Front Row

Anna Chancellor stars in the new TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Ordeal By Innocence this weekend, in which she plays Rachel Argyll, heiress, philanthropist and mother of five adopted children found murdered on Christmas Eve. Samira talks to the actress, who is well-known for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Hour, Spooks and Mapp & Lucia. Harshdeep Kaur, the popular Indian playback singer known for her Bollywood Hindi, Punjabi and Sufi songs, performs live. Popularly known as the 'Queen of Sufi', she'll be performing her soulful Sufi renditions alongside a range of more modern Bollywood classics at the Barbican in London this week.American theatre critic Hilton Als won the Pulitzer Prize last year for his theatre reviews which the judges said puts drama 'within a real-world cultural context, particularly the shifting landscape of gender, sexuality and race.' He talks about White Girls, his new collection of essays, which blurs the line between criticism and memoir, fiction and nonfiction. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Artist Sonia Boyce's career has been punctuated by series of firsts - the first black woman to have her work collected by the Tate, the first black woman to be elected a Royal Academician. As her first retrospective opens, Sonia discusses her art and why she removed a painting from the walls of Manchester Art Gallery.On the 100th anniversary of Debussy's death two interpreters of his music discuss his life, legacy and influences. Lucy Parham tours a show playing his piano music interspersed with readings from Debussy's own writings and letters while Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla the conductor of the city of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has curated a season of Debussy's orchestral works. Testament is a rapper, beatboxer and theatre maker who's now based in Yorkshire. That county is the setting of Black Men Walking, a touring production that takes as its real life inspiration a group of black men - and some women - who go walking in the Peak District once a month. It uses music, poetry and the rich and largely unsung history of black people in this country, and countryside, to tell its story. Presenter: Gaylene Gould Producer: Hannah Robins.

Macbeth is on at the National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House, and there will be at least 15 more Macbeths at theatres and festivals around the country this year. Rufus Norris, director of the National's production, and Kit Monkman, who has made the latest film version, discuss why Shakespeare's play has such urgent appeal today.The British Council has been in the news because Moscow has shut down its activities in Russia. But what does the Council actually do? Alastair Niven, who was for four years Director of Literature at the British Council, explains its work, significance and why it sometimes falls foul of certain regimes.As music superstar partners Beyoncé and Jay-Z announce details of their new joint tour, Front Row decided to examine the delights and drawbacks when artists, who are couples, hit the road together. John talks to comedian Francesca Martinez and her touring partner actor Kevin Hely, and married musical duo Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman.

Director Steven Soderbergh on his latest film, Unsane, which stars Claire Foy as a woman admitted to a mental health facility against her will. The film was shot entirely on three iphones. Is this the future of film? America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper, a big exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford focuses on American artists in the early 20th century - including Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hopper - many of whom expressed their uncertainty about the rapid modernisation and urbanisation of their country. The show's curator discusses the significance of these paintings, prints and photographs made between 1915 and 1945, many of which have not been seen in the UK before. How to establish yourself as a solo artist after a successful career in a double act - Stephen Armstrong considers examples from cultural history as Ant McPartlin, one half of TV presenting powerhouse Ant and Dec, is admitted to rehab, leaving Declan Donnelly considering his options.A new RSC production of The Duchess of Malfi will involve the spilling of 3000 litres of stage blood throughout its run. To tell us how, why, and how much we should expect in the world of stage blood, we're joined by theatre critic Sam Marlowe and Giuseppe Cannas, Head of Wigs, Hair and Make-up at the National Theatre.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Julian May.

Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon and Patti Smith are just a few of the artists who trusted an inexperienced recording engineer, Jimmy Iovine, at the controls of their albums in the '70s. Iovine discusses a new documentary series The Defiant Ones, in which he looks back at 40 years in the record business: from those early beginnings, teaming up with hip hop artist Dr Dre, creating the Beats audio brand and running Apple Music.Award-winning Irish novelist Donal Ryan on his fifth novel, From a Low and Quiet Sea, which tells the story of three men, from war-torn Syria to small-town Ireland. Three apparently disparate stories that come together in the most unexpected of ways.An international competition for young singers, The Glyndebourne Opera Cup is being televised this week. Samira talks Maria Mot, one of the jury, about what she's looking for in such a wide range of voices and styles and its appeal to a younger audience of opera aficionados.Today is the spring equinox and through the day Radio 4 has been broadcasting new poems to mark the (official) start of the season when life quickens. On Front Row we welcome, with a poem each, Caleb Femi, the Young People's Laureate for London, and Scotland's Makar Jackie Kay.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Harry Parker.

