Michael Palin, The Last of Us Part II reviewed, Anthony Thwaite, Rethink - Nicola Triscott, Roadmap to Reopening Theatres

Michael Palin on staging a version of Beckett’s Waiting For Godot to raise money for The Royal Theatre Fund - and what else he’s been doing during lockdown.

We round up the week's big arts stories. The Last of Us Part II is one of the most highly anticipated games for a generation. Part I was an unexpected hit, praised for bringing the storytelling qualities of films to gaming. Elle Osili-Wood and Aoife Wilson review Part II which has a lesbian love story at its heart. They discuss the BBC’s announcement that from April 20% of commissions must be given to diverse productions, and Elle visits a bookshop in Independent Bookshops Week to see if the experience is as special as it was before social distancing. Plus, Aoife, Elle and Samira give their cultural recommendations.

Anthony Thwaite is 90 this week and joins Front Row to read two of his poems. He published his first in 1957 and his last (he thinks) in 2017. He talks about his work including his sojourns in Japan and Libya, and producing at the BBC where he shared an office with Louis MacNeice and broadcast poems by the then little-known Philip Larkin.

Nicola Triscott is Director of FACT (Foundation for Art & Creative Technology). For BBC Radio 4’s Rethink she argues that given how important internet access to art has been in lockdown, we should value and invest in it.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has announced a five stage roadmap for the reopening of the performing arts. It comes without dates or a financial support package, so what is included, how helpful is it, what’s been the reaction, and what more needs to be done to save a sector in crisis? Front Row talks to Matt Hemley, News Editor of The Stage.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio manager: Matilda Macari