Front Row

Harry Hill's Clubnite is a new cabaret TV show from the comedian featuring his choice of comic entertainers. Harry talks to Stig about what he looks for in comedians, what makes him laugh and the nature of surrealism.

The greatly renowned theatre director Peter Brook is 94 and has just written a book, Playing by Ear, reflecting on sound and music. He talks to Front Row about the flow of a Shakespeare play, the power of an empty space and the significance of silence.

Podcaster Caroline Crampton gives her pick of the film podcasts you should be listening to, featuring a deep dive into the craft of acting, stories from Hollywood outsiders who made it big and insights into the art of writing music for film.

Writers Okechukwu Nzelu and Stephanie Merritt join Tom Sutcliffe to review Hanya Yanagihara’s novel To Paradise, eagerly awaited by fans of her Booker-shortlisted A Little Life. Over three distinct time settings it tells a vast story about the United States, Hawaii, love and responsibility, taking in climate change and pandemics along the way. And we’ll be looking ahead to a few of the book titles our critics are looking forward to this year.

Tracey MacLeod, one-time restaurant reviewer and critic on Masterchef, joins us to review Boiling Point, the one-take, fast-paced film set in a professional kitchen, starring Stephen Graham

Following the attack on the sculpture of Prospero and Ariel outside BBC Broadcasting House, art historian Dr Chris Stephens, Director of the Holburne Museum, gives us an insight into Eric Gill and the problem of bad people making good art.

Manjeet Mann joins us to discuss her Costa Children's Award winning novel The Crossing. Written in verse, it tells the story of Natalie and Sammy, two teenagers from opposite worlds, who are both overcoming their own grief.

Mel Giedroyc and Sarah Crompton join Samira to review The Franchise, the new comedy series from Armando Iannucci offering a behind the scenes look at the filming of a superhero film franchise.

They also review Tim Winton’s epic new novel Juice, set in the future of a climate change ravaged Australia.

And Francois Ozon's new comedy film The Crime is Mine, which sees an actress charged with murder finding the courtroom the perfect place to launch her career starring Isabelle Huppert.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones

Es Devlin, who designed sets for Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch and Stormzy at the Britz, has created something more quietly contemplative as artistic director of the London Design Biennale, filling the courtyard of Somerset House in London with trees. She tells Elle Osili-Wood about how forests in literature are places of transformation and how she created her Forest for Change, with a clearing at its heart where we are invited to consider the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

The artist Phoebe Boswell’s new exhibition Here at New Art Exchange in Nottingham features many life-size, detailed, figurative drawings, as well as large-scale video and animations which reflect her exploration of marginalisation, freedom and the idea of home. She discusses her work and how it echoes her own experience as a Kenyan-born British artist.

On May 18 the DCMS amended guidance issued on the 17th May prohibiting non professional singers from meeting indoors in groups larger than 6 which effectively prohibited most planned choral activities for the 2.2 million singers in over 40,000 choirs across the country. Front Row hears from Richard Reeves, General Manager of the Royal Choral Society who staged the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall last Sunday and Paul Parker, lawyer and part-time tenor about the ongoing issues the new guidance has raised.

Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: John Boland

Main image: The Global Goals Pavilion: Forest for Change at the London Design Biennale Image credit: Ed Reeve

Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff is widely regarded as television drama at its best with a cultural footprint that led to the phrase “Gi’s a job” being heard up and down the country. Forty years on from the first broadcast, James Graham, known for plays such as This House, about the UK’s hung parliament of the 1970s, and Dear England about the England football team, has adapted Alan’s screenplays for a stage production at the Royal Court theatre in Liverpool. He discusses why now was the right time to revisit and remodel.

Chester Contemporary is a new visual arts biennial curated by artist Ryan Gander who was born and raised in Chester and has created a citywide event that features some of the visual art world’s biggest names. Front Row visited Chester on the opening weekend to talk to Turner Prize-nominated artist Fiona Banner, emerging artist William Lang, Chester native Tim Foxon whose art pops up all over the city centre, and Turner Prize-winning artist Elizabeth Price, about their creations for the cathedral city.

The renowned conductor John Eliot Gardiner has cancelled all his appearances for the rest of this year after allegedly slapping and punching a singer backstage after a performance. He is far from the only conductor linked to reportedly bad behaviour. But as society puts conductors on a cultural as well as physical podium, and addresses them as ‘maestro’, perhaps such behaviour isn’t surprising. Perhaps, too, marshalling a large orchestra requires dictatorial leadership. Igor Toronyi-Lalic, music critic of The Spectator, and the conductor Ben Gernon join Nick Ahad to discuss how conductors conduct themselves, and how they should.

Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Lorne Campbell 1:30 James Graham 6:09 Conductors 16:33 Chester Art 29:36