, which explores the unlikely and complicated relationship between a liberal black woman working in the world of investment banking and her conservative white male colleague, during the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Following yesterday’s announcement that the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool is to close by the end of the month, Front Row takes a close look at the cost for arts organisations of maintaining infrastructure and cultural heritage sites across the UK. Joining Samira to discuss this are: architecture correspondent for The Times, Jonathan Morrison; Gillian Miller, CEO of Liverpool’s Royal Court, who reflects on the challenges of maintaining and modernising that grade II listed art deco theatre; and CEO of the Southbank Centre in London, Elaine Bedell, who thinks it’s time for new era of regeneration of the arts. Pretty Red Dress, which captured a lot of attention when first shown at the BFI London Film Festival last year, is the debut feature film of screenwriter and director Dionne Edwards. She joins Front Row to talk about how the eponymous red dress becomes a way for the black family members, at the heart of the film, to define and redefine themselves. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Mon, June 12, 2023
Mad Musicals, Eric Whitacre, Women's Prize - Laline Paull
Surprising musicals: new musicals are packing in audiences - and some with quite unlikely subjects. Whilst the classic Broadway musical, like 42nd Street, Guys and Dolls, and Oklahoma!, remain as popular as ever, there’s now a musical based on Bake Off, and the plot of Operation Mincemeat is itself a plot - to hoodwink the Nazis with a corpse in disguise. Critic David Benedict, Natasha Hodgson, co-writer of Operation Mincemeat, and Matthew Iliffe, Assistant Director of Assassins, discuss what’s happening with the musical. Eric Whitacre is one of the world’s most popular living composers. He specialises in choral music and is a virtual choir pioneer, uniting thousands of singers all over the globe. He talks to Samira Ahmed about Home, his new album with acclaimed vocal ensemble Voces8. Plus, the Women’s Prize For Fiction. In the last of our interviews from authors on the shortlist, we speak to Laline Paull - whose novel Pod explores sealife in the Indian Ocean, with themes of war and migration under the shadow of climate change. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, June 08, 2023
Film Chevalier and new TV drama Significant Other reviewed
Gaming isn’t just something you play, it is also a spectator sport! Comedian and streamer Ellie Gibson and journalist and gamer Marie Le Conte join us to discuss the cultural phenomenon of game streaming. Linton Stephens, bassoonist and presenter of Radio 3’s Classical Fix, and filmmaker and journalist Catherine Bray join Front Row to review Chevalier, the new film about the life of the French-Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. They’ll also give their verdicts on ITV comedy drama Significant Other about neighbours thrown together in adverse circumstances, starring Katherine Parkinson and Youssef Kerkour. And to mark the start of Pride month, the UK’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, Front Row hears from the French music star Christine and the Queens, who is curating this year’s Meltdown festival. He discusses Jean Genet’s 1943 novel Our Lady of the Flowers and its significance as a queer work of art.
Wed, June 07, 2023
Dave Johns on I, Daniel Blake; the Liverpool Biennial; why Dario Fo's plays speak to this moment?
The Liverpool Biennial, the UK’s largest contemporary visual arts festival, begins this weekend. Arts journalist Laura Robertson reviews, and the curator of the biennial, Khanyisile Mbongwa, discuss coming up with this year’s theme – uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost things – which reflects on Liverpool’s history as a slave port but also provides a sense of hope and joy. Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo was famous for plays that careered between farce and current affairs. He wrote his most successful plays during Italy’s years of economic crisis in the 1970s, and there’s been an upsurge in productions of them in the UK this year. Playwrights Deborah McAndrew and Tom Basden discuss their respective adaptations of They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! and Accidental Death of an Anarchist. For Dave Johns, the lead role in Ken Loach’s multi-award winning film, I, Daniel Blake, marked his debut as a film actor. His performance as a man trapped and impoverished in the Catch-22 of the benefits system was admired by many. Now Dave has adapted the film for the stage. It opened at Northern Stage in Newcastle and begins a nationwide tour next week. He talks to Nick Ahad retelling the story of the film in a new way. Presenter: Nick Ahad Presenter: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, June 06, 2023
Rufus Wainwright, hairdressing film Medusa Deluxe, the rise of the understudy
Rufus Wainwright talks to Samira Ahmed about his new album Folkocracy, a collection of reimagined Folk songs. The album includes collaborations with artists including John Legend, Chaka Khan and his sister Martha Wainwright. Thomas Hardiman talks about his new film Medusa Deluxe, a gritty murder mystery set at a hairdressing competition. He explains where his unusual idea came from and why he uses his films to explore obsession, whether with hairdressing or carpet sales. Before Covid, many theatre productions didn’t cast understudies at all but now plays are casting two for one role. The BBC’s Carolyn Atkinson investigates the rise of the understudy. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, June 05, 2023
Author Maggie O’Farrell, New opera Giant, The consumerism in creativity
Charles Byrne was an 18th-century “Irish giant” whose skeleton was stolen and put on display against his wishes. 240 years after his death, he is being remembered in a new electro acoustic opera rather than as a museum-piece curiosity. Dawn Kemp of the Hunterian Museum discusses removing the famous skeleton from their collection, and composer, musician, and robotic artist Sarah Angliss tells us about her new opera, Giant, which celebrates Byrne on stage, and is opening the Aldeburgh Festival. The Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell’s last novel “Hamnet” is now playing on stage at the Globe Theatre and won the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her latest “The Marriage Portrait” has made it onto the 2023 shortlist, and was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller. Both focus on the lives of women hidden in history behind men of influence. In the next of our series meeting the Women’s Prize finalists, we’ll be finding out what it is about these stories that inspire her, and how it feels to make the shortlist for a second time. It is commonly accepted, including here at Front Row, that creativity is a good thing. But two new books: Samuel. W. Franklin’s The Cult of Creativity and Against Creativity by Oli Mould, challenge that view, arguing that creativity is a recent invention and that the artistic impulse has been co-opted by the capitalist military industrial complex. Both authors discuss their ideas with Tom Sutcliffe. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, June 01, 2023
Punk exhibition reviewed, Reality film director, TV drama White House Plumbers reviewed
Critics Katie Puckrik and Michael Carlson join Front Row to review the exhibition Punk: Rage and Revolution at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery and Soft Touch Arts. The American writer and director Tina Satter talks about her new film Reality, starring Sydney Sweeney. The script is based on the transcript of the FBI interrogation of the whistleblower Reality Winner, who leaked secret documents about Russian interference in the 2016 US election. And Katie Puckrik and Michael Carlson also review a new TV drama series about Watergate starring Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux, White House Plumbers. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, May 31, 2023
Shane Meadows on The Gallows Pole, and GoGo Penguin perform live
Writer/director Shane Meadows and actor Michael Socha on the new BBC TV adaptation of Benjamin Myers' novel, The Gallows Pole. The Mercury Music Prize-nominated minimal jazz trio GoGo Penguin play tracks from their new album, Everything Is Going To Be OK, live in the studio – and discuss how they alter their instruments to extend their range of sound. As the interests and concerns of the First Nations people rise up the cultural agenda in Australia exemplified by the plan for the National Aboriginal Art Gallery, Ce Benedict, based in Australia and a Senior Producer at ABC Radio National, reports on how that story is resonating in their homeland and in the UK. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, May 30, 2023
Chita Rivera, a new funding model for the arts discussed, Priscilla Morris
Broadway legend Chita Rivera, who made her name playing Anita in the original stage production of West Side Story, talks to Samira Ahmed about the highlights of her seven decade career, ahead of the publication of her memoir. Arts consultant Amanda Parker, formerly editor of Arts Professional magazine and now of the Forward Institute, and theatre director Tom Morris, who until recently ran Bristol Old Vic, discuss new approaches to funding the arts. Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist: Priscilla Morris on her nominated debut novel Black Butterflies Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, May 29, 2023
The 75th anniversary of the Windrush - the cultural legacy of a generation
The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks on 22 June 1948 from Jamaica. Front Row marks the artistic and cultural contribution of a generation of people from the Caribbean, now characterised as the Windrush Generation, who arrived then, soon before or in the years following. Samira talks to the Jamaican-born actor and director Anton Phillips about his career, including starring in the cult classic Space 1999 and directing James Baldwin's The Amen Corner in a landmark production on the London stage. Andrea Levy's highly acclaimed 2004 novel Small Island tells the story of four people caught up in the Caribbean migration story and has been adapted for radio, TV and stage. The playwright Patricia Cumper, poet and writer Hannah Lowe and novelist Louise Hare discuss the impact of the book on them and their own writing. The composer Shirley J Thompson OBE talks about how her Jamaican heritage shaped her music making and about composing for the Coronation. And Kevin LeGendre explains the impact of the arrival of calypso and steel pan on the musical life of the nation. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, May 25, 2023
Jhalak Book Prize, Tate Britain Rehang, The Little Mermaid, Cannes
The Jhalak Prize is an annual literary prize for British or British-Resident writers of colour, established in 2016. Previous winners include Reni Eddo-Lodge and Johny Pitts. Tom speaks to the winners of this year’s Jhalak Prize and Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize, announced at the British Library this evening. This week Tate Britain revealed a complete rehang of its free collection displays - the first in ten years. There are over 800 works by over 350 artists, featuring much-loved favourites and recent discoveries, including 70 works which entered the collection in the past 5 years. The rehang intends to reflect revolutionary changes in art, culture and society, and present new work by some of Britain’s most exciting contemporary artists. Associate arts editor of The Times, Alice Jones, and TV and film critic Amon Warmann give their view. Plus The Little Mermaid. In their 100th year, Disney have reworked their 1989 Oscar winning animated musical classic into a live action version, starring Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King and Melissa McCarthy. Alice and Amon review. And the Cannes Film Festival - critic Jason Solomons offers his round up of this year's films. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, May 24, 2023
Playing Putin on stage in Patriots, DJ Taylor on Orwell, new V&A Photography Centre
Patriots, Peter Morgan’s play set in Russia in 1991, traces the rise and fall of Boris Berezovsky, who helped Vladimir Putin take power. As Patriots transfers to the West End, Allan Little – who as the BBC’s Moscow correspondent met Berezovsky – talks to the director Rupert Goold and Will Keen, winner of an Olivier Award for his performance as Vladimir Putin. The V&A Photography Centre opens this week, the largest suite of galleries in the UK dedicated to a permanent photography collection. Allan is joined by curator Marta Weiss and AI deep fake photographer Jake Elwes. DJ Taylor won the 2003 Whitbread Prize for Biography for his first telling of George Orwell’s life. He reveals why, twenty years later, he’s returned to the subject with the publication of Orwell: The New Life. Presenter: Allan Little Producer: Timothy Prosser
Tue, May 23, 2023
Sparks, EM Forster adaptations, nature mystery writer Bob Gilbert
Sparks, the American pop duo formed in 1960s Los Angeles, are back with their 26th album, The Girl is Crying in her Latte. Samira Ahmed meets brothers Ron and Russell Mael to discuss how Cate Blanchett came to be dancing in the music video for the title track and their extraordinary longevity. E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel A Room with a View is being dramatised for Radio 4, as is the novel The Ballad of Syd and Morgan, which imagines a meeting between Forster and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Samira is joined by the producers Marcy Kahan and Roger James Elsgood to explore Forster's enduring appeal and transposing prose into audio drama. Nature writer Bob Gilbert's new book The Missing Musk: A Casebook of Mysteries from the Natural World sets out to discover why, all over the world, a popular fragrant flowering plant has lost its scent. Samira talks to the former urban nature columnist about how his book has invented a new literary genre, the detective nature mystery. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, May 22, 2023
Arlo Parks, Martin Amis remembered, depicting The Troubles
Singer songwriter Arlo Parks talks about following her highly acclaimed first album with a new release, My Soft Machine, which includes a collaboration with American musician Phoebe Bridgers. Film director James Bluemel discusses his new documentary, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, which reflects on the troubles using human stories. He’s joined by Craig Murray, curator of the Imperial War Museum’s new exhibition Living With The Troubles, which takes the same approach. The writer Martin Amis has died aged 73. To discuss how his novels defined an era and reflect on his literary criticism, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics John Self and Alex Clark. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, May 18, 2023
Caleb Azumah Nelson, Reviews of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret & China's Hidden Century
Caleb Azumah Nelson’s debut novel, Open Water, won the Costa First Novel award and critical acclaim. He joins Front Row to talk about his second, Small Worlds, the story of a young musician looking for his own space in the streets of Peckham, finding his way with love, family and his Ghanaian heritage. The exhibition China’s Hidden Century at the British Museum is billed as a world first, bringing together 300 artefacts from the Qing Dynasty’s ‘long 19th Century’- the final chapter of dynastic rule in China. Joining Tom Sutcliffe to review it are Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford and the film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. Larushka and Rana have also been watching one of this week’s big film releases, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, starring Rachel McAdams and based on the classic young adult novel by Judy Blume, first published in 1970. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones
Wed, May 17, 2023
Chuck D of Public Enemy on watercolours; author Jacqueline Crooks; artist Andy Holden
Chuck D on his watercolour art. He is regarded as one of hip-hop's greatest MCs with his powerful lyrical dexterity a key component in Public Enemy's international success, but what is less well known is that visual art was his first passion. It's a love that he has returned to in recent years and he joins Front Row to discuss the first collection of his watercolour and pen paintings. Plus author Jacqueline Crooks on her first novel, Fire Rush, which has been nominated for the Women’s Prize For Fiction. 16 years in the making, it draws on many of the author’s own experiences of loss, belonging and discrimination to create a music and memory-filled dramatic narrative. And artist Andy Holden on his exhibition Full of Days. Intrigued after discovering unknown amateur artist Hermione Burton’s body of work in a charity shop after her death, he turned it into her fantasy exhibition – along with his own new work inspired by her, including an animation with Saint Etienne’s Sarah Cracknell. Full of Days: Hermione Burton and Andy Holden is at the Gallery of Everything in London until 21 May and then tours. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, May 16, 2023
Contemporary sari design; the politics of museum labelling; Mat Osman's novel The Ghost Theatre
Samira Ahmed talks to Priya Khanchandani, the curator of The Offbeat Sari, an exhibition of contemporary saris at the Design Museum in London. The art critic Louisa Buck and the journalist James Marriott consider the vexed politics of museum labels. Mat Osman, bass player with the band Suede, joins Samira to discuss his new novel, The Ghost Theatre, which dramatises the lives of boy actors in 1601. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, May 15, 2023
Brokeback Mountain on stage, Venice architecture biennale, author Tan Twan Eng
Brokeback Mountain on stage: musician and librettist Dan Gillespie Sells discusses writing the songs for a new stage production of Brokeback Mountain, adapted from Annie Proulx’s short story about the romance between two men working as sheep herders in 1960s Wyoming. Venice Architecture Biennale: the exhibition at the British Pavilion this year draws on traditions practised by different diaspora communities in the UK - such as Jamaicans playing dominoes and Cypriots cooking outside - and explores how they occupy space, so this can be included in planning the built environment. Two of the curators, Meneesha Kellay and Joseph Henry, discuss how architecture goes beyond buildings and economic structures. Plus art generates art in Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng’s new book The House of Doors, inspired in part by the life of William Somerset Maugham and the stories he wrote drawing on his travels in Malaysia. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, May 11, 2023
June Givanni on the PanAfrican cinema archive, Gwen John at Pallant House Gallery reviewed
In 2021, June Givanni was presented with the British Independent Film Awards Special Jury Prize for what was described as “an extraordinary, selfless and lifelong contribution to documenting a pivotal period of film history” with her extensive archive focussed on African and African diaspora cinema. The archive is now the subject of a new exhibition - PerAnkh: The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive. June joins Front Row to discuss turning her personal passion into a public resource. Gwen John: the modern painter of interiors and solitary women, was once in the shadow of the men in her life - brother Augustus, Rodin, and Whistler. Critics Hettie Judah and Ben Luke review a new exhibition of her work at Pallant House Gallery, which considers her art and life, and her status as one of the most significant artists of the early 20th century. They also review Claire Kilroy’s novel Soldier Sailor: a searing portrait of new motherhood. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Eliane Glaser
Wed, May 10, 2023
Author Louise Kennedy, Royal patronage in the arts, beatboxer SK Shlomo
Louise Kennedy's debut novel Trespasses has been shortlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. Set in Belfast in 1975 at the height of the Troubles it traces the love affair between a young Catholic schoolteacher and an older man, a married Protestant barrister. Front Row will be talking to the authors on the shortlist in the weeks before the announcement of the prize on June 14th. Musician and beatboxer SK Shlomo has collaborated with Björk, performed with Damon Albarn, Ed Sheeran and Rudimental, became World Looping champion and artist in residence at London’s Soutbank centre and played Glastonbury. They discuss their new show, which explores coming back to performance after struggling with their mental health. And how might the patronage of King Charles III impact the arts? Art critics Jonathan Jones and Ruth Guilding discuss the history of Royal patronage and what his tastes may mean for culture in the coming years. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, May 10, 2023
Dennis Potter’s newly discovered play, Cathi Unsworth on goth culture, artist Isaac Julien
Samira Ahmed speaks to John Cook, Professor of Media at Glasgow Caledonian University about his discovery of a previously unknown early version of the seminal screenplay The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter. Samira is also joined in the studio by Ken Trodd, who co-produced The Singing Detective for television. Music writer Cathi Unsworth discusses her new book, Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth, which explores the enduring influence of Goth counterculture. And the artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien reflects on his major retrospective, What Freedom is to Me, at Tate Britain. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, May 08, 2023
Eurovision comes to Liverpool
Recorded at the Hornby Library inside Liverpool Central Library, in front of a live audience, as Liverpool gears up to host The Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine. Two novelists from The Big Eurovision Read, a list of 12 books from The Reading Agency and BBC Arts talk to Nick Ahad about the unifying power of music: Pete Paphides on his autobiography Broken Greek, A story of chip shops and pop songs, and Matt Cain tells us about his novel The Madonna of Bolton. Yemeni British poet and activist Amina Atiq performs her poem Daifa, commissioned for the Big Eurovision Welcome concert. Former conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko is one of the city’s Citizens of Honour. He’s returned to the city for a concert with the orchestra. He explains how music can be a unifying force and why he has suspended his work in Russia. There’s music from the Liverpudlian electro pop band Stealing Sheep, along with local singer songwriter Natalie McCool, who open the EuroFestival with Welcome to Eurotopia. And Ukrainian singer and musician Iryna Muha performs her next single Come Back. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Andrea Kidd
Thu, May 04, 2023
Playwright Jonathan Harvey on A Thong for Europe, Tom Hanks’s new novel reviewed
Merseyside-native Jonathan Harvey discusses his new play, A Thong For Europe, which combines his love of Liverpool with his passion for Eurovision to create an exuberant comedy where the Eurovision final really does become a family affair. And this week our panel of cultural critics review two debuts - Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks’s first novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, and Harka, the debut feature from the Egyptian-American filmmaker Lotfy Nathan. The literary critic Max Liu and the film critic Leila Latif join Samira Ahmed to give their assessment of Hanks’s time travelling tour of the film industry on the page and Nathan’s portrait of Tunisia on screen, set some ten years after the Arab Spring.
Wed, May 03, 2023
Writer Jack Thorne, Derek Jarman’s Blue reimagined, music for the King’s coronation
Jack Thorne talks about his new play, The Motive and the Cue, which is about John Gielgud directing Richard Burton in a 1960s production of Hamlet on Broadway. He discusses the relationship between the two famous figures in the world of stage and screen. Composers Debbie Wiseman and Sarah Glass, who have both been commissioned to write music for the King’s Coronation, discuss composing for a landmark Royal occasion. To mark 30 years since the release of Derek Jarman’s final film Blue - which reflects his battle with HIV - director Neil Bartlett and composer Simon Fisher Turner have created a live performance of the film, called Blue Now. They explain the importance of Jarman and of Blue, both then and now. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Eliane Glaser
Tue, May 02, 2023
Sir Lenny Henry on his new play, music from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery, publishing and net zero
Sir Lenny Henry is making his debut as a playwright for the stage with August in England, a one-man drama about the Windrush scandal. Tom Sutcliffe meets Lenny to discuss his move from stage to page and back again, as he takes on the title role of August at The Bush Theatre in London. 50 years ago, after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the ancient Tashi Lhunpo Monastery relocated to South India, where the exiled monks are dedicated to maintaining the culture and religion of their homeland. Simon Broughton reports from the monastery where he meets some of the monks about to tour the UK performing ritual dance and music. At the Gutor festival he witnesses elaborate masked dances and hears the awe-inspiring sound of Tibetan trumpets - four metres long. Can books ever be sustainable? How can publishing reach net zero? Children’s author Piers Torday, Chair of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Committee, and commercial publishing veteran Amanda Ridout, CEO of Boldwood Books and Chair of the Independent Publishing Guild’s Sustainability Group discuss the challenges of making the book industry greener. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Mon, May 01, 2023
Rachmaninoff - the 20th century's great romantic
Samira celebrates the music and life of Sergei Rachmaninoff. With pianist Kirill Gerstein, who has released a new recording of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, Marina Frolova-Walker, Professor of Music at Cambridge, pianist Lucy Parham, who has created a Composer Portrait concert about Rachmaninoff that she is currently touring across the UK. Plus film historian and composer Neil Brand discusses the use of Rachmaninoff's music in film classics such as Brief Encounter. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Thu, April 27, 2023
Patrick Bringley on being a museum guard and TV drama Citadel reviewed
Patrick Bringley sought solace after the death of his brother and found it as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where he worked for ten years. He joins Front Row to talk about his memoir of that time, All the Beauty in the World. Novelist Tahmima Anam and film critic Jason Solomons review the Russo Brothers' new spy thriller series Citadel starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci, as well as the satirical action comedy film Polite Society, directed by Nida Manzoor. And art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston reacts to the Turner Prize shortlist, announced today. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, April 26, 2023
The making of the new RSC production of Cymbeline
A special edition following the Royal Shakespeare’s Company’s new production of Cymbeline, the final play in Shakespeare’s First Folio - a collection that reaches its 400th anniversary this year. Acclaimed and award-winning Shakespearean, Greg Doran, has directed every play in the First Folio except Cymbeline. For him it’s one of Shakespeare’s most complex creations and he will be directing it for the first time as his swansong as the RSC's Artistic Director Emeritus. From the start of the production’s rehearsal period until its first performance, Front Row follows Greg and his team as they get to grips with a play criticised and celebrated for its genre-busting, location-hopping, multiple plotlines, topped by the appearance of the god Jupiter descending from the heavens on an eagle. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, April 25, 2023
Playwright Ryan Calais Cameron, musician Stewart Copeland and is Morris dancing having a moment?
The playwright Ryan Calais Cameron's critically acclaimed play For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy has just transferred to London's West End. Samira Ahmed talks to him about its success and his new play at The Kiln in London, Retrograde, set in 1950s Hollywood and following a young Sidney Poitier. Stewart Copeland, founder member and drummer of The Police, now a composer for film, opera and ballet, has reinterpreted the 80s rock band's biggest hits. He talks to Samira about his operas, movie soundtracks and his new album and tour, Police Deranged for Orchestra. Next Monday is May Day when morris dancers will perform at dawn to greet the summer. Morris dancing is itself enjoying a moment in the sun: Boss Morris, an all-female folk dance group, performed with the Best New Artist winners, Wet Leg, at this year's Brit Awards. Samira is joined by Michael Heaney, author of a new history of the dance; the musician Rob Harbron, who composes new morris tunes; and Lily Cheetham of Boss Morris – who will dance for us. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, April 24, 2023
Patrick Radden Keefe on the Sackler family, Iestyn Davies performs live, sustainable theatre
Patrick Radden Keefe, who has been shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize of Prizes award, discusses his book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. It tells the shocking story of the Sackler family and the part their company, Purdue Pharma, played in America's opioid crisis. “The word ‘divine’,” Iestyn Davies says, ”has changed its meaning to indicate nowadays beauty as well as Divinity.” The songs countertenor Iestyn Davies has selected for his new album, Divine Music: An English Songbook, reflect this change. There are settings by Purcell, Britten and Butterworth and words by Shakespeare, de la Mare and Housman. That prolific artist Anonymous makes a significant contribution, too. Iestyn Davies talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his choices and, accompanied by pianist Joseph Middleton, performs one of them, appropriately titled, ‘A Hymn on Divine Music’. Theatre is not only becoming increasingly focused on telling stories about our climate crisis, but also thinking more about how sustainably it actually stages those stories. Paddy Dillon, theatre architect and founder of the Theatre Green Book, and Kate McGrath, director of Fuel Theatre Company, talk about cutting the carbon footprint of fixed theatres and touring productions. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, April 20, 2023
Everything But the Girl, French film Pacifiction and TV drama The Diplomat reviewed
Tom Sutcliffe meets Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt of Everything But the Girl as they release Fuse, their eleventh studio album and their first in almost 24 years following 1999’s Temperamental. Today's critics are Briony Hanson, Director of Film at the British Council and Carne Ross, former British diplomat and writer. They'll be talking about The Diplomat on Netflix which follows the story of the newly appointed US Ambassador to the UK. Briony and Carne will also review French film Pacifiction, which taps into the world of the high commissioner in French Polynesia. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, April 19, 2023
Opera composer Jeanine Tesori, Margaret MacMillan on Paris 1919, new ideas in architecture
Composer Jeanine Tesori's Blue for the ENO; Baillie Gifford winner of winners for non-fiction shortlist - Margaret MacMillan; new ideas in architecture discussed Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Tue, April 18, 2023
Jazz singer Georgia Cecile, the controversy surrounding Barcelona’s La Sagrada Família
Plans to finish Barcelona’s famous church, La Sagrada Família, have been causing controversy as they involve demolishing apartment blocks to make way for the new entrance. Journalist Guy Hedgecoe, who reports on Spain for the BBC, and the Twentieth Century Society’s director, Catherine Croft, discuss the issues raised as the completion of the emblematic building draws near. Singer Georgia Cecile topped the Jazz charts with her latest album, Sure of You. She joins Samira Ahmed to perform live in the Front Row studio and discuss the resurgence of Jazz. The Northumbrian police and crime commissioner has redirected some of the proceeds of crime into the arts. Bex Lindsey reports on how Tyneside based theatre company Workie Ticket are using the funding from “Operation Payback” to create productions with social impact. And Front Row remembers the actor and director Murray Melvin, best known for his role in Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, who has died aged 90. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, April 17, 2023
Colin Currie performs live, author Catherine Lacey, the influence of Noel Coward
Percussionist Colin Currie performs live in the Front Row studio. He discusses his new interpretation of one of minimalist composer Steve Reich’s best known works, Music for 18 Musicians. 50 years on from the death of playwright Noel Coward, biographer Oliver Soden and theatre director Michael Longhurst look at his legacy and ask what he means to theatre audiences today, as a new production of Coward’s Private Lives opens. Author Catherine Lacey on Biography of X, her genre redefining new novel about a mysterious artist, which includes fictionalised footnotes and references. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Julian May
Thu, April 13, 2023
Front Row reviews Hamnet at the RSC and TV drama Obsession; Michael Frayn on his memoir
The RSC's production of Hamnet brings the bestselling, award-winning novel by Maggie O'Farrell to the stage. To review this reinterpretation of O'Farrell's imagined account of the short life of Shakespeare's son, which also foregrounds his wife Agnes, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by theatre critic Susannah Clapp and the novelist and screenwriter Louise Doughty. Michael Frayn is the author of almost 50 works, including the farce Noises Off, the novel Spies, and translations of Chekhov’s plays. In his ninetieth year, Frayn talks to Tom Sutcliffe about Among Others: Friendships and Encounters, a memoir less about him than the people who shaped him. Our critics Susannah Clapp and Louise Doughty also review the new Netflix drama Obsession, a tale of erotic obsession, based on the late Josephine Hart's 1991 novella Damage. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, April 12, 2023
Max Porter on new novel Shy, Chris Killip exhibition at the Baltic, Kevin Sampson on The Hunt for Raoul Moat
Screenwriter Kevin Sampson on the complexities of his new true crime drama for ITV, The Hunt for Raoul Moat. Max Porter found huge success with his first book, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, acclaimed as a tender, funny and original story of loss. His latest, Shy, completes the trilogy about grief that began with that book. It tells the story of a teenage boy in the 90s, setting off in the middle of the night from a residential house in the countryside for disturbed children. Opera director Adele Thomas on the reaction to her Twitter thread about what a stage director earns. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, photographer Chris Killip immersed himself in communities in the north-east of England. The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead presents a career retrospective, with the stark yet tender images he made at its heart. The poet Katrina Porteous, who like Killip has worked on the Durham coast, reviews the exhibition. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, April 11, 2023
Wade Davis on George Mallory, Benbrick on AI and creativity
A new exhibition of the Pre-Raphaelite Rossettis at Tate Britain in London explores the 'radicalism' of Dante Gabriel, Christina and Elizabeth (Siddal), and their 'revolutionary' approach to life, love and art in Victorian Britain. It emphasises Elizabeth as artist rather than muse, and charts the emergence of the Pre-Raphaelites through to Gabriel’s famous romanticised female portraits. However, despite their popularity, views of the Rosettis' art are often polarised. To discuss whether the Rossettis are radical or overrated, Samira is joined by the curator of the exhibition, Carol Jacobi, and by critic Jonathan Jones. Artificial intelligence can now write sonnets, paint portraits and compose symphonies. Benbrick, the Peabody Award-winning producer of the BBC Sounds’ series Have You Heard George’s Podcast?, reflects on the impact of AI on creativity and his own creative practice. In the latest of Front Row’s interviews with the shortlisted authors for this year’s Baillie Gifford, Winner of Winners Award, Samira talks to Wade Davis about his book - Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, April 10, 2023
The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio
Front Row marks the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's First Folio with former RSC Artistic Director Greg Doran, Guildhall Principal Librarian Peter Ross, and Shakespeare experts Emma Smith, Farah Karim-Cooper and Chris Laoutaris. Without the Folio we might not have had The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and many others. Front Row considers the rich, complicated and sometimes paradoxical history of its compilation, printing, and significance over the centuries. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, April 06, 2023
Ai Weiwei at the Design Museum and TV drama Rise of the Pink Ladies
Ai Weiwei: Making Sense. We look at the new exhibition which opens at the Design Museum in London tomorrow. Plus we review the new Grease prequel Rise of the Pink Ladies, streaming on Paramount+ from tomorrow. Samira is joined by reviewers Nancy Durrant, Cultural Editor of the Evening Standard, and critic Karen Krizanovich. Plus 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. Two very different new plays marking the anniversary open this week. Agreement at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast dramatizes the negotiations that led to the deal, and Beyond Belief at the Derry Playhouse is a musical about the life of Irish politician John Hume - one of the architects of the peace agreement. Steven Rainey talks to the creative teams behind both productions about marking the moment. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Wed, April 05, 2023
Boris Becker documentary, Commemorating the Good Friday Agreement in art, Artist-led organisations
For his latest project, the Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has turned his attention to the original tennis wunderkind Boris Becker. He talks about the making of his documentary, Boom! Boom!: The World vs Boris Becker, and what it was like to follow the sports legend during the period which saw him land in jail. The BBC's Kathy Clugston looks at how artists are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and talks to Gail Ritchie and Raymond Watson about the different approaches they have taken to marking moment when the agreement was made. What happens when a working artist leads an arts organisation and should artists be leading more organisations? Poet, writer, and performance artist Keisha Thompson, who is also the artistic director and CEO of Contact, the theatre and arts venue in Manchester, and visual artist-curator Gavin Wade, who is also the co-founder and director of Eastside Projects in Birmingham, discuss what artists bring when they are at the helm. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, April 04, 2023
Joe Pearlman on his Lewis Capaldi film, author Craig Brown, Tartan at the V&A
BAFTA-winning director Joe Pearlman talks about his new Netflix documentary on Scottish pop superstar Lewis Capaldi, which is out tomorrow. In Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, Joe follows Lewis as he struggles with his mental health and writing his second album during the pandemic. Tartan, the textile of tradition and rebellion is celebrated at the Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee, which is apt - Queen Victoria loved tartan and Prince Albert designed several tartan setts. BBC Scotland arts correspondent Pauline McLean reports on the exhibition which tells the story of tartan and how the rules of the grid have inspired creativity around the world. Continuing Front Row's series of interviews with all the authors shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction ‘winner of winners’ award, Tom Sutcliffe speaks to Craig Brown about his book, One, Two, Three, Four: The Beatles In Time. The renowned Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto died at the weekend. In an interview for Front Row from 2018 Sakamoto reveals the inspirations behind some of his most famous film scores. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Mon, April 03, 2023
The Beatles at Stowe School, Hugh Laurie on Agatha Christie
Samira discovers a previously unheard recording of The Beatles historic gig for the boys at Stowe School on 4 April 1963. She visits the school to mark the 60th anniversary and talks to former pupil John Bloomfield, who was fifteen when he recorded the concert, the current headmaster Anthony Wallersteiner, and Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn. Hugh Laurie discusses his TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?" Based on Christie’s 1934 novel, Hugh Laurie also directs the drama which stars Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton as a vicar’s son and socialite turned duo of detectives. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, March 30, 2023
Ria Zmitrowicz on The Power, The ENO’s The Dead City and God’s Creatures reviewed
Ria Zmitrowicz talks about her role in The Power, the TV adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel. She plays Roxy Monke, the daughter of a notorious crime boss whose aspirations to join the family business are realized when she gains a mysterious new power. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by author Michael Arditti and critic Alexandra Coughlan review the ENO’s new production of Korngold’s opera The Dead City and new film God’s Creatures, which stars Paul Mescal and Emily Watson . Lee Stockdale has won the National Poetry Competition for a poem about his father. His poem won out over 17,000 other entries from more than 100 countries. He explains how he became a poet and what winning means to him. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Wed, March 29, 2023
Cash Carraway on BBC drama Rain Dogs, the might of the UK gaming industry, Kidnapped on stage
Rain Dogs, billed as ‘a love story told from the gutter,’ is a new comedy drama series starring Daisy May Cooper. Shahidha Bari is joined in the studio by the writer and creator of the series, Cash Carraway. Ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards we discuss the state of play in the UK games industry with Chris Allnutt, gaming critic for the Financial Times and with games producer Charu Desodt, whose interactive crime drama As Dusk Falls is nominated for Best Debut Game. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped is being retold as a swashbuckling rom-com by the National Theatre of Scotland. Shahidha speaks to Isobel McArthur and Michael John McCarthy about adapting the 1868 coming–of-age classic. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Harry Parker
Tue, March 28, 2023
Musician Natalie Merchant, poet Victoria Adukwei Bulley, library funding
Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant talks to Samira Ahmed about Keep Your Courage, her first album in nearly a decade. Libraries were awarded the smallest amount of money from the Cultural Investment Fund, which was announced last week. Front Row speaks to Nick Poole, Chief Executive of CILIP, the Library and Information Association. And Victoria Adukwei Bulley discusses winning the Rathbones Folio Prize for poetry for her collection Quiet. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, March 27, 2023
Barbara Demick on North Korea; Dungeons and Dragons controversy; folk musicians Hack-Poets Guild
Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick’s book 'Nothing to Envy' has been short-listed for this year’s Baille Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Winner of Winners Award; North Korean defectors spoke about love, family life and the terrible cost of the 1990’s famine. Front Row examines the controversy surrounding Dungeons and Dragons, the world's most popular table-top role playing game and now a Hollywood film, as fans protest against a clampdown on fan-made content. Professional Dungeons and Dragons player Kim Richards and Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law, Dr. Hayleigh Bosher, join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss what this means for fans and copyright owners. Hack-Poets Guild is a collaboration between the renowned folk musicians Marry Waterson, Lisa Knapp and Nathaniel Mann. Their new album Blackletter Garland is inspired by the collection of broadside ballads in the Bodleian Library, news sheets that circulated between the 16th and 20th Centuries. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, March 23, 2023
Steven Knight on Great Expectations, After Impressionism at the National Gallery
Writer and director Steven Knight, whose work includes Peaky Blinders and SAS Rogue Heroes, discusses his new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations which stars Olivia Coleman as Miss Havisham. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Ben Luke and Isabel Stevens to review some of the week’s cultural highlights including Spanish film The Beasts, the After Impressionism exhibition at the National Gallery and the return of TV drama Succession. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, March 22, 2023
Touchstones Rochdale art gallery's radical 80s history, James Shapiro on Shakespeare
A Tall Order! Rochdale Art Gallery in the 1980s is the name of the show currently on at Touchstones Rochdale, which reflects on the gallery’s radical history supporting those who were, at the time, overlooked by the mainstream of the art world, some of whom have gone on to prestigious careers. Co-curators Derek Horton and Alice Correia join Front Row to discuss the show. We begin our interviews with the writers shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize’s Winner of Winners Award. The award picks an overall favourite from across the prize’s 25 year history. James Shapiro will be discussing 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, his portrait of the most impactful year of Shakespeare’s life during which he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and, most remarkably, Hamlet. And we talk to arts minister Lord Parkinson on the new £60 million Cultural Investment Fund. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Main Image: Touchstones Rochdale - Gallery 2
Tue, March 21, 2023
Danny Lee Wynter and play Black Superhero; badly behaved theatre audiences; violinist Pekka Kuusisto
Are theatre audiences behaving badly? After recent complaints, we discuss expectations of audience etiquette. Tom is joined by: Dr Kirsty Sedgman, Lecturer in Theatre at University of Bristol, researcher of audiences, and author of The Reasonable Audience: Theatre Etiquette, Behaviour Policing, And The Live Performance Experience; Lyn Gardner, theatre critic and Associate Editor of The Stage; and by front of house worker Bethany North. British composer Anna Clyne and Finnish violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto discuss their new collaborations, including this week’s premiere of Anna’s clarinet concerto, Weathered, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which Pekka will conduct. Plus they talk about their forthcoming partnership at the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in which Anna and Pekka will serve as Composer-in-Residence and Artistic Co-Director respectively. Plus, actor turned playwright Danny Lee Wynter on his new play Black Superhero at the Royal Court Theatre in London – revealing a world where fantasy and reality meet with devastating consequences. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson (Main image credit: Ajamu X)
Mon, March 20, 2023
Lisa O’Neill performs live, Dance of Death from the National Theatre of Norway
Irish singer songwriter Lisa O’Neill talks to Samira Ahmed about her latest album, All Of This Is Chance, and performs live in the Front Row studio. The National Theatre of Norway have brought their production of Strindberg’s Dance of Death to the UK. Director Marit Moum Aune explains what led her to delve into the work of Strindberg, and acclaimed Norwegian actor Pia Tjelta reveals how she connected to her character. Africa’s biggest film festival, FESPACO, has just taken place in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. The biannual festival is a showcase for African talent and a marketplace for the industry. Film curator Carmen Thompson talks Samira through the upcoming African films to look out for. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser
Thu, March 16, 2023
Richard Eyre on his film Allelujah, and climate change TV drama Extrapolations reviewed
Richard Eyre on directing the screen version of Alan Bennett’s play Allelujah, starring Jennifer Saunders, set on the geriatric ward of a fictional Yorkshire hospital, the Bethlehem, and on raising questions about how society cares for its older population. We review the star-studded Apple TV+ climate change series Extrapolations, and a new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers - Black Artists from the American South. Our reviewers are writer and comic artist Woodrow Phoenix - and YA author, script editor and founder of the international Climate Fiction Writers League, Lauren James. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, March 15, 2023
Scottish-Iranian film Winners, playwright Calum L MacLeòid, neurodiversity and creativity
Filmmaker Hassan Nazar talks to Kate Molleson about his new film Winners, a love letter to the art of cinema. Set in Iran, it follows two children who find an Oscars statuette. Playwright Calum L MacLeòid on his new Western, Stornaway, Quebec, which is set in 1880s Canada and performed in Gaelic, Québécois, and English. And to mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Front Row discusses neurodiversity and creativity with impressionist Rory Bremner, stand-up comedian Ria Lina, and psychologist Professor Nancy Doyle. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Paul Waters
Tue, March 14, 2023
Diversity at the Oscars and Baftas; plays and the cost of living; children's books; Phyllida Barlow
The conclusion of the Oscars marks the end of the film awards season, so Front Row took the opportunity to look at the progress made on representation in film and at awards. Tom is joined by the film critic Amon Warmann, Katherine Pieper of LA's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which looks at equalities at the Oscars, and Marcus Ryder of the Lenny Henry Centre For Media Diversity. Plus, with a host of new productions exploring the cost of living crisis, we look at how playwrights are tackling this. Writer Emily White talks about her new play, Joseph K and the Cost of Living, being staged as part of a three-part project at the Swansea Grand Theatre, and the writer and critic Sarah Crompton discusses theatre's response to social and political issues on stage. Bex Lindsay, presenter on Fun Kids Radio and children’s books expert, joins us for a round-up of some of the most interesting and engaging new releases for young independent readers. Books discussed: Like A Curse by Elle McNicoll Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King Skandar and the Unicorn Thief/The Phantom Rider by AF Steadman Jamie by L D Lapinski Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels by Tola Okogwu I Spy, A Bletchley Park Mystery by Rhian Tracey Saving Neverland, by Abi Elphinstone Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Main Image: Michelle Yeoh
Mon, March 13, 2023
Author Percival Everett, director Pravesh Kumar on Little English
Author Percival Everett on his novel Dr No; Director Pravesh Kumar on his film Little English; the new Yeats Smartphones poetry trail in Bedford Award-winning US novelist Percival Everett on his surreal new book, Dr No – in which unlikely heroes and uber-wealthy super villains chase after a box containing absolutely nothing. Pravesh Kumar has been running a theatre company for over two decades and last year received an MBE in the New Year Honours List for services to theatre. As he makes his debut as a filmmaker with romantic comedy Little English - centred on a British South Asian family living in Slough - he discusses the importance of nuanced portrayals and overturning stereotypes. It’s a century this year since W. B. Yeats won the Nobel Prize in literature for his poetry, ‘which…gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.’ This is marked by a new guided, smartphone app trail around places where he lived and that influenced him early in life. It is narrated and with poems read by Oscar nominated actor Ciarán Hinds. But it is not, as you might assume, in Ireland. Front Row reports from the launch. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May (Picture of Percival Everett. Photographer credit: Nacho Goberna)
Thu, March 09, 2023
Film My Sailor, My Love; Atwood’s Old Babes In The Wood; Baillie Gifford prize; Nicole Flattery
New Irish film, My Sailor, My Love, by Finnish director, Klaus Härö, and a new collection of short stories, Old Babes in the Wood, by Margaret Atwood. To review, Tom is joined by author Ashley Hickson-Lovence and academic Sarah Churchwell. Plus the Baillie Gifford prize – the six books shortlisted for the ‘winner of winners’ award. And Irish author Nicole Flattery on her debut novel Nothing Special. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, March 08, 2023
Pioneering play Top Girls turns 40, do publishers owe a duty of care to memoirists? and the benefits of stopping the show
A reimagining of Caryl Churchill’s ground-breaking and celebrated play, Top Girls, opens this week at the Liverpool Everyman which sets the play – about female ambition and success across centuries and cultures - in Merseyside. Playwright Charlotte Keatley and theatre critic Susannah Clapp discuss the play’s themes and its continuing impact forty years after its premiere. Prince Harry’s book Spare and the ripples it’s created have led to questions about the writing and publication of memoirs. In recent years, there has been a widening of the voices encouraged to write and getting published, but what is the impact on the authors, and should there be a greater duty of care? Agent Rachel Mills and Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love, a memoir about losing her brother, join Front Row to discuss. The show must go on has long been the mantra of those working in theatre but last August, David Byrne, Artistic Director of New Diorama Theatre, made an astonishing announcement which began with the words, “The end of the show must go on” and went on to state that the theatre would be closing its doors for at least six months to allow time for an artistic reset. As New Diorama Theatre reopens, David joins Front Row to discuss what the resetting has revealed. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Picture: Top Girls – Lauren Lane as Pope Joan – Photographer’s Credit Marc Brenner
Tue, March 07, 2023
Daniel Mays on a new production of Guys and Dolls, and how accessible are venues and film sets for performers?
Daniel Mays talks to Samira Ahmed about starring as Nathan Detroit in a new immersive production of the musical Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre in south London. Front Row investigates how accessible theatres and gig venues are, not just for audiences but for performers. Reporter Carolyn Atkinson talks to a comedian and a DJ who have struggled with access and asks how venues should be addressing the problem. And actor Julie Fernandez and producer Sara Johnson discuss a new scheme to train access co-ordinators in film and television. The scheme aims to make the industry more accessible for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent cast and crew. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, March 06, 2023
Steven Moffat and Lucy Caldwell on writing about the Hadron Collider
Sherlock and Dr Who writer Steven Moffat, and Lucy Caldwell, winner of the BBC National Short Story Award, discuss writing short stories inspired by the science of the Large Hadron Collider for a new collection called Collision. The project pairs a team of award-winning authors with Cern physicists to explore some of the discoveries being made, through fiction. From interstellar travel using quantum tunnelling, to first contact with antimatter aliens, to a team of scientists finding themselves being systematically erased from history, these stories explore the dark matters that only physics can offer answers to. A new documentary called Subject explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen, through the participants of five acclaimed documentaries. Samira Ahmed talks to Camilla Hall, one of the film’s directors, about the ethics of documentary making. Writer Mojisola Adebayo and director Matthew Xia talk about their new play Family Tree, which won the Alfred Fagon Best New Play Award. The play, which opens at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, explores the extraordinary story of Henrietta Lacks, the African American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her permission or knowledge in 1951 and which are still informing medical science today. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Thu, March 02, 2023
Daisy Jones & The Six on TV. Lukas Dhont’s film Close. Edmund De Waal on potter Lucie Rie
Riley Keough and Sam Claflin star in the 10-part adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel Daisy Jones And The Six, the story of a fictional 70s band loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac. Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s film Close, about two teenage boys whose close friendship is challenged by their schoolmates, won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Critics Tim Robey and Kate Mossman join Front Row to review both. Plus Edmund de Waal on late fellow potter Lucie Rie's life and work as a new retrospective opens at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, March 01, 2023
Barry Male Voice Choir, new play Romeo and Julie, WNO’s Blaze of Glory and Welsh culture minister Dawn Boden
On St David's Day Front Row is coming from Cardiff with Huw Stephens bringing the latest arts and culture stories of Wales. Welsh National Opera’s latest production is Blaze of Glory. The librettist Emma Jenkins and composer David Hackbridge Johnson talk to Huw Stephens about their new opera. Set in a Welsh Valleys’ village in the 1950s, it follows the a group of miners who raise spirits following a pit disaster by reforming their male voice choir. Dawn Bowden, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sports, and Chief Whip in the Welsh Government, discusses cultural policy in Wales. Gary Owen talks about his new play Romeo and Julie, the story of young lovers in the Cardiff district of Splott. They’re faced with circumstances that threaten to separate them but there the similarity to Shakespeare ends. And the Barry Male Voice choir, who are involved in the production of Blaze of Glory, perform live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Huw Stephens Producer: Julian May and Rebecca Stratford
Tue, February 28, 2023
Tracy-Ann Oberman, Director Michael B Jordan, Oldham Coliseum
Tracy-Ann Oberman on playing a female Shylock in the RSC's new 1936 version of The Merchant Of Venice at Watford Palace Theatre. As the Oldham Coliseum is forced to close at the end of March, reporter Charlotte Green updates the story of the diversion of Arts Council funding from the theatre to the local council. Actor Michael B Jordan tells Samira about making his directorial debut with Creed III, while reprising the role of boxing champion Adonis Creed in the third sequel to the Rocky franchise. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Mon, February 27, 2023
Conductor Antonio Pappano on Puccini’s Turandot and the Ukrainian cabaret artists performing in exile
Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano tells us about his two new versions of Puccini’s opera, Turandot – a revival on stage at the Royal Opera House, and a new recording with tenor Jonas Kaufman, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. A year on from the invasion of Ukraine, Luke Jones hears from some of the Ukrainian performers living and working in exile. He joins Hooligan Art Community, a performance group that started in the bomb shelters of Kyiv, as they rehearse for their new show, Bunker Cabaret. There are two blistering performances on the London stage today: Janet McTeer in Phaedra at the National Theatre and Sophie Okonedo as Medea at Soho Place. The plays' directors, Simon Stone and Dominic Cooke, discuss the hold these stories of two transgressive and tragic women have had over audiences for two and a half millennia, and why they speak to us today. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, February 23, 2023
Immersive David Hockney art and Korean film Broker reviewed; artist Mike Nelson; AI-generated writing
Reviews of the new immersive show David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) at Lightroom in London and Korean film Broker, with Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Ekow Eshun. Installation artist Mike Nelson on the art in his new retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London and the challenge of reconstructing such epic work. Plus AI writing. Neil Clarke, Editor of The American science fiction and fantasy magazine Clarkesworld, on suspending new submissions after being swamped by AI-generated stories, and why AI could be a serious challenge the way we think about literature. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: David Hockney with his work at Lightroom. By Justin Sutcliffe
Wed, February 22, 2023
New film The Strays, artists Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Dawinder Bansal, Janet Malcolm’s photography memoir
Nathaniel Martello-White on making his directorial debut with the psychological thriller The Strays, set between a south London estate and an affluent English suburb. Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s show at FACT in Liverpool, Merseyside Burman Empire, references her MBE for services to Visual Art, awarded last year in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and her experiences growing up in Bootle as the daughter of Punjabi-Hindu parents. Dawinder Bansal’s Jambo Cinema installation, which explored her life growing up in 1980s Wolverhampton with Indian-Kenyan parents, was one of the big commissions at last year’s Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival in Birmingham. Chila and Dawinder discuss making art that draws upon their South Asian heritage. Throughout her career, the distinguished writer Janet Malcolm, who died in 2021, was fascinated by photography. She came to prominence through her journalism for the New Yorker including six years as the magazine’s photography critic. Photography was the subject of her first book and it has turned out to be the subject of her final book, a memoir – Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory. Photographer of the Year Craig Easton reviews. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Photo caption: Ashley Madekwe as Neve in The Strays Photo credit: Chris Harris/ Netflix © 2023
Tue, February 21, 2023
Michael Douglas, culture in Ukraine a year after invasion, visual effects and animation in the UK
Hollywood star Michael Douglas talks about his double-Oscar winning movie career, how he’s still learning the craft of acting and about his new film, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which is in cinemas now. As the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, we hear from two artists working in the country under conflict - Oksana Taranenko, director of the opera Kateryna in Odesa and Hobart Earle, Conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic. William Sargent, the founder of Framestore, the visual effects studio behind Top Gun: Maverick and Sean Clark, the CEO of Aardman, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss their fears for the future of visual effects and animation in the UK. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Image: Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas in the film Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Mon, February 20, 2023
Hugh Jackman, Kevin Jared Hosein, the future of opera
Hugh Jackman talks to Samira Ahmed about his role in Florian Zeller's new film The Son, in which he plays a father struggling with his child’s mental health issues. Kevin Jared Hosein, who won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, talks about his first novel for adults. Hungry Ghosts tells the stories of the marginalised Hindu people of Trinidad, focusing on a family who, close by a luxurious estate, live in poverty in a ‘barrack’, in the early 1940s. Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief tells us why, despite it winning Best Film at the BAFTAs last night, critics in Germany are not showering praise on Netflix’s German-language film, All Quiet on the Western Front. And in the light of funding cuts and plans for English National Opera to be moved out of London, the former head of Opera Europa Nicholas Payne and English Touring Opera’s chief Robin Norton-Hale discuss what a strategy for opera in the UK could look like. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, February 16, 2023
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, Alice Neel, Spitting Image
On today's Front Row, Samira Ahmed talks to stand-up comedian Al Murray about putting the puppets of the political satire TV show Spitting Image on stage for the first time, in a new production, Spitting Image - Idiots Assemble, at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. And she discusses the Oscar and Bafta-nominated animation Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, and a new exhibition of work by the American visual artist, Alice Neel, which opens at the Barbican in London today, with arts critics Hanna Flint and Louisa Buck. Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Wed, February 15, 2023
Asif Kapadia's dance film Creature; the Barbellion Book Prize winner; South Asian and South East Asian galleries in Manchester
The Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia tells Tom Sutcliffe about collaborating with the Olivier-winning choreographer Akram Khan on the dance film Creature. Originally conceived for English National Ballet on stage, Creature is inspired by Georg Büchner’s play Woyzeck and Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Today Letty McHugh was announced as the winner of the Barbellion Book Prize, awarded annually to an author whose work has best represented the experience of chronic illness and / or disability. Letty joins us live from Yorkshire, to give an insight into the creation of her Book of Hours: An Almanac for The Seasons of The Soul, a collection of lyric essays and poetry. In Manchester, two cultural institutions reopen their doors- Manchester Museum, now with the UK’s first permanent gallery celebrating the South Asian diaspora, and esea- short for East and South East Asia- contemporary, formerly the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art. Shahidha Bari speaks to Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum and Xiaowen Zhu, director of esea contemporary. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Image: Jeffrey Cirio in Creature, an Asif Kapadia film, based on an original concept by Akram Khan (courtesy of BFI Distribution and English National Ballet)
Tue, February 14, 2023
Tracy Chevalier on Vermeer exhibition; live v streaming theatre audiences; American poet A. E. Stallings; The King's Singers
Tracy Chevalier discusses a historic Vermeer exhibition at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the largest collection of his paintings ever assembled including Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was celebrated by Chevalier's 1999 novel of the same name. Bristol Old Vic is collaborating with four universities in the West Country for a major study into audience reactions in the theatre. Do reactions in the auditorium differ from those watching it online? Melanie Abbott investigates, talking to Iain Gilchrist from University of Bristol, Mike Richardson from University of Bath, Charlotte Geeves from Bristol Old Vic, actor Sophie Steer and Emma Keith, Director of Digital Media at the National Theatre. The finely wrought rhyming and metrical poetry of A. E. Stallings has won her prizes in the US, but until now she has not been published in the UK. Manchester-based publisher Carcanet is putting this right with This Afterlife, her Selected Poems. A. E. Stallings talks about living in Greece, drawing on classical mythology, making art out of the minutiae of life, and the joy of rhythm and rhyme. Jonathan Howard of The King's Singers tells us about the recent cancellation of a concert they were due to perform at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, over what the group says were "concerns related to the sexuality of members." Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters (Photo: Photo Rijksmuseum)
Mon, February 13, 2023
Kate Prince on her suffragette musical, the art of casting, set design at the Brits.
Sylvia is a new hip hop, funk and soul musical telling the story the fight for women’s – and universal – suffrage, through the life of Sylvia Pankhurst. It wasn‘t just the patriarchy she had to struggle with, but her family, especially her mother, the indomitable Emmeline. Kate Prince has co-written, choreographed and directed it. She talks to Samira Ahmed about the story and the contemporary resonances of her show. In 2021, casting director Lucy Pardee won her first BAFTA for her work on the coming-of-age drama, Rocks, which was celebrated in part for the range and skill of its young cast. She's now up for another BAFTA for new film Aftersun, which tells the story of a troubled single father through the eyes of his 11-year-old daughter. She discusses the art of 'street casting' actors for their cinema debuts. Reporter Will Chalk goes back stage at the Brit Awards to meet production designer Misty Buckley, who specialises in creating sets for huge spectacles like the Brits, the Commonwealth Games and the Grammys. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Main image: The Company in Sylvia at The Old Vic 2023, Photographer - Manuel Harlan
Thu, February 09, 2023
Georgia Oakley director of Blue Jean, Burt Bacharach obituary, Salman Rushdie's Victory City and Peter Doig exhibition reviewed
Director and screenwriter Georgia Oakley talks about her BAFTA nominated debut feature film Blue Jean, which tells the story of a female closeted PE teacher in Newcastle in 1988 when Section 28 came into effect. The death of Burt Bacharach has been announced. The acclaimed lyricist Don Black pays tribute to the extraordinary composer and we hear archive of him talking on Front Row. Salman Rushdie was violently attacked last summer but before that had completed the novel Victory City, about a fantastical empire brought into existence by a woman, Pampa Kampana, who is given powers by the goddess Parvati. Bidisha Mamata and Ingrid Persaud review the novel and also visit the Peter Doig exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery in London highlighting recent work from the highly acclaimed artist who has returned from Trinidad to live in London. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo from Blue Jean credit Altitude Film Distribution
Wed, February 08, 2023
The Reytons, film-maker Saim Sadiq, The Beekeeper of Aleppo
From a pop-up shop in Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield to the top spot in the album charts - The Reytons join Front Row to discuss their breakthrough second album, What’s Rock and Roll?, making their music videos with family and friends, and the power of telling your own story. Since Saim Sadiq’s feature film debut, Joyland, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, it has swung between celebration and controversy. It was awarded the Jury Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard category and selected as Pakistan's official entry for best international feature for this year’s Oscars but was banned throughout Pakistan and when that ban was revoked, it was banned in Sadiq’s home state of Punjab by the local government. As the film opens this month in the UK, he talk to Nick about the making and the showing of Joyland. Christy Lefteri’s novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, about a traumatized Syrian refugee couple, beekeeper Nuri and artist Afra, trying to get to and settle in the UK, became a bestseller and has now been adapted for the stage by Nesrin Alrefaai and Matthew Spangler. As the production premieres at Nottingham Playhouse, Nesrin and Matthew discuss working together to create a theatrical version of the popular novel. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Main Image: The Reytons, L-R Jamie Todd, Jonny Yerrell, Joe O'Brien, Lee Holland
Wed, February 08, 2023
Les Dennis and Mina Anwar, writer Tania Branigan, Kerry Shale on Yentl
Mina Anwar and Les Dennis discuss their new production of Spring and Port Wine at the Bolton Octagon. They explain why the 1960s classic play about a family in Bolton, and tensions between the generations, still has resonance today. Writer Tania Branigan talks about her new book Red Memory. Based on her research as a journalist in China, it tells the story of the Cultural Revolution through the memories of individuals including a composer, an artist and a man who denounced his own mother. It’s nearly 40 years since Barbra Streisand’s film Yentl was released. Based on a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, it follows a young woman who lives as a man so that she can study Jewish scripture. Kerry Shale, who had a part in Streisand’s film, discusses returning to Singer’s story to adapt it for a new Radio 4 drama, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner Image Credit: Pamela Raith Photography
Mon, February 06, 2023
Costume designer Sandy Powell, playwright Chris Bush, Donatello sculptures at the V&A
Sandy Powell is the first costume designer to receive a BAFTA Fellowship. She talks to Tom Sutcliffe about collaborating with directors Martin Scorsese and Todd Haynes and designing costumes for films including Velvet Goldmine and Shakespeare in Love. Postponed the pandemic, and after a second run at the Crucible in Sheffield, the musical At the Sky’s Edge at last reaches the National Theatre in London. Playwright Chris Bush tells Tom Sutcliffe about the new production of her love letter to Sheffield which, through the stories of the famous park Hill Estate, tells a history of modern Britain. ‘The greatest sculptor of all time’ is the claim as an exhibition of the work of Donatello is about to open at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Curator Peta Motture and art critic Jonathan Jones discuss how his creativity was a driving force of the Italian Renaissance. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, February 02, 2023
TV drama Nolly and film The Whale reviewed, director M Night Shyamalan
Noele Gordon was the star of Crossroads, the soap that ran on ITV from 1964 to 1988, attracting audiences of 15 million in its heyday. She was sacked from the show in 1981, returning briefly a few years later. What happened? And what was the role of TV soap at that time, with women at the heart of its casts and audience? Russell T Davies' new drama, Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter, tells the story. Our critics David Benedict and Anna Smith review that and new film The Whale. Brendan Fraser is Oscar-nominated for his performance as a man whose size means he can no longer leave his apartment and who tries to re-build his damaged relationship with his daughter. And director M. Night Shyamalan on his new film Knock At The Cabin – a home invasion thriller where a family must make a terrible choice in order to avert the apocalypse. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, February 01, 2023
Sonia Boyce, The Quiet Girl, Theatre Freelance Pay, Oldham Coliseum
Sonia Boyce’s exhibition, Feeling Her Way, won the top prize at the Venice Biennale international art fair. As the sound, video and wallpaper installation arrives at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, Sonia tells Samira why she wanted to form her own girl band and help them to achieve imperfection through improvisation. Director Colm Bairéad on his film The Quiet Girl – a small scale Irish-language drama, but the highest grossing Irish-language film in history, and the first to be nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, and BAFTA nominated for Best Film Not In The English Language and Best Adapted Screenplay. Equity general secretary Paul Fleming and freelance theatre director Kate Wasserberg discuss the ongoing problem of low pay and poor conditions in the UK theatre sector. Artistic director and chief executive of Oldham Coliseum, Chris Lawson, discusses the decision to cancel its programme of shows after losing its Arts Council England funding. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser Main Image - Sonia Boyce courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. Photographer: Parisa Taghizadeh
Tue, January 31, 2023
Beethoven's Für Elise, playwright Garry Lyons, film director Rajkumar Santoshi
Beethoven’s love life has long fascinated music scholars primarily because so little is known about it despite some tantalising clues. In his new book, Why Beethoven, music critic Norman Lebrecht, identifies the dedicatee of Beethoven’s well-loved melody Für Elise, while Jessica Duchen has written a novel, Immortal, which provides one answer to the question, who was Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved”? Both join Front Row to discuss why their explorations bring us closer to the composer. Garry Lyons on his new play Blow Down at Leeds Playhouse, written to mark the demolition of the iconic cooling towers at Ferrybridge Power Station. It’s based on stories collected from people in Knottingley and Ferrybridge in Yorkshire. Blow Down will go on tour with performances in theatres and community centres across Yorkshire and the North East. A new film about Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse has caused some controversy in India. Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh (War of Ideologies) imagines a world in which Gandhi survived and went on to debate with Godse, a premise that some have found offensive. Director Rajkumar Santoshi discusses the reaction to his film and BBC journalist Vandana Vijay explains why there’s increased sensitivity around some movies in India at the moment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace
Mon, January 30, 2023
Film director Sarah Polley, novelist Ann-Helen Laestadius and deep fakes on TV
Director Sarah Polley discusses her latest film, Women Talking, nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Based on the true story of the women in a remote Mennonite colony who discovered men had been attacking the women in their community, the film focuses on their debate about what to do next. Deep Fake Neighbour Wars, the new ITVX comedy which uses digital technology to place international celebrities in suburban Britain, arrives at a time when the technology is under increasing scrutiny. Zoe Kleinman, the BBC’s Technology Editor, and television critic Scott Bryan review and discuss the issues raised by the new series. Swedish and Sami novelist Ann-Helen Laestadius talks about her bestselling novel, Stolen – a portrait of the plight of the reindeer-herding Indigenous Sámi people. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, January 26, 2023
The Fabelmans and Noises Off reviewed, Joe Cornish on new TV drama Lockwood and Co.
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Karen Krizanovich and Michael Billington to review The Fabelmans and the 40th anniversary production of Noises Off. Steven Spielberg’s new film, The Fabelmans, is a portrait of the artist as a young man, chronicling the development of Sam Fabelman, a boy drawn irresistibly to film-making. He finds meaning, and achieves some power, through his art. Critics Karen Krizanovich and Michael Billington assess Spielberg’s fictional autobiography. They also review the fortieth anniversary production of Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s farce about a troubled touring company putting on a farce, as it opens in the West End with a cast including Felicity Kendal, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Joseph Millson. Director Joe Cornish, best known for his sci-fi comedy Attack the Block, talks about heading up a new TV drama series Lockwood and Co. Based on the young adult novels by Jonathan Stroud, it follows a group of teenage ghost hunters. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Wed, January 25, 2023
Mel C on dancing with Jules Cunningham, film-maker Laura Poitras, musician Rasha Nahas
Melanie C, aka Sporty Spice, is best known for being in one of the most successful girl groups of all time. But this week she’s swapping the pop world for the dance world and performing a new contemporary piece by the choreographer Jules Cunningham at Sadler’s Wells. Melanie C and Jules Cunningham discuss their collaboration, How Did We Get Here? Rasha Nahas is a Palestinian singer-songwriter who was born in Haifa and now lives in Berlin. She tells Samira about her new album, Amrat, which is her first album in Arabic, and which explores nostalgia, sense of place, and the importance of authentic instrumental music. Film-maker Laura Poitras talks about her new documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which has been nominated for this year’s Academy Awards. Following the photographer Nan Goldin’s campaign against Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, for their part in the opioid crisis, the film paints an intimate portrait of Goldin’s life, work and activism. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser Photo of Mel C, Harry Alexander and Jules Cunningham credit: Camilla Greenwell
Tue, January 24, 2023
Artist John Akomfrah, Oscar Nominations, Arts Council England responds
John Akomfrah was announced today as the artist chosen to represent the UK at the next Venice Biennale - the world's biggest contemporary art exhibition. Known for his films and video installations exploring racial injustice, colonial legacies, migration and climate change, he discusses why watching a Tarkovsky film as a teenager opened his mind to the possibilities of art. Film critics Jason Solomon and Leila Latif discuss the nominations for this year's Oscars, which are led by Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, and All Quiet of the Western Front. Darren Henley, Arts Council England Chief Executive, responds to criticism the organisation has been facing since its new funding settlement was announced last November. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Main Image: John Akomfrah at his London studio, 2016 © Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery.
Mon, January 23, 2023
The play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons; conductor Alice Farnham; the short film An Irish Goodbye.
Jenna Coleman (Clara in Dr Who) and Aidan Turner (Poldark) are appearing in a new production of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at The Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, before touring to Manchester and Brighton. Playwright Sam Steiner tells Samira Ahmed about his romantic comedy in which the characters are restricted to speaking just 140 words a day. And the director, Josie Rourke, talks about bringing the play to the stage, and how, in the theatre, language isn’t everything. Alice Farnham, one of Britain’s leading conductors and the co-founder and artistic director of Women Conductors with the Royal Philharmonic Society, shares insights from her new book, In Good Hands- The Making of a Modern Conductor. And the filmmaking duo Tom Berkeley and Ross White join Samira to discuss their Bafta nominated short film An Irish Goodbye. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image: Aidan Turner as Oliver and Jenna Coleman as Bernadette in Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at The Harold Pinter Theatre
Thu, January 19, 2023
Spain and the Hispanic World exhibition, new film Holy Spider, artist Clarke Reynolds
Samira Ahmed and guests Maria Delgado and Isabel Stevens review two of the week’s top cultural picks. They discuss a new exhibition of Spanish art, Spain and the Hispanic World, at the Royal Academy in London and Holy Spider, a film by Iranian director Ali Abbasi based on the true story of a serial killer in the holy city of Mashhad in 2001. Blind artist Clarke Reynolds talks about his exhibition The Power of Touch and explains how he’s creating colourful tactile braille art for both blind and sighted audiences to enjoy. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson Picture Credit: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, The Duchess of Alba, 1797, From the exhibition Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Royal Academy of Arts
Wed, January 18, 2023
Hepworth, Moore, landscape and cows' backs; fiddle player John McCusker; novelist Victoria MacKenzie
A new exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield celebrates the relationship that two of the UK’s greatest sculptors, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, had with the Yorkshire landscape they grew up in. Eleanor Clayton, the curator of the exhibition, Magic in this Country, joins the landscape photographer Kate Kirkwood - who has just published a new book, Cowspines, that blends the landscape of the Lake District with the backs of the cows that graze upon it – to discuss the power of landscape to draw an artist’s eye. John McCusker discusses and performs live from his new ‘Best of ‘Album, which celebrates his 30-year career as one of Scotland’s most acclaimed fiddle players and musical collaborators. Writer of fiction and poetry Victoria MacKenzie tells Shahidha Bari about her first novel, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain, which is based on the lives of two extraordinary, trail-blazing fourteenth-century Christian mystics, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Eliane Glaser Main image from Cowspines by Kate Kirkwood
Tue, January 17, 2023
Poet Anthony Joseph, new novels about witches and the fall in female film-makers
Over the last three weeks Front Row has broadcast a poem by each of the 10 writers shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. The winner was announced last night: Anthony Joseph, for his collection Sonnets for Albert. Anthony talks to Samira Ahmed about his sequence of sonnets exploring his relationship with his often absent father, winning the prize and the attraction of the sonnet form. Research from the film charity Birds Eye View shows that the number of female made films released in UK cinemas fell by 6% last year. The charity’s director Melanie Iredale and film director Sally El Hosaini discuss why women are failing to progress in the UK film industry. Books about witches and witchcraft are increasingly popular, with several new novels published this year. Authors Emilia Hart, Kirsty Logan and Anya Bergman, who have all written about witches, explain why this subject matter provided such a rich source of inspiration. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner Image: Antony Julius, picture credit: Adrian Pope
Mon, January 16, 2023
Rebecca Frecknall on A Streetcar Named Desire, Rick Rubin, Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh
Nine-time Grammy winning record producer and Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin has produced hits for artists including Run DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash. He discusses drawing on his experience for his new book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Theatre director Rebecca Frecknall discusses her new production of A Streetcar Named Desire and the nuances that Tennessee Williams’s writing has for contemporary audiences. Syrian virtuoso Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh discusses the influence of his homeland, and combining performance, composition and improvisation, and plays live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Image: Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran in A Streetcar Named Desire. Credit: Marc Brenner.
Thu, January 12, 2023
The Last of Us & Enys Men reviewed
The film critic Clarisse Loughrey and literary editor Sam Leith join Tom Sutcliffe live in the studio to review the new HBO series The Last of Us, based on the critically acclaimed video game, and the film Enys Men, a Cornish folk horror by Mark Jenkin, the BAFTA winning director of BAIT. In the most recent in an occasional series of interviews about the artistic influence of mentors, the musician and composer Nitin Sawhney discusses his relationship with his mentor, the sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar. Ahead of next week's announcement of the winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, Victoria Adukwei Bulley reads her poem The Ultra-Black Fish from her shortlisted collection Quiet. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire Picture: Pedro Pascal as Joel & Bella Ramsey as Ellie HBO / Warner Media© 2022 Home Box Office, Inc.
Wed, January 11, 2023
Filmmaker Todd Field on Tár, Glyndebourne tour cancellation, Debut novelist Jyoti Patel
Tár is a psychological drama about an imaginary conductor, Lydia Tár, which has already made waves both for its central performance by Cate Blanchett and for its striking, sometimes dreamlike story about the abuses of power. It is tipped for awards and Cate Blanchett has already won the Golden Globe for her performance. The writer and director, Todd Field, joins Front Row. The news that the celebrated opera company Glyndebourne has cancelled its national tour for 2023, due to the recent cut to its Arts Council funding, was received as the latest bombshell on the UK’s opera landscape. Glyndebourne’s artistic director, Stephen Langridge, and the music writer and critic Norman Lebrecht discuss the company’s decision and explore what kind of support and vision opera in the UK needs. Jyoti Patel on winning musician Stormzy's Merky Books New Writer’s Prize in 2021 and now making her debut as novelist with her book, The Things We Have Lost. Continuing Front Row's look at the shortlist for this year's TS Eliot Prize For Poetry, today Anthony Joseph reads from his collection Sonnets For Albert – poems exploring being the Trinidad-born son of a mostly-absent father. The poem is called El Socorro. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Emma Wallace Main Image Credit: Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár - Universal
Tue, January 10, 2023
How AI is changing art, the TS Eliot Prize for poetry and the folk music of wassailing
Designer Steven Zapata and artist Anna Ridler discuss whether AI art poses a threat to artists and designers. Imagine reading more than 200 new books of poetry. That was the task faced by the judges of the T S Eliot Prize. Jean Sprackland and fellow judge Roger Robinson talk to Tom Sutcliffe about their experience and what they learned about the art of poetry today. It’s the time of year when lovers of orchards, apples and cider gather to bless and encourage their trees. The tradition of wassailing is ancient, and modern too. Jim Causley from Whimple, Dartmoor, sings wassails old and new, and with artist Simon Pope talk about their project ‘Here’s to Thee’. And in the latest of the poems shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize, Jemma Borg read her poem Marsh Thistle from her collection Wilder. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, January 09, 2023
The Light in the Hall, The Shipping Forecast photographs, Nell Zink
The Light in the Hall, a crime drama starring Joanna Scanlan, has launched on Channel 4 following its previous incarnation in Welsh on S4C, as Y Golau. Director Andy Newbery joins Shahidha to discuss directing a bilingual ‘back to back’ TV production with a single cast and crew. Photographer Mark Power discusses his seminal book The Shipping Forecast, which has been re-released with over 100 previously unseen photographs. And the writer Nell Zink, known for her dark humour, discusses her latest novel, Avalon, which focuses on the life of the indefatigable teenager, Bran, who grows up in the pie-less version of America and embarks on a contradictory love affair. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Eliane Glaser Image: Joanna Scanlan as Sharon Roberts in TV drama The Light in the Hall on Channel 4/ Y Golau on S4C.
Thu, January 05, 2023
Two of the year's major films, Till and Empire of Light, reviewed and John Preston on his TV drama Stonehouse.
