Front Row

A Front Row special from Hull which is hosting the BBC's new poetry and spoken word festival - Contains Strong Language. John Wilson talks to James Phillips, the playwright behind Flood, the epic year-long, four part multi-media theatrical event that has been one of the big commissions in Hull's year as City of Culture. Poet Louise Wallwein on Glue - the story of her search for her birth mother, and the impact of meeting her, which she has turned into a one-woman show, a debut collection of poetry, and Radio 4 drama.Filmmaker and writer Dave Lee and artist Sharon Darley debate the lessons that future cities of culture could learn from Hull's experience.Poets Dean Wilson and Vicky Foster read a selection of poems written by the people from the Humberside region about the places where they live. Dean and Vicky spent months travelling around the region doing workshops to inspire local people to put their thoughts about their neighbourhoods into poetry.Imtiaz Dharker, winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry,

Benny Andersson, the musical mastermind behind all those Abba hits and the musical Chess, talks to Kirsty about his new album on which he presents solo piano versions of many of his best loved tunes.Sophie Wu is known as an actor for her roles in series such as 'Fresh Meat' and the film 'Kick Ass'. Now she has written a play. Ramona Tells Jim is about two teenage outsiders who fall for one another, before Ramona tells Jim something that changes everything. Sophie talks to Kirsty Lang about exploring how a single decision can have life-changing consequences.A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is the best-selling 2005 novel by Marina Lewycka which has now been adapted for the stage and is playing at the Hull Truck Theatre. Sam Marlowe reviews.To mark National Poetry Day, William Sieghart discusses the healing power of poetry. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

Since he retired last year, the international ballet Star Carlos Acosta has set up a dance company in his native Cuba, Acosta Danza. The company will debut in the UK at Sadler's Wells in London late this September. Carlos spoke to John Wilson in between rehearsals. John reviews the V&A's exhibition about 400 years of opera with top soprano Mary Bevan and critic Peggy Reynolds. John Wilson speaks to Michael Winterbottom about his new film On the Road, and the decision to include actors in what would otherwise be a classic rock documentary about the band Wolf Alice. Does the mixing of fact and fiction work?

On Saturday at the Barbican 18 musicians from several countries will play in a concert of Christian music from the East - Greece, Syria and India. Three of them, the singer Susheela Raman, guitarist Sam Mills and percussionist Pirashanna Thevarajah, talk to Samira Ahmed about the music and where they found it, and perform live in the Front Row studio.Elizabeth Dawn played Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street; Tony Booth, was Alf Garnett's Scouse son-in-law, Mike Rawlins, in Till Death Us Do Part, and was also in Coronation Street. The death of both actors was announced today and Susannah Clapp, the theatre critic of the Observer, and a keen Corrie fan, discusses the characters and the actors.This weekend many students will be going to university. As well as being a place of sober (and lewd) learning the university campus has, since the Second World War, been the setting of so many novels and films these have become a genre. Hannah Rose Woods captained her team to victory in University Challenge last year. She

Nancy Meyers has made her career making hugely popular romantic comedies such as The Holiday, It's Complicated and What Women Want. As her latest venture, Home Again, comes to cinemas we speak to Nancy Meyers about the rom-com and her career in Hollywood. Last week, UK book publishers Bloomsbury launched their first 'Modern Classics' series, joining the likes of Picador, Faber & Faber and of course Penguin, who established their iconic series way back in 1961. But why are certain books deemed worthy of the label? And what exactly does the term mean in the first place? The curator of Bloomsbury's new series, Alison Hennessey, and literary critic Suzi Feay discuss what makes a modern classic.The migration crisis was seen as a key factor in Germany's election results this weekend with the nationalist AfD party winning enough parliamentary seats to become the third-largest party in the Bundestag. Award-winning novelist Jenny Erpenbeck was born in East Germany and she discusses her latest novel - Go, Went, Gon

The political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe discusses Stage and Screen, a new exhibition at House of Illustration of his designs for theatre, rock, opera, ballet and film over the last 30 years, from Orpheus in the Underworld for English National Opera to Pink Floyd's 1982 film The Wall. Maja Lunde, author of the best-selling novel The History of Bees, tells Kirsty why she was inspired to write about these insects whose future is under threat, and how this led her to explore what the world might look like without them.Composer Sally Beamish and librettist David Harsent discuss The Judas Passion, their new oratorio which tells the Passion story from the perspective of Judas Iscariot.And today is the autumn equinox and on Radio 4 we've been marking the turning of the year and the darkening of the days with poems. Live in studio we have the poet Nick Makoha with a poem called The Good Light.