As Andrew Lloyd Webber turns 70, Kirsty Lang talks to the composer about how he transformed musical theatre with hits like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.When Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway last year, Andrew Lloyd Webber became the only person to equal the record set in 1953 by his musical heroes Rogers and Hammerstein with four Broadway shows running concurrently. He talks about the process of how he composes, the future of musical theatre - and how he landed an extremely rare interview with Vladimir Putin. Unmasked, the autobiography and Unmasked, The Platinum Collection are both available now. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn.

Sir Tom Jones and Jennifer Hudson discuss mentoring the competitors in the TV talent show The Voice, how they coach their protégés and where the value of knockout singing competitions lies. Kirsty visits rehearsals at the studios of the television show and talks to the two judges. As The Square, a satire on modern art galleries hits cinemas, we consider the portrayal of the art gallery in film with Briony Hanson, Head of Film at British Council, and art critic Jacky Klein who also works at Tate.As 'embiggen', a word coined by The Simpsons, makes its way into the dictionary, lexicographer Susie Dent traces the way words hop from the screen into people's conversations and their impact on our language.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Lara Croft remains one of the most famous gaming characters ever. Now as the film franchise of the games gets a reboot staring Alicia Vikander, film critic Kate Muir and gamer Julia Hardy discuss whether Lara Croft is a feminist icon or an object of male fantasy and what she reveals about the portrayal of women in gaming and film. Debut novelist Lisa Halliday won the prestigious American Whiting Award for her fiction writing - previously won by Colson Whitehead and Jonathan Franzen. No surprise then that her first full length novel Asymmetry has been winning rave reviews. Lisa discusses the book which is in three parts, and reveals how the opening section is resonant with her own affair with Philip Roth.The close interaction between actors and audience in interactive or immersive theatre has been part of its rising attraction, but that appeal is in danger of becoming a problem. Alexander Wright, director of the immersive Great Gatsby show, Maureen Beattie of the actors' union Equity, and theatre critic Sarah Hemming discuss where the lines should be drawn.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Parker.

Mary Magdalene was Jesus Christ's most loyal friend, who stayed with him through the ordeal of his crucifixion, and was the first witness to his resurrection. But she was also denigrated by the church as a prostitute. Now her story is told in a new film with Rooney Mara as Mary and Joaquin Phoenix as Christ. Michèle Roberts, who wrote the novel The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, reviews.With its population of 300,000, Iceland has more books published, and more writers per head, than anywhere else in the world. As it becomes a leader in Nordic Noir, crime writer Ragnar Jónasson and professor of Icelandic, Helga Lúthersdóttir, discuss the rich world of Icelandic fiction from the sagas which date back to the 13th century to the present day. Joseph Morpurgo's show Hammerhead strangely begins after his show has ended. It is the question-and-answer session after an - imagined - 9-hour, one-man performance of Frankenstein. He talks to Stig Abell about this conceit and where it leads him.And with news of the death of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, we consider his presence in popular culture, and in particular playing himself on TV.

Paddy Considine discusses Journeyman, the new film he's written, directed and stars in. The film is centred on the life of a boxer who, after a damaging championship bout, discovers that he has far bigger fights on his hands.Four British mosques have just been given listed status or been upgraded in recognition of their historic, cultural and architectural importance. Architect Shahed Saleem, who has written The British Mosque, considers the cultural landscape for the 2000 or so places of Muslim worship in the UK.As the second season of the revived Liverpool Everyman Repertory company begins, Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz reveals the lessons learned from the first season and her plans for the future of the companyTimberlake Wertenbaker's play 'Our Country's Good', about convicts transported to Australia putting on a play, is a modern classic. Director Fiona Buffini and the actor Garry Robson talk about their latest touring production, in which the cast includes disabled, deaf and able-bodied actors.