Front Row

As Michael Sheen releases his new film, Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, John Wilson talks to the actor about his career. He delves into how Sheen prepared for some of his most well-known roles, playing real people such as Tony Blair, David Frost and Brian Clough. Sheen considers, too, his connection to his home town, Port Talbot, and his increasing social and political activism.Ackley Bridge is set in a newly opened school which integrates the largely divided white and Asian children of a Yorkshire town. The Channel 4 drama, which focuses on both the staff and pupils, was created by the writer of East is East, Ayub Khan Din, as well as two former Shameless writers, Malcolm Campbell and Anya Reiss. Shahidha Bari reviews.Neither Wolf Nor Dog is the fictionalised account of a road trip by a white man and an old Native American through Indian country. Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant tells John Wilson how the novel captivated him and why he wants to bring it to a British readership, and the book's author, Kent Nerburn, explains how the tribal elders of the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation came to trust him to write their story.

With less than a week to go before the General Election we hear what is in the political party manifestos for the arts and creative industries? What can we expect from the rise of creative hubs, zones and platforms? Kirsty Lang talks to Caroline Julian, from the Creative Industries Federation and cultural policy commentator David Powell.As the entire collection of 301 works by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1941) go on public display for the first time at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, critic Jonathan Jones assesses the work of the artist. Best known for his grid-like abstract paintings with a white background, black vertical and horizontal lines and blocks of three primary colours, Mondrian also painted landscapes and portraits.Can the inclination to suicide be inherited? Playwright Alice Birch explores the legacy of what has happened to three generations of women in 'Anatomy of a Suicide'. The script is written with the precision and orchestration of a musical score to allow different times and locations to appear simultaneously on the same stage.And we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Bob Marley and The Wailers recording the album Exodus.

As 'Beatrix at Dinner' opens the London Sundance Film Festival Samira talks to the film's star Salma Hayek and director Miguel Arteta about the politically charged dark comedy which has been described as the first great film of the Trump Era.In his lifetime the novelist Arnold Bennett was so famous the Savoy Hotel named an omelette after him, but 150 years on from his birth his star has waned. We've been to his home city of Stoke-on-Trent where the celebrations to mark this special anniversary include an adaptation of his novel Anna of the Five Towns by playwright Deborah McAndrew and is directed at the New Vic by Conrad Nelson. Last month comedian Amy Schumer told Front Row, that even though she has written, produced and starred in a series of successful films and television programmes, stand-up touring is still where she makes the most money. To throw more light on the economics of stand-up tours and beyond we speak to comedy agent Brett Vincent and sociologist of culture Sarah Thornton.The film Wonder Woman is released this week but are girl fans being short-changed when it comes to the merchandising? Louise Blain of the film and game magazine and website Games Radar examines the evidence.

Pretty Yende, the South African soprano, discusses making her debut at the Royal Opera House in Donizetti's comic opera L'elisir d'amore, and the TV advert that inspired her to abandon her plans to become an accountant and to pursue a career in opera instead.As a new adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is broadcast on Channel 4 and the book hits the top of the bestsellers list, academic Sarah Churchwell reassesses this dystopian novel and its significance, and considers to what extent the television adaption lives up to the book.Dennis Lehane, whose previous novels include Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone, Baby, Gone were adapted into successful films, discusses his latest work Since We Fell. This novel is set in Lehane's familiar territory of Boston, Mass, where things are rarely quite what they seem, and you don't know who to trust. Adrian Wootton is the Chief Executive of the British Film Commission which is responsible for promoting the UK as the best place to produce feature films and television. He explains why Britain is overtaking California as the place to make blockbusters and deluxe television series, and considers, too, the impact of this on film-makers here without such deep pockets. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Caroline Donne.