John Preston, the Costa Award-winning biographer of media tycoon Robert Maxwell, makes his screenwriting debut with a drama about another infamous figure of the 1970s, the MP John Stonehouse. He joins Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the line between fact and fiction in dramatising the story of the MP who faked his own death. Reviewers Amon Warmann and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh give their verdicts on two major films out this week: Till, the story of Emmett Till’s mother Mamie’s fight for justice after her son was lynched in 1955, featuring a powerful performance by Danielle Deadwyler; and Empire of Light, written and directed by Sam Mendes. Set in a seaside town cinema in the 70s it stars Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward, and is inspired in part by Mendes’ mother’s experiences. And James Conor Patterson reads his poem “london mixtape” from his debut collection “bandit country”, which has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Poetry Prize. Front Row is featuring each of the 10 poets shortlisted and we’ll hear from the winner when they’re announced on Tuesday 17th January. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters (Till picture credit: Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures)
Wed, January 04, 2023
Vocal ensemble Stile Antico, Fay Weldon obituary, director John Strickland
The English composer William Byrd died 400 years ago. To mark this the acclaimed vocal ensemble Stile Antico is about to release an album of his music. Five of the twelve members of the ensemble come to the Front Row studio to sing and talk about Byrd's extraordinary and moving music. The author and founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction Kate Mosse and actor Julie T Wallace, who played Ruth in the BBC TV production of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, join Front Row to mark the work of writer Fay Weldon, whose death was announced today. Veteran director John Strickland talks about filming The Rig, a new 6-part big budget Amazon Prime eco-thriller set on an oil rig cut off from all communication in the North Sea. An ensemble cast of familiar faces from Line of Duty, Game of Thrones and Schitt's Creek contend with a mysterious deep-sea entity. And Zaffar Kunial reads his poem Brontë Taxis from his TS Eliot Prize-nominated collection England's Green. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson Photograph of Stile Antico credit: Kaupo Kikkas
Tue, January 03, 2023
Tom Hanks On A Man Called Otto, Author Deepti Kapoor, The London Ticket Bank
Tom Hanks talks about playing a curmudgeonly older man whose life changes when a young family moves in next door in his latest film, A Man Called Otto. Author Deepti Kapoor on her new novel, Age of Vice, which explores crime and corruption in the world of New Delhi’s elites. The London Ticket Bank – promising tens of thousands of theatre and music tickets across the capital to those most impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. Samira is joined by Co-Founder Chris Sonnex to explain the new initiative from the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation and Cardboard Citizens, in partnership with The Barbican, Roundhouse, and The National, Almeida, Bush, Gate, and Tara Theatres. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser
Mon, January 02, 2023
Leeds 2023 Year of Culture
Front Row visits Leeds as the city prepares to celebrate culture throughout 2023. Following Brexit, Leeds’ bid for European Capital of Culture was ruled ineligible. Sharon Watson, Principal of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, reflects on the initial disappointment and the decision to press ahead anyway, and creating a new dance work for The Awakening - the opening event of Leeds 2023 Year of Culture. The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage joins his LYR bandmates, singer-songwriter Richard Walters and instrumentalist Patrick Pearson, to perform two songs ahead of headlining at The Awakening. Kully Thiarai, Creative Director of Leeds 2023, explains why she thinks the city’s decision to press ahead with a year-long celebration of culture even after Brussels said no, has been transformative. Theatre maker Alan Lyddiard is gathering 1001 stories from those aged 60 and over for a takeover event at Leeds Playhouse this spring. He reveals why he feels Leeds was the perfect city for this project. The poet Khadijah Ibrahiim will be performing at The Awakening but for her 2023 is not just about Leeds’ cultural celebrations, it also marks the 20th anniversary of the creative writing organisation for teenagers, Leeds Young Authors, that she founded in 2003. She concludes tonight’s programme, with her poem, Roots Runnin II. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image credit (c) Lorne Campbell, Guzelian for LEEDS 2023
Thu, December 22, 2022
The Pale Blue Eye and Happy Valley reviewed, Artist Alexander Creswell
Critics Tim Robey and Rhianna Dhillon join Front Row to watch the murder-mystery gothic horror film The Pale Blue Eye, starring Christian Bale, Gillian Anderson and Harry Melling, as Edgar Allan Poe, and the return of Happy Valley starring Sarah Lancashire and written by Sally Wainwright for what will be its final series. After the Windsor Castle fire in 1992, the artist Alexander Creswell was commissioned by the Queen to initially chart the destruction and five years later to capture the restoration of the castle. It was the only series of paintings that the Queen ever commissioned. Alexander Creswell reflects on the commission that led to him creating twenty-one watercolour paintings. The series is not currently on public display, but can be viewed on the Royal Collection Trust website. Picture credit of Harry Melling and Lucy Boynton in The Pale Blue Eye: Scott Garfield/Netflix © 2022 Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, December 21, 2022
Marie Kreutzer on the film Corsage, Film director Mike Hodges remembered, Artistic buzzwords, The T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry
Film director Marie Kreutzer on her new period drama film, Corsage, about the rebellious Elisabeth, 19th-century empress of Austria and queen of Hungary. Matthew Sweet joins Front Row to mark the work of Mike Hodges, the celebrated director of the classic films Get Carter and Flash Gordon, whose death has just been announced. When does an 'art-speak' buzzword, such as 'immersive' or 'liminal,' add to our aesthetic landscape and when does it get in the way? Times critic James Marriott and the artist Bob and Roberta Smith discuss how words shape our experience of art. And, ahead of the announcement of the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry in January, we hear a poem from nominee Fiona Benson’s shortlisted collection Ephemeron. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image: Vicky Krieps as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the film Corsage Photographer credit: Felix Vratny
Tue, December 20, 2022
Terry Hall remembered, state of UK theatre, board games of the last 40 years
Terry Hall of The Specials remembered after his sad passing. We hear him talking to John Wilson in 2019, and Pete Paphides looks back on his life and music. Plus, the state of UK theatre and its future outlook. Samira is joined by Nica Burns, co-owner of Nimax, who runs seven West End theatres and recently opened Soho Place - the first new theatre to open in the West End in 50 years; plus Matthew Xia - Artistic Director of the Actors' Touring Company; and Matt Hemley – Deputy Editor of the industry newspaper The Stage. And the best board games of the past 40 years. For many, Christmas would not be complete without one. Ancient forms like chess, oware or backgammon, and more modern classics including Monopoly, Scrabble and Cluedo, have been joined in the last 40 or so years by new inventions such as Rummikub, Catan and Ticket to Ride - all winners of the German prize Spiel des Jahres, or Game of the Year, which started in 1979. James Wallis, author of a book on board games, Everybody Wins, explains the enduring popularity of the pastime and why he thinks the games are an artform. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser
Tue, December 20, 2022
Lucy Prebble, immersive experiences, what next for ENO
Lucy Prebble, acclaimed playwright and Succession screenwriter, talks to Tom about the return of I Hate Suzie Too, her TV collaboration with Billie Piper about a B-list celebrity making a reality TV comeback, following an intimate phone hacking scandal. Immersive and interactive exhibitions, performances and ‘experiences’ are everywhere, from the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Reel Store in Coventry to a Peaky Blinders experience in London. Tom is joined by author Laurence Scott and art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnson to ask if we’ve reached peak immersion. After having its funding slashed and being told it must move out of London, where does the English National Opera go from here? Manchester has been mooted, although there are reports that the Arts Council may be about to grant the ENO a reprieve. The company’s chief executive Stuart Murphy will give us an update, and we’ll hear from Richard Mantle, chief executive of Leeds-based Opera North, which tours to cities including Greater Manchester. And Manchester-based opera singer Soraya Mafi, who has performed with ENO, explains what the move might mean to her. Image: Billie Piper as Suzie Pickles in I Hate Suzie Too Photographer: Tom Beard Copyright: Sky UK Ltd.
Thu, December 15, 2022
Quentin Blake discussion, reviews of Avatar and Magdalena Abakanowicz
For our Thursday review, film critic Leila Latif and art critic Ben Luke join Samira to discuss the much anticipated release of the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water and the exhibition of the late Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle Of Thread And Rope at Tate Modern in London. The much-loved and much-celebrated illustrator and author Sir Quentin Blake will be 90 on December 16th. He is well known for his collaborations with Roald Dahl, Michael Rosen and many others as well as for his own stories such as Cockatoos and Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Fellow illustrators and writers Lauren Child and Axel Scheffler join Front Row to celebrate the work and influence of this distinctive artist as plans proceed to open The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in 2024. Image: courtesy of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Wed, December 14, 2022
Neil Gaiman, China's art censorship in Europe, Decline of the working class in the creative industries
Neil Gaiman reflects on The Ocean at the End of the Lane as the stage adaption of his award-winning novel begins a nationwide tour. A new report investigating China's art censorship in Europe has just been published. Jemimah Steinfeld, Editor-in-Chief of Index-on-Censorship, and art journalist Vivienne Chow, discuss its findings. Professor Dave O'Brien from the University of Sheffield and poet and trustee of the Working Class Movement Library, Oliver Lomax, discuss the decline of the working-class in the creative industries. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: Neil Gaiman
Tue, December 13, 2022
Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil
Director Kasi Lemmons discusses her new film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, a biopic of the performer Whitney Houston, whose unmatched vocal power saw her become one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She talks about exploring the darker sides of Whitney’s life and working with British actor Naomi Ackie who stars in the title role. Hannah Khalil, writer-in-residence at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, tells Luke about her retelling of the classic 1001 Nights story cycle - Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, which reimagines Scheherazade's storytelling feat as a team writing effort. Plus, in the final week of the World Cup in Qatar, we look at the new art and architecture in the country: the huge public art programme featuring the work of over 100 artists, including Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, and Olafur Eliasson, plus new galleries, museums, and stadiums. To discuss Qatar’s cultural ambitions, and the question of culture washing in the face of rights concerns, Luke is joined by Hannah McGivern of The Art Newspaper, and Rowan Moore, architecture critic at The Observer. Presenter: Luke Jones Producer: Julian May
Mon, December 12, 2022
Zadie Smith on The Wife of Willesden, David Tennant on Litvinenko and Rick Wakeman's stolen gear
Zadie Smith talks about her play The Wife of Willesden, a modern re-telling of Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath starring Clare Perkins in the title role at Kiln Theatre, London. David Tennant discusses playing Russian Alexander Litvinenko in a new ITV drama based on the real life events of his shocking death. Keyboard player Rick Wakeman discusses how he's having to adapt his UK tour after a load of his musical gear was stolen from his van last week. And film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh expresses her frustration at the confusion surrounding current film releases since the start of the pandemic. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image: Clare Perkins as Alvita in The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith at Kiln Theatre, London Photographer credit: Michael Wharley
Thu, December 08, 2022
Orlando starring Emma Corrin & Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio reviewed, Damian Lewis on A Spy Among Friends
Orlando starring Emma Corrin at the Garrick Theatre in London and Guillermo del Toro’s animated film Pinocchio are reviewed by Shon Faye, author of The Transgender Issue, and Observer theatre critic Susannah Clapp. The story of double agent and defector Kim Philby has been told many times. A Spy Among Friends, a new six-episode series on ITVX, focuses on Nicholas Elliott, Philby’s lifelong friend. Damian Lewis, who plays Elliott, and writer Alexander Cary talk to Tom Sutcliffe about telling the story of political and personal betrayal anew. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Picture of Emma Corrin as Orlando credit Marc Brenner
Wed, December 07, 2022
The Turner Prize winner, poet Kim Moore, Razorlight's Johnny Borrell
The winner of this year's Turner Prize will be announced at St George’s Hall in Liverpool. Art critic Louisa Buck reflects on this year’s Turner Prize and responds to the news of the winner of this prestigious award for contemporary art. Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell tells Samira about the band reforming, their new album - Razorwhat? The Best Of Razorlight, and a new documentary, Fall To Pieces, which charts the meteoric rise, break-up and make-up of the band. And poet Kim Moore was recently announced as the winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2022, for her second collection, All The Men I Never Married. It was described as 'phenomenal' by the judges. She talks about putting the complexities of past relationships and encounters into poetry.
Tue, December 06, 2022
Antoine Fuqua on Emancipation, NDAs in film and TV casting, playwright April De Angelis
Film director Antoine Fuqua discusses his new film, Emancipation, which stars Will Smith. He discusses basing his film on the true story of an enslaved man in 1860s Louisiana. Earlier this year, Front Row revealed how non-disclosure agreements were being misused in film and TV casting, with actors being kept in the dark about the roles they were auditioning for. The actor’s union Equity has come up with new guidance on NDAs. Carolyn Atkinson explains what this means for auditions. April De Angelis discusses her new play Kerry Jackson, which is at the National Theatre in London. Starring Faye Ripley in the title role of café owner Kerry, it explores class and gentrification. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Mon, December 05, 2022
Fergus McCreadie, Leyla Josephine, Scottish National Gallery
Jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie performs live from his latest album Forest Floor, which recently won the Scottish Album of the Year award and a Mercury Prize nomination. Performance poet Leyla Josephine discusses her debut poetry collection In Public / In Private. Patricia Allerston, chief curator of the Scottish National Gallery, on the transformation of the museum and creation of a new exhibition space. Plus Kate goes behind the scenes to meet conservators who are restoring the works of art, Lesley Stevenson and Keith Morrison. Anna Burnside reports on the significance of this Autumn's closure of the Modern Two Gallery in Edinburgh, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Carol Purcell
Thu, December 01, 2022
Veronica Ryan - shortlisted for the Turner Prize, reviews of new Stormzy album and film White Noise
Veronica Ryan OBE is shortlisted for the Turner Prize. She talks to Front Row about her Windrush Commission sculptures in Hackney that have won the hearts of both the community and critics, how she uses materials from old fruit trays to volcanic ash, and how her work contains multitudes of meaning. Nii Ayikwei Parkes, writer, commentator and performance poet and Lisa Verrico, music critic for the Sunday Times review White Noise, an extraordinary film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and based on the novel by Don DeLillo, and the much-anticipated album by Stormzy, This is What I Mean. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo of Veronica Ryan credit Holly Falconer
Wed, November 30, 2022
Maxine Peake on Betty! A Sort of Musical, Turner Prize nominee Heather Phillipson, Signal Film and Media in Barrow-in-Furness
Maxine Peake discusses playing Betty Boothroyd, former Speaker of the House of Commons in Betty! A Sort of Musical, which is about to open at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. Turner Prize nominated artist Heather Phillipson, best known for her sculpture of a giant cherry topped ice cream on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, discusses her exhibition 'RUPTURE NO 1: blowtorching the bitten peach', using recycled materials, video, sculpture, music and poetry, currently on display at Tate Liverpool. Laura Robertson visits Signal Film and Media in Barrow in Furness to hear about how the charity has benefited from the latest Arts Council funding announcement and to find out what they have planned for the future. The artist Tom Phillips has died at the age of 85. In a Front Row interview from 2012, he discusses his long running artistic projects as a painter, printmaker and collagist. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Olivia Skinner Image: Maxine Peake as Betty Boothroyd, former Speaker of the House of Commons in Betty! A Sort of Musical at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
Tue, November 29, 2022
Clint Dyer on Othello, Turner Prize nominee Ingrid Pollard, should museums close controversial galleries?
Clint Dyer discusses directing Othello starring Giles Terera at the National Theatre, the first Black director to do so. He talks about how he is approaching the racism and misogyny in the play, and the history of previous productions. In the second of Front Row’s interviews with the artists nominated for this year’s Turner Prize, Ingrid Pollard discusses her work, Carbon Slowly Turning, and how she explores themes of nationhood, race, history and identity through portraiture and landscape. And as the Wellcome Collection decides to close an exhibition described as sexist, racist and ableist, Front Row discusses whether museums should display historical objects that may offend gallery visitors. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser Image: Giles Terera as Othello and Rosy McEwan as Desdemona. Image credit: Myah Jeffers
Mon, November 28, 2022
Turner Prize nominee Sin Wai Kin, Katherine Rundell on John Donne, Ballet Black
Author Katherine Rundell talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her book Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which has won this year’s The Baillie Gifford. In the first in a series of interviews with the artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, Sin Wai Kin discusses how they use performance to challenge misogyny and racism. The acclaimed dance company Ballet Black, known for giving a platform to Black and Asian dancers and choreographers, turns 20 this year. Michael McKenzie visits rehearsals to hear how they are marking the anniversary. And as the Horniman Museum in London hands back their collection of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, Professor Abba Tijani, the Director General of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, discusses what receiving the artworks means for Nigeria. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Image credit: Sin Wai Kin by Holly Falconer
Thu, November 24, 2022
Joan Armatrading, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye exhibition and film She Said reviewed
The much-celebrated singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading on her 50-year career, her book of lyrics, The Weakness in Me, and new album Live at Asylum Chapel. Arts journalist Nancy Durrant, and art historian and writer Chloe Austin review Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s new show at the Tate Britain, and the film She Said, starring Carey Mulligan, which details the New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ellie Bury
Wed, November 23, 2022
Lady Chatterley's Lover reviewed, Jake Heggie on It's A Wonderful Life, casting Ukrainian actors, Wilko Johnson
Lara Feigel and Tom Shakespeare review Netflix’s new adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, starring Emma Corrin. The English National Opera stages an operatic reimagining of It’s a Wonderful Life, the classic 1946 Christmas film, by the composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. Jake joins Samira. The casting of Ukrainian actors who have arrived here escaping the conflict, with actors Kateryna Hryhorenko and Yurii Radionov, and casting directors Olga Lyubarova and Rachel Sheridan. And the death has been announced of Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson. We hear an extract from his memorable interview on Front Row following what he thought was a terminal diagnosis. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Tue, November 22, 2022
Matthew Warchus on Matilda, Kapil Seshasayee performs, climate protests in galleries
Director Matthew Warchus discusses his new film Matilda the Musical. Based on the Tony and Olivier award winning stage play, it brings Roald Dahl’s much loved children’s story to the screen. Scottish-Indian protest musician Kapil Seshasayee performs live and talks to Samira about his new album Laal. And art critics Louisa Buck and Bendor Grovenor discuss the impact of the recent climate protests in museums and galleries. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Tue, November 22, 2022
Director Luca Guadagnino on Bones and All, Gainsborough’s House, writer Ronald Blythe at 100
Luca Guadagnino won the Silver Lion for Best Director at this year's Venice Film Festival for his latest film, Bones and All, starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. He talks to Tom Sutcliffe about confronting the taboo of cannibalism on screen and reuniting with Chalamet after Call Me By Your Name. Mark Bills, the Director of Gainsborough’s House, joins Tom to discuss the reopening of the painter's home in Suffolk. Ronald Blythe, the man who’s been described as the greatest living writer on the English countryside, celebrates his 100th birthday this month. His friend and fellow writer Richard Mabey and the academic and author Alexandra Harris discuss his work and a new collection of his columns on Suffolk life, Next to Nature. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May IMAGE: Taylor Russell (left) as Maren and Timothée Chalamet (right) as Lee in Bones and All, directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. CREDIT: Yannis Drakoulidis / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures
Thu, November 17, 2022
The Wonder, Making Modernism, Frantic Assembly, Opera and elitism
With Samira Ahmed. Guests Katy Hessel and Lillian Crawford review Florence Pugh's drama The Wonder, based on an Emma Donoghue novel, and the Royal Academy's Making Modernism exhibition, which explores the lives of a group of female artists active in Germany in the early twentieth century. The theatre company Frantic Assembly is running a nationwide programme to find the actors of the future, hopefully from unexpected places. Luke Jones talks to Frantic Assembly’s artistic director Scott Graham about their plan to get a wider range of young people into theatre and to some of the aspiring actors taking part in this year’s programme. As the fallout of the Arts Council announcements continues, Lillian Crawford and composer Gavin Higgins consider why opera is still being branded elitist and what can be done about it. Producer: Ellie Bury Photo credit: Florence Pugh as Lib Wright in The Wonder. Cr. Aidan Monaghan
Wed, November 16, 2022
Football Inspired Art, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Bruntwood Playwriting Prize winner, Chornobyldorf opera
Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper on Coronation Street, on writing a survival guide for new actors- An Actor’s Alphabet. What happens when football is taken from the pitch and put on the canvas? Nick Ahad is joined by the curators of three football-inspired exhibitions: Art of the Terraces at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, plus The Art of the Football Scarf and It's The Hope That Keeps Us Here at OOF Gallery in Tottenham Hotspur's stadium. Chornoblydorf, a new opera that looks at a post-apocalyptic world, opens this year's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Co-composer Illia Razumeiko joins Front Row to talk about the optimism behind this dark production. The Bruntwood Playwriting Prize winner, Nathan Queeley-Dennis, on getting the top prize with his debut play, Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, about a young Black man on a journey of self-discovery with the help of his barber and Beyoncé's lyrics. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: Square Gogh by Ross Muir, on display in the exhibition Art of the Terraces at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool
Tue, November 15, 2022
Crime writer Michael Connelly, Folk trio Lady Maisery
American crime writer Michael Connelly is one of the world’s bestselling authors, with more than eighty million copies of his books sold worldwide. He discusses his new novel Desert Star, the latest in his series about LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans are accomplished, adventurous musicians. They come together as Lady Maisery, creating music informed by folk traditions that is contemporary, from a female perspective, socially and politically engaged. They talk to Tom Sutcliffe about their work, and perform songs from their new album, Tender. And are UK publishers afraid to publish books on controversial topics? Editor Arabella Pike and Dan Conway of The Publishers Association discuss whether publishing is experiencing a “chill factor.” Photo Credit: Kat Westerman
Mon, November 14, 2022
BBC Centenary, The Art of Radio, Joy Whitby, Climate Fiction
With Samira Ahmed. To mark the centenary of the first BBC radio broadcast, Samira Ahmed discusses the art of radio and radio’s influence on art with the novelist and radio enthusiast Tom McCarthy and with Benbrick, sound designer and co-producer of the Peabody award-winning Have You Heard George’s Podcast? From early on the BBC made programmes especially for children. Samira Ahmed speaks to Joy Whitby, a pioneer of children’s programmes – she started Play School and Jackanory – and hears how her approach to these owed much to her early days creating sound effects as a radio studio manager. How should writers respond to the climate crisis? As the COP 27 climate conference continues in Egypt, Samira is joined live from Cairo by the novelist Ahdaf Soueif and in the studio by the playwright Greg Mosse, whose debut novel The Coming Darkness has been described as climate fiction. Producer: Ian Youngs
Thu, November 10, 2022
The Crown, Jafar Panahi's No Bears, Jez Butterworth, Goldsmiths Prize
The Crown: as series five is with us, we review the next ten part instalment of Netflix's royal drama as it slips into more recent territory - the turmoil of the nineties. Plus jailed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi’s new metafiction No Bears, in which he plays himself, forced to direct online from a village near Iran’s Turkish border. With Kate Maltby and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. Jez Butterworth: the playwright and screenwriter on his new show Mammals starring James Corden, airing on Amazon Prime. The Goldsmiths Prize: live from the ceremony, we hear from the winner of this year’s £10,000 reward for fiction that, “breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.” Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, November 09, 2022
Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler, Photographer Craig Easton
Filmmaker Ryan Coogler discusses returning to Black Panther after the death of Chadwick Boseman and how that experience has inspired the making of the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the wake of this year’s annual Museums Association conference which asked its members to “to reimagine our future if we are going to survive”, Front Row brings together Rowan Brown, CEO of Museums Northumberland and Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board to discuss how museums are responding to the challenge of the cost of living crisis and rising energy prices. In 1992 Craig Easton photographed Mandy and Mick Williams and their children for the first time for a series he called Thatcher's Children. In 2016, he was able to reconnect with the family and has continued to photograph them since then. As he prepares to publish the photographs in a new book, Craig talks about taking pictures for posterity. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Main image: Nick Ahad and Ryan Coogler
Tue, November 08, 2022
Jennifer Lawrence, mandolin player Chris Thile, Chokepoint Capitalism
Jennifer Lawrence and director Lila Neugebauer discuss their new film Causeway. Grammy award-winning mandolin player Chris Thile plays live in the studio from his latest album Laysongs, on the eve of his UK tour. A new book, Chokepoint Capitalism, looks at how big tech companies and large corporations control large parts of creative markets. The authors, Rebecca Giblin, a professor at Melbourne Law School and Cory Doctorow, writer and activist, join Front Row to discuss what that means for both consumers and creators. Presenter: Luke Jones Producer: Olivia Skinner Image: Jennifer Lawrence in Causeway
Mon, November 07, 2022
Arts Council Funding, the art of the infographic, film director Tas Brooker
Arts Council England have announced the most dramatic shift in funding for decades, diverting investment from London towards other parts of the country. The Chair of Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, Stuart Murphy of English National Opera, which is set to relocate out of London, and arts journalist Sarah Crompton discuss the details. Director Tas Brooker discusses her new film When We Speak, a documentary about female whistleblowers, including Rose McGowan and Katherine Gun, whose evidence lifted the lid on abuse and corruption. To mark the start of the COP 27 climate conference in Egypt, Samira explores the art of the infographic and the appeal of data visualisation with Professor Ed Hawkins, creator of the viral Show Your Stripes temperature change graphic and information designer Stefanie Posavec. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ellie Bury Image: Show Your Stripes infographic representing the global average temperature for each year since 1850 to 2021 (data source: UK Met Office) Credit: Creator: Professor Ed Hawkins, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading Licensor: University of Reading Licence: Creative Commons
Thu, November 03, 2022
The English and Living reviewed, Royal Opera's Director of Opera Oliver Mears
Joan Bakewell and Hanna Flint give their verdicts on Hugo Blick's new TV Western on BBC2 starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, 'The English'. They've also watched new film 'Living' starring Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood with a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro, based on an Akira Kurosawa film, 'Ikiru', about a man at the end of his life. Royal Opera House Opera Director Oliver Mears discusses his new production of Benjamin Britten’s 'The Rape of Lucretia' and the challenges he’s faced staging a work that deals with sexual violence. Image: 2022 The English (c) Drama Republic/BBC/Amazon Studios Photographer: Diego Lopez Calvin Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, November 02, 2022
Live from Cardiff with Connor Allen, Zoë Skoulding and music from Catrin Finch and Aoife Ni Bhriain
Playwright, poet and Children’s Laureate for Wales Connor Allen talks about his grime-theatre mash-up The Making of a Monster, a semi-autobiographical production about a young man struggling to find his place in the world. Harpist Catrin Finch and Irish violinist Aoife Ni Bhriain perform live in the Front Row studio and discuss their appearance at the Other Voices Festival in Cardigan, which will celebrate connections between Ireland and Wales. Poet Zoë Skoulding talks about her latest collection, A Marginal Sea, written in Ynys Mon, Anglesey, on the edge of Wales. Bilingual rapper, Sage Todz, on turning O Hyd - Still Here - a song from the '80s rallying people to the cause of the Welsh language, into one rallying them in support of the Welsh national football team, which is still here, in the World Cup competition. Presenter: Huw Stephens Producer: Julian May
Tue, November 01, 2022
Nick Hornby, dancer Cecilia Iliesiu, Derek Owusu and Anthony Anaxagorou
Author Nick Hornby on the similarities of Dickens and Prince, as he publishes his new book on the “genius” of the Victorian novelist and the sex-funk pop musician. On the eve of World Ballet Day, we talk to Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer, Cecilia Iliesiu, about the new project she has co-founded – Global Ballet Teachers - to make the teaching of ballet more accessible to ballet teachers worldwide. We also hear from Vivian Boateng, a ballet teacher based in Accra, Ghana, who has been taking part in the Global Ballet Teachers project. Derek Owusu has written a book about his mother, who came to Britain from Ghana. But rather than a prose memoir he has imagined the journey of her life as a long poem titled Losing the Plot. Anthony Anaxagorou also writes about his family, life here and in Cyprus, where they came from, in his new collection Heritage Aesthetics. Rather than interviewing the two writers separately Front Row asked each to read the other's. Derek Owusu and Anthony Anaxagorou join Front Row to discuss their work. Photo credit for Nick Hornby: Parisa Taghizadeh Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, October 31, 2022
Alison Lapper on Sarah Biffin, Ric Renton, Plastics at the V&A Dundee
Artist Alison Lapper and co-curator Emma Rutherford discuss a new exhibition Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin, which takes a fresh look at the work of the pioneering Victorian painter. Actor and writer Ric Renton talks about his new play One Off at Theatre Live in Newcastle. Inspired by the time he spent in prison as a young man, it addresses a crisis in the prison system. As a new exhibition about Plastic opens at the V&A Dundee, critic Anna Burnside takes a look at the 20th Century’s most intriguing and controversial materials. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ellie Bury Image Credit: Sarah Biffin (1784-1850) Self-portrait , 1821 © Philip Mould & Company
Thu, October 27, 2022
Tammy Faye musical, Paul Newman's memoir, Daniel Arsham, Simon Armitage
Reviewers Karen Krizanovich and David Benedict give their verdicts on Tammy Faye, A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre in London, starring Katie Brayben, and from the combined creative forces of Elton John, Jake Shears, James Graham, and Rupert Goold. Plus they review Paul Newman, The Extraordinary Life Of An Ordinary Man - a memoir of the film star created from recently rediscovered transcripts of conversations Newman had in the 1980s. The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, reads his poem to mark 100 years of the BBC. And the American artist Daniel Arsham is known for sculptures which look like archaeological remains or as he describes them “future relics.” As an outdoor exhibition of his work opens at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Luke Jones finds out what inspires his work. Photo credit: Marc Brenner Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace
Wed, October 26, 2022
Turn It Up: The Power of Music exhibition; The Turner Prize at Tate Liverpool; Linton Kwesi Johnson
Art critic Laura Robertson reviews this year's Turner Prize show at Tate Liverpool. Presenter Nick Ahad pays a visit to the immersive exhibition, Turn It Up: The Power of Music at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. Laura Robertson brings us up to date on the latest arts news, from the delayed funding announcement by Arts Council England, to Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof gallery's response to rising energy costs. Plus Nick Ahad speaks to the pioneering dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson about his new collection, Selected Poems. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: The Musical Playground in Turn It Up The Power of Music exhibition © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Group
Tue, October 25, 2022
Eliza Carthy, Ruben Östlund, Brutalist Architecture
Eliza Carthy is celebrating 30 years as a professional musician with a new album, Queen of the Whirl. She talks about this, the legacy of her musical family – as the daughter of Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy – the way traditional music develops, and her own song-writing, and performs live in the Front Row studio. Double Palme d'Or winning Swedish director Ruben Östlund tells Samira about his first English language film, Triangle of Sadness - a satire on the fashion industry, influencer culture, and the world of the super-rich. Plus the threat to brutalist architecture. Last year the Dorman Long Tower in Redcar was demolished, and now the Kirkgate Shopping centre in Bradford is condemned too. Brutalist architecture provokes both love as well as hate, but around the country its buildings are in peril. Author John Grindrod and Duncan Wilson from Historic England discuss how much is being lost, and if it matters. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Photo: Eliza Carthy. Credit: Elodie Kowalski
Mon, October 24, 2022
Taylor Swift and Arctic Monkeys
Taylor Swift and the Arctic Monkeys both released their debut albums in 2006. Their latest studio albums, Swift’s tenth, Midnights, and Arctic Monkeys seventh, The Car, have just been released. Laura Barton reviews them and compares their unexpected similarities. As new exhibition The Horror Show! opens at Somerset House, horror in art and film is discussed by the exhibition's co-curator Jane Pollard and BFI film programmer Michael Blyth. May Sumbwanyambe on his new play Enough of Him which explores the 18th century story of Joseph Knight, an African man enslaved by plantation owner Sir John Wedderburn and brought to Scotland to serve in his Perthshire mansion. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, October 20, 2022
Front Row reviews popular culture of 1922
For the poet Ezra Pound it was ‘year zero for Modernism’ but what were people in Britain really reading, watching, listening to and looking at in 1922? To mark the BBC’s centenary, Front Row reviews the popular culture of 1922: from the West End musical comedy The Cabaret Girl by Jerome Kern and PG Wodehouse to May Sinclair’s novel The Life and Death of Harriett Frean, via the silent film epic Robin Hood with Douglas Fairbanks and a fond farewell to Gainsborough’s portrait of The Blue Boy at The National Gallery, all set to a soundtrack of jazz, music hall and early radio. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by academic Charlotte Jones (Queen Mary, University of London), the writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet and the music critic Kevin Le Gendre. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire Image: Enid Bennett, Douglas Fairbanks and Sam De Grasse in Robin Hood, 1922
Wed, October 19, 2022
Martin McDonagh on The Banshees of Inisherin and The Royal National Mòd
Director Martin McDonagh talks about his new film The Banshees of Inisherin. The former Young People's Laureate for London, Selina Nwulu, discusses her latest collection of poems. John McDiarmid reports from The Royal National Mòd, Scotland’s festival of Gaelic culture.
Tue, October 18, 2022
New theatre @sohoplace, director Edward Berger, Jenny Beavan on fair pay for costume designers
Theatre producer Nica Burns talks about her brand new theatre building @sohoplace which is about to open in London’s West End. Film director Edward Berger discusses his German anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front. Jenny Beavan has designed costumes for some of Hollywood’s most celebrated and loved films, including Mad Max: Fury Road, Gosford Park, and A Room with a View. The film that led to her winning her third Oscar, Cruella, has also led her to question the position of costume and wardrobe workers in the film industry. She joins Front Row, along with Charlotte Bence, a negotiator for Equity, the trade union for the performing arts and entertainment industries. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Eliane Glaser Photo Credit: Tim Soar and AHMM
Mon, October 17, 2022
The Booker Prize for Fiction 2022
The live ceremony for the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction, hosted by Samira Ahmed. The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced by the chair of judges Neil MacGregor in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen Consort, who will award the trophy. The author Elif Shafak reflects on the recent violent attack on Sir Salman Rushdie, whose novel Midnight's Children was chosen as the Booker of Bookers. And the singer songwriter Dua Lipa gives her thoughts on the power of books. Photographer credit: John Williams Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, October 13, 2022
Hieroglyphs at the British Museum, Emily Brontë biopic, Shehan Karunatilaka
Emily is a new film starring Emma Mackey (of Sex Education fame) as the author of Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë. Emily is as wild as the windswept moorland she lives in; her relationships with her sisters, Anne and Charlotte, her dissolute brother, Branwell, and her lover, the curate Weightman, are as raw as the relentless rain, and as tender as the flashes of sunshine. But writer and Director Frances O’Connor’s debut film is very much an imagined life. So, what will reviewers Samantha Ellis, author of a biography of Emily’s sister, Anne, and the archaeologist Mike Pitts make of it? Samantha and Mike will also review Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt. The new exhibition at the British Museum brings together more than 240 objects, some shown for the first time, and some very famous -the Rosetta Stone, Queen Nedjmet’s Book of the Dead - to tell the story of the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Exhibitions about ancient Egypt tend to focus on the dead – mummies, Tutankhamun – this one is about how the Egyptians lived, wrote, and spoke. Lord Vaizey, former Conservative Culture Minister from 2010- 2016 has been appointed Chair of the Parthenon Project advisory panel. He joins Front Row to discuss the campaign to return the “Elgin Marbles” to Greece. Concluding Front Row's interviews with all of this year's Booker Prize shortlisted novelists is Shehan Karunatilaka. He discusses his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almedia, a dark satire set against the backdrop of a civil war-ravaged Sri Lanka. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire Main Image: Temple lintel of King Amenenhat III, Hawara, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, 1855 - 08 BC. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
Thu, October 13, 2022
Live from Belfast with Ruth McGinley, Conor Mitchell, Claire Keegan
Front Row comes from Belfast where Steven Rainey hears about some of the highlights of this year’s Belfast International Festival. Pianist Ruth McGinley talks about her new album AURA, a collection of traditional Irish airs re-imagined for classical piano. Ruth found success at a young age after winning the piano final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition but felt burnt out by the pressure and demands of life as a concert pianist. She discusses her return to playing and the freedom she’s found in collaborating with other musicians and composers. Composer and theatre maker Conor Mitchell is known for his ground-breaking operas covering topics including the trial of Harvey Weinstein and homophobic comments from a DUP politician. His new musical, Propaganda, is set during the Berlin blockade and asks questions about the ransoming of supplies. He discusses Propaganda’s contemporary parallels and using a musical to explain political turmoil. Claire Keegan has been shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize for her novel Small Things Like These. Set in the 1980s in County Wexford, Ireland, at a time when the infamous Magdalene laundries were still operating, the book follows a coal merchant and father of five daughters who is faced with a moral choice. Presenter: Steven Rainey Producer: Olivia Skinner
Tue, October 11, 2022
Camilla George, Elizabeth Strout and Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari
Jazz saxophonist Camilla George plays live in the studio and talks about her new album Ibio-Ibio - a tribute to her Ibibio roots in Nigerian. Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari joins Samira to discuss Rebel Rebel, her first major work in the UK. The exhibition at the Barbican’s Curve features 27 miniature portraits of pioneering female performers who blazed a trail in cinema, music and dance before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Elizabeth Strout is the latest of the authors shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize to be featured on Front Row. She's been shortlisted for the third novel in her series of Lucy Barton novels, Oh William! We hear an extract from her interview with Open Book about the novel. BBC Scotland's arts correspondent, Pauline McLean, reports on the financial pressures that are besieging Scotland's cultural institutions. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Main image: Camilla George Photographer's credit: Daniel Adhami
Mon, October 10, 2022
Alan Garner Booker Shortlisted, Orfeo Reimagined, Baz Luhrmann on Peter Brook
Alan Garner’s 10th novel, Treacle Walker, may be one of the shortest books to make the Booker Prize shortlist but once read the slim volume which explores the nature of time weighs on the reader’s mind. Alan talks to Nick Ahad about the creation of Treacle Walker and what’s it like to be the oldest author ever to be nominated for the UK’s most celebrated literary prize. Monteverdi’s opera, Orfeo, is regarded as the first great opera and while there have been numerous productions since its premiere in 1607 none of those have attempted the approach being taken by Opera North this week. Monteverdi’s opera is being recreated through a collaboration between Indian and Western classical music traditions. The co-music directors - composer and sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun and conductor and harpsichordist Laurence Cummings - along with the opera’s director, Anna Himali Howard, join Nick to discuss why Monteverdi’s opera provides the perfect gateway to a new form of music storytelling. When Baz Luhrmann was a young theatre and opera director he had the opportunity to assist Peter Brook on his epic production of the Mahabharata, which Brook was staging in a quarry in Australia. Luhrmann tells Nick Ahad that he didn't have much to do he did a good deal of observing, and that he learned a great deal. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Production Co-ordinator: Lewis Reeves Main image: Alan Garner Photographer’s credit: David Heke
Thu, October 06, 2022
Booker-nominated author Percival Everett, The Lost King reviewed
Author Percival Everett talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his Booker Prize nominated novel, The Trees, which uses dark humour to explore gruesome events in Mississippi. Science Fiction writer Una McCormack and historian Prof Anthony Bale review Stephen Frears's new film The Lost King, about the real life search for the remains of Richard III and a new exhibition at the Science Museum devoted to Science Fiction. And writer Hari Kunzru on the life and work of Annie Ernaux, who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Image Credit: Photographer - Graeme Hunter, © PATHÉ PRODUCTIONS LIMITED AND BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION 2022ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Wed, October 05, 2022
Björk, NoViolet Bulawayo, James Bond at 60
Mercurial musician Björk has just released her tenth album Fossora. She discusses the experience of making the album and her interest in mushrooms. Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for the second time, this time for her second novel Glory. It recounts the political turmoil of Zimbabwe’s recent past through a cast of animal characters. NoViolet tells Samira what made her want to approach the subject in this way. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of James Bond, Samira speaks to producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson about the immense impact and legacy of the franchise. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser Main image: Björk Photographer's credit: Vidar Logi
Tue, October 04, 2022
BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers' Award winners
The announcement of the winners of the BBC National Short Story Award and Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University live from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House in London. Joining Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate the imaginative potential of the short story are chair of judges Elizabeth Day, previous winner Ingrid Persaud, and the poet Will Harris. All the stories are available on BBC Sounds. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Mon, October 03, 2022
Viola Davis in The Woman King, playwright Rona Munro and artist Amy Sherald
American actress Viola Davis, who has won an Oscar, Emmy and a Tony for her outstanding performances, plays a female warrior in the historical epic The Woman King. Viola Davis and director Gina Prince-Bythewood discuss bringing the story of a 19th Century female general to life. Rona Munro’s trilogy The James Plays were one of the theatrical highlights of the year when they premiered in 2014. She has now returned to Scottish history with two further monarchal plays – James IV: Queen of the Fight, and Mary. She talks to Samira about how her new plays challenge the traditional histories about the court of James IV and the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Amy Sherald is a celebrated American painter, known for her striking official portrait of Michelle Obama. As her first European exhibition opens in London, she joins Samira in the Front Row studio to discuss her new paintings, which continue to explore themes of American realism and Black portraiture. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image: Viola Davis in The Woman King
Thu, September 29, 2022
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare North Playhouse and artist Samson Kambalu
Artist Samson Kambalu talks to Shahidha Bari about his sculpture Antelope, a thought provoking commentary on colonialism which has just been unveiled on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. Period gangster drama Peaky Blinders has been turned into a ballet by dance company Rambert. As it opens in Birmingham, Rambert Dance's Helen Shute explains how they've interpreted the TV show for the stage. Screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce and critic Helen Nugent review the first Shakespeare production at the new Shakespeare North theatre in Prescot, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Joyland, the the first Pakistani film to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival.
Thu, September 29, 2022
The Blackwater Lightship, Filmmaker Kirsty Bell, Black Art
The Blackwater Lightship is a novel by Colm Tóibín, published in 1999 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was later made into a film and has now been dramatized for the Dublin Theatre Festival. Set in the early nineties, it tells of a young gay man suffering from AIDS who visits his grandmother in rural Wexford and the repercussions his arrival has on her, his mother, and sister. Elle talks to the writer and director David Horan about adapting the novel for the stage, and the issues it raises about mother-daughter relationships and attitudes to AIDS then and now. On the 40th anniversary of the First National Black Art Convention, held at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and an accompanying exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, we look at that foundational moment for black art now, 40 years on. Elle speaks to Marlene Smith, artist, curator, and a founding member of the BLK Art Group, and to Alice Correia - art historian and editor of a new collection of documents from that time. Plus filmmaker Kirsty Bell discusses her directorial debut, A Bird Flew In - set during lockdown, and featuring a stellar cast, including Sadie Frost, Derek Jacobi, and Frances Barber. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Ellie Bury
Tue, September 27, 2022
Anthony Roth Costanzo, Unboxed's See Monster, and the cost of living crisis
Luke Jones meets the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, whose show Only An Octave Apart is about to begin a month long run at Wilton’s Music Hall in London. He discusses how he discovered his range, why he fuses opera with pop and his return to the ENO next year in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten. Luke takes a tour round See Monster in Weston-super-Mare, a retired North Sea rig that's been turned into one of the UK's largest art installations as part of the Unboxed festival. And a discussion on the impact of the cost of living crisis on theatre and live music. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin speaks from the Labour Party Conference and Mark Davyd from the Music Venue Trust. Eleanor Lloyd from (SOLT) The Society of London Theatres/UK Theatre.
Mon, September 26, 2022
Michael Winterbottom, Welsh arts project GALWAD, Hilary Mantel remembered
Michael Winterbottom discusses writing and directing a SKY TV drama, This England, starring Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson during his tumultuous first months as Prime Minister and the first wave of the COVID pandemic. GALWAD, an ambitious, multiplatform arts project set in Wales, imagines what it would be like if we could receive messages from people living in 2052. Audiences can follow the story as it unfolds across the week, both online and on social media, and watch a broadcast of the whole event on Sky Arts. The lead producer Claire Doherty and lead writer Owen Sheers, explain why they wanted to push the boundaries of storytelling. The literary critic John Mullan and the novelist Katherine Rundell discuss the life and work of Hilary Mantel.
Thu, September 22, 2022
Blonde and Inside Man reviewed, Anna Bailey interview
Critics Boyd Hilton and Sarah Crompton review Blonde, Andrew Dominik’s film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel about Marilyn Monroe. They also discuss Inside Man, a new drama from Sherlock creator Steven Moffat, starring David Tennant and Stanley Tucci. Anna Bailey is the last of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They’ll be talking about their story Long Way to Come for a Sip of Water, about a man’s road journey across the vast expanses of Texas, which will be broadcast on Radio 4 tomorrow at 1530. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ellie Bury
Wed, September 21, 2022
Beth Orton, Jodi Picoult, South Korean Art
Beth Orton performs two songs from her new album, Weather Alive, and discusses creative partnerships as well as life after being dropped by her record label. American author Jodi Picoult has turned Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Book Thief into a musical, which has just had its world premiere at the Bolton Octagon. She discusses adapting a novel for the stage and explains why she feels the UK is a more fertile landscape for launching musicals. Jordan Erica Webber, arts and culture broadcaster and video games expert, reviews Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the V&A’s new exhibition exploring the South Korean art, music, TV, cinema and fashion that’s spreading its influence around the world: from Gangnam Style to Squid Game, Parasite to Nam June Paik. Samira speaks to Vanessa Onwuemezi, who's the latest of the authors shortlisted for this year's BBC National Short Story Award for her story, Green Afternoon. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser Main Image Credit: Eliot Lee Hazel
Wed, September 21, 2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of our country's greatest ever composers. Born 150 years ago in 1872, he is known for creating a sense of Englishness in twentieth century music by drawing on his love of folk song, Tudor church music and landscape, in pieces like the perennially popular The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Samira Ahmed explores his musical language and revels in live performance with her guests, the solo violinist Jennifer Pike , baritone Roderick Williams, Paul Sartin of the folk band Bellowhead, Kate Kennedy from Oxford University, and composer, writer and pianist Neil Brand. This programme was recorded before the sad news of Paul Sartin's death. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman
Tue, September 20, 2022
Louise Doughty on her BBC drama Crossfire, singer-songwriter Miki Berenyi from Lush, author Jenn Ashworth
Bestselling author Louise Doughty discusses her new BBC One drama Crossfire, a thriller about a terrorist attack in a luxury holiday resort, starring Keeley Hawes. She talks about writing for the screen for the first time, after her novels Apple Tree Yard and Platform 7 were adapted for television. Singer songwriter Miki Berenyi, who is best known as part of the 1980s/90s indie rock band Lush, talks about her memoir Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved me from Success. Her book covers her jaw-dropping childhood and the highs and lows of being a woman in the music business, touring America and the dark side of Britpop. The novelist and short story writer Jenn Ashworth is the latest of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2022. She joins Front Row to talk about Flat 19, inspired by a work by Doris Lessing, exploring the daily pressures on a woman who finds a surprising way to escape them. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, September 15, 2022
Ticket to Paradise film, Winslow Homer exhibition, National Short Story Award shortlist announcement
Journalist and author Hadley Freeman, and Art UK editor and art historian Lydia Figes, review Ticket to Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and the Winslow Homer exhibition at the National Gallery. And head judge Elizabeth Day joins Front Row for the announcement of the shortlist for the 2022 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. The first two shortlisted authors will be talking about what inspired their stories. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Eliane Glaser
Wed, September 14, 2022
Cellist Abel Selaocoe, Art & History, Curlews In Music
Genre-defying South African cellist Abel Selaocoe speaks to Samira and performs a piece from his new album Where Is Home (Hae Ke Kae), which will be launched at a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. He is about to become Artist In Residence at London's Southbank Centre. His inventive and virtuosic compositions and performance style fuse Baroque repertoire with traditional African music, combining classical cello with body percussion and voice. A rich crop of recent books shows that art is being viewed from a new perspective. Michael Bird, author of This Is Tomorrow: Twentieth Century Britain And Its Artists, and Frances Spalding, who has written The Real And The Romantic: English Art Between Two World Wars, join Front Row to talk about not the history of art, but art as history. The calls of curlews are memorable, mysterious, and musical. They have appeared in music and poetry over the ages, and they continue to fascinate artists. Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds is an unusual new album - two CDs, one of music inspired by curlews, the other a series of soundscapes capturing their calls, recorded in places where these threatened birds are still to be found. The musician Merlyn Driver, whose idea Simmerdim was, explains his compulsion to make the records. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Tue, September 13, 2022
Richard Eyre's The Snail House; Sylvia Anderson and women in TV; the late Jean-Luc Godard
Sir Richard Eyre is one of the UK’s most distinguished and celebrated directors - equally at home in theatre, film, and television. At the age of 79, he has just made his debut as a playwright with his new play, The Snail House, which has just opened at Hampstead Theatre. He talks to Samira about his late literary blooming and what needs to happen for theatre audiences to return to their pre-pandemic levels. The name Sylvia Anderson was recently invoked by Dr. Lisa Cameron MP, during a debate on gender equality in the media in Westminster Hall. The late Sylvia Anderson was a pioneer in the male dominated world of television, co-creating Thunderbirds in the 1960s with her then husband Gerry. But her family say her name has often been omitted from credits and merchandise in the years since then. Samira speaks to Sylvia’s daughter Dee Anderson and Dame Heather Rabbatts, Chair of Time’s Up UK, who are campaigning for her legacy to be restored and to Barbara Broccoli, producer of the James Bond films, who remembers Sylvia as her mentor. The French film director Jean-Luc Godard, who spearheaded the revolutionary French New Wave of cinema, has died at the age of 91. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has described him as “a national treasure, a man who had the vision of a genius." French film critic Agnes Poirier guides us through Godard’s long career, beginning with the classic, À bout de souffle (Breathless), and his influence on directors from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino. Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, September 12, 2022
Eileen Cooper, Northern Ireland Opera, Basic Income For The Arts In Ireland, Roger McGough
Eileen Cooper is a painter and printmaker who’s been quietly creating boldly coloured figurative images and ceramics since the 1970s. This year finally sees the first major review of her work which, in magic realist style, encompasses huge themes: sexuality, motherhood, life and death. The show is called Parallel Lines: Eileen Cooper And Leicester’s Art Collection, and places Cooper’s work next to that of LS Lowry, Pablo Picasso, and Paula Rego, among others. Eileen Cooper talks about her life, work and role as Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools – the first woman to hold the prestigious post. The Grand Opera House in Belfast is celebrating the return of Northern Ireland Opera to its stage, following a £12 million restoration of the historic building. The company has chosen La Traviata for its homecoming performance, with Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg in the lead role. The BBC’s Kathy Clugston went to the Grand Opera House to find out about their production of one of the world’s most popular operas. As Ireland introduces its ground-breaking new Basic Income For The Arts pilot, we speak to Angela Dorgan, Chair of the National Campaign For The Arts in Ireland, which has long campaigned for a basic income scheme. And poet Roger McGough joins us to shares his new poem written in tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Paul Waters
Wed, September 07, 2022
Trumpet player Alison Balsom and the campaign to revive the works of author Jack Hilton
The trumpeter and musician Alison Balsom has performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras. She talks about her latest album, Quiet City. Jack Hilton was a plasterer from Rochdale whose groundbreaking writing was praised by both WH Auden and George Orwell. His work fell out of print after the Second World War and he has been largely forgotten. Jack Chadwick, who is running a campaign to revive his works, explains why his works need to be revived. Cabaret performer Rhys Hollis, also known as Rhys’s Pieces, and opera singer Andrea Baker discuss their video piece OMOS showcasing Black Queer Scottish performance at Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Eliane Glaser
Tue, September 06, 2022
Loudon Wainwright III performs live, the Booker Prize shortlist, studying English Literature
American singer songwriter Loudon Wainwright III performs live in the studio and talks about his decades-long career, his current UK tour and his latest album titled Lifetime Achievement. Tonight the six books on this year’s Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist will be announced. The literary critic Max Liu joins us to comment. One of these six shortlisted authors will be chosen as the overall winner on 17 October when the ceremony will be broadcast live on Front Row. English Literature has dropped out of the top ten A-level subjects in England for the first time. What does it reveal about the status of the subject and its importance in the creative industries? Samira hears from Vicky Bolton, head of English at Wales High school in Sheffield; Sam Cairns, co-director of The Cultural Learning Alliance; and Geoff Barton, a former English teacher and head teacher, now the general secretary of the teaching union, the Association of School and College Leaders. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters Image: Loudon Wainwright III Photographer credit: Shervin Lainez
Mon, September 05, 2022
David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, Venice Film Festival, Booker Longlisted Shehan Karunatilaka, Tom Chaplin
David Cronenberg’s new film Crimes of the Future is a science fiction body parts horror movie starring Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart and Léa Seydoux. In a time when pain no longer exists a couple are using organ removal surgery as performance art. Leila Latif reviews and gives a run down on the films being shown at this year’s Venice Film Festival, including The Whale and Banshees of Inisherin. Tom Chaplin came to fame as the lead singer of Keane. With the release of his third solo album Midpoint, he talks to Tom Sutcliffe and performs two songs - Gravitational, and Overshoot - live in the studio. We hear from one of the thirteen writers on the Booker Prize longlist, Sri Lankan Shehan Karunatilaka, who’s waiting to hear if he’ll also be on the shortlist announced tomorrow. His 2010 debut novel, Chinaman, was garlanded with awards, including the Commonwealth Prize. Will his second book, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, also be a winner? Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Nicki Paxman
Thu, September 01, 2022
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power; Three Thousand Years of Longing; Nick Drnaso; the Edinburgh Festivals
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is a prequel and in keeping with the epic scale of Tolkein’s books and their film versions it doesn’t begin a two years before The Hobbit but two thousand. Sci-fi novelist Temi Oh and film critic Tim Robey review the Amazon Prime series. They also consider the merits of another millennia spanning work, George Miller’s film Three Thousand Years of Longing. It’s a radical departure for the director of the Mad Max films; an adaptation of a short story by A. S. Byatt staring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, who plays a djinn – a genie. So, it should be good…but is it? Samira Ahmed talks to Nick Drnaso, whose Sabrina was the first graphic novel to be selected for the Booker Prize longlist. In his new one, Acting Class, ten strangers come together in the class run by the mysterious John Smith, who is possibly a charlatan. His students, all very different, share one uniting need, for change. The lights went out on the final performances of this year’s Edinburgh Festivals on Monday. It’s being said that there were fewer people attending fewer shows and that prices, especially of accommodation, were prohibitive. And then the binnies went on strike and the elegant streets of Scotland’s capital were strewn with rubbish. So, Pauline McClean, BBC Scotland’s Arts Correspondent wonders, were the festivals successful? Does there need to be some change? And, marking Mikhail Gorbachev’s death, a poem from The Poetry of Perestroika, a pioneering anthology made possible by his reforms. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producers: Yasmin Allen and Julian May Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris Image: taken from Acting Class by Nick Drnaso, published by Granta
Wed, August 31, 2022
Joyce Carol Oates, The comeback of Jungle, RIOPY
Joyce Carol Oates’s latest novel, Babysitter, is the story of a woman caught in an abusive relationship with her lover, set against the background of the hunt for a serial killer in 70s Detroit. Its dark themes are not untypical of the subject matter of much of Oates’s long list of successful books which have won her great critical acclaim over the years. Tom Sutcliffe talks to her about her work and her distinctive literary style. Following the first leg of a sold-out European tour, Riopy – the self-taught Franco-British pianist/composer with nearly half a billion streams to his name and an album which has been at the top of the US Billboard charts for nearly two years – is with us to discuss the release of his album [extended] Bliss. Jungle, the older, grittier sibling of drum and bass, has made a comeback on the club and festival circuit this summer. Reporter and DJ Milly Chowles went to meet Nia Archives, the young musician breathing new life into this 30 year old genre of electronic music. Milly traces the roots of jungle that run through Nia’s music to Milly’s own hometown of Bristol, with the help of DJ Dazee and producer Borai. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Tue, August 30, 2022
Best-selling book charts, author Ann Cleeves and Composer James B.Wilson on the last night of the Proms
Bestselling crime novelist Ann Cleeves joins Samira Ahmed to discuss the return of her no-nonsense Northumberland crime-fighter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, in the Rising Tide. What gets books on the shelves of some of our biggest chain retailers? Tonight Front Row lifts the lid on the behind-the-scenes payments that influence what you get to see and buy. Composer James B.Wilson gives an insight into his writing process, ahead of the premiere of a new piece he's written for the last night of the Proms. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman Image: Novelist Ann Cleeves Photographer credit: Marie Fitzgerald
Thu, August 18, 2022
Shelea, Reviewing Official Competition and Red Rose, Gus Casely-Hayford
The BBC Proms is celebrating what would’ve been Aretha Franklin’s 80th birthday, and leading the tribute is American singer-songwriter Sheléa. She's a protegee of Quincy Jones who also found a mentor in Stevie Wonder, and names Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston as some of her inspirations. Sheléa shares Aretha Franklin’s influences of gospel, jazz and soul, and her skills to play the piano and turn her voice to a variety of styles. She performs live in the studio and demonstrates the power of Aretha’s voice as well as her own. For our Thursday review Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Olivia Laing have been watching Official Competition, a comedy film starring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez which takes aim at the film industry and its stars, and Red Rose, a BBC3 teen horror drama set in Bolton looking at the power of smartphones to shape young lives. Torn is a new BBC Radio 4 series exploring ten key moments in the history of fashion, from the allure of mauve to the rebellion of mini-skirts. Presenter Gus Casely-Hayford, curator, historian and the inaugural director of V&A East, joins Shahidha for a whistlestop tour of fashion’s cultural hits and environmental misses over five centuries. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, August 17, 2022
Gregory Doran and the RSC, WASWASA – Whispers in Prayer performance, Taiwan's new cultural landmark
When Gregory Doran was appointed Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012, his stated ambition was for the company to stage the entire canon of plays in the First Folio, the first printed collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Ten years on and having just completed his plan, with the premiere of a new production of All's Well That Ends Well, he joins Nick Ahad to reflect on the changing nature of his relationship with the Bard. Nick visits Birmingham to see the rehearsals for WASWASA – Whispers in Prayer, an art installation and performance by artist Mohammed Ali which explores the act of Islamic prayer in a secular society. Taiwan has a new cultural landmark, the Taipei Performing Arts Centre. Arts critic Debra Craine was in the Taiwanese capital for the opening of the state of the art building, designed by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten. Debra joins Nick Ahad to discuss why the Taipei city government commissioned the £185 million complex for theatre, dance and opera. Presenter Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: Gregory Doran in rehearsals, 2021 Photographer credit: Ellie Kurttz/ RSC
Tue, August 16, 2022
Anne-Marie Duff on Bad Sisters, Returning the Benin Bronzes, Public Service Broadcasting's Prom
Anne-Marie Duff talks to Samira about her new Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, where she plays one of five sisters who is trapped in a coercive marriage, from which her sisters plot to free her by any means necessary. Is the Horniman Museum’s decision to return their Benin Bronzes to Nigeria a watershed moment for UK museums? We speak to Errol Francis, artistic director of Culture&, Dan Hicks, author of The Brutish Museums, and Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, who is leading an All-Party Parliamentary Group examining issues around African repatriation and reparations. J Willgoose Esq. from the band Public Service Broadcasting reveals how they are creating a special performance called This New Noise to mark the centenary of BBC Radio at the BBC Proms. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters
Mon, August 15, 2022
Jacob Collier and Lizzy McAlpine, Abdul Shayek and Ishy Din, Threats to writers
Jacob Collier has won a Grammy Award for each of his first four albums. In fact, he has five Grammys altogether. He’s back home in London after his recent UK tour and has just brought out a new single, Never Gonna Be Alone. Jacob and his musical collaborators Lizzy McAlpine and Victoria Canal perform the song live in the Front Row studio. Following the attack on Sir Salman Rushdie at the weekend, the writer, human rights activist and PEN International president, Burhan Sönmez, considers the threats faced by writers across the world, from individuals on social media to imprisonment and torture by the state. 15th August 2022 is the 75th anniversary of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. We speak to director Abdul Shayek and writer Ishy Din about their play, Silence, which is adapted from Kavita Puri’s book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories, about how they dramatise the real-life stories of those who witnessed this brutal moment in history. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Photo: Lizzy McAlpine and Jacob Collier / Credit: Mogli Maureal
Thu, August 11, 2022
Edinburgh Festival: Burn, Counting & Cracking, Aftersun, Festival picks
Live from Edinburgh, with a review of Alan Cumming's one man show, Burn, which sets out to update the biscuit-tin image of Robert Burns. Plus Counting & Cracking - the epic, multilingual life journey of four generations, from Sri Lanka to Australia. To review the Edinburgh International Festival performances, Kate Molleson is joined by Arusa Qureshi, writer and editor of Fest Magazine, and Alan Bissett, playwright, novelist and performer. Plus we speak to Scottish film director Charlotte Wells about her critically acclaimed new film Aftersun, as she returns to her home town to open this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Emma Wallace Photo: Burn - Alan Cumming; picture credit - Gian Andrea di Stefano
Wed, August 10, 2022
Immy Humes and Aindrea Emelife, Charlotte Higgins and David Greig, Stefan Golaszewski
Both journalist Charlotte Higgins and playwright David Greig are fascinated by the Roman occupation of Britain. Higgins’s book Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain, an account of her travels to the Roman remains scattered about Britain, is really about how we today relate to Roman Britain. It seems an unlikely subject for a play but Greig has adapted it for the stage and they both talk to Samira Ahmed about the project. Did the Romans bring civilisation to these islands? Were they violent imperialists? Did British history really begin once they had left? And what of the society that was here already when the Romans arrived? Front Row celebrates the life of author and illustrator Raymond Briggs who has died aged 88. He became famous for his books The Snowman, Father Christmas, Fungus The Bogeyman and his parable of nuclear war When The Wind Blows – all of which were also made into films or TV programmes. American documentary maker Immy Humes has spent the last five years mining the archives for photographs of lone women in majority male environments, from 1862 to the present day, for her book The Only Woman. And British art historian Aindrea Emelife has also been mining the archives, searching for images of black women from 1793 to the present, for her exhibition Black Venus at the Fotografiska Gallery in New York. They join Samira to discuss issues of visibility, tokenism and the female gaze in visual culture, past and present. BAFTA-winning writer and director Stefan Golaszewski talks to Samira about his upcoming BBC One Drama, Marriage, starring Sean Bean and Nicola Walker as a couple navigating the ups and downs of a 30-year relationship. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image: Shirley Chisholm, Politician, New York, New York, USA, 1972. Credit: Getty Images / Bettmann/ Phaidon
Tue, August 09, 2022
Live from the Edinburgh Festival: Matt Forde, Anne Sofie von Otter, Exodus
Kate Molleson and guests live from Edinburgh Festival. Comedian and impressionist Matt Forde talks about capturing the essence of political figures in his show Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right. Mezzo Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter performs songs by Rufus Wainwright and Franz Schubert on the eve of her Edinburgh International Festival concert. Playwright Uma Nada-Rajah on her topical new farce for the National Theatre of Scotland. Exodus is about the race for political leadership and immigration policy. International festival director Fergus Linehan and Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Shona McCarthy swap notes on innovation, survival and legacy for one of the world's biggest arts festivals. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Nicki Paxman Photo: the cast of Exodus. Picture credit: Brian Hartley
Mon, August 08, 2022
Jordan Peele on Nope, trombonist Peter Moore, Where Is Anne Frank film review, Edinburgh Art Festival
Nope is the latest film from Oscar-winning writer-director Jordan Peele, whose breakthrough was the critically acclaimed 2017 horror Get Out. Tom Sutcliffe speaks to Jordan about reinventing genre- from black horror to sci-fi-western- and examining the exploitation of black talent in Hollywood's history. When the trombonist Peter Moore plays at the Proms next Tuesday it will be the first time that the trombone has featured as a solo instrument at the Proms in twenty years. The former Young Musician of the Year and now Professor of Trombone at the Guildhall School of Music performs live in the studio. Ari Folman, director of the Oscar-nominated film Waltz with Bashir, has a new animated movie coming out this month. Where Is Anne Frank is based on the diary written by Jewish teenager Anne Frank, while she and her family lived in hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam during World War Two. Film critic Tara Judah joins Tom to review the film for Front Row. Jan Patience, visual art columnist for the Sunday Post, has been taking in this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival. With over 100 artists presenting their work and 35 exhibitions, it’s been no small task. She tells Tom about the highlights including the work of Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako, a centenary celebration of the Scottish artist Alan Davie, and Matisse’s Jazz series as it's never been seen before. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image: Daniel Kaluuya as OJ in the film Nope Credit: Universal Studios
Thu, August 04, 2022
Bullet Train & Mohsin Hamid's The Last White Man reviewed, conductor Semyon Bychkov
Tom Sutcliffe and guest reviewers Bidisha and Amon Warmann discuss Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt. It's a vivid mixture of comedy and violence from director David Leitch, and is based on a thriller by Japanese author, Kōtarō Isaka. We also discuss Mohsin Hamid's latest novel, The Last White Man - a fable about what happens when white people's skin begins to turn brown. Conductor Semyon Bychkov conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms in a programme of a programme of Czech and Russian music. He left the USSR for the USA in 1975 and is currently Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic. He talks music and politics too - he's spoken out and taken part in protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but has also criticised the dropping of Russian works from concerts around the world. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters
Thu, August 04, 2022
The National Eisteddfod of Wales, Ted Gioia on Duke Ellington, musician Carolina Eyck performs
Huw Stephens reports from the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Tregaron, Ceredigion, talking to Archdruid Myrddin ap Dafydd, winner of this year’s Novel Prize Meinir Pierce Jones, and folk singer Owen Shiers. In 1965 the jury recommended that the Pulitzer Prize for Music should be awarded to the jazz composer and band-leader Duke Ellington. But he did not receive the honour. The music historian Ted Gioia has started a petition calling for him to receive it posthumously now. Carolina Eyck brings the eight seasons of Lapland’s Sami people to the Proms, courtesy of a concerto written for her and her instrument - the theremin. She talks to Shahidha about the joy of playing a musical instrument that has fascinated audiences since its creation just over a century ago and that she plays with just the movement of her hands in the air. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Julian May Image: The National Eisteddfod of Wales Photographer credit: Alun Gaffey
Tue, August 02, 2022
Disabled-access ticket booking, Writer Will Ashon, Artists Jane Darke and Andrew Tebbs
Disabled-access ticket booking – for concerts, comedy clubs, theatre, festivals, and more. Carolyn Atkinson reports on problems with new initiatives to make access to the arts much easier for disabled people: the big delays to the National Arts Access Card, and inconsistencies in purchasing ‘companion’ tickets. Will Ashon is a novelist and non-fiction writer whose latest book, The Passengers, is a compilation of voices he recorded with 180 people he came across through chance and random methods – voices who share their hopes, fears and experiences that shaped their lives. Will tells Tom Sutcliffe what the combination of thoughts and tales say about Britain today. Artists Jane Darke and Andrew Tebbs were inspired by the Marianne North Gallery at Kew - in which the walls are covered with North’s natural history paintings made on her travels around the world. They created something similar, looking at the plants insects and animals of a single small parish in Cornwall, St Eval, where Jane lives. The 100 paintings have been exhibited since June at Kresen Kernow, Cornwall’s new state-of-the-art archive centre in Redruth, and today the artists begin a residency there - with workshops, walks, talks, and films. Jane Darke, Andrew Tebbs and Chloe Phillips, of Kresen Kernow, explain this ambitious project. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Mon, August 01, 2022
Beyoncé's album Renaissance, poet Don Paterson, the New Diorama Theatre, Free-for-All exhibition, Nichelle Nichols remembered
Beyoncé's Renaissance: we discuss Beyoncé's house and disco inspired new album – her first solo material in six years - and her huge significance as an artist and cultural icon. Nick is joined by Jacqueline Springer – curator, music journalist and lecturer- and by the writer and editor Tara Joshi. The Arctic is Don Paterson’s new collection of poems. The title refers not to the polar region but the third worst bar in Dundee, the resort of survivors of various apocalypses. Other poets are a presence, too, in Paterson’s poems ‘after’ Gabriela Mistral, Montale and Cavafy. Nick Ahad interviews Don Paterson about this poetic cornucopia. David Byrne is the artistic director and chief executive of London’s New Diorama, the Stage newspaper’s Fringe Theatre of the Year. He joins Nick to explain his decision to present no public programme for the rest of the year. Free-for-All is a programme that does what it says on the tin – all artworks on the walls of the Touchstones Gallery have been made by people from Rochdale. Artist Harry Meadley joins Nick to explain the concept. And we remember American actor Nichelle Nichols, best known for her role in Star Trek as Lieutenant Uhura, who has died aged 89. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: Beyoncé
Thu, July 28, 2022
Hit the Road & Mercury Pictures Presents reviewed, Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, Bernard Cribbins remembered
Panah Panahi is the son of acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Panah's film Hit the Road is a road movie with a difference as a family travel through Iran without acknowledging the real purpose of their trip. It's reviewed by Diane Roberts and Leila Latif. They've also been reading Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra, a novel set in wartime Hollywood where a new arrival is trying to escape her past. As the newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra prepares to perform at the BBC Proms on Sunday, Tom talks to conductor and founder Keri-Lynn Wilson and double-bass player Nazarii Stets, who has recently been allowed to leave Ukraine to join the orchestra’s world tour. And Matthew Sweet joins Front Row to mark the passing of Bernard Cribbins, the much-loved and admired actor and comedian famous for Jackanory, The Railway Children and Dr Who. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Wed, July 27, 2022
Sister Act, Dramatising the Ugandan Asian exodus, David Olusoga
Sister Act the Musical is returning to the London stage, after two years of Covid delays and thirty years after the much loved Whoopi Goldberg film. Tom Sutcliffe met the stars of the new Hammersmith Apollo production, Beverley Knight who plays singer on the run Deloris and Jennifer Saunders who takes on the role of Mother Superior, to discuss mixing secular and sacred musical traditions with comedy and choreography. Curve Theatre, Leicester, has commissioned a series of plays called Finding Home to mark 50 years since the Ugandan Asian exodus initiated by the then President Idi Amin. Many of those who fled came to family and contacts in Leicester. Reporter Geeta Pendse talks to some of the writers and performers and visits Leicester Museum to hear the stories of what happened in August 1972. Story Trails is a new project that uses virtual reality to reveal hidden local histories in fifteen places across the UK. Film maker David Olusoga, who is the project’s creative director, explains how the UK’s largest immersive storytelling project will work. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace Picture: Sister Act - Beverley Knight as Deloris van Cartier and Jennifer Saunders as Mother Superior. Photographer Criedit: Manuel Harlan
Tue, July 26, 2022
Mercury Music and Booker Prize longlists; museums’ funding; new LGBTQ+ museum
The Mercury Music and Booker Prize lists - we discuss the albums and books nominated this year for these two major prizes. We're joined by writer and critic Alex Clark, and Ludovico Hunter Tilney, music journalist for the Financial Times, to discuss today's announcements. Queer Britain – the dedicated LGBTQ+ museum, recently opened in London’s King’s Cross. We speak to curator Dawn Hoskin, and to director and founder Joseph Galliano. The complex picture of museum economics. Why are museums facing closure, even as they pick up significant lottery heritage funding? Samira Ahmed talks to Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Kim Streets, member of the English Civic Museums Network and Chief Executive of Sheffield Museums Trust about the different approaches to museum funding. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman Photo: Ollie Alexander stage costume, Glastonbury 2019. Photo by Rahil Ahmed.
