Front Row

Katori Hall is a playwright from Memphis, Tennessee, whose story of a Southern strip club and the women who work in it has been adapted for television as a series called P-Valley - an “unflinching and unapologetic look” at the lives of women working at a Mississippi club called The Pynk.Cinema after lockdown. The government’s recently announced £1.75bn rescue package for the arts is to be spread across the sector, but what is specifically required by the British film industry and cinemas? Why are many cinemas still closed, despite having permission to open from last Saturday? And how can they recover? We speak to Ben Roberts, Chief Executive at BFI, and to film critic Larushka Ivan- Zadeh.Empty theatres, museums, and galleries: we speak to two artists examining the impact of coronavirus by documenting these deserted spaces. We’re joined by photographer Joanna Vestey, whose photographic series Custodians For Covid is fundraising for theatres under threat, and by artist Eloise Moody, who has produced a series of audio diaries with the caretakers of six museums and galleries across the UK.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Emma Wallace

Rufus Wainwright joins us to talk about his new album, Unfollow The Rules, lockdown's threat to live music, and his online robe recitals.In the wake of the announcement of £1.57 billion investment in the arts, John Wilson speaks to Neil Mendoza, the government's Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal, about how far-reaching this rescue package can be. Tate Britain is giving ten artists £10,000 bursaries in place of this year’s Turner Prize. Critic Louisa Buck discusses the range of artists being supported and what this initiative might mean for the future of the prize itself. And on his 80th birthday, we hear from Ringo Starr in a Front Row interview first broadcast in 2008.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Dymphna Flynn

Will the government’s £1.57 billion investment in the arts be enough save UK cultural organisations and freelancers? Samira discusses the arts rescue package with Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens, Artistic Director of Leicester’s Curve Theatre, Nikolai Foster, and head of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, Deborah AnnettsWe speak to dancer and choreographer Wayne McGregor about his latest work “Morgen”, created under lockdown, which strikes a note of optimism in hard times. Ennio Morricone, the Italian film composer, has died at the age of 91. His scores for films like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly helped define the western - but he worked across all genres, from The Battle of Algiers, Cinema Paradiso to The Untouchables - and in 2016 with Quentin Tarantino on The Hateful Eight for which Morricone won an Oscar. Neil Brand pays tribute to the work of the celebrated composer.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Nigel DixMain image: Cesar Corrales and Francesca Howard perform Morgen Image credit: Lara Capelli/Royal Opera House

Some of our major theatres are wrapped in pink today as part of the #missinglivetheatre campaign. Designer Tom Piper talks about the project.Novelist Sara Collins and actor Daniel York Loh make up our Friday Review panel. They’ve watched the newly released recording of the smash hit musical Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which allows viewers to replicate the theatrical experience at home. Also on the agenda, Michaela Coel’s BBC One drama I May Destroy you, which continues to make waves; and what the cancellation of pantomimes means for theatres and actors.The Black Lives Matter movement has thrown into sharper focus the role of schools in providing an appropriately diverse curriculum, with many saying that Black British history for example should take a greater place. But what about the curriculum in arts subjects? Is change needed and if so what? Bennie Kara is the author of the upcoming A Little Guide for Teachers: Diversity in Schools and a deputy head teacher in the East Midlands. BBC Proms director David Pickard discusses his plans for this year’s festival as the official guide is published, and how he’s had to adapt to the restrictions he faces for the safety of live audiences and performers.From Fargo to The Silence of the Lambs, via James Bond, whenever someone in a film is about to meet a particularly grisly end it seems, these days, their demise has to be accompanied by the most beautiful classical music. It wasn’t always this way. Critic Theodore Gioia considers why, and what this means.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Matilda MacariMain photo shows: The National Theatre on London's South Bank wrapped in bright pink barrier tape reading "Missing Live Theatre" (c) John Wilson/BBC

