Front Row: Archive 2012

With Mark Lawson. Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths discuss their theatrical collaboration in The Sunshine Boys and their plans to perform Shakespeare in a pub for one night only.The shortlist for the Art Fund Prize 2012 is announced today. Chris Smith, chair of judges, reveals the four remaining contenders for the £100,000 award, given annually in recognition of excellence and innovation in museums and galleries.Poet Wendy Cope reveals her favourite lines from the Bard as part of Radio 4's Shakespeare Unlocked Season.Briony Hanson reviews an Indonesian thriller directed by a Welshman and a Latin American drama written by a Scot - The Raid and Even The RainProducer Stephen Hughes.

With Kirsty Lang.Street of Dreams is a new arena musical based on Coronation Street, Britain's longest-running tv soap. Hosted by Paul O'Grady and starring cast members including Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch) and William Roache (Ken Barlow), it opened last night in Manchester. Author and Corrie fan Livi Michael reviews. Anish Kapoor discusses Orbit, his towering steel sculpture for the Olympic Park, which was unveiled today. Kirsty ascends to the viewing platforms, and critic Richard Cork gives his verdict. The Proclaimers, Craig and Charlie Reid, discuss the inspiration behind their new album Like Comedy. As the Brighton Festival opens, Kirsty reports from a disused market, the setting for a drama based on a murder case from Belgium; and on a piece of waste-land at the end of the promenade, we eavesdrop on lovers in their cars. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Hilary Mantel discusses her novel Bring Up The Bodies, a sequel to her Booker Prize-winner Wolf Hall. It focuses on the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn and, like Wolf Hall, the story is told from the point of view of Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell. Mantel reflects on the art of writing historical fiction. Tim Burton's latest film Dark Shadows stars Johnny Depp as a 200 year old vampire, who finds himself in the 1970s. Burton explains how he was inspired by a 1960s gothic soap opera.56 Up is the latest instalment of the landmark TV documentary series which has returned every seven years to focus on a group of people from varying social backgrounds who were first filmed at the age of seven. The new series revisits all but one of the original group. Rachel Cooke and Chris Dunkley review. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson.Edward VIII: The Plot to Topple a King is a new TV drama/documentary which tells the story of Archbishop Cosmo Gordon Lang, played by David Calder. He believed that Edward VIII's love for Wallis Simpson made a mockery of all that he stood for, and so assembled a group of grandees to oust the King. AN Wilson reviews.Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge discusses his first play, Collaborators, which recently won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. Collaborators focuses on an imagined encounter between Joseph Stalin and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov. Hodge discusses the differences between writing for stage and screen.Klaus Heymann, the founder of the bargain classical music label Naxos, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, is joined by music critic Jessica Duchen to reflect on how his label revolutionised the music industry, whether there is a downside to affordable recordings and if the record business has a profitable future. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Mark Lawson. Mel Gibson returns to the screen this week in How I Spent Last Summer, in which he plays a career criminal arrested by the authorities in Mexico and sent to a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film (called Get the Gringo for its US release) which Gibson co-wrote. Today, Japanese born classical pianist, Dame Mitsuko Uchida is awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal - one of the highest honours in classical music. Created to commemorate the centenary of Beethoven's birth in 1870, it counts Brahms, Delius, Elgar, Stravinsky, Britten, Bernstein, Alfred Brendel; Simon Rattle; Plácido Domingo and Daniel Barenboim among previous recipients. Maxine Peake discusses returning to the role of Martha, an ambitious barrister, in a second series of Silk, the advantages of working in both TV and theatre and why Kate Bush's music helps her approach Strindberg. We pay tribute to Maurice Sendak, the US author of the best-selling

In a special edition, John Wilson meets Damon Albarn at work in his studio, surrounded by instruments, as he prepares for a busy summer. He's helping to launch the London 2012 Festival with the return of his opera Dr Dee, which is inspired by the Elizabethan alchemist and visionary, and his band Blur are marking the end of the Olympics with a big Hyde Park concert. Damon begins his day spinning a 78rpm disc on his wind-up gramophone, and the tour of his studio includes the sounds of his specially-commissioned church bells and a Soviet-era Russian synthesizer. Turning the pages of a large 17th century book about Dr Dee and the angels, he reflects on his interests in the magical ideas of the period. He also reveals his views on the future of his band Blur - and turns to his studio piano to perform the opening section of a brand new Blur song, which will be released later this year. Producer John Goudie.