Mon, July 25, 2022
Singer Bella Hardy, Poet Thomas Lynch, Birmingham 2022 Festival
Singer and fiddle player Bella Hardy talks about her new album – her tenth – Love Songs, which sees this adventurous musician return to where she began, with the traditional songs she’s known all her life. Thomas Lynch is an American poet with strong connections to Ireland. He is, too, an undertaker, a career that has informed his verse and essays, which dwell on life and death, faith and doubt, and also place. From his ancestral cottage in County Clare Lynch talks to Shahidha Bari about these things and reads from Bone Rosary, his New and Selected poems, just out. The Birmingham 2022 Festival is the biggest celebration of creativity ever in the region, showcasing the work of artists within the Commonwealth. Ahead of the Commonwealth Games starting this week, the arts festival Executive Producer Raidene Carter and artist Beverley Bennett share their continued vision and excitement with Shahida Bari. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Julian May Photo: Elly Lucas
Thu, July 21, 2022
Notre-Dame On Fire and novel Milk Teeth reviewed; Jennifer Walshe performs live; writer Alan Grant remembered
Notre-Dame On Fire, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is a film dramatising the events of the horrifying night on April 15, 2019 when the cathedral that symbolises so much in France and beyond started to burn. Milk Teeth is the second novel from Jessica Andrews, whose debut Saltwater won the Portico Prize in 2020. It explores appetite, control and desire in a young woman from the north of England who finds herself in the heat of Spain. The writer Sarah Hall and the journalist Agnès Poirier review both. Ahead of her upcoming Proms performance in the Royal Albert Hall, composer and vocalist Jennifer Walshe joins Tom Sutcliffe to perform one of her original compositions live in the studio. Walshe’s soundscape has been described as transcending the contemporary classical music world and she explains her approach to composing original works. And Sam Leith, literary editor of The Spectator magazine, joins Tom to remember the comic book writer Alan Grant, whose death was announced today. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire Photo: a still from the film Notre-Dame On Fire Photo Credit: Mickael Lefevre
Wed, July 20, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing; On Sonorous Seas; Maison Margiela's Cinema Inferno
Where The Crawdads Sing: director Olivia Newman on bringing the multi-million copy best-selling novel to the big screen. Cinema Inferno: the new catwalk production by Leeds theatre company Imitating the Dog for fashion house Maison Margiela - combining theatre, film, and fashion show. Is this the future of haute couture? On Sonorous Seas: Hebridean artist Mhairi Killin on her multi-media exhibition on the Isle of Mull. Fusing sound, video, whalebone artefacts, and poetry, the work is inspired by research into military sonar in Scottish waters and recent mass strandings of whales. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, July 19, 2022
Jean Paul Gaultier, Much Ado About Nothing, Music Tours
Reflecting on his 50 years in fashion, designer Jean Paul Gaultier sits down with Samira Ahmed to talk about his life, Madonna, London and how it has inspired his new show at the Roundhouse Fashion Freak Show. An all party parliamentary report has been released documenting the current state of music touring. The Chief Executive of UK Music Jamie Njoku-Goodwin and Jack Brown of the band White Lies join the discussion. Much Ado about Nothing is this year’s Shakespeare play, with a production in Stratford in the spring, one that opened at the National Theatre yesterday, another at Shakespeare’s Globe, running into winter, and one at The Crucible in Sheffield which will open in September. Front Row brings three directors – Simon Godwin (National), Lucy Bailey (Globe) and Robert Hastie (Crucible) – together to discuss the fascination of this funny, but disturbing, love story with Samira Ahmed. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman Photo Credit: Mark Senior
Mon, July 18, 2022
Kraftwerk's Karl Bartos, the Spooky Men’s Chorale, playwright Lucy Kirkwood
Karl Bartos, musician and composer, on his life in the German band Kraftwerk - as told in his new memoir The Sound of the Machine. Playwright and screenwriter Lucy Kirkwood on her play Maryland - devised in response to normalisation of violence against women, and originally staged at Royal Court Theatre in London in 2021, it has now been adapted for BBC TV screens. The Spooky Men’s Chorale: the strangely comedic but musically marvellous and popular Australian male voice choir stop off in the middle of their UK tour to sing and talk to Samira Ahmed about Georgian polyphony, Swedish folk band Abba, and not being a men’s group. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image credit: Markus Wustmann
Thu, July 14, 2022
Persuasion & Patriots reviewed, Durham Brass Festival, Museum of the Year winner
The new film Persuasion based on Jane Austen’s novel starring Dakota Johnson and directed by Carrie Cracknell has already attracted a lot of attention for its blend of 21st century millennial dialogue and Austen’s own words. And Peter Morgan, writer of The Crown, returns to the stage for his new play Patriots which looks at the rise of the oligarchs in Russia, in particular Boris Berezovsky, played by Tom Hollander, helping to secure the rise of Putin, played by Will Keen. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding and film critic Hanna Flint join Shahidha to review both. Durham’s International Brass festival, which has been going for more than 20 years, is showcasing bands from as far afield as Cuba, Italy and Ghana. Among this year’s high profile artists taking part are Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominees, a MOBO-winning CBBC star, and an avant garde rock band fronted by the Poet Laureate. The BBC’s Sharuna Sagar went to Durham to see how this traditional style of music is being embraced by new generation of musicians and collaborators. We hear who has been named Art Fund Museum of the Year, and speak to the winner just minutes after it is announced. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo credit: Nick Wall/Netflix © 2022
Wed, July 13, 2022
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham, The Railway Children Return
In the late 16th century, the Merseyside town of Prescot had the only purpose-built, indoor theatre outside London. Now the Shakespeare North Playhouse, a £38 million architectural representation of a Shakespearean stage, opens there this weekend. Samira Ahmed is joined by Laura Collier, the theatre’s creative director and the writer and performer Ashleigh Nugent who have co-curated Open Up, the opening festival. Front Row is hearing from the five museums nominated to be this year’s Museum of the Year and tonight it’s the turn of Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham. Reporter Adam Walton takes a tour of the museum and finds why the museum is at the heart of the local community. Danny Brocklehurst is the Bafta-award winning writer behind Shameless, Clocking Off and Brassic. He joins Samira to discuss turning to more family friendly fare in The Railway Children Return. In his sequel, set 50 years after the classic 1970 film, Jenny Agutter’s Bobbie is a grandmother and former Suffragette, and the titular children are evacuees from Manchester. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner Image: Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot
Tue, July 12, 2022
Hildur Guðnadóttir, National Plan for Music Education, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
Oscar winning Joker composer Hildur Guðnadóttir talks about her new commission for the BBC Proms, inspired by political division, and the difference between writing for films and games, ahead of the first BBC Prom devoted to gaming music. To discuss the government's National Plan for Music Education for schools in England, Tom is joined by Catherine Barker from United Learning, Colin Stuart from the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and Jimmy Rotheram, a music teacher at Feversham Primary Academy in Bradford. Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert Weide on his decades long friendship with the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, which has resulted in his new feature documentary film, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, July 11, 2022
Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stilgoe, Cattelan / Druet
Jack Absolute Flies Again, at the National Theatre, is an adaptation of Sheridan’s comedy of manners The Rivals. Writers Richard Bean (who wrote One Man, Two Guvnors – a big hit) and Oliver Chris keep the original characters – Lydia Languish, Sir Anthony Absolute and the lexically challenged Mrs Malaprop – but move the action from 18th Century Bath to the Battle of Britain. Samira Ahmed talks to director Emily Burns about this, and to Peter Forbes, who plays Sir Anthony, about finding character in the comedy. Pianist and songwriter Joe Stilgoe on his new album, Theatre - which he describes as a love letter to the theatre - and performs for us live in the studio. In Paris, conceptual art has found itself in the dock, as rights of authorship over some of the artworks created by artist Maurizio Cattelan - including one of his most famous works,'La Nona Ora' (The Ninth Hour), a wax figure of Pope Jean Paul II struck by a meteor – are at the centre of a legal case brought by the French sculptor Daniel Druet. In the wake of the court’s judgment, lawyer Mark Stephens, discusses the issues the case raises. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, July 07, 2022
The Story Museum, The Waste Land and Brian and Charles reviewed, Grand Theft Hamlet
This week’s cultural critics, music journalist Jude Rogers and film critic Rhianna Dhillon, join Tom Sutcliffe to review a new Radio 3 drama, He Do The Waste Land in Different Voices, marking the centenary of poet T.S. Eliot’s Modernist masterpiece The Waste Land. They also discuss the film Brian and Charles, a mockumentary directed by Jim Archer, which follows a reclusive man who builds and befriends a robot in rural Wales. The Story Museum in Oxford is the latest of those to be shortlisted for the Art Fund Museum of the Year, all of which we are featuring on Front Row before the announcement of the winner next week. Tom visits the museum and takes a tour through storytelling trees, down a rabbit hole and through the back of a wardrobe. And actor Sam Crane joins us to talk about an extraordinary live performance of Hamlet in the video game Grand Theft Auto. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: John Cairns
Wed, July 06, 2022
New national poet of Wales, Lucian Freud show, The Royal Cornwall Museum, The Blue Woman opera
The role of National Poet of Wales is demanding: ‘to represent the diverse cultures and languages of Wales at home and abroad, take poetry to new audiences, encourage others to use their creative voice to inspire positive change, be an ambassador for the people of Wales, advocating for the right to be creative and spread the message that literature belongs to everyone.’ Front Row will reveal who will be taking up that challenge, announcing who will be following Ifor ap Glyn as the new National Poet for Wales and talk to them about the role, their work and ambitions. A new exhibition at The Freud Museum in London entitled, Lucian Freud: The Painter and his Family features paintings, drawings, family photographs, books and letters. Front Row speaks to the curator, Martin Gayford about this highly personal exhibition which includes items never, or rarely seen artefacts from Lucian Freud’s life. The future of The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is now uncertain because of a change in how the local county council is funding culture. We hear from councillor Carol Mould and Bryony Robins, the Artistic Director of the Royal Cornwall Museum. The composer Laura Bowler and librettist Laura Lomas discuss The Blue Woman - their new opera for the Royal Opera House which explores the psychological impact of violence against women. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire Main Image The Painter’s Mother Resting (1975-76) Copyright: The Lucien Freud Archive All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images.
Tue, July 05, 2022
Claudia Rankine, Derby's Museum of Making, Streamer Fatigue
The American writer Claudia Rankine is best known for her poetry, which has won critical acclaim and international fans. She discusses her play The White Card, which was written during Donald Trump’s Presidency and examines race and privilege in America and beyond. Front Row is hearing from all the museums shortlisted for this year’s Museum of the Year and tonight it’s the turn of the Museum of Making in Derby. Geeta Pendse takes a walk around the museum and hears about how it’s showcasing the UK’s industrial heritage. Last month Paramount Plus launched in the UK, a new TV screening service to rival Netflix, Apple TV and Prime Video. Streaming services are bringing more films and high quality television to our screens but with so many competitors in the game, are we suffering from streamer fatigue? Media analyst Tim Mulligan joins Nick to explain our new viewing habits. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Harry Parker Photo: MacArthur Foundation
Mon, July 04, 2022
Peter Brook; Gone With The Wind; new children’s laureate Joseph Coelho
Peter Brook: we look back on the life and career of the great theatre and film director, with critic Michael Billington. Gone With the Wind was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1936 and became the most successful Hollywood film ever. In her book, The Wrath to Come, Sarah Churchwell reveals its role in American myth-making, and how it foreshadows the controversies over race, gender, white nationalism, and violence that divide American society to this day. Joseph Coelho: the performance poet, playwright and author of the young adult verse novel The Boy Lost in the Maze was today named as the new Children’s Laureate. Joseph joins Tom to discuss his desire to make poetry accessible, showcase new talent in publishing, and undertake a Library Marathon - joining a library in every local authority in the country. And Faith I Branko: the musical duo and married couple discuss their fusion of Serbian Roma influenced music, cross cultural influences and musical connection, and perform live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, June 30, 2022
All Our Yesterdays, Sun & Sea, Laura Veirs
Best-selling novelist Lawrence Norfolk and award-winning writer Joanna Walsh review a new edition of All Our Yesterdays, a novel by the acclaimed post-war Italian novelist Natalia Ginzburg with a new introduction by author Sally Rooney. Lawrence and Joanna also review Sun & Sea, a Lithuanian opera performance about climate change staged on an artificial beach which the audience view from above, which won the is part of LIFT, London’s biennial international theatre festival. Sun & Sea was Lithuania’s national entry for the 2019 Venice Biennale, where it received the festival’s top award, the Golden Lion. From riot grrl to musical stateswoman, singer songwriter Laura Veirs talks about her new album and playing her father’s guitar. She performs live in the studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane Glaser
Wed, June 29, 2022
In the Black Fantastic exhibition; Maya Youssef performs live; visual artist Colin Davidson's exhibition
Curator Ekow Eshun on creating In The Black Fantastic: the UK’s first major exhibition dedicated to the work of Black artists who use fantastical elements to address racial injustice and explore alternative realities. With works from 11 contemporary artists from the African diaspora, it delves into myth, science fiction, traditions, and the legacy of Afrofuturism to address colonialism, racial politics and identity. Encompassing painting, photography, video, sculpture and mixed-media installations, the exhibition features artists including Nick Cave, Hew Locke, Chris Ofili and Lina Iris Viktor. Dubbed the Queen of the Qanun, Maya Youssef is a composer and virtuoso of the Syrian instrument. The qanun is typically played by men, but Maya broke the mould as a young musician growing up in Damascus. Her new album ‘Finding Home’ deals with emotions dealing with the loss of her homeland as well as being inspired by coping with lockdowns, and weaves a musical tapestry of traditional Syrian music with Western classical and jazz. Maya performs live in the studio. The artist Colin Davidson is best known for his portraits of high profile figures including Bill Clinton, Brad Pitt and the Queen. A new exhibition of his work spans his whole career, including some works painted while he was still at school. Kathy Clugston joins Colin Davidson on a walk around the exhibition to hear about his process when capturing famous faces and why he never imagined he’d be a portrait painter. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Kirsty McQuire Image: Lina Iris Viktor, Eleventh, 2018. Pure 24 karat gold, acrylic, ink, copolymer resin, print on matte canvas. © 2018. Courtesy the Artist. From In The Black Fantastic at London’s Hayward Gallery.
Tue, June 28, 2022
Arthur Hughes as Richard III, Literary Prizes, Dadaist Interventions
Arthur Hughes, known for his roles in The Archers, in which he plays Ruairi, and the BBC2 drama Then Barbara Met Alan, details the significance of his portrayal as Richard III in the new RSC production as a disabled actor. Earlier this month the literary world was shocked by the announcement that after 50 years the Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread, would be no more. What did this announcement mean and how healthy is the outlook for book prizes in the UK? Damian Barr was a judge last year and joins Tom to make a proposal for a new national prize alongside commentator Alex Clark. We Are Invisible We Are Visible is a day of Dada-inspired art works and performances in UK art galleries by deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists. Organiser Mike Layward explains why he wanted to bring Dada and disability together, while performance artist Aaron Williamson and curator and printmaker Mianam Yasmin Bashir Canvin discuss their respective Dadist offerings, the performance Hiding in 3D at the Ikon Gallery Birmingham and This Is Not a Pipe at the Hepworth Wakefield Gallery. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Photo: Ellie Kurttz, RSC
Mon, June 27, 2022
Stephen Beresford, A harp concerto about bees, James Graham, Peter Kosminsky
Playwright and BAFTA winning screenwriter Stephen Beresford has returned to writing for the stage with The Southbury Child, a co-production between The Chichester Festival Theatre and The Bridge Theatre in London. Stephen joins Samira to discuss his state of the nation play, focusing on a charismatic vicar at the centre of a controversy, in a Dartmouth parish in decline. Hive explores the life of a beehive over the four seasons of the year. Composer Sally Beamish visits the Front Row studio to tell Samira about her concerto for harp and orchestra, with harpist Catrin Finch who will play Pavan from Sally Beamish's score for a ballet version of The Tempest. From the past in Wolf Hall and the present in The State, writer and director Peter Kosminsky takes us to the near future in his new drama The Undeclared War. It’s a cyberwarfare thriller set in 2024, mixing espionage and politics with coding, bots and hacking. Peter joins Samira to discuss the research that goes into his projects, finding new faces, and how to set the drama of coding on the screen. And playwright James Graham on why he thinks the arts and creative subjects are under serious threat in our schools and universities. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image: Alex Jennings as David Highland in The Southbury Child at The Chichester Festival Theatre and The Bridge Theatre, London Photographer credit: Manuel Harlan
Thu, June 23, 2022
Reviews of the plays Rock, Paper, Scissors and documentary Studio Electrophonique, The People's History Museum, Michael Rosen
Critic Ben East and academic Catherine Love review Rock, Paper, Scissors, a trilogy of plays written by Chris Bush to mark the 50th anniversary of Sheffield Theatres and A Film About Studio Electrophonique, a documentary about Ken Patten's influential home studio in Sheffield. The three separate but interlinking plays will be performed simultaneously on the three stages of the Sheffield Theatres complex – Rock at the Crucible, Paper at the Lyceum and Scissors at Studio. A Film About Studio Electrophonique premieres this week at Sheffield DocFest. The documentary shines a loving spotlight on Ken Patten who built a recording studio in his council home in Sheffield and through his recording and mixing skills provided the launchpad for Pulp, ABC, Human League and many other burgeoning musicians in the steel city. The People’s History Museum has been shortlisted for this year’s Art Fund Museum of the Year prize. It was the Migration: a human story project which wove stories of contemporary and historic migration into the museum’s existing collection that caught the judges' attention. Dr John Gallagher, associate professor of Early Modern History at Leeds University, went to visit the museum for Front Row. Saturday marks 75 years since The Diary of Anne Frank was published. Poet, writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen has written a sonnet to commemorate this and he joins Front Row to give the first public reading and discuss the enduring significance of Anne Frank's book. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Olivia Skinner Image: Chanel Waddock as Coco and Daisy May as Molly in ROCK at The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Photographer credit: Johan Persson
Wed, June 22, 2022
Rowan Atkinson, Windrush Sculptures, Susanne Bier
Rowan Atkinson is associated with a lot of ‘B’s – Blackadder, Bean, bumbling British spies... and now bees. He plays an inept house-sitter in a luxury mansion chasing after an insect in Netflix’s new Man Vs Bee. He talks about this, his iconic characters, and why making comedy isn’t always that fun. Artist Thomas J Price’s Warm Shores, a pair of 9 foot tall bronze figures, have just been installed outside Hackney Town Hall in London to mark Windrush Day. 74 years on from the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, Thomas joins Tom live in the studio to discuss how his work honours the Windrush Generation while playing with ideas of power, public space and 3D body scans. When the Oscar-winning film director Susanne Bier turned her attention to television, the result was the acclaimed series The Night Manager, followed by The Undoing. She talks about her new series, The First Lady, which explores the lives of the wives of three American Presidents – Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace
Tue, June 21, 2022
Live music festivals; Roy Williams' play The Fellowship; The Horniman Museum
As Glastonbury returns this week after a two year pandemic hiatus, a summer of festivals gets under way while some festivals are forced to cancel due to difficult conditions. We look at how the festival sector has struggled through the challenges of the last two years, and consider the importance of live music festivals to the UK economy and culture. Shahidha is joined live by Melvin Benn – Managing Director of Festival Republic and a director of Glastonbury Festival, Paul Reed CEO of the Association Of Independent Festivals and Lauren Down, Director of End Of The Road festival. In Roy Williams' new play The Fellowship, sisters Dawn and Marcia are children of the Windrush generation. They were activists together in the struggles for justice in the 1980s. The sisters have little in common now, but the fellowship of family connection is powerful. Roy Williams talks to Shahidha Bari about unflinchingly putting the stories of black British people on the stage. A tour round the Horniman Museum and Gardens in South London, shortlisted for the Art Fund's Museum of the Year, with Chief Executive Nick Merriman and Senior Curator Sarah Byrne. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Nicki Paxman Image: Glastonbury Festival
Mon, June 20, 2022
Baz Lurhmann on Elvis, new productions of Carmen and Tom, Dick and Harry
Director Baz Luhrmann on the making of Elvis, his new biopic of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. Director Mathilde Lopez talks about drawing on her heritage for a new production of Bizet's opera Carmen at Longborough Festival Opera. Theresa Heskins, Artistic Director of the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme on Tom, Dick and Harry, a new play about the escape attempt from Stalag Luft III in World War II. And Jessica Moor, author of the feminist thriller Keeper, singles out her 'moment of joy' in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, June 16, 2022
Circle of Fifths, reviews of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and The Lazarus Project
National Theatre Wales is about to open a new production described as a live documentary performance, Circle of Fifths. With cast and stories drawn from the local community, and taking place inside and out, it combines film, performance, storytelling, live music and dance, to tell stories of life, death and grief. The director Gavin Porter joins Front Row to explain how it will work. Because of the bad behaviour of human the world keeps coming to an end. Fortunately there is an organisation of people who can reset time to before disaster, take action and so save the planet. That's the premise of a new eight part action television series starring Paapa Essiedu. Karen Krizanovich and Kerry Shale review The Lazarus Project. They have also been watching the film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande in which Emma Thompson plays a retired R.E. teacher who has never had an orgasm. So, she hires sex worker Leo Grande, played by Daryl McCormack, to teach her about the pleasures of sex. In the process both learn a good deal about themselves. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo credit: Mei Lewis, Mission Photographic
Wed, June 15, 2022
Freddie De Tommaso, Women’s Prize For Fiction Winner, John Byrne, Ukrainian Antiquities
Operatic tenor Freddie De Tommaso on his overnight breakthrough to stardom and performing at the First Night Of The Proms. We announce and speak to the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. John Byrne, the Scottish artist, playwright and theatre maker: arts critic Jan Patience reviews the new retrospective of his work, A Big Adventure, open now at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. Plus, Kate visits the British Museum in London to see a collection of Ukrainian artefacts trafficked from the country, which recently went on display. Dr St John Simpson, Senior Curator in the Department of the Middle East, explains how they got here and how museums combat the illegal trade in antiquities. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Nicki Paxman
Tue, June 14, 2022
Theaster Gates, Lightyear, Dean Atta, Music Back Catalogues
Chicago based artist Theaster Gates on The Black Chapel - his design for this year’s Serpentine Gallery pavilion, which is created each year by world class artists who have included Ai Wei Wei, Olafur Eliasson, Zaha Hadid, and Rem Koolhaus. The latest Pixar film is Lightyear, which tells the story of Buzz, the square-jawed astronaut, before he touched down in Andy’s toybox in Toy Story. After being marooned on a hostile planet with his commander and crew, Buzz valiantly tries to find his way back home through space and time, while, of course, also confronting a threat to the universe's safety. But does this space odyssey fly? Catherine Bray gives her verdict. Music back catalogues: as Kate Bush’s 1985 hit Running Up That Hill and decades old-catalogues sell for huge sums, we speak to former Spotify Chief Economist Will Page on the new frontiers of the pop music business, and the impact of streaming, licensing and TikTok. Poet Dean Atta’s first young adult novel in verse, The Black Flamingo, won the 2020 Stonewall Book Award. He joins Samira to discuss his second, Only On The Weekends, telling the story of Mack - a gay teenager who finds himself at the centre of a queer love triangle as he attempts a long distance relationship between London and Glasgow. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, June 13, 2022
George Ezra performs, TV drama Sherwood reviewed, Norway's National Museum opens
Fresh from performing at the Queen's platinum jubilee concert, singer-songwriter George Ezra plays in the Front Row studio from his new album, Gold Rush Kid. James Graham's new BBC drama, Sherwood, is set in a Nottinghamshire mining village still scarred by the 1984 strike. Former BBC correspondent and journalist Triona Holden, who reported on the disputes at the time, joins Samira Ahmed live to review the new series. The new £500 million National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design has just opened in Oslo, Norway. The director Karin Hindsbo explains why the new cultural centre, which has attracted both criticism and acclaim, has been twenty years in the making. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Thu, June 09, 2022
Reviews of the film All My Friends Hate Me and the play Cancelling Socrates; the Women's Prize for Fiction nominee Ruth Ozeki
On our Thursday review panel this week: the film critic Leila Latif and Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge, review the British comedy horror film All My Friends Hate Me, directed by Andrew Gaynord and Howard Brenton's play Cancelling Socrates, directed by Tom Littler at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London. And the last of our author interviews with the writers shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest, whose novel The Book of Form and Emptiness is the story of Benny, a teenager in the US who finds that objects are starting to talk to him. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Image: The cast of All My Friends Hate Me Credit: BFI Distribution
Wed, June 08, 2022
Paula Rego Remembered, Cressida Cowell, Elif Shafak, Stones In His Pockets
Artist Paula Rego remembered. Following the sad news today of the death of one of the most important figurative painters of our times, we look back on her life and work with art critic Louisa Buck. Outgoing Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell on why she’s pushing the government to invest £100 million in primary school libraries. Stones in his Pockets. 25 years on, the celebrated stage play returns to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, with several Northern Irish stars making cameo appearances, including Liam Neeson and Ciaran Hinds. The play’s author, Marie Jones, and Director, Matthew McElhinny, tell Samira all about it. Plus, Elif Shafak. The British-Turkish novelist and most widely read female author in Turkey on her latest book, The Island of Missing Trees, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman
Tue, June 07, 2022
Ayanna Witter Johnson performs, Clement Ishmael, digital theatre
Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a singer-songwriter, cellist and composer blurring the boundaries of classical, jazz, reggae and R&B. Performing live in the Front Row studio with Stephen Upshaw, viola player with the Solem Quartet, Ayanna reworks the roots reggae sound of The Abyssinians and shares part of her Island Suite, inspired by the poetry and storytelling traditions of Jamaica. During the height of pandemic lockdowns streaming of plays from theatres became popular – making them more accessible for all, regardless of disability, location, price, time, or care commitments. However new research by Dr Richard Misek and investigations by Front Row have indicated a continuing post-lockdown drop in digital theatre. Dr Misek joins Front Row exclusively to reveal his findings: the scale of the fall, how hurdles such as financing are standing in the way, and why digital streaming is vital to accessibility. Mustapha Matura's play Playboy of the West Indies, based on JM Synge's Playboy of the Western World, has been turned into a musical with a score composed by Dominique Le Gendre and Clement Ishmael. Clement tells Samira about turning Matura's rich Trinidadian patois into song. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Photo: Ayanna Witter-Johnson Photographer credit: Nick Howe
Mon, June 06, 2022
Africa Oyé, Queer Poetry, Maggie Shipstead
Africa Oyé, the UK's largest festival of music from the continent of Africa, celebrates its 30th anniversary in Liverpool's Sefton Park this month. Its Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, discusses the festival's history and chooses three tracks of music that reflect Africa Oyé's growth and reputation. What is a queer poem? Poets Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan talk to Nick Ahad about how they explore that question in their new anthology, 100 Queer Poems - poems from across the twentieth century to the present day. It reflects the burgeoning range of recent queer poetry, and includes poets whose work is familiar, their queerness less so – Wilfred Owen, for instance. Plus, Maggie Shipstead. In the latest of our interviews with authors shortlisted for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Nick talks to the author of Great Circle - the imagined life of a freedom-seeking woman pilot who embarks on a flight around the globe in 1950. It was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Photo: Africa Oyé, 2014. Credit: Mark McNulty Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, June 02, 2022
Front Row reviews 1952
To celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee, Front Row discusses some of the cultural highlights of 1952. Samira Ahmed is joined by broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell, historian Matthew Sweet, film critic Anil Sinanan and the 20th Century Society’s Catherine Croft. They discuss Barbara Pym’s novel Excellent Women, the Bollywood classic Aan, surreal sounds of The Goon Show, how the emerging architecture and style of 1952 influenced the rest of the decade and BBC radio's Caribbean Voices.
Wed, June 01, 2022
Tracey Emin, Anthony Joseph, Bergman Island
Anthony Joseph – poet, musician, and academic – joins us to talk about his new poetry collection, Sonnets for Albert, which considers the personal impact of his absent father, and performs a selection of pieces. Tracey Emin talks to Natasha Raskin Sharp at Jupiter Artland sculpture park near Edinburgh, where her new exhibition includes a giant bronze female figure lying down in the woods, paintings of beds, and other work reflecting on the possibility of love after hardship. Director of Film at the British Council Briony Hanson reviews Bergman Island a new film from director Mia Hansen-Løve about a film making couple who visit the home of Ingmar Bergman to find inspiration. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Main image: I Lay Here For You by Tracey Emin Photo credit: Alan Pollok Morris, Courtesy Jupiter Artland
Tue, May 31, 2022
Rory Kinnear on the film Men, Lord Parkinson on the new UK City of Culture, The Duchess of Cornwall, Mo Abudu on Blood Sisters
Actor Rory Kinnear plays ten characters- all the male roles but one- in the new psychological horror film from Alex Garland, Men. He joins Samira Ahmed to discuss how he approached playing multiple roles in this exploration of fear and loathing in the English countryside. The UK’s new City of Culture 2025 is announced. The Minister of Arts, Lord Parkinson reveals which bid from the shortlist of Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough has been successful and what the title will mean in terms of investment and attracting visitors to the area. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall is involved with the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Prize as vice patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society. She spoke to Tina Daheley about how the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools promotes literacy and empowers young people. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Photo: Actor Rory Kinnear in the film Men Credit: Entertainment Film Distributors
Mon, May 30, 2022
Refik Anadol, Jasdeep Singh Degun, The British Art Show
Immersive digital art in Coventry, the British Art Show, & music from Jasdeep Singh Degun.
Thu, May 26, 2022
Reviews of The Midwich Cuckoos, Pistol and Edvard Munch, Meg Mason on Sorrow and Bliss
Meg Mason is the latest in our series of interviews with authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her novel Sorrow and Bliss is narrated by Martha, a woman whose path in life is shaped by her mental health. Katie Puckrick and Diran Adebayo join us to review the screen adaptation of John Wyndham's fable, The Midwich Cuckoos, the Edvard Munch Masterpieces from Bergen exhibition at The Courtauld Institute and Pistol, Danny Boyle's new drama about the Sex Pistols.
Wed, May 25, 2022
The Art of Burning Man, dementia on stage, dogs on screen at Cannes
Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man is an outdoor exhibition on the Chatsworth House estate - a series of monumental sculptures from the festival in the Nevada Desert. Geeta Pendse speaks to Chatsworth’s Senior Curator, Dr Alex Hodby, and to Burning Man artist Dana Albany from San Francisco, who has come to Chatsworth to make a Burning Man sculpture with local material and the help of local children. Sanctuary is another Burning Man inspired structure that can be seen at the Miners’ Welfare Park in Bedworth - a public memorial for the losses experienced in the Covid pandemic. Geeta meets the woman who commissioned the memorial, Helen Marriage - the artistic director of Artichoke; David Best - the artist who designed the work; plus some of those visiting the memorial. Plus, Geeta Pendse speaks to writer Frances Poet about her play exploring dementia, Maggie May – now moving from the Leeds Playhouse, to the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch and on to Leicester’s Curve, on a dementia friendly tour. And the Palm Dog – the Cannes award for dogs on the big screen. Judges Anna Smith and Tim Robey discuss the dogs in the running. Presenter: Geeta Pendse Producer: Tim Prosser
Tue, May 24, 2022
ABBA Voyage, Terence Davies, Zaffar Kunial's poem for George Floyd
48 years after the British jury gave them nul points at the Eurovision song contest, ABBA the avatars begin a long term arena residency in London. Samira talks to the director Baillie Walsh and the choreographer Wayne McGregor about creating the show. Terence Davies, director of some of the finest films ever made in the UK, such as Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, talks to Samira Ahmed about his new film Benediction. It’s based on the life of Siegfried Sassoon, one of the great poets of the Great War. As well as writing about its horrors and having fought with great courage, he declared his refusal to take any further part in it because he saw that the people in power, who could bring the suffering to an end, were prolonging the slaughter. The film chronicles his troubled life as a gay man after the war. It is two years tomorrow since George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. To mark this sad anniversary, we asked the poet Zaffar Kunial, whose first collection Us was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize, to reflect on this and see if he could write a poem. He did, and reads Watershed, for the first time.
Mon, May 23, 2022
The Cannes Film Festival, John Godber's Teechers, the winner of the British Book Awards
Jason Solomons reports live from the Cannes Film Festival, with news of the surprise hits of this year's festival and who's in contention for the big prizes. The playwright John Godber on updating Teechers, a play that he wrote in the 1980s about his experiences as a drama teacher, for 2022. The British and Greek governments are due to meet this week to discuss the Parthenon Marbles. Francesca Peacock discusses the latest development in the debate over the contested sculptures. And we announce the winner of this year's British Book Awards, live on Front Row. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Thu, May 19, 2022
Cornelia Parker and Emergency reviewed, The Wreckers, Ivor Novello Awards
Melly Still on directing ‘The Wreckers’, by Ethel Smyth, the first ever opera by a woman composer to be performed at the Glyndebourne Festival. Morgan Quaintance and Hettie Judah join us to review Emergency, the new film directed by Carey Williams and the Cornelia Parker exhibition at The Tate. Ivor Novello Awards: Sam Fender’s track Seventeen Going Under, taken from his album of the same name, was today awarded the accolade of Best Song Musically and Lyrically at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards. We step inside the anatomy of the song with singer, musician, composer and lyricist Joe Stilgoe as he talks us through its prize-winning qualities.
Wed, May 18, 2022
Joanna Scanlan; director Indu Rubasingham; the Norfolk and Norwich Festival
Bafta-winning actress Joanna Scanlan on learning Welsh and acting in the language for the very first time in Y Golau - a new crime drama for S4C and BBC iPlayer, set in rural Carmarthenshire and simultaneously filmed in Welsh and English. Indu Rubasingham on directing The Father and The Assassin - a new play by long-time collaborator Anu Chandrasekhar about the death of Ghandi, which opens at the National Theatre in London. Plus, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. One of the oldest in the world, it began in 1772 to help raise money for healthcare, and is celebrating its 250th anniversary - running for 17 days with a wide variety of cultural events. Andrew Turner from Radio Norfolk talks to the director, Daniel Brine, and some of the artists, programmers, and spectators involved. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Sound Engineer: Harry Parker
Tue, May 17, 2022
Kay Mellor remembered
Television screenwriter Kay Mellor, the woman behind popular series like Band of Gold, Fat Friends and The Syndicate, is remembered by fellow dramatist Sally Wainwright, Kat Rose Martin holder of the Kay Mellor Fellowship and television critic Julia Raeside. The idea of a minimum wage for artists is discussed by Aisa Villarosa Director of External Relations at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Dr Joe Chrisp of the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath and Angela Dorgan, Chair of the National Campaign for The Arts, in Dublin Nick talks to Chloe Moss writer of a new play, Corinna Corinna, at the Liverpool Everyman about the only woman on board a ship bound for Singapore. Presenter : Nick Ahad Producer Ekene Akalawu
Mon, May 16, 2022
Top Gun Maverick, Joseph Wright of Derby Painting, Kingsway Tram Subway, Louise Erdrich
36 years after playing pilot Pete Mitchell in the first Top Gun film, Tom Cruise returns to the role. Now Mitchell is one of the US Navy's top aviators, a courageous test pilot and instructor. He can dodge planes in the air but avoiding the advancement in rank that would ground him proves more difficult for him. Larushka Ivan Zadeh reviews the film. Joseph Wright of Derby was a fine portrait painter but is best known as the first artist to paint scenes of the Industrial Revolution and its scientific processes, such as in his most famous work, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. Today one of his paintings, in a private collection since 1772, became the centre piece of the Joseph Wright collection at Derby Museums and Art Gallery. On one side there is a self-portrait, on the other a study for An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. Curator Lucy Bamford explains why this is such a significant acquisition. So that the exhibits are not confined to within the museum building, London Transport Museum is running guided tours of the Kingsway Tram Tunnel in Central London. Opened in 1906 the last tram ran through it in 1952. Since it was abandoned it has been a secret space in the heart of the city. Samira visits the tunnel with transport historian Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway of the London Transport Museum and discovers part of the capital’s hidden heritage. Louise Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band and of Chippewa, and is the latest of our authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 for The Sentence. The novel is about a bookshop, a haunting, and the events that unfurled in Minneapolis between All Souls’ Day in 2019 and 2020, including of course the death of George Floyd. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, May 12, 2022
Oklahoma! on stage and Conversations with Friends on TV reviewed; The Bob Dylan Centre; The Florence Nightingale Museum reopens
On today's Front Row review, we discuss directors taking a new look at much loved works: Daniel Fish’s Broadway production of Oklahoma!, now at the Young Vic in London, explores the darker aspects of the musical. Conversations with Friends, the debut novel by bestselling author Sally Rooney, has been adapted for television, following the lockdown success of Normal People. Journalist Tara Joshi and Matt Wolf, London theatre critic of the International New York Times, review them both. The Bob Dylan Centre, home to the singer's immense archive, opened this week. Professor Sean Latham, Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies at the University of Tulsa, discusses its cultural significance. And as the Florence Nightingale Museum reopens after two years, its director David Green joins Samira to consider the legacy of the mother of modern nursing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker Image: Members of the cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma at The Young Vic Theatre, London (Rebekah Hinds as Gertie Cummings, James Davis as Will Parker and Anoushka Lucas as Laurey Williams) Photographer credit: Marc Brenner
Wed, May 11, 2022
The directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once
Film directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, otherwise known as ‘the Daniels’, join us to discuss their much anticipated sci-fi, multiverse film - Everything Everywhere All At Once. The artist Maurizio Cattelan is being sued over the authorship of some of his most famous works. Art critic Louisa Buck and lawyer Mark Stephens join Front Row to discuss one of the oldest questions in art – how much does the artist need to involved in the making of their artwork to be considered the creator of that work? Plus, singer, stage performer, and actor, Camille O’Sullivan, performs for us live in the studio, and describes the inspiration behind her acclaimed show, Camille O'Sullivan Sings Cave – singing interpretations of Nick Cave’s work in her own theatrical style – and finally taking it back on tour after lockdown silenced stages. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood
Tue, May 10, 2022
Eurovision; BookTok and young adult publishing; Waldemar Januszczak on art in Ukraine
Eurovision decided to ban Russian participation this year on the grounds that it might bring the contest into disrepute, following the invasion of Ukraine. Dean Vuletic, author of Postwar Europe and The Eurovision Song Contest, spoke to Tom Sutcliffe, ahead of tonight's first semi-final in Turin. The hashtag #BookTok has been viewed on TikTok 52.6 billion times and the platform's viral videos made by booklovers have reshaped the young adult bestseller lists. Joining Tom to discuss the social media trends and how they’re influencing the mainstream industry are the co-founder of @CultofBooks Kouthar Hagi AKA Coco and Dan Conway, incoming CEO of the Publishers Association. Last month the distinguished art critic Waldemar Januszczak visited Ukraine to see what was happening to the country’s art collections, as the war continues. He joins Front Row to discuss his new documentary, My Ukrainian Journey. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Kalush Orchestra, Ukraine's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Mon, May 09, 2022
Clio Barnard, Belle and Sebastian, Lisa Allen-Agostini
Clio Barnard talks to Samira Ahmed about directing the television adaptation of Sarah Perry’s bestselling novel The Essex Serpent. It stars Claire Danes as Cora Seaborne, a naturalist who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a giant serpent living in the marshes. Cora thinks it might be a living fossil. She meets Will Ransome, the local vicar, played by Tom Hiddleston, is surprised by his openness to scientific ideas, and they form a bond. But a young girl dies and the locals believe Cora is drawing the serpent to them. Trinidadian author Lisa Allen-Agostini’s first novel for adults, The Bread The Devil Knead, has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. A dark story domestic violence but laced with humour Lisa talks about writing it in her native Trinidadian dialect. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, May 05, 2022
PJ Harvey, Radical Landscapes exhibition and TV show The Terror-Infamy reviewed
Singer songwriter PJ Harvey tells us about Orlam, her narrative poem set in a magic realist version of the West Country - a rural, and at times gothic, coming-of-age story and the first full-length book written in the Dorset dialect for many decades. Radical Landscapes is the name of a new exhibition exploring human connections with the landscape, at Tate Liverpool. The Terror-Infamy is a drama on BBC2 depicting the internment camps in the US where those of Japanese heritage were kept after Pearl Harbour - and a strange spirit is abroad. Writers and critics Tahmima Anam and Laura Robertson join Front Row to review both. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire PJ Harvey picture credit: Steve Gullick
Wed, May 04, 2022
Deesha Philyaw, Tristan Sharps, County Durham bid for City of Culture
This year’s Brighton Festival has two guest directors for the first time in its history. One of them, Tristan Sharps, artistic director of Brighton based theatre company dreamthinkspeak, joins Elle to discuss the literary inspiration behind his immersive production, Unchain Me, and his collaboration with fellow guest director, Syrian architect Marwa Al-Sabouni. Deesha Philyaw’s debut collection of short stories - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - arrives in the UK garlanded with prizes including the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award, and the 2020 LA Times Book Prize for First Fiction. Deesha joins Front Row to discuss turning the lives of the black women she grew up with into art. Philippa Goymer explores the various attractions of County Durham that it hopes will earn it the title of City of Culture. Photo: Deesha Philyaw Photo credit: Vanessa German
Tue, May 03, 2022
Nathaniel Price, Alex Heffes, Actors and AI
Nathaniel Price discusses his drama First Touch, opening at the Nottingham Playhouse, about an aspiring young footballer growing up in Nottingham in the 1970s. Inspired by real life events, it explores the ways predatory abusers exploit positions of power within a community, in this case how the actions of a paedophile football coach almost go undiscovered because of the control he exercises in the football careers of his victims. In the wake of the campaign, Stop AI stealing the show, launched by Equity in response to the rise of the use of Artificial Intelligence in the entertainment industry, Front Row asked Paul Fleming, General Secretary of Equity, Dr David Leslie, Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation at the Alan Turing Institute, and Dr Mathilde Pavis, senior law lecturer at Exeter University, to discuss the questions raised by the use of AI to enhance, extend, and replace human actors. BAFTA nominated film composer Alex Heffes has scored films including The Hope Gap, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Touching the Void. Now he’s releasing a solo piano recording, Sudden Light, reinterpreting his cinematic orchestral scores after an accident that almost put an end to his piano-playing. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, May 02, 2022
Caryl Lewis, Gwenno, Anthony and Kel Matsena
Huw Stephens, familiar to listeners to Radio Cymru and Radio Wales presents a multilingual, multicultural Bank Holiday edition of Front Row from Cardiff. Caryl Lewis is a mighty presence in Welsh literature, author of more than 25 books. Her novel Martha, Jac a Sianco is a modern classic, taught at A Level. She wrote the screenplay for the film – and won 6 Welsh Baftas. She wrote for the television series Y Gwyll - Hinterland in English - inventing Cymru Noir, so noir it was shown on Danish television. She was also the main writer of Hidden, screened in 60 countries. Until now all her work has been in Welsh but she wrote her new novel, Drift, in English. Nefyn lives on the Welsh coast, near a military base. She gathers what the tide carries in and her world changes when she finds Hamza, a Syrian cartographer, washed up. Caryl tells Huw about her modern and ancient story, and why she chose to write it in English. In 2009 the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger declared Cornish extinct. But musician Gwenno Saunders was alive then, and she grew up speaking it. Most of the songs on her new album, Tresor, are in Cornish - the others in Welsh. Gwenno explains why, and performs two songs, one in each language. Choreographers Anthony and Kel Matsena were born in Zimbabwe, in a culture where everyone dances. They moved to Swansea as boys and were nurtured by the people there, and Wales as a whole. They take a break from rehearsing their new work, Shades of Blue, which will premier at Sadler's Wells, to talk about this and Codi, a piece for the National Dance Company Wales that is inspired by Welsh mining communities, and about Brothers in Dance, a BBC documentary film charting their journey. Presenter: Huw Stephens Producers: Nicki Paxman and Julian May
Thu, April 28, 2022
The Corn is Green play and Walter Sickert exhibition reviewed, Cherylee Houston
Observer theatre critic Susannah Clapp and broadcaster and Editor of the Wales Art Review Gary Raymond review The Corn is Green at the National Theatre and Tate Britain's Walter Sickert exhibition. And Samira talks to actor actor Cherylee Houston, best known as Coronation Street’s Izzy Armstrong, who is also co-founder of the The TripleC organisation, which has just won BAFTA’s TV Special Craft award, talks about working to improve access and inclusion for disabled artists in the screen industries. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, April 27, 2022
Raphael exhibition; The Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist; poet Valzhyna Mort
Dr Matthias Wivel, co-curator of the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, discusses the life and death of the Renaissance painter and how he shaped the history of western art. The shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction is announced today. Literary critic Alex Clark talks about the six books in contention for the prize, and we’ll be hearing from each of the authors before the winner is announced on June 15th. Belarusian born poet Valzhyna Mort’s third collection, Music for the Dead and Resurrected, was ten years in the making and has only just been published in her home country. She joins Tom to discuss how she blends music and metaphor to confront state sponsored violence and censorship. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Image: Raphael's The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Child Saint (‘The Terranuova Madonna’), about 1505 Copyright: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Photo: Jörg P. Anders
Tue, April 26, 2022
Tim Foley, Heartstopper, The Proms, Lawrence Power performs
Emerging playwright Tim Foley is in the distinctive position of having won a prize for every play of his that has been staged. He joins Front Row to discuss his third play, Electric Rosary – a sci-fi exploration of religion and science in the company of a group of nuns and a robot - which has just opened at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Based on the graphic novel by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper is the new Netflix LGBTQ+ drama set in a British high school about teen friendship and young romance. Jack Remmington is in the studio to review. Music critic and author Jessica Duchen picks out some of the highlights in the Proms 2022 season and gives us her thoughts on the programme. Viola player Lawrence Power performs live.
Mon, April 25, 2022
Punchdrunk's The Burnt City, John Morton on Ten Percent, musician Jack Savoretti
The Burnt City is the biggest production to date from the pioneering immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. As the company takes up residence in the former Royal Arsenal buildings of Woolwich, their first permanent space, they draw on the Greek tragedies of Agamemnon and Hecuba to reinterpret the Trojan war as a dystopian future noir. The French comedy drama, Call My Agent, was one of the breakout hits of lockdown. It has spawned a Turkish version, an Indian version, and now an English version called Ten Percent. John Morton, the creator of BBC mockumentaries Twenty Twelve and W1A, joins Front Row to discuss the challenge of recreating the Parisian series in London. Fresh from a sold-out UK tour this month, singer songwriter Jack Savoretti is live in the studio to perform his new single Dancing Through The Rain. The track is the second to be taken from his forthcoming release Europiana Encore, a special extended edition of his 2021 chart topping album, Europiana. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Jerome Weatherald Photo: Performers Yilin Kong and Steven James Apicello in Punchdrunk's production The Burnt City Photographer credit: Julian Abrams
Thu, April 21, 2022
Atlantis and The Young Pretender reviewed, Martin Green, Venice Biennale
Atlantis (2019) was the Ukrainian entry for that year's Oscars. It now seems incredibly prescient in its depiction of a Ukraine set post-war in 2025. Film critic Laruskha Ivan-Zadeh and historian Kathryn Hughes join Front Row to review it. They'll also be talking about Michael Arditti's novel The Young Pretender. It imagines the life of the real-life child star Master Betty as a young adult attempting to re-enter the flamboyant world of Georgian theatre. The Venice Biennale, one of the art world’s most prestigious events, opens to the public this weekend. Art critic Hettie Judah is currently in Venice and shares her thoughts about what’s on show at the vast international exhibition. Ivor Novello winning composer Martin Green has immersed himself in the world of brass bands to prepare a new composition premiering this weekend at the Coventry Music Biennale. He tells Tom about writing his piece, Split the Air, and the people that create the incredible music they produce. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, April 20, 2022
Sarah Solemani on TV's Chivalry; male soprano Samuel Marino performs; Bradford's bid for UK City of Culture
Chivalry, the new Channel 4 comedy which looks at the making of a Hollywood movie in a post MeToo world, has been co-created by its co-stars – Sarah Solemani, and Steve Coogan. Sarah joins Elle Osili-Wood on Front Row to discuss why MeToo has provided new grounds for comedy. Venezuelan singer Samuel Mariño originally trained as a ballet dancer before embracing his rare vocal range as a male soprano and promoting gender and genre-fluid performance. He sings live in the studio, ahead of his debut London recital and the release of his new album, Sopranista, featuring arias recorded by a male soprano voice for the first time. Four cities are in the running to be the UK’s next City of Culture and Front Row is hearing from the places on the final shortlist. Tonight it’s the turn of Bradford as reporter Aisha Iqbal hears about what the UK’s youngest city has to offer. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Simon Richardson Image: Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani in Channel 4's Chivalry
Tue, April 19, 2022
Robert Eggers on The Northman, Oliver Jeffers, the late Sir Harrison Birtwistle
Director Robert Eggers discusses his new film The Northman, set in Iceland at the turn of the 10th century. A Nordic prince sets out on a mission of revenge after his father is murdered. The plot, which is an old Nordic story, is allegedly the basis for the plot of Hamlet. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Björk, Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke. The Olivier Awards recently returned to The Royal Albert Hall for a glittering ceremony, following a pandemic hiatus. They’re widely regarded as honouring a who’s who of great British theatre but critic David Benedict believes they aren’t truly representative. He joins Samira to make the case for shaking up the Oliviers. Artist and writer Oliver Jeffers discusses Our Place in Space, a 10km sculpture trail representing the solar system which is part of Unboxed, a celebration of creativity, taking place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and online from March to October. We remember Sir Harrison Birtwistle, one of the most significant British composers of the last century, whose death at the age of 87 was announced yesterday. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald
Mon, April 18, 2022
Abdulrazak Gurnah and the Big Jubilee Read from the Library of Birmingham
The Big Jubilee Read is a reading for pleasure campaign by the Reading Agency and the BBC highlighting 70 books from across the Commonwealth published during the decades of the Queen's reign. To mark the launch, Front Row comes from the Studio Theatre at the Library of Birmingham with an audience. Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah talks to Samira about his novel Paradise from 1994 which has been chosen as a Big Jubilee Read. Emma d'Costa from the Commonwealth Foundation explains how the books were chosen. Local author Kit de Waal comments and we hear from Birmingham's Poet Laureate, Casey Bailey, whose play GrimeBoy has just opened at the Birmingham Rep. He performs poems celebrating his city. And how are libraries faring ten years on from the first austerity cuts and two years after the pandemic? Briony Birdi of the University of Sheffield explains. The full list of books is available from Monday 18 April at BBC Arts https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich for the BBC Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, April 14, 2022
Benedetta film and Let the Song Hold Us exhibition reviewed; Slung Low Theatre
Our Thursday review critics, Dr. Kirsty Fairclough and poet Joelle Taylor, give their assessment of Paul Verhoeven's film Benedetta and the exhibition Let the Song Hold Us at Liverpool's Fact Gallery. Nick meets Alan Lane, Artistic Director of Slung Low Theatre Company in Leeds, to discuss his 'pandemic memoir', The Club on the Edge of Town. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Photo: Daphne Patakia (L) and Virginie Efira (R) in the film Benedetta (Credit: MUBI)
Wed, April 13, 2022
Jude Owusu, Operation Mincemeat, Wrexham's bid for UK City of Culture 2025
Tom Robinson is the black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl in To Kill a Mocking Bird. In Harper Lee's novel and the film he is at the centre of the story but, defended by the white lawyer, Atticus Finch, almost voiceless. In the acclaimed new stage production now in the West End, the actor playing Tom Robinson, Jude Owusu, discusses his approach to the role and the relevance of the story today. The UK’s City of Culture 2025 will be announced next month and Front Row is hearing from the four places on the shortlist. Tonight, Emily Hughes reports on Wrexham County Borough’s bid. Simran Hans reviews the new film Operation Mincemeat, the new British war drama directed by John Madden. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Julian May
Tue, April 12, 2022
Photographer Edward Burtynsky; Turner Prize shortlist; Novelist Patrick McCabe; Staying well on stage discussion
After being announced as the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2022, the Canadian photographer and artist Edward Burtynsky talks to Tom about his 40-year career as a landscape photographer. This year’s Turner Prize is returning to Liverpool for the first time in 15 years. Laura Robertson, a writer, critic and editor based in the city gives us a rundown of the shortlisted artists announced today at Tate Liverpool: Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin. Award-winning and twice Booker shorted listed author of The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his new novel Poguemahone. Described as this century’s Ulysses, the novel takes the form of a free verse monologue set in Margate in the mind and memories of Dan Fogarty and his sister Una. Rafaella Covino, the founder and director of Applause for Thought, which offers free and low cost mental health assistance for people working in theatre, and Wabriya King, Associate Drama Therapist at the Bush Theatre, join Tom to discuss the growing need for wellbeing support across the theatre industry. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Nicki Paxman
Mon, April 11, 2022
Richard Cadell and The Sooty Show; The Handmaid’s Tale opera; actor Liz Carr; gender neutral dance calling
70 years after Sooty first appeared with Harry Corbett on the BBC’s Talent Night, presenter and current owner of The Sooty Show Richard Cadell talks to Samira about Sooty’s enduring appeal, as Sooty’s Magic Show embarks on a new tour and a theme park opens at the end of May. Annilese Miskimmon, Artistic Director of English National Opera, discusses her directorial debut at the ENO. The Handmaid’s Tale, the opera written by Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley, is based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel about a repressive totalitarian state where women are stripped of their identities and their rights. The winner of Best Supporting Actress at last night's Olivier Awards was Liz Carr of Silent Witness fame, for her role in the National Theatre’s revival of The Normal Heart. She tells Samira why she made a plea, after the ceremony, for more Covid-safe theatre performances for vulnerable audiences. As the season for folk festivals approaches, we consider how the times they are a-changing in the world of folk dance. Lisa Heywood, pioneer of gender-free dance calling, and Gareth Kiddier, who organises the dancing at Sidmouth Folk Festival, talk to Samira Ahmed about why gender-free calling matters, how they do it, and how it goes down on the dance floor. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image: Presenter Samira Ahmed with Richard Cadell and Sooty
Thu, April 07, 2022
Jeremy O. Harris's play Daddy, Walt Disney exhibition & Navalny documentary reviewed; musician Kizzy Crawford
American playwright Jeremy O.Harris discusses his play Daddy, at London’s Almeida Theatre, which explores the romantic relationship between Franklin, a young black artist, and Andre, a wealthy white collector. Front Row reviews works that are poles apart today; the exhibition Inspiring Walt Disney, which reveals how Disney’s fascination with France, especially Rococo design, animates films such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, and the film Navalny, about the Russian opposition leader who was poisoned with Novichok, recovered in Berlin and returned – to be immediately incarcerated. It is as much a crime thriller, a whodunnit, as a documentary. Film critic Leila Latif and John Kampfner, who began his career as a Reuters Moscow correspondent, but is also Chair of the House of Illustration, discuss these with Tom Sutcliffe. To mark the BBC's Art That Made Us season, Front Row invites artists from across the nations of the UK to choose the piece of art that made them by shaping their artistic and cultural identity. Today we hear from the Welsh-Bajan musician Kizzy Crawford on Robert Williams Parry's poem The Fox. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Photo: Terique Jarrett and Sharlene Whyte in Daddy at the Almeida Credit: Marc Brenner
Wed, April 06, 2022
Ocean Vuong, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore reviewed, Southampton UK City of Culture bid, Nadifa Mohamed
Ocean Vuong is a Vietnamese-American poet whose recent works include a best-selling novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and a multi-prize-winning volume of verse, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. He talks about his latest collection of poems, Time Is A Mother, exploring themes of childhood, addiction, sexuality and the death of his mother. The third film in the Fantastic Beasts series, The Secrets of Dumbledore, is reviewed by Anna Smith, film critic and host of Girls on Film podcast. Front Row explores the four places competing to be UK City of Culture 2025, starting with Southampton. BBC Radio Solent’s Emily Hudson reports on Southampton’s bid. To mark the BBC's Art That Made Us season, Front Row invites artists from across the nations of the UK to choose the piece of art that made them by shaping their artistic and cultural identity. Today we hear from the Booker Prize shortlisted author Nadifa Mohamed on the 1979 song London Calling by The Clash. Picture of Ocean Vuong credit Tom Hines Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn
Tue, April 05, 2022
Mike Bartlett, Hannah Hodgson, Nick Laird
The playwright Mike Bartlett is busy. The 47th, his dark comedy about the next presidential race, with Bertie Carvel giving an uncanny performance as Donald Trump is about to open at the Old Vic in London. So too is Scandaltown, his modern day Restoration comedy about social ambition, featuring characters with names such as Hannah Tweetwell and Freddie Peripheral. And he has another play, a love triangle, Cock, in the West End. Mike talks to Tom Sutcliffe about the appeal of writing gags, blank verse and characters who take control. Hannah Hodgson's latest volume of poetry is '163 Days' in which she looks back in verse over her six months in hospital as teenager suffering from a severe and undiagnosed disease. Her poems are juxtaposed with her medical notes. The illness, which later proved to be mitochondrial encephalopathy, is incurable and she explores, in her poems, living with a terminal condition. To mark the BBC's Art That Made Us season, Front Row invites artists from across the nations of the UK to choose the piece of art that made them, by shaping their artistic and cultural identity. Today we hear from the winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, poet Nick Laird who has chosen the 1935 poem Snow, by Louis MacNeice. Ryan Marsh and James Thomas, two of the people involved in Europe’s first Non Fungible Token gallery, the Quantum Gallery, give us an insight into NFT Art and how it works. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Mon, April 04, 2022
Rae Morris performs live, author Ashley Hickson-Lovence, video artist Rachel Maclean
Rae Morris discusses her latest single, ‘No Woman is An Island,’ ahead of the release of her new album. Ludovic Hunter-Tilney joins us to discuss the highlights from last night’s Grammy Awards. Novelist Ashley Hickson Lovence talks about his new novel, Your Show, about Uriah Rennie, one of the first black referees to officiate games in the Football League, a story of one man's pioneering efforts to make it, against the odds, to the very top of his profession and beyond. To mark the BBC's Art That Made Us season, Front Row invites artists from across the nations of the UK to choose the piece of art that made them, by shaping their artistic and cultural identity. We begin with Rachel Maclean, the digital artist who represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale, on the 1847 painting The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania by Sir Joseph Noel Paton. And we pay tribute to the actress June Brown, best known for her iconic role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, who has died. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: Musician Rae Morris Photo credit: Hollie Fernando
Thu, March 31, 2022
A Clockwork Orange, the National Poetry Competition winner announced, Slow Horses and Coppelia reviewed
Critics Sarah Crompton and Abir Mukherjee review Slow Horses, the brand new series from Apple TV+ starring Gary Oldman, Kristen Scott Thomas, Olivia Cooke, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves and Jonathan Pryce. Slow Horses is based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron, which is part of the author's Slough House series. It tells the story of a team of British intelligence agents who have all committed career-ending mistakes, and subsequently work in a dumping ground department of MI5 called Slough House. New ballet film Coppelia is an innovative family feature with an original score by Maurizio Malagnini, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Choreographed by Dutch National Ballet artistic director Ted Brandsen, it combines 2D and 3D animation with live action dance and features a blend of musical influences from classical to electronic. Based on the original 19th century tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann this modern adaptation tells the love story between Swan and Franz, which is jeopardised by Dr. Coppelius and his uncannily beautiful protégée Coppelia. With a diverse and world-class cast, including Michaela DePrince, Darcey Bussell, Daniel Camargo, Vito Mazzeo and Irek Mukhamedov, the adaptation is created by filmmakers Jeff Tudor, Steven De Beul and Ben Tesseur. Sarah and Abir review. Professor Andrew Biswell, Professor of Modern Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University and Director of the International Anthony Burgess Centre, marks the 50th and 60th anniversaries of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by looking into its history, controversy, and legacy. Front Row will be announcing the winner of the National Poetry Competition this evening. Previous winners include former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, and distinguished poets Tony Harrison, and Jo Shapcott.
Wed, March 30, 2022
Glasgow's Burrell Collection reopens; Orphans the musical; Yoga Concerto; Edinburgh’s new Makar Hannah Lavery
Presented by Kate Molleson from Glasgow. As the Burrell Collection reopens in Glasgow after a £68 million refit, Sunday Post art critic Jan Patience discusses the significance of the gallery, which includes rare Persian carpets, Chinese ceramics and sculptures by Rodin. Director Cora Bissett talks about Orphans – the new musical from the National Theatre of Scotland, adapted from Peter Mullan’s 1998 cult classic film set in Glasgow. Belgian clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe is in Glasgow to perform the world premiere of Sutra with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She tells Kate about collaborating with composer Wim Henderickx to create a concerto inspired by Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the first scriptures of yoga, and how yoga can help musicians find their flow. Hannah Lavery is the recently appointed Edinburgh City Makar, the city’s poet laureate. She discusses her new role and her debut poetry collection Blood, Salt, Spring, a seemingly real time meditation on where we are – exploring ideas of nation, race and belonging. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Timothy Prosser Image: The Warwick Vase, a 2nd Century Roman marble sculpture, in The Burrell Collection, Glasgow Photo credit: Timothy Prosser
Tue, March 29, 2022
How to refill theatres; the 2022 Windham Campbell Prizes; crime writing duo Dreda Say Mitchell and Ryan Carter
We look at how audience figures are recovering after two years of shutdown and pandemic restrictions. Carolyn Atkinson reports on the business of seat-filling companies and on new models being considered for ticket sales. We announce the winner of the 2022 Windham Campbell Prizes. The awards recognise eight writers annually for literary achievement across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, at every stage of their careers. Each recipient is gifted an unrestricted grant of $165,000 USD to support their writing and allow them to focus on their work independent of financial concerns. And the authors Dreda Say Mitchell and Ryan Carter join us to discuss their new crime novel, Say Her Name, and writing as a partnership. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Image: Empty auditorium seats Credit: BBC
Mon, March 28, 2022
Sonia Boyce, Cellist Laura van der Heijden, the Oscars
Artist Sonia Boyce discusses her new video work, the product of being embedded with social services in Barking and Dagenham, which addresses domestic violence. She also reveals her process as she prepares to represent the UK at the Venice Biennale. After a dramatic Oscars ceremony, film critics Anna Smith and Tim Robey join us to discuss the Academy Award winning films, the success enjoyed by British contenders, and the slap that was heard around the world. BBC Young Musician Winner Laura van der Heijden is in the studio to talk about her new album with pianist Jâms Coleman. Called Pohádka, it explores the rich folk melodies of Janáček, Kodály and Dvořák. Laura's debut album won BBC’s Newcomer of the Year award and BBC Music Magazine just awarded it 5 stars, saying: “These performers bring sonorous depth and mystery.” Laura and Jâms perform Dvořák’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me” live in the studio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane Image credit: Anne Purkiss
Thu, March 24, 2022
The Hermit of Treig film and Anne Tyler's novel French Braid reviewed; Erich Hatala Matthes on art and morality
Critics Viv Groskop and Hanna Flint review The Hermit of Treig, a documetary film made by Lizzie Mackenzie who follows Ken Smith, a man who has spent the past four decades living in a log cabin nestled near Loch Treig, known as 'the lonely loch' – an intimate and warm picture of a man whose choice of the hermit life becomes more challenging as he ages. Anne Tyler’s latest novel, French Braid, is sure to be welcomed by her legions of fans. As always, it’s the story of a Baltimore family - this time she follows their foibles over the decades. Her books are praised for their deceptively simple style hiding a world of complexity and insight. Viv and Hanna assess whether – at age 80 - this is a vintage story from the novelist. In his book Drawing the Line, philosopher Erich Hatala Matthes explores the relationship between artworks of all kinds and the morality of the minds behind them. Are our aesthetic views tainted by the knowledge that the artist is unethical or immoral? How should we react? Should we boycott or ban them based on the views or behaviour of the creators? Erich joins Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the dilemmas raised by these issues. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker Photo: Ken Smith in a still from the film The Hermit of Treig Credit: Aruna Productions
Wed, March 23, 2022
Bridgerton showrunner Chris van Dusen, choreographer Ivan Michael Blackstock, William Morris wallpaper
Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn's best-selling novels, set in the competitive world of Regency era London's ton during the season. The series follows the eight close-knit Bridgerton siblings as they navigate London high society in search of love. Produced by Shonda Rhimes, the showrunner is Chris van Dusen and he joins Front Row to talk about its success. Acclaimed choreographer Ivan Michael Blackstock, known for his work on Beyoncé videos, talks about his new dance performance piece, Traplord, which explores and challenges the stereotyping of Black men in contemporary western society. A new exhibition at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh is showcasing the wallpaper designs of the Victorian polymath William Morris. Joining Elle to discuss seeing his intricate patterns afresh, his inspiration from the natural world and his efforts to democratise design are curator Mary Schoeser and Paul Simmons, co-founder of the Glasgow based design studio Timorous Beasties. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Sarah Johnson
Tue, March 22, 2022
Joachim Trier, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Angus Robertson
Director Joachim Trier has been nominated for the Best Original Screenplay and Best International Film Oscars for The Worst Person in the World. If the title refers to his protagonist that’s rather harsh. Julie is, after all, only trying to navigate relationships and career and find happiness and meaning in her life in contemporary Oslo. Trier talks to Nick Ahad about using a novelistic form – prologue, chapters, epilogue – in the creation of a film, working with Cannes Best Actress winner Renate Reinsve, and how his film is full of light, warmth and humour - the very opposite of Scandi Noir. Clare Lilley, curator and new director of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park discusses the first major UK exhibition of American painter, sculptor and printmaker Robert Indiana and the Park's future. There have been several announcements recently from the Scottish Government about funding and supporting the revival of Scotland’s cultural landscape in the wake of the pandemic. We talk to Angus Robertson, the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, about his Government’s plans for culture, north of the border. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Image: Robert Indiana, LOVE (Red Blue Green), 1966–1998, installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Mon, March 21, 2022
Hew Locke, Ivo Van Hove, Danielle De Niese, Ernesto Ottone and Dr Maya Goodfellow
The latest in Tate Britain’s series of annual commissions is an installation by the artist Hew Locke. It’s called The Procession and is comprised of approximately 150 life-size figures - adults, children, animals - arranged in a hundred-yard-long parade. Each one is unique, dressed in colourful fabrics, many specially printed, and wearing masks. It evokes carnival parades, protest marches and funeral corteges. Tom talks to Hew about how he set about making such an ambitious and complicated artwork and finds out about his fascination with obsolete share certificates. Theatre director Ivo Van Hove and soprano Danielle de Niese join Tom to explore why Jean Cocteau’s play La Voix Humane is having a moment, with various stage, screen and opera productions opening this Spring. As the war in Ukraine continues, we talk to UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone, about the organisation’s activities protecting Ukrainian culture and heritage artefacts. We also discuss UNESCO’s recent report on the economic impact of the pandemic on creativity across the globe. And Moment of Joy – our occasional series which celebrates those intense moments when watching a film or a play, reading a book or poem, listening to music or looking at a picture makes your heart soar. Dr Maya Goodfellow, academic and professor at The School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London on why Elena Ferrante’s novel ‘My Brilliant Friend’ makes her joyful. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jodie Keane
Thu, March 17, 2022
Mark Rylance, Julian Knight, Reviews of Hockney's Eye, The Dropout and WeCrashed
Multi award winning actor Mark Rylance on his latest film The Phantom of the Open, a warm hearted comedy about Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator at the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness who managed to gain entry to the 1976 British Open qualifying, despite never playing a round of golf before. The Phantom of the Open is in cinemas from March 18th. Mark also talks to Samira about reprising his celebrated role as Johnny ‘Rooster‘ Byron in Jez Butterworth’s award winning play Jerusalem. The Unboxed Festival that kicked off in Paisley earlier this month had a rave review here on Front Row. Unboxed had its origins in Theresa May’s premiership as a cultural celebration to mark a new post Brexit era for the UK. Now a concise new report by the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of MPs has delivered what can only be described as a scathing criticism of the project, and the government’s whole approach to Major cultural and sporting events. We talk to the Committee’s Conservative Chair, Julian Knight MP. David Hockney has always been fascinated by the role of new technologies in enabling artists to achieve their vision. Now, a new exhibition exploring his merging of science and art is being shown at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Tahmima Anam and Rachel Campbell-Johnston join us to review it. And the Grimms fairy stories of the tech start up age: We review two drama series of entrepreneurs flying high and falling to earth: We Crash about the founders of We Work, starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, and The Drop Out starring Amanda Seyfried about the Theranos scandal.
Wed, March 16, 2022
Olga reviewed, David Hare on Straight Line Crazy, audio postcard from York
The playwright David Hare talks about the resonances of his new play at the Bridge in London, Straight Line Crazy. It's a drama about Robert Moses, a civil planner who was a powerful and divisive figure in mid-twentieth century New York. Jenny McCartney reviews Olga, a Swiss film that follows a Ukrainian gymnast who is forced to flee her country during the Euromaidan protests of 2013 because of her mother’s work as an investigative journalist. Nathan Moore from BBC York sends Front Row an audio postcard from the city, including a visit to the studio of artist Sue Clayton who is painting portraits of York City supporters in the club’s centenary year, and a conversation with the York based rock band Bull. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson
Tue, March 15, 2022
Liv Ullmann, Hilary McGrady, Literary Translation
Over the past 60 years Liv Ullmann has worked in film and throughout April the BFI celebrates her contribution to the medium as actor, writer and director with Liv Ullmann: Face to Face. The season coincides with the Norwegian cinema legend receiving an Honorary Academy Award for her exceptional contribution to the art of film. Liv Ullmann joins us to talk about her award-winning career in film and her close relationship with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, with whom she made ten movies. National Trust Director General, Hilary McGrady joins us to discuss their recently unveiled plans for the next year. She touches on the role and responsibility of The Trust, their pandemic recovery, and their statement on Ukraine. In the wake of the announcement of the 2022 longlist, we explore the art of literary translation with International Booker Prize chair of judges, Frank Wynne, and one of the nominated translators Jennifer Croft, known for her translations of Nobel Prize in Literature winner Olga Tokarczuk.
Mon, March 14, 2022
The National Theatre's Rufus Norris, smoking on screen, Alison Brackenbury's poetry collection Thorpeness
Rufus Norris’s production Small Island has returned to the National Theatre's Olivier stage, chronicling the experiences of a couple of the Windrush generation. Another epic on the same stage, Our Generation, distills the experience, in their own words, of young people today. Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre, speaks about the role and responsibility of the National Theatre as we emerge from the pandemic. Benedict Cumberbatch admitted to giving himself nicotine poisoning for his role in BAFTA-winning film The Power of the Dog. Joining Samira to discuss the practicalities as well as the impact of smoking on screen are actor and former president of the actors’ union Equity, Malcolm Sinclair; Philippa Harte, set decorator for BBC period drama A Very British Scandal and Dr. Alex Barker, Lecturer in Psychology at the Nottingham Trent University. During the first lockdown in 2020, when all the museums were closed, the poet Alison Brackenbury became Front Row’s “poet in remote residence”, sharing poems inspired by the museums we couldn’t visit. Alison talks to Samira and reads from her new collection, Thorpeness. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Image: Rufus Norris Photo credit: Paul Plews
Thu, March 10, 2022
Colin Barrett, reviews of Servant of the People, Run Rose Run and Warsan Shire's new poetry collection
Irish writer Colin Barrett discusses his much anticipated second collection of short stories, Homesickeness, the follow up to his hugely successful 2014 Young Skins. Long before he became the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky played the President of Ukraine. In Servant of the People he was an everyman swept into office to fight corruption. Now, as he fights the Russian advance Zelensky’s comedy is being shown on Channel 4 and All 4. The Sunday Times Europe Editor Peter Conradi joins academic and writer Rommi Smith and Sameer Rahim the Arts and Books Editor at Prospect Magazine. Sameer and Rommi stay with presenter Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the first full-length book of poems from Beyonce favourite, Warsan Shire. In Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, the Somali-born British poet explores themes of themes of migration, womanhood, Black identity and resilience. Also up for review is Run Rose Run, Dolly Parton’s foray into fiction. Co-written with best-selling author James Patterson, the novel is a thriller about a singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run. The songs written about in the book correspond to an accompanying music album. We know the country music star can write stories in songs but can she write stories in books?
Wed, March 09, 2022
Larry Achiampong, Zinnie Harris, Thomas Sanderling
Front Row goes to the seaside and sends a sonic cultural postcard. The first major solo exhibition by British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong opens at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate on Saturday. The artist shows Samira Ahmed around, but Achiampong’s isn’t the only show in town. Margate has become a destination for artists and art lovers, and Tracey Emin is opening a new space for artists to work in. Samira finds out from curator Rob Diament what else is happening in this happening place, and hears from members of the People Dem Collective, artists and activists of colour who live and work in Margate. Thomas Sanderling has stepped down from his position at the helm of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra in protest of the ongoing Russian conflict in Ukraine. He talks to Samira about the Russian dilemma facing the arts world. Zinnie Harris joins Samira to discuss her play The Scent of Roses. Playing at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh it's a study of how secrets and lies can corrode relationships. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane
Tue, March 08, 2022
Howard Jacobson, Russian Cultural Philanthropy, Women's Fiction Prize, Turning Red
Howard Jacobson, who won the Booker prize for his novel The Finkler Question, discusses his new memoir Mother's Boy, an exploration of how he became a writer, of belonging and not-belonging, of being both English and Jewish. Katie Razzall, the BBC's Culture Editor, reports on the influence of Russian money and philanthropy in British cultural institutions. What do sanctions mean for the arts? Turning Red is Pixar's first film animation to have an all-female leadership team. Director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins discuss their story of a girl who metamorphoses into a giant red panda. Alex Clark analyses the longlist for this year's Women’s Prize for Fiction. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Helen Roberts
Mon, March 07, 2022
Sean Baker, The Shires, Kaveh Akbar
Director Sean Baker discusses his new film Red Rocket that was nominated for the Palme D’Or - the top prize at Cannes. The Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar discusses his new poetry collection, The Pilgrim Bell, and his fascination with the English metaphysical poet, John Donne. Ahead of the release of their new album ’10 Year Plan’ British country stars The Shires discuss song-writing and going back on the road, plus they perform two new tracks live in the studio including their latest single ‘I See Stars'. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane
Thu, March 03, 2022
The 50 year anniversary of The Godfather, Our Generation reviewed, Paul Dano on his role in the new Batman
It’s 50 years since The Godfather was released, the first of three films that have had a huge impact in their own right and on so much that followed them, from The Sopranos to The Simpsons. Christina Newland and Carl Anka discuss the power of the films and their legacy as Godfather II joins The Godfather on cinematic re-release. Our Generation is a new play by Alecky Blythe, the author of London Road, whose particular technique of verbatim theatre this time involved following a group of young people in the secondary school years and just beyond for five years. The snapshot of exams, phones, relationships, dreams and aspirations that’s resulted is at the National Theatre and then Chichester. It’s reviewed by poet Anthony Anaxagorou and critic Susannah Clapp. Paul Dano discusses his role as The Riddler in new film The Batman, and reflects on the particular quality shared by many of the characters he has played. And Anthony Anaxagorou and fellow poet Hannah Lowe, who’s just won the Costa Book of the Year Award for her collection The Kids, each recommend a new poetry collection.
