Front Row

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

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

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

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

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 Witc

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, crit

Andrew Harding on the Radio 4 drama, A Small Stubborn Town, inspired by his work as the BBC Ukraine correspondentEmma 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

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

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

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”.

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 Produ

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

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 E

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.

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

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, myth

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

The Color Purple reviewed, and the pop concert as cinema phenomenon.

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

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.Pr