Front Row

Former National Theatre director, Sir Nicholas Hytner on his new production of Julius Caesar, starring Ben Whishaw and David Morrissey, which offers the audience a chance to stand and be immersed in the action. Sir Nicholas talks about the staging, how contemporary politics resonates with this Shakespeare play and about his new venue the Bridge Theatre. Ruth Barnes looks at what the list of Grammy winners says about the current state of popular music.The pioneering architect Neave Brown, responsible for celebrated landmark designs in social housing, died earlier this month. Architects Joanne McCafferty and Paul Karakusevic assess Brown's legacy and his influence on social housing design today.Joe Dunthorne, who achieved great success with his debut novel Submarine whilst still in his twenties, talks to John about his third book, The Adulterants. Set in trendy East London it's about a group of thirtysomethings making life choices against a backdrop of the 2011 summer riots.

As part of Radio 4's Reading Europe season, Kirsty Lang explores Turkish literature in Istanbul, talking to leading writers including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk.Critics Kaya Genc and Nagihan Ibn Haliloglu discuss how the Turkish literary scene compares to our own: what are the bestselling books, and how are writers dealing with the current political situation, given Turkey has imprisoned more writers recently than any other country. Orhan Pamuk on his latest novel The Red-Haired Woman (Radio 4's current Book at Bedtime), and its themes of authoritarianism and the clash between the old and new Turkeys. Since being sacked from her job as one of Turkey's most-read newspaper columnists because of her political views, Ece Temelkuran has concentrated on her career as a novelist, including writing the bestselling Women Who Blow on Knots. Burhan Sönmez, the prize-winning Kurdish writer whose latest novel Istanbul, Istanbul, inspired by his own experience of torture and imprisonment, is about four political prisoners who tell each other magical stories about Istanbul. Why has a little known love story written in 1940 recently topped the Turkish bestseller charts? Filiz Ali talks about her father Sabahattin Ali, who was murdered in 1948 but whose novel Madonna in a Fur Coat has become a publishing phenomenon. The books discussed in our programme are:The Red-Haired Woman, written by Orhan Pamuk and translated by Ekin Oklap Istanbul, Istanbul, written by Burhan Sönmez and translated by Ümit Hussein. Women Who Blow on Knots, written by Ece Temelkuran and translated by Alexander Dawe. Madonna in a Fur Coat, written by Sabahattin Ali and translated by Maureen Freely and Alexander Dawe. The Stone Building and Other Places, written by Asli Erdogan and translated by Sevinç Türkkan.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser.

In 2016 Paapa Essiedu became the first black actor to play Hamlet for the RSC. As he reprises the role for a tour of the production we speak to the actor tipped to be a star, about Hamlet and his performances in television dramas Kiri and The Miniaturist. It's rare for a poetry essay to make the news headlines but that's exactly what's happened to the essay written by Rebecca Watts in the current issue of PN Review. She talks to Samira about her problem with the poetry establishment and explains why her criticism of poet Hollie McNish wasn't personal. Award-winning poet Don Paterson responds.Publisher Daniel Mallory turned debut novelist A J Finn discusses making it to the top of the best-seller charts with his psychological thriller, The Woman In The Window.On tonight's podcast, artist Grayson Perry explains why the late Mark E. Smith of the post-punk group The Fall, was one of his heroes.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman.

Now just 18, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason won the title of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016. His choice of repertoire ranges from Shostakovich to Bob Marley and he plays live in the studio on the release of his debut album, Inspiration.Following the announcement of the death of Ursula K. Le Guin, the Earthsea writer's literary agent Ginger Clark and fantasy novelist Vic James discuss her legacy. Charles I (1600-1649) acquired and commissioned an extensive collection of art, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Holbein and Titian. Jerry Brotton, author of The Sale of the Late King's Goods, assesses the new Royal Academy exhibition Charles I: King and Collector, which includes works reunited for the first time since the 17th century.As two Belfast-based arts institutions - the arts complex The MAC and the Ulster Orchestra - receive emergency funding after financial problems put them at risk, the BBC's Northern Ireland Arts Correspondent, Robbie Meredith, discusses the current state of arts funding in Northern Ireland.Presenter: Alex Clark Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

The nominations for the 90th Academy Awards were announced earlier today, with Guillermo del Toro's fantasy romance The Shape of Water receiving the most, including best picture.Stig Abell is joined by film critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Gaylene Gould and Tim Robey to consider the winners and losers, and to assess whether the nominations reflect events of 2017 including Weinstein and #MeToo, and whether there is a better representation of BAME talent than in previous years. Presenter Stig Abell Producer Hannah Robins.