Wed, March 02, 2022
Jane Campion on The Power of the Dog, Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov
Filmmaker Jane Campion is the first woman to be nominated twice for the Oscar for Best Director and the first woman to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival. Known for her female-centred work such as The Piano, she tells Tom Sutcliffe why she decided to focus on toxic masculinity in The Power of the Dog, her first feature film in ten years. The acclaimed Ukrainian artist Pavlo Makov, who was due to be representing his country at next month’s Venice Art Biennale, talks from Kharhiv, where he is sheltering from the bombing. JN Benjamin reviews the play Mugabe, My Dad & Me, a one man show from Tonderai Munyevu which charts the rise and fall of Robert Mugabe through the personal story of the playwright’s family. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Tue, March 01, 2022
Tears for Fears, English Heritage, Unboxed Festival, Welsh poetry on St. David's Day
Tears For Fears, the duo who sound-tracked the 1980s with songs such as Shout, Mad World and Everybody Wants to Rule the World, have just released a new album, their first for 17 years. Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal tell Samira Ahmed about The Tipping Point and how they reached it. Kate Mavor, CEO of English Heritage discusses the challenges facing English Heritage in 2022. Unboxed, the festival billed as a celebration of UK creativity, has kicked off in in Paisley, Scotland with About Us, an event charting one hundred and thirty years of history, from the “Big Bang” to the present. Samira is joined by arts journalist Jan Patience to review what was once dubbed the Festival of Brexit. And on St. David's Day, the poet, playwright, and writer, Menna Elfyn shares her choice of poem for the feast day of the patron saint of Wales. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane Photo: Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears Photo credit: Frank Ockenfels
Mon, February 28, 2022
Ali & Ava reviewed, Cultural Responses to Ukraine, Cherry Jezebel
On tonight’s Front Row, we take a look at the cultural responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the BBC’s Culture Editor, Katie Razzall. Clio Barnard’s latest film, Ali &Ava, is a love story between two care-worn middle-aged people, set in Bradford. Syima Aslam, co-founder and Director of the Bradford Literature Festival, and Lisa Holdsworth, Chair of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain, review. Cherry Jezebel is the title of a new play which opens at the Liverpool Everyman next week. At its heart are three drag queens with funny one-liners faster and sharper than a Federer forehand. But it’s also a play about ageing, family, and intimacy. The playwright Jonathan Larkin joins Front Row to discuss his new work. With the launch on BBC Three of Nicole Lecky's new drama Mood, critics Imriel Morgan and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw discuss the depiction of social media in TV dramas. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, February 24, 2022
Mark Neville photographing Ukraine, Whistler's Woman in White exhibition and The Duke film reviewed, Adam McKay on Don't Look Up
Director Adam McKay talks to Tom about his film Don’t Look Up. He discusses why it divided audiences and how he thinks cinema can influence politics. Photographer Mark Neville on the portraits of Ukrainian life collected in his new book Ukraine: Stop Tanks with Books. Charlotte Mullins discusses Whistler's famous portrait of Joanna Hiffernan, known as the Woman in White, the subject of an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. Film critic Jason Solomons joins Charlotte to review The Duke, the film starring Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent, about the extraordinary theft of a portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1961. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge Photo credit: Photograph by and courtesy of Mark Neville
Wed, February 23, 2022
David Byrne, Arts Minister Lord Parkinson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Agnès Poirier on culture in Paris
Musician, film maker and artist David Byrne discusses his new book A History of the World (in Dingbats) - a collection of more than 100 line drawings he created during the Covid-19 pandemic. The striking figurative drawings explore daily life and our shared experiences in recent years, and capture the changes and challenges of life today. As the Government announces fresh plans to ‘level up the arts’ outside of London, we speak to the Minister for the Arts, Lord Parkinson about how and where the additional £75 million of funding will be spent. Journalist and author Agnès Poirier sends us a cultural postcard from Paris, taking in a night at the opera; a film- Paris, 13th District- the new ensemble dating drama from director Jacques Audiard; a major exhibition marking the centenary of Proust’s death and the latest on the restoration of fire-damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral, nearly three years after the blaze. Hope Dickson Leach discusses the new production of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, an innovative production that uses cinematic techniques to create a live filmic experience as well as a theatrical one.
Tue, February 22, 2022
Samuel Bailey, Sensitivity Readers, Social Media Satire
Samuel Bailey’s debut play, Shook, about three young men in a young offender's institution, won the Papatango New Writing Prize in 2019, glowing reviews, and a sell-out run. His new play, Sorry, You’re Not a Winner, explores the social price of higher education. Samuel Bailey talks to Tom Sutcliffe about the cost of great opportunities . Amid the current debate about the merits of sensitivity readers - a specialist editor who checks writers’ manuscripts for offensive content, misrepresentation, stereotypes, bias, lack of understanding - we talk to one: Philippa Willets, who advises on disability and LGBT issues, and a writer who has misgivings about the idea, Zia Haidar Rahman, author of the prize-winning novel In The Light of What We Know. Short form comedy on social media has thrived during the pandemic. Two luminaries of the genre - Munya Chawawa who came to wider public attention with his musical response to the news of Matt Hancock's extra-marital affair - and Rosie Holt - her "Tory MP" persona convinced some that she was the real thing - discuss the art of short form satire. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jodie Keane
Mon, February 21, 2022
Kit Harington, Chris Riddell on Jan Pieńkowski, Jamal Edwards, Surrealism
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington and director Max Webster discuss their new production of Henry V, and why they chose to make Henry a more complex character than the usual patriotic hero. Jan Pieńkowski, who has died aged 85, was a brilliant illustrator of children’s books, including the Meg and Mog series. He was born in Poland and his family fled the Nazis, an experience, along with the fairy tales of Eastern Europe, that influenced his work. Chris Riddell, the former Children's Laureate, pays tribute to Pieńkowski. Radio 2 and 1Xtra presenter Trevor Nelson reflects on the life of Jamal Edwards, DJ and founder of the online music platform SBTV. He discusses Jamal's lasting influence on the music scene and his legacy. A landmark exhibition, Surrealism Beyond Borders at Tate Modern, is seeking to reveal the bigger picture beyond the art movement's Eurocentric and male dominated origins in 1920s France. Samira is joined by the co-curator, Matthew Gale and by Chloe Aridjis, the Mexican-American novelist, to consider Surrealism’s reach and resonance.
Thu, February 17, 2022
Living Sculpture Daniel Lismore, Severance and The Real Charlie Chaplin reviewed, Lady Joker crime thriller
Artist Daniel Lismore describes himself as a ‘living sculpture.’ His elaborate creations have been worn by Naomi Campbell, Boy George and the cast of the English National Opera’s The Mask of Orpheus. Now his body of work is on display in the UK for the first time, in the exhibition Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in his hometown of Coventry. Author Naomi Alderman and writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson join Elle to review new office-based sci-fi comedy Severance and documentary The Real Charlie Chaplin. The book Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone in Japan since its 1997 publication, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms. The author David Peace explains the excitement behind Lady Joker’s long-awaited translation and first UK publication. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Laura Northedge Image: Artist Daniel Lismore Photographer credit: Colin Douglas Gray
Wed, February 16, 2022
Richard Bean on Hull Truck at 50, portrayal of autism on screen, Sheila Heti
Comedy writer Sara Gibbs and actor and writer JJ Green discuss the portrayal of autistic characters on TV and film and call for change. Half a century ago director Mike Bradwell rented a run-down house in Coltman Street, Hull, gathered a few actor-musicians and started work. Hull Truck Theatre was born. It went on to become one of the most successful and influential companies in the country and is now housed in a beautiful purpose-built theatre. Bradwell had strong views about theatre: plays should be about the kind of people you might meet in Hull, not dead kings. He wasn't keen on jokes, and even less on scripts. So it's a bit of an irony that to celebrate their 50 years Hull Truck has commissioned the playwright Richard Bean, who can't resist a gag - he wrote One Man Two Guvnors - and whose work is carefully wrought and written. Bean, who is from Hull, talks about his new play 71 Coltman Street which recreates the genesis of Hull Truck Theatre. Sheila Heti, acclaimed author of Motherhood, talks about the ideas behind her new novel Pure Colour, an experimental story following a woman’s life through college, a love affair, and coming to terms with her father’s death – whilst God considers creating a second draft of the world. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Main image: Joanna Holden in 71 Coltman Street Photo credit: Ian Hodgson
Tue, February 15, 2022
British dance post-pandemic, Pissarro, Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton
Cassa Pancho and Billy Trevitt on the future of British dance, the "father of Impressionism" Pissarro and Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton on new play The Forest. Presnter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Laura Northedge Main image: The Ballet Black company Photographer's Credit - Ballet Black and Nick Gutteridge
Mon, February 14, 2022
Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful on stage, Barbellion prize-winning author Lynn Buckle, singer-conductor Barbara Hannigan
Michael Morpurgo’s book Private Peaceful has been made into a film, a solo stage show and a radio drama. As a new ensemble version opens at Nottingham Playhouse, before touring the country, the author and adapter Simon Reade talks to Nick Ahad about the power of this story of two brothers, caught up in the trauma of the First World War. We talk to the newly announced winner of the Barbellion Prize, dedicated to the furtherance of ill and disabled voices in writing: Lynn Buckle’s on her novel, What Willow Says, a meditation on nature and deafness. Soprano Barbara Hannigan first sang the role of Elle, the jilted lover in Poulenc’s one woman opera La Voix Humaine, in 2015. Now she’s simultaneously singing and conducting the opera, based on Jean Cocteau’s original monologue, with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Simon Richardson Image: Daniel Rainford in Private Peaceful Credit: Manuel Harlan
Wed, February 09, 2022
Drive My Car film review, Shakespeare's problem plays, the Great Yarmouth arts scene
Japanese film Drive My Car has been nominated for four Oscars, including Best Director for Ryusuke Hamaguchi. With his next film Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy released in the UK on Friday, critic Briony Hanson joins Samira Ahmed to review both films. It’s a truism that Shakespeare is as relevant today as ever. But some of his plays are regarded as problematic and recently the celebrated actress Juliet Stevenson requested that a couple of them “should be buried”. Is she right? And which plays speak most powerfully to us? Juliet Stevenson and directors Abigail Graham - whose production of The Merchant of Venice is about to open at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse - and Justin Audibert join Samira. The BBC Concert Orchestra has begun a three year residency in Great Yarmouth, with the aim of ‘raising aspiration and improving wellbeing.’ For Front Row, BBC Radio Norfolk’s Andrew Turner reports on what the town already has to offer and how the cultural scene might benefit from the residency. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Image: Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura in the film Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi Credit: Modern Films
Tue, February 08, 2022
The resurgence of black and white films, Oscar nominations and Hannah Silva
Monochrome is having a moment at this year’s awards season in films such as Belfast, The Tragedy of Macbeth and C’mon C’mon. To discuss the comeback of black and white and its enduring appeal, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Edu Grau, Director of Photography for Passing and Ellen Kuras, who won the Cinematography Award at Sundance for her debut feature film, Swoon, shot in black and white in 1992. She’s since become the first woman to receive the American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award and is about to embark on Lee, a biopic of the black and white photographer, Lee Miller. As the 2022 Oscar nominees are announced, we talk to Maggie Gyllenhaal who is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay with The Lost Daughter, the actor’s directorial debut, as well as Andrew Garfield, who bagged a best actor nomination for musical tick, tick... BOOM! Husband and wife animation team Les Mills and Joanna Quinn, writer and director respectively about their Best Animated Film-nominated Affairs of the Art also join us. Film critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Leila Latif provide analysis. And we discuss a new experimental drama for Radio 4, An Artificially Intelligent Guide to Love, which sees writer Hannah Silva collaborate with a machine-learning algorithm to create an audio guide to romance. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Production co-ordinator: Lizzy Harris Photo: Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew and Tessa Thompson as Irene "Reenie” Redfield in the film Passing Credit: Netflix
Mon, February 07, 2022
Yard Act's debut album, writer Esi Edugyan, Jason Katims on the TV series As We See It
Fresh from a special concert in their home city of Leeds to mark Independent Venue Week, James Smith, lead singer of Yard Act talks to Samira about the group’s success with the release of their debut album. Their character-driven debut album, The Overload - designed to provoke "an open discussion about capitalism" - went straight into the charts at number two. Novelist Esi Edugyan, author of Washington Black and Half Blood Blues, talks to Samira about her latest collection of essays, Out of the Sun, in which she delves into the history of Western Art and the truths about Black lives that it fails to reveal, and the ways contemporary Black artists are reclaiming and reimagining those lives. Jason Katims has written and developed several hit US television series including Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. His latest creation is As We See It, which focuses on the lives of three young people with autism. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane Image: Yard Act Photo credit: Phoebe Fox
Thu, February 03, 2022
The Eyes of Tammy Faye & novel They reviewed, Brass Eye anniversary
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a new film starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield as televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker charting their controversial rise and fall in the 1970s and 80s. They by Kay Dick is a rediscovered dystopian novel first published in 1977. Critics Suzi Feay and Michael Carlson give their verdicts on both. It's 25 years since the TV news satire Brass Eye first came to our screens with episodes such as one featuring fake drug Cake becoming the stuff of TV legend. Director Michael Cumming joins Samira. And the Bafta film nominations are announced today. Critic Hanna Flint joins us. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Wed, February 02, 2022
Erin Doherty on new drama Chloe, Andrei Kurkov on culture in Ukraine, true crime podcasts
Erin Doherty shot to fame playing Princess Anne in The Crown and joins Tom to discuss her latest role as social media obsessed stalker Becky in BBC drama Chloe. The writer Andrei Kurkov talks about literature, TV, music and cultural festivals across Ukraine. Documentary and true crime podcasts are more popular than ever, but does audio offer new ways of telling stories? Narrative expert and former head of BBC Drama Commissioning John Yorke, and Alexi Mostrous, host of Tortoise Media’s hit podcast Sweet Bobby, consider the particular craft of longform audio storytelling. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Photo Credit (Erin Doherty): Joseph Sinclair
Tue, February 01, 2022
Bastille perform live, independent book sellers, Costa Book Awards Book of the Year Winner
Ahead of the release of their fourth studio album, Give Me the Future, Dan Smith and Charlie Barnes of the alt-pop four piece Bastille perform live in the studio and discuss the creation of this sci-fi-influenced concept album, their most collaborative yet. A new initiative sponsored by The Booksellers Association and bookselling website Bookshop.org aims to encourage individuals from under represented backgrounds into the bookselling business, with seed funding available for successful applicants to open their own bricks and mortar bookshop. Historically seen as a more of a labour of love than a viable business or career plan, we explore the current state of the independent bookselling sector in the wake of the pandemic and the ever present pressures of the internet on local high streets. And we have the first interview with the Costa Book Awards Book of the Year winner. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Laura Northedge Photo: Bastille Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett
Mon, January 31, 2022
Van Gogh Self Portraits, Joanna Hogg on The Souvenir Part II, Dr Semmelweis
Van Gogh’s self portraits have defined our sense of his inner life. As a new exhibition gathers many of them together for the first time, The Courtauld’s Curator of Paintings, Karen Serres and the art historian, Martin Bailey join Tom Sutcliffe to consider what they reveal about an artist we feel we know so well. Director Joanna Hogg tells Tom about the making of the sequel to her semi-autobiographical 2019 film The Souvenir, starring real life mother and daughter, Tilda Swinton and Honor Swinton Byrne. Mark Rylance stars in Dr Semmelweis, a new play at the Bristol Old Vic about a pioneering doctor who struggled to make the establishment heed his warnings about hand hygiene. Professor Tim Cook, a consultant intensive care doctor in Bath gives his verdict on the play. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Tim Prosser IMAGE: Self Portrait as a Painter by Vincent Van Gogh (December- February 1888) CREDIT: Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, Vincent Van Gogh Foundation
Thu, January 27, 2022
Romola Garai, Almodóvar's Parallel Mothers & Francis Bacon: Man and Beast reviewed
The actress Romola Garai talks about her directorial debut, the horror film Amulet. Critics Maria Delgado and Louisa Buck review Pedro Almodóvar's film Parallel Mothers starring Penélope Cruz - an account of two new mothers and his most overtly political film yet. And they give their views on a new exhibition at the Royal Academy, Francis Bacon: Man and Beast. And comedian Arthur Smith pays tribute to comedy genius Barry Cryer, so much loved by the Radio 4 audience. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge
Wed, January 26, 2022
Isabel Allende on her new novel Violeta, Freya McClements on the play The White Handkerchief, William Sitwell and Façade,
Isabel Allende was born in Peru in 1942 and raised in Chile. Most famous for her novel The House of the Spirits, her works have been both bestsellers and critically acclaimed, translated into more than forty-two languages and selling more than seventy-five million copies worldwide. Her latest book, Violeta, is a fictional account of one woman’s life through an extraordinary century of history. Isabel talks about her life, her special relationship with her mother and her pursuit of equality. Freya McClements reports from Derry/Londonderry where The White Handkerchief, a play marking the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, is about to open. Freya speaks to members of the production team and hears about plans for a public memorial to commemorate the dead and injured this coming Sunday. A new recording by Roderick Williams and Tamsin Dalley of Facade, an “entertainment” by Edith Sitwell and William Walton, has been released 100 years after its first performance. Dame Edith’s great nephew William Sitwell and Professor Faye Hammill discuss the story behind the piece, its impact and the part it has played in the movement of Modernism. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker Photo: Isabel Allende Credit: Lori Barra
Tue, January 25, 2022
Martin Freeman on The Responder and Cultural Levelling Up
The Responder, a five-part BBC drama broadcast on consecutive nights this week, was written by ex-police response officer Tony Schumacher. He joins Samira along with Martin Freeman, who stars as the disillusioned police responder Chris Carson. A cross party group of MPs from the north of England have just made the case for cultural levelling up in a new report, ahead of the Government's much anticipated white paper on its broader levelling up agenda. We hear from the author of the report, Professor Katy Shaw of Northumbria University and arts policy expert Dr. Abigail Gilmore of the University of Manchester and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre. Screen Yorkshire’s chief executive Caroline Cooper Charles and Jamie Andrews, Head of Culture and Learning at The British Library, tell us about what they're doing to invest in culture in and around Leeds. Samira is also joined in the studio by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, Minister for the Arts in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: Martin Freeman Credit: BBC
Mon, January 24, 2022
Olly Alexander, Honorée Fannone Jeffers, Femi Elufowoju jr on Rigoletto
The singer and actor Olly Alexander discusses his new album, Night Call, and playing the central role in the Russell T Davies drama acclaimed television drama, It's A Sin; Theatre director Femi Elufowoju jr on making his opera debut with a new transformed production of Verdi's opera, Rigoletto; and the American poet Honorée Fannone Jeffers on expanding into fiction with her debut novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois. Presenter: Nick Ahad Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris Studio Engineers: John Cole and Chris Hardman Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, January 20, 2022
Ciarán Hinds, Nightmare Alley and The Gilded Age reviewed, the latest Serpentine exhibition on the gaming platform Fortnite
Belfast-born actor Ciarán Hinds tells Tom Sutcliffe about playing Kenneth Branagh’s grandfather in the director’s semi-autobiographical film Belfast, set in the early years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Historian Hallie Rubenhold and critic Hannah McGill discuss Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley and Julian Fellowes’s US answer to Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age. The latest exhibition at Serpentine North in London stretches beyond the gallery’s confines. There are three ways to view it: at the gallery, in augmented reality on the Acute Art app, and on the gaming platform Fortnite, potentially opening it up to hundreds of millions of people. How radical an idea is this, what does it mean for the future of viewing art and how well does it work? Creator and producer of digital exhibitions Marie Foulston takes a look.
Wed, January 19, 2022
Munich: The Edge of War, Australia, Jo Browning Wroe on her novel, A Terrible Kindness
Munich: The Edge of War is new film set in 1938 at the time of the Munich Agreement when the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was making a last ditch attempt to avoid war with Hitler’s Germany. Starring Jeremy Irons as Chamberlain it concerns the efforts of a young civil servant, played by George MacKay, who is sent to Munich to secure a document which would change the course of history. The German director Christian Schwochow talks about making a fictional thriller set against a background of historical fact. And as a director of episodes of The Crown he reveals what it’s like to be a German making drama out of the British royal family. A postcard from Australia in its multitudes. In the midst of a two year UK-Australia Cultural Exchange, the ABC’s C Benedict looks at what the UK means to Australia now. First Nations Australian creatives – Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham and Dharug artist Janelle Evans – talk about cultural custodianship and bringing Indigenous voices to the world, and sound artist Sia Ahmad finds surprising resonances between her experimental punk ethos and the Cornish independent film Bait. Jo Browning Wroe grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham. She talks to Tom about her debut novel, A Terrible Kindness, about a newly qualified embalmer, William, called in to attend to the dead after the Aberfan disaster in 1966 and the impact it has on his life.
Tue, January 18, 2022
Tilda Swinton, secrecy in screen casting, proposed cuts at Stoke museums
Tilda Swinton talks to Samira about her new film Memoria, in which she plays a Scottish woman who, after hearing a loud 'bang' at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia. We investigate the widespread use of NDAs in acting auditions, hearing from actors who are often being asked to sign these non disclosure agreements without even being told what the film is about or what part they are auditioning for. We also hear from agents who say they’re increasingly excluded from the process. Why are NDA’s necessary in the film and TV industry and are actors being treated fairly? Samira explores the issues with Agent Bill Petrie, Producer/Director Simon Tate and Casting Director Debbie McWilliams. Major changes have been proposed to two pottery museums in Stoke-on-Trent, which will see the loss of curators and reduced opening hours. Alasdair Brooks of Re-Form Heritage explains why the plans are of global significance. The city council however says its new budget must save £10m. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jodie Keane
Mon, January 17, 2022
Adrian Lester on Trigger Point; Heal and Harrow perform live; northern writing prizes
Actor Adrian Lester joins Samira to discuss his varied career on stage, in film and now back on UK television in the gripping new ITV police drama, Trigger Point. Scottish musicians Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl AKA Heal and Harrow perform live ahead of Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival. Their music is a response to the 16th and 17th century Scottish Witch Trials and the women falsely accused. What do two Northern literary prizes reveal about writing from the North of England? Samira is joined by journalist Gary Younge, chair of judges for the Portico Prize, awarded to a book that evokes the spirit of the North of England, and Alison Hindell, chair of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award, which is for radio drama writers from North. Paul Jones is the winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award 2021. He discusses his radio play, Patterdale and what the term “Northern Writer” means to him. Patterdale will be broadcast on Radio 4 on 14 February. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser Photo: Adrian Lester Credit: BBC
Thu, January 13, 2022
Boiling Point and Hanya Yanagihara's To Paradise reviewed, Costa Children's Award winner Manjeet Mann
Writers Okechukwu Nzelu and Stephanie Merritt join Tom Sutcliffe to review Hanya Yanagihara’s novel To Paradise, eagerly awaited by fans of her Booker-shortlisted A Little Life. Over three distinct time settings it tells a vast story about the United States, Hawaii, love and responsibility, taking in climate change and pandemics along the way. And we’ll be looking ahead to a few of the book titles our critics are looking forward to this year. Tracey MacLeod, one-time restaurant reviewer and critic on Masterchef, joins us to review Boiling Point, the one-take, fast-paced film set in a professional kitchen, starring Stephen Graham Following the attack on the sculpture of Prospero and Ariel outside BBC Broadcasting House, art historian Dr Chris Stephens, Director of the Holburne Museum, gives us an insight into Eric Gill and the problem of bad people making good art. Manjeet Mann joins us to discuss her Costa Children's Award winning novel The Crossing. Written in verse, it tells the story of Natalie and Sammy, two teenagers from opposite worlds, who are both overcoming their own grief.
Wed, January 12, 2022
Ascension, John Preston on Robert Maxwell and is vinyl manufacturing at breaking point?
Kirsty Lang speaks to John Preston who has won the Costa biography award for Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell. As a new vinyl pressing plant opens in Middlesbrough, we hear about the long delays facing bands because of the LP renaissance. And filmmaker Jessica Kingdon discusses her award-winning observational documentary Ascension. Filmed in 51 locations across China, Ascension explores the pursuit of the Chinese Dream through the lives of the people living it, accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack. Presented by Kirsty Lang Produced by Laura Northedge
Tue, January 11, 2022
Winner of TS Elliot Prize for Poetry, Unboxed, Folk at the Hampstead Theatre
We talk to Joelle Taylor fresh from her win last night of the 2021 TS Eliot Prize for Poetry for her collection of poems which explores her life as a lesbian. 2022 has three big cultural events in store: Unboxed, the Birmingham Arts Festival marking the Commonwealth Games and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Samira is joined by the man behind two of them, Chief Creative Officer Martin Green. We also hear from BBC News Culture Editor Katie Razzall, to unpack Unboxed, once dubbed the Festival of Brexit. And Folk, currently playing at the Hampstead Theatre chronicles Cecil Sharp’s mission to preserve England’s rural folk music. Writer, Nell Leyshon and director, Roxana Silbert discuss the process of adapting this real life history for the stage. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, January 10, 2022
Sheffield Crucible Theatre at 50, Philosophy in the Gallery, Self Esteem
As Sheffield's Crucible Theatre celebrates its 50th anniversary, Nick Ahad talks to Artistic Director Robert Hastie. Sheffield pop star Self Esteem on her award-winning album Prioritise Pleasure. Plus public debates about philosophy at Sheffield's Graves Gallery. Photo: Presenter Nick Ahad on location at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield Photo credit: Nick Ahad
Thu, January 06, 2022
Joe Wright on Cyrano, Costa poetry winner Hannah Lowe, A Hero
In his latest film Cyrano, director Joe Wright has tackled the 1897 French verse drama, Cyrano de Bergerac. He joins Tom Sutcliffe to discuss turning a classic into a musical and dispensing with Cyrano’s prominent nose. The winner of the Costa Poetry Award Hannah Lowe talks about her collection The Kids, an autobiographical series of sonnets which paint a picture of the decade she spent teaching in an inner city London school. She tells us why an age-old form mastered by Shakespeare is perfectly suited to tackling the politics of race and class in contemporary Britain. And critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Kohinoor Sahota discuss the palme d'or winning Iranian film A Hero. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris
Wed, January 05, 2022
Andrea Arnold, Claire Fuller, Afghanistan National Institute of Music
Filmmaker Andrea Arnold on her first documentary film, Cow, about the life of two cows, which one critic described as 'a meaty slice of bovine socio-realism.' We talk to Dr Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, about the organisation's recent departure from the country. And Claire Fuller has won the Costa Novel Award 2021 for her book Unsettled Ground, about twins in their 50s living in rural England, struggling to make ends meet and negotiating family secrets. She’ll talk about what winning the prize means to her. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Tue, January 04, 2022
The Costa Book Awards, Julia Ducournau on Titane, disabled access to arts and culture
The Costa Book Awards are in their 50th year. Tonight on Front Row, Chair of Judges Reeta Chakrabarti will join Samira Ahmed to announce each of this year’s category winners for First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s. We’ll also be hearing from the winner of the First Novel Award. French director Julia Ducournau discusses her film Titane, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival- the first film directed by a woman to win the prize in 28 years. At a time when access to performance for disabled artists and audiences looks increasingly imperilled due to the Omicron COVID variant, we talk to the government’s Disability and Access Ambassador for Arts and Culture, David Stanley. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Agathe Rousselle as Alexia in Titane Photographer credit: Carole Bethuel
Thu, December 23, 2021
Joan Didion remembered, Call the Midwife, The Tragedy of Macbeth and a review of the year in culture
Writer and essayist Olivia Laing reflects on the work of the American journalist and essayist Joan Didion, who has died at the age of 87. With the Christmas Special of Call the Midwife taking its usual slot on BBC One on Christmas Day – for the tenth consecutive time - the show’s creator and writer Heidi Thomas discusses how she tries to keep the stories fresh, year on year. She’s also joined by ‘super-fan’, the historian Tom Holland, to consider its lasting appeal. The British Council's Director of Film Briony Hanson and writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun review Joel Coen's film The Tragedy of Macbeth and share their cultural highlights of the year. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: Call the Midwife Christmas special 2021 Photo credit: BBC
Wed, December 22, 2021
Paul Thomas Anderson, Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden, Postcard from Doncaster
Paul Thomas Anderson discusses directing and writing his new romantic comedy, Licorice Pizza, starring Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and Tom Waits. The film is a coming-of-age story, complicated by the fact that the protagonist is 15 and his love interest, 25. In our Christmas card from Doncaster, the host of the BBC’s Yorkshire-cast and local boy, James Vincent, meets Deborah Rees, Director of CAST Theatre and Connor Bryson, an actor appearing in the BSL integrated pantomime, Aladdin. Street art duo Nomad Clan reflect on the making of the UK’s longest mural, and local musician Skinny Pelembe shares his lockdown Song for South Yorkshire. Last night, the longest of the year, musicians Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden intended to bring good cheer, light and joyful music with a wassail concert, but the omicron variant put paid to that. Instead Eliza and Jon will be bringing some of what was planned to Front Row, explaining the ancient tradition of wassailing – the word comes from the Anglo Saxon for good health - and singing and playing. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Julian May
Tue, December 21, 2021
Anything Goes, Live arts venues under Omicron, The Princess Bride
Broadway star Sutton Foster and director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall talk to Samira Ahmed about staging the musical Anything Goes, one of the hottest tickets of the year at The Barbican, ahead of a Boxing Day screening on BBC 2. In light of the increasing uncertainty facing the performance sector because of the Omicron variant, we talk to Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Powell. We also hear the experiences of Dominique Fraser, the director and founder of the Boiler Room - a live music venue in Guildford and the views of Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venues Trust and Philippa Childs, the head of the entertainment workers’ union, BECTU. And Stephen Keyworth has adapted cult classic novel and film The Princess Bride for BBC Radio 4, beginning on Christmas Day. He joins Samira to discuss the challenges of creating satisfying swordfights for radio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Prosser Photo: Sutton foster and the cast of Anything Goes, performing at The Barbican, London Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
Mon, December 20, 2021
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kehinde Wiley, Christmas book gifts
Maggie Gyllenhaal discusses her new film The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of the novel by Elena Ferrante. Gyllenhaal has written the film and it is her directorial debut, which stars Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley and Ed Harris. Samira talks to American artist Kehinde Wiley, best known for his portraits that render people of colour in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings, about his new exhibition at the National Gallery in London. The show, titled The Prelude, sees Wiley shifting his focus from Grand Manner portraiture to landscape painting. And with Christmas approaching fast, writers Kit de Waal and Michael Rosen are on hand to suggest some last-minute book ideas: Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne The Correct Order of Biscuits: And Other Meticulously Assembled Lists of Extremely Valuable Nonsense by Adam Sharp When Shadows Fall by Sita Brahmachari The Island Of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence by Dr Gavin Francis Everything, All the Time, Everywhere by Stuart Jeffries Fallen Idols by Alex von Tunzelmann Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Thu, December 16, 2021
Don't Look Up, Around the World in 80 Days, Cutting It Fine
Jonathan Freedland, Sarah Churchwell and Leila Latif review Adam McKay's satire Don't Look Up, with a stellar cast including Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Around the World in 80 Days starring David Tennant, one of the BBC's Christmas TV offerings. Cutting it Fine is a new exhibition in Salisbury, showcasing the art of British wood engraving - those small, black-and-white prints we see in books as well as in picture frames. Great artists including Eric Ravilious, Paul Nash and Gertrude Hermes have been attracted to the medium. Tom visits the exhibition as well as the studio of the wood engraver Howard Phipps, who shows him how the details and textures are achieved. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, December 15, 2021
Postcard from Scarborough, Derek Jarman Protest!, Benjamin Cleary
A major retrospective of Derek Jarman’s work, Protest!, opens at the Manchester Art Gallery this week. One of the most influential figures in 20th century British culture the exhibition focuses on the diverse strands of Jarman’s practise as a painter, film maker, writer, set designer and political activist. Novelist Okechukwu Nzelu reviews. Benjamin Cleary talks about his new science fiction film Swan Song starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Awkwafina and Glen Close And Nick Ahad visits Scarborough to discover an impressive arts scene in the latest in our postcard series, with Sally Gorham, Adam Cooper, Emily Kaan and Sefton Freeman-Bahn. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Tue, December 14, 2021
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín on winning the David Cohen prize, the sudden rise in Covid-19 related theatre closures and a seasonal dance round-up with Sarah Crompton.
Mon, December 13, 2021
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Sarah Phelps, puppetry on stage
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, which transforms a West End theatre into a Berlin night club in the late 1920s, stars Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee and Jessie Buckley as chanteuse Sally Bowles. Alice Saville reviews the show. Screenwriter Sarah Phelps discusses her new BBC TV series A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany, which tells the true story of the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963, one of the most notorious, extraordinary, and brutal legal cases of the 20th century. We remember the author Anne Rice who has died aged 80. Rice is best known for her gothic novels, including Interview with the Vampire, which was made into a film starring Tom Cruise. From the Front Row archives from 2012, Anne Rice discusses the sensuality of the vampires in her novels, her parallel career writing erotic fiction and her relationship with Christianity. Elephants, a lion, a tiger...animals are stampeding across our stages...in the form of puppets, large and small. Samira Ahmed discusses the reasons for the arrival of this menagerie and the role of puppets in contemporary theatre, with three leading puppetry specialists whose shows include The Magician’s Elephant, Life of Pi, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Olivia Skinner
Thu, December 09, 2021
Cat Power performs live. Amanda Gorman poetry, Sex And The City follow up and Drive My Car reviewed
What makes a good cover version? And is it an underrated musical genre? American singer-songwriter and queen of the cover-version Cat Power AKA Chan Marshall joins Samira live in the studio to discuss and perform from her forthcoming album, Covers. Critics Hadley Freeman, Jade Cuttle and Tim Robey join our review panel to discuss Call Us What We Carry, a new volume of poetry by Amanda Gorman, the film C’mon C’mon and the latest instalment from Sex and the City, And Just Like That…. Photo credit: Mario Sorrenti Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Laura Northedge
Wed, December 08, 2021
Musician Carwyn Ellis performs; The Rules of Art? exhibition; filmmaker Rosemary Baker; Port Talbot postcard
Front Row comes from Cardiff this evening. Joining presenter Huw Stephens to play live in the studio is Welsh musician Carwyn Ellis, who has been collaborating with Brazilian musicians and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Huw also looks closely at The Rules of Art?, an exhibition at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, which sets out the classical hierarchy of art, then challenges this by juxtaposing works spanning 500 years, from a Botticelli Virgin and Child, to a recent photograph by Helen Muspratt of a mother and child in Merthyr Tydfil. Rosemary Baker talks about her powerful film, Lesbian, that focuses on that word. It has been shortlisted for The Iris Prize for short films made by LGBT+ artists, awarded every year in Cardiff. And Huw sends an audio postcard from Port Talbot, the town which produced Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen, and boasts a Banksy, too. Presenter: Huw Stephens Producer: Julian May Photo: Carwyn Ellis Photo credit: Paul Kelly
Tue, December 07, 2021
Steven Spielberg, Working Class Heritage, Will Sharpe
Samira talks to Steven Spielberg about his new version of the musical West Side Story, along with Ariana DeBose who plays Anita. Following the recent demolition of the Dorman Long Tower at the former steelworks in Redcar and the auction of George Harrison’s childhood home in Liverpool, we consider how working class cultural heritage is defined, valued and protected. Joining Samira in discussion are Historic England’s Chief Executive Duncan Wilson, who advises the Government on heritage status and writer and broadcaster Lynsey Hanley, author of Estates: An Intimate History. We’ll also hear from Catherine Croft, Director of the 20th Century Society, a charity campaigning to save British buildings from 1914 onwards. Will Sharpe on directing Landscapers, a new drama starting on Sky which tells the story of film fanatics Susan and Christopher Edwards who were arrested for the murder of Susan’s parents. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, December 06, 2021
Playwright James Graham on Best of Enemies; Lamb film review; The Belarus Free Theatre; remembering actor Antony Sher
Britain’s foremost writer of political drama, James Graham, has written a new play ‘Best of Enemies’, about the television debates in the US in 1968 between the right wing thinker William Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal, the left wing writer. When they began yelling at each other ratings soared - and political coverage changed. Graham talks to presenter Tom Sutcliffe about his play and the striking parallels between what happened in 1968 and what’s going on today, in politics and on social media. Lamb is a new Icelandic movie about a farming couple, María and Ingvar, who are shocked to learn that one of their pregnant sheep has given birth to a bizarre human/sheep hybrid. The film is directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with author, Sjón. Lamb, which stars Noomi Rapace, was selected Iceland’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at this year’s Oscars. Briony Hanson reviews. Earlier this year Front Row covered the imprisonment of members of the Belarus Free Theatre. Now, the entire company has left the country. As the ensemble works on a play that will be staged at the Barbican in the spring, Front Row visits their rehearsal room to hear the experiences of some of the cast. Svetlana Sugako, the theatre’s managing director, joins us live in the studio to discuss why they are determined to carry on making theatre. Front Row remembers the actor Antony Sher, who has died aged 72. Sher was best known for his Shakespearian roles, including Richard III for which he won an Oliver award. In an interview from Front Row’s archives, Antony Sher discusses why playing a New York drag queen in Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein meant so much to him. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner Photo: James Graham
Thu, December 02, 2021
The Hand of God and Dürer exhibition reviewed, Aaron Sorkin on Lucille Ball
Paolo Sorrentino’s film The Great Beauty won an Oscar. Now he has returned to his home city of Naples to make a film based on his own autobiography, The Hand of God, which shows how his passion for the footballer Maradona saved his life. At the National Gallery a new exhibition, Dürer’s Journey: Travels of a Renaissance Artist, looks at how the Nuremberg artist had links with the artistic flowering happening all over Europe, and how that shaped his own work and identity. The artist Bob and Roberta Smith and the literary editor Thea Lenarduzzi review the film and exhibition and give their thoughts on the week’s cultural happenings. Aaron Sorkin, who has won Oscars as screenwriter for The Social Network and Molly’s Game, is also a director. In his latest film, Becoming the Ricardos, Nicole Kidman plays Lucille Ball, one of the most famous and powerful television stars ever, with an audience of 60 million. Off screen she is also Lucille Ricardo, a woman in a troubled marriage, longing for a home. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: A scene from The Hand of God, directed by Paolo Sorrentino Photo credit: Gianni Fiorito
Wed, December 01, 2021
The 2021 Turner Prize Ceremony
Front Row is live from the 2021 Turner Prize Ceremony at Coventry Cathedral. Samira Ahmed hears from Turner Prize judges actor Russell Tovey and curator Zoe Whitley, and the director of Tate Britain Alex Farquharson, about why they chose artists' collectives for this year's shortlist. Pauline Black reflects on what it means to Coventry to host this year's Turner Prize exhibition as part of the City of Culture celebrations and curator Hammad Nasar explains how he put together an exhibition of work that's not usually shown in galleries. And the winner of this year's Turner Prize is announced live on air. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Tue, November 30, 2021
The Parthenon Marbles; Get Back documentary review; Turner Prize nominees Project Artworks; the literary canon
As the debate over the Parthenon Marbles has resurfaced in recent weeks, we take a deep dive into this decades old dispute. Alexander Herman, Assistant Director of the Institute of Art and Law joins presenter Tom Sutcliffe to provide insight and analysis. Renowned folk musician Eliza Carthy reviews Peter Jackson's Beatles documentary series Get Back. We meet the Turner Prize nominated neurodivergent artist collective Project Artworks in Hastings. And who determines the literary canon? Kadija Sesay, co-author of This Is The Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelf In 50 Books, and Henry Eliot, author of The Penguin Modern Classics Book, join Tom to discuss. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: Marble horses on the West Frieze of the Parthenon Sculptures in Room 18 of the British Museum, photographed in 2009 Photo credit: BBC
Mon, November 29, 2021
Kelly Lee Owens, Stephen Sondheim, Rowan Williams, Black Obsidian Sound System
The electronic musician Kelly Lee Owens won this year’s Welsh Music Prize for her album Inner Song. She tells Samira Ahmed about her inspiration - and her collaborations with John Cale, Björk and Michael Sheen. This evening theatres in the West End dim their lights in honour of the great composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the words for the songs in West Side Story, and the musicals Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Company, Assassins, and more. From Front Row's archive we hear Sondheim himself talking about matching words to music, and his biographer, David Benedict, looks closely at one song, explaining how it demonstrates his remarkable skill. Throughout his life Rowan Williams, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 until 2012, has written poetry. Now his previous collections have been gathered with new pieces in a single volume, his Collected Poems. He talks about his work, which ranges from poems inspired by the landscape of West Wales to a sequence of sonnets inspired by Shakespeare's plays, another commissioned to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, and translations from German, Russian and Welsh and, his latest poem set in a vaccination centre in Splott. The nominees for this year’s Turner Prize are all artists’ collectives and Front Row has been hearing from them in the run up to the announcement of the winner. Tonight, we hear from Black Obsidian Sound System, a London based collective who use their sound system to organise events that connect communities. They tell Samira how their collective works and explain why being nominated for the UK’s biggest art prize hasn’t been a totally positive experience. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris Photo: Kelly Lee Owens Photo credit: Sarah Stedeford
Thu, November 25, 2021
House of Gucci, Adele's 30 and The Every by Dave Eggers
The designer Henry Holland and writers Stephanie Merritt and Tahmima Anam review House of Gucci, The Every by Dave Eggers and Adele's new album 30. In the run up to the Turner Prize, Front Row is hearing from the artists’ collectives nominated for the award. Tonight, we hear from Array, a Belfast based collective who use their art to draw attention to social and political issues in Northern Ireland. Array tell Marie-Louise Muir what the nomination means to them. Sound and music from Array Collective’s Turner Prize installation The Druthaib's Ball including 'The Hard Border' Poem by Seamus O' Rourke and music by Cleamairí Feirste, activist storyteller Richard O'Leary and performance of The Mother Within by Dani Larkin. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge
Thu, November 25, 2021
Suzanne Lacy, Bishop Auckland, Silent Night
As her first major retrospective in the UK opens in Manchester, the distinguished American artist Suzanne Lacy discusses a career which has seen her standing at the junction of aesthetics and activism, filmmaker Camille Griffin on her Christmas comedy horror - Silent Night, and a postcard from Bishop Auckland as the town undergoes a philanthropic arts transformation. Presenter: Nick Ahad Studio Engineers: Phillip Halliwell and Jonathan Esp Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris Producer: Ekene Akalawu Photo: Presenter Nick Ahad outside the Spanish Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland
Tue, November 23, 2021
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Turner Prize nominees Gentle / Radical, Costa Book Awards
During the pandemic Andrew Lloyd Webber has been more of a campaigner than a composer. He talks to Samira Ahmed how to keep theatres open now, taking his show Cinderella to Broadway and his latest ambition - to write a musical about the refugee crisis. The Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread) celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. Front Row announces the shortlists for the 2021 awards tonight across all categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book. Literary critic Alex Clarke will be on hand to offer analysis of this year’s choices. The nominees for this year’s Turner Prize are all artists’ collectives and, in the run-up to the prize ceremony, Front Row will be hearing from them. Tonight it’s the turn of Gentle / Radical, a collective based in Riverside in Cardiff. Rabab Ghazoul and Tom Goddard explain the community based ethos behind their work and how they feel about the nomination.
Mon, November 22, 2021
The Power of the Dog film review; Turner Prize nominees Cooking Sections; South African literature today
Jane Campion is famous for The Piano and a baby grand plays a crucial role in her new film The Power of the Dog, in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays a heavy smoking, unwashed and deeply troubled rancher in 1920s Montana. Briony Hanson reviews the film for Front Row and considers the lengths to which actors will go to create a character. All the nominees for this year’s Turner Prize are artistic collectives. In the run-up to the award ceremony, Front Row will hear what the prize means to each of them. This evening, we hear from Cooking Sections, an artistic duo who reflect on the climate emergency and how we can make the food we eat more environmentally friendly. When he accepted the Booker Prize earlier this month for his novel The Promise, South African author Damon Galgut said: ‘This has been a great year for African writing and I’d like to accept this on behalf of all the stories told and untold, the writers heard and unheard from the remarkable continent that I’m part of. Please keep listening to us, there’s a lot more to come…’ Tonight we shine a spotlight on contemporary literature from his home country of South Africa and bring Damon together in conversation from Cape Town with the award-winning debut author of Scatterlings, Rešoketšwe Manenzhe. PRESENTER: Tom Sutcliffe PRODUCER: Olivia Skinner PHOTO: BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as PHIL BURBANK and GEORGE MASON as CRICKET in THE POWER OF THE DOG. PHOTO CREDIT: KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX
Thu, November 18, 2021
King Richard, Wheel of Time and new Zadie Smith play reviewed, Playwright Moira Buffini
New movie King Richard stars Will Smith and focuses on the father of Venus and Serena Williams. The Wife of Willesden is the first play by Zadie Smith. And Wheel of Time is a new fantasy series on Amazon Prime Video. Ashley Hickson-Lovence and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh join Samira to review all three. Moira Buffini on her darkly comic new state of the nation play for the National Theatre, Manor, directed by her sister Fiona. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Laura Northedge
Wed, November 17, 2021
Ralph Fiennes on Four Quartets, Songlines exhibition, art postcard from Plymouth
‘A spiritual enquiry into what it is to be human’ is how Ralph Fiennes describes T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. On the eve of the opening in the West End he tells presenter Elle Osili-Wood about his stage presentation and his relationship with the poems. An exhibition that was a smash hit in Australia has come to Plymouth. “Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters” explores the ancient stories of Indigenous Australians through more than 300 works of art. Senior curator Margo Neale explains the meaning of the Seven Sisters Dreaming stories, that are central to the exhibition. Plus BBC Devon presenter Sarah Gosling takes us to the south coast and to Plymouth, where this Friday hip hop takes over the city thanks to Roots Up festival, as part of the Mayflower 400 anniversary celebrations. We also hear about grassroots theatre, comedy, and the thriving music scene which is pulling creatives to the south west from across the country. PRESENTER: Elle Osili-Wood PRODUCER: Julian May PHOTO: Ralph Fiennes on stage in Four Quartets PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Humphrey
Tue, November 16, 2021
Céline Sciamma on her film Petite Maman, author Sarah Moss on The Fell, diversity in folk arts
Céline Sciamma’s last film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, won awards worldwide after its release in 2019. Now the French filmmaker is back with Petite Maman – a meditative film set in the French countryside in which an eight year old girl, while helping her parents clear her mother’s family home, meets a mysterious girl of the same age in the woods. Less than a year since the UK emerged from lockdown, Sarah Moss has captured the experience of the pandemic in her new novel. The Fell follows a mother and son self-isolating and the fall-out when being confined to the house becomes too much to bear. Many sea shanties, it turns out, have their roots in African-American work songs. Singers, dancers and academics Angeline Morrison and Fay Hield discuss diversity in the folk arts and how their new projects will widen this. PRESENTER: Tom Sutcliffe PRODUCER: Olivia Skinner PHOTO: Céline Sciamma CREDIT: Claire Mathon
Mon, November 15, 2021
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Climate Fiction, Kayleigh Llewellyn
Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his debut as film director with a cinematic retelling of the stage musical - tick, tick…Boom! The film stars Andrew Garfield as a musical theatre composer desperate to succeed in his chosen field before his 30th birthday. In the aftermath of COP 26, with progress made but pledges watered down, how should fiction respond to climate change? Omar El Akkad, journalist and author of American War and Dr Lisa Garforth, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Newcastle, discuss whether utopia or dystopia is more in tune with our times and more helpful in a climate emergency. And, as it returns for a second series writer of the BBC Three comedy drama In My Skin, Kayleigh Llewellyn, tells Samira about how to strike the balance between comedy and tragedy in telling the story of a family beset by mental health issues. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Thu, November 11, 2021
Tori Amos performs, The Courtauld Gallery reopening and Dopesick series reviewed, Heidi Stephens live blogs
Tori Amos plays live and tells presenter Tom Sutcliffe about going from rock bottom to renewal in her lockdown album conceived on the Cornish coast, Ocean to Ocean. The Courtauld Gallery in London, renowned in particular for its collection of Impressionist art, reopens after a major 3-year refurbishment. Reviewers Waldemar Januszczak and Subhadra Das join Tom to assess the refreshed setting. They’ll also be watching new series Dopesick, starring Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson and directed by Barry Levinson, a drama about the impact of OxyContin on a small mining town in the Eastern US. And Heidi Stephens who liveblogs Strictly Come Dancing for The Guardian joins Front Row to talk about the joy of sharing with an online community and how to get it right – fast. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Tori Amos Photo credit: Desmond Murray
Wed, November 10, 2021
Art in Shetland, Timothy Ogene, Sharon Heal and Paul McCartney
For many years Shetlanders with ambitions to become artists had to leave to train and work. Not any longer, and young artists are also returning to the islands. Jen Stout reports on the ancient and modern arts in Shetland. Nigerian novelist Timothy Ogene tells Kirsty about the experiences that led him to write Seesaw, his satirical novel about the transatlantic creative writing industry. Fresh from the final day of the Museums Association annual conference, the organisation’s Director, Sharon Heal, joins Front Row to discuss the subjects currently occupying those working in the museum sector, and that will impact those who visit museums. And Paul McCartney's final journey Inside the Songs with You Tell Me. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May Production Coordinator: Lizzie Harris
Tue, November 09, 2021
Venice and climate change, the story that inspired Dostoevsky, Dean Stockwell remembered
The unique cultural heritage of Venice is under threat from increasingly frequent flooding and rising sea levels. Anna Somers Cocks OBE, founding editor of the Art Newspaper and Fellow of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, signed a letter appealing to the Italian Prime Minister to safeguard the city, on the eve of COP 26. She’s joined by Francesco da Mosto, Venetian architect and author, to tell us what’s at stake in the World Heritage Site he calls home. In his new book Kevin Birmingham investigates the true story that inspired Crime and Punishment. Marking the 200th anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s birth Birmingham joins Russian literature specialist Sarah Hudspith and Samira Ahmed on Front Row to consider Dostoevsky’s continuing relevance today. Paul McCartney explores the inspiration behind Pretty Boys, a song from his most recent album McCartney Three. The Hollywood actor Dean Stockwell, best known for his roles in Blue Velvet and Quantum Leap, has died. Film critic Tim Robey remembers some of his outstanding moments on screen. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: High water in St. Mark's Square, Venice (stock photo) Credit: Getty Images
Tue, November 09, 2021
Jeymes Samuel on The Harder They Fall, author Sofi Oksanen, John Gilchrist of UK Theatre, Paul McCartney
British filmmaker, singer-songwriter and music producer Jeymes Samuel AKA The Bullitts discusses his new film The Harder They Fall. Finnish-Estonian author Sofi Oksanen on her new novel Dog Park. Jon Gilchrist, Executive Director of Home in Manchester and incoming president of UK Theatre, on the state of regional theatre this autumn. And in the latest instalment of our series Inside the Songs, Paul McCartney remembers the loss he felt after the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and how he reconnected with his friend in the song Here, Today. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Photo: A still from the film The Harder They Fall (L to R): Regina King as Trudy Smith, Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill Photo credit: David Lee/ Netflix 2021
Thu, November 04, 2021
Spencer, Alan Cumming and Paul McCartney
Alan Cumming discusses his autobiography, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life. This volume chronicles some of his career highs after Hollywood came calling, including working with Stanley Kubrick, filming with the Spice Girls and holidaying with Gore Vidal. Front Row critics Alexandra Shulman and Leila Latif review this week's cultural highlights including Diana biopic Spencer, Israeli drama Valley of Tears and discuss the ABBA revival ahead of the release their new album Voyage. And Paul McCartney describes the painful conflict with John Lennon that inspired his song Too Many People. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge
Wed, November 03, 2021
The 2021 Booker Prize Ceremony
Shortlisted authors Anuk Arudpragasam, Damon Galgut, Patricia Lockwood, Nadifa Mohamed, Richard Powers and Maggie Shipstead join Samira Ahmed live in Broadcasting House's Radio Theatre for the announcement of the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize. Last year's winner Douglas Stuart is in conversation with HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. And 30 years on from his historic Booker win, Ben Okri reflects on how the prize changed his life. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Tue, November 02, 2021
Little Amal, Anne Carson, Paul McCartney and The National Trust
Little Amal, a giant puppet of a refugee girl, will complete her epic journey from Gaziantep on the Turkey/Syria border to Manchester tomorrow. Theatre director David Lan discusses what the project has achieved. Euripides’ tragedy Herakles was first performed in 416BC. The poet Anne Carson’s new translation mentions contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer, an Airstream trailer and a lawnmower. The text is torn and pasted, scattered along with drawings. Carson talks Tom Sutcliffe about her version, titled H of H Playbook. On Saturday, the National Trust held its annual general meeting where members expressed their concerns and hopes for the organisation which has been rather embattled in recent months. The art historian, Bendor Grosvenor, and the editor of The Oldie, Harry Mount, join Front Row to discuss whether the National Trust needs to pause or steam ahead with its current plans. Paul McCartney discusses Junk, a song he originally wrote for the Beatles in 1968, but which was first released on his debut solo album McCartney in 1970.
Mon, November 01, 2021
Armando Iannucci, Booker shortlisted author Maggie Shipstead, Paul McCartney on Penny Lane
Meet the anagrammatical Orbis Rex, Queen Dido, Blind Dom’nic, as they battle a wet and withered bat from Wuhan in Front Row as Armando Iannucci, Samira Ahmed’s guest, reads from and talks about Pandemonium, his new mock-heroic epic poem written in response to the Covid pandemic and the times we live in. The sights and sounds of Liverpool are evoked as Paul remembers the 1967 Beatles single Penny Lane. In the last of our Booker Prize Book Groups, listeners put their questions to shortlisted author Maggie Shipstead, whose novel Great Circle tells the story of Marian Graves, a pioneering female pilot in the first half of the 20th century, and in a separate strand in the present, Hadley Baxter, an actress playing Marian in a Hollywood movie. Daniel Clark is one of ten young poets from around the world chosen through a Poetry Society competition to perform work that addresses the climate crisis at Cop 26. He reads, and talks about poetry as activism. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Thu, October 28, 2021
Passing film, Colin in Black and White, Booker Prize book group on Bewilderment, Paul McCartney
Critics Michael Donkor and Jan Asante review actor Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut feature film Passing and the series Colin in Black and White, about former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. In the fifth of our Booker Prize Book Groups, listeners put their questions to author Richard Powers, shortlisted for the second time for his novel Bewilderment. He describes it as a story about the anxiety of family life on a damaged planet as well as a kind of ‘planetary romance’. Paul McCartney offers candid insight to the creation of Got to Get You into My Life, in the latest instalment of our series Inside the Songs. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Photo: Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew and Tessa Thompson as Irene "Reenie” Redfield in the film Passing Credit: Netflix
Wed, October 27, 2021
The reopening of the Hall for Cornwall, Paul McCartney on Eleanor Rigby and Booker Prize nominated author Nadifa Mohamed
Front Row visits Truro to report on the re-opening of the Hall for Cornwall after a 3 year, £26million refurbishment. The new 1300 auditorium complements the granite of the old building, and the Cornish landscape. And the opening show – the world premiere of the Fisherman’s Friends musical, of course. We hear from Matt Hemley, News Editor for The Stage, about the ongoing affect of Covid on theatre audiences. Paul McCartney tell us how he wrote Eleanor Rigby. And Nadifa Mohamed joins a group of Front Row listeners for our latest Booker Prize Book Group, discussing her novel The Fortune Men, about a racist miscarriage of justice in Cardiff's Tiger Bay in the 1950s. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, October 26, 2021
Booker shortlisted novelist Patricia Lockwood, Science Museum director Ian Blatchford, Paul McCartney
Patricia Lockwood is the latest author to join our Booker Prize Book Groups. Three listeners will ask her about No One Is Talking About This, a novel that’s been described as “ferociously original”, exploring a relationship with the online world and how it changes when an incredibly moving event happens in real life. The Science Museum has come in for criticism after choosing Adani Group, a company involved with fossil fuels, to sponsor their new energy galleries. Sir Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group explains the thinking behind the partnership. As COP approaches, what is the art world doing to become more sustainable? Chris Garrard from Culture Unstained explains why they feel oil and fossil fuel sponsorship of the arts is a problem and Kate McGarry from the Galleries Climate Coalition discusses what they’re doing to try to fix the biggest problems. And we continue our new series, Inside the Songs, in which Paul McCartney talks about his life and song-writing through the prism of ten key lyrics. Today he offers an analysis of the song, Yesterday. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Mon, October 25, 2021
Paul McCartney, Paul Muldoon, Booker Prize Book Group on The Promise
In the first instalment of our new series, Inside the Songs, Paul McCartney talks about his life and song-writing through the prism of ten key lyrics, beginning with The Beatles’ classic All My Loving. Poet Paul Muldoon discusses working with Paul McCartney on his intimate and revealing new book, The Lyrics, and explains why he sees McCartney as a great literary figure. In the latest of our Booker Prize Book Groups, a panel of our listeners talk to the author Damon Galgut about his shortlisted novel The Promise, the story of a white South African family and a promise made to Salome, the black woman who works for them. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Paul McCartney photographed by daughter Mary McCartney Photo credit: Mary McCartney
Thu, October 21, 2021
Booker Prize Book Group: Anuk Arudpragasam on A Passage North
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
Thu, October 21, 2021
Bradford Postcard; Ron’s Gone Wrong; Re-directing a play
Producer-director Sarah Smith made her animation debut with the festive favourite, Arthur Christmas. Ten years on she’s back with Ron’s Gone Wrong, a warm-hearted romp with a robot and a critique of social media’s impact on young minds. For this week’s audio postcard, presenter and local boy Nick Ahad is in Bradford. He dons his hard hat to check out what’s happening at the famous art deco building, known as the Bradford Odeon, as it’s turned into a new cultural centre for live music. He also visits Kala Sangam, an intercultural arts centre established by two consultant doctors that provides a place for locals to try new arts and crafts and which supports local artists and arts organisations. And he meets one of those emerging local artists, playwright and actor Kamal Kaan. And how can theatre respond to a seismic event like the coronavirus pandemic, or the murder of George Floyd? Erica Whyman, Acting Artistic Director of The RSC and Roy Alexander Weise, joint Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, discuss the experience of returning to their respective productions of The Winter’s Tale and The Mountaintop with fresh eyes and renewed urgency. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Photo: Nick Ahad at The Bradford Odeon building site Photo credit: Mark Nicholson
Tue, October 19, 2021
BBC National Short Story Award and BBC Young Writers' Award winners
We announce the winners of the BBC National Short Story Award 2021 and the BBC Young Writers' Award 2021. Kirsty Lang is joined for the show by National Short Story Award judges James Runcie and Fiona Mozley and Young Writers' Award judges Katie Thistleton and Louise O'Neill. The BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000, and four further shortlisted authors £600 each. This year's shortlisted stories are ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad’ by Lucy Caldwell, ‘The Body Audit’ by Rory Gleeson, ‘Night Train’ by Georgina Harding, ‘Toadstone’ by Danny Rhodes and ‘Maykopsky District, Adyghe Oblast’ by Richard Smyth. Now in its seventh year, The BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University 2021 is open to all writers between the ages of 14 –18 years and was created to discover and inspire the next generation of writers. It is a cross-network collaboration between BBC Radio 4 and Radio 1. The 2021 BBC Young Writers’ Award shortlisted stories are ‘Fatigued’ by Luca Anderson-Muller, 18, from Belfast, ‘Another Boring Friday Night’ by Isabella Yeo Frank, 18, from London, ‘Super-Powder by Tabitha Rubens, 19, from London, ‘Blood and Water’ by Eleanor Ware, 17, from Bedfordshire and ‘Pomodoro (and Nasturtium Seeds) by Madeleine Whitmore, 16, from Bath. Kirsty also speaks to Denis Villeneuve about directing the movie remake of Dune, with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Villeneuve, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, October 18, 2021
Arinzé Kene on playing Bob Marley; Clare Norburn sings John Dowland; the first Working Class Writers Festival
Arinzé Kene talks to Samira Ahmed about playing Bob Marley in the new musical Get Up, StandUp! Singer Clare Norburn is live in the studio to perform a piece by 16th Century composer John Dowland and discuss her new play about Dowland, I, Spie. We discuss the inaugural Working Class Writers Festival taking place in Bristol this weekend with organiser Natasha Carthew and publisher Sarah Fortune. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, October 14, 2021
The RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture, Succession, John Le Carré’s final novel, The London Film Festival
Front Row goes live to Coventry to announce the winner of the 2021 Riba Stirling Prize and discuss the shortlist with BBC Arts and Media correspondent David Sillito and architecture critic for the Guardian, Oliver Wainwright. Author Charlotte Philby and arts and books editor for Prospect Magazine Sameer Rahim join Tom Sutcliffe to review the new series of Succession and Silverview, John le Carré’s last novel. Film critic Hanna Flint fills us in on the highlights of this year’s London Film Festival. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge Photo: Brian Cox as Logan Roy in Succession Photo Credit: Sky Atlantic
Wed, October 13, 2021
Theatre director Emma Jordan, Omagh's Ulster American Folk Park and Ridley Scott
Theatre director Emma Jordan discusses The Border Game, a new play to mark 100 years of the Irish border. We hear from Omagh in County Tyrone as reporter Freya McClement explores a moving new installation by artist Paula Stokes at the Ulster American Folk Park. And director Ridley Scott talks to Samira about his new film The Last Duel starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Photo: Liz Fitzgibbon and Patrick McBrearty in The Border Game - photo credit Ciaran Bagnall
Tue, October 12, 2021
Suzan-Lori Parks, Owen Sheers, stolen artefacts and the portrayal of scientists
Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on her play White Noise, which has its the UK premier tonight. Life is not so bad for four liberal friends, two couples, black with a white partner, until Leo has a run in with the cops and it all begins to unravel. The poet, playwright, and novelist, Owen Sheers, has written a new BBC One drama, The Trick. He talks to Samira about exploring what became known in 2009 as Climategate, when the emails of Professor Philip Jones, Director of the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University, were hacked and doubt cast on the research into climate change. For Front Row’s regular Tuesday Arts Audit today we’re exploring ongoing debates around the questionable provenance of artefacts housed in some of the world’s most famous museums with Malia Politzer from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Alexander Herman, Assistant Director of the Institute of Art and Law. How can broadening the representation of scientists on the page, screen and stage drive diversity among scientists and increase public trust in science itself? Andrea Sella, broadcaster and professor of chemistry at University College London and award-winning debut novelist Temi Oh join Samira live in the studio on Radio 4’s Day of the Scientist. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Kirsty McQuire
Mon, October 11, 2021
Joan Collins, Armistead Maupin and Verbatim Theatre
Joan Collins discusses her memoir My Unapologetic Diaries. Tales of the City author and activist Armistead Maupin on his national tour and why he has moved from his beloved San Francisco to live in the UK. Engineering Value - Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry is a new play every word of which has been taken from what was said at that public inquiry. Directors Nick Kent and Nadia Fall consider the ethics of verbatim theatre and the different ways of creating it. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner
Thu, October 07, 2021
Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, Cush Jumbo's Hamlet, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage
Cush Jumbo’s long-awaited performance as Hamlet and debbie tucker green’s film ear for eye come under the critical gaze of Ekow Eshun, Vanessa Kisuule and Sarah Crompton. Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. He joins Front Row to discuss his work and how he feels about winning. The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage on his fresh and contemporary new translation of the classic poem The Owl and the Nightingale. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo Credit: Helen Murray
Wed, October 06, 2021
The Arts in Aberystwyth, The Boy with Two Hearts in Cardiff and Welsh film director Craig Roberts
Broadcaster Huw Stephens sends an audio postcard from Aberystwyth, the small seaside town with the big arts centre mounting exhibitions and concerts, the National Library of Wales, the country's oldest University, a thriving bilingual music scene, one of the UK's leading comedy festivals and now - a film industry. The true story of one family’s journey from Afghanistan to Wales twenty one years ago is told on stage at Cardiff’s Millennium Centre this month. Tom hears from the writer of The Boy With Two Hearts, Hamed Amiri and musician Elaha Soroor about finding refuge and the freedom to make music. The British amateur golfer Maurice Flitcroft entertained fans globally and became the scourge of the golfing establishment when he passed himself off as a professional and entered the British Open in 1976. Now Welsh director Craig Roberts has made a new film about his life, starring Mark Rylance and Sally Philips. He explains why he wanted to make a film about a lovable sporting underdog. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris
Tue, October 05, 2021
Wole Soyinka, post-pandemic theatre, Michael Winterbottom
Wole Soyinka, the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells Samira Ahmed about what impelled him to write his first new novel in five decades, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth. As theatres re-open across the UK and audiences return, are some theatre fans being left behind? We hear from Jamie Hale, an award-winning theatre director and playwright with a disability, and Richard Misek from the University of Kent, who is investigating the impact of digital arts on audiences. Film director Michael Winterbottom shares insights from his conversations with fellow filmmakers, from Ken Loach to Andrea Arnold and from Lynn Ramsay to Steve McQueen, about the challenges British directors face in getting independent British films made. Michael is joined by the debut feature filmmaker Cathy Brady to discuss what it takes to get a film on the big or small screen. PRESENTER: Samira Ahmed PRODUCER: Simon Richardson Photo: Wole Soyinka Photo credit: Mr TAIWO OLUSOLA-JOHNSON (TOJ Concepts)
Mon, October 04, 2021
Hilary Mantel, Lianne La Havas, Candice Carty Williams, Kieran Hurley
In tonight's new look, 45 minute long Front Row... Hilary Mantel talks about turning her 874 page novel, The Mirror and the Light, the third volume in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, into a play of just a couple of hours. Kieran Hurley on The Enemy, his adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for the National Theatre of Scotland. Lianne La Havas joins us live in the studio to perform a track from her self-titled Ivor Novello winning album. And Candice Carty Williams, author of the besteller, Queenie, on writing her first novella for young adults, Empress and Aniya. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Fri, October 01, 2021
No Time To Die, Soul Train, Karl Ove Knausgaard
The new 007 film No Time To Die has had its release pushed back and back and back due to Covid. But now it’s finally here with Daniel Craig playing James Bond for the final time. Critical responses have been mixed, what will our reviewers, Charlie Higson -writer of the Young Bond novels – and Naima Khan – who’s never seen a Bond film before – make of it? We’ll also preview Ridley Road a BBC historical drama series written by Sarah Solemani, about a young Jewish woman who fights against an emerging neo-Nazi group in 1960s East London. 1971 was an important year in African-American culture. It was the year that saw the cinema release of Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and Gordon Park’s Shaft. It was also the year that saw the national launch of Soul Train – the music show that featured the big Soul stars of the day, hosted by the avuncular Don Cornelius who encouraged the audience of young African-Americans to dance and celebrate themselves for all to see. Fifty years on, music Journalist, Jacqueline Springer, assesses the significance of Soul Train. Best selling Norwegian writer of My Struggle Karl Ove Knausgaard talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his new novel The Morning Star. During one long summer’s night in August, nine people are leading their usual live, when a huge star appears in the Norwegian sky above them.
Thu, September 30, 2021
Dave Grohl, Jimmy Savile
Widely known as the nicest guy in rock, Dave Grohl has written a memoir ‘The Storyteller’ documenting his life in the rock and roll business, from early days sleeping in the tour van with Scream, to the moment that inspired him to return to music post-Nirvana, to performing at the White House. It is family and music that has kept him grounded, as well as seeing the toll the dark glamour of a rock and roll life can take on a person. Now he is unashamedly earnest about his love of music and love of life. He tells Nick Ahad about how he feels performing in front of thousands, his ‘pinch-me’ moments, and the magic that happens between musicians. As the tenth anniversary of the death of disgraced celebrity Jimmy Savile approaches, there's a slew of dramas and documentaries being prepared for broadcast. Playwright and journalist Jonathan Maitland wrote his own Jimmy Savile drama - An Audience with Jimmy Savile - in 2015. He joins Front Row to discuss how to approach dramatizing Savile. Presented by Nick Ahad Produced by Ekene Akalawu Studio Engineer - Carwyn Griffith Production Co-ordinator - Caroline Dey
Wed, September 29, 2021
David Chase, Laura Lomas, Betty Campbell statue
American screenwriter, show-runner, director, and producer David Chase is best known for writing and producing the HBO drama The Sopranos which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. He talks to Tom about why he's bringing back Michael Imperioli for The Many Saints Of Newark. Gary Raymond, editor of Wales Art Review, joins us to discuss the unveiling of the statue of the Welsh, black head teacher and heroine, Betty Campbell. Many great playwrights - including William Shakespeare - have written works to be performed at The Globe Theatre on the banks of The Thames. And now 400 years since the venue last had a playwright in residence, there’s a new play, Metamorphoses, written by a team of young writers, making its premiere. We speak with Laura Lomas about creating new work for such an illustrious stage. Also with Simeon Miller, Candle Consultant for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse – recreating pre-electric stage lighting for modern productions. And Danish artist Jens Haaning was commissioned to make a work for the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, and was paid. He as delivered an empty picture frame as says this is a conceptual art word titled Take the Money and Run. How does this latest scam compare with other examples of audacious art? Tom Sutcliffe talks to art critic Louisa Buck. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Main image: Michael Gandolfini (Left) as the young Tony Soprano with Alessandro Nivolo as his "uncle" Dickie Moltisanti . Image credit: Barry Wetcher/ © 2021 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc
Tue, September 28, 2021
Comedian Njambi McGrath, Turner Prize shortlist review, 25 Years of Buena Vista Social Club
Kenyan British Comedian Njambi McGrath’s work focuses on identity politics, Brexit, colonialism, and race. She joins Kirsty to discuss her 2019 show, Accidental Coconut which opens at the Soho Theatre next week, and her new Radio 4 podcast series Njambi McGrath: Becoming Njambi. Controversy always rages over The Turner Prize. This year not a single artist has been shortlisted. Not one! Instead there are five art collectives, from all over the UK, showing work at the Turner Prize Exhibition which opens tomorrow at the Herbert Gallery in Coventry. The critic Zarina Muhammad reviews the show for Front Row. Kenyan British Comedian Njambi McGrath’s work focuses on identity politics, Brexit, colonialism, and race. She joins Kirsty to discuss her 2019 show, Accidental Coconut which opens at the Soho Theatre next week, and her new Radio 4 podcast series Njambi McGrath: Becoming Njambi. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones
Mon, September 27, 2021
Arthur C. Clarke Award winner, K-pop band BTS address the UN and new film, The Man Who Sold His Skin
Front Row announces this year’s winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction and Samira Ahmed interviews the winner. They are joined by Clarke Award judge Stewart Hotston to discuss the problem of diversity in the science fiction genre. K-pop group BTS opened the UN general debate last week with a speech and performance, which was streamed live by over a million people around the world. What’s the impact of a the biggest band in the world taking this political stage, and what does it say about the music industry? Wim Delvoye’s 2008 artwork, Tim, is an an all-over body tattoo inked on the torso of former Zurich tattoo parlour owner Tim Steiner. The skin of his back, with the tattoo will which join the collection of a German art lover after Steiner's death. This inspired Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's new film. The Man Who Sold His Skin tells the story of Sam, a Syrian man who agrees to have his back tattooed by one of the world’s most illustrious contemporary artists so he can to travel to Europe and reconnect with his past love, Abeer. Leila Latif joins Samira to review the film. Main image: BTS at BBC R1. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker
Fri, September 24, 2021
Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Megan Swann, Richard Smyth, The Story of Looking.