Last time they worked together director Natalie Abrahami buried Juliet Stevenson up to her neck in Samuel Beckett's play Happy Days. In their new collaboration, Stevenson spends almost the entire evening flying about above the stage, for her role as a stuntwoman who suffers a stroke. Juliet Stevenson and Natalie Abrahami talk to Samira Ahmed about staging Arthur Kopit's Wings.The New York street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died at the age of 27 in 1988, is the subject of a comprehensive new exhibition at the Barbican in London. The writer and former director of the ICA, Ekow Eshun, considers whether Basquiat was really 'one of the most significant painters of the 20th century', as the show claims.As Radio 1 prepares to celebrate its 50th birthday later this month, Tony Blackburn - the 24-year-old who launched the station in 1967 - looks back at the landscape of the time and how pop music changed radio for good.And the final shortlisted author for the BBC National Short Story Award, Jenni Fagan, talks abo

Benedict Cumberbatch on bringing Ian McEwan's novel The Child in Time to BBC1, playing a children's writer whose marriage breaks down following the disappearance of his daughter.Giles Coren talks about the new Front Row television programme which begins this Saturday, and discusses his recent remarks about theatre which caused controversy in the press. Sports journalist Eleanor Oldroyd reviews Borg vs McEnroe, a feature film about the intense 1980's rivalry between the two tennis superstars. BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted author Will Eaves discusses his story, Murmur. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser.

The Hollywood actor and cellist Jan Vogler discuss their new classical album.

As spy spoof Kingsman: The Golden Circle is released in cinemas, we speak to its co-writers Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, which Vaughn also directed and produced. A sequel to the original hit Kingsman: The Secret Service, Goldman and Vaughn discuss bringing back a character from the dead, convincing Elton John to be in the cast and the impact of Brexit on the British film industry.Cynan Jones has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with The Edge of the Shoal. The writer discusses his story of a canoeist who sets out to scatter his father's ashes at sea and gets lost during a storm. The story is broadcast on Radio 4 at 3.30pm on Tuesday and the winner of the BBC NSSA is announced on Front Row on 3 October. TV critic Emma Bullimore considers the landscape of British television in light of last night's Emmy Awards.The first comprehensive retrospective of the work of the American artist Jasper Johns in almost 40 years opens at the Royal Academy this week. The two curators of the exhibition,

Jack Dee talks to John Wilson about his new ITV1 sitcom Bad Move, inspired by the idea of downsizing to a supposedly idyllic life in the country. Joanna Trollope announces the shortlist for this year's BBC National Short Story Award: Will Eaves, Jenni Fagan, Cynan Jones, Helen Oyeyemi and Benjamin Markovits, who joins John in the studio. Sci-fi writer Lisa Tuttle reviews Electric Dreams, Channel 4's new drama series based on short stories by Philip K. Dick, starring Bryan Cranston.

The German cabaret singer Ute Lemper joins Kirsty in the studio to perform from her Last Tango in Berlin series of songs, which features the music of Brecht, Weill, Piaf and Marlene Dietrich.Kirsty visits Port Talbot where the National Theatre of Wales is staging a new play, We're Still Here, inspired by the threatened closure of the town's steelworks in 2015 and the hundreds of people who lost their jobs. Kirsty talks to the creators Rhiannon White and Evie Manning, and Sam Coombes, the steelworker who has taken a sabbatical to star in the production.If you've ever wondered what it take to be a great conductor, Vasily Petrenko, winner of the Gramophone Artist of the Year 2017, gives his top tips of dos and don'ts.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald.

The comedian and writer Sara Pascoe explains to Kirsty Lang why Pride and Prejudice, great as the book is, was in need of a comic stage adaptation. Her play based on Jane Austen's novel is about to open at the Nottingham Playhouse. It includes scenes with modern commentary, original music from Emmy the Great, and jokes. The Man Booker Prize shortlist, announced today, includes some surprises - omissions as well as inclusions. Critics Alex Clark and Toby Lichtig deliver their verdicts and nominate their favourite to win. Actor Robert Lindsay talks to Kirsty about playing Jack Cardiff in Prism, a play about the cinematographer's life. Prism looks back at Cardiff's career which includes working on the film sets of The Red Shoes, The African Queen and Sons and Lovers.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Kate Bullivant.

The death of Sir Peter Hall was announced today, at the age of 86. Friends and colleagues look back on his life. We'll be hearing from those who lived and worked with him including the Opera singer Maria Ewing, who was married to Sir Peter Hall for eight years and who was directed by him many times. We'll also speak to former heads of the National Theatre Sir Nicholas Hytner and Sir Richard Eyre, the director Sir Trevor Nunn, playwright David Edgar and theatre critic Michael Billington.Peter Hall, whose career spanned more than six decades, was a director of theatre, opera and film. As well as founding the Royal Shakespeare Company, running the National Theatre for 15 years, working as artistic director at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and setting up the Peter Hall Company, he will be remembered for his extensive work which ranged from Shakespeare and the Greek classics to Pinter and of course Peter Shaffer's Amadeus with Paul Scofield and Simon Callow. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Helen Fitzhenry.

