Front Row: Archive 2012

With Kirsty Lang.Writer John O'Farrell reviews two new TV comedies set in and around schools. Bad Education is written by and stars comedian Jack Whitehall as a teacher who seems less mature than most of his students. Gates stars Joanna Page and Sue Johnston and focuses on the relationships formed by parents at the school gates. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is underway, with more acts than ever competing for audiences. Comedy critic Stephen Armstrong reports on the trends and highlights emerging from the first frenetic week. How much should you pay for theatre? What's it worth? Kirsty reports from the Bush Theatre, London, which has opened up all its spaces for Bush Bazaar, a theatrical marketplace, where audiences pay performers according to the quality of the work. Artistic Director Madani Younis and the founders of Theatre Delicatessen discuss the project.In celebration of the Olympics, the BBC - in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh - has selected and recorded a poem representing e

With John Wilson.Tony Gilroy wrote the original Bourne trilogy of films starring Matt Damon and has written and directed the latest, The Bourne Legacy, following the departure of director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon. Gilroy, who wrote and directed the George Clooney film Michael Clayton, discusses the latest re-incarnation of the spy franchise, and the challenge of creating a Bourne sequel without the central character whose name appears in the title.Jackpot, a crime caper based on a story by bestselling Norwegian author Jo Nesbo, is the latest slice of Nordic noir to arrive in our cinemas. Kim Newman reviews.7,500 volunteers performed in the Olympic opening ceremony, 1700 volunteers are involved in this year's production of the York Mystery plays, and for the National Theatre of Wales's new production of Coriolanus, 450 audience members walk around with the actors, playing an active part in 'the crowd scenes'. John finds out why theatre is increasingly expecting audiences to get up and join in, talking to

With John Wilson. The lyricist Don Black remembers his friend the composer Marvin Hamlisch whose death has been announced today. There is another chance to hear Hamlisch - best known for the musical A Chorus Line and the score and song for The Way We Were - at the Front Row piano three years ago, explaining how he wrote the songs which won him Emmys, Grammys,Oscars and a Tony. The art critic Richard Cork assesses the influence of Robert Hughes whose death has also been announced today. How did his writing change criticism ad critics? And, as Jamaica celebrates its 50th year of Independence we find out about Studio 17, one of Kingston's best-known recording studios, record shops, and meccas for reggae music in the late 60s and 70's. The studio is also celebrating its 50th anniversary and Front Row has been offered the chance to hear some of their newly discovered archive recordings from reggae greats like Dennis Brown, Lord Creator, and John Holt. Reshma B, Reggae & Dancehall correspondent talks to John.Pr

With Kirsty Lang, Brave is the latest animated film from Pixar and features the voices of Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly and Julie Walters. Set in the Scottish highlands in the 10th century, the film tells the story of a Princess who defies her family's expectations by refusing an arranged marriage. Writer Denise Mina reviews.Brave and another major film The Bourne Legacy are set to be released next Monday, five days before the traditional Friday opening, Front Row discusses the possible impact upon the industry with historian Ian Christie, cinema owner Kevin Markwick and critic Nigel Floyd.Scottish-born musician and lead singer of The Waterboys discusses his new memoir Adventures of a Waterboy. The autobiography takes him from his early years as a struggling musician in Ayr to Ireland, New York, Dublin, and the Findhorn spiritual community in northern Scotland.In celebration of the Olympics, the BBC - in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh - has selected and recorded a poem representing

With Kirsty LangAlan Davies, QI panellist and star of Jonathan Creek, discusses returning to stand-up after a ten year break. He also talks about coming last on QI, his run-ins with the tabloids and how maturity enables him to perform material based on painful life experiences for the first time Mark Haddon's best selling book, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, has been adapted for the stage by playwright Simon Stephens. It stars Luke Treadway as the Aspergic boy in a cast that includes Niamh Cusack and Una Stubbs. Alex Clark reviewsWhen Danny Boyle conceived the opening ceremony of this year's Olympics, special effects company Artem helped him realise his visions. The 20 metre Voldemort, grinning Cruella de Ville, and smoking chimneys of the industrial revolution were all made by Artem, who also designed a 6 metre tall Lady Godiva, now travelling from Coventry to London as part of the West Midlands' contribution to the Cultural Olympiad. Artem CEO, Mike Kelt, explains how these giant puppets