Matt Damon's new film Downsizing imagines a solution to over-population is to shrink humans to five inches tall. Director of Film for the British Council Briony Hanson reviews the film which is part midlife strife part speculative science-fiction.A choreographer for sex scenes on stage or on screen is just as important as that for a fight scene - so says movement director Ita O'Brien, who is calling on the industry to do more to protect performers in scenes involving sex or nudity. Ita O'Brien and casting agent Chris Carey discuss her proposals in the post-Weinstein, #MeToo era.Political cartoonist Martin Rowson joins John at the British Museum to meet Patricia Ferguson, curator of a display called Pots with Attitude: British Satire on Ceramics, 1760-1830 which looks at the Georgian fashion for printing satirical drawings onto pottery .And on the day the BFI re-issues of the classic British nuclear disaster film When the Wind Blows, based on the cartoon by Raymond Briggs, Ian Christie considers the film's relevance now.Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Director Richard Linklater discusses his new film Last Flag Flying, starring Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne and Steve Carell, about three former US servicemen who re-unite in 2003 for a road trip to bury the son of one of the men, killed in the Iraq War.A recent Arts Council England report into literary fiction shows that sales, advances and prices have slumped over the last 15 years with the average writer earning around £11,000 a year - less than the minimum wage. The Arts Council have responded by pledging more support for authors including possible tax breaks for small publishers. The co-editor of the online magazine Books Brunch Neil Denny, critic Alex Clark and publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove discuss the report's implications for the future of literary fiction.In a new collection Don't Call Us Dead, young American poet Danez Smith muses on their experiences as a black HIV positive and genderqueer person living in America today.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hannah Robins.

Bridget Riley is known for her abstract geometric images featuring grids, lines, circles and squares. As the artist prepares to open a new exhibition of her recent work, art critic Charlotte Mullins assesses the importance and impact of the canvases and murals created in the last four years. As the Bayeux Tapestry is set to come to the UK from France we consider the extraordinary qualities of this artwork, the soft power of such cultural moves and the messages that might lie within Macron's gesture. Nick Park's new film is set aeons earlier than his Wallace and Gromit adventures. Dug, a resourceful cave-youth, and best friend Hognob, a prehistoric wild boar, unite their Stone Age tribe in defence of their green and pleasant land using not weapons but guile and football. Park explains how he came to make Early Man, the first feature the four-time Oscar winner has directed on his own, and Front Row asks if, actually, it's all about Brexit.David Lodge is both a leading comic novelist and a renowned literary critic. He talks about his memoir, Writer's Luck which covers the years 1976-1991 in which he found his greatest success with books like How Far Can You Go?, Small World and Nice Work . He was also Chair of Judges of the 1989 Booker Prize when to his disappointment Martin Amis failed to be shortlisted.

Carleen Anderson, former singer with Young Disciples and the Brand New Heavies, discusses her album and 'tribal opera' Cage Street Memorial, and performs a song from it in the studio.Turkish writer Elif Shafak discusses her bestselling novel The Bastard of Istanbul about a family of women, for which she was accused of 'insulting Turkishness' in 2006 and put on trial. The novel has been made into a two-part drama as part of Radio 4's Reading Europe season. Kirsty will be exploring the state of Turkish literature in a special Istanbul edition of Front Row next Friday, 26 January. In the week that Liam Neeson's new film The Commuter opens in cinemas, film critic Mark Eccleston considers the portrayal of commuting on film, from Brief Encounter to The Girl on the Train. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald.

As Will & Grace is revived twenty years after its premiere, TV critic Louis Wise discusses how the ground-breaking sitcom about two gay men and their best girl pal comes across in 2018. Disney and Pixar's new film Coco is about a Mexican boy who travels through the Land of the Dead to unlock a family mystery. We consider the evolution of Disney films, how they depict and reflect international cultures, and also ask where they sit in the wider animation landscape. The London Sinfonietta, world renowned contemporary classical ensemble, will perform at the Royal Festival Hall on 24th of this month, 50 years to the day since their first concert, at the same venue. Since then they have commissioned more than 300 pieces of music from composers such as Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Steve Reich. They have also worked with musicians such as Thom Yorke from Radiohead and Mica Levi. Artistic director and chief executive, Andrew Burke, leads Samira through the history of the London Sinfonietta, in four pieces of music closely associated with the ensemble.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May.