With Kirsty Lang Artist Michael Craig-Martin reviews a major new exhibition about the art and architecture created and inspired by the Bauhaus school. He reflects on the movement's influence on modern design, children's toys and his own career.Irish poet Paul Durcan is renowned for his uncompromising poems about sectarian violence and failings in the Catholic Church, as well as confessional pieces about love and loss. He discusses his new collection, which takes in the decline of the Celtic tiger, condemnations of bankers and "bonus boys" - and the bliss of being old enough to get a free travel pass. Comedian Isy Suttie is best known for playing the geeky Dobby in Channel 4's Peep Show. Her musical comedy show Pearl and Dave was a hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe and she's now taking it on tour. She reveals why growing up in Matlock was such a big influence and the strange requests she gets from Peep Show fans.As John Huston's bio-pic of Freud is released on DVD for the first time, historian Matthew Sweet

With Kirsty Lang. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs is a one-man theatre piece by Mike Daisey, describing the appeal of Apple products and a visit Mike made to a factory where they're made in China. Created in 2010, the piece hit controversy this March, when the US Public Radio show This American Life revealed that some elements of the show were not true. Mike Daisey has come to the UK to perform the piece, and he discusses his response to the controversy. Shirley Hughes is a much-loved picture-book maker for younger children and has illustrated more than 200 books. She's now written her first novel, aimed at older children and teenagers, set in occupied Italy during the 1939-45 war. She discusses her choice of subject and the experience of writing for an older readership.Sandra Hebron reviews Goodbye First Love, an acclaimed film about first love set against the backdrop of modern Paris. International hit US TV dramas In Treatment and Homeland are versions of shows first created in Israel. Naomi Alderm

With John Wilson.Actor Jason Isaacs on his new high concept TV drama Awake and why British actors are storming Hollywood. South Sudan is the world's youngest country, gaining statehood less than a year ago. The South Sudan Theatre Company was formed immediately and has now come to the UK to perform Shakespeare's Cymbeline in Juba Arabic, as part of the Globe to Globe Shakespeare festival. John Wilson reports on how company members and the British Council think this new cultural institution can help shape a new national identity.The Scream by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is among the world's most famous pictures, and one of his pastel drawings of the image will be auctioned tonight in New York. It is likely to achieve a sale price of nearly £50 million, close to the record for an art-work. Art market watcher Godfrey Barker reflects what this says about the value of art. Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish band The Chieftains, who this year celebrate their 50th birthday. He reflects on the band's

With John Wilson.Novelist Mark Haddon found fame with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, an adventure story from the perspective of a boy with Asperger syndrome. His latest book is The Red House which explores modern life through the prism of a family holiday. The shortlist for the 2012 Turner Prize for art is announced today. Critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston gives her verdict on the contenders. Norah Jones, singer-songwriter and daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar, achieved great success with her debut album Come Away with Me, which sold more than 10 million copies. Her new album Broken Little Hearts details a recent break-up. She reflects on why this is such a rich theme in her music.Roy Hodgson is the new manager of the England football team but that's not the only thing he shares with predecessor Fabio Capello. Both men are fans of the artist Wassily Kandinsky. Football writer Jim White reflects on why the artist might particularly appeal to these football heavyweights.Producer Rebecca Ni

With John Wilson. Professor Robert Winston surveys a major exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical drawings, on show at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Acclaimed violinist Maxim Vengerov reveals why he unexpectedly stopped performing as a soloist, and why he's now returning to the concert platform.Poet Lemn Sissay discusses how his poem for the Olympic Park, inspired by a local match factory, has gained a new meaning following the news about the possible placement of surface-to-air missiles in the area. Andrew Collins decides whether American Reunion, the latest film in the American Pie series, is fully or half-baked.Producer Stephen Hughes.

