Front Row: Archive 2012

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