Ryan Murphy’s new film starring Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman, reviewed

Ryan Murphy’s new film, The Prom, bursts into song and dance as four down-on-their-luck Broadway stars descend on a small Indiana town in support of a girl who just wants to go to the high school Prom with her girlfriend. The cast includes Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman and the critical reception in the US has been polarised; what does our reviewer Karen Krizanovich make of it?

When theatre director Rebecca Frecknall and playwright Chris Bush began rehearsals for the show that would re-open London's Almeida Theatre after lockdown they had the title, Nine Lessons and Carols, but nothing else. They talk to Kirsty about creating a production, from scratch, with a cast that must maintain social distance; a show that addresses these dark times, but warmly welcomes an audience back to the theatre with lights, sound, and stories.

A comic strip “Our Plague Year” by artist and illustrator Nick Burton, conceived in collaboration with HOME in Manchester, draws parallels between the Great Plague which struck England in the 17th century and the current Coronavirus epidemic. Set in the Derbyshire village of Eyam which, when The Plague took hold, famously chose to cut off all contact with the outside world to stop the contagion spreading. But it’s not just doom gloom and death, the strip is full of dark humour and makes readers wonder whether human society has really changed all that much between then and now.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May