The new Australian TV thriller series The Secrets She Keeps. Felicity Ward reviews the BBC One drama about two women due to give birth on the same day, but whose pregnancies are not quite what they seem.Former culture minister Ed Vaizey considers the government's approach to the current challenges facing the performing arts.Director and writer Fyzal Boulifa on his debut feature film, Lynn + Lucy – a tragic tale of two childhood friends and young mothers on an Essex housing estate, and the judgements and unhappiness of a claustrophobic, working-class community.And as Bradford Literature Festival is about to host its annual mushaira - a traditional celebration of Urdu poetry, and a beloved part of North Indian, Pakistani, and Deccan culture for over three centuries - we talk to Urdu poets Ghazal Ansari and Atif Tauqeer who will be taking part, but online this year.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant

Werner Herzog has made over 70 films, from the ambitious feature film Fitzcarraldo to the documentary Grizzly Man. From Los Angeles he discusses his latest project, Family Romance LLC, a fictional film set in Tokyo about a real company that loans out actors to impersonate family members or imitation friends ‘to create illusions to make clients’ lives better’.The town of Watford is joining together to form a huge book club, reading Katharine McMahon’s novel The Hour of Separation, which is set in the town, for the One Town, One Book initiative. We speak to Watford resident and reader Helen Nicell about why she’s taking part and Katharine McMahon about why Watford was the perfect setting for her book and how she’s feeling about getting feedback from local residents.NT At Home's latest free production is the 2016 staging of Les Blancs, Lorraine Hansbury’s posthumous play about one man’s place in an African country struggling for independence from British colonialism. Hansbury was the first black female playwright to have a play on Broadway. We speak to Danny Sapani who plays Tshembe.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Tim HefferMain Image: Werner Herzog Image credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Are the arts facing an existential crisis in the UK? Sir Simon Rattle, conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, on the imminent threat to orchestras and other arts organisations unless the government provides signficant financial support. The state of UK Theatre is discussed by Royal Shakespeare Company Executive Director, Catherine Mallyon, Actors’ Touring Company Artistic Director Matthew Xia, and Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of London's Kiln Theatre.Today the National Gallery announced they will be the first major museum to reopen next week. John is joined by the Director of the National Gallery, Gabriele Finaldi and Jenny Waldman, Director of the Art Fund to explore the situation facing galleries and museums. John is also joined by Guardian Chief Culture Writer Charlotte Higgins. Presenter: John Wilson Producers: Ekene Akalawu and Timothy ProsserMain image: Sir Simon Rattle Image credit: Mark Allan

Kevin Kwan, author of the Crazy Rich Asians novels, which was adapted into the hit film of 2018, talks about his new book Sex and Vanity, a satire set in the worlds of uber-rich New York and Capri, and is an homage to EM Forster’s A Room with a View.Annilese Miskimmon, the new Artistic Director of English National Opera, discusses her first project, ENO Drive & Live, a series of live opera performances that audiences can safely drive to and stay in their cars for the experience.As demonstrations for Black Trans Lives take place in the UK and the USA, Caitlin Benedict talks to creator of the Black Trans Archive, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, about how a video game can archive the experiences of black transgender people. Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, discusses how the institution has chosen to focus on younger people and those from the local area, rather than the usual international visitors, since re-opening post-coronavirus. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Hannah Robins Main image: Kevin Kwan Image credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for HFA

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

Redundancies at the Theatre Royal Plymouth - over 100 jobs have been announced at risk as income falls by over 90 per cent due to the pandemic. We hear about the devastating impact on staff and the region, the threat to the theatre’s existence, and the warning bell it sounds to the future of theatre across the country.Stuart Evers on his new novel, The Blind Light – a story of two families from across the class divide and across the decades, living in the shadow of nuclear fear and political events of the past 60 years.The statue of Edward Colston - now it's been fished out of Bristol harbour, what is happening to it now? Fran Coles is the conservationist in charge of preserving the statue, and the graffiti which is also part of its story. She tells Samira Ahmed about this work, and the important discovery found tucked in the bronze fold of Colston’s frock.Eurovision, the film - a new film comedy, starring Will Ferrell and set at the Eurovision Song Contest looks affectionately at the glorious ridiculousness of the annual kitschfest. Eurovision veteran, the BBC’s Paddy O’Connell, has been to every one since 2004 and joins us to review the new Netflix film.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Emma Wallace Studio Manager: Tim Heffer