With Kirsty LangMeera Syal has made her professional Shakespeare debut playing Beatrice in the RSC's new production of Much Ado About Nothing. Directed by Iqbal Khan, this latest adaptation sets the comedy in modern-day India - with Paul Bhattacharjee playing Benedict. Author Bidisha gives the critical verdict.Director Lynn Alleway discusses her experiences making a documentary, which follows an Old Order Amish family in America. According to the strict rules of the Amish church, filming is not permitted, so by opening up their homes and life to the cameras Miriam and David risk being ex-communicated and excluded from their society. Glasgow writer Louise Welsh talks about her latest novel, The Girl on the Stairs, a thriller set in Berlin - and also about the libretto she's written for a short opera called Ghost Patrol, about soldiers returning from an unspecified war. The opera is part of a Scottish Opera season opening at the Edinburgh Festival. With Kate Moss appearing in a video for George Michael's track

With John Wilson,We pay tribute to the American writer Gore Vidal who died yesterday, following a seven decade career as novelist - he wrote the best selling Myra Breckenridge, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and political activist. Often associated with high profile feuds, notably with Norman Mailer and John Updike, he also had close associations with J. F. Kennedy's family and Hollywood stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Literary critics Harold Bloom and Christopher Bigsby reflect on the career of Gore Vidal and we here part of an interview he gave to Front Row in 2008.Two Chinese films are released this week - Zhang Yimou's war epic The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale and Ann Hui's moving art-house movie A Simple Life with Chinese super star Andy Lau. Front Row asked cultural commentator David Tse Ka-Shing to take a look at two very different sides to Chinese film.John visits the newly renovated William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, North London - the place of Morris' birth in 1834. The eigh

With John Wilson. Comedian Mark Thomas discusses his latest show Bravo Figaro, which reveals how his father, a builder, cultivated a love of opera. After his father was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, Mark Thomas put together this very personal show, which has involved taking opera singers to perform in his father's bungalow.To mark the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death, Susan Bernard discusses the images of the star taken by her father - the renowned photographer known as Bernard of Hollywood. These range from early shots of Norma Jean, through to the famous Seven Year Itch subway image. She remembers meeting Monroe, and her father's relationship with the troubled star. Andrew Lloyd Webber predicted that this summer would be a difficult one for the capital's theatres, and already some are finding it hard to fill their seats. Leading producer Nica Burns discusses the situation so far, and possible solutions. To mark the Olympics, the BBC - in partnership with The Scottish Poetry Library - has

With John Wilson.Booker Prize-winning writer James Kelman (How Late It Was, How Late) discusses his new novel Mo Said She Was Quirky, a story which explores fear, trust, and relationships through the eyes of a woman who worries about everything.Seth MacFarlane is best known as the creative force behind the TV cartoon series Family Guy. Ted, his first live-action feature film, stars Mark Wahlberg as a 35 year old man with a boozing, swearing teddy bear. Seth himself provides the voice of Ted. Laroushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.The RSC's new Troilus and Cressida is a collaboration with the New York experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. The two companies have been rehearsing separately: Mark Ravenhill directs the Stratford team who play the Greeks, and Elizabeth LeCompte directs the Americans who play the Trojans. John meets them both in rehearsal, to discuss the art of creating one show involving two companies with very different approaches. To mark the Olympics, the BBC - in partnership with The Scottish P

With Kirsty Lang. Another London is a new exhibition at Tate Britain which reveals the capital as seen through the eyes of photographers from all over the world, from 1930 until 1980. The images chart the city's transformation, from bombed- out ruin to punk playground. Craig Taylor, author of Londoners, considers the capital's many changes. Louis Nowra is an acclaimed Australian dramatist, who has written two new plays for BBC Radio 4. He tells Kirsty how a serious head-injury, and being the son of an infamous murderess, have shaped his writing - and why he avoids arty types, preferring instead to have a beer with the labourers in his local bar. Britain's first ever kitchen-sink movie, Woman In A Dressing Gown, is re-released in cinemas this week. Front Row finds out why the film, starring Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle, has been neglected for the last 50 years, despite winning several prestigious awards.Newton Faulkner's first album Hand Built by Robots topped the charts in 2007, and his third album Write It