Enquirer is a new rapid-response, verbatim work mounted by the National Theatre of Scotland investigating the current crisis in UK newspaper journalism. Performed promenade style in a Glasgow office block, it is based on over 50 interviews with journalists. Directors John Tiffany and Vicki Featherstone explain how they came up with the idea and what they hope the project will achieve.Toni Morrison's new novel, Home, tells the story of a self-loathing African-American veteran of the Korean war who returns home to a racist America. Suffering serious trauma, he sets out to rescue his beloved sister, who is dying as a result of medical abuse, and take her back to the small Georgia town they grew up in. Professor Diane Roberts reviews.Picasso's Vollard Suite is on show at the British Museum - a series of 100 etchings named after the avant-garde Paris art dealer who commissioned them. They show Picasso's interest in sculptural forms in the 1930s, and include images of passionate sexual imagery and bullfighting - wh

With Mark Lawson. Very Important People is Channel 4's new sketch show which claims to reinvigorate the world of impressions. Performers Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott discuss the physical and vocal transformations necessary to take on roles such as Adele, Bear Grylls and President Obama.The Brodsky Quartet, the British string quartet, celebrate their 40th birthday this year. As well as concentrating on the traditional quartet repertoire, they have also worked with Bjork, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney. As they prepare to perform the complete Shostakovich Quartets this weekend, they discuss their work over four decades.Veteran playwright and director Edward Bond has been a controversial figure in British theatre, not least for his best-known play Saved, the violence that lies at the heart of much of his work and his outspoken views about today's theatre. As a UK premiere of a trilogy of his plays is staged in London, Bond gives a rare interview as he reflects on his theatrical career.Producer Philippa R

With Mark Lawson. Michael Frayn discusses his new novel Skios, a story of mislaid identity, confusion and miscalculated consequences set on a Greek island. And in the light of an acclaimed new revival of his stage farce Noises Off, he also reflects on the hits and misses of his theatrical career. David Hare's latest play South Downs was commissioned by Chichester Festival Theatre as a companion piece to Terence Rattigan's one act play The Browning Version. Anna Chancellor takes a leading role in the two plays, which are both set in minor public schools half a century ago. Kathryn Hughes reviews. The Nobel Prize-winning Caribbean poet Derek Walcott is in the UK to direct a professional production of his 1978 play Pantomime. He considers his approach to the stage and to poetry, and why he chose this particular play for revival. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Glenn Close takes the title role in the film Albert Nobbs, the tale of a woman pretending to be man in order to work as a butler in 19th century Dublin. Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville wrote the screenplay. Antonia Quirke reviews. Actor Harry Shearer is known for providing the voices for a number of characters in The Simpsons, including Mr Burns, as well as starring in the 1984 spoof rockumentary This is Spinal Tap. This week he steps into the shoes of Richard Nixon in a new TV comedy-drama Nixon's the One, which reveals what went on behind the scenes, based on an archive of more than 198 hours of recordings made between February 1971 and 1973.Dramatist Robert Holman's triptych of plays Making Noise Quietly has just received a new London production. The Yorkshire-born playwright looks back at a career which goes back to the 1970s, and includes work at the RSC, the National Theatre and in the West End.The BAFTA Television Awards nominations are announced today. Last year's drama s