This week sees Judi Dench reprise the role of Queen Victoria, in Victoria and Abdul a film about the friendship between the queen and a young Indian clerk. John talks to director Stephen Frears and the actor Ali Fazal, who plays Abdul, about making the film which comically takes on a the unlikely and forgotten friendship. Pears' Cyclopaedia has announced that the recently published 126th edition will be its last. With the Encyclopaedia Britannica heading online in recent years, as well as the explosion in popularity of sites such as Wikipedia, the way we access knowledge is changing. What does this mean for the future of reference books? And what has their significance been over the years? Historian Kathryn Hughes and QI researcher Andrew Hunter Murray discuss.John speaks to BAFTA award winner Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, Mrs Biggs) about turning his TV drama of Cilla Black's life into a new stage musical. By the age of just 25 Priscilla White was recognised as international singing star Cilla Black an

Joanne Froggatt was taken to the nation's hearts when she played Anna Bates, the lady's maid in Downton Abbey. One of the storylines which had a huge impact, and won her a Golden Globe, showed the aftermath of her being raped. Now she takes on similar territory but a very different character in Liar, a new ITV thriller in which she plays Laura, a woman who says she's been raped. She talks to Samira about her choice of roles and not shying away from difficult subjects. Black Swan and The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky discusses his controversial new film Mother! The film, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, was booed, and cheered, when it premiered at Venice Film Festival this week, and the reviews have been similarly divisive with some hailing it as a masterpiece and others a hyperbolic mess.As Classic FM celebrates its 25th anniversary, Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail and The Spectator's Kate Chisholm consider what influence it has had on the coverage of classical music on the radio, and the

Marian Keyes discusses her new novel The Break, in which Amy's husband announces he is leaving her for six months to travel the world. A portrait of a family in contemporary Ireland, the novel explores blended families, caring for parents with Alzheimer's, and unwanted pregnancies.A favourite of Quentin Tarantino, Tim Roth has played Mr Orange in Reservoir Dogs and stole the opening scene of Pulp Fiction. His three-decade-long career has included blockbusters, indie films and TV drama, often playing sinister or near-psychotic characters. The actor and director discusses his latest role as a British detective who moves his family from London to become Police Chief in a Canadian mountain town in new Sky Atlantic thriller Tin Star. Comedian Joe Lycett talks about his innovative approach to writing stand-up, how he tackles the problems of modern life via email and how it all comes together on stage, as his 2018 UK tour I'm About To Lose Control And I Think Joe Lycett is announced.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer:

Roddy Doyle talks to John Wilson about his new novel, Smile. 30 years since he wrote The Commitments, Smile is his 11th novel, in which a middle-aged man looks back over his unfulfilled life, as dark and disturbing memories of being taught by the Christian Brothers begin to surface.Head of BBC Drama Piers Wenger has said he would like to see fewer dark dramas on TV and more inspiring stories, specifically programmes that examine heroism. We ask TV critics Chris Dunkley and Caroline Frost whether the golden age of television has left viewers swamped in anti-heroes and whether they would like to see more heroes on screens.Matt Thorne reviews IT, the latest film to be adapted from a Stephen King horror novel. It stars Bill Skarsgård as the demonic entity of evil which shapeshifts into Pennywise the clown. Matt also describes his own relationship with the story - and Pennywise - since first reading King's novel aged 12.Plus, as veteran football commentator John Motson announces his retirement, Alex Clark examines

The Woman's Hour Craft Prize saw 1500 applicants whittled down to just 12 finalists whose work goes on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London this week. Samira takes a look round the exhibition, which features a handmade bicycle and a dissolving fountain made from raw clay, and discusses the £10,000 prize with Woman's Hour presenter Jane Garvey, along with Alun Graves of the V&A and Annie Warburton of the Crafts Council, who were involved in the judging process.Businessman and arts benefactor Lloyd Dorfman reveals what motivates his support of the Royal Academy and sponsorship of cheap seats at the National Theatre. From the archive, the late American poet John Ashbery talks about his approach to work and how he views his back catalogue.And the contemporary British poet Karen McCarthy Woolf talks about her technique, including the use of 'found' words in composing her poems, and reflects on nature in her new collection Seasonal Disturbances.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker.

As Doctor Foster returns to BBC One this week, Suranne Jones discusses reprising her BAFTA Award-winning title role.We remember Walter Becker, guitarist, bassist and co-founder of Steely Dan, who has died at the age of 67. Stephen Sondheim's rarely-staged musical Follies opens this week at the National Theatre in London. John Wilson speaks to director Dominic Cooke, actress Janie Dee and veteran soprano Dame Josephine Barstow about the demands of the show - a tale of lost youth, romance and nostalgia for a bygone showbiz era. Front Row goes on the road with Harriet Riddell, a textile performance artist who is cycling a 22-mile stretch of the Leeds to Liverpool canal as part of the Fabrications Festival, exploring textiles through the eyes of artists. We follow Harriet as she uses her portable sewing machine to make a record of the places and people she meets.