Megan Swann is the first ever female President of The Magic Circle, and the youngest ever President at just 28 years old. She tells Tom how she got into magic, and how she uses magic to share an environmental message. Richard Smyth is one of the five authors shortlisted for the £15,000, 16th BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. He tells us what his short story, ‘Maykopsky District, Adyghe Oblast’ and his 2008 appearance on Mastermind have in common. On what would have been her 90th birthday Front Row celebrates the work of the artist Dame Elizabeth Blackadder who died last month. Susan Mansfield, the writer and art critic for The Scotsman, examines one of her paintings - Cat and Flowers (1981) from the Fleming Collection Award winning film maker Mark Cousins’s new film The Story of Looking is a reflection by the film maker as he waits for an operation to restore his vision on the powerful role that the visual experience plays in our individual and collective lives. Playwright Mark Ravenhill and writer on film Sophie Monks Kaufman give their take on the film, and react to the news of the deaths of filmmakers Roger Michell and Melvin van Peebles. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, September 23, 2021
The Contains Strong Language Festival
On 6 October 1941 “The Coventry Telegraph” reported that women of Coventry had sent a message of support to the women of Stalingrad. And so began a relationship that became formalised by twin city status in 1844. Coventry now has 26 twin cities and those connections are celebrated in a new project, Twin Cities: Postcard Poems which paired ten poets from Coventry with poets from across the world. The resulting correspondence led to new poems being written and we hear from two of the poets involved: Emile Lauren Jones – the newly announced Coventry Poet Laureate - and David Morley. Boff Whalley came to public attention as part of the exuberant pop group – Chumbawumba. He joins Front Row to discuss the Belgrade Theatre’s new musical, Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency. It’s a show that he’s written the music for, and which is based on a true housing story that happened in London in the 1970s, Members of the cast of The Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency perform one of the songs in the musical - B.N.V.A. R The Twin Cities: Postcard poems have also been collected into a new book – To Coventry by Sun. Poet Jane Commane is the editor of the new collection and as well as the organiser of the Twin Cities: Postcard poems project. She talks to Nick about Coventry’s multi-twinned status and how correspondence from abroad can help us to see our homes afresh. The distinguished 19th century African-American actor, writer, and theatre manager, Ira Aldridge, makes an appearance in the world premiere of a new play, This Little Relic, set in present-day Coventry. The writer and actor Karla Marie Sweet, has written the play and discusses why she wanted to bring Ira Aldridge back to the future. Presented by Nick Ahad Studio Engineer: John Cole Produced by Ekene Akalawu
Wed, September 22, 2021
Spiers and Boden, music streaming economics, Calvin Kasulke, Danny Rhodes
There's some excitement in the world of English traditional music: Spiers and Boden have reunited, recorded a new album and are embarking on a month long tour. Squeezebox player John Spiers met fiddle player Jon Boden in a pub session twenty years ago and quickly established themselves as a duo playing English music, winning a devoted following and several awards. They formed the hugely successful 11-piece folk big band Bellowhead, but separated in 2014 and didn't play together again until this year. Spiers and Boden talk about their new album, Fallow Ground, explain how they find old tunes, and write new ones. And they play two tunes inspired by ancient English places. A DCMS Report has called for a “complete reset” of the music industry following an investigation into the economics of music streaming services. Reporter Melanie Abbott describes the impact that streaming and new forms of music distribution have had on the earnings of artists and why the Government have accepted the recommendation to refer major music groups to the Competition and Markets Authority. Although written before the pandemic and the rise of working from home culture, Calvin Kasulke’s novel, Several People are Typing is set entirely on the Slack chat of staff working at a small advertising agency. He joins us to discuss how our online versions of ourselves can interact with our physical lives, as well as the complexities of writing as an online bot. We talk to another of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2021. Danny Rhodes’s story ‘Toadstone’ tells the story of a man returning to the village of his childhood, and looking to his own future. Danny Rhodes is a novelist and a lecturer in creative writing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Tue, September 21, 2021
We announce the winner of the 2021 Art Fund Museum of the Year
We announce the winner of the 2021 Art Fund Museum of the Year, the world’s largest museum prize. Front Row broadcasts a special programme from London's Science Museum, reflecting on the resilience and imagination of museums throughout the pandemic. John Wilson will be joined by judges Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate; artist Thomas J Price, Lead of Strategic Projects at Google Suhair Khan and broadcaster Edith Bowman. As well as Director of Art Fund Jenny Waldman. We'll also be exploring the future of museums and galleries with Tilly Blyth from the Science Museum and Sandra Shakespeare from the British Black Museum project. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, September 20, 2021
Everybody's Talking about Jamie, Rory Gleeson, Grinling Gibbons Exhibition
Everybody’s Talking about Jamie is a feature film based on the stage musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the BBC Three documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. It centres on Jamie, a gay teenager from Sheffield who wants to attend his prom in drag. Ellen E Jones reviews. We talk to another of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2021. Rory Gleeson’s story is called The Body Audit and in it a group of teenagers carry out a revealing ritual, with surprising results. Rory Gleeson is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Woodcarver Hugh Wedderburn, discusses the genius of this art, Grinling Gibbons, whose tercentenary is celebrated in a new exhibition at Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Main image above: Limewood carvings by Grinling Gibbons Image credit: Abingdon Town Hall
Fri, September 17, 2021
Peter Brathwaite, Indecent play review, Small Bells Ring story barge, Lucy Caldwell
Visible Skin: Rediscovering the Renaissance through Black Portraiture is a new outdoor exhibition across King’s College London’s Strand Campus, showcasing artworks by opera singer Peter Brathwaite. He talks to Tom Sutcliffe about creating the portraits and images, as well as his role in the new opera The Time of Our Singing. Indecent, a play which has just opened at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, explores the origins of the highly controversial 1906 play The God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, and follows the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it. John Nathan reviews. One of the more unusual sights in Coventry City of Culture is a narrowboat that’s a brightly painted floating library of short stories. It’s also an artwork, Small Bells Ring, created by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison of Studio Morison. The boat, RV Furor Scribendi welcomes on board the people of Coventry, works with local libraries and hopes to attract those who might not ordinarily engage with books. Reporter Ushma Mistry of BBC CWR steps aboard. Last year the playwright and author Lucy Caldwell was a judge for the BBC National Short Story Award but this year she’s been shortlisted for the third time for her story All the People Were Mean and Bad. She talks to Front Row about the appeal of writing about a moment of intimacy on a journey, the power of storytelling for children – and whether people really are mean and bad. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, September 16, 2021
Peaceophobia, Help Review, Georgina Harding, Kurt Elling
If you go down to the Oastler Centre carpark in Bradford over the next few days, you’re sure of a big surprise because this derelict multi-storey is the venue for a new theatrical production - Peaceophobia - exploring the passions and the lives of three young Pakistani-heritage Muslim men from Bradford as they attend a car meet. Evie Manning is co-director of the show and joins Front Row to explain how Peaceophobia came about. Sam Delaney reviews Jack Thorne's new Channel 4 drama, Help, which is set in Liverpool care home during the pandemic. Georgina Harding is known as an acclaimed novelist for works including Painter of Silence which was shortlisted for what was then the Orange Prize (now Women’s Prize) for Fiction in 2012. She has just been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award for Night Train. It’s the account of a woman’s train journey across Ukraine, striking up conversation with a fellow passenger. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday at 15:30. She talks to Front Row about the story. In a career spanning thirty years Kurt Ellling has been nominated no less than ten times for a Grammy and won the Jazz Vocal Album award twice. His latest album Superblue was recorded under lockdown conditions with all the musicians playing in separate studios. Kurt explains how they managed to maintain the spontaneity under such conditions and how that will translate to playing live on his British dates. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker
Wed, September 15, 2021
Anuradha Roy, Propaganda ceramics, British Ceramics Biennial, a new Culture Secretary
Award-winning author Anuradha Roy crafts pots as well as prose. She joins us live from India to discuss the fusion of ceramics and storytelling, pottery and politics in her new novel, The Earthspinner, a coming of age story set between two continents. At a recent auction some 19th century pottery jugs, expected to fetch £100 or so, sold for £3,000 - £4,000. They were bought by major museums vying to add them to their collections. The jugs' selling point was that they were decorated with anti-slavery images or celebrations of abolition. Clare Durham, ceramics specialist at auctioneers Woolley & Wallis, who sold them, talks to Kirsty Lang about pottery propaganda and the increased interest in such pieces. The British Ceramics Biennial is the largest ceramics event in the UK. Its new artistic director, Clare Wood, joins Front Row to discuss the shortlist for the festival’s contemporary ceramics prize and to reflect on a new artwork that puts slavery on a plate. Nadine Dorries replaces Oliver Dowden as the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. BBC Arts Correspondent Vincent Dowd discusses the implications. Main image: A plate from Jacqueline Bishop's History at the Dinner Table exhibition. Image credit: Jenny Harper
Tue, September 14, 2021
Julian Clary, Antonio Pappano, Booker Prize shortlist
The role of Norman, the longsuffering, waspish eponymous dresser in Ronald Harwood's 1980 play, might have been written for Julian Clary. It's about a touring theatre company bringing Shakespeare to the provinces during the Blitz. As all the young actors are away fighting it's a motley crew, led by Sir, a monstrous yet pathetic veteran actor. Sir's mind and his world are crumbling. Only Norman can cajole him onto the stage. Now Julian Clary is playing Norman, in a touring theatre company, during a pandemic. He talks to Kirsty Lang about Norman, his relationship with Sir, and how, now we know more about dementia, this play, considered the best ever about theatre itself, is more pertinent than ever. This week, the Royal Opera House opened to a full capacity audience for the first time since March 2020, with Sir Antonio Pappano picking up the baton in the pit. He tells Kirsty how good it felt to be back, why it’s taken so long for him to conduct Verdi’s popular masterpiece, and why he’s jealous of his continental counterparts. And on the day that the Booker Prize shortlist is announced, we’re joined live in the studio by Horatia Harrod, member of the judging panel and an editor at The Financial Times Weekend, to discuss the six novels in the running for this year's £50,000 award. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones
Mon, September 13, 2021
Liane Moriarty, Matthew Bourne, Igor Levit
Liane Moriarty is the best-selling author of nine novels including, Big Little Lies, and Nine Perfect Strangers, both of which have been adapted for television. Her latest novel, Apples Never Fall, is a mystery wrapped up in a domestic drama which focuses on an Australian family shaped by their passion for tennis. Described as a pianist like no other, Igor Levit describes himself as a citizen and a European before a pianist. He has performed around the world, but when lockdown put a stop to that he took to live-streaming “House Concerts” from his apartment in Berlin. His new album ‘On DSCH’ features music by Shostakovich and Ronald Stevenson. He tells John Wilson why he chose music by those composers, and what he learnt from music in lockdown. Matthew Bourne joins us to discuss his new ballet The Midnight Bell, based on the work of the writer Patrick Hamilton Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn
Fri, September 10, 2021
BBC National Short Story Award Shortlist, tenor Stuart Skelton, Shang-Chi film review, Girl Bands now
Front Row announces the shortlist for the £15,000, 16th BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. Judge Fiona Mozley, author of Booker-shortlisted novel Elmet, joins us live to discuss the stories Australian tenor Stuart Skelton is a fan of a party. And what bigger party in classical music than the Last Night of the Proms?! Stuart will be taking centre stage and singing the traditional ‘Rule Britannia’ as well as a selection of opera arias. He tells John why he’s looking forward to the event, and the all-important outfit reveal. This month Marvel Studios released its first film with an Asian lead – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It’s an origin story that brings together martial arts, Chinese folklore and Hollywood CGI spectacle. Cultural critic Yuan Ren reviews. 25 years since the release of The Spice Girls debut album, more recently the departure of Jesy Nelson from Little Mix saying she found “the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard." And this week, the announcement of the death of Girls Aloud member, Sarah Harding. Dr Julia Downes, who edited Women Make Noise: Girl Bands from Motown to the Modern, shares her thoughts on the girl band. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Thu, September 09, 2021
Elijah Wood, the future of live streaming, Imriel Morgan
Elijah Wood tells Tom Sutcliffe about his new film No Man of God. Elijah Wood plays criminal profiler Bill Hagmaier in a story based on interview transcripts. Hagmaier is sent by the FBI to visit the serial killer Ted Bundy on death row. A fascinating, troubling relationship develops which becomes all the more intense when the date of Bundy's execution is announced. It's just a week away; Bundy agrees to talk, and he has much to confess. As lockdown and the pandemic brought concerts to a standstill, many musicians and comedians turned to online live streaming to perform, entertain and connect with audiences. According to YouTube, 78% of British people watched a live stream over the last 12 months. But now as live events return, and with concerns still over safety, have live streams proven they can coexist alongside in-person concerts as a way to feel part of an experience? Musician Paul Smith from Maximo Park and director and filmmaker Oscar Sansom discuss It’s often said that we’re living in a podcast ‘boom,’ with increased investment from technology giants and big name celebrity signings. But how diverse is the industry itself? The Equality in Audio Pact, launched in 2020, aims to tackle some of the systemic barriers to entry in radio and podcasting for people from under-represented backgrounds. Imriel Morgan is the Founder and CEO of podcast marketing agency Content is Queen- a signatory to the pact- and she’s also an award-winning host of the Wanna Be Podcast. She joins us to give her assessment of diversity and inclusion in the audio industry today.
Wed, September 08, 2021
The Chair reviewed, winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, Timespan shortlisted for Museum of the Year, Punchdrunk
The recent Netflix comedy drama, The Chair, centres on an English professor, played by Sandra Oh who has just been appointed the first female chair of the department and has big dreams about modernising it. Hanna Flint joins us to review We hear live from the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, announced this evening: Susanna Clarke for her novel Piranesi. This year’s chair of judges is Bernardine Evaristo Immersive theatre group Punchdrunk are well known for their imaginative use of unusual locations. They have just announced that they will be establishing a permanent location for future productions – could this mean they’re going mainstream and spell the end of their unorthodox experimentation? We speak with Felix Barratt, Artistic Director and Maxine Doyle, choreographer It’s time for Front Row’s fifth and final preview of the Art Fund Museum Of The Year nominees. The winner will receive £100,000 and the museums have been spread around the UK. Today’s venue is Timespan in the north eastern Scottish Highlands in Helmsdale, a village of just 800 people. We talk to Sadie Young, the only fulltime member of staff. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson Main image above: Sandra Oh in Netflix's The Chair series Image credit: Eliza Morse/Netflix 2021
Tue, September 07, 2021
Photographer/film-maker Shirin Neshat, author Yaa Gyasi, Michael K Williams tribute
Iranian-born artist, photographer and filmmaker Shirin Neshat talk to us about her latest work - a feature film entitled Land of Dreams which premiered at The Venice Film Festival last week -and her exhibition at Photo London of still images connected to New Mexico. The last of our Women’s Prize for Fiction-shortlisted authors, Yaa Gyasi, talks to Front Row ahead of the winner’s announcement tomorrow. Her novel Transcendent Kingdom considers big questions of science, belief and addiction in the story of a family. Professor Mark Anthony Neal marks the death of actor Michael K. Williams, best known for playing Omar in the US TV series The Wire. A report today finds that as temperatures rise, dragonflies are thriving here. Insects have long fascinated poets and we hear Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem capturing the beauty, and the life cycle, of the dragonfly - in just eight lines. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Mon, September 06, 2021
Cathy Brady, Mick Fleetwood, Jean Paul Belmondo
Guitarist Peter Green last performed with Fleetwood Mac, the band he help found, in 1970. Fellow founding-member Mick Fleetwood has honoured Green's legacy in an all-star concert that will be shown in cinemas, celebrating the band's early music. Mick Fleetwood talks to Samira about the early days of Fleetwood Mac, working with Peter, and dreams of a Fleetwood Mac reunion. Filmmaker Cathy Brady has already won international prizes for her short films. Now she’s made her debut feature film, Wildfire. An exploration of the relationship between two sisters in a Northern Ireland town as they try to come to terms with the aftermath of The Troubles they were too young to remember but which had a direct impact on their family. The death of French cinema star Jean Paul Belmondo was announced. He was 88. We speak with Agnes Poirier in Paris about his long career and about what made him such a star. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Nora-Jane Noone (Left) and Danika McGuigan in Cathy Brady's film Wildfire Image credit: Modern Films
Fri, September 03, 2021
Spencer at Venice Film Festival, Sally Rooney review, Mogwai, Redemption through reading, Cornish Ordinalia
Irish author Sally Rooney’s third novel 'Beautiful World, Where Are You' has just been released amid a fanfare of publicity and speculation. It follows the runaway success of the TV adaptation of her Booker longlisted second novel, Normal People, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. Essayist and critic Sinéad Gleeson and writer Zing Tsjeng, Executive Editor of Vice UK, join us to review. Film Critic Jason Solomons is Front Row’s correspondent at this year’s Venice International Film Festival. He reports on Spencer, the film portrayal of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as she comes to terms with the end of her marriage; Dune – the sci-fi story that has become a Mount Everest-sized challenge for experienced and novice film directors alike; and festival favourite Pedro Almòdovar’s latest creation Parallel Mothers. Scottish band Mogwai formed 25 years ago in Glasgow, and this year released their 10th album ‘As the love continues’. The album achieved their first number 1 and their first Mercury Prize nomination. Guitarist Stuart Braithwaite joins John to talk about the band's history, future, and how much the nomination means to them. In St Just this weekend performances will begin of the Cornish Ordinalia - a medieval three-play cycle - Origo Mundi (The Creation of the World), The Passion & The Resurrection. It’s a vibrant drama and also a key text in the history of the Cornish language. To coincide with the performances, for the first time in centuries the manuscripts of the Ordinalia are on display in Cornwall at Kresen Kernow, Cornwall’s archive centre. Matthew Rogers attended rehearsals, spoke to those involved and heard more about the text. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, September 02, 2021
Quentin Tarantino
When Quentin Tarantino’s debut novel, was published earlier this summer, he gave his only UK broadcast interview to Front Row. Now in a special edition of the programme, Kirsty Lang presents an extended version of that interview. For the subject of his new book, Tarantino turned to his last film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which looked at the Hollywood of the late 1960s, through the relationship between an actor, who fears his career is in decline, and his best friend, his stunt double. The result is a novelisation which harmonises with the story he told on the big screen. In this interview, Tarantino discusses his long career as a filmmaker and his plans for the future. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ekene Akalawu Studio Engineer: Sue Maillot
Wed, September 01, 2021
Covid pilot events, Ian Rankin, Janine Jansen, Neal Cooper
Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus crime novels, has recently completed a book left unfinished by the father of the ‘tartan noir’ genre William McIlvanney who died in 2015. Ian explains how he pieced together the fragments and notes left by McIlvanney and wrote his own sections of The Dark Remains, a prequel to McIlvanney’s Laidlaw series. He also reveals that the experience of working on the novel may mean a new lease of life for Rebus. With summer music festivals linked to spikes in Covid cases and new pilot data released from the Government’s Events Research Programme, social psychologist Professor John Drury from the University of Sussex explains the risks posed by large crowds and the policy and behaviour changes he believes are needed to ensure live events can continue safely. For the first time in history, 12 violins made by the finest violin maker of all time, Antonio Stradivari, have travelled across the world to feature in a ground-breaking new album with violin player Janine Jansen. She joins Samira Ahmed to discuss the end result, as well as the film she made to accompany it. Operatic tenor Neal Cooper talks about singing both the roles of Tristan and Melot at last night’s Prom performance of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde at the Royal Albert Hall, when Simon O’Neill who was cast as Tristan lost his voice after the second act. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: a crowd at a music festival
Tue, August 31, 2021
Hugh Quarshie and Steve Coogan, the Paraorchestra, Daisy Haggard
The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent police investigations threw up a lot of questions about institutional racism and corruption within the force. Another enquiry which began in 2006 was led by DCI Clive Driscoll, who decided to go right back to basics and investigate the crime anew. In a new three-part drama on ITV, Steve Coogan plays Driscoll and Hugh Quarshie plays Stephen’s father, Neville. We speak with them both about the murder, the trial, the enquiry and what a drama like this can add to our understanding of a tragedy. Conductor Charles Hazlewood created the Paraorchestra 10 years ago, and in their first year of public performances they already ticked off playing at the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony. It’s the world’s only large-scale ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians, which tackles the traditional and not-so-traditional. Charles Hazlewood and musician Tilly Chester explain the orchestra’s past and future, and why Paraorchestra is such an important ensemble in today’s musical world. The first series of dramedy Back To Life aired a couple of years ago, to wide spread acclaim. A new series has just begun on BBC3. Conceived, written by, and starring Daisy Haggard it tells of a woman who has just come out of jail after serving an 18 year sentence for murder. She returns to live in the town where the murder happened, trying to get on with her life: reestablishing relationships, suffering the derision of neighbours and avoiding confrontation. The new series launched last night and Daisy joins us to discuss writing a very dark comedy. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, August 30, 2021
Actor Liz Carr on Silent Witness and Hollywood
Liz Carr's role in Silent Witness was a groundbreaking step in the depiction of disability in primetime TV drama. The actor, comedian and broadcaster, who has used a wheelchair since childhood, looks back at her early years, her law degree, and how that led her to life of activism for disability rights. Liz spent six years playing Clarissa Mullery in the BBC drama series, and she discusses the work she has been offered since she left, with latest projects being a major new Jack Thorne TV drama about disability rights, a new stage version of Larry Kramer's classic 1980s AIDS play The Human Heart at the National Theatre, and her first Hollywood film, Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Presenter Elle Osili-Wood Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image: Liz Carr Image credit: Charlie Carter
Fri, August 27, 2021
Paula Hawkins, Nia DaCosta, Our Ladies film review, Paralympic dressage music
Paula Hawkins’s novel The Girl on the Train sold 23 million copies and was made into a film starring Emily Blunt. Now she has written A Slow Fire Burning, a who-and-why-dunnit about damaged people trying to move on with their lives, set along the Regent’s Canal in London. She talks to Front Row about starting with character, creating suspense, and how she reflects on the success of The Girl on the Train. Alan Warner’s 1998 novel, The Sopranos, won the Saltire Society’s Scottish Book of the Year Award when it came out. It has gone on to be adapted for the stage where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2017. Now it’s been adapted for the cinema with a new title – Our Ladies. Critic David Benedict assesses whether the film adaption will also be in the running for prize. And he also talks to Kirsty about whether theatre critics are being too kind to productions in a post-lockdown world. As defending British champion Natasha Baker wins a Silver medal in the Paralympic Dressage freestyle event in Tokyo today, composer Tom Hunt explains the art of creating original music for some of the world’s leading dressage freestyle riders with Natasha Baker and Singaporean rider Laurentia Tan. Nia Dacosta is only 31 but has already directed two blockbusters. Today she talks to Kirsty about her horror film, Candyman, a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, August 26, 2021
Underwater Museum in Cyprus, Poet Fred D'Aguiar, Helen Zaltzman on Answer Me This podcast
Jason deCaires Taylor has been working in underwater art for 15 years. Today, he joins us to discuss his new museum Musan, built in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Cyprus. The Answer Me This podcast began in 2007. Presenters Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann have been answering questions from listeners about anything and everything over the subsequent 400 episodes. And now they've decided to call it a day. We find out how podcasting has evolved over the years. Fred D'Aguiar's book Year of Plagues: A Memoir of 2020 chronicles the year when he was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, when Covid 19 affected the whole world and when institutional racism in the US led to the establishment of the Black Lives Matter movement. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn Image: Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor, at Musan, Ayia Napa, Cyprus Credit: @jasondecairestaylor / www.underwatersculpture.com
Wed, August 25, 2021
The Rolling Stones in conversation with John Wilson
Following the announcement of the death of the musician Charlie Watts, tonight’s Front Row is an archive edition featuring John Wilson in conversation with the band he was a member of - The Rolling Stones. The programme was recorded in 2012 to mark 50 years since the band’s first performance. In it, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood reflect on life in the Rolling Stones as they prepare to return to the stage.
Tue, August 24, 2021
Natalya Romaniw, John Tanner, Josh Azouz, Charlie Watts
Music journalist David Hepworth reflects on the life and drums of Rolling Stone Charlie Watts who has died aged 80. Natalya Romaniw is a soprano on her way to stardom. With numerous Madame Butterflies, Mimis and Tatyanas under her belt, Natalya was on the brink of international fame when the pandemic hit and took her momentum. Now she’s preparing to sing the eponymous Tosca in Puccini’s masterpiece, and she tells Tom how she’s preparing for one of opera’s most iconic roles and performing post-lockdown. We hear from another of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today John Tanner, Project Manager at Experience Barnsley talks about five exhibits in the museum that speak for the town Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia is a darkly comic play about just that. Two young couples in Tunis, one Jewish the other Muslim, find their long-standing friendship tested by the German invasion of their country opening up questions of race, religion and identity. Tom talks to the playwright Josh Azouz about his use of humour in such serious circumstances. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker
Mon, August 23, 2021
Kalena Bovell, Don Everly, Jack Thorne, Reza Mohammadi
American conductor Kalena Bovell makes her Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra this week. She tells Samira about her path into conducting, and why it’s so exciting to be performing music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor at the Royal Albert Hall. Following the death of singer Don Everly over the weekend, Bob Stanley joins us to reflect on the importance, sound and influence of the Everly Brothers. Award winning playwright and screen writer Jack Thorne has delivered this year’s McTaggart Lecture at The Edinburgh Television Festival. He argues that representation of disabled people on both sides of the camera are currently woefully inadequate and calls for more to be done to increase their presence, representation and visibility at all levels of TV. The fate for artists in Afghanistan at the moment is uncertain and may be dangerous. Poet Reza Mohammadi is the head of the Afghan Writers’ Union and he talks to us from Kabul about the fate he and others might face and what he intends to do to protect their artistic freedom . Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Kalena Bovell Image credit: R.R. Jones
Fri, August 20, 2021
Nicolas Cage film Pig, Singer-songwriter Moses Sumney, The White Lotus, Sisters
Michael Sarnoski is the director and co-writer of Pig, starring Nicolas Cage and a pig that is brilliant at finding truffles – until it’s stolen. Cage’s trip to the culinary hot spots of the big city to find his pig reveals more about his past and explores ideas of grief, redemption, and what to value in life. The director joins Front Row to talk about casting Cage – and casting the right pig. The singer-songwriter Moses Sumney has an extraordinary and distinctive voice and his songs challenge traditional ideas about love or identity. At the BBC Proms tomorrow night he’ll be performing songs from his albums Aromanticism and græ in new arrangements with Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He talks to Front Row about his voice, words and music. Mike White’s new HBO / Sky Atlantic television comedy drama series The White Lotus is a look at how the other half lives as it follows a group of hotel guests holidaying in a luxurious Hawaiian paradise, starring Jennifer Coolidge, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton and Natasha Rothwell. In a world which is more deeply divided between the haves and the have nots than ever, how successful is The White Lotus as a satire of inequality? Critic Leila Latif reviews. Inspired by the story of the Zohra orchestra – Afghanistan’s only all-female orchestra – British musician Dan Blackwell composed a new work for them. He got himself to Kabul, to record the musicians playing the piece. The results can be seen in a new documentary, Sisters, that premieres this week at the Chichester International Film Festival. Dan joins Front Row to discuss the making of his film. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris Producer: Julian May
Thu, August 19, 2021
Cinderella, Sean Shibe, Censor, Firstsite
At last, Cinderella has made it to the ball. After postponement, rearrangement, and postponement again because of, first the lockdown, then social distancing requirements, Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical, Cinderella, opened last night. Emerald Fennell takes a radical approach to the fairytale: in her version Prince Charming is missing, presumed dead; the beauty industry is satirised and the banality of surface allure exposed. Still, there is pazzazz aplenty: big numbers, big frocks and big hair; a leather-clad chorus of dancing hunks; some close-hauled corsetry. What does it add up to? Has it been worth the wait? John Wilson was there, as was critic Sarah Crompton, and they discuss the show and Sarah gives her verdict on the most important live showbiz event of the year. Award-winning guitarist Sean Shibe has recorded a new album of music that has comforted him over the Pandemic, and puts his own spin on Spanish music that is so often associated with the classical guitar. He explains what he put this selection of music together, and performs Satie live in the studio. Prano Bailey-Bond's debut film 'Censor' had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It references and celebrates 'video-nasties' from the 1980s. She explains where the idea came from and why the time period was one she wanted to explore. We discover more about another finalist for The £100,000 Art Fund MOTY 2021 award. Firstsite in Colchester reached out to help the local community during Covid and created a whole new audience for what it has to offer. We speak with director Sally Shaw. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Wed, August 18, 2021
Live from The Edinburgh Festival, including film-maker Isaac Julien
This year's Edinburgh Festival is a smaller affair than normal but it's packed full of delicious cultural goodness. We speak with film director Isaac Julien about Lessons of The Hour- a 10-screen film about the former slave and emancipationist Frederick Douglass who visited Edinburgh many times. Just These Please is a four-piece comedy group who have had more than 6m views on YouTube for their sketches and whose Edinburgh Fringe show has sold out. Poet and playwright Hannah Lavery has many works at the festival - Lament for Sheku Bayoh is a play about a young black Scottish man who died in police custody in 2015. She has also co-written Eavesdropping, a guided audio walk around Edinburgh. Siobhan Miller won her first singing prize at the age of 13 and is the only three-times winner of Scots Singer of the Year. She's playing a gig at the festival with her band and has a new album All Is Not Forgotten, and she plays live for us at The BBC site in Infirmary Street, Edinburgh. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones
Tue, August 17, 2021
Live from the Edinburgh Festival with Henning Wehn, Frances Poet, Fara and Arusa Qureshi
The Edinburgh Festival is a much more pared-down event this year because of Covid, but despite this there is still plenty on offer. Comedian Henning Wehn is filling the Edinburgh Corn Exchange and he'll be discussing the challenge of preparing for a festival with all live comedy events cancelled for so many months. Playwright Frances Poet discusses the world premiere of her unsettling play Still at the Traverse Theatre. Edinburgh-based writer Arusa Qureshi will being us her observations of how the festival city is different this year. And the Orkney four-piece folk band will be performing live from the BBC's outdoor stage. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald
Mon, August 16, 2021
Music in Afghanistan, The Song Project, Manchester Collective
Dr Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music tells John Wilson of his fears and hopes for music-making as his country falls under the control of the Taliban. Some things can only be expressed in song. That’s the idea behind The Song Project at the Royal Court Theatre where five of our foremost female playwrights - E.V. Crowe, Sabrina Mahfouz, Somalia Nonyé Seaton, Stef Smith and Debris Stevenson - collaborate with composer Isobel Waller-Bridge, choreographer Imogen Knight, designer Chloe Lamford and the Dutch singer Wende, who will be performing the songs. These explore the hopes and anxieties women face, diving into the messiness of birth, death, rage, grace, friendship, motherhood, mothers, loss and ageing. So, the whole of life and its end, then. Chloe Lamford and Wende talk to John Wilson about the project and Wende, accompanied by Nils Davidse sings, live, one of the songs. The Manchester Collective are making their debut at the Proms tomorrow. Founder Adam Szabo explains the ethos behind the group, why music genre shouldn’t get in the way of programming, and bringing little-known composers to light. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Production Co-ordinator: Hilary Buchanan
Fri, August 13, 2021
Vikingur Olafsson, Power in publishing, Thackray Museum of Medicine.
Last year, Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson was Front Row's artist-in-residence from Reykjavik. Finally this week, he's able to join John Wilson in the studio, where he talks playing at the Proms and how great it is to be back performing in front of live audiences. He shares stories from his new Mozart album (including a childhood tantrum against the child prodigy), and plays Mozart and Cimarosa live in the studio. A storm has blown up over poet Kate Clanchy’s recent reaction to a review on GoodReads of her book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me. The reviewer pointed out racist and ableist tropes in the book. Clanchy has now apologised for getting things wrong but initially accused the reviewer of lies. John is joined by Amy Baxter, founder of Bad Form, which describes itself as ‘a literary review celebrating black, Asian and racialised community writers’. Amy also works as an Editorial Assistant at publishers Hachette, and with her is the poet Anthony Anaxagorou. They consider what the story reveals about the publishing industry and the critical voice. Who is employed and who is listened to, and what lessons can be learned? We hear from the second of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today we hear from Nat Edwards at The Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds. Main image: John Wilson and Vikingur Olafsson Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Thu, August 12, 2021
The Courier, Deceit, 2.22 A Ghost Story review
In 1962 the USA and USSR engaged in one of the most terrifying acts of brinksmanship the world has seen. But few people know of the role played by an ordinary British businessman in bringing the Cuban Missile Crisis to an end. New film The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, tells the true story of Greville Wynne, recruited by MI6 to penetrate the Soviet nuclear programme. Director Dominic Cooke talks to Tom about creating this Cold War spy thriller. Deceit is a new four-part drama on Channel 4 documenting the investigation launched by the police in the wake of the Rachel Nickell murder on Wimbledon Common in 1992. It stars Niamh Algar as an undercover officer who tried to reel in the man the police believed was guilty, Colin Stagg. The writer and creator, Emilia di Girolamo, joins Front Row to talk about sexism, classism and how access to hours of original interview recordings helped her craft the script. Lily Allen is making her West End debut in 2.22 A Ghost Story, in which she plays Jenny, a mother convinced a ghost is haunting her baby daughter’s room. But her cocky husband, Sam, is resolute in his refusal to believe her. An old friend of Sam’s and her far less dismissive boyfriend come to dinner. They drink – encountering a lot of spirits there - and debate, until 2.22 in the morning, the hour when, Jenny says, the ghost walks. The play is by Danny Robins, creator of the hit podcast The Battersea Poltergeist. Susannah Clapp, reviews the show and she and Tom Sutcliffe discuss the way ghosts are manifest in plays. And actress Una Stubbs has died aged 84. Matthew Sweet pays tribute to a career which spanned six decades from Rita in Til Death Do Us Part to Mrs Hudson in Sherlock Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn
Wed, August 11, 2021
Celebrating Stravinsky
Russian composer Igor Stravinsky died 50 years ago this year. Yet his influence is still felt today, whether it's the pounding rhythms of The Rite of Spring or the musical borrowings of The Rake's Progress. Radio 3's Kate Molleson explains how Stravinsky changed the musical landscape, and just why we should be celebrating a composer born nearly 140 years ago. Aurora Orchestra are preparing for their appearance at this year's BBC Proms. And the preparations involve memorising The Firebird, to play on stage without sheet music. Conductor Nicholas Collon and bassoonist Amy Harman discuss what memorising adds to the performance, and whether learning Stravinsky has any extra challenges. Dancer Francesca Velicu earned an Olivier Award for dancing the role of the Chosen One in Pina Bausch's version of The Rite of Spring at English National Ballet. How does it feel to dance to the death? Conductor Sir Simon Rattle has had a lifelong love affair with Igor Stravinsky. He tells John Wilson how he got hooked at an early age, and recommends a playlist for Stravinsky beginners. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sofie Vilcins Main image: Igor Stravinsky at the BBC in 1965.
Tue, August 10, 2021
Paradise, John Boyne, Stuart Semple
Paradise opens at the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre tomorrow. It's a new version of a play that had its premiere, and was acclaimed, in 409BC - Philoctetes by Sophocles. Just before the final preview begins, writer Kae Tempest tells Kirsty Lang why this ancient story of a wounded soldier, in constant pain, abandoned on an island, grips them today. John Boyne’s new novel is a humorous and scathing takedown of the world of social media through the lens of a particularly grotesque family. He talks to Kirsty about how the Twitter backlash to one of his previous books inspired The Echo Chamber, and his new-found love of writing in a comic style. GIANT, the largest artist led-space in the UK has opened in Bournemouth. Its director Stuart Semple joins us to discuss the inaugural exhibition, Big Medicine, and his hopes for the future of art in his hometown. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, August 09, 2021
Phil Wang, Shape Open exhibiton, All Bound Together, Lost manuscripts of Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Phil Wang joins us to discuss his stand up show, Philly Philly Wang Wang that he filmed at the London Palladium over the pandemic. Exploring race, romance, politics, and his mixed British-Malaysian heritage, he talks about his addiction to making people laugh, as well as explaining why he doesn't fear getting cancelled. Shape Open have created an online exhibition featuring the work of 24 disabled and nondisabled artists working across Europe and North America, and has disability as its theme, and particularly the experience of the individuals during lockdown. One of the artists, Abi Palmer, discusses the exhibition All Bound Together and the work she's made for it. Nearly 20,000 pages of lost manuscripts by French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline have emerged, causing controversy - and a lawsuit. Céline was one of France’s most important 20th century literary figures. He was also a virulent anti-Semite, described by Le Monde as “one of the Nazis’ most famous French friends”. The whereabouts and provenance of the papers, combined with Céline’s reputation, are creating a storm in the French literary world, six decades after his death. Damian Catani’s biography of Céline is about to be published and he talks to Samira Ahmed about the significance of the manuscripts and the qualities of the writing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Production Co-ordinator Fiona Anderson Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon Producer: Julian May
Fri, August 06, 2021
Sir Tom Stoppard, Ryan Bancroft, Museum of The Year, Nick Laird
Sir Tom Stoppard's Olivier Award-winning play Leopoldstadt closed because of Covid in March 2020. Tomorrow it returns to the same stage and the same cast will tell again the story a Jewish family, in Vienna in the first half of the 20 century. They fled the pogroms in the East and later suffered terribly under Nazi rule. The plot has parallels with Stoppard's own family - all four of Stoppard's grandparents perished in concentration camps. He talks about returning to the theatre, if he has revised the play in the interregnum, and if he is tempted to revisit his earlier plays. We hear from the first of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today we hear from Catherine Hemelryk from the Centre of Contemporary Art in Derry-Londonderry. Ryan Bancroft has just finished his first year as the Principal Conductor for BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and this week he makes two appearances at the BBC Proms. He tells us how he became a conductor, his excitement for music by Welsh composers and his favourite aspects of American music. Novelist Nick Laird talks to us about writing grief as he creates an elegy for his father Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Thu, August 05, 2021
Sarah, Duchess of York on her new novel, Max Richter
Sarah, Duchess of York, talks to Nick Ahad about her debut Mills and Boon novel, Her Heart for a Compass, based on the life of her ancestor, Lady Margaret. She talks about the parallels between her own life and her heroine’s, including finding freedom in America. She discusses the impact of newspaper headlines on her mental health, her plans to make a feature film about Prince Albert's mother Louise, and what she makes of TV series The Crown. Composer Max Richter’s new album ‘Exiles’ is a combination of new works, new recordings and new orchestrations of some of his most popular pieces. He talks to Nick about what writing for an orchestra can add, and how he uses his music as activism.
Wed, August 04, 2021
Repairing Beirut's museum artefacts, Vivo, DCMS performer Visas
On the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, we talk to representatives from both The British Museum and The Archaeological Museum at the American University of Beirut, who are working together to restore eight ancient glass vessels which were severely damaged. We review Vivo, a new full length cartoon film on Netflix featuring compositions by and the voice of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Does it reach Hamiltonian levels of greatness or is it a less spectacular creation? The DCMS has announced that UK musicians and performers do not need visas or work permits for short-term tours in 19 EU countries. What does this mean for touring performers? Is it all good news and what about those EU member states that haven’t agreed? Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Tue, August 03, 2021
Elif Shafak, Jonathon Heyward, Stillwater review
Booker Prize shortlisted Turkish writer Elif Shafak has a new novel: The Island Of Missing Trees. Set in Cyprus it follows lovers who risk everything in a divided island. And one of the narrators is a fig tree. Shafak explains about melding passionate ecological and political information and messages. Jonathon Heyward makes his Proms debut this week conducting the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He tells Samira why he loves working with youth orchestras, isn't so keen on being labelled a ‘young conductor’, and how much he’s looking forward to getting on to the podium at the Royal Albert Hall. In Stillwater, the new film starring Matt Damon, he plays Bill Baker, an Oklahoma oil rig worker determined to secure the release of his daughter Allison, in prison in Marseille for the murder of her flatmate and lover, Lina. Frustrated by legal, language and cultural barriers his own conduct strays beyond the legal. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film which is controversial because of the parallels of its plot with the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, for which Amanda Knox was convicted and eventually acquitted. Knox has denounced the film. Presenter:Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris
Mon, August 02, 2021
Kathleen Marshall and Sutton Foster, Tim Renkow, Scarlett Johansson suing Disney.
Yesterday the audience was on its feet – more than once - to applaud the cast, the band and the design of Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre in London. On Front Row today Samira Ahmed talks to Kathleen Marshall, the director and choreographer about the appeal of the show today, and to Sutton Foster, the American star making her UK debut as Reno Sweeney, who gets to sing some of Cole Porter’s greatest songs including I Get a Kick Out of You which she has recorded especially for Front Row. Co-written by Tim Renkow and Shaun Pye, the BBC Three black-comedy series Jerk revolves around the character Tim who uses the fact that he has cerebral palsy to try and get away with anything. Tim Renkow joins us to discuss the new second series and representation of disability in television. It was announced at the end of last week that Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for breach of contract over the Marvel film Black Widow, with its scaled-back cinema release. Rebecca Rubin from Variety in New York considers the case and whether there might be further fallout as streaming is now such a significant income-generator for the major studios. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald
Fri, July 30, 2021
Billie Eilish reviewed, Sir James MacMillan on the First Night of the Proms, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Edinburgh Art Festival
Ben Okri's new play Changing Destiny is an adaptation of one of the world's oldest known stories, the ancient Egyptian Tale of Sinuhe. Tonight marks not only its opening night at London's Young Vic theatre, but the first time the venue has opened its doors since last year. Artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, who directs the play, talks to Tom live from the Young Vic just a few minutes before the curtain goes up. This evening, Sir James MacMillan has a new piece being premiered at the First Night of the Proms, alongside Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music. He tells Tom why it will be such a special occasion, and the pressure of writing a piece to accompany a masterwork. "Paint me, Joan," the children of the tenements of Townhead in Glasgow used to say to Joan Eardley. And she did. The people of Townhead and scenes of the fishing village of Catterline in northeast Scotland became the focus of her art. This is celebrated in her centenary year with two exhibitions in Edinburgh, where the Art Festival opened yesterday. Glasgow-based artist Hannah Tuulikki and Adam Benmakhlouf, art editor of The Skinny magazine, review the Joan Eardley shows, as well as Tak' Tent O' Time Ere Time Be Tint, a new installation and film by Sean Lynch, responding to the statues and public monuments of Edinburgh. Laura Snapes joins us to review Billie Eilish's eagerly awaited new album Happier Than Ever. And as ITV announces it has axed The X Factor, she discusses its legacy and why Simon Cowell is now choosing to distance himself from the programme.
Thu, July 29, 2021
Derby: 300 Years of Making
Geeta Pendse visits the new Museum of Making in Derby - an £18 million redevelopment that celebrates the city's 300-year industrial heritage. Jamie Thrasivoulou, Derby County Football Club's Poet-In-Residence, shares what it's like to perform a poem to a stadium of roaring football fans. The writer Mahsuda Snaith discusses her flash fiction written in response to Kedleston Hall as part of the National Trust's Colonial Countryside project. BBC Derby's Martin Williams learns how to create a Map of Curiousity at the Museum of Making. Presenter: Geeta Pendse Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, July 28, 2021
Tokyo: Art & Photography, Brett Goldstein and Nick Mohammed, Wellcome Photography Prize
Tokyo: Art & Photography at The Ashmolean in Oxford is a celebration of the city currently hosting the Olympics. The exhibition’s curator Lena Fritsch discusses the show which spans the arts of the Edo period (1603-1868) when the country was officially closed to the outside world, to today, and considers the sprawling metropolis’s appetite for the new and innovative. Comedy series Ted Lasso revolves around the eponymous American football coach who, fish-out-of-water, comes to London to coach a fictional football team. Its uncynical, warm-and-fuzzy feel has resounded with audiences, and writer Brett Goldstein, who stars as footballer Roy Kent, and co-star Nick Mohammed (kit-man Nathan) join Tom to discuss the show’s slow burn with audiences, the meaning of football, and how to avoid mawkishness in a show which makes a feature of “niceness”. Returning for its third year, the Wellcome Photography Prize tells provocative visual stories about the health challenges of our time, combatting taboos, bringing complex medical issues to life and showing how health affects society. Jameisha Prescod, the 2021 winner of the £10,000 single image prize, joins Tom to discuss her work. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Tue, July 27, 2021
David Lan on The Walk, The 2021 Booker Prize longlist, David Livingstone birthplace re-opening
As a 3.5 metre tall puppet called Little Amal begins an 8,000km journey from Turkey to Manchester to highlight the difficulties faced by refugee children, Samira talks to theatre director and producer David Lan live from Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border about ambitious artistic project The Walk. The longlist for the 2021 Booker Prize has been announced and we discuss the 13 chosen novels with Sameer Rahim from Prospect Magazine and Claire Armitstead from The Guardian. Are these the right titles? And who might be the eventual winner of the £50,000 prize? Tomorrow the David Livingstone Birthplace re-opens following a £9.1m regeneration plan. The museum has not been simply refurbished, the story it tells of the famous explorer, the first European to see the Victoria Falls, has been revised. Zimbabwean novelist Petina Gappah, who spent years researching and writing about Livingstone, tells Samira Ahmed how she has given voice to those who worked with him and whom he met on his expeditions. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, July 26, 2021
Morris Hayes on posthumous Prince album, reopenings in Northern Ireland, actor Amir El-Masry on new film Limbo
Five years after Prince's death, the musician's music director of over 20 years, Morris Hayes, discusses Prince's posthumous new album Welcome 2 America. Recorded in 2010 and archived in the singer's legendary vault of unreleased material, it is released this week. Freya McClements, Northern Correspondent with The Irish Times, joins John to discuss the decision from the Northern Ireland Executive to reopen the nation's theatres and concert halls. Ben Sharrock's new film Limbo follows a group of men as they await the results of their asylum claims on a remote Scottish island. The film earned two BAFTA nominations and eight nominations at the British Independent Film Awards, including one for lead actor Amir El-Masry. Amir talks to John about playing Syrian musician Omar in the film, as well as being inspired to act by Omar Sharif, and his work to improve representation of Arab and Muslim people on screens. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones
Fri, July 23, 2021
April De Angelis, Tokyo Olympics, Jordan Tannahill, Neil Mendoza
Playwright April De Angelis joins Tom to talk about her new musical Gin Craze! Described as 'a booze soaked love ballad from the women of Gin Lane.' The Tokyo Olympics 2020 Opening Ceremony took place earlier today, a year later than planned, in the wake of a number of controversies, not least the sacking of the Artistic Director the day before the event. For our Friday Review, Japan specialists Sakiko Nishihara and Christopher Harding give their views on the background to the ceremony and the event itself. Novelist Jordan Tannahill tells ue about his new novel exploring the fine lines between faith, conspiracy and mania in contemporary America, The Listeners. While lying in bed next to her husband one night, Claire Devon hears a low hum that he cannot. And, it seems, no one else can either. This innocuous noise begins causing Claire headaches, nosebleeds and insomnia, gradually upsetting the balance of her life. And a new report, Boundless Creativity, is intended as a roadmap for cultural and creative recovery, renewal and growth after the pandemic. What lessons have been learnt about how the arts can reach audiences both online and off? What do the arts need to bounce back? We talk to Lord Neil Mendoza, Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal about this collaboration between the DCMS and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerme Weatherald Main image: Gin Craze! at the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton Image credit: Ellie Kurttz
Thu, July 22, 2021
McKellen's Hamlet reviewed, Mercury Prize nominees, Alex Von Tunzelmann on statues
Susannah Clapp, theatre critic of The Observer reviews the new age-blind production of Hamlet starring Ian McKellen, which officially opened up at the Theatre Royal Windsor last night, 50 years since the 82-year-old actor first played the part. The Mercury Prize nominees were announced today. Laura Snapes gives us her thoughts on the list, what it tells us about music over the past year, and makes her prediction for who will win. The historian and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann has turned her attention to the deeply contested subject of statues. She joins Samira to discuss her new book, Fallen Idols, which shows that the erection and toppling of statues has been a perennial hot topic across the world.
Thu, July 22, 2021
Jon Batiste, Museum of the Year shortlist, The Humboldt
American musician Jon Batiste has many strings to his bow – he’s an activist, recording artist, band leader for a daily TV late night chat show, a singer, pianist and an Oscar-winning film composer. Batiste discusses his new album, We Are, as well as his Broadway musical about Jean-Michel Basquiat, and An American Symphony being performed at Carnegie Hall next year. Art critic Louisa Buck assesses this year's Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 shortlist which was announced today. Despite being closed for most of the year, five galleries and museums across the UK have been rewarded as contenders for the prestigious £100,000 award, the world's largest museum prize. Yesterday in Berlin saw the opening of The Humboldt Forum, the largest cultural development in Europe and the most ambitious in Germany this century. It has cost 700m Euros, covers 44,000 square metres, and even before the foundation stone was laid in 2013, it’s been mired in controversy. We speak with Rüdiger Schaper, Head of Culture for Tagesspiegel newspaper about its significance for Germany. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Oliver Jones Main image: Jon Batiste Image credit: Louis Brown/UMG
Tue, July 20, 2021
Ivorian director Philippe Lacôte on his film Night of the Kings, Best Pick podcast, Tirtzah Bassel Canon in Drag
Ivorian director Philippe Lacôte talks about his film Night of the Kings, set in a notorious Abidjan prison run by the inmates, in which he explores the West African tradition of the griot or storyteller. Every year the Best Film Oscar is hotly contested and often the source of much debate and consternation. We speak to two podcasters from “Best Pick” which is aimed squarely at movie lovers and has reviewed and assessed every Best Film winner from the very first in 1929 to the most recent -Parasite. What have they learned on the course of their mammoth undertaking? The artist Tirtzah Bassel wants to reimagine art history. She talks to Kirsty about her painting project – Canon in Drag - which recasts and repurposes famous artworks by swapping male figures with female figures, and makes childbirth a subject worthy of the artist’s eye. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Harry Parker
Mon, July 19, 2021
Debbie Harry on a new Blondie album, 'Reclaiming Amy', Reassessing Amy Winehouse's musical legacy
Chart-topping New York post-punk group Blondie have more than 40 years of chart success under their belts and in 2019 they decided to travel to play some concerts in Havana Cuba. We speak with singer Debbie Harry about the warmth of the reception they received, about integrating local styles and musicians in their set and much more. A new EP is about to be released which shows the fruits of their labour. This Friday marks 10 years since Amy Winehouse died. In a new film 'Reclaiming Amy' to be shown on BBC Two, director Marina Parker spoke to her friends and her mum Janis to get their side of her story, and how Amy's life and death affected them. She explains to John about working with them and showing the world a different side of the singer. Natalie Williams and Troy Miller both worked with Amy Winehouse. They delve into her musicianship and reassess her legacy as a singer, jazz musician and song writer.
Fri, July 16, 2021
Quentin Tarantino, YA Fiction, Report from Cannes, The Vegetable Seller
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is a Hollywood veteran and it was the ending of Hollywood’s golden age that was the subject of his last film – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He’s now returned to the story of that film for his debut novel. In his only UK broadcast interview, he explains why he wanted to create a novelisation of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s 25 years since Melvin Burgess wrote Junk, a story about heroin addiction. It was an early title in what’s become known as YA and showed the fearlessness to take on challenging topics that has become typical of the genre. His book, Three Bullets, is out this week: it imagines a Britain somewhat like our own but that has been torn apart by war and extreme ideology. It has a mixed-race Trans girl, Marti, as its first person narrator. Melvin Burgess talks about his new book and YA more generally, alongside Sarah Ditum, as part of our series this week looking at the publishing industry. Has fearfulness taken over or is caution a necessary corrective? What stories can be told and by whom? As some voices have been un- or mis-represented in YA fiction, what is the best way ahead for the genre? Our man on the Croissette, film critic Jason Solomons, gives the last of his Cannes reports and discusses the films competing for the film festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. The painting of a smiling woman selling vegetables had languished for years in a cupboard at Audley End, the grand 17th-century house in Essex. When conservator Alice Tate-Harte began a much needed clean-up she was surprised to discover it was two centuries older than was thought and that the smile was a later addition. Alice tells Kirsty Lang why she wiped the smile off the woman's face, and, also what the array of enticing vegetables tell us.
Thu, July 15, 2021
Anna Meredith on Bumps Per Minute, British Podcast Awards, Generational Differences in Publishing
This summer Somerset House in London will be home to a new work by composer Anna Meredith, Bumps Per Minute, which has a distinctly fairground feel. It uses the random interactions of dodgem cars to create a new piece of music. And members of the public are invited to take part in the composition as dodgem drivers. Anna Meredith talks about what inspired her to create a work which mixes fun, frivolity and musical experimentation. The British Podcast Awards have been created to highlight the best podcasts of the year in the UK. Laura Grimshaw, presenter of Podcast Radio Hour on Radio 4 Extra, takes a look at a selection of this year’s 29 winners – from 1600 entries - which includes two new categories; best documentary and best lockdown podcast. We continue our exploration of debates within the publishing industry. Tonight we consider different generational attitudes around ideas of censorship, the moral role of publishing houses and the responsibilities of individual employees when it comes to which works get published. In rows over authors from Mike Pence to Woody Allen many younger publishers have signalled reluctance to work on books they deem hateful and literary agent Clare Alexander described what she saw as a “watershed moment" at a recently parliamentary hearing about freedom of expression. We talk to Tanu Shelar, Chair of the Society of Young Publishers and Caroline Wintersgill, Programme Director of University College London’s MA in publishing. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, July 14, 2021
Documentary Witches of the Orient, Antonia Fraser's verse and who should be writing book reviews?
A new documentary Witches Of The Orient' looks back at the last time that Tokyo acted as host. Volleyball made its debut in The 1964 Summer Olympics. And the success of the home team in women’s volleyball became one of the most watched domestic TV events ever. French film director Julien Faraut discovered this now-largely-forgotten event and was captivated by it. The historical biographer Lady Antonia Fraser reveals an unknown aspect of her writing life as four of her poems are set to music by Stephen Hough. Two were written in and about lock-down, one wittily recalls a whirlwind American book tour book and the last is a tender memory of Harold Pinter. Just after their premiere today she told Elle Osili-Wood about them and her lifelong habit of writing verse. We continue this week’s series around debates in the book world. Tonight: reviews. Is the traditional media giving readers what they want? Does getting your book reviewed in the broadsheets matter any more? And how might the way books are reviewed be done differently, from broadening the pool of reviewers to shifting the aesthetic hurdles required to assess writing of quality? Elle is joined by Professor Sandeep Parmar, founder of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Scheme, a national programme to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing culture aimed at new critical voices along with Michael Caines, Assistant Editor at the Times Literary Supplement and founder of the Brixton Review of Books. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Main image: a still from the Witches of the Orient documentary film. Image credit: Courtesy of Modern Films
Tue, July 13, 2021
Nowhere Special, Art and ecology with George Monbiot and Ruth Maclennan, "Mid-list" novelist Chris Paling
Uberto Pasolini made his name in the film industry as a producer with the international success of his film - The Full Monty. He’s continued to produce but in recent years he’s also turned his hand to writing and directing. As the third film that he’s helmed in this way, Nowhere Special, is released in cinemas, he talks to Samira about why he felt the true story of a father with a terminal illness looking for a new family for his four year old, was the foundation for a film he wanted to create himself. From Chaucer, heralding spring in his Canterbury Tales, to Hockney's digital landscapes artists have always celebrated the rich variety of Britain's flora and fauna. Art about nature is crucial to our culture. But last month the House of Commons Environment Audit Committee reported that 'of the G7 countries, the UK has the lowest level of biodiversity remaining.' Front Row investigates this anomaly with George Monbiot, who tomorrow will be streaming Rivercide, a live documentary about the terrible state of our rivers, and artist Ruth Maclennan, whose project Treeline explores the point where forests begin, end and what this reveals. What, they discuss, is the role of art in the environmental crisis? We're exploring issues in contemporary publishing each night this week on Front Row. Yesterday we talked about the gender split in who is getting published now. Tonight Chris Paling talks about his new book A Very Nice Rejection Letter, which tracks the trials and tribulations of the mid-list novelist from selling screenplays to writing alongside the day job. He tells Samira about the realities of life as a writer and we consider the question: can writers actually make a living today? Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, July 12, 2021
Marcus Rashford mural, Ian McMillan, gender split in publishing
The mural of footballer Marcus Rashford which was defaced with racist graffiti after England lost the Euro 2020 final last night was part of Withington Walls, a community street art project in the suburbs of southern Manchester. Its head, Ed Wellard, discusses the art work, the British-based Vietnamese street artist Akse who created it, and the role art can play in the community. Late last week Front Row asked Ian McMillan, poet in residence at Barnsley FC, to write a poem in response to the European Cup Final. He talks to John Wilson about his approach to this tricky commission this evening, and reads his poem, 'This Sporting Life'. We start a new series today exploring current debates within book publishing, beginning with a look at the gender split in current literary tastes. Is it harder for young male writers to get published, win prizes and make a splash now? And if so, after millennia of male dominance, does it matter? John talks to Nesrine Malik who is judging the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year, and novelist and publisher Luke Brown. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Fri, July 09, 2021
Llangollen bridge wrapped in patchwork for its Eisteddfod, Cannes Film Festival, Zaida Bergroth on film Tove
Film critic Jason Solomons brings a touch of glamour to tonight’s proceedings with his report from this year’s Cannes Film festival which opened this week. Tove Jansson was the Finnish creator of the Moomins, stories much loved by children (and adults) the world over. A new film, Tove, tells the story of her extraordinary life in post-war Helsinki, the ambivalence she felt towards the success of the Moomins, and how her ideas about freedom were challenged when she fell in love with theatre director Vivica Bandler. The film's director, Zaida Bergroth, talks about the choices she made in telling the story of this iconic author and artist. Welsh culture that is ancient, and modern: Catrin Finch, commissioned by the Llangollen Eisteddfod, plays the harp and is working with a choir - but not just male voices, a choir of singing refugees and asylum seekers. A beat boxer is involved, too. Meanwhile the artist Luke Jerram has turned to another Welsh tradition, throwing a huge, beautiful patchwork quilt over the town bridge. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Harry Parker
Thu, July 08, 2021
Laura Mvula, Michael Spicer, Anthony Bolton
Laura Mvula’s first two albums were Mercury-Prize nominated, and now 5 years later she has returned with ‘Pink Noise’, an 80’s-inpsired-synth-inflected album full that’s perfect for dancing to. She explains the inspiration behind the music, and how this is the album she always wanted to make. Since he posted his first Room Next Door video in 2019, comedian Michael Spicer has had over 60m views. Spicer discusses the origin of the idea where he acts as an adviser feeding lines to a politician’s imaginary earpiece and intercuts his feed with the politician’s answers. The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko is a new opera opening for a limited run at Grange Park Opera in Surrey. It tells the story of the former KGB officer who was poisoned in the UK by Russian secret agents. We speak with its composer (former financier) Anthony Bolton about why this story deserves operatic treatment.
Wed, July 07, 2021
Ola Ince on Romeo & Juliet, harassment and bullying in the acting profession, BFI's Ben Roberts
British director Ola Ince discusses her new stage production of Romeo & Juliet, currently on at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Ince has given it a contemporary setting, but she doesn’t shy away from showing the play’s relevance to current societal struggles. The degree of harassment and bullying in the acting profession has been brought into the spotlight by #metoo and the recent Noel Clarke case. Radio 4's File on 4 reviewed the current situation and looked at measures being taken within the industry to combat the problem. The Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday with five films funded by the British Film Institute selected for screening. Ben Roberts was appointed the BFI’s Chief Executive just before the lockdown. He talks to Kirsty Lang about the role of the BFI, and how it has supported - and challenged - the industry in times troubled not just by the pandemic but revelations of bullying, abuse and lack of diversity. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Alfred Enoch (Romeo) and Rebekah Murrell (Juliet) in The Globe's Romeo & Juliet Image credit: Marc Brenner
Tue, July 06, 2021
Manchester International Festival
With her new sound and light installation, Arcadia, Theatre and Opera director Deborah Warner has brought the feel of the field into The Factory – the new home for MIF. The Factory is still very much a building site open to the elements, but for one weekend only the festival is providing an opportunity for visitors, to see the new construction from the inside. And once inside the concrete shell, they will enter Arcadia, Deborah’s subversive and challenging artwork to Manchester’s spirit of progress. Deborah talks to Nick about the appeal of making an installation in an unfinished venue. One of Pakistan’s most celebrated artists has used his MIF commission to explore his concept of Eart - his term to describe ways of thinking, being and acting creatively in real life. Under the title, A Manifesto of Possibilities, Rana presents an exhibition which interrogates new ways of living, and he makes real one of his ideas with the creation of his version of the essential corner shop. Nick Ahad pops in to the pop-up store to talk to producer Shanaz Gulzar about why ordering produce and stocking shelves is a new art frontier. The death of her father last June prompted the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche to write a emotional essay, Notes On Grief, for the New Yorker. The essay expanded into a book earlier this year, and now courtesy of MIF it has been adapted for the stage. Nicky Byrne, Head of Clinical Services at Willow Wood Hospice and Nick Ahad attended the preview and discuss a play that meets a moment when many around the country are dealing with their own grief. Hayley Finn, aka Skyliner, has been leading what has been described as “anti-tours” around Manchester for almost a decade. Her urban tours not only seek to reveal new things about the city to its inhabitants as well as its visitors, but to empower those on her tours with a sense that a city is a place created by those who live and work within it and that they too can and should contribute to the never-ending project that is improving the city. Nick meets Hayley to discuss one of the tours she’s leading for MIF, There Was A Bench Here Once. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Mon, July 05, 2021
Paula Rego at Tate Britain, Black Widow, Cultural Recovery Fund a year on
The largest ever UK retrospective of the Portuguese-born artist Paula Rego opens at Tate Britain this week. Featuring over 100 works, many not seen before, the show spans Rego’s early work from the 1950s which responds to the socio-political context of Portugal at the time, to her more recent, richly-layered paintings. Critic Jacky Klein gives her response to the show. Black Widow is the long-awaited new Marvel movie starring Scarlett Johansson. Director Cate Shortland talks to Front Row about putting Johansson centre frame, her on-screen chemistry with Florence Pugh and building on the conventions of superhero and spy movies to tell a different story about female power. The £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund was initiated exactly one year ago to shore up arts and cultural organisations against financial devastation caused by the loss of audiences during the pandemic. In England distribution of the cash is managed by Arts Council England and its chair Sir Nicholas Serota explains how the money has been shared out, who has benefited and what will happen to another £300 million soon to be made available. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main Image: Paula Rego Image credit: (c) Nick Willing
Fri, July 02, 2021
Giles Terera, Chi-chi Nwanoku, The 2021 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviewing Another Round
Actor Giles Terera tells us about his new book Hamilton and Me: an Actor’s Journal, his inside account of preparing for, rehearsing and performing in the West End production of the smash hit musical, Hamilton, in which Terera played Hamilton’s rival and, ultimately, killer Aaron Burr. George Bridgetower was a mixed-race violin virtuoso, patronised by royalty, a pupil of Haydn and friend of Beethoven - who was so inspired by Bridgetower that he wrote one of his greatest pieces for him - the Sonata Op.47, which is now known as the Kreutzer Sonata. In a new documentary, Chi-chi Nwanoku, finds out more about Bridgetower's life, and campaigns to rename Beethoven's work to the Bridgetower Sonata. In June Shona McCarthy, the Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, spoke to Kirsty Lang on Front Row about the prospects for the Fringe in this pandemic year. Tickets went on sale yesterday and Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman newspaper’s theatre critic and political columnist, is Kirsty’s guest to explain what is on offer, what help the Fringe has had from the Scottish Government and the adjustments it has made so it remains a vital cultural celebration in these difficult times. Film critics Tim Robey and Amon Warmann join us to review the Danish film Another Round, the winner of this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen it’s about four teachers who decide to test a theory that maintaining a constant blood alcohol level will improve their lives. In the beginning it makes them more gregarious and seems to enhance their personal and professional lives but their subsequent decision to go beyond moderate inebriation makes everything far more complicated.