With John Wilson. Last year on Front Row poetry publisher William Sieghart announced that a line from Alfred Tennyson's Ulysses would be displayed prominently on a wall in the London Olympic Village. Now the wall, which is part of the Winning Words poetry project, has been finished. John visits the Olympic Park with William Sieghart and artistic commissioner Sarah Weir as they see the completed wall for the first time.On Shakespeare's birthday, Front Row focuses on his sonnets. Now in its second year, tonight's World Book Night sees 2.5 million books given away as part of an international initiative to encourage people to make reading a part of their lives, including prisons, hospitals and homeless shelters. Each of the books in the UK will include a Shakespeare sonnet, selected by poet Don Paterson. He and writer Meg Rosoff discuss how the sonnets fit with the chosen titles. Playwright Mark Ravenhill reads his new sonnet, commissioned by the RSC, to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday and the official opening o

With Mark Lawson. Barbara Windsor reflects on her career, as she receives a lifetime achievement award at the Bradford International Film Festival. Long before her best-known roles in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, she worked with Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East and was nominated for awards for her performances in Sparrers Can't Sing and Oh, What A Lovely War! Playwright Enda Walsh and actor Cillian Murphy first collaborated on the acclaimed play Disco Pigs in 1996. Both have gone on to forge successful careers in theatre and film, and have re-united for Misterman, a one-man play at the National Theatre. They reflect on how they've both changed over time, and why it is impossible to be a celebrity in Ireland. Timothy Mo's new novel is called Pure - which is also the title of Andrew Miller's recent prize-winning novel . And the new biography of Simon Cowell is called Sweet Revenge, a title found on a number of romantic novels. Professor John Sutherland reflects on some

With Mark Lawson. Actor David Suchet discusses his role in a new production of Long Day's Journey Into Night and laments the passing of Poirot.Roger Wright, controller of Radio 3, joins Mark to share a few highlights of this summer's BBC Proms concerts: Daniel Barenboim conducting his first ever Beethoven symphony cycle in London; operas including Nixon In China, Congolese musicians Staff Benda Bilili and Radio 4's Desert Island Discs celebrating its 70th birthday with a live prom; and this year's Children's Prom launches the audience into the wonderful world of Wallace and Gromit. To celebrate the centenary of the British Board of Film Classification, The British Silent Film Festival is hosting an examination of the early days of film censorship. Bryony Dixon of the British Film Institute and Lucy Brett, education officer at the BBFC, tell Mark how and why censorship came about, what sort of person was hired as a sensor of silent films - and what sort of things they cut out.Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson.Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film adaptation of the bestseller Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, about an unlikely scheme to introduce fly-fishing to the desert, which results in an equally unlikely love triangle.Salmon Fishing is one of 17 films scheduled to be released in cinemas this week, an all-time high for an already overcrowded market. Box office analyst Charles Gant explains why the numbers are so great and if anybody is actually watching many of them.Writer Stanley Booth travelled with The Rolling Stones as they toured the US in 1969, gaining unique access to the band. His account of what he saw has just been re-published, and he recalls the sometimes shocking events he witnessed, and also remembers the moment when he heard Otis Redding record (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay. The Fontana Modern Masters series were as known for their covers as their content - colourful, geometric patterns that have acquired the status of art, with several being sold as prints in their own right. Now a

With John Wilson. Marley is a feature length documentary about the life and legacy of the reggae superstar Bob Marley. David Hepworth, who saw Bob Marley live in London in 1975, reflects on the unexpected history the film unearths.Irvine Welsh discusses his prequel to Trainspotting, Skagboys. Mark Renton is set for university and an escape from working-class Edinburgh - but when his family falls apart and life in 1980s Britain gets too tough, heroin offers a different way out. Novelist Joanna Trollope is chair of the judges for this year's Orange Prize for fiction, and she reveals the decisions behind this year's shortlist, which was announced today.Simon Armitage discusses the Poetry Parnassus, an ambitious project to bring together poets from all the nations competing in the Olympics - and appeals for poets to come forward from the nations as yet unrepresented. Producer Stephen Hughes.