With Kirsty Lang. Mark Rylance returns to the stage for the first time since his award-winning performance in Jez Butterworth's play Jerusalem. Andrew Dickson reviews Rylance in the lead role in a new production of Richard III at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Dutch novelist Herman Koch discusses his novel The Dinner, which has sold over a million copies in Europe. Set during one evening in a restaurant in Amsterdam, it tells the story of two couples who meet over dinner to discuss both their 15-year-old sons who have committed an atrocity, and shattered the comfortable worlds of their families.A new film documentary Searching for Sugarman tells the story of Rodriguez, a singer/songwriter from Detroit who was discovered by two music producers in the '60s who thought he'd be bigger than Bob Dylan. When his 2 albums flopped Rodriguez fell into obscurity, but unbeknownst to the musician himself, he became an inspiration to a generation of South Africans. In this award-winning film two of his fans set out to find

With Mark Lawson. The long-list for the Man Booker Prize for fiction is announced this afternoon. Chair of the judges Peter Stothard and actor Dan Stevens, a member of the panel, discuss their choices.Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma is being staged at the National Theatre. Revolving around a doctor who must choose a limited number of patients to treat, the play echoes the present day 'postcode lottery' debates. Dr Sarah Jarvis reviews the play as well as the Wellcome Collection's new exhibition Superhuman, an exploration of how we have altered our bodies from false teeth to plastic surgery.Director Fernando Meirelles and writer Peter Morgan discuss their film 360, a loose adaptation of La Ronde, with a cast including Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins. Producer Erin Riley.

With Mark Lawson. Colin Dexter received the Theakston's Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award at this year's Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Dexter wrote his last Inspector Morse novel, The Remorseful Day, in 1999, but his Oxford-based detective remains a giant on the crime fiction landscape. He talks to Mark Lawson about starting the Morse series and life after Morse. Crime expert Jeff Park presents his list of the best of current crime fiction.Kronos Quartet's David Harrington and composer Nicole Lizee discuss their latest collaboration, The Golden Age of Radiophonic Workshop, a tribute to the work of Delia Derbyshire and the other composers who produced some of the most memorable and unusual music for the BBC, including the Dr Who theme.Michael Dobbs, politician and best-selling author of House of Cards - and four novels about Winston Churchill - casts his critical eye over the latest televisual offering from David Starkey, The Churchills.Producer Ellie Bury.

With Mark Lawson. Mark reports on the latest work to be created for the vast Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. This year Tino Sehgal is the artist who has taken on the challenge.Ruby Wax is aiming to tackle the workplace stigma of mental illness in a new Channel 4 documentary, Ruby's Mad Confessions. In it she encourages three high flyers to reveal a mental health condition to their colleagues. She explains the importance of speaking up about mental health at work.Danny DeVito and Zac Efron are among the stars providing the voices in The Lorax, the latest Dr Seuss book to be adapted for the big screen. The plot revolves around a young boy's quest to find the last real tree, after the environment has been destroyed to satisfy consumer demand. Children's writer Meg Rosoff reviews.With a wealth of Olympic-themed television in the offing, sports writer Alyson Rudd reviews three of the week's highlights - a special edition of Absolutely Fabulous; Bert and Dickie, starring Matt Smith in a tale of two British rowers in t

With Kirsty Lang.Ex-Monty Python Terry Jones and Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley (The Full Monty) discuss creating "A Water-Bound Spectacle" inspired by Edward Lear's 1871 poem The Owl and the Pussycat. The poem has been given an operatic makeover and performances will take place on a barge. Two film releases this week take the audience on a 3000-mile musical journey across the USA. In the documentary film Big Easy Express, the British folk group Mumford & Sons join up with two other bands on a train travelling from California to Louisiana for a celebration of music and performance. And in a new Indie feature film The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, two musicians take a road trip east to-west to take part in a battle of the bands. Music critic Kate Mossman reviews.With a week to go until the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, with its British pastoral theme - the concept of film-maker Danny Boyle - Adam Smith imagines what the ceremony would look like if other British film directors had the chance