Thu, July 01, 2021
Bobby Gillespie, Karla Black, Audience Anxiety
We speak with Bobby Gillespie, front man of Primal Scream who has released a new album, Utopian Ashes, comprised of duets with French singer Jehnny Beth from Savages. Themed around a disintegrating marriage, it’s a richly orchestrated album that doesn’t necessarily fit into fans’ expectations for either singer. After Public Health Scotland revealed yesterday that over 1,000 people who attended Euro 2020 matches went on to contract COVID 19, throwing the success of the Government’s Events Research Programme (of which the matches were a part) into doubt, Anne Torreggiani, CEO of The Audience Agency, joins us to explore just how confident the public are about returning to mass entertainment events, if government plans to remove all restrictions go ahead on July 19th. A recent survey conducted by The Audience Agency found that only a third of theatre audiences would be “happy to attend”. More concerningly, this was only a 2% increase on the response to an equivalent question asked in late February. Karla Black, the Glasgow-based, Turner Prize-nominated artist, discusses her new exhibition in Edinburgh, which reopens the city’s Fruitmarket Gallery after a two-year, £4.3m expansion and refurbishment. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Wed, June 30, 2021
Mark-Anthony Turnage, V&A East, Patricia Lockwood
Composer and Arsenal fan Mark-Anthony Turnage will be setting a football game to music. Not just any game, but Arsenal’s title-winning 1989 final game of the season. He tells fellow fan John Wilson how he’ll be capturing the game in his piece Up for Grabs, which has its world premiere at the Barbican in London in November. As the V&A announce their plans for V&A East - two major new developments in the former London Olympic Park – which will open in 2024, its director Gus Casely-Hayford explains what they’re setting out to create and his vision for the role of museums in the 21st century. Patricia Lockwood is the latest of our Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlisted authors – we’re talking to them all in the run up to the prize which will now be awarded on 8 September, when we’ll hear from the winner. Lockwood's novel, No One Is Talking About This, has been described as furiously original. It’s an exploration of our relationship with the online world and what happens when events in real life take over in the most moving way. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: Mark-Anthony Turnage Image credit: Philip Gatward
Tue, June 29, 2021
Dickens readings, Smart Fund, Randall Goosby
Later in his career Dickens toured the country doing hugely popular dramatic readings of his works. For his last tour he added in the scene where Bill Sykes murders Nancy but had concerns about how harrowing the passage was. As an exhibition opens at the Charles Dickens Museum we speak to the curator about how the reading affected both the audience and the author himself. Technology has transformed the way we consume art and culture – from films to music to art, we use our tech in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few decades ago. After a pandemic year which has seen the work of many terribly impacted, today more than a hundred artists have signed a public letter calling for a Smart Fund which would support artists and creatives for their work through an additional fee on the sale of technology and gadgets. Kirsty is joined by Gilane Tawadross, Chief Executive of the Design and Artists Copyright Society who have proposed and championed this idea. Randall Goosby is a 24-year-old American violin virtuoso, and his first album was released last week on Decca records. He tells Kirsty about growing up with a violin on his arm, and why he’s chosen the music of African-American composers for his first CD. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, June 28, 2021
Simon Russell Beale, French Exit, Lisa Taddeo
Simon Russell Beale was a choral scholar and the actor remains a serious musician who can play a Bach fugue. Now he is taking the role of Johann Sebastian in Nina Raine’s new play Bach and Sons and he talks to Samira Ahmed about his relationship with the composer. Does being able to play Bach help him to play Bach? French Exit stars Michelle Pfeiffer as a Manhattan heiress who has to downsize to Paris with her son and cat when her money runs out after her husband’s death. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the comedy drama directed by Azazel Jacobs, adapted by Patrick deWitt from his own novel. Hannah McGill reviews. Lisa Taddeo came to prominence in 2019 for her nonfiction book Three Women, a chronicle of her subjects' sex lives. Over the course of eight years, the writer not only interviewed the titular three women but also immersed herself in their worlds. The result was one of the hits of the year. Now she returns with Animal, a raw and intense debut novel about sexual trauma and female rage. She tells Samira about the process of writing it and her hope that women who have suffered similar experiences will feel less alone after reading it. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Studio Engineer: Sue Maillot
Fri, June 25, 2021
Siân Owen on Under Milk Wood, Nick Broomfield, Essex stereotypes in culture
It’s third time lucky for the National Theatre: it tried to re-open the Olivier, its largest auditorium, with The Death of England – Delroy in October. The first night was a triumph but, because of the lockdown, it was also the last night. Dick Whittington, the panto, was cancelled a fortnight before Christmas. But the Olivier sprang to life again this week with Under Milk Wood; Michael Sheen leading an almost entirely Welsh cast in Dylan Thomas’s much-loved play for voices - the voices of the townsfolk of Llaregub, a small port by the fishingboatbobbing sea, as they dream and remember through the bible-black night. But in the NT’s new production not all the words are provided by Dylan Thomas. There is additional material by playwright Siân Owen, which suggests director Lyndsey Turner is taking an original approach to this almost sacred text. John Wilson talks to Siân Owen to find out what she has added, and why. Film director Nick Broomfield discusses Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac, the sequel to his 2002 film Biggie and Tupac, which considered the background to the murder of two celebrated hip-hop artists and the rumoured involvement of the LAPD. Black TikTok creators are currently protesting the lack of credit they receive for the dance crazes they’ve generated by going on strike. Music journalist Jacqueline Springer explains why Black TikTokers are keeping their moves to themselves. Negative stereotypes of Essex man and Essex girls have been around since the Thatcher era but what do they mean today? We speak to Michael Landy about his new exhibition Welcome to Essex at Firstsite gallery in Colchester and Southend playwright Sadie Hasler about how they’ve been challenging Essex stereotypes in their work. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, June 24, 2021
Marianela Núñez, Charlotte Perriand exhibition review, Latitude Festival
Ninety years since Dame Ninette de Valois founded what we know now as the Royal Ballet and 75 since her post war production of Sleeping Beauty, Tom Sutcliffe talks to Marianela Núñez, Principal Ballerina at the Royal Ballet about Sleeping Beauty's significance in the Royal Ballet's repertoire, the demands of playing such an iconic role and the challenges of rehearsing at home during lockdown. We explore The Design Museum in London’s exhibition, Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life, It's a retrospective exploring the work of the pioneering designer, who, alongside better known male architects like Le Corbusier, was a defining influence on modernist furniture and interiors. The exhibition charts Perriand’s journey through the machine aesthetic to her adoption of natural forms, and later from modular furniture to major architectural projects. Design critic Corrine Julius joins us to review. This weekend the BBC will celebrate “The Glastonbury Experience 2021” in place of the cancelled festival. But Latitude has just announced that in just over one month’s time it will be the first major festival to go ahead this summer. We speak to Festival director Melvin Benn about how they intend to make it work in the current Covid-affected environment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, June 23, 2021
The Overseas Student, Cherie Jones, India's Parliamentary District row
We're speaking to all the authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021 and tonight it's the turn of Cherie Jones. Her novel, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, is set on and around the Barbados beaches of the 80s. Lala braids tourists’ hair in the idyllic setting but her home life is blighted by poverty, violence and lack of choices – and when she has a baby, a dangerous chain of events is set in motion. Cherie Jones talks about this debut novel that has been years in the writing. Anish Kapoor wrote an article earlier this month decrying what he described as a “hate-filled campaign to de-Islamify India…via the destruction of a world-class monument.” The monument he was referring to was India’s Parliament which he said was “the greatest set of government buildings anywhere in the world.” Professor Sarover Zaidi, from the Jindal School of Art and Architecture, and BBC journalist Geeta Pandey, who is based in the BBC’s Delhi bureau, join Samira to discuss the controversial Central Vista Project which aims to redevelop India’s Parliamentary district. In Tanika Gupta’s new play The Overseas Student the young man who comes from India to study Law is Mohandas Gandhi. While here he strove to fit in as an English gentleman, and was not politically active. But, the playwright tells Samira that his years living in Hammersmith and walking the streets of London shaped the man who became the great leader in India’s independence movement. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Studio Engineer: Duncan Hannant Main image: Esh Alladi in The Overseas Student at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Image credit: Helen Maybanks
Tue, June 22, 2021
Joan Armatrading, Erland Cooper, EU cultural quotas
Joan Armatrading discusses her 22nd album, Consequences, and writing songs about love inspired by observation rather than personal experience and how, despite recording every element herself at her home studio, it’s not a lockdown album. Scottish contemporary composer Erland Cooper's latest work, Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence, marks the writer George Mackay Brown’s centenary. Written and recorded for solo violin and string ensemble over three movements, it is also distinguished by the unusual manner of its release. John Wilson finds out more. After reports that the EU is considering restricting the number of UK-made television programmes that can be broadcast in member states, we talk to the BBC’s Brussels Correspondent Nick Beake about the implications for UK TV. Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald
Mon, June 21, 2021
Lauryn Redding, Claire Barnett-Jones, Supernova film, Venice Biennale
In two days' time, the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester will open its doors to an audience for the first time in over a year. And the first show to be presented will be a one-woman gig musical, a debut play from actor Lauryn Redding, she talks to Nick about penning the songs and the script and playing all the characters in Bloody Elle. Writer and director Harry MacQueen talks about his new film Supernova, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as a couple struggling with a diagnosis of early-onset dementia who take a road trip together to reconnect with friends, family and places from their past. The Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 this summer is exploring the theme ‘How Will We Live Together?’ Architecture critic Oliver Wainwright tells us about the exhibitions on display at this year’s festival and what architecture can do to tackle big questions. And we talk to Cardiff Singer of the World Audience Prize winner Claire Barnett-Jones. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu Main image: Lauryn Redding Image Credit: Pippa Rankin
Fri, June 18, 2021
Ian McKellen on playing Hamlet
50 years after last playing the Danish prince, Sir Ian McKellen is returning to the role of Hamlet, in an age, colour gender-blind production. At the age of 82, he has new insight to the character. He tells presenter John Wilson it’s clear to him Hamlet is bisexual, and how he is tackling the physical challenges of stage acting. He talks about his coming out in a BBC radio interview in 1988, how it liberated him and improved his acting. He also talks about his love of the theatre, how drama is an important aspect of British identity, and the joy of working in a company, the way his career began. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Engineer: Giles Aspen
Thu, June 17, 2021
Lisa Dwan on Beckett's Happy Days, the winner of the Walter Scott Prize
We announce and speak to the winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Peggy Ashcroft said that Winnie, in Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, ‘is one of those parts…that actresses will want to play in the way that actors aim at Hamlet – a ‘summit’ part’. She was right, several great actresses, Ashcroft herself, Billie Whitelaw and Maxine Peake, have – while buried above the waist, then up to the neck, in a mound - scaled that summit. In Front Row, Samira Ahmed talks to two more, Juliet Stevenson, an acclaimed Winnie in 2015 and Lisa Dwan, in the 60th anniversary production that opens tonight, about the joys and trials of playing this desperately cheerful woman. Tonight, the main stage of the Bristol Old Vic will play host to Outlier, a play about isolation, addiction and friendship in rural Devon. It is written by performance poet Malaika Kegode in her theatrical debut, and accompanied by the music of local Bristolian band Jakabol. While normally, debut playwrights may have been programmed for one of the theatre’s more intimate spaces, the pandemic has given emerging talent the opportunity to occupy the spotlight. Tom Morris, Artistic Director of the Bristol Old Vic, explains how the pandemic has actually enabled more risk-taking. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn Studio Engineer: Giles Aspen
Wed, June 16, 2021
Colin Macleod, Jason Reynolds, Hanna Flint reviews 'Together'
Starring James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan, Together is a new BBC2 drama following a couple forced to re-evaluate their relationship during lockdown. Polar opposites in personality and political opinion, the unnamed characters “he” and “she” are only together for the sake of their young son. Can physical proximity create a new emotional connection? Critic Hanna Flint reviews. The winner of the 2021 CILIP Carnegie Medal for outstanding achievement in children’s writing was today announced as Jason Reynolds for his book Look Both Ways. It’s a series of intertwined stories that focuses on the unsupervised 15 minutes when children walk home from school and includes children dealing with bullying, homophobia, sick parents and anxiety. We speak to Jason about the stories and his work as US National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. Colin Macleod’s home is on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, leading an outdoor life as a crofter and fisherman, accompanied by his two sheepdogs. But he’s also an acclaimed singer-songwriter who’s performed with Sheryl Crow, Van Morrison and Robert Plant. His new album Hold Fast is out this week – and he’ll be performing live especially for Front Row. Main image: Colin Macleod Image credit: Jack Johns
Tue, June 15, 2021
Timothy Spall, Shaan Sahota, Universal Basic Income for artists
To play the celebrated British painter, J.M.W. Tuner, for Mike Leigh’s film, Mr Turner, the actor Timothy Spall learned to paint. Four years later, it was the paintings he created while playing the role of another famous British painter, LS Lowry, that led to his first commission for an exhibition of his own paintings. Timothy joins Front Row to talk about finding his own style as a painter. As a junior doctor and playwright, Shaan Sahota has a unique perspective on the past 18 months. In her new play Under the Mask, she has distilled her experience as a frontline doctor at the height of the pandemic into a 60 minute audio installation. She joins us to discuss the work, writing as therapy and experimenting with 3D binaural sound. Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD has proposed a basic income guarantee for artists. She explains the details for the pilot scheme, what it would cost, who would be eligible and how much they’d get. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, June 14, 2021
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gerda Stevenson, Implications of the Covid restrictions extension
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes discuss the new screen version of their smash hit musical, In the Heights, which celebrates the intertwined lives of Latino immigrants and their children in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of Manhattan, where both Miranda (who wrote the music) and Alegria Hudes (who wrote the script) grew up. The drama is focussed on Usnavi - the young owner of a cornershop or bodega, - where friends, relatives and community elders hang out, share their dreams and fears and fall in love. With a planned extension of Coronavirus restrictions announced this evening, many theatres and music venues are having to consider delaying opening or admitting full-capacity audiences. Many had been counting on opening on 21st June to stay afloat. Theatre producer Sonia Friedman and Mark Davyd, chief executive of the Music Venues Trust, discuss the repercussions of the extended restrictions. Samira talks to writer, actress and director Gerda Stevenson about her film of George Mackay Brown’s play The Storm Watchers made for the St Magnus International Festival in Orkney in celebration of Mackay Brown’s centenary. Described as a play for voices THE STORM WATCHERS was published in 1967 in his book of short stories A CALENDAR OF LOVE. The film was shot in the Orkneys under lock down featuring a cast of local almost entirely non professional actors who shot the interior scenes on their mobile phones. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn Main image: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Fri, June 11, 2021
Simon Armitage, After Life, The Disciple
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage reflects on the experience of the pandemic in new BBC film, A Pandemic Poem: Where Did The World Go? Interspersed with interviews from people across the UK, the poem chronicles the pandemic from the first lockdown to the rollout of the vaccination programme. What one memory would you choose if you had to live it forever when you die? That’s the question posed in After Life, Jack Thorne and Bunny Christie’s new production at the National Theatre inspired by Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 film. Theatre critic Ava Wong Davies and the British Council’s Director of Film Briony Hanson review the play and consider wider depictions of the afterworld on stage and screen. Chaitanya Tamhane’s first feature film, Court, was selected to represent India in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars in 2015. His second feature film, The Disciple, which focuses on a musician trying to become an Indian classical music master, won three prizes at last year’s Venice Film Festival. With The Disciple now showing on Netflix, Chaitanya joins Front Row to discuss creating a new cinematic vision of India. Major publishing organisations and leading authors have joined forces to campaign against potential changes to copyright law, which they say would flood the UK with cheap foreign editions and threaten livelihoods. The Save our Books campaign, organised by the Publishers Association, the Society of Authors, the Association of Authors’ Agents and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, is in response to a new government consultation into the UK’s post-Brexit approach to copyright. Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, joins us to discuss. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Thu, June 10, 2021
Noel Gallagher, Amanda Whittington, Mount Recyclemore
Noel Gallagher discusses his new album Back the Way We Came: Vol 1, a Greatest Hits compilation from a decade of his band High Flying Birds that he formed once Oasis broke up in 2011. In the week that the Football Association has appointed its first ever female chair, playwright Amanda Whittington talks to John Wilson about her play Atalanta Forever. Set in 1920s Huddersfield, it is inspired by the true story of a women’s football team so successful that The Football Association banned women from playing the beautiful game. Thousands thronged to watch women's football but the FA declared, 'The game...is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.' People are thronging to watch the play too: its first performance at the Piece Hall in Halifax was a sell-out. Mount Recyclemore has just been unveiled on the Cornish coast directly opposite the Carbis Bay Hotel where the G7 summit begins tomorrow. Echoing the carvings of American presidents at Mount Rushmore the heads of the 7 world leaders at the conference have been sculpted in discarded electronics, highlighting the growing problem of e-waste and its damage to the environment. John Wilson hears from Alex Wreckage, one of the artists behind the work, and Liam Howley of musicMagpie, the resale website that commissioned it. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, June 09, 2021
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Danny Elfman, Emily Davison statue
Danny Elfman has composed the score for over 100 films including Batman, Men in Black, Edward Scissorhands, as well as writing The Simpsons theme tune. Before he worked in film he was a rock musician in a band called Oingo Boingo, and when the movie industry went into lockdown he used the opportunity to return to his rock roots. He’s just released a double-album called Big Mess. Danny talks to Samira about both his musical lives. Billed as Gossip Girl meets Get Out, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut novel, Ace of Spades, is a YA thriller that explores the effects of institutional racism. Set in an elite high school, it follows two black teenagers who are targeted by an anonymous texter spreading damaging rumours about them to the entire student body. Faridah joins us to discuss her book which landed her a one million dollar book deal. Public statuary has a reputation for mostly commemorating male subjects, but a newly unveiled statue of suffragette Emily Davison in Epsom is part of a trend to address that imbalance. But how difficult is it to get approval for new statues, who decides whether a subject is important enough and how do you start the process? We speak with two women, Sarah Dewing, who was instrumental in the Emily Davison statue, and Charlotte Cornell, who is beginning a campaign for a statue to Aphra Behn. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Engineer: Giles Aspen Main image: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Image credit: Joy Olugboyega
Tue, June 08, 2021
Ai Weiwei, Claire Fuller, Seamus Heaney's poetry on location
The artist Ai Weiwei has just unveiled his seven-metre-tall Gilded Cage at Blenheim Palace, a sculpture which addresses the international migrant crisis. He discusses this, as well as the largest exhibition of his work ever staged, in Lisbon, and why he has now made Portugal his home. In the run-up to the awarding of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, Front Row is talking to each of the shortlisted authors. This week it’s the turn of Claire Fuller for her novel Unsettled Ground which has won praise for its sensitivity and intelligence. It’s the story of twins in their 50s, living a life of rural isolation and poverty. Following the death of their mother, lies and secrets begin to emerge and their home comes under threat. Open Ground is a new visitor experience which enables people to hear recordings of the late Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney, reading his own poems in the locations that inspired them. An accompanying app lets you learn more about the context of the poem. How successful will it be in keeping alive the Nobel Laureate’s poetry for a new generation? Freya McClements reports. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, June 07, 2021
Florian Zeller on The Father; Jeffrey Boakye; Ita O'Brien
Florian Zeller’s play The Father was hailed as a masterpiece. Zeller made his debut as a director with his film of it, and Sir Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for his performance as the patriarch sliding into dementia. Zeller tells Kirsty Lang how he was determined to make a film, rather a film version of a play, and how he makes the audience experience the disorientation of a man as his mind crumbles. The author and teacher Jeffrey Boakye has made a playlist with a difference – it’s A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs - but if that title runs too long for you, he talks to Kirsty about why he’s called his new book Musical Truth. And three years ago Ita O’Brien joined us on Front Row to talk about how intimacy co-ordinators were beginning to be used in film and television to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of actors during the shooting of sex scenes. Last night, Michaela Coel dedicated her Bafta win for I May Destroy You to Ita, who joins us now to talk about how the landscape has changed since she was last spoke on Front Row, and what progress has been made. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Sir Anthony Hopkins in Florian Zeller's film The Father Image credit: courtesy Lionsgate Films
Fri, June 04, 2021
Joanna Scanlan, Kneehigh, Chibundu Onuzo, Time Review
Actress and writer Joanna Scanlan - best known for her comedic roles in tv series such as The Thick of It, Getting On and No Offence - talks to Tom about her role as Mary Hussain an Islam convert in Aleem Khan’s moving debut feature After Love. Journalist Lee Trewhela discusses the close of Cornish theatre company, Kneehigh after more than 40 years. Novelist Chibundu Onuzo discusses her new novel Sankofa, about a woman who grew up in England with her white mother and knowing very little about her West African father. In middle age, after separating from her husband and with her own daughter all grown up, she finds herself alone and wondering who she really is. Her mother’s death leads her to find her father’s student diaries, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. She discovers that he eventually became the president – some would say the dictator – of Bamana in West Africa. And he is still alive. We review Jimmy McGovern’s new 3 part drama for BBC 1 is set in a prison. “Time” is a taut emotional thriller where moral lines get blurred, starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham as an inmate and a warder respectively. We're joined by crime writer Mark Billingham and novelist Louise Welsh, who also have some cultural recommendations for listeners to enjoy. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Joanna Scanlan in After Love. Image credit: The Bureau/BFI
Thu, June 03, 2021
Sorious Samura, Susanna Clarke, Edinburgh Fringe, Liverpool Biennial
Sierra Leone’s best-known journalist, Sorious Samura, discusses his documentary, Sing, Freetown. After growing tired of hearing only negative stories from Africa, the film follows Sorious and playwright Charlie Haffner’s journey to create a play that shows the true Sierra Leone. The entire Liverpool Biennial, the UK’s largest festival of contemporary art, has now opened, almost a year after it was due to because of the pandemic. Art critic Louisa Buck gives her response to the 11th Biennial and what it has to offer. As the Scottish Government discusses reducing social distancing requirements, where does that leave this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe? Kirsty Lang talks to Shona McCarthy, the Fringe's Chief Executive, about the situation and options that might allow 50,000 performances of over 3,500 shows in over 300 venues – the figures for 2019 – to go on. As part of our series featuring the authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, there’s another chance to hear Susanna Clarke, best known for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, talk about her second novel, Piranesi. It’s set in the House, an endless sprawl of halls lined with statues, but it is falling apart, flooded by tides and populated at first by just the eponymous narrator and someone he knows only as The Other. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Wed, June 02, 2021
Es Devlin on Forest for Change, artist Phoebe Boswell, Covid amateur choirs update
Es Devlin, who designed sets for Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch and Stormzy at the Britz, has created something more quietly contemplative as artistic director of the London Design Biennale, filling the courtyard of Somerset House in London with trees. She tells Elle Osili-Wood about how forests in literature are places of transformation and how she created her Forest for Change, with a clearing at its heart where we are invited to consider the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The artist Phoebe Boswell’s new exhibition Here at New Art Exchange in Nottingham features many life-size, detailed, figurative drawings, as well as large-scale video and animations which reflect her exploration of marginalisation, freedom and the idea of home. She discusses her work and how it echoes her own experience as a Kenyan-born British artist. On May 18 the DCMS amended guidance issued on the 17th May prohibiting non professional singers from meeting indoors in groups larger than 6 which effectively prohibited most planned choral activities for the 2.2 million singers in over 40,000 choirs across the country. Front Row hears from Richard Reeves, General Manager of the Royal Choral Society who staged the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall last Sunday and Paul Parker, lawyer and part-time tenor about the ongoing issues the new guidance has raised. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: John Boland Main image: The Global Goals Pavilion: Forest for Change at the London Design Biennale Image credit: Ed Reeve
Tue, June 01, 2021
Films Gunda and First Cow reviewed, Actor and writer Amy Trigg, Composer Dan Jones
Briony Hanson joins Tom to review two extremely different films starring animals as their central characters. First Cow - directed by Kelly Reichardt - is set in Oregon in the 1820s, in which two protagonists use stolen milk to survive in a harsh environment. Gunda – executive-produced by Joaquin Phoenix - is a 90 minute black and white, which follows a sow with her litter, some cows and a one-legged cockerel in a fascinating but unsentimental look at animals and farming. Amy Trigg is currently making her debut as a playwright with her award-winning one-woman play, Reasons You Should(nt) Love Me, about a young woman with spina bifida coming to terms with life and love. She talks to Tom about creating the characters she wants to see on stage. Books journalist Neill Denny talks us through the ongoing bookselling dispute between Penguin Random House and Waterstones. He explains what it means for the industry and which party has most to lose. Composer and sound designer Dan Jones talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his epic mass participation sound composition Coventry Moves Together – the finale to a day of events marking Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, May 31, 2021
Paulette Randall
Paulette Randall MBE celebrates her 60th birthday this year. Her career highlights include her role as Associate Director of the unforgettable London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and being playwright August Wilson's director of choice in this country. She has a rich and varied career on stage, screen and stadium taking in Shakespeare, sketch comedy and Silent Witness. She is in lively conversation with Tom Sutcliffe about her beginnings, going to drama college because of a £5 bet, winning a prize at the Royal Court for an early play, fallings out, her artistic values, and triumphs - in particular on that Olympic night, and in her productions of Wilson's plays including Fences with Lenny Henry in 2017. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum Main image: Dr Paulette Randall MBE
Fri, May 28, 2021
Pianist Mitsuko Uchida, Bolton Octagon reopens, Ghazal poetry, Anne Boleyn reviewed
The pianist Mitsuko Uchida returns to the Wigmore Hall in London next week where she’ll be marking five decades since she first performed there. She discusses her love for the Schubert Impromptus that she’ll be playing, and how she’s enjoyed exploring new compositions during lockdown. Earlier this week Bolton found itself at the epicentre of the pandemic in England. Bolton is among the areas hardest hit by the Indian variant of the virus - although today the numbers appear to be levelling out and vaccination efforts have been ramped up. At the same time The Bolton Octagon is welcoming back audiences, opening with a new play called See You At the Octagon based on the stories of people in the town during the lockdown. We talk to Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham. Our Friday review this week is the new Channel 5 drama, Anne Boleyn. Tanya Motie and Anna Whitelock discuss its diverse casting, as well as whether it is an accurate portrayal of Anne herself. Form in poetry, like clogs on feet, is fashionable again. A new Radio 4 series, On Form is investigating the way poets now are writing modern work using venerable poetic structures - the sonnet, the villanelle and the ghazal. The poet Aviva Dautch and Syima Aslam, director of the Bradford Literature Festival, explain what the ghazal is, why it is so attractive and how it can be a vehicle for the discussion of philosophical, political and religious ideas. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, May 27, 2021
Chris Addison on Breeders; Nadifa Mohamed's new novel; BBC Proms 2021 debuts
Breeders is a highly successful TV comedy series that looks honestly and unflinchingly at the difficulties (and rewards) of parenting. It’s just about to return for a second series and we speak with director and co-creator Chris Addison whose own work includes stand-up, acting and directing shows such as The Thick of It, In The Loop, Veep and many many more. Novelist Nadifa Mohamed tells us about the 17 year journey to publishing her novel The Fortune Men, the true story of the wrongful conviction of a Somali sailor in Cardiff's Tiger Bay in 1952. With the launch of the BBC Proms 2021 Season, Front Row gathers three artists who will be making their Proms debuts this year: composer Grace-Evangeline Mason who was commissioned to create a new work – The Imagined Forest - to mark the Albert Hall’s 150th anniversary. Musician Adam Szabo who will be joined in making his Proms debut with 19 members of his Manchester Collective; and Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson who joined Front Row regularly during the early months of the first lockdown in 2020. They talk to Tom about what the Proms mean to them. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, May 26, 2021
101 Dalmations prequel, Cruella; Two Tone Exhibition in Coventry, City of Culture; new play The Merthyr Stigmatist
Disney’s much-anticipated 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella is the visually stunning origin story of the woman who becomes the puppy-stealing force of evil from Dodie Smith’s original 1956 story. Starring Emma Stone and Emma Thompson and directed by I, Tonya’s Craig Gillespie, it is set in late '70s London and channels much of punk’s dark energy and aesthetic. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh joins Front Row to assess whether it makes for compelling viewing – and for what age group. 2 Tone: Lives & Legacies is the first major exhibition dedicated to the music, the message, and the memorabilia of the ska movement. As it opens at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum to mark the start of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture 2021, Pauline Black, founding member and lead singer of The Selecter, talks to Samira about the impact 2 Tone had on her and British culture. “Why shouldn’t God send a miracle to Merthyr?” asks Carys, the 16-year-old girl in The Merthyr Stigmatist. She claims to have the wounds of Christ, bleeding from her hands and feet every Friday evening. Her teacher, Siân, isn’t convinced; she thinks Carys should keep quiet, get out of the Merthyr Tydfil and go to university. But why should she have to leave to lead a fulfilling life? Lisa Parry’s talks about her new play, in which faith, reason, class, fame and language all collide. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Main image: 2 Tone band The Selecter's lead singer Pauline Black in 1979
Tue, May 25, 2021
Slavery exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, Grime artist Bugzy, the decline or resurgence of crafts
As the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam opens a landmark exhibition, Slavery, exploring the Netherlands’ 250 years involvement in the trade of human beings, the Director, Taco Dibbits, joins Front Row to explain why this history must be embraced. British hip hop, grime and, more recently, drill are all musical subgenres that have emerged and thrived in London. But Mancunian artist Bugzy Malone is leading a wave of rappers with northern accents. Born Aaron Davis, Bugzy Malone grew up amid poverty and crime. Stories of gangland life and emotional trauma have been channelled into much of his work, and his new album The Resurrection continues in the confessional vein. He talks about the motorcycle accident that nearly killed him, his recovery and how the process was the inspiration behind the new album. The high fashion brand Loewe has created a €50,000 prize for craft with international submissions from across many different practices. We speak to Loewe's creative designer Jonathan Anderson about why he set up the prize and also to Patricia Lovett, Chair of the Heritage Crafts Association about why some traditional crafts in the UK are in perilous decline. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, May 24, 2021
David Weil on Solos, Novelist Brit Bennett, Great British Photography Challenge
David Weil is the showrunner for Hunters, a TV series which imagined the work of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York . The large cast included Al Pacino in his first ever TV lead role. When Covid closed down largescale productions, David Weil turned his hand to a much more intimate sort of show. Solos is a new 7-part fantasy series which is essentially monologues from the likes of Helen Mirren, Anne Hathaway and Morgan Freeman. Brit Bennett is the first shortlisted nominee for The Women’s Prize for Fiction to join us. Her book, The Vanishing Half, follows identical twins who, after running away from home at 16, adopt different racial identities. Brit discusses how her mother’s upbringing inspired the story, and why she wanted to write about colourism. As BBC Four launches its Great British Photography Challenge, photographer Maryam Wahid offers some handy hints to help you get the best possible shot with your mobile phone camera. Composer, singer and choral conductor Bob Chilcott discusses the government's guidance issued on the 18th May which says that amateur choirs can only rehearse indoors in groups of a maximum of six, which led to many of the 42,000 choirs across the country having to change rehearsal and performance schedules planned after restrictions on public performances were lifted on 17th May. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Fri, May 21, 2021
Front Row on Bob Dylan at 80
Front Row joins Radio 4's celebration of Bob Dylan, who will be 80 on Monday. John Wilson joined by Bob Geldof, to consider the art and influence of Bob, on Bob. Ann Powers, music critic for National Public Radio joins from somewhere on the Nashville Skyline. On Bob Dylan's first trip to Britain, in the winter of 1962, he and the great English folk singer Martin Carthy, met, became friends and performed together in small clubs such as the Troubadour (still going!). Bob Dylan acknowledges the influence of Carthy, whose versions of Scarborough Fair and Lord Franklin, for instance, inform songs of his such as Bob Dylan's Dream and Girl From the North Country. It will be Martin's 80th birthday on Friday, he's three days older than Dylan. Front Row drags him away from his celebration (and a rehearsal - Carthy, like Dylan, is still a hardworking musician) to remember those early days, and a winter so cold he and Bob chopped up an old piano for firewood. Kerry Shale stars with Richard Curtis, Lucas Hare and Eileen Atkins in Dinner with Dylan, the afternoon drama on Radio 4 on Saturday. Shale,a famously versatile voice actor, is intrigued by Dylan's voice and how it has changed or, rather, he has changed it. Using songs recorded over decades Kerry analyses how folky young Bob becomes hip, sneery Bob, then mellow country Bob, dangerous angry Bob finally exhausted Ancient Mariner Bob. 'I Contain Multitudes', Dylan says, using the famous phrase of Walt Whitman as the title of one of his songs. Poet Caroline Bird does some close reading of 'Visions of Johanna' and the writer Fred D'Aguiar, esonance of Dylan's early work in the wake of the murder of George Floyd Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Thu, May 20, 2021
Barbara Hepworth retrospective, Broadening museum boards, Othello as a woman
Eleanor Clayton is the curator of the largest publlc exhbition of the work of the sculptor Barbara Hepworth since her death in 1975. She's also written a new biography about the sculptor called Barbara Hepworth Art and Life. She talks to Nick about Hepworth's passion for making sculpture and how her insistence on the best way her work should be presented to the public has influenced the new show at The Hepworth Wakefield. The secretary of state for culture, The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden wants museum trustee boards to have greater regional representation, but is he taking the right approach to achieve this? Lord Smith of Finsbury who, as Chris Smith MP, was culture secretary in Tony Blair's goverment has concerns. He joins Front Row to explain why he thinks the present culture secretary needs to keep at arms length from our cultural institutions. The National Youth Theatre is about to premiere a new production of Othello at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton. The play is set in a hedonistic 90s club, and Othello is now a black woman played by rising star Francesca Amewudah-Rivers. She reflects on the appeal of playing the tragic hero and the joy, after months of lockdown, of creating a club on stage. Can theatre keep you healthy? As UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) release new research about the financial savings that theatre brings to the NHS, Jon Gilchrist, executive director and deputy chief executive of Home in Manchester, explains how theatre can be part of a healthy way of life. Presenter: Nick Ahad Studio Managers: Owain Williams and Jonathan Esp Production Coordinator: Caroline Dey Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Wed, May 19, 2021
Composer Roxanna Panufnik, Science meets music at The Brighton Festival, Eileen Agar retrospective
The new album of compositions by Roxanna Panufnik performed by the Saconni Quartet features a surprising range of subject material; letters written home during the First World War, Ashkenazi Jewish cantorial chant, Aung San Suu Kyi’s musings on Burma, a celebration of Poland’s EU presidency, a 14th century love story and the heartbeat of a Bulgarian dancing bear. We talk to her about the stories behind Heartfelt. Following their residency at Cern, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, the Brighton-based artist duo Semiconductor have created a multisensory installation Halo, showing as part of the Brighton Festival. Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt discuss their immersive artwork of sound and light, which takes the form of an intricate mechanical structure containing a 360-degree projection of scientific data and 380 resonating taut piano wires. Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy is a major retrospective of the Cubist and Surrealist artist (1899-1991) at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Louisa Buck joins us to discuss the show and gives us her own selection of exhibitions across the UK that she’s looking forward to, which can finally now open. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: John Boland Main image: Albie the bear, whose recorded heartbeat was used on one of Heartfelt's tracks. Image credit: Jordan jones/Wild Place Project,
Tue, May 18, 2021
Julie Hesmondhalgh, Christina McMaster, James Barnor
The actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, best known for Coronation Street and Broadchurch on TV, returns to the theatre for the opening night of her new play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. Modestly titled The Greatest Play in the History of the World… it is not only the first night of the tour but the first night the theatre has been open since last year. Julie takes a break from rehearsals to talk to Samira about how she is looking forward to being onstage again and the importance of theatre to regional towns. Lie Down and Listen is the idea behind a new series of classical music concerts being led by the pianist Christina McMaster. She talks to Samira about how lying down helps both the mind and body listen to music. A new photographic exhibition opening at The Serpentine Gallery in London shows the work of 91-year-old photographer James Barnor. He’s been working for 6 decades, first in his native Ghana where he captured the country’s move to independence, before coming to the UK in the 60s where he worked for Drum magazine, taking photos of the African diaspora. In the 70s he returned to Ghana as a pioneer of colour photography. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, May 17, 2021
Director Barry Jenkins on The Underground Railroad
Barry Jenkins, the director of the 2017 Oscar-winning film Moonlight, discusses his new ten-part TV adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad. The drama series follows two young slaves as they escape their cotton plantation in Georgia and go in search of the fabled railway which they hope will transport them north in their quest for freedom. The director discusses shooting the drama - which contains harrowing scenes of violence - on the site of former plantations in Georgia where slaves worked and died, and how the experience affected him as an African-American. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image: Showrunner, writer and Director Barry Jenkins on The Underground Railroad shoot in Georgia, USA. Image credit: Kyle Caplan/Amazon Studios
Fri, May 14, 2021
Cinemas Reopen, St Vincent, Maylis de Kerangal, Festival Ticketing
Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, which recently won best film at both the Oscars and Baftas, is leading the pack as cinemas reopen next week. Film critic Tim Robey and Chinese arts journalist Yuan Ren discuss Nomadland and what else we have to look forward to. St Vincent’s latest album Daddy’s Home is inspired in part by her father’s release from 10 years in prison. The artist discusses getting personal for her sixth record, returning to the sound of the '70s and the female artists that paved the way for her. A lack of commercial and government-backed insurance has led to the cancellation of many festivals this year with more cancellations expected if things don’t change. Marina Blake, co-founder and creative director of Brainchild Festival, has a plan to ensure her festival goes ahead. She talks to John about asking ticketholders to share the costs of the risk. Author Maylis de Kerangal discusses Painting Time, her coming-of-age novel set in the world of decorative painting, following a young woman who finds herself discovering the world and herself through the art of trompe l’oeuil. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Thu, May 13, 2021
Rachel Maclean, arts education cuts, Richard Osman, British Book Awards Author of the Year
Author of the Year was announced today at the British Books Awards. Tom speaks to the winner, Richard Osman, game show host and author of the hugely successful crime novel The Thursday Murder Club. In the middle of the forest sits an abandoned toy shop. It appears to be a fairy tale house, but as you inch closer you see that it is defaced and decaying. Inside there are rows of upside down dolls. Upside Down Mimi is artist Rachel Maclean’s first permanent outdoor commission, an installation combining both architecture and animation and a replica will be touring Scottish city centres. She joins us to explain this artistic commentary on consumer culture and the decline of the high street. As the news of a possible 50% cuts to Higher Education Arts funding is met by a robust response from musicians, artists and actors as well as higher education organisations and bodies, BBC Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys joins Front Row to explain what these proposed cuts really mean. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, May 12, 2021
As theatres in England reopen soon, we ask what the experience will be like for audiences and staff?
From next Monday theatres in England will legally be allowed to reopen with social distancing and strict capacity restrictions. We find out what it will be like for audiences and staff as they return to venues. We also hear from one theatre director in Scotland who's not reopening and ask why. The Cultural Recovery Fund has provided a lifeline for some arts organisations who would have gone under as well as some individuals but how are the millions of pounds of public money being spent? We speak to Louise Chantal CEO and Director of the Oxford Playhouse, and Nica Burns, CEO of Nimax Theatres which operates several commercial theatres in London. And we talk to Amanda Parker, Founder and Director of Inc Arts about those who didn't get any money from the Culture Recovery Fund. Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap will be the first play to reopen in the London's West End, with its first performance on Monday night. What else can we look forward to in the coming months, and how will the theatrical experience change? Theatre critic Sarah Crompton tells us what to expect. A brothel in Pompeii is at the centre of Elodie Harper’s new novel, The Wolf Den. She talks to Kirsty about telling a story of women’s lives in the Roman Empire, and how she wanted to show that there was more to everyday life for ancient people than togas and baths. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May
Tue, May 11, 2021
Two Distant Strangers, Golden Globes, Resident Evil, U.Me The Musical
It was after the death of George Floyd that television writer and producer Travon Free, and filmmaker Martin Desmond Roe came together to create a response to this traumatic event. The result was Two Distant Strangers which won Best Live Action Short Film at this year’s Oscars. Travon and Martin join Elle to talk about making art out of tragedy. NBC has dropped the 2022 Golden Globes Award ceremony and Tom Cruise has returned his three Golden Globes in protest at the lack of diversity at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The Oscars were more diverse this year, but the televised award ceremony had its lowest ever audience. Rhianna Dhillon talks about what is happening with awards. Resident Evil Village is the eighth instalment from the hugely popular horror game franchise. Games journalist Louise Blain reviews and discusses the appeal of the genre as a whole. Are you missing the joy of musicals? The BBC World Service has create a brand new one, U.Me: The Musical, entirely under lockdown, lavishly arranged for a 40-piece orchestra. In 53 minutes it tells the story of two people falling in love over the internet during lockdown. Professor Millie Taylor reviews. Producer: Timothy Prosser Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood
Tue, May 11, 2021
David Hockney, TV drama Three Families and novelist Rónán Hession
David Hockney has captured the unfolding of Spring during the pandemic, creating 116 new works on his ipad which have been blown up for a new exhibition at London’s Royal Academy. Art critic Ben Luke reviews the prolific 83 year old’s new work. He also discusses the shortlist for this year’s Turner Prize; for the first time, no one on the list is an individual artist: they are all artist collectives. A new BBC TV drama, Three Families, is set in Northern Ireland looks at the controversial and divisive subject of abortion. Northern Ireland was exempted from the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act and had some of the most restrictive policies in Europe. 2 years ago when the Stormont Assembly was dissolved and decision-making powers transferred to Westminster, MPs in London voted overwhelmingly to change the law and ease access to abortion. This series fictionalises the stories of three women and their personal involvement in the campaign to liberalise the law. We speak with the writer of the 2 part series, Gwyneth Hughes. Irish writer Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul, discusses his second novel, Panenka, about 50-year-old former footballer who has spent 25 years unable to escape from one critical and very public error which made him an exile in his home town. Main image: David Hockney Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Fri, May 07, 2021
Emily Mortimer on The Pursuit of Love, Jupiter's Legacy, Rag'n'Bone Man
The actress and writer Emily Mortimer discusses her directorial debut The Pursuit of Love, her 3-part adaptation of Nancy Mitford's novel starring Lily James, Emily Beecham and Andrew Scott, which centres on two women born into privilege, trying to seize life and love with both hands but constrained by societal expectations. Today sees the release of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s second album Life by Misadventure, the follow-up to 2017's Human, which was the decade's fastest-selling album by a male artist. The singer/songwriter, whose real name is Rory Graham, discusses the changes in his life, his new musical approach, and why he went to Nashville to record it. Sarah Crompton discusses the government's new fast track visa system for the winners of elite arts prizes such as Oscars, Tonys and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Jupiter’s Legacy drops on Netflix tonight. Based on Mark Millar’s original comics, this domestic drama looks at the family dynamic as one generation of superheroes attempts to hand over to the next, following the characters over a century, from the Wall Street Crash to today. Film critic Amon Warmann and geek culture expert Claire Lim review. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser
Thu, May 06, 2021
Don Warrington, Gillian Reynolds, Benjamin Myers
Don Warrington stars as the head of a family, united and divided by grief in Sian Davila’s debut play for Radio 4, Running with Lions. We speak to both Sian and Don about the play and its particular significance now. Last Sunday, the doyenne of radio criticism, Gillian Reynolds CBE, wrote her final column for the Sunday Times. She joins Front Row to discuss a career that dates back to the late 1960s and shares her thoughts on the future of radio. Durham-born novelist Benjamin Myers has made it his mission to explore the places and people of northern England in his fiction. He came to prominence in 2017 with The Gallows Pole, a novel about a band of 17th century Yorkshire money counterfeiters, which won the Walter Scott Prize. He talks to John about his latest release, his debut collection of short stories, Male Tears, a multifaceted exploration of what it means to be a man featuring some very brutal, troubled characters. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Sue Maillot
Wed, May 05, 2021
Anna Kerrigan, events testing, Sunjeev Sahota
A mother and father struggling to come to terms with their trans child are at the centre of Anna Kerrigan’s new film, Cowboys. She talks to Samira about creating a family drama set in the woodlands of Montana. After Liverpool took part in a Covid recovery pilot scheme testing live events over the weekend - including an open-air film screening, a comedy gig and a club night - we talk to the city's Director of Culture, Claire McColgan, about how the events went and what happens next. Sunjeev Sahota was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his last book - The Runaways and his writing attracted praise from Salman Rushdie. He discusses his new novel, China Room, which tells a dark story from family legend about his great grandmother, and interweaves it with a modern day narrator who returns to his ancestral farm in Punjab to recover from heroin addiction and to escape racism in the UK. Main image: Sasha Knight as Joe (Left) and Steve Zahn as Troy in Cowboys Image credit: Blue Finch Film Releasing Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Tue, May 04, 2021
Essay collections from novelists and poets. Review of TV series Bloods, New Pokemon Snap explored
This year sees a number of writers we know primarily as poets or novelists releasing collections of essays - from Jeanette Winterson to Lucy Ellman and Karl Ove Knausgaard. Tom talks to two of them: Kei Miller, whose latest collection is called Things I have Withheld, and Rachel Kushner, whose new collection is called The Hard Crowd. Dreda Say Mitchell reviews new Sky TV series, Bloods. Samson Kayo and Jane Horrocks star in this six-part comedy series as paramedic partners in the South London ambulance service. When tough-acting loner Maleek is paired with over-friendly divorcee Wendy, their partnership looks dead on arrival. But before long they’re acting as each other’s life support. An ensemble comedy, set within the fast-paced, never-ending rush of 999 call-outs, Bloods also stars Adrian Scarborough, Lucy Punch and Julian Barratt. Writer and video games editor Jordan Erica Webber talks us through the long-awaited New Pokemon Snap. The original game came out in 1999 on the Nintendo 64. Now, its release comes after a huge wave of lockdown sales of the Nintendo Switch gaming device and as part of a new wave of games focussing on gentler storytelling, photography and the natural environment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Mon, May 03, 2021
How should we memorialise in the 21st century?
The National Covid Memorial Wall on the bank of the Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament is an unofficial site of remembrance and reflection for the 150,000 or so individuals who've died from Covid. Artists and writers consider the role and design of memorials in the 21st century, from the poppies at The Tower of London in 2014 which toured the UK, to the recent controversy of the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, and the proposed memorial to enslaved Africans and their descendants. Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz discusses his new statue 'April is the Cruellest Month' which has just been unveiled in Margate, which he describes as both a memorial and a monument. Anne McElvoy and historian Kate Williams consider the changing culture and significance of memorials. Oku Ekpenyon recounts her struggle to create a new memorial to slaves whose labour brought wealth to the UK, and writer Spencer Bailey considers how architects across the world have responded to recent and historic tragic events in the last four decades. Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald
Fri, April 30, 2021
Theresa Lola and 70 years of the RFH; The Mosquito Coast reviewed; Royal Blood's new album; Andrew Miller on events pilots
Adapted from Paul Theroux’s bestselling book, The Mosquito Coast follows a family on the run from the US government and seeking escape in Mexico, where they hope to build a simpler life away from American consumerist culture. Critics Tanya Motie and Kohinoor Sahota join Tom to discuss the new TV series and to share their cultural picks of the week. Royal Blood is a 2 piece rock band from Brighton whose new album - Typhoons - looks set to top the UK charts like their previous two. They’ve toured internationally supporting Iggy Pop and Foo Fighters and played most of the big festivals including Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage. Unusually they’re a drums and bass guitar duo creating catchy funk heavy riffs Tom speaks with Mike Kerr about creativity and the pressures of rock and roll life. As the first nightclub, under the Government’s pilot events scheme, prepares to open its doors in Liverpool this evening, Front Row talks to Andrew Miller, the Government’s first Disability Champion for Arts and Culture, who fears that people with disabilities are being left behind by the Government’s plans. To mark the 70th anniversary of The Royal Festival Hall, former Young People's Laureate for London Theresa Lola performs her specially commissioned poem, Offerings and Exchange. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, April 29, 2021
Raoul Peck, Camilla Greenwell and Tufting on TikTok
Raoul Peck is a Haitian filmmaker whose documentary I Am Not Your Negro, based on the words of James Baldwin, was Oscar-nominated and won a Bafta in 2018. Now he has made a new documentary series in 4 parts, Exterminate All the Brutes, looking at the impact of colonialism and the development of racist ideas using a mixture of voice-over, dramatisation, animation and Hollywood movies. He talks about the making of it and why he wanted to tell both a personal and a global history. While rug-making may be associated with an older generation, Gen Z have claimed it as their own, making 'tufting' one of the biggest arts and crafts trends on TikTok. Tufting allows artists to 'paint' with yarn, by using a hand-held machine that punches yarn into canvas. It can be used to create rugs, but also clothing and wall hangings. Here to explain the process of tufting is artist Trish Anderson from her studio in Savannah, Georgia. To celebrate International Dance Day, Samira Ahmed speaks to photographer Camilla Greenwell, whose exhibition of dance photographs, Movement in Still Form is launched by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage. The exhibition is presented online at Google Arts and Culture and invites audiences to see moments of the creative process where artists come together to make the dance we eventually see in performance. Greenwell’s images capture unique rehearsal moments not usually seen by the public, and she speaks about the intimacy of photographing dancers at work. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, April 28, 2021
Women's Prize Shortlist, Jamie MacDonald, Rotten Tomatoes
Today the shortlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction is revealed. Chair of judges Bernardine Evaristo joins Front Row to talk through the chosen books and explain why they’re worth their place on the list and literary critic Alex Clark gives her reactions. Citizen Kane has been knocked off the top spot on Rotten Tomatoes as a unfavourable review from 1941 has been found ruining its 100% critics rating. Taking its place is Paddington 2. Critic Jason Solomons digests the news. Jamie MacDonald is a Glaswegian stand-up comedian who lost his sight in his teens due to a degenerative retinal disease. In his new Radio 4 stand-up series Jamie MacDonald: Life on the Blink, he reflects on how he used humour to move from denial to acceptance of his condition. He shares his experience of writing from personal experience, and how he made the unexpected move from banking to comedy. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins Main image: Bernadine Evaristo Image credit: Sam Holden
Tue, April 27, 2021
Shadow and Bone, Lemn Sissay, Gwendoline Riley
We review new Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone. It's being touted as the new Game of Thrones but is it worth the hype? Children's and YA author Katherine Webber Tsang gives her verdict. This weekend the Brighton Festival opens and will be the first UK city festival since lockdown. Last year the guest director Lemn Sissay was ready to launch the festival when Lockdown restrictions meant the whole thing had to be cancelled. This year, he’s back as guest director again with a festival themed around Care – a personal theme to Lemn who spent his childhood in care, but also one that’s acquired unique resonance over the past year – and with over 94 separate events, installations, and performances across a mixture of outdoor, indoor and online platforms. Plus novelist Gwendoline Riley, who tells us about the process of writing her new novel My Phantoms about a mother and daughter's doomed attempts to communicate with oneanother. And last night, 24-year-old Jonathan Gibson became the youngest ever Mastermind champion, winning with his incomparable knowledge of the songs of Flanders and Swann. He shares his passion for this pioneering comic duo, and tells us why their music deserves to be better known. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, April 26, 2021
Nicola Benedetti, Mark Simpson, Oscars roundup, Mr Wickham
Violinist Nicola Benedetti is performing a new concerto by Mark Simpson, who was winner of both the BBC Young Musician of the Year (as clarinettist) and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year. Commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Mark wrote it specifically with Nicola in mind. We speak with both of them ahead of this Thursday's premiere. Adrian Lukis discusses his one man show, Being Mr Wickham, which imagines Mr Wickham from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice at the age of sixty. Adrian played the young Wickham in the BBC's classic 1995 adaption and is now performing his new play at the country's last remaining Regency theatre, the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds. Leila Latif reports on the fallout from last night’s Academy Awards, in which Nomadland won Best Picture and, at the age of 83, Sir Anthony Hopkins became the oldest ever actor to win an Oscar. And Leila reviews Intergalactic, Sky One TV's new science fiction series about a group of female convicts in space who go on the run. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser Main image: Nicola Benedetti Image credit: Andy Gotts
Fri, April 23, 2021
Tom Jones looks back at his life and career
In a wide ranging extended interview, Sir Tom Jones looks back at his life and career, from his coal-mining upbringing in South Wales to global superstardom. He talks about the therapy he underwent to restore his ability to sing after the death of his wife and the two year quarantine he endured as a child because of tuberculosis. He recalls the time he lost his temper with John Lennon, and the singing teacher who urged him to become on operatic tenor. At the age of 80, Tom has recorded a new album of songs that relate to his life, by writers such as Michael Kiwanuka and Bob Dylan, called Surrounded by Time. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Engineer: Giles Aspen
Thu, April 22, 2021
Rose Matafeo, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Ninebarrow
Rose Matafeo discusses her new BBC3 comedy Starstruck. It follows Jessie, a millennial living in East London juggling two dead end jobs and navigating the awkward morning-after-the-night-before, when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with a famous film star. She talks about creating a rom-com, diversity and why her comedy hero is the Dude in the Big Lebowski. The composer Isobel Waller-Bridge is known for her eclectic influences and celebrated scores for stage and screen, ranging from Emma to Vita and Virginia and Fleabag. She has composed the score for a new RSC production of The Winter’s Tale, due to have been staged last year but now filmed for BBC Lights Up. She talks about scoring a play that has such shifts of mood, her intimate and detailed working process and the rewards of collaboration. On Earth Day, Folk duo Ninebarrow explain how they're offsetting their carbon footprint in a plan inspired by the story of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, second-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar, who planted acorns as recompense for the great oaks that were being chopped down for ship building. Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere from the band explain how this story also inspired their new album, A Pocketful of Acorns. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Wed, April 21, 2021
Actor and director Noel Clarke reflects on his career
Actor, writer and director Noel Clarke discusses his latest role in the new five-part ITV drama series Viewpoint, in which he plays a surveillance detective tracking the movements of the prime suspect in the disappearance of a young woman. In the interview he looks back over a career which started with his breakthrough role in Kidulthood in 2006, which he wrote and starred in, and his further success in its sequels Adulthood and Brotherhood. His acting roles have included Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, as well as five years on Doctor Who. He's been back on our screens recently in the high-octane thriller Bulletproof with Ashley Walters. Earlier this month Noel was awarded the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema 2021, and in his acceptance speech he chose to highlight the industry’s need to reflect a more diverse representation, both in front of, and behind, the camera. NB: This programme was broadcast before any allegations about Noel Clarke's behaviour came to light. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image: Noel Clarke as DC Martin Young in Viewpoint Image credit: ITV.com
Tue, April 20, 2021
Kayo Chingonyi; Joyce DiDonato; The Importance of Being Earnest reviewed
Kayo Chingonyi is an award-winning poet, producer, DJ and lyricist. Kayo joins Tom to talk about his much anticipated new collection A Blood Condition, exploring family, identity and his Zambian heritage. Plus his new music podcast series Decode, which takes a deep dive into Dave’s Mercury Prize-winning debut album Psychodrama, revealing its musicality and lyricism over 11 episodes. Schubert’s song cycle, Winterreise, is regarded as the pinnacle of German Lied. This musical story of a young man pining for his lost love and drifting into existential despair has long fascinated audiences and scholars. Now mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato has brought a new approach to this composition. She joins Front Row to discuss how a woman’s perspective has created fresh meaning to Schubert’s winter journey. Lucy Holt reviews The Importance of Being Earnest at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield. This digital production transposes the original narrative of Wilde’s classic comedy to the cobbles and stone walls of the north of England. The updated narrative follows the story of struggling actor Jamil and rom-com star Algy, who come together in the pursuit of love, being true to yourself and Nando’s. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Mon, April 19, 2021
London Grammar, Frank of Ireland, Photographer of the Year Craig Easton
London Grammar's debut album in 2013 won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Song. Their follow up four years later topped the album charts. Singer and songwriter Hannah Reid talks about their latest album Californian Soil, about sexism in the music industry, and using lockdown as a chance to learn to read music. Craig Easton was last week announced as Photographer of the Year at the Sony World Photography Awards. He discusses his project Bank Top, a photographic celebration of the residents of a mixed community in Blackburn, for which he won the award. Domhnall Gleeson and his brother Brian have paired up for the new Channel 4 sitcom Frank of Ireland - the first episode aired last last week which Brian has described as “a physical, slapstick comedy about an arrogant fantasist called Frank Maron who’s in his thirties at home with his mother.” Comedian and co-host of the Tellybox podcast Emma Doran reviews the new Channel 4 series. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser Main image: London Grammar Image credit: Alex Waespi
Fri, April 16, 2021
Deborah Warner on Peter Grimes, Helen McCrory remembered, Mare of Easttown
Director Deborah Warner discusses her new production of Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, which opens at the Teatro Real in Madrid on Monday. The staging of this multinational co-production has become significantly more difficult in the wake of Brexit and more recently she has had to adapt to the numerous challenges posed by Covid. The death was announced today at the age of 52 of Helen McCrory, whose credits included Peaky Blinders, The Queen, Harry Potter and many highly-praised stage roles including Medea and The Deep Blue Sea. Theatre critic Susannah Clapp reflects on her contribution to stage and screen. Cybercrime is a lucrative source for fraudsters; companies’ customer accounts, personal bank details, and pension funds, presenting regular targets for the digital criminals. Now it seems that the world of publishing is attracting the online scammers. Heloise Wood, Deputy News Editor of The Bookseller, shares her latest scoop. Mare of Easttown is a new HBO/Sky Atlantic series starring Kate Winslet as a small-town Pennsylvanian detective investigating a local murder as life crumbles around her. Lanre Bakare (Guardian arts and culture correspondent) and Jen Chaney (New York Magazine’s Vulture TV critic) discuss the drama with Kirsty Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Thu, April 15, 2021
Paul Theroux on his new novel, Under The Wave at Waimea
Paul Theroux talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his latest novel “Under The Wave At Waimea” set in Hawaii where he now lives. Published just as he’s celebrated his 80th birthday - it uses surfing as an allegory for consideration of ageing, contemplation, writing, reading and reflecting on his professional and personal life. The conversation ranges across Theroux's long and successful career as a writer of fiction and of travel books. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, April 14, 2021
Testament, diversity in nature writing, festivals insurance update
Rapper and writer Testament discusses his new work Orpheus in the Record Shop which fuses spoken word and beatboxing with players from the Orchestra of Opera North in an new collaboration that gives the Greek myth of Orpheus a contemporary Yorkshire twist. Festivals this summer are still in doubt as organisers can't secure insurance commercially. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, CEO of UK Music, discusses how likely it will be that the government will step in to provide an indemnity. British nature writing remains overwhelmingly white, despite its continuing popularity. With the recent establishment of new prizes and literary journals for diversity in nature writing things are starting to change - but slowly. John talks to two authors bucking the trend: Anita Sethi, author of a new memoir called I Belong Here about reclaiming the countryside for people of colour and Paul Mendez, who contributed an essay to the new collection, In the Garden, about the gardens of his Windrush grandparents. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Bob Nettles and Donald McDonald Main image: Testament in Orpheus in the Record Shop Image credit: Anthony Robling
Tue, April 13, 2021
Ammonite; Jack Holden's play Cruise; Voices from the Peak
Ammonite tells the story of fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea who develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever. Set in 1840’s England and starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. The British Council's Director of Film, Briony Hanson reviews. In his early 20s, the actor and producer Jack Holden volunteered for the LGBT+ helpline, Switchboard. A decade on, his experiences there form the foundation of his new play, Cruise, which explores the impact of the 1980s AIDS crisis on the gay community in Soho. Poet and performer Mark Gwynne Jones discusses his celebration of the landscape of Britain’s first National Park as it marks its 70th anniversary, in Voices from the Peak, a journey through the Peak District in word and sound, featuring the atmospheres, wildlife and stories of a land rich in contrasts. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, April 12, 2021
Too Close, Rachel Whiteread, Chloe Zhao, Rosa Rankin Gee
Leila Latif reviews Too Close, ITV’s new psychological thriller starring Emily Watson and Denise Gough, which will be broadcast on consecutive nights this week. On the day that commercial art galleries are allowed to re-open in England, Rachel Whiteread discusses her new exhibition Internal Objects at the Gagosian gallery in London. The exhibition features new resin sculptures, and the gallery's two main rooms are occupied by two new works - large sheds made of found materials and painted in white household paint. As the BAFTA winners were announced over the weekend, Chloe Zhao’s film Nomadland won four prizes including best film, best actress for star Frances McDormand and best director. Film critic Leila Latif joins Kirsty to tell us more about the exciting young director, and her first feature film Songs My Brothers Taught Me which has just been released for the first time in the UK. Novelist Rosa Rankin Gee joins Kirsty to talk about her new novel, Dreamland, set in a dystopian future where rising tides and political extremism have left one coastal community, and one small family, to fend for itself. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Main image: Emily Watson as Dr Emma Robertson in Too Close Image credit: ITV.com
Sat, April 10, 2021
Taylor Swift's Fearless, Prince Philip portraitist Jonathan Yeo, David Almond, Them
Taylor Swift, who recently won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, has today released a new album called Fearless (Taylor's Version), which is an exact remake of her 2008 breakthrough album, Fearless. Music critic Sophie Harris explains why Taylor is repeating herself and reviews the new record. Tom Sutcliffe discusses HRH the Duke of Edinburgh's interest in art and literature with Jonathan Yeo, who painted his portrait, and Ian Lloyd, author of The Duke: 100 Chapters in the life of Prince Philip. Skellig author David Almond discusses his new novel Bone Music. Set in the forests and fells of Northern England, it's about a young girl who connects with a spiritual ancestor from the stone-age. Critics Jan Asante and Kohinoor Sahota discuss the provocative new Amazon drama, Them. Does it offer something new in the politicised American gothic horror genre or is it just a Jordan Peele rip off? Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser Production Co-ordinator: Hilary Buchanan Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Main image above: Taylor Swift. Image credit: Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images
Thu, April 08, 2021
Peggy Seeger, Liverpool pilot of arts events, Fiction writers of faith
Peggy Seeger has just released her latest album, The First Farewell, at the age of 85. She tells us about the pleasures of working on it with her family, her worries about the post-Covid music scene, getting older - and getting younger. Liverpool is about to take part in a pilot scheme testing live events. There will be an open-air film screening, a comedy gig and a club night. We talk to Liverpool's director of culture, Claire McColgan, about how it will work and the scientific questions behind it. Francis Spufford is the author of Golden Hill which won the Costa First Novel Award. Hafsa Zayyan's novel We Are All Birds of Uganda is on Radio 4 this week and won the Merky Books New Writing Prize. The two authors discuss what it means to be a writer of faith in 21st century Britain. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, April 07, 2021
Katherine Parkinson, Louise Kennedy, TikTok and bands
Katherine Parkinson is best known as an actress – she won a BAFTA playing Jen in The IT Crowd and warm praise for her performance on stage in Laura Wade’s play Home, I’m Darling. But she has also written a play, Sitting, an interwoven set of three monologues first performed at the Edinburgh Festival and now on BBC4 as part of BBC Lights Up. It is inspired by her own experience sitting for a portrait painter when she was a student and like the work of the actress herself spans from sharp comedy to raw emotion. She talks to John about performing in the play for the first time. Louise Kennedy discusses her new collection of short stories, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, which focus on the rugged landscapes and tough characters of north-west Ireland, just south of the border, where she lives. Secrets, lies, cruelty and history lie at the heart of many of the 15 stories, infused with the country’s folklore and politics. The band Years and Years released a snippet of their new single on TikTok before any other platforms and set a challenge to fans to make the most interesting video with lead singer Olly Alexander. Music Journalist Zoya Raza-Sheikh discusses how bands use TikTok to interact with fans and promote their music. As he founds a new organisation dedicated to improving Muslim representation on screen, Muslim Film UK, we talk to actor and producer Sajid Varda. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Tue, April 06, 2021
Riz Ahmed, Climate change books, Paul Ritter remembered, Israel covid passports
Riz Ahmed stars in Sound of Metal as a rock drummer who loses his hearing. The actor and rapper discusses learning American sign language, working with culturally Deaf actors as well as learning about addiction for his Oscar nominated performance. So far, 2021 has seen a large number of novels with a climate change theme being published. Toby Lichtig, Fiction Editor at the Times Literary Supplement, reports on some of the new releases and shifting attitudes in publishing towards avowedly-politicised fiction. Concerts and plays with a live audience have been taking place in Israel for over a month now, with audience members required to show a vaccination certificate known as a “green pass”. Allison Kaplan Sommer from the Haaretz Newspaper in Tel Aviv reports. Paul Ritter has died aged 54. Perhaps best known for playing the dad Martin in Friday Night Dinner, we speak to the show's writer Robert Popper about Paul's life and career. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Sound Engineer: Matilda Macari
Mon, April 05, 2021
Author Michael Rosen on his experience of Covid and his tribute to the NHS
A year ago, the writer, poet and broadcaster Michael Rosen was rushed to hospital with Covid. Put into an induced coma in intensive care for 48 days, he underwent weeks of convalescence as he learned to walk again. Following his recovery he wrote a new book, Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS, featuring letters written to him by the medical staff who cared for him, as well as a series of poems about his months in hospital. Michael Rosen discusses his near-death experience and his desire to pay tribute to the NHS workers who saved his life. Presenter Elle Osili-Wood Producer Jerome Weatherald
Fri, April 02, 2021
Front Row: The Blue Edition
Tonight's Font Row is a blue odyssey led by John Wilson as he talks to: Dr Narayan Khandekar, Director of the Forbes Pigment Collection and one of the first people in the world to recognise the significance of the accidental creation of new pigment, YInMn Blue; Artist Idris Khan is known for the use of blue in his work. He accepted Front Row's invitation to play with the newest blue pigment on the block. Idris Khan's work can be seen online as part of a group show at Victoria Miro, themed around the colour blue. The exhibition is called The Sky Was Blue the Sea Was Blue and the Boy Was Blue and runs until the end of April. Idris’s solo show, The Seasons Turn, will mark the reopening of the Victoria Miro gallery to the public, on April 13. His show runs until 15 May; Science journalist Kai Kupferschmidt who has written a new book, Blue: In Search of Nature's Rarest Colour which will be published in the UK in June; Architect Huang Wenjing who has designed a new blue building - the Pinghe Bibliotheater - in Shanghai; Saxophonist and composer Branford Marsalis who has written the blues soundtrack for the new film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom which can be seen on Netflix; and Colourist Jodie Davidson on the significance of blue when telling stories on the big and small screen. Presenter: John Wilson Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Thu, April 01, 2021
Director Lee Isaac Chung, Samantha Ege, Jane Austen's Persuasion, musicians selling back catalogues
Minari tells the story of a Korean family who move to a farm in Arkansas in pursuit of the American Dream. The film’s director, Lee Isaac Chung, explains how his own family story inspired events in the film, and the impact Awards nominations have on his career as a director. Pianist and musicologist Samantha Ege has launched an album of piano music from the often overlooked African-American composer, Florence Price. She discusses the revival of Price's music, and why it is important her work is remembered today. With news that Paul Simon has joined a high-profile group of singer/songwriters - including Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks – who’ve recently sold the entirety of their musical output, comedian and singer Amy Webber muses on the 50 Ways to Monetize Your Back Catalogue. Professor John Mullan has been celebrating the pleasures of reading, and re-reading, the novels of Jane Austen during lockdown for Front Row. For the final novel he recommends Persuasion, with its depiction of a thwarted love, and reflects on the series. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, March 31, 2021
Future of Disabled Theatre, Disability Champion Andrew Miller, London Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Miller, the Government’s first Disability Champion for Arts and Culture, is stepping down after three years in the post. He discusses the challenges facing disabled people in the creative industries and his hopes for the future. Jenny Sealey is Artistic Director of deaf and disabled theatre company Graeae and Robert Softley Gale is Artistic Director of Birds of Paradise, Scotland’s first touring theatre company employing disabled and non-disabled actors. They discuss the impact of the pandemic on disabled theatre makers. The London Symphony Orchestra has announced that Sir Antonio Pappano will be their next Chief Conductor, starting in September 2024. He takes over from Sir Simon Rattle who made a surprise announcement in January that he would be returning to conduct in Germany. Norman Lebrecht - author of The Maestro Myth - discusses the significance of this appointment for classical music in the UK. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser Main image: Graeae Theatre Company's 2018 tribute to wounded British veterans, This is Not For You Image credit: Dawn McNamara
Tue, March 30, 2021
International Booker Prize longlist reviewed, Joanne Harris, Who should translate work?
Novelist Nadifa Mohamed and translator Maureen Freely review the just-announced longlist for the International Booker Prize 2021. Author Joanne Harris talks to her Italian translator Laura Grandi, her collaborator of 22 years, about their special partnership. Plus writer and artist Khairani Barokka and Maureen Freely explore the question of how to choose who is the best person to translate each text, in light of the recent departure of several translators from the project of translating the work of Black US inauguration poet Amanda Gorman. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Engineer: Donald MacDonald
Mon, March 29, 2021
Tahar Rahim in The Mauritanian, Charlie Carroll, Greenborne
Kevin Macdonald’s new film The Mauritanian is based on the true story of a prisoner held in Guantánamo Bay for 14 years but never charged. The French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim, recently seen in the TV drama series The Serpent, discusses the challenges of playing Mohamedou Slahi, who was shackled, beaten and waterboarded by the US authorities. The Lip depicts a hidden Cornwall, the one we rarely see. Its author, Charlie Carroll discusses writing about the second poorest region in all of Europe and how he included mental health issues within his work. Ready for a new radio soap opera? Greenborne launched this month and this new audio drama aims to reflect the real world we live in. Ella Watts reviews. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
Fri, March 26, 2021
Tina Turner and Demi Lovato documentaries, author Dean Koontz, poet Marvin Thompson, artists on the high street
For our Friday Review, critics Jacqueline Springer and Sophie Harris give their verdict on two new documentaries, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil and Tina. Both detail each of the star’s respective troubles with abuse and drug addiction while in the limelight, and our reviewers discuss their candid telling of trauma. The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition winner was announced this Thursday in a virtual ceremony. The first prize, and the £5000 that came with it, was awarded to Marvin Thompson, a London-born poet of Jamaican heritage who now lives in mountainous south Wales. He explains what winning the prize means to him and how he explores his identity through his poetry. Dean Koontz is an extraordinarily successful author. His books have sold over 500m copies and been translated into 38 languages with many of them also being turned into screenplays. His first was published more than half a century ago in 1968 and his latest - The Other Emily – has just been published. He joins me from his home in California. Hypha Studios is a new organisation which seeks to regenerate Britain's high streets - 14 percent of whose shops are empty - and meet the needs of the thousands of artists across the UK in need of studio space. Kirsty Lang talks to its founder Camilla Cole about the process, and to its first beneficiary, artist Molly Stredwick whose temporary studio space is now a shop front in Eastbourne. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Image: Tina Turner in 'Tina' (2021) © Marc Gruninger
Thu, March 25, 2021
Emerald Fennell, Benin Bronzes, Winner of the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation
Emerald Fennell is the director and writer of Promising Young Woman, a darkly comic revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan. The film is nominated for five Academy Awards and six BAFTAs. Emerald is also a successful actress, most recently starring as the then-Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown as well as a cameo in the movie. We hear about what sparked the film, reactions to it and what it’s like to combine direction, writing and acting. The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is currently planning to return its entire collection of Benin bronzes to Nigeria, looted in the late 19th century in the era of European colonial expansion, and Aberdeen University has just announced it is going to be the first UK institution to return its own Benin bronze sculpture to the country. Alice Procter, author of the new book The Whole Picture: The Colonial Story of the Art in our Museums discusses the significance of these two examples of restitution. One of the most published Chinese poets in English Yang Lian, has won the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation along with his long time translator Brian Holton. He talks to Samira Ahmed from his home in exile in Berlin about his prize winning anthology Anniversary Snow as well as how his mother’s sudden death whilst he was being “re-educated” during China’s Cultural Revolution led to him becoming a poet Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Studio Engineer: Emma Harth
Wed, March 24, 2021
Playwright Mark Ravenhill, The Future of Festivals, 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize.
The playwright Mark Ravenhill joins us to talk about his new play Angela. It is a tender portrait of his parents; his mother, Angela, who died in 2019, and of his father, Ted. Angela had dementia and the play is about the memories that make us, and how time is more fluid than we might think. Ravenhill began Angela as a play for the stage that he was going to act - and even dance - himself. But Covid restirctions made that impossible so it became an audio play, starring Pam Ferris (Harry Potter, Call the Midwife) as Angela and Toby Jones (Detectorists, Uncle Vanya ) as Ted. Melanie Abbott joins us to update on the select committee concerning the future of UK music festivals. We also hear about a test festival that took place this weekend in The Netherlands, organised by Fieldlab. The winner of the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize is announced today and Front Row we will have the first interview.
Tue, March 23, 2021
Orlando Bloom; Liverpool Biennial; Elizabeth Knox
Orlando Bloom talks to Samira Ahmed about taking on a very different kind of role in his intense and visceral film Retaliation, and the new career challenges he’s excited about. As the delayed Liverpool Biennial gets underway – showing only online and outdoor work for the moment because of the restrictions on galleries opening – art critic and editor of The Double Negative cultural website Mike Pinnington considers how the commissioned artists have responded to the theme of ‘the body’, and how the city is preparing to re-open its doors. Best selling New Zealand writer Elizabeth Knox discusses her new novel The Absolute Book, an apocalyptic fantasy novel which explores contemporary issues including climate change through a fusion of ancient myths, other worlds and a murder mystery in a spell binding story. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Image: Retaliation (2017) Credit: Zee Studios International
Mon, March 22, 2021
Nile Rodgers on his digital portrait, composer Hannah Peel
Nile Rodgers – guitarist, producer, songwriter, arranger, and co-founder of Chic in the 1970s – is the subject of what claims to be the world’s first voice-interactive digital portrait, In the Room with Nile Rodgers, in association with the National Portrait Gallery. Nile Rodgers and the project's director, Sarah Coward, discuss and explain the ambitious artwork. Hannah Peel’s latest album Fir Wave is inspired by nature, and finds links between patterns in nature and in early electronic music. She explains the inspiration behind her new album, how she’s reinterpreted iconic music by the Radiophonic Workshop, and why Delia Derbyshire is such an important figure for her. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: Nile Rodgers Image credit: Dimitri Hakke/Getty Images
Fri, March 19, 2021
Giles Terera, Griff, Line of Duty reviewed, Harriet Harman on touring musicians
Today, Griff was awarded the 2021 BRITs Rising Star prize. The 20 year old singer-songwriter joins us to discuss how she writes her lyrics including to her breakout single Black Hole, making music in lockdown and what the future holds for her now she’s won this award. Line of Duty returns to our screens this weekend. Crime writers Dreda Say Mitchell and Abir Mukherjee review Jed Mercurio’s sixth series and consider the depiction of the police in TV drama more generally. After concern that the government's post-Brexit trade deal with Europe left them out, Labour MP Harriet Harman tells us about her proposed 10 point plan to help musicians and other touring artists who want to work in the EU. Giles Terera won an Olivier Award for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. His next role will be in a play he's written himself: The Meaning of Zong is a powerful account of the notorious massacre aboard the slave ship Zong in 1781. Originally conceived for the stage, it's now been made for Radio 3 as part of the BBC Lights Up festival. Giles talks about the play and about his new song cycle, Black Matter, inspired by the last year. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Matilda Macari
Thu, March 18, 2021
Michael Rosen, Chris Bush, Zack Snyder’s Justice League
A year ago, the poet and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen was admitted to hospital with Covid-19. Against all the odds, after months in hospital, including 48 days in intensive care and in an induced coma, he returned home and has written a new collection of prose poems and words about the experience. The poet discusses Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS and how the trauma affected him. This week sees the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Originally released in 2017 in an edit by Joss Whedon, the film received poor reviews. A successful fan campaign, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, has led to the release of a new version by original director Zack Snyder. But is it an improvement? Leila Latif reviews. The Band Plays On is a new play by writer Chris Bush, taking the form of a series of monologues punctuated by live music covers of some of Sheffield’s bands and artists. Chris joins us to discuss making theatre in lockdown and her choice to mark Sheffield’s history within the play. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Wed, March 17, 2021
No Ordinary Man, Dream, Lofi Hip Hop, James Levine
Director Chase Joynt joins us to talk about his film No Ordinary Man, an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Tipton was born in Oklahoma in 1914, and with the limited resources of the 1930s, had no choice but to transition alone. Entering the heady world of jazz as a pianist and band leader, he enjoyed a long and successful career, becoming a husband and father of three adopted sons in the 1960s. He never shared his gender history with anyone and when he died in 1989, the press seized on the public outing, generating much lurid coverage and incredulity. No Ordinary Man uses a unconventional format to explore the meaning of his life and legacy from the perspective of trans artists today. Dream is a new collaborative production by the RSC which isn’t quite like their usual work. It uses actors, stop motion techniques, graphics and interactivity familiar from gaming and puts them into a pandemic-proof online show inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream: a live performance in a virtual forest. Could this point the way to future developments on stage and screen? Critic Naima Khan gives her verdict. Looking for an accompaniment to working from home? Search “lofi hiphop” on YouTube and among the hours of background music mixes and Anime pictures, you’ll find communities of students and workers from around the world congregating to listen and work together. Journalists Allegra Frank and Wil Jones explain the appeal of the channels, the music and the communities around them. Conductor James Levine, who led New York's Metropolitan Opera for 40 years before being fired over sexual abuse allegations, has died at the age of 77. Main image: Bandleader Billy Tipton Image credit: Courtesy BFI Flare
Tue, March 16, 2021
Theatre one year on - what now?
One year after theatres closed due to the Covid pandemic, leading figures from the industry join Front Row to look at how the past year has impacted upon theatres and the people who work in them. Sonia Friedman reflects on this time last year, when the unthinkable happened, and looks forward to when theatres might re-open. Julian Bird, CEO of SOLT and UK Theatre, reports on the results of their survey, just in, which asked questions of theatres and individuals around the UK. Actor Michael Balogun had all of his work cancelled immediately. Then in September, he appeared on stage at the National, starring in The Death of England - Delroy, but press night was also the last night as the theatre shut again. Theatre directors and writers Emma Rice (Wise Children), Lucy Askew (Creation) and Amy Ng discuss how they've adapted their working practices to cope with the difficulties of the last year, and what opportunities these new ways of working now present for their future work. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Mon, March 15, 2021
Sarah Gavron and Theresa Ikoko on Rocks, Oscar nominations, Emma Stonex
Inspired by the real-life story of three men in a lighthouse who mysteriously vanished, Emma Stonex’s novel The Lamplighters is part thriller, part history and part ghost story. She explains why she felt drawn to write about the sea and what we can learn from the solitary lives of lighthouse keepers. David Fincher's film Mank leads the field in today's Oscar nominations, but who else stood out in the announcement? Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reflects on the nominations in a year when most cinemas in the world have been closed. The film Rocks is leading the BAFTA nominations this year. Its director, Sarah Gavron, and writer, Theresa Ikoko join us to discuss casting with no script, working in a wholly female team and the film’s success. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image: Kosar Ali (Sumaya), Ruby Stokes (Agnes) and Bukky Bakray (Rocks) from the film Rocks. Image credit: Aimee Spinks/Altitude Films
Fri, March 12, 2021
Aria Code podcast, Yaa Gyasi's new novel, Sky drama The Flight Attendant reviewed
The podcast ‘Aria Code’ from WQXR and the Metropolitan Opera aims to pull back the curtain on some of operas most well-known moments. Each episode “decodes” one aria, with academics and opera singers diving in to the music. But there are also a variety of unexpected guests, such as a marriage therapist talking relationships in Carmen or a former sex worker giving perspective on La Traviata. Host Rhiannon Giddens explains what’s coming up in the third series of the podcast. The 2020 film The Legend of Fire Saga told the story of Husavik - a plucky little village in Iceland - that wanted to send a local group to compete at The Eurovision Song Contest. They have a song ready to sing in English but decide at the last moment to swap to one which features their native tongue, even though they’ve been warned that it’ll mean they won’t win. It starred Will Ferrel and Rachel McAdams and the song’s real life composer was Atli Örvarsson (who’s also written for Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding and many others). Now it’s Oscar nominations time and the citizens of Husavik want the ballad to their town to be nominated in the Best Original Song category shortlist. For our Friday Review, critics Lanre Bakare and Anna Smith give their verdict on whether Sky’s The Flight Attendant takes off. Starring Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory, it tells the story of a flight attendant whose wild night out in Bangkok lands her in a very sticky situation. Michelle Gomez and Rosie Perez also star. And we’ll be asking Lanre and Anna to give their suggestions for something cultural to enjoy this weekend. The author Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel Homegoing was a breakthrough success with its account of the impact of slavery on generations of a family. Her second, Transcendent Kingdom, has just been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It’s about opioid addiction, religion and the line between belief and science, with its story of Gifty, a scientist who is looking for ways to understand what has happened to her and her family. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Thu, March 11, 2021
The rise, fall and rise again of audio cassettes, poet Luke Wright, film director Shaka King
The recent death of Lou Ottens - the inventor of audio cassettes who later went on to work on the development of CD technology - gives us the opportunity to look back at the glory days of cassettes, their subsequent decline and the latest unexpected return to fashion, with music journalists Laura Barton and Jude Rogers. Young British poet Luke Wright describes himself as 'a louche poet (who) loves a bit of bathos'. He has a new collection of work, The Feelgood Movie Of The Year, with poems written over the past few years and right up to Covid lockdown, which brought his full touring diary to an abrupt standstill. How has life changed, and where does a poet find inspiration when their everyday world shrinks overnight? Shaka King is the director of Judas and the Black Messiah, a new film starring Daniel Kaluuya which tells the story of the political life and assassination of Black Panther Fred Hampton at the age of 21 in 1969. King discusses the FBI's determined campaign to disrupt the powerful unifying movement and their infiltration of the Illinois chapter by a counter-intelligence operative. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Wed, March 10, 2021
The One on Netflix, Women's Prize for Fiction longlist, Samuel West rebooting regional theatre, Kieran Hodgson's moment of joy
Netflix’s new drama, The One, set five minutes in the future, depicts a world where a DNA test can find your perfect partner. Kohinoor Sahota joins us to discuss its mix of sci-fi and romance, as well as whether this format could be the future of dating. The longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction is announced today. Critic Alex Clark joins Front Row to talk about the themes, highlights, whether there are any surprise inclusions and omissions, and which book might take the prize. At the weekend, actor and director Samuel West proposed a plan to ‘reboot’ regional theatre following the lockdown, which would see big-name TV and film stars doing a play at a theatre closest to where they grew up. The actor discusses the reaction to his suggestion and how it would work. In the latest of our Moments of Joy series, comedian Kieran Hodgson takes us into the world of Dvorak’s 8th Symphony, complete with its (figurative) partying elephants and comedy conclusion. Main image: Hannah Ware in the new Netflix series The One. Image credit: Steven Peskett
Tue, March 09, 2021
Hilary Hahn; BAFTA nominations; competitive reading
The Bafta Film Awards have unveiled a highly diverse nominations list, with 16 of the 24 acting nominees this year coming from ethnic minority groups. This follows criticsm in previous years about shortlists that didn’t reflect modern Britain. Film maker, poet and founder of The Caramel Film Club Be Manzini joins us to ask whether this is the beginning of greater representation. Violinist Hilary Hahn’s new CD ‘Paris’ brings together music inspired by a city that has been pivotal in her career. She explains her connection to the pieces she’s recorded, how she juggles pandemic problems with being a professional violinist, and how she hopes to make changes for the next generation of musicians. Diyora Shadijanova and Stig Abell discuss the rise of competitive reading. With more and more people setting themselves a reading target and sharing their book history online, they consider whether social media has made the act of reading more performative than personal. The academic John Mullan has been recommending re-reading Jane Austen during lockdown. In the last in the series, tonight he presents the case for Persuasion. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Simon Richardson
Mon, March 08, 2021
Oana Aristide, Remembering Stevie Smith, and what is an NFT?
