Michael Berkeley welcomes the actor, playwright and director Steven Berkoff, renowned for the visceral quality of his plays such as East, West, Decadence, Greek, Sink the Belgrano, Scumbags, Ritual in Blood and Messiah. He has also adapted and directed for the stage Kafka's Metamorphosis and The Trial, the Greek tragedy Agamemnon, and Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. His plays, adaptations and his one-man show have toured widely abroad, from the Far East to the USA.
As an actor, Steven has appeared in films ranging from A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Octopussy and Beverly Hills Cop to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. On TV he has been seen in The Professionals, Star Trek and Jonathan Creek, among others. He has published a variety of books on the theatre, and an autobiography, Free Association.
His eclectic musical choices range from music for the stage - Milhaud's ballet La création du monde, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream and incidental music to Brecht's Mother Courage - to music that reflects his love of travel - Buddhist chant and an unusual Monkey Dance from Bali. There's also Ivo Pogorelich playing the second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111, and Chet Baker with the Rogers and Hart classic My Funny Valentine.
First broadcast in April 2012.