With Kirsty Lang.American musician and performer Ice-T has directed a cinema documentary Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap in which he talks to leading performers including Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Eminem about the culture of hip-hop. Ice-T discusses the origins of the music, and its continuing influence. Tom Hanks, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry King are just three high-profile entertainers who have launched new online film and video projects. Boyd Hilton considers the growing phenomenon of big stars creating productions solely for the internet.On the eve of her retirement Monica Mason, director of The Royal Ballet Company, reflects on her 54 years with the company which she joined as a 16 year old dancer in 1958. She recalls working with stars such as Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev, becoming a muse to the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and why, as a young dancer, she was terrified of Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois.Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Madonna's MDNA world tour arrived in the UK last night, including new live versions of three decades worth of hits, performed with dancers, flying drummers, tightrope walkers, cheerleaders and a Basque folk trio. Rosie Swash assesses whether Madonna still commands the stage. Simon Russell Beale takes the title role in Timon of Athens, in a new National Theatre production of Shakespeare's tale of conspicuous consumption, debt and corruption. Andrew Rawnsley reviews. The World's Two Smallest Humans is the title of the new collection of poetry by Julia Copus. The poems cover a range of subjects from music to the classics, and the collection features a series of personal poems on the subject of IVF, a process Julia Copus underwent without success.Iranian-born Mahan Esfahani gave the first ever harpsichord recital in the history of the BBC Proms last year. This Saturday he returns with The Academy of Ancient Music to perform his own orchestration of Bach's keyboard masterpiece, The Art of Fugue.

With Mark Lawson.Hattie Morahan and Dominic Rowan are currently starring in Ibsen's drama A Doll's House, and audiences have been booing Dominic's portrayal of the heroine's chauvinistic husband. The actors discuss handling negative audience reaction, which also happened when Dominic played an egotistical hunk in Penelope Skinner's play, The Village Bike. John Lydon, lead singer of the iconic 1970s punk band The Sex Pistols, says it would be a compliment if their song, God Save the Queen, was included in the Olympic opening ceremony. He explains why the song is not a vicious assault and, as his band PiL release a new album, he talks about his National Treasure status and why retiring is not an option.A third volume of T S Eliot's correspondence has just been published, the product of many years of scholarship - but will such collections continue in the age of email and text message? Professor Steve Connor, from Birkbeck College, London, and Megan Barnard, from the Harry Ransom Centre in Texas, consider the fu

With Mark Lawson.The Dark Knight Rises is the third of director Christopher Nolan's Batman films. Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne, with Tom Hardy as an evil terrorist, and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Writer Naomi Alderman reviews.The first phase of Tate Modern's extension programme is unveiled this week with the opening of The Tanks, two enormous chambers in former oil tanks, which will show art in live form - performance, installations and film. Mark meets architect Jacques Herzog and artist Sung Hwan Kim.Director Asif Kapadia, whose motor-racing documentary Senna won considerable acclaim, discusses his film Odyssey, a portrait of London since it won the bid to host the Olympic games. Starting on 6 July 2005, the film shows the euphoria of winning the bid, the devastation of the 7/7 terrorist attacks, the impact of the credit crunch and the 2011 riots. Birger Larsen, the director behind the Danish crime series The Killing, reveals that the now-famous jumper worn by the show's main character Sarah Lund was

With John Wilson.Author Eoin Colfer reveals the reason that he decided to put an end to the saga of his best-selling hero Artemis Fowl, despite his publisher's wishes.Tonight is the start of the BBC Proms 2012 - but what's it like being a world-class classical soloist? Mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, violinist Maxim Vengerov and trumpeter Alison Balsom reveal some of the pressures they face, and Colin Lawson, director of the Royal College of Music, discusses whether students can be prepared for life on the international stage. To mark the 250th anniversary of the coup d'état which placed Catherine the Great on the Russian throne, the National Museum of Scotland is holding an exhibition exploring how she used artworks to express her power. Dr Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, explains what the collection tells us about Catherine herself.John revisits Afghan war veterans Rifleman Daniel Shaw and Sapper Lyndon Chatting-Walters, as they prepare to go on tour with Owen Sheers' play The Two Wor