Novelist Oana Aristide discusses her debut novel Under the Blue, about a reclusive artist forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. It has been described as eco-fiction and it explores themes of environmental destruction, the melting of the polar ice, eco-terrorism, all within a suspenseful story of three survivors on a terrifying road trip. The British poet Stevie Smith, best known for her work “Not Waving, But Drowning” died 50 years ago today. We speak with her biographer Frances Spalding, the editor of her collected poems and drawings Will May and we’re joined by the actor Juliet Stevenson to look at Smith’s life and works and consider her legacy. Kings of Leon have made their new album available as a form of cryptocurrency, and last week Grimes sold a digital collection of artworks in a similar way for almost $6m. Aleks Krotoski explains the growing craze for ‘non-fungible tokens’ or NFTs. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Oana Aristide Image credit: Nikos Karanikolas
Fri, March 05, 2021
David Mamet; The Glorias and Moxie reviewed; Danielle Evans
David Mamet's latest play, The Christopher Boy’s Communion is about a couple in New York whose son is facing trial charged with an appalling crime. First performed on the stage in Los Angeles last year, it’s premiers in the UK in the form of a radio play next week. He discusses the tricky issues it deals with and how he adapted a lengthier stage play it for radio (BBC Radio 4, Monday 8 March 8, 1415) In this week’s Friday Review, critics Karen Krizanovich and Jan Asante discuss two films with different perspectives on feminism: The Glorias, written and directed by Julie Taymor and starring Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore, which focuses on the life of the American feminist, writer and activist Gloria Steinem, and the US high school drama Moxie, directed by and starring Amy Poehler. American writer Danielle Evans talks to Kirsty about her second short story collection, The Office of Historical Corrections, which offers a kaleidoscopic exploration of what it is to be African American in the modern USA and uses the short story form to meditate on themes of history and memory. Our occasional series dedicated to moments of joy returns with games writer Jordan Erica Webber, who argues that even at the end of the universe one can find peace and happiness as in the game Outer Wilds. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Thu, March 04, 2021
MC Grammar, Bookshop.org, proposed changes at the V&A
As World Book Day we’re speaking to teacher turned rapper turned internet sensation MC Grammar. He's created lots of videos setting information about grammar to a rap beat. He joins us to explain why it succeeds with school children and we hear the song he's composed specially for the day. Since the arrival of Amazon and online bookselling, independent bookshops have been facing an existential crisis, one that has only accelerated under Coronavirus. Going online to sell books feels like a natural way to boost profits and in November a new service, Bookshop.org, arrived in the UK promising to help bookshops get online and give them a bigger cut of profits. Bookshop.org has announced it has generated £1 million for independent bookshops - could the service be the saviour of independent bookshops and what is the future for ethical book buying online? Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director at Bookshop.org UK and Zool Verjee, head of marketing and publicity at Blackwells join us to discuss. And we hear about the potential impact of proposed changes, including restructuring and cutting some posts, at the V&A in London. Guy Baxter, formerly of the V&A, joins Front Row to discuss. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, March 03, 2021
Guitarist Pat Metheny, Budget news for the arts, Translation
Pat Metheny has won 20 Grammy Awards, predominantly for his work as a jazz guitarist, but also for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and Best Instrumental Composition. His latest work is as a composer. The album Road to the Sun has two major works for classical guitar. Four Paths of Light is a four movement suite for a solo instrument, played by Jason Vieaux, and Road to the Sun, a piece in six parts, performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Metheny himself plays his arrangement of Arvo Pärt's piano piece Für Alina, on an extraordinary 42 string instrument. Pat Metheny tells John Wilson about this ambitious work. We've reaction to today's Budget Statement from the Chancellor. Rishi Sunak has added £300m to the £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund, £90m more for museums, and £18m for cultural community projects but will the newly announced extension to the Government's Self Employment Income Support scheme really help struggling arts freelancers? And how can the festivals industry plan for the summer without the government-backed insurance scheme many were calling for? Chairman of the DCMS parliamentary select committee, Julian Knight MP and Paule Constable from the Freelancers Make Theatre Work campaign join us to discuss. And Poet Amanda Gorman became famous around the world when she read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Biden’s Inauguration, and now her work is due to be translated into multiple languages. Publishers Meulenhoff have been criticised for appointing a white writer, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, to translate Gorman’s poetry into Dutch, and now Rijneveld has stepped down amid the furore. Activist Janice Deul explains why she was so disappointed with the publisher’s original choice, and writer and translator Khairani Barokka describes the complicated relationship between writers and translators. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Main image: Pat Metheny, credit: John Peden
Tue, March 02, 2021
The Anchoress; Your Honour; Stories That Get Us Through
Your Honour is a new Showtime miniseries starring Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as a respected New Orleans judge whose son is involved in a hit-and-run. He faces a series of impossible choices questioning how far a Father will go to go to save a son's life. Developed by British Peter Moffat it's a remake of the hit Israeli show Kvodo. Novelist and journalist Lionel Shriver reviews. Stories To Get You Through is a new podcast performed by the people of Doncaster as part of the National Theatre's Public Acts programme. Participants developed their stories remotely on Zoom, over the phone, and through postal packs with creative writing activities, and recorded the stories at home with professional audio recording equipment. The podcast series consists of five episodes exploring themes of imagination, change, fear, friendship and heroes. Nick is joined by James Blakey, Associate Director of Public Acts at the National Theatre, and Lyn Sweeting, who took part. Singer songwriter Catherine Anne Davies makes music as The Anchoress. Her second album The Art of Losing is the follow up to her critically acclaimed album. 'Confessions of a Romantic Novelist'. Written and produced by Davies, the new album deals with mutiple losses and trauma that she has faced over the last few years - including the loss of her father and several miscarriages and is firmly concerned with how to find purpose in the midst of grief. She discusses how creativity can come from loss. Plus reactions to the news that the Chancellor is set announce four hundred million pounds of help for the arts sector in the budget tomorrow. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Helen Roberts
Mon, March 01, 2021
Review of Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun, Adrian Younge - The American Negro, Springtime in poetry
Kazuo Ishiguro has just published his eighth novel, the first to be written since he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017 and was knighted. Klara and the Sun is about an Artificial Friend, a robot whose role is to be a companion to the teenage Josie, though it becomes apparent that more may be expected of Klara. With resonances of two of his previous novels Never Let Me Go and of The Remains of the Day, it is a much-anticipated addition to Ishiguro’s body of work. Sameer Rahim, books editor at Prospect magazine, joins us to review. The kind of systemic violence that led to the death of George Floyd is the concern of the composer and producer Adrian Younge in The American Negro, his multimedia project for Black History Month in the US. It comprises an album of music and spoken word, a four part podcast series, Invisible Blackness, and a short film. Live from Los Angeles Adrian Younge talks to us about this ambitious and unapologetic critique of the malevolent psychology that afflicts people of colour in America today. Poet Alison Brackenbury considers poetic responses to the arrival of Spring, from the familiar to the over-familiiar. And our occasional series dedicated to Moments of Joy continues with games writer Jordan Erica Webber, who finds peace and happiness at the end of the universe in the game Outer Wilds. Presenter : Tom Sutcliffe Producer : Simon Richardson Main image: Sir Kazuo Ishiguro Image credit: Howard Sooley
Fri, February 26, 2021
The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed, Adrian Scarborough, Ronald Pickup remembered, Joanna Pocock
We review a new biopic of jazz singer Billie Holiday, directed by Lee Daniels, which tells the story of the FBI’s campaign against her. They were afraid that performing her most famous song Strange Fruit, about the lynching of Black Americans, would incite unrest. Andra Day stars as Holiday. Barb Jungr and Be Manzini give their verdict, comment on the week's arts news and give recommendations for what they've been enjoying recently. A True Born Englishman, a monologue written 30 years ago for Radio 3 by Peter Barnes but never broadcast, is now available online as part of Barnes' People, a collection of the writer's monologues, produced by Original Theatre Company. It imagines the story of a long-serving footman at Buckingham Palace. We talk to actor Adrian Scarborough about the role and why it wasn't broadcast at the time. We mark the passing of the much loved actor of stage and screen Ronald Pickup. Praised as a great character actor, he also played many lead roles. He found global fame with The Crown and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel following a prolific and acclaimed career. Theatre critic Michael Billington discusses Pickup’s career and interrogates the label of character actor. Joanna Pocock is the winner of the Arts Foundation Futures Award for Environmental Writing. Her book Surrender is a long-form essay blending reportage, memoir, and nature writing focusing on the ecological crisis in the American West and beyond. Joanna discusses the future of environmental writing in an environment with an uncertain future. And another Moment of Pleasure as Max Liu celebrates a scene from Annie Baker's play The Flick, an homage to the power of celluloid and the cinema. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio manager: Duncan Hannant
Thu, February 25, 2021
Gilbert & George, Ryan Calais Cameron, Jadé Fadojutimi
Artists Gilbert & George open a new exhibition at the White Cube next week. The pair first met in 1967 whilst studying sculpture at Central St Martin’s art college. They’ve lived and worked together in East London for fifty years. The show - New Normal Pictures - consists of twenty-six new pictures which feature the pair in gritty London landscapes including bin bags, bus shelters and graffiti. It was first due to exhibit in April last year. They join John Wilson to discuss how they’ve been more industrious than ever in lockdown and how they hope their fans will experience their art online. First staged in 2019, Typical is a play based on the true-life story of the last night of Christopher Alder, a 37-year-old Black father of two, computer trainee and former paratrooper. That night out in Hull in 1998 would end with his death in police custody. Playwright Ryan Calais Cameron joins Front Row to talk about the Soho Theatre streaming of his play, a one man show performed by Richard Blackwood and co-produced by Nouveau Riche. In today’s #FrontRowGetCreative challenge Painter Jadé Fadojutimi gives us her advice on how to start turning an idea into a piece of art. It can be a new idea, or one you’ve had for a while, the important thing is to get yourself into a space where you can start to make something creative. Jadé invites us into her studio at 1:30 in the morning and shows us how she starts a painting. And we reflect on the life of renowned art detective Charley Hill whose investigative work led to the recovery of one of the world's most iconic paintings Edvard Munch's The Scream, stolen in Oslo in 1984. Charley Hill died earlier this week aged 73. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Wed, February 24, 2021
Martina Cole, Sam Lee, opening date for museums
As she is awarded one of British crime writing’s top accolades, the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger, Samira talks to crime novelist Martina Cole. Hailed as the Queen of Crime Drama, Cole has written 25 novels and sold 10 million books since records began but her work is rarely reviewed - so what’s her secret? Under the road map unveiled by Boris Johnson on Monday public museums and galleries in England will be allowed to reopen no earlier than 17 May, along with other indoor venues such as cinemas and soft play areas, whilst commercial galleries, public libraries, community centres and gyms are allowed to open from 12 April. Sharon Heal, director of the Museums Association talks to Samira Ahmed about the impact the continued classification of museums as "indoor entertainment venues" will have on the sector and whether there might be a shift on behalf of the government. Folk musician Sam Lee has collaborated with English Heritage on a project called Songs of England, a series of online films of sites from Stonehenge and Tintagel to Hadrian’s Wall and Whitby Abbey accompanied by traditional folksongs performed by members of Sam’s Nest Collective. He talks about the connection between music and location and sings John Barleycorn especially for Front Row. Sam also tells Samira about his fascination with the nightingale which he has turned into a compendium of ornithology, verse, legends and illustration and his plans for open-air concerts where nightingales will sing with the musicians. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser SM: John Boland
Tue, February 23, 2021
Keats, Bonnie Tyler, Museums and contested heritage
John Keats was just 25 when he died in Rome 200 years ago. To mark the anniversary The Poetry Society has commissioned new work from award-winning contemporary poets responding to Keats’s work, and two of them – Rachael Boast and Will Harris – join us to share their poems and discuss why Keats is still important to contemporary writers 200 hundred years after his death. “The Best Is Yet To Come” is Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler’s 18th studio album. Pushed back by the pandemic, it’s a return to the bombastic full-figured 80s sound that characterised Total Eclipse of the Heart and some of her other greatest hits. At the age of 69, does the rock veteran feel like the best is yet to come? Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden summoned 25 heads of England's Museums and heritage organisations to a summit today to discuss the issue of contested history and the government policy of "retain and explain". Duncan Wilson, Chief Exec of Historic England, reports on the meeting. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
Mon, February 22, 2021
Huw Stephens on The Story of Welsh Art, Prequels, reaction to the covid roadmap
As the Prime Minister sets out his roadmap to ending the Covid lockdown we get reaction from Dominique Frazer, Founder of the Boileroom, a music venue in Guildford, and Hamish Moseley, Managing Director of an independent film distribution company Altitude Film Entertainment, and ask if this offers them enough information to start to plan for the year ahead. Radio Wales DJ Huw Stephens discusses is three part documentary, The Story of Welsh Art, which looks as visual art in the country more associated with poets and singers. As Nick, a prequel to The Great Gatsby is published, we speak to it's author Michael Farris Smith on why the rather retiring character Nick Carraway deserved a backstory and Professor of Literature Diane Roberts joins to discuss the appeal of the genre. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Main Image: Huw Stephens holding a painting by Richard Wilson called Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle. Credit: BBC
Fri, February 19, 2021
The Color Purple, Niven Govinden, U-Roy remembered, John Barber
Leicester Curve’s recent award-winning revival of the musical The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker’s novel, has been reimagined, filmed and is being streamed for audiences. Dreda Say Mitchell and David Benedict review. David Rodigan joins us to celebrate the life of the great Jamaican musician U-Roy, who died recently. He was a master of the toasting mic style – the precursor of rapping, MC-ing and freestyling. Niven Govinden studied film before becoming an award-winning writer. In his sixth novel Diary of a Film his cinematic knowledge is filtered through the lens of creative anxiety, queer desire, and European city walking. In it, an auteur and his lead actors arrive at a prestigious film festival to premiere his latest film. Alone one morning at a backstreet cafe, he strikes up a conversation with a local woman who takes him on a walk to uncover the city's secrets, historic and personal. A story of love and tragedy emerges, and he begins to see the chance meeting as fate. Every year the Arts Foundation makes awards of £10,000 to assist artists with living and working costs - helping them to carry on creating. All five of the 2021 winners are talking about their work on Front Row. The fourth is John Barber, Arts Foundation Fellow for Choral Composition. He tells John Wilson about the range of his music making, from a retelling of the Persephone myth for 1500 voices, 10 years running Woven Gold, a choir made up of refugees and asylum seekers and professional musicians, to pieces for small choirs such at The Sixteen. So much choral music is rooted in religious texts and liturgy. But Barber is not religious and he explains his concern with composing music for voices from a secular perspective. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald
Thu, February 18, 2021
Wagner's Ring, Bloodlands, Victor Ambrus, Jessie Brennan
Dame Sarah Connolly sings the role of the goddess Fricka in the Royal Opera House's production of Wagner's The Ring Cycle, currently being broadcast on BBC Radio 3. She discusses the challenge of performing this 15 hour operatic epic. Chris Brandon on writing the new BBC crime drama series Bloodlands - which stars James Nesbitt as a detective - is exec produced by Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty and Bodyguard), and which draws on Brandon's own upbringing in Northern Ireland. Visual artist Jessie Brennan presents our latest #FrontRowGetCreative challenge: today it's "blind drawing", which invites us to take a more intimate view of a person or object. You'll need the help of someone you're bubbling with, or you could draw a pet or object. We pay tribute to the artist Victor Ambrus, who has died at the age of 85. A refugee from Hungary, Ambrus became known for his illustrations of children's books - folktales, history and animal stories - and for his appearances on the TV show Time Team. His powerful images of battles were influenced by his own experience of the Hungarian Uprising. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, February 17, 2021
K-Pop and the South Korean music industry, poet Kate Fox, touring shows in Europe post Brexit
Is listening to K-Pop like buying sweatshop-made clothes? From rigorous childhood performance academies to long, labour-intensive contracts for young idols, does the South Korean music industry have an exploitation problem? High profile suicides, sexual harassment claims and industry standards are complicating the nature of the industry and the fandom as it booms in the English speaking world. Musicologist Haekyung Um and journalist Taylor Glasby weigh in. Poet Kate Fox talks about her new collection The Oscillations, exploring distance and isolation in the age of the pandemic, refracted through the lenses of neurodiversity and trauma in poems that are bold, funny and open-hearted in their self-discoveries. Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic Tom Morris and Matt Hemley from The Stage discuss the viability of touring UK stage shows in Europe post Brexit as the National Theatre announce today that their planned European tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will not go ahead. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn Main image: The K-pop girl group BlackPink on stage Image credit: Rich Fury/Getty Images
Tue, February 16, 2021
Good Grief, Shalom Auslander, National Galleries
In 2006 a friend of the actor and writer Lorien Haynes died. Haynes's grief has found unusual expression - in a romantic comedy starring Sian Clifford and Nikesh Patel. In Good Grief the central character is dead. Director Natalie Abrahami has created an unusual hybrid of film and theatre, shot in what looks like a rehearsal studio, with a set of cardboard boxes - one marked 'cupboard'. Between scenes we see the crew setting lights and microphones. The critic Alice Saville reviews. Comic novelist Shalom Auslander talks to Tom about his latest novel, Mother for Dinner. Seventh Seltzer is a Cannibal-American who has done everything he can to break from his past, but in his overbearing, narcissistic mother's last moments he is drawn back into the life he left behind. At her deathbed, she whispers in his ear the two words he always knew she would: Eat me. The book explores ideas of legacy, assimilation, the things we owe our families, and the things we owe ourselves. As the National Gallery in London announces plans for its 200th anniversary in 2024, we discuss how museums and galleries might be different in a post pandemic future. With National Gallery Director Gabriele Finaldi and David Anderson, Director of the National Museums of Wales. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, February 15, 2021
Lolita Chakrabarti on her play Hymn, literature about waiting, The Silence of the Lambs 30 years on
As the nation waits for the vaccine and lockdown restrictions to ease, what can literature teach us about the art of waiting? Writer Rebecca Stott, critic Alex Clark and poet Anthony Anaxagorou discuss the art of waiting, whether cheerfully or 'with a green and yellow melancholy… like Patience on a monument' as Viola says in Twelfth Night. Lolita Chakrabarti’s play Hymn begins at a funeral where two men meet, and begin to form a remarkable bond. Lolita discusses her play that uses music and dance to chart the developing bond between these men. The play that begins streaming live from the Almeida Theatre this week. What do you remember of The Silence of the Lambs? It was released 30 years ago yesterday - on St Valentine's Day. The critic Michael Carlson looks back at this horror classic which uses elements of the rom-com genre, and argues we are wrong to think Lecter is the central figure. Clarice Starling, the FBI trainee, played by Jodie Foster, is the focus, and the film plays out from her perspective. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Main image above: Adrian Lester as Gil in Hymn Image credit: Marc Brenner
Fri, February 12, 2021
Chick Corea, Barbellion Prize winner Riva Lehrer, Sia's film Music reviewed & Schneel Malik
British jazz pianist and broadcaster Julian Joseph joins us to look at the life and music of his good friend; pianist and composer Chick Corea. Chick began his career in the early 60’s, released his first album in 1968 and over more than 5 decades he played with just about every big name in jazz, winning 23 Grammy awards and was still composing and performing new work just months ago – most recently a concerto inspired by the music of Bela Bartok Elusive pop sensation Sia makes her film directorial debut with Music, the story of a troubled older sister learning to love and live with her autistic younger sister. It’s released in the UK this week under a barrage of criticism from the autistic community which has seen Sia apologise for depicting a potentially lethal restraint technique, and for casting a neurotypical actress (long-time collaborator Maddie Ziegler) as the autistic eponymous character. TV writer and author of Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels Sara Gibbs joins film critic Tim Robey to review the film. They also take a look at the film Democrats presented during Donald Trump's second impeachment trial on 9 February for its cinematic technique and editing. When Riva Lehrer was born in 1958 with spina bifida, most children like her were not expected to survive. In her Barbellion prize winning memoir, Golem Girl, she recounts her life as a disabled person, using her paintings as a companion to her words. She joins us today to discuss the paradox of visibility, and how she uses art to amplify the lives of those who are usually left unseen. Every year the Arts Foundation makes award of £10,000 to assist recipients with living and working costs - helping them to carry on creating. All five winners are talking about their winning projects on Front Row. The third is Shneel Malik, a bio-architect. Her work Indus is a wall of tiles impressed with what look like the veins of leaves, down which water pours. It is strikingly beautiful - and very practical. The channels of the veins hold a micro-algae gel that purifies the water, contaminated by toxins in processes such as textile dyeing by small enterprises in India. It prevents pollution and allows the water - a scarce resource - to be recycled. Shneel Malik explains her work and its potential. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Tim Prosser Studio manager: Duncan Hannant
Thu, February 11, 2021
Ben Hopkins, Luke Jerram, Winsome Pinnock, Rex Obano
Screenwriter and novelist Ben Hopkins talks to Tom about his ambitious new novel, Cathedral. It's a portrait of the construction of the medieval period's greatest buildings, featuring a cast of intriguing characters all vying for power - from the bishop to his treasurer to local merchants and lowly stone cutters. Faith, Hope and Glory is a new drama series on Radio 4 which sees British playwrights Roy Williams, Rex Obano, and Winsome Pinnock chart the history of postwar Britain through the intersecting lives of three women. Starting in 1946, a week of 15 minute dramas which set the scene: Hope and Jim’s baby, entrusted to Eunice to take home to Antigua, is lost at Tilbury Docks, and found by Gloria and Clement, a celibate couple, who decide to keep her and call her Joy. The series continues with three 45 minute plays. Winsome Pinnock and Rex Obano join Tom to discuss the series. Luke Jerram is the next artist to feature in #FrontRowGetCreative, where artists encourage you to try your hand at a piece of art. Today, he focuses on sound, which has been an important component to much of his work, from installing 2000 pianos in public spaces in 65 cities around the world to etching the sound of his own voice on the engagement ring for his wife (which actually plays!). Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn
Wed, February 10, 2021
Adam Curtis, Welcome to Your Fantasy, true crime podcasts
Documentary-maker Adam Curtis crafts densely-constructed, visually-fragmented work so packed full of ideas and images that you can’t take your eyes off the screen for a moment. He pulls together disparate images and soundtrack to create a mesmerising hypothesis. He discusses his newest work, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, which debuts on BBC iPlayer this Thursday. Welcome to Your Fantasy and The Missing are two new true crime podcasts swelling the ranks in a genre which continues to feature highly in both Spotify and Apple podcast charts. Crime writer and true podcast fan Denise Mina, Natalia Petrzela, presenter and co-producer of Welcome To Your Fantasy, and true crime podcast maker Hannah Maguire, co-host of RedHanded, discuss the continuing appeal of this format. We’ve another in our continuing series, Moments of Joy, showing how art can brighten dark times. Today it’s the turn of writer Max Liu, who celebrates a moment in Annie Baker‘s drama The Flick, which defies theatrical conventions to great effect. It also reminds us of the unacknowledged value of small talk. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Tue, February 09, 2021
News of the World, Mary Wilson tribute, songwriter Roger Cook, Jean-Claude Carrière remembered
Tom Hanks stars in Paul Greengrass's new film, News of the World. Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a Civil War veteran who crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Gavia Baker-Whitelaw gives us her verdict on the western. Songwriter Roger Cook discusses Thursday’s world premiere of Next Year in Jerusalem, the title song of a musical he wrote with Lionel Bart 47 years ago. Roger is now hoping to revive the musical they never managed to stage at the time, and shares an exclusive recording of one of the songs, sung by him and Lionel Bart. Mary Wilson was a founding members of The Supremes, one of the most successful and influential girl groups of all time to spring from the Motown stable. To celebrate her life, Kevin Le Gendre looks at what she achieved and her influence on the British beat group scene at the time. Jean-Claude Carriere, who died yesterday, aged 89, had an extraordinary career. He published his first novel in 1957. His first screenplay was filmed in 1962. He carried on writing novels and films - he acted, too - until 2019. He worked with Jacques Tati and wrote most of Luis Bunuel's later films, including The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire. He collaborated with Peter Brook on one of the most important productions in 20th Century theatre, the nine-hour-long stage version of The Mahabharata. Critic Christopher Cook assesses Carriere's cultural significance, paying tribute to a great French artist and intellectual. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Mon, February 08, 2021
Cathy Yan on her film Dead Pigs
Twenty years ago this week, the artist Michael Landy famously destroyed every single one of his 7,227 possessions in an artwork called Break Down. The artist looks back on the 14-day event which took place on an industrial conveyor belt inside a disused department store in Oxford St in London, and considers how the process affected him. Since the now notorious Handforth Parish Council Meeting people have been imagining the film version starring Meryl Streep or Lesley Manville as Jackie Weaver, with cameos from Julie Walters and David Bradley, but films take forever to make. Already, though, people have been busy composing Handforth Parish Council, the musical, the opera, the sea shanty and the drill track, shooting videos and posting them online. Millie Taylor, professor of musical theatre assesses some of these almost instant offerings and talks to Kirsty Lang about what they reveal about creativity in lockdown. Cathy Yan joins us from New York, to discuss how her work as journalist in China informed her film, Dead Pigs. Based on a true story, the film focuses on the lives and connections of a disparate group of characters as thousands of dead pigs mysteriously float down the river towards Shanghai. Cathy will discuss what made her want to adapt the story for screen, as well as her experience shooting in China. How has the current situation affected plans for Coventry city of culture 2021, which is due to kick off on 15 May? Chenine Bhathena, creative director, discusses their plans, and how they've dealt with the challenges of lockdown and Covid. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Main image above: Vivian Wu as Candy Wang (Centre) in Dead Pigs. Image credit: MUBI
Fri, February 05, 2021
Luke Jerram's Vaccine Artwork, Remembering Christopher Plummer, Malcolm & Marie
In April the artist Luke Jerram spoke on Front Row about his sculpture of the Covid-19 virus. Since then he has been ill with Covid and has created another sculpture - unveiled today - this time of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Jerram discusses his artistic engagement with Covid, including his piece In Memoriam, 120 flags made of NHS bed-sheets, commemorating those who have died. The Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer, whose death at the age of 91 was announced today, is remembered by the film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. For our Friday Review, Larushka is joined by Carl Anka to discuss Malcolm & Marie, the black-and-white, made-in-lockdown relationship movie on Netflix starring Zendaya and John David Washington, written and directed by Sam Levinson. They also watch ZeroZeroZero, a new thriller on Sky unpicking the international cocaine trade based on the book by Roberto Saviano. Arts Foundation Futures Award winner Keisha Thompson discusses her past work as a theatre-maker and poet. She talks about how she uses her background in science and maths to inform her theatre practice, and why she is fascinated by taboo subjects in art. And to celebrate Welsh Language Music Day, the 19-year-old Welsh singer, composer and harpist Cerys Hafana joins us to explain how music and the Welsh language go hand-in-hand. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Thu, February 04, 2021
Sam Neill On New Film Rams
Hollywood star Sam Neill joins us from his home in New Zealand to discuss the perils of acting with sheep in his new film Rams, based on an acclaimed Icelandic drama about two estranged brothers and their flocks of a rare horned breed of sheep. A new colour blue has come onto artists’ palettes. Called YInMn it was discovered in 2009 by accident by scientists working on semiconductors but has only just become commercially available. Art critic Waldemar Januszczak looks at why this is significant and how artists have used the colour blue in painting. The next artist in our series #FrontRowGetCreative is Sarah Maple who will be exploring the art of collage. Using the idea of ‘negative space’, Sarah will be showing us how to create our own collage using text and imagery from magazines, newspapers and junk mail, the result of which will be a modern and striking image and a significant step up from what we were doing at primary school. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Wed, February 03, 2021
Golden Globes, Sundance, K-Ming Chang and literary scouts
Film critic Leila Latif joins us to discuss today’s Golden Globe nominations, and gives us an overview of some of the highlights from the first ever online Sundance Festival. The folklore of Taiwan is visited and revisited by subsequent generations of women in Bestiary, the debut novel from K-Ming Chang, as a Daughter falls in love and confronts her family’s secrets in America. Shot through with a litany of mythical beasts, it’s a novel that offers a charged narrative of diaspora and beauty in a hazy magic realist renderings of California, Arkansas & Taiwan. Author and poet K-Ming Chang tells Kirsty Lang how tracing her own heritage led to a story of queer desire, violence, and identity. Writers write while agents tend to their interests and publishers bring their works to the public. There is, though, another lesser known but important worker in the books business - the Literary Scout. Their role is to find the right books, before anyone else, and bring them to publishers, all over the world. Scouts have to know everyone and everything and, as we all know, knowledge is power. Natasha Farrant, famous as a Costa Award winning children's author, has been a literary scout for 20 years. Antony Harwood has been a prominent literary agent even longer. On Front Row they discuss the role and importance of the literary scout, spilling the beans to Kirsty Lang...but probably not all of them. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Harry Parker Studio manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Josh 0'Connor as Prince Charles and Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer in the Netflix TV series The Crown Image credit: Des Willie/Netflix
Tue, February 02, 2021
Kevin MacDonald Jakuta Alikavazovic
The Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald discusses his follow-up to his YouTube film Life In A Day from 2010, where he invited the public to upload their own footage of their lives taken on one specific day. He then edited those contributions to create a finished film to tell the story of a single day on Earth. For Life In A Day 2020 he received over 320,000 submissions from nearly 200 countries. Jakuta Alikavazovic is a Prix Goncourt winning French writer of Bosnian and Montenegrin origins. She talks to John Wilson about her new novel Night As It Falls which explores themes of identity, first love, class and contemporary anxiety against the backdrop of the war in the former Yugoslavia and is out in English this week. As part of our ongoing mission to bring a bit of artistic light to the darkness, we’ve been hearing about some Moments of Joy – those sudden, intense moments watching a play or a film, reading, listening to music or looking at a work of art, when your heart soars. Critic Hanna Flint's choice is a scene from the film Blinded by the Light – with a soundtrack by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Continuing the theme, February 2nd is Candlemas, the celebration of the infant Christ's presentation in the Temple, and the coming of light, when all the candles needed for the year were brought into the church, and blessed. Poets have been drawn to the subject - Robert Herrick, T. S. Eliot and Amy Clampitt - all writing Candlemas poems. There are a number of Candlemas customs and sayings - about how the weather at Candlemas predicts the coming season, for instance. The Cornish poet Charles Causley incorporates one of these into his poem, At Candlemas, with which we end Front Row, in a setting by the Dartmoor singer, and relative of the poet, Jim Causley. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn
Tue, February 02, 2021
Jill Halfpenny in new drama, The Drowning
Jill Halfpenny stars in a new tv thriller The Drowning. Nine years ago, Jodie’s little boy disappeared on a picnic by the lake, presumed drowned, and she’s never been able to accept his loss. Now, out of the blue, she catches sight of a teenage boy and she’s sure that it’s her missing son. Jill talks to Samira about why she likes playing morally ambiguous characters, shares her own personal experience of loss and how grief is a monster you just can’t outrun. The British Library has just acquired the archive of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and Helen Melody, Curator of Contemporary Literature and Creative Archives, tells Samira Ahmed about its treasures: scripts, performance recordings, letters, photographs, rehearsal notes, press cuttings and props. The archive also contains material from the tenures of later artistic directors, such Philip Hedley and Kerry Michael, who notably encouraged diversity and inclusion, Black and Asian theatre, and work made by people with disabilities. We mark the publication of a landmark anthology of queer writing, Queer: A Collection of LGBTQ Writing from Ancient Times to Yesterday, which brings together an unusually broad range of voices from across the ages and the globe to form a survey of queer literature. Editor of the anthology, Frank Wynne, will be joined by writer and artist Morgan M Page, host of trans history podcast One From the Vaults, for a discussion about the cyclical nature of attitudes towards sexuality and gender and to highlight some lesser known voices in the tradition from India, Mexico and Greenland. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Main image: Jill Halfpenny in The Drowning Image credit: Unstoppable Film and Television/Bernard Walsh
Fri, January 29, 2021
The Dig reviewed, Arts Foundation Futures Award winner Tanoa Sasraku, Novelist Max Porter, Moments of Joy: Walt Whitman
We review The Dig, starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and the Suffolk landscape, a film about the excavation of the Anglo-Saxon burial site at Sutton Hoo. It's also a revealing excavation of class and prejudice in 1930s England. The great ship was discovered, uncovered and conserved by Basil Brown, an autodidact who left school aged 12, He described himself as an excavator and he and his work were brushed aside by incoming university trained archaeologists. The film also tells stories of love and grief in the tense days as war approaches. Our reviewers are Roberta Gilchrist, Professor of Medieval Archaeology and film critic Hannah McGill. Tanoa Sasraku is one of five artists to receive this year’s Arts Foundation Futures Awards worth £10,000, awarded on the basis of past work and to enable future development. She talks about her art practice which uses video performance and flag making to explore her identity as a young, gay woman with British and Ghanaian heritage. And about her plans to use the Fellowship to produce the second film in a canon of Black horror fairytales: a queer re-telling of the Selkie legend. Max Porter, best known for his novel Grief is the Thing With Feathers - a meditation on Ted Hughes and loss - discusses his new 75-page book The Death of Francis Bacon, in which he imagines himself into the mind of the artist in his final days in Madrid in 1992 facing approaching death in a convent hospital. As part of our ongoing series of Moments of Joy, poet and winner of the 2018 TS Eliot prize Hannah Sullivan explores a poem– the final section of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself in his collection Leaves of Grass, read for us by Kerry Shale. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson .
Thu, January 28, 2021
Edmund de Waal launches our #FrontRowGetCreative challenge, Hafsa Zayyan, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hung Parliament
The ceramicist, artist and writer Edmund de Waal today launches the #FrontRowGetCreative project, where artists will be encouraging you, our listeners, to try their hand at creating an artwork with easily-available materials. In his studio he talks us through the creation of a palimpsest, where letters and characters overlap in layers of clay – or domestic filler in this case – to memorialise words that are special to him. We'd love to see what you create. Show us what you've made by sharing on social media channels using the hashtag Front Row Get Creative and we'll show those that catch our eye on the BBC Arts and Front Row websites. Check out the BBC's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Hafsa Zayyan was the winner of the inaugural Merky Books New Writers' Prize - part of Stormzy’s ongoing partnership publishing new books with William Heinemann. We speak to her about her novel We Are All Birds Of Uganda. It’s a fascinating story about intergenerational trauma, racism and displacement set between Uganda in the 1960s and now. Les Enfants Terribles have a reputation for innovating in the world of immersive theatre. Their face-to-face shows included the Olivier-nominated Alice’s Adventures Underground performed literally underground, the prosecution of punk collective in Inside Pussy Riot, and United Queendom, telling the stories of some of Kensington Palace’s lesser known royals in the Palace itself. But can you do immersive theatre online? Oliver Lansley, founder and co-artistic director, discusses Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hung Parliament described as a combination of theatre, gaming, escape room and board game - . Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Simon Richardson
Wed, January 27, 2021
Celeste, poet Brian Bilston, new film Palmer reviewed
Celeste talks to Front Row about her career from making tracks on a laptop in her bedroom to successes at the Brit and BBC Music Awards, composing and performing the music for last year's John Lewis advert, A Little Love, and the release of her debut album 'Not Your Muse'. She blew her fusilli, my pretty penne, when she found me watching daytime tagliatelle. The first stanza of 'The Remembrance of Things Pasta' is typical of the poetry of Brian Bilston, who has been called the Banksy of Poetry and Twitter's unofficial poet laureate. He talks and reads witty, wry and wise poetry from his new collection, 'Alexa, what is there to know about love?' And Ryan Gilbey gives his verdict on new film Palmer starring Justin Timberlake. Former high school football star Eddie Palmer went from hometown hero to convicted felon. He returns home to Louisiana and the grandmother who raised him but things become more complicated when Vivian’s hard-living neighbour Shelly (Juno Temple) disappears on a prolonged bender, leaving her precocious and unique 7-year-old son Sam (Ryder Allen), often the target of bullying for his gender non-conforming behaviour, in Palmer’s reluctant care. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Main image: Celeste Image credit: Elizaveta Porodina
Tue, January 26, 2021
Jenny Eclair, Jon Brown, Costa Book of the Year winner
Can you use craft to help make the world a better place, one stitch at a time? In her new BBC Four documentary, Craftivism: Making a Difference, writer, comedian and art lover Jenny Eclair meets people doing extraordinary things with knitting, cross-stitch, banners and felt to change hearts and minds. She tells us all about it. Tom talks to Jon Brown, BAFTA award-winning show-runner and screenwriter about his gaming sitcom Dead Pixels which returns to E4 for a new series. And we've an interview featuring the winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award, which has just been announced. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Mon, January 25, 2021
Jonzi D and Pawlet Brookes on Black dance, TS Eliot Prizewinner Bhanu Kapil, portraying politicians
Choreographer Jonzi D has created a new work for Dancing Nation, the all-day digital festival of dance which is streamed on BBC iPlayer this Thursday. Jonzi discusses the state of Black dance with Pawlet Brookes, who runs Serendipity in Leicester and has edited the collection of essays My Voice, My Practice: Black Dance. In the light of the announcement that Kenneth Branagh has been cast to play Boris Johnson in a new TV drama about the Covid-19 crisis, critic, journalist and former political researcher Sam Delaney joins Samira to talk about the impact of dramatisations of contemporary political moments on the public imagination. Last night Bhanu Kapil won the TS Eliot Prize for her collection How to Wash a Heart. She talks to Samira about and reads from her book which, in the voice of an immigrant guest in the house of a citizen host, explores the idea, and limits, of hospitality, and the experiences of diaspora people. For his Moment of Joy, the writer Darran Anderson chooses a scene from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, an exploration of mortality that is nonetheless deeply life-affirming. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Main image above: Jonzi D Image credit: Dave Barros
Fri, January 22, 2021
The White Tiger, the TS Eliot Prize shortlist, sculptor Denise Dutton
The White Tiger is a new Netflix film based on Aravind Adiga’s 2008 Booker Prize-winning novel, directed by Ramin Bahrani. It explores Indian society and how hard it can be to climb the social ladder, as Balram, played by Adarsh Gourav, struggles to advance even when he has found rich employers. For our Friday review, writer Abir Mukherjee and film critic and host of the Girls on Film podcast Anna Smith give their verdict, and reflect on the week that saw 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman perform The Hill We Climb at President Biden’s inauguration. Every year one of the first literary events is the T. S. Eliot Prize readings, when each of the 10 shortlisted poets performs to a packed Royal Festival Hall. But this year the The South Bank Centre is streaming the poets' readings instead. The winner will be announced immediately afterwards. Chair of the judges Lavinia Greenlaw discusses this year's shortlist. Denise Dutton discusses her commission to sculpt the statue of Mary Anning, the 19th-century fossil hunter from Lyme Regis. The statue of the pioneer of palaeontology was crowdfunded by a campaign started by 13-year-old Evie Swire. Denise, who has also made statues of suffragettes and the Women's Land Army, considers the role played by statues in bringing overlooked women to public attention. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Timothy Prosser
Thu, January 21, 2021
It's a Sin, how Aids has been depicted in culture, Glastonbury Festival cancellation, London International Mime Festival
After weeks of speculation, we heard today that the 2021 Glastonbury festival is to be cancelled amidst uncertainly due to Covid. Tom talks to the Chairman of the Department of Culture Media and Sport parliamentary select committee, the Conservative MP Julian Knight, who today issued a strong statement condemning the government for not stepping in to assist the industry. Russell T Davies' hotly anticipated new Channel 4 series It’s A Sin begins tomorrow night. Set in the 1980s, it follows the story of the Aids crisis and charts the joy and heartbreak of a group of friends over 10 years in which everything changed. Critic David Benedict reviews. We’ll also be exploring depictions of the Aids crisis and its impact across the decades on stage, screen and other artforms with David and journalist Juliet Jacques. The London International Mime Festival started this week, online only this year, and as part of that they’ve commissioned five original short films – between three and 10 minutes each – which are available to view free. Critic Sarah Crompton reviews the five very different works. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson
Wed, January 20, 2021
Schubert's Winterreise, novelist Olivia Sudjic, new US administration and the arts, performers' travel post-Brexit
Singers Roderick Williams and David Webb discuss Schubert’s celebrated 1827 song-cycle Winterreise, about a man dealing with rejection and loneliness who journeys through the winter snow. Roderick has recorded a new CD of Winterreise and David is about to perform it at the Wigmore Hall in London, having cycled 500 miles to raise money for mental health charities. More than 100 music stars including Elton John, Sting, Ed Sheeran Brian May, Nicola Benedetti and Roger Daltrey have signed a letter saying performers have been “shamefully failed” by the post-Brexit travel rules and that there is a “gaping hole where the promised free movement for musicians should be”. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has been meeting today with music industry representatives and we speak to Jamie Njoku Goodwin of UK Music about what he told them. Anya, diligently studying for a doctorate and Luke, a committed environmental scientist, get engaged on holiday in Provence. They begin to plan their wedding in Cornwall. Anya escaped from Sarajevo as a child during the Balkan War and when she takes Luke to meet her family there her carefully contained uncertainties surface. Relationships and identities begin to unravel. Olivia Sudjic talks to Samira Ahmed about her new novel Asylum Road. As Joe Biden becomes the next President of the United States, Front Row asks what the new administration will mean for arts and culture, with the help of critic Matt Wolf. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Main image above: Franz Schubert portrait Image credit: Imagno/Getty Images
Tue, January 19, 2021
Patricia Highsmith centenary, Caroline Shaw, Baby Done comedy reviewed
John is joined by composer, vocalist, violinist and producer Caroline Shaw – the youngest ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, winner of a Grammy in 2018 for her album Orange with Attaca Quartet. Caroline Shaw talks about her new album Narrow Sea featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw, Sō Percussion ensemble and the pianist Gilbert Kalish, as well as writing for unusual instruments, unconventional approaches to composing, and the difference between writing for an orchestra and collaborating with Kanye. Today (19 Jan) is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patricia Highsmith, author of the classic thrillers The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train and of The Price of Salt, later published as Carol. Several of her books have been made into successful films and continue to be adapted: Deep Water starring Ben Affleck is expected later this year and the making of a new TV series based on Ripley starring Andrew Scott has been announced. To mark the anniversary, a new collection of her short stories has been published, Under a Dark Angel’s Eye, and a new biography, Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford. Bradford and the writer Joanna Briscoe discuss Highsmith’s compelling, dark writing and the troubled – and troubling - life behind it. Comedian Rose Matafeo stars in New Zealand comedy film Baby Done as a woman who finding herself unexpectedly pregnant attempts to fulfil a bucket list of adventures before the baby arrives. The film is exec produced by Taika Waititi and co-stars Matthew Lewis, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter franchise. Critic Hannah McGill reviews. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Mon, January 18, 2021
Ashley Walters makes his directorial debut
English rapper, songwriter and actor Ashley Walters has now turned his hand to directing with a short film called BOYS. Shot in London it follows Noah, who – whilst trying to fulfil a request from his brother who’s in prison – has to decide which way he wants his own life to turn out. To lift our spirits in difficult times Front Row brings you Moments of Joy – a celebration of those intense moments when watching a film or a play, reading a book or poem, listening to music or looking at a picture makes your heart soar. Today, writer and critic Erica Wagner on the opening of Star Wars – a film she saw first in 1977 as a 10-year-old. American writer Torrey Peters joins us to talk about her ground breaking new novel, Detransition Baby. It charts the complex relationship between two trans women, Reese and Amy as the latter detransitions and renames himself Ames, then gets his boss Katrina pregnant. The trio ends up trying to figure out whether it’s possible for them to form a family together. Phil Spector, the pop producer who was convicted of murder, has died aged 81. Music journalist and biographer Richard Williams discusses Spector’s distinctive “Wall of Sound” recordings with artists such as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Ashley Walters directing Boys Image credit: Sky UK Ltd/Alison Painter
Fri, January 15, 2021
Music festivals, Keeley Hawes, WandaVision reviewed
What will happen with music festivals this year? For Front Row, DJ Emily Dust talks to some of those involved. Keeley Hawes is one of the most in-demand British actors for TV and film, with exceptional performances in a wide variety of roles. Coming soon for UK viewers there’ll be ITV’s dark comedy Finding Alice; To Olivia – a film about Roald Dahl’s complicated relationship with his wife Patricia Neal; and Russell T Davies’ series for Channel 4, It’s A Sin. She tells Front Row about filming in lockdown, how she chooses her work and about playing an unsympathetic character WandaVision, the first in a massive slate of high-budget new streaming series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes two of the Avengers - Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) - and plants them in a retro sitcom universe, complete with laugh track. Leila Latif scrutinises this first offering in a new era for mainstream entertainment. In a universe far, far away from that, Gen-Zers on TikTok have discovered the sea shanty in a big way. Music journalist Tom Service explains where the shanty comes from and what it might be doing for us in 2021. And Leila and Tom give their cultural picks. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Thu, January 14, 2021
Stardust, The world's oldest painting, Jenni Fagan, Arts Students
Stardust is the new film about David Bowie’s promotional tour of the United States in 1971 during which he began to develop the concept of Ziggy Stardust. Bowie is played by musician and actor Johnny Flynn and the film has already attracted attention as they were unable to secure the rights to Bowie’s songs. Writer and Bowie fan Mark Billingham reviews. A vivid 45,500 year old painting of a warty pig, discovered on a cave wall in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the oldest representational art in the world. What does the striking work tell us about the value of art to the civilisation that created it. With archeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes. Novelist Jenni Fagan talks about her latest book, Luckenbooth. It opens as the devil's daughter rows to Edinburgh in a coffin to work as maid for the Minister of Culture, a man who lives a dual life. But the real reason she's there is to bear him and his barren wife a child, the consequences of which curse the tenement building that is their home for a hundred years. How are students whose arts subjects at university or college require them to undertake in-person tuition adapting to the third lockdown? Callum Bruce, a second year musical theatre student at Trinity Laban in London, and Mary Johnson, third year percussion student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, discuss how the pandemic has affected their studies. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser
Wed, January 13, 2021
Drag kings, Courttia Newland, wintry podcasts
As RuPaul’s Drag Race UK returns for a second season and the US series welcomes its first trans man as a competitor, are the ironically gendered boundaries of drag breaking down and what about the other side of drag - the kings? Drag kings Don One and Jodie Mitchell, better known as John Travulva, join Samira to talk about the world of Kings. Courttia Newland’s new novel A River Called Time has been 18 years in the making and imagines a city a little like London in a world in which colonialism and slavery never happened. The writer discusses imagination, speculative fiction and class – and his co-scripting with Steve McQueen for two of the Small Axe films - Lovers Rock and Red, White and Blue. You’re back in lockdown, it’s bitterly cold outside and the nights are long and dark. You could order a sad lamp online and hope for the best, or you can lean into it with writer Eleanor Penny’s round up of podcasts for this bleak midwinter. Creepy, desolate, bleak - but gripping and thrilling too. Recommendations include The Sink, The Orbiting Human Circus, and Victoriocity. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image above: Drag King John Travulva Image credit: Holly Revell
Tue, January 12, 2021
Regina King, classical music for kids, Northern Irish literature
Oscar winning actress Regina King tells Kirsty about her debut film as a director, One Night in Miami, inspired by the real-life meeting between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown on the night that Ali (then still called Cassius Clay) defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight World Champion title. Europe's first classical music station especially for children was launched yesterday. Fun Kids Classical will play music by composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens and Grieg; with performances from young artists such as cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, saxophonist Jess Gillam and violinist Jennifer Pike. The pianist Lang Lang, whose International Music Foundation encourages children to engage with music, is the new station's Ambassador. Matt Deegan, Fun Kids Classical's station, manager talks to Kirsty Lang about the need for such a radio station, and his ambitions for it. This year sees the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland. Although the region is synonymous with the poetry of Seamus Heaney or the plays of Brian Friel, its recent literary reputation has tended to languor in the shadow of its southern neighbour. But today, as issues connected to Brexit and the status of the border with the EU have Northern Ireland back in the news, there is also cohort of younger writers from the region demanding attention. Kirsty talks to novelist Jan Carson, who has a new series of short stories, The Last Resort, serialised on Radio 4 alongside memoirist Darran Anderson, whose new book Inventory, is published next month, about what makes the region such a rich setting for fiction and nonfiction now. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: Nigel Dix
Mon, January 11, 2021
Ben Okri, The Pembrokeshire Murders, Michael Berkeley
Ben Okri published his poem 'Grenfell Tower, June 2017' in the Financial Times a few days after the inferno. On Channel 4's Facebook page it was played more than 6 million times. This is but one of his poems written in response to current events, politics and people, gathered in his new book, A Fire in my Head: Poems for the Dawn. Okri considers the poet's role to be the town crier, and there are poems about that other fire, at Notre Dame, Barack Obama and the Covid pandemic. But, as he tells Samira Ahmed, his collection also includes the personal, love poems and a tender evocation of a new-born's encounter with life, and the wonder of the world. A new miniseries, The Pembrokeshire Murders, starts soon on ITV. It tells the real story of the investigation by Dyfed Powys Police into 2 decades-old previously-unsolved fatal shootings, using advances in forensic science to find microscopic clues that were previously invisible to them. We speak to the writer for the series – Nick Stephens – about writing a gripping story when the outcome is already known. Composer, broadcaster and cross bench member of the House of Lords Michael Berkeley is tabling a question to ministers about the issue affecting UK musicians who will no longer be able to viably tour Europe as a result of the recent Brexit deal. He tells Samira about his concerns in light of reports over the weekend that a reciprocal arrangement was offered the British government but was refused. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Main image: Ben Okri Image credit: Mat Bray
Fri, January 08, 2021
We commemorate the fifth anniversary of David Bowie's death and consider his continuing musical influence and legacy
Five years ago, on 10th Jan 2016, David Bowie died, just two days after his 69th birthday. To mark the anniversary, we revisit John Wilson's 2002 interview with him, recorded in New York. Two composers – Hannah Peel and Neil Brand – will also be discussing Bowie’s music and considering its legacy and influence. Ingrid Persaud has won the First Novel category in the Costa Book Awards 2020 for Love After Love. The author discusses her tale of a mother, her son and their lodger in Trinidad, each living with the burden of a secret they don’t want revealed. For our Friday Review, writer and journalist Kohinoor Sahota and Isabel Stevens of Sight and Sound give their view of Pieces of a Woman (Netflix). It’s a film that has already won praise for its powerful and realistic first half hour in which Vanessa Kirby plays a woman going through labour and giving birth. They’ll also consider some of the cultural stories of the week and tell us what they’ve been reading and watching. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: David Bowie Image credit: Nils Meilvang/AFP via Getty Images
Thu, January 07, 2021
BBC Sound of 2021 Winner Pa Salieu, Finnish TV drama, Natasha Farrant
Pa Salieu, the Gambian-British artist from Coventry, has been named as the winner of the BBC Sound of 2021. His single Frontline was the most played track on BBC Radio 1Xtra in 2020. In 2019 he was shot in the head, but recovered to release his debut mixtape Send Them To Coventry at the end of 2020 and now picks up one of the biggest accolades in new music. On the fifth anniversary of Walter Presents, the global streaming service dedicated to showcasing award winning foreign language drama, the platform is launching its first ever dramas from Finland, All The Sins and Bullets. Whilst BBC 4 is launching its first ever Finnish drama, the 6 part drama series Man in Room 301. Walter Iuzzolino, curator of Walter Presents, and best selling Finnish crime writer Antti Tuomainen talk to Kirsty Lang about what makes Finnish drama distinctive and why we should be watching. Natasha Farrant, The Costa Award Children' s category winner, talks about her book Voyage of the Sparrowhawk which, with 12 year old Ben and Lotti becoming friends as they outwit a wicked uncle, a police chase, dogs and a perilous sea crossing in search of people they love, has just about everything a fast-paced adventure story requires. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser
Wed, January 06, 2021
Lee Lawrence, the impact of Brexit on classical music, Twelfth Night tradition at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
On 28th September 1985 Lee Lawrence’s mother Cherry Groce was shot by police during an armed raid on her Brixton home. Lee Lawrence talks to Samira Ahmed about his Costa Biography award winning memoir The Louder I will Sing in which he recounts the devastating impact the shooting had on the family’s life and his courageous fight for justice. As British musicians warn that costly post-Brexit bureaucracy could decimate European touring, we discuss the potential impact of the recent Brexit Trade Deal on the music industry. With Deborah Annetts from the Incorporated Society of Musicians, Mark Pemberton from the Association of British Orchestras and conductor Paul McCreesh, founder of the Grammy award-winning baroque ensemble, the Gabrieli Consort. Actor Robert Baddeley, a member of David Garrick’s company at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, created a tradition when he died in 1794. In his will, he left £100 to be invested and each year, the money from that sum be spent on “the purchase of a twelfth Cake or Cakes and Wine and Punch or both of them which it is my request the Ladies and Gentlemen performers of Theatre Royal Drury Lane will do me the favour to accept on twelfth night in every year in the Green Room”. Ever since the company playing has enjoyed Baddeley's largesse on January 6th. Theatre stage manager and author Nicholas Bromley joins us to reveal one of the longest standing British Theatre traditions. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Tue, January 05, 2021
The Great, Eavan Boland, the origin of the blues
The Great, a new ahistorical comedy from The Favourite writer Tony McNamara arrives on Channel 4 this month. Describing itself as “an occasionally true story”, it is a satirical drama about the rise of Catherine the Great, staring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. McNamara talks period dramas, historical inaccuracies and contemporary characters. The great Irish poet Eavan Boland has just posthumously won the Costa Poetry Prize. Boland's collection The Historians continues her reflections on the power of history and memory, of secrets and hidden histories, and of centring women’s stories. Tom is joined by Jody Allen Randolph, a friend and leading scholar of Eavan’s work, and actress Niamh Cusack reads from the collection. The genre that helped define American music and describe the Black American experience is the subject of a new series of album releases which trace the genesis of blues, ragtime, hokum and gospel from the mid-1920s. Matchbox Bluesmaster Series claims to be the most comprehensive survey of the origins of Black American blues music - Kevin Le Gendre assesses the success of its first instalment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: John Boland
Mon, January 04, 2021
Dante's Divine Comedy 700 years on with Katya Adler; Costa Book Awards category winners
Suzannah Lipscomb, Chair of Judges for the Costa Book Awards 2020, joins us to reveal exclusively the winners in each of category: Novel, Children’s, Poetry, Biography and Debut Novel. This is followed by an interview with the winner of the Best Novel category. Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy 7 centuries ago but - like all great literature – it still speaks to us in today’s world. Katya Adler, the BBC's Europe Editor and lover of all things Italian is a fan of the epic poem and has made a 3 part series for Radio 4. She discusses what she's set out ot explore and who she's done that with. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hilary Dunn SM: Donald MacDonald
Thu, December 31, 2020
Art that brightened the year - violinist Tasmin Little, Baillie Gifford winner Craig Brown, actress Rochenda Sandall
Front Row celebrates some of the art that brightened a dark year. British violinist Tasmin Little has hung up her violin and retired from the concert stage in 2020. It’s the last night of the last year of her performing career - she looks back, and says goodbye to the year in style. Satirist Craig Brown won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction this year for his Beatles book, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time. Rochenda Sandall has been praised for powerful performances in the lockdown Talking Heads which then went briefly on stage at the Bridge in London, and as activist Barbara Beese in Small Axe - Mangrove. And cultural commentator Elle Osili-Wood joins John in the Front Row studio to look back at some of the year's highlights. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Wed, December 30, 2020
Evelyn Glennie, The Serpent's Tom Shankland, chosen families in culture
The family you choose, rather than the family you’re born into, is fertile territory for writers. From Henry V, to The Lord of the Rings, to Josie and the Pussycats, family dynamics between those who start as strangers keep storytelling going. Playwright Temi Wilkey and screenwriter Sarah Dollard join Samira to talk about the enduring and endearing nature of the chosen family story. Inspired by real events, BBC One’s New Years Day drama The Serpent tells the story of how the conman and murderer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim) was brought to justice. Posing as a gem dealer, Sobhraj and his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman) travelled across Thailand, Nepal and India in 1975 and 1976, carrying out a spree of crimes on the Asian ‘Hippie Trail’ until Herman Knippenberg (Billy Howle), a junior diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok, unwittingly walks into his intricate web of crime. Samira Ahmed talks to the director of The Serpent Tom Shankland. Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first full time solo percussionist. A career built in part by expanding the percussion repertoire by more than 200 pieces created alongside major composers, orchestras and musicians. In January she’s releasing two new albums. She talks to Samira about working with composers, listening in Lockdown, and demonstrates some of her over 2000 instruments. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn
Tue, December 29, 2020
Pianist Lang Lang on Bach's Goldberg Variations
The pianist Lang Lang this year released his first recording of Bach's 1741 keyboard masterpiece, Goldberg Variations, feeling he was finally ready to do so 20 years into his own musical career. At the piano from a studio near his home in Beijing, Lang Lang discusses the work originally written for harpsichord, what a challenge it presents for a performer, and why he chose to release two versions of the 31 works, - one recorded in one take in St Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany - Bach’s workplace for almost 30 years and where the composer is buried - and the second a studio version recorded shortly afterwards. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald
Mon, December 28, 2020
A poetry edition, with Simon Armitage, Vanessa Kisuule, Anthony Anaxagorou, Em Power, Anna Selby, Daphne Astor, talking, reading
The pandemic is having a profound impact on the arts. But you don't need to go anywhere, involve other people or need many materials, to write or read poetry, and during the lockdown people have turned to verse. In an extended edition of Front Row devoted to poetry Samira Ahmed hears from the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, about his recent writing life - composing lyrics for Huddersfield Choral Society. Vanessa Kisuule, City Poet of Bristol, talks about her collaboration with the Old Vic and local groups, creating modern work inspired by medieval mystery plays. Em Power, three times Foyle Poet of the Year winner, reveals how poetry is a communal art. And they all read their work. Even before the lockdown there was a surge in sales of poetry books, driven by the internet. Anthony Anaxagorou and Vanessa Kisuule chart their journeys as poets via YouTube to the printed page. They discuss poetry addressing politics - Kisuule's poem on the toppling of the Colston statue went viral - and poets' engagement with the environment. Armitage launched the Laurel Prize to encourage this. In March Daphne Astor started the Hazel Press whose books about the natural world are created from it using local recycled paper, printed with vegetable inks. Anna Selby writes poems about the underwater world - while underwater. The prospect of inoculation against Covid gave rise to'vaccination nationalism'. When Edward Jenner pioneered smallpox vaccination in 1796 he was determined his discovery would benefit people around the globe. Several poets, including Robert Southey, wrote poems in his honour. Front Row has commissioned Anthony Anaxagorou to do the same for the developers of the Covid vaccine, and he reads his new poem. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May
Fri, December 25, 2020
Australian composer, musician and actor, Tim Minchin
Tim Minchin, the Australian stage performer with unkempt long hair and black mascara eyes, looks back over his career since his early days trying to scrape a living in Perth and Melbourne. As he releases his first ever solo album Apart Together at the age of 45, he reflects on his early struggle to make a living through music, the success of his stage performances with a full orchestra, the RSC's Matilda the Musical for which he composed the score and wrote the lyrics, getting burned in Hollywood, writing, directing and starring in his TV drama series Upright, and his unsettling return to his homeland after four years in Los Angeles. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Thu, December 24, 2020
Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones - Death to 2020
Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones discuss their new Netflix mocumentary Death to 2020, a documentary-style film that tells the story of the year we’ll be glad to put behind us, featuring fictitious figures played by the likes of Hugh Grant, Samuel L Jackson and Tracey Ullman. Opera diva, drag artist and cabaret turn Le Gateau Chocolat concludes our increasingly wistful festive series on the best parties on screen with an ode to the don of the movie party, Baz Luhrmann. John talks to Neil Gaiman about his latest Radio 4 drama adaptation, The Sleeper and the Spindle, a Christmas-time fairy tale brought to life by award-winning dramatist Katie Hims. Starring Penelope Wilton, Gwendoline Christie and Ralph Ineson as well as Neil Gaiman himself, it's a new tale drawing on traditional folk stories, interweaving Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in an enchanting drama that puts the women firmly centre stage. In September Radio 3 challenged listeners to compose a tune for the poem ‘Christmas Carol’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar. More than a thousand people entered. Tthe judges whittled these down to a shortlist of six, listeners voted and the winner is James Walton. We’ll hear his carol, sung by the BBC Singers, and reveal more about Paul Laurence Dunbar, the pioneering black American writer who wrote the lyrics. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Image: Tracey Ullman (QUEEN ELIZABETH II) in Death to 2020 Image Credit: Keith Bernstein/Netflix © 2020
Wed, December 23, 2020
Mackenzie Crook, Collaborative board games, Janey Godley, Zing Tsjeng's party choice
Mackenzie Crook talks about Saucy Nancy, the latest episode in his festive revivals of the children’s TV series Worzel Gummidge, which originally aired in the late 1970s. Saucy Nancy sees the children visit a scrapyard, where they meet Worzel's old friend Saucy Nancy. She's a carved ship’s figurehead, and wants their help to get back to the sea. As tensions run high in houses all over the country where people are cooped up over the Christmas period, writer and board gamer Natasha Hodgson reveals the world of cooperative board games: games where the players work together towards a goal, rather than trying to crush or bankrupt your dear mum. With many titles and styles to choose from, are the days of shouting over the Monopoly board over? In May, comedian Janey Godley was one of the Scottish actors and writers who took part in the National Theatre of Scotland’s project Scenes for Survival. Janey’s video short featured her as a character called Betty whose difficult relationship with her husband came to a head under Lockdown. It was one of the most viewed in the series and led to a follow-up. Now for Christmas and New Year, Janey revisits Betty. As festive party season is well and truly cancelled this year, Front Row is celebrating the best parties in culture. Today it’s Vice’s Zing Tsjeng on Euphoria and the dark side of teen parties. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: Mackenzie Crook as Worzel Gummidge Image credit: BBC/Leopard Pictures/Amanda Searle
Tue, December 22, 2020
Bridgerton, Rachel Joyce, The custodians of our cultural institutions
Creator Chris van Dusen on Bridgerton, Netflix’s new drama series set in Regency England, about the daughter of a powerful family as she makes her debut onto London’s competitive marriage market. Award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce has created “Christmas by the Lake”, a new drama for BBC Radio 4. It’s a story with a twist on the Christmas theme and it's classic Rachel Joyce territory: relationships, loss and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. She joins Nick to talk about those chance encounters, and why Christmas is a perfect time for stories. While many of our concert halls, theatres, galleries and museums have been empty for much of 2020, dedicated teams take centre stage to make sure venues are ready for the public’s return through various stages of lockdown. Kieron Lillis Head of Facilities at the National Theatre in London and Jessica Yung Visitor Assistant at the World Museum in Liverpool give Nick a behind the scenes look at their empty buildings and talk about the vital role of those who take care of them for us during one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s cultural history. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Tim Prosser Studio Manager: John Boland Image: Regé-Jean Page (SIMON BASSET) and Phoebe Dynevor (DAPHNE BRIDGERTON) in Bridgerton Image Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2020
Mon, December 21, 2020
21/12/2020
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
Fri, December 18, 2020
George C Wolfe on Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Let Him Go reviewed, Winifred Atwell celebrated
Director George C. Wolfe on his new film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, in which Viola Davis stars as the legendary “Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey, alongside the late Chadwick Boseman, in his final role. It’s adapted from August Wilson’s play which is part of his ten play cycle chronicling African American experience in the 20th Century. Pianist Winifred Atwell was the first Black British artist to reach number 1 in the UK charts. She had a string of hits throughout the 50s and is still the only woman to have an instrumental International Number 1. On the day a new plaque is revealed at the site of the hair salon she founded in Brixton, we talk to music journalist and academic Jacqueline Springer about her legacy and influence. Secret Country is the new digital theatre show from Re-Live, a company who specialise in Life Story theatre work and who are based in Cardiff. Their new show is created and performed by a nine-strong company aged from 72 to 93, and is a candid, raucous and hopeful look at what life in lockdown has meant for our elderly community. Front Row hears from Karin Diamond, artistic director of Re-Live, and participant Terri Morrow. Kevin Costner won a heap of Oscars for his 1990 directorial debut Dances With Wolves including one for his direction. He now stars in Let Him Go, the story of a couple in their 60s who have to rescue their former daughter in law from the poisonous embrace of a violent new relationship. Playwright Daniel Ward and poet Laura Horton review the film and talk about the week's news in culture. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Viola Davis in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Image credit: David Lee/Netflix
Thu, December 17, 2020
David Fincher
Visionary director David Fincher on Mank, his new film about 1930s Hollywood, as seen through the eyes of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he races to finish Citizen Kane with Orson Welles. Mank's screenplay is by Fincher's father Jack Fincher, who started writing it in the early 1990s and died in 2003. David Fincher's other films, which have earned thirty Oscar nominations, include Fight Club, Se7en, The Zodiac, The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , Gone Girl and Panic Room. Fincher also talks about the future of cinema, streaming, and his early career as a director of iconic music videos such as Madonna's Vogue and George Michael's Freedom. Mank is released on Netflix. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, December 16, 2020
Boris Giltburg, Christmas films, Party season substitutes
2020 marks Ludwig Van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, and pianist Boris Giltburg has taken on the mammoth task of learning, performing and recording all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. What does it take to learn and record eleven hours of music and what can you learn about one of the world’s most famous composers.? Boris discusses the project and shares an exclusive recording. As Christmas approaches, we all love to curl up with a cocoa in front of a festive film. Netflix and Hallmark are churning out Christmas rom-coms, but why are they so popular? And should we be expecting more from these seasonal sensations? Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Amanny Mohamed discuss the film phenomenon. Front Row continues our festive foray into the best parties on screen with artist Scottee. We’re turning up Demis Roussos, cracking open a nice bottle of Beaujolais, but no olives for a celebration of Abigail’s Party. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn Studio Manager: John Boland
Tue, December 15, 2020
The Lark Ascending at 100, Wonder Woman 1984 reviewed, reading outside your comfort zone
Wonder Woman was the film that turned the reputation of DC Comics’ foray into big budget movies around in 2017. Director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot return for the sequel which sees Wonder Woman and her love interest, played by Chris Pine, transplanted from the trenches of World War I to the technicolour world of the 80s. Can they repeat the success of the first instalment? Critic Leila Latif reviews. On the hundredth anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, violinist Jennifer Pike, who has been playing the piece professionally for over half her life, joins Liv to pull it apart, reveal its mysteries to us, and see what makes it a firm favourite in the British musical consciousness. We know that literature plays a huge role in how we develop our understanding of other people, places and cultures. But a recent survey revealed that of the 11 books the average person reads each year, 33% are either from the same genre or written by the same author and that just 13% of British adults had knowingly read a book from an author of colour over the course of the past year. Liv is joined to explore how we can read differently by two people who’ve been seeking inspiration from unusual sources this year: Stig Abell, who has just published Things I Learned on the 6:28, a diary of his reading over a year, and Amrou Al-Kadhi whose work is featured in an innovative book club which encourages its members to read across borders. Presenter: Liv Little Producer: Tim Prosser Studio Manager: John Boland
Mon, December 14, 2020
John le Carré tribute; Comedy double act The Pin; Aliza Nisenbaum
Novelist William Boyd and Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at Oxford, reflect on the work of John le Carré exploring why he was more than a spy novelist, and how history shaped his novels and how they then shaped history. Comedy duo The Pin join Samira to talk about their West End debut “The Comeback”, which wittily dissects the dynamics of double acts. Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen’s show has been described by Sonia Friedman as “the cure for theatre” in these Covid times. Aliza Nisenbaum, the Mexican-born New York-based artist, is currently in her temporary studio in Los Angeles in lockdown. From there she discusses her new exhibition at Tate Liverpool, a series of portraits of key workers in the city that she painted during online conversations in August, including an entire team from the Emergency Department at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and other NHS staff on the Covid frontline. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Fri, December 11, 2020
Barbara Windsor remembered, Vaughan Williams, Cultural Recovery Fund loans, American Utopia reviewed, Zaina Arafat
The death of actress Barbara Windsor was announced today. A household name from EastEnders and the Carry On films, she was also acclaimed for her early performances at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal Stratford East. Cultural commentator Matthew Sweet discusses her career. The DCMS announced today the latest release of money from the Cultural Recovery Fund. Previously they issued grants and this time they’re issuing loans. What will this mean for the UK’s arts sector? Front Row asks minister Caroline Dinenage. The Chorus of the Royal Northern Sinfonia is premiering a new choral version of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, using the text of the original hymn on which the fantasia is based. Chorus Director Timothy Burke and soprano Joanna Finlay join Front Row. Spike Lee’s latest film is David Byrne’s American Utopia, a recording of the Broadway stage performance by the former Talking Heads frontman of his 2018 studio album. Kevin Le Gendre reviews the film which also features a number of Talking Heads hits, including Burning Down the House and Once in a Lifetime. Zaina Arafat talks about her debut novel, You Exist Too Much, a coming-of-age story set between the US and the Middle East. It follows a young woman struggling with her sexuality, her Palestinian heritage and an emotionally distant relationship with her conservative mother. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Nigel Dix
Thu, December 10, 2020
10/12/2020
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
Wed, December 09, 2020
George Clooney's The Midnight Sky. Cyberpunk 2077. The debate on the National Trust
The Midnight Sky is George Clooney’s post-apocalyptic new film, which he directs and stars in alongside Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo. Is this Clooney’s Magnum Opus? Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews Eight years since its announcement and after several delays, futuristic roleplaying game Cyberpunk 2077 is released across consoles and PC this week. Its Warsaw-based studio CD Projekt is famous for The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077 promises to be the most detailed and expansive open-world game out there. But was it worth the wait? Elle Osili-Wood reviews. As debate continues about the role of the National Trust, whose recent work shedding light on many of its property’s links to slavery, as well as other historical injustices, has drawn criticism from members and a group of Conservative MPs, we ask what is the purpose of the Trust now? To explore the issues John is joined by Kirsty Weakley, Editor of Civil Society News, architectural historian Oliver Gerrish and David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Donald McDonald Main Image: George Clooney in The Midnight Sky Image credit: Netflix
Tue, December 08, 2020
Julia Hart on her film I'm Your Woman, Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave
Writer and director Julia Hart joins Samira to talk about I'm Your Woman, a gritty crime drama set in the 1970s. Rachel Brosnahan (Marvellous Mrs Maisel) stars as a woman forced to go on the run after her husband betrays his partners, sending her and her baby on a dangerous journey. Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera Owen Wingrave was written for television and first appeared on BBC Two in 1971. Grange Park Opera have produced a new filmed version as part of their ‘Interim Season’, and director Stephen Medcalf joins us in the studio to explain how to film a socially-distanced opera. Dulwich Picture gallery is staging its first ever photography exhibition, Unearthed, which tells the story of photography through images of plants and botany. The show’s curator Alexander Moore talks about the work of the early pioneers in the 1840s, including the first known Victorian images by Fox Talbot, as well as the eroticisim of Robert Mapplethorpe's pictures and today’s leading innovators Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Dymphna Flynn Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
Mon, December 07, 2020
Ryan Murphy’s new film starring Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman, reviewed
Ryan Murphy’s new film, The Prom, bursts into song and dance as four down-on-their-luck Broadway stars descend on a small Indiana town in support of a girl who just wants to go to the high school Prom with her girlfriend. The cast includes Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman and the critical reception in the US has been polarised; what does our reviewer Karen Krizanovich make of it? When theatre director Rebecca Frecknall and playwright Chris Bush began rehearsals for the show that would re-open London's Almeida Theatre after lockdown they had the title, Nine Lessons and Carols, but nothing else. They talk to Kirsty about creating a production, from scratch, with a cast that must maintain social distance; a show that addresses these dark times, but warmly welcomes an audience back to the theatre with lights, sound, and stories. A comic strip “Our Plague Year” by artist and illustrator Nick Burton, conceived in collaboration with HOME in Manchester, draws parallels between the Great Plague which struck England in the 17th century and the current Coronavirus epidemic. Set in the Derbyshire village of Eyam which, when The Plague took hold, famously chose to cut off all contact with the outside world to stop the contagion spreading. But it’s not just doom gloom and death, the strip is full of dark humour and makes readers wonder whether human society has really changed all that much between then and now. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May
Fri, December 04, 2020
Viggo Mortensen, Alex Wheatle, William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Viggo Mortensen joins us live to talk about his new film, Falling, his debut as a director, which he also wrote. It's the story of a conservative father moving from his rural farm to live with his gay son's family in Los Angeles. We’ve been hearing from figures from the creative industries about their Lockdown Discovery, something that has given them great pleasure or solace during the two lockdowns. Today, the novelist Alex Wheatle, aka the Brixton Bard, who has been working with Steve McQueen on his Small Axe series of dramas and who is the subject of this week’s film, reveals his Lockdown Discovery. Would it be Christmas without A Christmas Carol? Even in 2020, there are still many live productions going on. A new film version by siblings Jacqui and David Morris combines voices of Simon Russell Beale, Daniel Kaluuya and Carey Mulligan with dance performances of Russell Maliphant and others. Sarah Crompton and Tobi Kyeremateng review the film and the phenomenon of Dickens’ story – is it particularly resonant this year? And they’ll consider the new National Theatre at Home subscription service as well as making their own cultural picks of the week. The winner of this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year is The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Putin’s Secret Doping Empire. Grigory Rodchenkov was the head of Russian sport’s doping programme, and this is his detailed account of how he blew the whistle on what's been described by the World Anti-Doping Agency as the biggest sporting scandal in world history. Rodchenkov had to flee Russia and is still in hiding in the US. His editor Drummond Moir discusses the story and the challenges this presented. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Thu, December 03, 2020
New Tracey Emin exhibition, The Crown controversy, Walter Presents: The Announcer
The fourth in the Netflix series of The Crown, written by Peter Morgan and starring Olivia Coleman as the Queen, has raised questions about its historical accuracy, including from Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. Award winning novelist Naomi Alderman and journalist Simon Jenkins discuss the controversy in the context of the number of recent dramas set in the very recent past about real people. The Royal Academy in London has reopened its doors and is preparing to show Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul, in which 25 of Emin’s works sit alongside a series of oils and watercolours by the Norwegian artist Emin has been in love with since she was 18, in a shared exploration of grief, loss and longing. Described as somewhere between Mad Men and Agatha Christie, ‘The Announcer’ launched on All 4 this week. TV presenter Christine Beauval crashes against the glass ceiling in 1960s France, as she tries to outrun sinister threats on her life. Hannah McGill reviews. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, December 02, 2020
Katie Melua, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Crimes Against Christmas
Seventeen years after achieving global success with her debut album, Katie Melua talks about her latest record Album No.8, and how she took a course in short fiction writing before embarking on the lyrics. Plus she performs a special acoustic performance for Front Row. British-Ghanaian artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints 'figments': portraits of fictitious people constructed from memory and fantasy. As Tate Britain re-opens, her Covid-postponed show Fly in League With the Night surveys her body of work from 2003 to the present day with a distinctive sense of mystery. Art critic Asana Greenstreet reviews the exhibition and gives us a sense of Yiadom-Boakye’s importance to British art now. Husband and wife team Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell from the New Old Friends Theatre company have come up with a novel way of beating Covid restrictions on live performances by turning their traditional Christmas show into an online advent calendar podcast – Crimes Against Christmas, which is loosely based on Agatha Christie’s Then There Were None. Feargus Woods Dunlop talks to Elle Osili-Wood about how and why they did it. Presenter Elle Osili-Wood Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image: Katie Melua Image credit: Rosie Matheson
Tue, December 01, 2020
Yazz Ahmed, Lucy Bailey, The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone
Yazz Ahmed, trumpeter and composer, and winner of the Innovation Award at tonight’s Ivors Awards, joins us in the studio. Yazz’s music blends jazz, arabic scales and rhythms, electronics, and the music of Bahrain, where she spent her childhood. Francis Ford Coppola's first two Godfather films are considered cinematic masterpieces, but The Godfather Part III never received such acclaim. Thirty years after its release, Coppola has recut the film and renamed it The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Film critic Tim Robey gives his verdict. When Oleanna was first staged in 1992 it prompted intense responses. “People used to get into fistfights in the lobby,” David Mamet said. In his play a student visits a professor for help, but then lodges a complaint of sexual harassment that will ruin his career. How will a new production fare today, after Me Too and Harvey Weinstein's conviction? Samira Ahmed hears from the director, Lucy Bailey. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser
Mon, November 30, 2020
Henry Blake on County Lines; museums and galleries post Covid; re-reading Jane Austen's Emma
As museums and galleries in tiers one and two prepare to reopen on Wednesday, we consider what the future might look like for these much loved institutions. Has the pandemic changed their fundamental purpose or merely accelerated shifts that had already begun? What might museums and galleries look like as physical and social entities in ten years’ time? To explore these questions, Kirsty is joined by Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, an organisation currently working to assist organisations in innovating to meet the challenges COVID 19 presents, and museum and gallery designer Dinah Casson, whose new book Closed on Mondays: Behind the Scenes at the Museum is released tomorrow. Screenwriter and director Henry Blake talks about his forthcoming film, County Lines. Inspired by the stories Blake heard while mentoring young people at an East London pupil referral unit, County Lines follows Tyler, a 14-year-old boy who is groomed into a criminal network trafficking drugs between communities. John Mullen has been making the case for re-reading Jane Austen throughout lockdown. Today, it's the turn of Emma. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Main image: Conrad Khan in Henry Blake's film County Lines Image credit: BFI
Fri, November 27, 2020
Mandolin player Avi Avital, Marina Abramović, Possessor reviewed
Avi Avital., the world's leading mandolin player, on his new album The Art of the Mandolin, in which he performs music specially written for the instrument by Vivaldi, Beethoven and Scarlatti through to contemporary composers David Bruce and Giovanni Sollima. Yesterday the Government announced which areas of England will be in Tiers 1, 2 or 3. For theatres and live performance venues in Tier 3 it's disappointing news as they will have to remain closed. What will be possible in Tier 2? Matt Hemley of The Stage joins us to look at the picture across the nation including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we hear from Chris Stafford of the Curve Theatre in Leicester. Marina Abramović, the celebrated performance artist, discusses her takeover of a whole evening of Sky Arts next weekend. The five-hour series of programmes she’s curating and directing will delve into a hundred years of performance art, and guest Jarvis Cocker will explore meditation according to the ‘Abramović Method’. Possessor is a sci-fi psychological horror film written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of visionary film-maker David Cronenberg, starring Andrea Riseborough. Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and crime novelist Abir Mukherjee review. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Main image: Avi Avital Image credit: Christoph Kostlin
Thu, November 26, 2020
Hollywood star Amy Adams, Corrie at 60 and Musician Jake Blount
The actress Amy Adams is one of Hollywood’s brightest stars with multiple Oscar nominations and a roster of unforgettable roles to her name from the adorable pregnant teenager in Junebug, to the lovable Disney Princess in Enchanted, to full on 1970s disco in American Hustle. Now she’s taken on the distinctly un-glamorous role of a drug addicted mother in the movie version of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, a book that aimed to explain Trump’s appeal to white working class America. Nick Ahad talks to Amy Adams about poverty, Trump and what happens next. When ITV’s Coronation Street began in 1960 a columnist in a national newspaper predicted it wouldn't last more than three weeks. Now, as it prepares to celebrate 60 years on air next month, it’s the longest running TV soap opera in the world. Nick discusses the enduring charm of Weatherfield with former writer and archivist Daran Little and superfan BBC 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins, who chose Coronation Street as his topic when invited on celebrity Mastermind. Jake Blount is black, queer and used to play guitar in punk-rock bands. He's also the first black musician to reach the finals at the prestigious Appalachian String Band Festival. He tells Nick Ahad about discovering the African-Americans roots of bluegrass and old time Appalachian fiddle and banjo songs, and repossess them. And he has recorded one of those songs, from his acclaimed new album, Spider Tales, especially for Front Row. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Olive Clancy Picture credit: Lacey Terrell/Netflix
Wed, November 25, 2020
Playwright Roy Williams, Poet Fred D'Aguiar, Defending Digga D documentary
Roy Williams joins Samira Ahmed to talk about Death of England: Delroy. Just before Lockdown 2, this play’s opening night became its closing night. The understudy Michael Balogun had just stepped into the role. Luckily the press and audience loved it, and the film of that performance will be available on the National Theatre’s youtube channel this Friday. Directed by Clint Dyer, and written by Roy Williams and Clint Dyer, this powerful monologue explores the experiences of a working class Black British man who has been told by his best friend that he ‘will never be one of us’. Fred D’Aguiar spent his childhood in Guyana, his teens in South London and now lives in California. All this experience is distilled in his novels, plays and, especially, his many books of poetry. We talk to him about his new collection, Letters to America which addresses his adopted country in poems such as ‘Burning Paradise’ and ‘Downtown L.A’, but also Britain and the Caribbean, with work influenced by Philip Larkin, Derek Walcott and Calypso. Digga D is a twenty year old star of the UK Drill music scene on the brink of global fame and fortune. He has also been convicted and imprisoned for planning a knife attack. A new BBC Three documentary follows him as he leaves prison and attempts to return to his recording career. Can he rehabilitate himself in spite of being saddled with a Criminal Behaviour Order that means the police vet his lyrics line by line? And can Drill music escape its connection to gangs and violence? We’ll ask the journalist Andre Johnson, presenter and director of Terms and Conditions, a YouTube commissioned documentary about the UK Drill scene. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Tue, November 24, 2020
Simon Russell Beale; Costa Book Awards shortlists; Guy Garvey
We exclusively reveal and analyse the 2020 Costa Book Prize shortlists. Critics Alex Clark and Jade Cuttle discuss the books chosen in the five categories: Novel, First Novel, Poetry, Biography and Children's fiction. Category winners will appear on the programme in January and Front Row will announce the overall prize-winner on 26 January 2021. Guy Garvey from Elbow reports on what he said to MPs earlier today during the DCMS inquiry into the rise of music streaming services and the effect on musicians themselves. Are artists being fairly re-numerated or does the business model of streaming need an urgent overhaul? Simon Russell Beale, always a busy actor, gives his voice to Scrooge in a new dance-film version of A Christmas Carol directed by Jacqui and David Morris and will be giving his voice, and the rest of him, playing the epitome of meanness in Nicholas Hytner’s new production – with just three actors – at the Bridge Theatre. He talks to Irenosen about performing the role in the film and in the theatre, navigating the arc from misanthropy to philanthropy – and how to say ‘Bah, humbug’ as if no one has ever said that before. Presenter: Irenosen Okojie Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Tue, November 24, 2020
Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain
On Front Row last week, Douglas Stuart was awarded the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction for Shuggie Bain, his debut novel about a boy in 1980s Glasgow who supports his mother as she struggles with addiction. Tonight Douglas Stuart talks in-depth with John Wilson about his extraordinary journey from Glasgow to becoming a fashion designer in New York and now a best-selling novelist, after being rejected by more than 30 publishers. Plus we announce the winner of this year’s George Devine Award – the £15,000 prize for an original stage play. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser main image: Douglas Stuart Image credit: Martyn Pickersgill
Fri, November 20, 2020
Tim Minchin, Jan Morris remembered, new gaming consoles, Nicholas Pinnock
Tim Minchin - the Australian actor, comedian, performer, musician, and composer and lyricist of the Olivier Award-winning RSC stage show Matilda The Musical – discusses his first solo album Apart Together, the themes he chooses to reflect on, and his approach to composition. Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 are in the shops. The much-anticipated new generation of gaming consoles has arrived seven years after the previous iteration. We review both consoles as well as new games Spiderman: Miles Morales and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with video games broadcaster and writer Aoife Wilson. Travel writer and journalist Jan Morris, whose death was announced today at the age of 94, is remembered by fellow travel writer Horatio Clare. British actor Nicholas Pinnock on his leading role in the American TV drama series For Life, in which he plays a prisoner who trains to become a lawyer whilst incarcerated. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Thu, November 19, 2020
The 2020 Booker Prize Ceremony
Live from the Roundhouse, London, Front Row brings you the 2020 Booker Prize ceremony. Who will be the winner of the £50,000 prize for fiction in this extraordinary year? Taking part in the socially distanced proceedings will be Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, last year's winners Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo, chair of judges Margaret Busby, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, former President of the United States Barack Obama - and of course, the winner. The evening will be hosted by Front Row's John Wilson and broadcast simultaneously on BBC iPlayer. The shortlisted authors and titles are: Diane Cook, The New Wilderness Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain Brandon Taylor, Real Life Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson
Wed, November 18, 2020
Gillian Anderson, South Georgia artist commission, the role of literary prizes
Gillian Anderson on her technique for perfecting Margaret Thatcher’s distinctive voice in the fourth season of The Crown, and the recent debate the TV series has ignited over what is fact and fiction. South Georgia is a remote, windswept and icy Antarctic island, with no permanent population. But much of the industrial whaling industry was based here until the 1960s, when there were scarcely any whales left to slaughter. Now, though, whales are returning. Rats and mice that came with the whaling ships and ate chicks in their nests and burrows have been eradicated, and the seabirds are flourishing. To mark this history and celebrate the change there's been a competition to create an artwork on the site of the Grytviken whaling station. We speak to the Scottish sculptor Michael Visocchi about his inspiration and plans. We’ll soon know who has been awarded the 2020 Booker Prize. Novelist Sara Collins, whose debut The Confessions of Frannie Langton won the 2019 Costa First Novel Award, Ellah Wakatama, Editor at Large at Canongate, and literary critic John Self discuss the role of literary prizes with the BBC’s Elle Osili-Wood on the eve of one of the biggest highlights of the literary calendar. Producer: Julian May Presenter: Kirsty Lang Main image: Gillian Anderson as Margaret thatcher in The Crown Image credit: Des Willie/Netflix
Tue, November 17, 2020
Patrick, Colm Tóibín on James Joyce, Amy Macdonald, Christopher Reid
Patrick is a black comedy from Belgium set in a woodland nudist camp. After his father dies and leaves him to run the campsite, Patrick’s favourite hammer is stolen, and he finds himself on an existential quest as he attempts to recover his beloved tool. The film is by Tim Mielants who directed the third series of Peaky Blinders. Briony Hanson gives us her verdict. The Dublin residence known as The House Of The Dead because James Joyce used it as the setting for part of his 1914 short story The Dubliners is in the news because developers want to turn it into a 50-bed hostel. Many important Irish writers have objected, saying that it would 'destroy an essential part of Ireland’s cultural history'. Colm Tóibín explains why he thinks the development shouldn’t go ahead. The poet Christopher Reid won the Costa Book of the Year in 2009 with A Scattering, in which he reflected on the death of his wife Lucinda. Today he discusses his new collection The Late Sun, in which he also memorialises those recently departed, including his mother, but also celebrates the vitality of living, as well as travel and the reality of the day-to-day experience. Scottish singer songwriter Amy Macdonald talks about her fifth album The Human Demands, which spans a range of emotions, from the happiness of falling in love to a feeling of loneliness. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Oliver Jones
Mon, November 16, 2020
Fela Kuti documentary; writing and reading trauma; The Queen's Gambit review
Fela Kuti was the creator of Afrobeat – a blend of traditional Yoruba and Caribbean music with funk and jazz that exhilarated the global music scene in the 1970s and gave rise more recently to the Afrobeats scene from Burna Boy to Tiwa Savage. A new documentary by the Nigerian novelist and playwright Biyi Bandele aims to chart Fela Kuti’s rise to fame and politicisation in 1960s Lagos and the US. As Nigerians march the streets to protest at police brutality, using Fela Kuti’s music as a backdrop, Samira talks to Biyi Bandele about his musical and political legacy. With the Booker shortlist featuring books which deal with trauma – from Diana Cook’s The New Wilderness following a mother trying to keep her daughter safe after an environmental disaster and Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain about a childhood blighted by poverty and addiction in 1980s Glasgow we explore the issues for writers in writing about trauma in both fiction and non fiction with writers Meg Rosoff and Monique Roffey and the critic Suzi Feay. The Queen’s Gambit is a new miniseries on Netflix which tells the story of a young female chess genius. It’s being hailed as “one of their best ever shows” but how is a drama about 32 chess pieces and 64 black and white squares so compelling? Roisin O’Connor is a big fan and eager to tell everyone how wonderful it is. Main image: Fela Kuti Image credit: Ian Dickson/Redferns
Sat, November 14, 2020
Steve McQueen, The Simpsons, Brutal North, Jenny Sturgeon
The Simpsons is the longest running scripted primetime TV show ever. As season 31 kicks off in the UK we explore its potent popularity with comedian and fan David Baddiel and writer, producer, and story editor on thes how Tim Long who’s worked on more than 450 episodes Photographer Simon Phipps discusses his book Brutal North, a celebration of modernist and brutalist architecture in the north of England. The post-war years saw the building of some of the most aspirational and successful modernist architecture in the world, from Newcastle’s Byker Wall Estate to the Preston bus station, completed in 1969. But how vulnerable are these buildings today? British film director Steve McQueen has achieved Oscar success but his latest project sees him returning to the small screen with a series of five new dramas for BBC TV, set in London’s West Indian community between 60s and the 80s. Jenny Sturgeon’s new album is inspired by and takes its title from Nan Shepherd’s book about the Cairngorms, The Living Mountain, which, though slender, has had a profound influence, changing the way we relate to high and wild places. There are 12 chapters and Sturgeon has written a song for each. She talks about recording them in the mountains, with a backing track of natural sounds. She tells, too, the story of her guitar, made from local materials – an old shelf from a local bar and even heather and lichen growing in the Cairngorms. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Thu, November 12, 2020
Booker Prize Book Group, Julian Lloyd Webber on Malcolm Arnold, Nick Park's lockdown discovery
We conclude our tour of the novels shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020 tonight with a final book group where listeners put their questions to Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life. A campus novel and a coming-of-age story, it tells the experiences of a gay, Black doctoral student in a predominantly White, PhD programme at a supposedly enlightened American university. With part of Sir Malcolm Arnold’s archive under threat of destruction by the Ministry of Justice, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber argues that these papers are important to the 20th Century British composer’s legacy. Throughout the period of two lockdowns, self-isolation and working from home, we’ve been hearing from individuals in the creative industries about something that has given them a lot of pleasure, and occasionally brought them solace, in these challenging times. Tonight it’s the turn of Nick Park, the Oscar-winning creator of Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and many other Aardman classics, to reveal his personal Lockdown Discovery. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald
Wed, November 11, 2020
Tana French, Mary Wollstonecraft statue, Industry, Ralph McTell's The Unknown Warrior
Tana French is the creator of the Dublin Murder Squad crime books, that inspired the 2019 BBC TV series. Her gritty urban mysteries have been translated into 37 languages and sold around 7m copies worldwide, gaining praise from the likes of Stephen King and Marian Keyes. Her latest novel, The Searcher, moves the action to rural Ireland for the first time. A retired Chicago police officer reluctantly takes on the search for a missing teenager in a small town that seems tranquil on the surface but in reality is anything but. A new statue dedicated to Mary Wollstonecraft, the 18th-century advocate of women's rights, was unveiled this week at Newington Green in Islington, London, created by Maggi Hambling. It very quickly drew criticism from some because of its inclusion of a naked female figure. The art historian Jacky Klein gives her assessment. Industry is a new BBC2 drama, directed by Lena Dunham, set in the financial district in London and focuses on a new intake of 20-somethings who must all compete for a limited set of positions at a top investment bank in London. Kohinoor Sahota reviews. Today is Armistice Day, and the day that, 100 years ago, the body of an unidentified soldier killed in the First World War was drawn in a solemn procession through London to be laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. The story of The Unknown Warrior moved the English musician Ralph McTell to write a song chronicling it. In Front Row he talks about this, the powerful symbolism of the ceremony and how he recruited Billy Connolly, Anthony Hopkins and Liam Neeson from each of the other nations of the United Kingdom, to speak some of his words. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: Tana French Image credit: Jessica Ryan
Tue, November 10, 2020
Abel Selaocoe, Billie Holiday, Edoardo Ponti on Sophia Loren
The cellist and singer Abel Selaocoe grew up in a township in the south of Johannesburg and creates music that draws on classical, African and contemporary music. He talks to Samira about As You Are, the music he’s composed for Opera North’s sound-walks in Leeds and about the celebration of music from Africa which he’s leading in collaboration with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at this year's London Jazz Festival. At the age of 86, film legend Sophia Loren stars in her first film in almost a decade, The Life Ahead. Directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, she plays a former sex worker who looks after a Senegalese migrant boy. Edoardo talks to Samira about directing his mother sixty years after she won a Best Actress Oscar for Two Women. Billie is a new online documentary about the jazz singer Billie Holiday which uses material collected by the journalist Linda Kipnack Kuehl: archive, colourisation techniques and previously unheard recordings of interviews with people who knew her. Tega Okiti reviews. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn
Mon, November 09, 2020
The Voices of the Women in Classical Myths in 15 Heroines; Front Row's Book Group with Booker Nominee Douglas Stuart
Ulysses, Hercules, Jason and Achilles - classical mythology is all about men of action. The women tend to have things - often horrible - happen to them: they get kidnapped, raped, abandoned. The Roman poet Ovid wrote a series of fictional letters, The Heroides, giving voice to these put-upon women. 15 leading British dramatists, all women or non-binary, have drawn on Ovid, recasting their stories for our times, and filmed live in an empty theatre for streaming. Front Row hears about the 15 Heroines project from director Adjoa Andoh and writers Natalie Haynes and Juliet Gilkes Romero. In advance of the winner announcement on the 19th of November here on Front Row, we’ve another of our Booker Prize Book Groups. Tonight’s it’s the turn of Douglas Stuart, who will be meeting readers to answer questions about his novel Shuggie Bain. It’s the story of a powerful bond between a mother suffering from addiction and a son whose nascent sexuality marks him out as different. The Booker Prize 2020 judges called the book “an amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love.” Front Row reveals how, as well as reading from Seamus Heaney's The Cure at Troy on the campaign trail, and quoting the 'To every thing there is a season' verses from Ecclesiastes, in his victory speech President Elect Biden made a reference to the Langston Hughes poem Harlem - a subtle touch that will not be lost on African American voters. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Main image above: Olivia Williams as Hypsipyle by Natalie Haynes, part of 15 Heroines. Image credit: marc Brenner
Fri, November 06, 2020
Dame Judi Dench and Wendy Craig remember Geoffrey Palmer; Ruth Wilson; Graeae; Kylie and Little Mix albums; Ted Hughes's Crow
The death of Geoffrey Palmer was announced today. Two of his leading co-stars, Dame Judi Dench and Wendy Craig, pay tribute. Ruth Wilson plays the sinister and ruthlessly ambitious Mrs Coulter in the BBC’s lavish adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. We catch up with her as series two begins to discuss the relationship with her estranged daughter Lyra, working with a digital monkey, and to ask if baddies are just more fun to play. November marks the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, criminalising discrimination against disabled people in many areas of life. The anniversary is being marked on BBC TV and radio with a focus on the arts. For Radio 4, Jenny Sealey, of Graeae Theatre, and Polly Thomas have directed an adaptation of a Ben Johnson play - Bartholomew Fair - reimagined as The Bartholomew Abominations, set in a dystopian future. Two major pop acts have new releases out – longstanding international treasure Kylie Minogue and relative newcomers on the block, Little Mix. Katie Puckrik and Roisin O’Connor join John to discuss the merits (or otherwise?) of the albums and also to select a cultural highlight they’ve been enjoying recently Fifty years ago Ted Hughes published Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow. The Crow is a violent shape-shifter, a ruthless trickster who is determined to survive. A new edition of Crow has just been published and in Front Row Marina Warner, who has written the foreword, reveals the brutal beauty that Hughes achieved. The poet Zaffar Kunial reflects on how the rough music of the Songs of the Crow echoes across half a century to us today. We hear, too, from the archive, powerful readings of the poems by Ted Hughes himself. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson
Thu, November 05, 2020
Could being visually impaired enhance an artist’s work?
Could being visually impaired enhance an artist’s work? We’ll discuss that with Richard Butchins who’s made a BBC 4 documentary - The Disordered Eye - arguing just that. He looked at the work of artists who are known to have had low vision, such as Degas and Monet and those who were blind like Sargi Mann. And heard from contemporary artists like landscape painter Keith Salmon and sensory photographer Sally Booth. And we’ll hear from the British-Lebanese poet Claudine Toutungi about her new collection - Two Tongues – full of poignant and funny poems about identity, language and how her own low vision has changed her world. Plus Ethiopian-American novelist Maaza Mengiste is the latest subject of the Front Row Booker Prize Book Group. Three guests from around the world will join the author to discuss her Booker-shortlisted novel The Shadow King, about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Wed, November 04, 2020
Alice Oswald's Weather Anthology, What a Carve Up!, Memoir writing
We can't go to the movies for a fix of action now. We can, though, witness spectacle that even the biggest budget blockbusters can't match - by simply going outside into the weather. 'Use should be made of it,' wrote Virginia Woolf. 'One should not let this gigantic cinema play perpetually to an empty house.' The poet Alice Oswald discusses Gigantic Cinema: A Weather Anthology that she's compiled with editor Paul Keegan, capturing writing about the weather, from the deluge in Gilgamesh, the earliest known poem, to 'Billie's Rain' one written a few years ago, about sitting in a van listening as rain hammers on the roof. Missing the stage? Don’t despair - three regional theatres just got together to stage a lockdown-proof digital production of Jonathan Coe’s classic 1994 satirical novel What A Carve Up! They’ve re-imagined it for 2020, and added an all-star cast from Tamzin Outhwaite to Sharon D Clark, with cameos from Stephen Fry and Derek Jacobi. Katie Popperwell reviews. In recent years, the growing popularity of Life Writing - creative writing based on autobiography or memoir - can be seen across book awards shortlists as well as the sheer number of creative writing courses dedicated to the subject. As the annual Spread the Word Life Writing Prize opens for entries, we talk to judge Frances Wilson about the kind of work the prize is seeking as well as the latest developments in this type of writing. She’ll be joined by Poet and teacher Anthony Anaxagorou, whose book How to Write It - published this month by Stormzy’s publishing imprint, Merky Books - aims to encourage budding writers to tell their story. Presenter Ben Bailey Smith Producer Jerome Weatherald
Tue, November 03, 2020
Kristin Scott Thomas talks about playing Mrs Danvers in Rebecca
In an extended interview, Dame Kristin Scott Thomas talks about relishing her latest role as the scary housekeeper Mrs Danvers in the new Netflix adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Kristin first trained to teach drama, not to perform in it and when she tried to transfer to the acting course, she was told, without any consoling words, that her only real chance of playing a big part was to join an amateur drama group. Devastated, Kristin went to Paris to become an au-pair and eventually trained as an actor there. After a terrific review for a performance with a travelling theatre troupe, she landed a part in a Prince video which was followed by her first big break, playing the amoral, adulterous wife Brenda in an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. Since then she's often been associated with a kind of bone-china English womanhood — playing characters who are beautiful, refined, perhaps a little brittle too— characters such as Katherine in Anthony Minghella's film The English Patient or Fiona in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Kristin reflects on how her upbringing taught her to hold back on emotions, and how she’s always sought out roles like Fiona, where the character is not all she seems and drops a mask. And she describes how her recent appearance in Fleabag struck a chord with a lot of women, where she gave a hilarious and rousing speech about reaching the menopause. Interviewed guest : Dame Kristin Scott Thomas Presenter : Tom Sutcliffe Producer : Dymphna Flynn Studio Manager : Jackie Margerum
Mon, November 02, 2020
Cellist Steven Isserlis plays, the lockdown's impact on the arts and Booker shortlisted Avni Doshi
Steven Isserlis tells John Wilson about his new album of late works by Sir John Tavener. It is a very personal project: Tavener and Isserlis were friends, the composer wrote pieces for the cellist and Isserlis gave the first performances of some of Tavener's works. His music was greatly influenced by the liturgy and traditions of the Orthodox Church, but this album reveals his openness to other religions. One piece echoes the call and response form of the Anglican church, in another the cello duets with a Sufi singer. There isn't a piece for solo cello so Isserlis plays part of Tavener's famous piece, The Protecting Veil, which was written for him, . Avni Doshi’s debut novel Burnt Sugar was longlisted for the Booker Prize two days before it was even published in the UK, and just weeks later she gave birth to her second child. Now she’s on the shortlist and has a three month old to look after as well as a toddler, but she’s found the time to join some readers for Front Row’s Booker Prize Book Group. Avni answers listeners questions about her story of a fractious mother daughter relationship, set in and around Pune, India. The latest announcement about renewed lockdown restrictions which will remain in place until at least December 3rd have thrown the plans of theatres, museums and many other public institutions into disarray. They had just emerged from the first lockdown and reworked their plans to incorporate social distancing. Now all that effort seems to have come to naught as new rules have been announced. John Wilson speaks to Matt Hemley from The Stage and Adrian Vinken, CEO at Theatre Royal Plymouth, whose Christmas show may have to be cancelled…again. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson
Fri, October 30, 2020
Sam Smith, Turner's Modern World, Cold War Steve, US elections on film
When the singer Sam Smith came out as non-binary last year it was headline news around the world. After two global number one albums, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, multiple Grammys and 3 Brit awards, the 28-year-old singer is very much an international household name. And yet, as they release their third album, Love Goes, they are still beset by self-doubt. Sam Smith talks to Front Row about fame, heartbreak and songs to put a smile on your face. Turner’s Modern World, a new exhibition at Tate Britain in London, explores how the painter JMW Turner (1775-1851) responded to the momentous events of his day, from technology’s impact on the natural world to the dizzying effects of modernisation on society. Charlotte Mullins reviews the exhibition which also reflects on the artist’s interest in social reform, especially his changing attitudes towards politics, labour and slavery. Satirist Cold War Steve, aka Christopher Spencer, has been described as the ‘Brexit Bruegel’ and ‘A modern day Hogarth’. The collage artist is famous for his provocative look at the state of art and politics, depicting international political figures in uncompromising terms. As the drama surrounding next week’s US presidential election reaches fever pitch, film critic Tim Robey picks his choice of the best portrayals of the contest on film, from Betty Boop for President to Primary Colours. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Main image: Sam Smith Image credit: Alasdair McLellan
Fri, October 30, 2020
Dawn French talks about her comedy and novel writing careers
Samira Ahmed talks to comedienne, actress and writer Dawn French. Dawn became famous with her comedy performimg partner of many decades; Jennifer Saunders. Together they won British Comedy Awards and BAFTAs but Dawn has also achieved acting success on her own - The Vicar Of Dibley, Murder Most Horrid, Delicious, Psychoville and many more. And she is also a best-selling, highly successful writer of 4 novels. Her latest is Because Of You, the story of a baby stolen from the maternity ward and raised by a different mother who lost her own baby the same day. Dawn reflects on her life and career: growing up as a Forces kid, meeting Jennifer, their stand-up and TV work together and as part of The Comic Strip Presents, working with Richard Curtis on The Vicar of Dibley and the power of comedy to agitate politically. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones
Wed, October 28, 2020
His House director Remi Weekes, Booker Prize Book Group with Tsitsi Dangarembga
For the second of Front Row's Booker Prize Book Groups, listeners put their questions to Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga whose novel This Mournable Body is shortlisted for the title. It’s the third part of a trilogy that began with the highly-acclaimed Nervous Conditions in 1988. The books tell the story of Tambudzai, a woman whose life has been full of promise but who now finds herself mired in the conditions of late 20th century Harare and pushed to the very edge. The author will also talk about her arrest after a protest earlier this summer, its consequences and the support she has received from other writers. First-time feature film director Remi Weekes had his horror thriller snapped up by Netflix for an eight-figure sum at Sundance earlier this year. This week you’ll be able to see the film and Weekes joins Samira Ahmed to talk about His House - the story of Bol and Rial who escape war-torn South Sudan and arrive in the UK aboard a boat that sinks in the channel. The peeling walls of the Essex house they are allocated hold an evil spirit that has followed them from Africa. The authorities say they must not leave and the couple are left to deal with a haunted house that is almost as horrible as their own past. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Simon Richardson
Tue, October 27, 2020
Elisabeth Moss, Julia Bullock, memorialising loved ones in video games
Elisabeth Moss on her latest role as the horror and mystery writer Shirley Jackson in the new film Shirley. And she discusses the new series of The Handmaid’s Tale, which she’s now directing as well as starring in, and which has had to be filmed during the pandemic. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Timothy Prosser Main image: Elisabeth Moss as Shirley Image credit: Neon Films
Mon, October 26, 2020
Sofia Coppola, Booker Book Group with Diane Cook, Olivier Awards
Film-maker Sofia Coppola talks about reuniting with Bill Murray for her new film On The Rocks, a comedy about a martini-drinking playboy father who reconnects with his daughter (Rashida Jones) on an adventure through New York. Front Row is convening a series of Booker Prize book groups in which readers can put questions to the six shortlisted authors, ahead of the announcement of the winner on the programme in November. We start with American author Diane Cook who's nominated for her debut novel, The New Wilderness. Set in the near future in an unnamed country, it's about a mother who takes her daughter away from the life-threatening pollution of The City to live in the wilderness with an experimental community. Cook is joined by Front Row listeners to talk about the book. And with many venues still closed, the pandemic has hit the theatre sector particularly hard this year. But the industry was finally able to pay tribute to some of the best performances of the past year at last night's re-scheduled Olivier Awards. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Dymphna Flynn
Fri, October 23, 2020
Frankenstein, William Boyd, Rachel Whiteread, The Sister
In Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster, six performers from Battersea Arts Centre's Beatbox Academy interpret Mary Shelley’s classic novel from their own perspective; as young people growing up in 21st-century Britain. Using only their own mouths and voices to make every sound in the film, they explore how today’s society creates its own monsters. John Wilson talks to one of the creator performers, Nadine Rose Johnson. Acclaimed author William Boyd talks about his new novel, Trio. Set in the summer of 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, there are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling, three characters - a producer, a novelist and an actress - are involved in making a Swingin' Sixties movie in sunny Brighton and each of them is harbouring a dangerous secret. Artist Rachel Whiteread discusses her series of works she has been creating in lockdown at her home in the Welsh countryside: March-Sept Drawings, as well as a newly-revealed resin sculpture, Untitled (Pinboard), which goes on digital display today. Author Irenosen Okojie and journalist Mik Scarlet review the new ITV drama series The Sister, written by Neil Cross (creator of Luther) and starring Russell Tovey. Mik will also be discussing the Shaw Trust Power 100, an annual publication aiming to further inclusivity by celebrating 100 most influential disabled people, and Irenosen celebrates her current cultural highlight, the Netflix American comedy film The 40-Year-Old Version. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones Main image: Grove in Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster Image credit: Lukas Galantay
Thu, October 22, 2020
James Graham, Nottingham's Rock City celebrates 40 years, Liam Bailey, Phoebe Boswell
Geeta Pendse presents Front Row live from Nottingham in a shared broadcast with BBC Radio Nottingham. In spite of virus restrictions, Nottingham Playhouse goes live for the first time since March this week with a season they're calling Notthingham Unlocks. We'll talk to the playwright and local James Graham about his brand new play, a lockdown romance played by TV stars Jessica Raine and Pearl Mackie. James Graham, who's known for stage and TV dramas that take on big topical issues, from Brexit to Rupert Murdoch's rise to power, will explain why the the story of a couple who meet on a perfect date and then have to decide what to do when lockdown begins, is the perfect story for now. The live music venue Rock City is celebrating forty years of launching a thousand music careers and Nottingham relationships this year. We'll have memories right from the beginning but also from students who are finding the venue's pioneering socially distanced gigs a lifetime. We'll talk to the Nottingham-born musician Liam Bailey who fulfilled his dream of playing at Rock City. He was signed by Amy Winehouse, supported Paloma Faith and tours with Drum and bass duo Chance and Status. But his new album Ekundayo – named for a Yoruba word meaning sorrow becomes joy – is a new departure for the singer-songwriter. It’s an album motored by stories from his own life – from his search for his absent Jamaican father to his struggles with mental health to managing to make the most of lockdown against all the odds. And Phoebe Boswell will talk about her forthcoming exhibition - Here - at Nottingham's New Art exchange. She was born in Kenya, raised in the Arabian Gulf but now lives and works in the UK. Her work combines drawing with video, sound and digital animation but the themes are simple ones of identity and belonging. She’ll be talking about her brand new interactive work which struck an unexpected chord with lockdown-weary participants. Presenter: Geeta Pendse Producer: Olive Clancy
Wed, October 21, 2020
Francois Ozon's Summer of '85; Acclaimed violinist Tasmin Little; Derry International Choir Festival
Acclaimed violinist Tasmin Little announced her retirement from the stage recently. The musician is selling her beloved violin to focus on teaching. She will perform her final UK recital at London's Royal Festival Hall tomorrow night. We talk to her about her career, why she took the decision to retire now and her plans for the future. Covid has had a huge impact on choral singing with choirs having to cease singing in the same space and many moving online. As Derry International Choir Festival opens, online, and the Rock Choir announce a christmas single, recorded virtually, we ask how can they reimagine their role and traditions, and how might they sing together again? Directed by Francois Ozon and adapted from the novel Dance on my Grave by English author Aidan Chambers, Summer of 85’ is a story of friendship and love between two teenage boys at a seaside resort in Normandy in the mid-1980s. When 16-year-old Alexis capsizes off the coast of Le Tréport, 18-year-old David heroically saves him. Alexis thinks he’s just met the friend of his dreams. But will the dream last more than one summer? Caspar Salmon reviews. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson
Tue, October 20, 2020
Aké Festival special: Tayari Jones, Derek Owusu, Victor Ehikhamenor, Sara-Jayne Makwala King
A collaboration with the Aké Festival: leading black writers and artists discuss Black Lives Matter and related issues of this year in connection to their work. With Tayari Jones, Derek Owusu, Victor Ehikhamenor and Sara-Jayne Makwala King. The Aké Festival is the world's largest literary festival of black voices on black issues. Usually held in Lagos, Nigeria, this year it's online and free, from 22 to 25 October. See below for details. Tayari Jones' novels include Silver Sparrow and An American Marriage, which won the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Derek Owusu's novel That Reminds Me won this year's Desmond Elliot Prize. He has also published Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today. Victor Ehikhamenor is a writer and artist who has represented Nigeria at the Venice Biennale. Sara-Jayne Makwala King is a South African radio host and author of the autobiographical novel Killing Karoline. Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Timothy Prosser Main Image: Tayari Jones Credit: Tyson Alan Horne
Mon, October 19, 2020
Nicole Kidman, Professional magicians and COVID, Birmingham Royal Ballet
Nicole Kidman talks about starring in new thriller The Undoing. A therapist's life unravels after she learns that her husband might be responsible for a horrific murder. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself. The Undoing will be available from October 26 on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV. Abracadabra! We find out how professional magicians have been especially badly hit by Covid 19 restrictions and social distancing. Plus, social distancing has inspired the latest piece by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Choreographer Will Tuckett explains how they’re using architectural costumes, projection and augmented reality to bring the ballet to life, and how they’ve achieved a live performance bringing dancers, musicians and an audience together in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May
Fri, October 16, 2020
Roddy Doyle, Gairloch Museum, Kronos Quartet, Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show
Roddy Doyle talks about his latest novel, Love. In the course of one summer’s evening in Dublin, two old drinking buddies revisit the pubs and the love affairs of their youth, and talk openly about their marriages and other relationships, downing several pints of stout along the way. Gairloch Museum in the Highlands of Scotland is one of the winners of the 2020 Art Fund Museum of the Year prize. Its curator Karen Buchanan explains how they renovated a local nuclear bunker to house the museum and how the local community helped raise the £2.4m needed for the project as well as curating the exhibitions on Gaelic culture inside. As theatres attempt to work around the current restrictions, many are putting on outdoor performances and at the Leeds Playhouse last week, imitating the dog put on Dr Blood’s Old Travelling show, which is now touring. Nick Ahad went to see his first show since March and reports back. He’ll also discuss a nationwide project, Signal Fires, which sees theatres across Britain uniting in storytelling around the fire. The Kronos Quartet have just released their latest album, Long Time Passing. It is a celebration of the music and life of Pete Seeger, singer, banjo player and activist. Violinist David Harrington explains why one of the most renowned classical quartets is playing If I had a Hammer and Where Have All the Flowers Gone? This is a collaboration with several other artists and we hear from one, the Ethiopian-American singer, Meklit. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Thu, October 15, 2020
Anais Mitchell on creating her musical, Hadestown
Anaïs Mitchell took the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and turned it into Hadestown, which became an immensely successful musical at the National Theatre and on Broadway. Now she has written Working on a Song, a book that gets down to the nitty-gritty of writing for musical theatre, tracing the development of the songs of Hadestown from the spark of an idea to performance by a big ensemble and a full band on a huge stage. Northern Ireland’s foremost cultural event – Belfast International Arts Festival – is in full swing. As the city is introducing strict coronavirus restrictions, its mainly online content is proving a welcome distraction. But it's also a chance for everybody around the UK to watch the highlights from their front rooms as tickets are largely free. Marie Louise Muir gives her picks of the festival from a Macbeth reboot to an operatic version of the Good Friday agreement. Every day this week we’re hearing from one of the five winners of the 2020 Art Fund Museum of the Year. Today it’s the turn of the South London Gallery, who in the past year have doubled the size of their exhibition space by acquiring the fire station across the road. The gallery’s Director Margot Heller takes Samira on a tour. The photographer Chris Killip produced a series of black and white photographs of the North East of England in the 70s and 80s as it de-industrialised, called In Flagrante. Images such as a boy hunched on a wall and a ship towering beside children in the street have become iconic. Fellow photographer Martin Parr joins Front Row to mark the death of someone he calls one of the key players in post-war British photography. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Main Image: Anais Mitchell. Credit: Shervin Lainez
Wed, October 14, 2020
Jodi Picoult, Science Museum, winners and losers of the Cultural Recovery Fund
The global bestselling author Jodi Picoult discusses her 26th novel The Book Of Two Ways. It’s the story of a hospice worker who - when her plane crashes in the opening pages -is surprised at the life that flashes before her eyes. Rather than her scientist husband and teenage daughter, she sees the life that might have been had she made different choices when she was a student. Jodi Picoult discusses life, death and Egyptology with Tom Shakespeare. Every day this week we’re hearing from one of the five winners of the 2020 Art Fund Museum of the Year. Today it’s the turn of the Science Museum in London. The institution’s director Sir Ian Blatchford looks back over a significant year, opening two extensive new galleries and receiving more visitors than ever in its history, and then having to close down and re-think its future in light of Covid. On Monday the recipients of the first round of the Cultural Recovery Fund grants were announced - just over 70% received something, but what then for those who didn't? James Tillit led a major restoration of the Astor Theatre in Deal just ten years ago and is now its general manager. They were not awarded a grant. He explains how catastrophic this will be for the them. Tom is then joined by Matt Hemley of The Stage, who has been taking a look at those who did and didn't receive a grant from the Cultural Recovery Fund, and assesses what impact this will have on the arts across the country. Presenter: Tom Shakespeare Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Main image: Jodi Picoult Image credit: Nina Subin
Tue, October 13, 2020
Hugh Laurie on new drama Roadkill, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Arts degrees and Covid
Hugh Laurie talks about Roadkill, a major new political drama for BBC One written by David Hare. Roadkill is a four-part fictional thriller about a self-made, forceful and charismatic politician trying to outrun his past. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum is one of the winners in Art Fund’s Museum Of The Year 2020. We discover how they’ll be spending their £40,000 prize to benefit the local artistic community. And we talk to three students currently studying arts subjects at university or college which require them to undertake in-person tuition. How has the pandemic affected their studies and what are their views on the future for their industry? Lloyd Pierce, chair of the Conservatoires UK Student Network also joins the discussion. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Mon, October 12, 2020
Museum of the Year recipients. Arts minister Caroline Dinenage on the Cultural Recovery Fund results
This year’s Art Fund Museum of the Year Prize will be split 5 ways rather than a winner being chosen from a shortlist. Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund, announces the museums who will each receive £40,000. We’ll also be looking at each individual museum over the course of this week on Front Row On the day that the government awarded Culture Recovery Fund grants totalling £257m to arts organisations, culture minister Caroline Dinenage discusses concerns being faced by the arts and entertainment sector. Stephanie Sirr, chief executive of Nottingham Playhouse which received a grant of nearly £800,000, outlines the significance of this cash boost. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Fri, October 09, 2020
Alex Wheatle, Miranda July, Football club appoints Artistic Director, London Film Festival roundup
Alex Wheatle discusses his new novel Cane Warriors, based on the true story of a group of slaves in Jamaica who, in 1760, rose up against their white British slavemasters in a fight for the freedom of all enslaved people in the nearby plantations. As Forest Green Rovers become the UK's first football club to appoint an Artistic Director, Robert Del Naja, founding member of Massive Attack, explains his artistic plans for the club. Amanny Mohamed considers how the Covid pandemic has affected this week's London Film Festival and chooses her stand-out films. Miranda July tells us about her latest film Kajillionaire, a comedy starring a family of very petty criminals scraping a living who decide to involve an outsider in a scam. The American poet Louise Glück is the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. While not exactly a recluse, Louise Glück rarely gives interviews, so we hear from John Mcauliffe of Carcanet Press, Glück’s British publisher for a quarter of a century, to tell us about the poet and her work. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Donald McDonald
Thu, October 08, 2020
Skunk Anansie's Skin on her new memoir
Skin - the singer, songwriter, DJ and lead vocalist of the multi-million-selling British rock band Skunk Anansie - looks back over her life in her new memoir It Takes Blood and Guts. Born to Jamaican parents, Skin - real name Deborah Dyer - grew up in Brixton in the 1970s which influenced her musical direction. The shaven-headed singer reflects on how a gay, black, working-class girl with a vision fought poverty and prejudice to write songs, produce and front her own band, headline Glastonbury, and become one of the most influential women in British rock. Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald
Wed, October 07, 2020
Melanie C, live music industry in crisis, Johnny Nash remembered
We discuss the future of music making in the UK. We speak to Mel C, formerly Sporty Spice, about her eighth studio album, Melanie C, which reflects her new influences – as a dance music DJ, an LGBTQ+ icon and mother to a music-mad daughter. She joins John Wilson to talk about musical reinvention, putting aside her demons and how to read the dancefloor when you’re the DJ. Freelance musicians unable to work are receiving 20% of what they previously earned. Yesterday outside the Houses of Parliament and in Centenary Square in Birmingham musicians gathered and played Mars from Holst's 'The Planets' - 20% of it. John Wilson talks to the violinist, Jessie Murphy, whose idea this was. Marie-Louise Muir, who presents Radio Ulster's arts show, reports on the impact of new Covid regulations that effectively ban live music in Northern Ireland. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has spoken of ways 'for new business models to emerge' and John hears from Dominique Fraser, who has been running a successful music venue The Boileroom in Guildford for years, but is now radically changing her operation to survive, and it doesn’t involve music. We pay tribute to the US musician, Johnny Nash, who’s died at the age of eighty. He was best known for his reggae-inspired hit I Can See Clearly Now and for his record company which helped launch the career of his friend Bob Marley. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Tue, October 06, 2020
2020 BBC National Short Story Award and the BBC Young Writers' Award
We announce the winner of the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award and the Young Writers' Award on its 15th anniversary. Judges Irenosen Okojie and Jonathan Freedland discuss the merits of the entries from the shortlisted authors. In contention for the £15,000 prize are Caleb Azumah Nelson, Jan Carson, Sarah Hall, Jack Houston and Eley Williams. Writer and musician Testament performs Point Blank - a poem on writing specially commissioned to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the prize. Radio 1 presenter Katie Thistleton will announce the winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award and consider the strengths and emerging themes of the stories with fellow judge Laura Bates. The BBC National Short Story Award is presented in conjunction with Cambridge University and First Story. Later this month Front Row is running a series of Booker Prize book groups with the six shortlisted authors. To take part email frontrow@bbc.co.uk Presenter : Tom Sutcliffe Producer : Dymphna Flynn Studio Manager: Nigel Dix
Mon, October 05, 2020
Grace Jones exhibition, Steve McQueen's film Mangrove, A newly rediscovered work by Henry Purcell
The London Film Festival opens this week with Mangrove, by the Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen. It’s the first in an ambitious five-part film series looking at individual stories about the West Indian Community in London from 1968 to 1985. Anna Smith joins us to review Mangrove, the story of a notorious 1970 prosecution that exposed police harassment of Black Britons, as well as to give us her picks from this year's London Film Festival, and to discuss the news about Cineworld's announcement of the closure of its venues. Front Row gives the first modern day performance of a lost piece by the great English baroque composer Henry Purcell. The song was recently discovered by Purcell scholar Rebecca Herissone, Professor of Music at Manchester University, who explains the significance of her find. Grace Jones has had a varied and highly successful career as a model, singer/songwriter and actress, lasting more than four decades. A new exhibition Grace Before Jones at Nottingham Contemporary looks at her life and her achievements. We speak with curator Cedric Fauq. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald Purcell’s O That my Grief was performed on Front Row by The English Concert Anthony Gregory – Tenor 1 Hugo Hymas – Tenor 2 Ashley Riches – Bass Kristian Bezuidenhout – Harpsichord Joseph Crouch – Cello
Fri, October 02, 2020
Radha Blank, Chuck D, Dramas The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Comey Rule reviewed
Radha Blank won the Directing Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for her debut film, The 40-Year-Old Version. She also wrote and stars in the movie which is inspired by her own experiences as a Black New York based playwright and rapper approaching her 40th birthday and frustrated at the lack of creative opportunities. It’s been praised as astute and funny and it’s filmed in black and white echoing many iconic New York films. She joins u to talk about the making of the movie. We talk to Chuck D, the frontman and lyricist of pioneering hip hop group Public Enemy. More than 30 years on from their debut, the group's new album 'What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?' addresses contemporary American issues, including the Coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter. Novelist Lionel Shriver and journalist Michael Goldfarb make up our Friday Review Panel. They’ll be discussing two new US political dramas: The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin’s film about the prosecution of Vietnam War protesters in 1969, and Sky Atlantic drama The Comey Rule, based on the memoir of the FBI boss James Comey that he wrote after being sacked by Trump, starring Brendan Gleeson as the President. This week the Governor of California declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Shasta counties because of devastating wildfires. Dana Gioia, who was the Poet Laureate of California until last year, lives in Sonoma, on a wooded hillside, in a wooden house. He reads the piece he has written especially for Front Row about trying to live and work as a poet while the country around you is in flames and, at any moment, you might have to flee. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Matilda Macari
Thu, October 01, 2020
An extended interview with Graham Norton
Graham Norton is one of the most successful entertainment presenters in British broadcasting. He has a popular Radio 2 show, is the face of the BBC's Eurovision song contest coverage and, above all, his Friday night BBC1 chat show draws the biggest names to his sofa. His shows have won him nine BAFTAs and he begins a new series on BBC1 tomorrow. His journey is a fascinating one: raised in county Cork, he went to drama school in London with the plan to be an actor, but after a start in stand up and TV comedy, including the sitcom Father Ted, it was quickly the chat show that became his natural home. More recently Norton has won recognition as a best selling novelist, always drawing on his Irish roots. His latest novel, Home Stretch, is about the consequences of a fatal car accident. The lives of the families involved are shattered and the rifts between them are felt throughout the small Irish town where they live. Connor is one of the survivors, but staying among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as living with the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Main image: Graham Norton Image credit: Hodder & Stoughton
Wed, September 30, 2020
Miss Virginia, Helen Reddy remembered, Sarah Nicolls, Gary Clarke
Miss Virginia is a new film based on the story of Virginia Walden Ford’s fight to create positive educational opportunities for African-American students in Washington D.C. and stars Uzo Aduba. Elle Osili-Wood reviews. Australian singer Helen Reddy has died at the age of 77. Her biggest hit, I am Woman, became an anthem for the feminist movement. Writer Lucy O’Brien was an admirer and a fan, and she joins Samira to discuss why Helen Reddy is crucial to the story of women in popular music, and also feminism. Sarah Nicolls discusses her new composition, 12 Years, inspired by the 2018 IPCC report that said we have 12 years to prevent irreversible climate change. Sarah performs the narrative work that includes newspaper headlines and invented characters on her unique Inside-Out Piano, a vertical grand designed so that she can play the strings directly to create an array of incredible sounds. The choreographer Gary Clarke grew up in 1980s Grimethorpe, North Yorkshire, at the time one of Europe’s most deprived towns. So when he was asked to create a piece reflecting the experience of lockdown, his dance was inspired by a 1903 film of Alice in Wonderland, but draws heavily on the experiences of his youth. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald
Tue, September 29, 2020
Little Mix: The Search, Artemisia Gentileschi, No Masks
The 17th Century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi is the subject of a major new exhibition at London's National Gallery. Critic Waldemar Januszczak considers the importance of the artist who struggled against the male Establishment, but who gained fame, patronage and adoration in her lifetime. No Masks is a new co-production between Sky Arts and the Theatre Royal Stratford East; a TV drama based on the real-life testimonies of key workers during the pandemic, starring Russell Tovey and Anya Chalotra. Theatre Royal’s Artistic Director Nadia Fall discusses the series of monologues she’s co-written alongside playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz. As TV talent show winners Little Mix launch their own TV talent show (Little Mix: The Search) to find a band to accompany them on their next tour, we discuss the creation of manufactured pop bands with music journalist Roisin O'Connor from the Independent and Simon Webbe from the best-selling boy band Blue. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones
Tue, September 29, 2020
2020 Booker shortlist, Nicholas Serota, author Sarah Hall
Earlier today the shortlist for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction was announced. Two time winner Hilary Mantel has not made the list for the final part of her Cromwell series and four out of six of the books chosen are by debut authors. John speaks to Chair of Judges Margaret Busby and critics Sara Collins and Toby Lichtig give their verdict on the chosen few. Today Arts Council England published two new pieces of research into the value of the cultural institutions it funds to our high streets and how they are reanimating local economies. For instance, more than 300 cultural venues are in unemployment hotspots. There are 500 cafes in cultural centres across the country – almost as many outlets as Pret a Manger. Sir Nichola Serota, the Chair of ACE, unpicks this work with John Wilson, who will ask him, too, what is happening with the £1.57 billion pledged by the government to save the arts and livelihoods of artists. Last week on Front Row Lucy Noble, who runs the Royal Albert Hall, said that no one had yet received any money. Sarah Hall has been nominated for the National Short Story Award for the fourth time for her story The Grotesques. Ahead of the story being broadcast on Radio 4 tomorrow, we speak to the writer about exploring covert control, scapegoating and dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships in her story. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Dymphna Flynn Studio Manager: John Boland
Mon, September 28, 2020
Michael Kiwanuka, Boys in the Band film, the future for arts freelancers
Michael Kiwanuka said he was seriously surprised when he won the 2020 Mercury Prize last week. Tom Sutcliffe talks to the singer-songwriter about dropping out of his music degree, hanging out in Hawaii with Kanye West and asks why such modesty when his self-titled album had rave reviews on release, and reached number 2 in the charts. Director Joe Mantello on his new film version of The Boys in the Band, Mart Crowley’s ground-breaking 1968 play about a group of gay friends at a birthday party in New York. As the Covid crisis continues, last week Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced viable jobs will receive support. As the creative industries rely on freelance workers Front Row discusses what this means for them, first talking to set designer Rebecca Brower, who has lost most of her work this year because theatres are closed. Plus Philippa Childs, head of the union Bectu, to which many freelance creatives belong, explains why so many won’t qualify for help. And director Fiona Laird offers an overview, suggesting ways to create future work for freelancers in the industry. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: John Boland Main image: Michael Kiwanuka Image credit: Olivia Rose
Fri, September 25, 2020
Poetry and performance from Cumbria's Contains Strong Language festival
Dove Cottage Grasmere is the heart of Romantic poetry and is hosting part of this year's Contains Strong Language festival. We'll be asking what the Romantics have to tell us now, with the poet Kate Clanchy who has adapted Samuel Taylor Coleridge's unfinished poem Christabel with a newly commissioned score by composer Katie Chatburn. Novelist, poet and playwright Zosia Wand was born in London but didn't speak English till she went to school and spent all her holidays in Poland. Now she's written a radio play Bones - set on the sandbanks of Morecambe Bay - exploring how it feels to be a migrant and the emotional impact on the generations that follow. In 2005 the award winning poet and novelist Jacob Polley’s home town of Carlisle flooded catastrophically after heavy rain. Three people died and thousands were left homeless in an event that was supposed to be a one in a hundred year event. Now Jacob Polley’s returned to that time for a new play Emergency. It’s a love story set against a merciless storm voiced through ancient Anglo-Saxon riddles about the power of nature. And we discuss the impact of poetry in isolation with the young poet Hannah Hodgson who is living with a life limiting disease. She'll read from her lockdown collection and discuss how poetry managed to say what we needed to say this year from zoom poetry slams to tik tok haikus.
Thu, September 24, 2020
David McKee - BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award, Royal Academy dilemma, Serlina Boyd on Cocoa Girl
David McKee has just been named as the recipient of the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Author and illustrator of the Elmer books which with vivid colour and humour make a case for inclusion and acceptance, and the creator of the magical Mr Benn, he also wrote and illustrated Not Now, Bernard, a funny and perceptive plea for children not to be ignored. Now 85, he is still working. Front Row talks to him about his life and career. It has been reported that the Royal Academy in London is considering selling off its rare Michelangelo marble masterpiece known as the Taddei Tondo in an effort to avoid sacking 150 of its staff, as a result of lockdown. Axel Rϋger, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, and Alison Cole, Editor of The Art Newspaper, discuss the RA’s dilemma. A brand new bi-monthly magazine – Cocoa Girl – is unusual in many ways. First the editor is 6 years old, second it’s an actual physical magazine, not just an online offer and third it’s been a great success, selling more than 15,000 copies since its launch in June. We speak to Serlina Boyd, founder and publisher of the UK’s first magazine for Black children (and mum to editor Faith!) Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Main image: David McKee drawing Elmer the Elephant Image credit: Jean Marc Chautems
Wed, September 23, 2020
Mike Bartlett, Miss Juneteenth film, theatres repurposed as courtrooms, Susanna Clarke
Doctor Foster creator, Mike Bartlett, has come up with a new drama for BBC1. Set in Manchester, Life follows the stories of the residents of a large house divided into four flats, and explores love, loss, birth and death, and features some of the characters from Doctor Foster. Nick Ahad reviews. Channing Godfrey Peoples talks about writing and directing her debut film, Miss Juneteenth, about a beauty queen pageant commemorating the day slaves in Texas were freed – two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Life for Turquoise Jones didn’t turn out as beautifully as winning the title promised, so she is cultivating her daughter, Kai, to become Miss Juneteenth, even if Kai wants something else. Show Trials: The Lowry in Salford has come up with a unique way to bring in revenue whilst its regular artistic functions are paused because of pandemic regulations and social distancing. They’re going to become a temporary ‘Nightingale Court’. Julia Fawcett, Chief Executive of The Lowry, reveals how it’s going to work and what the implications will be. Susanna Clarke, who enjoyed enormous success with her novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, talks to Kirsty Lang about Piranesi, not a biography of the C18th Italian artist, but a novel set somewhere he might have imagined. The House is an endless sprawl of halls lined with statues, but it is falling apart, flooded by tides and populated, at first, by just the eponymous narrator and someone he knows only as The Other. An intriguing story of parallel realities, interrogating reality itself, unravels. She discusses her new novel with Kirsty. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Donald McDonald
Tue, September 22, 2020
Skin, The Box in Plymouth, Sean Borodale
Lead singer of Britpop band Skunk Anansie, Skin has headlined Glastonbury, sold millions of albums, and recently competed in The Masked Singer. As her memoir, Skin - It takes Blood and Guts, is published, we ask her about channelling rage into her performances and if she thinks her achievements as queer black woman have been overlooked. After a six-month Covid delay, Plymouth’s new £40m arts and heritage museum space The Box is due to open next week. This weekend also sees the Plymouth Art Weekender, a city-wide festival of art and events. Sarah Gosling, BBC’s arts and culture presenter in Plymouth, considers the role of art and culture in helping to transform the city. It is the season of moths and spiders. Many people strive to keep these out of their houses. Not so the poet Sean Borodale whose new collection, Inmates, records close encounters with all manner of insects, in all stages of their existence – egg, maggot, flight, in death and decay. He talks about co-existing with the natural world and writing the process in poetry. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Mon, September 21, 2020
ENO drive in opera, ITV drama Honour, Jesse Armstrong, 'Festival of Brexit'
Announced by Theresa May in 2018 and quickly dubbed the “Festival of Brexit”, submissions are now being made for the UK government funded £120 million festival that will celebrate British creativity in 2022. Creative director Martin Green tells us what kind of projects and ideas he’s looking for. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong on winning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series at last night's awards. English National Opera are staging Europe’s first drive-in opera, Puccini’s La Bohème, at London’s Alexandra Palace, where the audience watch the singers from their cars. Will this be an exciting new way to experience opera? Alexandra Coghlan reviews. Writer Gwyneth Hughes discusses her new ITV drama, Honour, starring Keeley Hawes. It’s the story of the real-life detective who brought five killers to justice after the so-called honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a 20 year old Iraqi Kurdish woman from Mitcham, south London, who was murdered for falling in love with the wrong man. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins Studio Manager: Donald McDonald Main image: Soraya Mafi in ENO La bohème (c) Lloyd Winters, Courtesy ENO
Fri, September 18, 2020
Katherine Ryan, Nick Hornby, artist Mark Bradford, TV drama Us reviewed
The Los Angeles-based American artist Mark Bradford, who represented the USA at the Venice Biennale in 2017, discusses his new series of Quarantine Paintings. The three works – only available to view online – explore the nature of art in isolation and how he responded when his city was suddenly shut down unexpectedly. Nick Hornby, the writer who gave us Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy, discusses his new novel Just Like You, which features a relationship between a black man in his early 20s and a white 42-year-old English teacher and mother. The novel is set in 2016 and it’s not long before the social and political divisions brought about by the looming Brexit vote are becoming unavoidable. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May
Thu, September 17, 2020
Rocks, Phoebe Stuckes, Eley Williams
Rocks is the new feature film directed by Sarah Gavron with a screenplay by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson. Writer Niellah Arboine reviews the film which is set in Hackney with an ensemble cast of largely non-professional actors, and it tells the story of a teenage Londoner nicknamed Rocks who takes responsibility for her little brother Emmanuel in an attempt to stop them both from being taken into care, supported by a chaotic but loving group of friends. Poet Phoebe Stuckes discusses her first collection, Platinum Blonde, which gives us a glimpse of the life of a lively young woman today. She is only 24, but Phoebe Stuckes is a seasoned poet and performer, winner of the Foyle Young Poets Award - four times - she has also been Barbican Young Poet and the Ledbury Poetry Festival’s young poet-in-residence. Troubled Blood is the title of JK Rowling’s latest novel, written under her crime writing pseudonym Robert Galbraith. And it’s generated something of a troubled reaction so far as reviewers and then social media reacted to the inclusion of a character who cross dresses. Alex Clark joins Front Row to explain. BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted author Eley Williams on her story Scrimshaw, about a women texting late at night, and how Eley was influenced by the nonsense literature of Edward Lear. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Simon Richardson
Wed, September 16, 2020
Tricky, Ratched reviewed, live theatre returns to The Playhouse Londonderry, NSSA nominee Jack Houston
Twenty five years ago Bristol musician Tricky pioneered a new genre of downtempo hip-hop with his album Maxinquaye. As he releases his 14th studio album, Fall to Pieces, Tricky joins us from his Berlin studio. Live theatre returns to Northern Ireland this evening with the play Anything Can Happen: 1972 at The Playhouse in Londonderry, in which people whose lives were affected by the Troubles tell their stories. We hear from playwright Damian Gorman, cast member Susan Stanley, whose brother was killed in a bombing, and Sarah Feeney-Morrison, who has contributed a photo of her aunt, shot by an IRA sniper. Netflix's new drama this week is Ratched, the origin story of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It stars Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis and Sharon Stone. Karen Krisanovich reviews. Our latest interview with an author shortlisted for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award is Jack Houston, whose powerful story Come Down Heavy is about two people struggling on the edges of society, in a world of homelessness and drugs. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Tricky Image credit: Erik Weiss
Mon, September 14, 2020
Dennis Kelly on The Third Day, Nica Burns, Jan Carson, Sir Terence Conran
Nica Burns, owner of some of the biggest West End theatres, discusses her plan to re-open them in sequence from 22 October, starting with Adam Kay’s one man show This is Going to Hurt and, in November, the hit musical Six. But what about large-scale shows like Harry Potter or Everyone’s Talking About Jamie? Writer Dennis Kelly tells Samira about The Third Day, his new project starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris. It's a psychological thriller, set on an alluring and mysterious island, that's been brought to life through a collaboration between Sky Atlantic and the immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. The drama consists of six one-hour episodes for TV plus a live-streamed twelve-hour event. The Northern Irish writer Jan Carson is best known for her award-winning magic realist novels. But her new work - shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award – is an authentic slice of rural protestant life. She discusses why this community is not often written about and explains why it’s important that their voices are heard now. And in an interview with John Wilson from 2013, the designer Sir Terence Conran - who died this weekend at the age of 88 - remembers how his collaboration with the Italian/Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi changed the direction of his approach when he was a young student of textile design in the 1940s. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald Main image above: Jude Law in The Third Day Image credit: (c) 2020 Sky UK Ltd & Home Box Office , Inc
Fri, September 11, 2020
David Tennant on playing Dennis Nilsen, BBC National Short Story Award shortlist announced, The Painted Bird reviewed
David Tennant talks to Front Row about new ITV drama DES, in which he plays one of the most infamous serial killers in UK history, Dennis Nilsen - a civil servant who went undetected as he murdered boys and young men he met on the streets of London from 1978 to 1983. 2020 is the 15th anniversary of the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. Tonight, with the help of judge Lucy Caldwell – who has herself been twice shortlisted for the award – Front Row announces this year’s shortlist. Critics Arifa Akbar and Leslie Felperin join Front Row to look back at the week in culture and to review The Painted Bird, a new film by Czech director/producer Václav Marhoul - an adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński's classic novel. 3 hours long, in black and white, it is the first film to feature the Interslavic language and tells the tale of a young Jewish boy who undergoes a series of harrowing, life-changing episodes in rural Eastern Europe during the Second World War. It was the Czech entry for the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars but its brutal depictions of violence have led to walkouts at festivals. Presenter: John Wilson Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Thu, September 10, 2020
Lang Lang, Diana Rigg remembered, Cinema distribution under Covid-19
Diana Rigg has died aged 82. Her breakthrough role was as Mrs Emma Peel in The Avengers, going on to have a distinguished career across film, theatre and television with roles including as a Bond Girl in Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lady Macbeth at the National Theatre and Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones. Charles Dance remembers the actress alongside Mark Gatiss who wrote an episode of Doctor Who for Diana especially. On the line from Beijing, Chinese pianist Lang Lang discusses his new recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the culmination of a 20-year musical journey for the musician. One version was recorded in the studio, the other in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where Bach worked and is buried. Cinemas have faced huge disruption through this pandemic - closing and now re-opening, so how have film distributors managed to get their movies seen? Kirsty asks film producer Julie Baines and Hamish Moseley of the independent distributor Altitude whether the altered landscape of the cinema industry is here for good. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hannah Robins Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Wed, September 09, 2020
The future of Arts broadcasting, Winner of 2020 Women's Prize For Fiction, Film director Antonio Campos
Tonight the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction is announced at a special virtual ceremony – the judgement delayed because of Covid 19. We talk to the winner live on air. How has the pandemic affected what viewers expect from the major arts broadcasters? We ask Director of Sky Arts Philip Edgar-Jones, whose channel becomes free to watch on the 17th of September and to Director of BBC Arts Jonty Claypole, who has just announced an extension to the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine season bringing the best of the UK arts world to people in their homes under lockdown. Film Director Antonio Campos tells us about his Southern Gothic thriller: The Devil All The Time, which stars Robert "Batman" Pattinson and Tom "Spider-man" Holland in a bloody revenge drama adapted from the award-winning novel by Donald Ray Pollock. It's a story which follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May
Tue, September 08, 2020
Andrew O'Hagan, The Singapore Grip, Theatre at the point of no return
Andrew Lloyd Webber told MPs today that the arts are at the "point of no return". Also speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee was Rebecca Kane Burton, chief exec of LW Theatres, who joins us to discuss the crisis, and Lucy Noble, chief exec of the Royal Albert Hall. Will performing venues be saved by the government's recently announced Operation Sleeping Beauty? Andrew O’Hagan’s latest novel, Mayflies, is the story of two young friends in a small Scottish town who spend the summer of 1986 escaping from the world of their fathers and into the freedom of a magical weekend in Manchester. Thirty years after that, one calls the other with devastating news. O’Hagan talks about how the novel was inspired by the joy and sadness of a real-life friendship. A Christopher Hampton adaptation of J G Farrell’s 1978 novel The Singapore Grip starts on Sunday on ITV, starring David Morrissey, Jane Horrocks, Charles Dance and Luke Treadaway. Set in the Second World War it tells of the fortunes of a family of rich rubber planters in the months before and during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Actor and writer Daniel York Loh reviews. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris
Mon, September 07, 2020
Benjamin Grosvenor performs for Front Row
The Venice Film Festival is currently underway, featuring films we’ll be seeing on our screens over the coming months. Jason Solomons is just back from the city and discusses the films to look out for and which to avoid! In light of some of the critical reaction to Christopher Nolan's new film Tenet, which found the film to be confusing and difficult to follow, we ask how much do you have to understand a work of art, be it a film, a complex poem, a piece of atonal music to enjoy enjoy it? Novelist Louise Doughty, music scholar and critic Alexandra Coghlan and film critic Jason Solomons discuss. When Benjamin Grosvenor first played at The Proms in 2011, he was just 19 and the youngest musician to give a solo recital. On Wednesday he’ll be back at London’s Royal Albert Hall performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto #1 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra but under Covid 19 restrictions – a socially distanced orchestra and without an audience. Benjamin talks to Front Row about taking a break from the piano under lockdown, setting up his own music festival in Bromley, South London, Shostakovich and the thrill of playing live. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Fri, September 04, 2020
Mulan review, Lorna Sage's memoir 20 years on, and must art be political?
The much-loved story of the Chinese warrior Mulan is the latest Disney animation to get a live-action remake. Its less a direct remake of the 1998 original and more a retelling of the Chinese folk legend of Hua Mulan with an all-Asian cast. There have been changes - no cute animated dragon or songs - are we going to love it as much? Find out with critic Gavia Baker Whitelaw. Lorna Sage was a much admired literary critic but it was her memoir Bad Blood that made her a household name. Bad Blood examines Lorna’s childhood and adolescence in a small Welsh border town and is an exploration of thwarted desires, marital disappointment and the search for freedom from the limits and smallness of family life. The critic Frances Wilson has written an introduction to the twentieth anniversary edition and discusses the legacy of what is one of the most critically acclaimed memoirs ever written - vividly bringing to life Lorna’s dissolute but charismatic vicar grandfather, her embittered grandmother and her domestically inept mother. Hull’s annual Freedom Festival begins this weekend. Its an event rooted in the legacy of the Hull-born anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce and usually brings thousands onto the streets to celebrate. This year due to Covid 19, its moving online, but its keeping its strong commitment to “art that helps build a stronger and fairer society”, fuelled by current affairs from Black Lives Matter to the virus itself. But if artists have a political aim, does that affect the quality of the art? Should Art be valued for its political engagement even if we don’t rate the artwork itself? We'll be debating these questions with the director of the Design Museum Tim Marlow, Jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch and artist Davina Drummond, part of the duo Yara and Davina. Across the country independent music venues are in serious crisis. They’re having to keep their doors closed - in spite of a cash injection of £3.36m from the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund - because they simply don’t have the room to operate within social distancing guidelines. Passport: Back to Our Roots is a campaign that aims to raise money for these stricken venues by asking some of the UK’s biggest bands to commit to playing small local gigs. All fans have to do is make a minimum £5 donation to be entered into a prize draw to see these artists, should the gigs go ahead. We find out more from Ash drummer Rick McMurray and campaign co-founder Sally Cook. Presenter Katie Popperwell Producer Olive Clancy
Thu, September 03, 2020
The office in culture, Kate Clanchy, publishers' Super Thursday
As major City firms and the likes of Facebook and Google allow their employees to work from home for the foreseeable future, does it herald the end of the office as we know it? And what does it mean for culture? From Working Girl to The Office, The Bell Jar to Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came To An End, the office has provided rich inspiration for the arts. We discuss the history of the office in culture and contemplate what comes next with writer Jonathan Lee and film and TV critic Hannah McGill. The Orwell Prize-winning writer and teacher Kate Clanchy has spent years with young people helping them to become poets. Some of her students are from migrant or refugee families and have brought with them rich poetic traditions; some from home backgrounds that haven’t traditionally seen poetry as a world open to them. Now she has written a book, How to Grow Your Own Poem, which details the way that she uses existing poems and her students’ lived experience to teach – a method that she believes anyone can follow to write their own poem. The start of September would always be a busy time for new books, jostling for attention in the run up to the lucrative Christmas buying period. But lockdown saw many publishers freeze releases from March onwards. And today the floodgates were opened meaning the launch of an unprecedented 590 hardbacks, 28% up on last year. To explore what this means for writers, publishers and consumers Samira is joined by Thea Lenarduzzi, commissioning editor at the Times Literary Supplement, and Kit Caless co-founder and editor at independent publisher Influx Press. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Studio producer: Hilary Dunn
Wed, September 02, 2020
Bernardine Evaristo shortlisted for Women's Prize, Anoushka Shankar at the Proms, Film Les Misérables reviewed
Bernardine Evaristo on Girl, Woman, Other - shortlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize For Fiction. As Front Row continues our interviews with writers on the shortlist, the author talks to us about her Booker prize winning novel which follows 12 characters, most of them black British women, on an entwined journey of discovery. Ginette Vincendeau reviews Les Misérables, the French entry for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Its director, Ladj Ly was raised in Les Bosquets, a febrile housing estate in Montfermeil, and documented the 2005 riots there in his film 365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil. Inspired by an act of real police violence Ly witnessed, the film follows the residents of Les Bosquets as tensions between police and local teenagers escalate. The celebrated sitar player Anoushka Shankar on her BBC Proms performance this Friday for which she’ll be collaborating with many contrasting musicians including electronic artist Gold Panda. She also talks about collaborations on her latest EP, Love Letters, a set of intimate songs influenced by the theme of heartbreak. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Bernadine Evaristo Image credit: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Tue, September 01, 2020
Ruth Jones, Roger Kneebone, Game Review, The Tempest
Gavin & Stacey writer and actor Ruth Jones joins us to discuss her new novel Us Three, which follows the tumultuous friendship of three women over four decades. She shares the inspiration behind the book, how her screenwriting has influenced her novel writing and whether Gavin & Stacey will return to our screens… As many theatres remain shuttered due to Covid-19, those looking to get their thespian fix may find some consolation n the form of virtual reality. Tender Claws, an independent games studio in LA, has created a live VR performance of The Tempest which can be watched using an Oculus Rift or Quest gaming systems. Each performance is interactive, as eight participants are linked up with a live, remote actor playing the role of Prospero, guiding them through a virtual landscape. Entertainment journalist Elle Osili-Wood joins us to review this blend of theatre and gaming. In his new book Expert, Roger Kneebone, Professor of Surgical Education at Imperial College London, makes the case for learning a craft and honing skills – a path that means lacemakers and vascular surgeons have more in common than they might think. He explains the value of expertise in the arts and beyond. Presenter; Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones
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