French animation My Life as a Courgette has wowed the critics at Cannes. The children's film is about a boy nick-named Courgette and takes a refreshing look at life in an orphanage and explores the reasons why the children are there. Briony Hanson reviews. Will Self talks about his new novel Phone, the third and final instalment of his experimental trilogy which started with 2012's Man Booker nominated Umbrella. Written with no paragraphs or chapter breaks, the novel is a stream of consciousness story and returns to one of his previous characters, the psychiatrist Dr Zack Busner. Critic Kevin Jackson joins Kirsty and Will Self to discuss the history of experimental fiction since Tristram Shandy.120 rarely seen drawings by Italian renaissance painter Raphael have gone on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The drawings are often considered as preparatory for his paintings, but this exhibition encourages visitors to consider them in their own right. Richard Cork reviews.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Dymphna Flynn.

For the bank holiday, Samira is in Liverpool for the art premieres celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. She meets Sean Doran, the co-artistic director of the Sgt. Pepper at 50: Heading for Home arts festival, as he transforms the city into a turntable for the album by commissioning 13 world premieres - one for for each track.Samira also meets two of the artists commissioned to come up with their interpretation of these classic Beatles songs: singer and performance artist Meow Meow has taken on Lovely Rita and is creating a street procession and a sound installation; and dramatist Keith Saha has written a new play inspired by the themes of She's Leaving Home, which will be performed in private homes in Toxteth.Distinguished television writer Jimmy McGovern has written a new drama for BBC One, Broken, which looks at the life of a priest, Father Michael Kerrigan, played by Sean Bean, as he struggles to minister to a poor community. Jimmy takes Samira to St Francis Xavier church in Liverpool where much of the new television drama was filmed, and which has long inspired him.And RIBA North is the new national architectural centre in Liverpool. As it finally prepares to open, Samira pays a visit to the new building on the city's waterfront which itself has been the subject of controversy, and arrives in Liverpool at a time when the city's architectural plans have led to it being placed on UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger list.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ekene Akalawu.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Elizabeth Strout, discusses her latest novel, Anything is Possible, which looks in detail at some of the lives of those in a small town in Illinois and explores the long term impact of war, abuse and extreme poverty upon the human condition. Kully Thiarai took up her post of Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Wales just a year ago and has recently unveiled two major projects which take steel and the NHS as their inspiration. She reveals more to John. As the Hay Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary, its founder Peter Florence joins John to remember conceiving the idea around a kitchen table, and reflect on how it's grown to become the UK's largest literary festival. And recent studies reveal that reading encourages empathy and putting ourselves in the mind of someone else could improve our social skills. Children's authors, Julia Donaldson, Katherine Rundell and Elizabeth Strout discuss. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

Queen guitarist Brian May explains how his childhood fascination with stereoscopic imagery led to his documenting the band over the years from an insider's point of view with a collection of unique 3-D photographs.Academic Gail Crowther tells us how she and colleague Peter K Steinberg used picture-editing software and social media to decipher previously unseen Sylvia Plath poems, found on a scrap of carbon paper. Exactly 40 years to the day after the first Star Wars film was released in US cinemas, we explore its impact on popular culture with Mark Miller, creator of Kick-Ass and creative consultant on the X-Men and Fantastic Four movies, and film critic Mark Eccleston.Jason Solomons reports from the Cannes Film Festival, and rates the contenders for the big prizes being awarded this weekend.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Marilyn Rust.

Billy Bragg talks to John Wilson about the music that changed the world - skiffle. His book arguing this, Roots, Radicals and Rockers, is also an insightful survey of post-war youth culture. This was simple music, played on homemade instruments by teenagers - punk before punk. But many skiffle players went on to great things - members of The Beatles, for instance. The Great Wave , a picture of a huge blue roller breaking over fishing boats, by the Japanese master, Hokusai, is one of the most widely recognised images in the world. An exhibition at the British Museum, Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, looks at the artist's latter years, his most creative according to the curator Tim Clark. And contemporary printmaker and artist Rebecca Salter explains the astonishing technique behind Hokusai's work. This weekend cinemas audiences can see Johnny Depp return as Captain Jack Sparrow in fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, a role which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2003. But, recently his acting has been overshadowed by stories of his personal life and bad box-office returns - Film critic Angie Errigo comes into look at the career trajectory of the Hollywood actor.Yesterday violinist Nicola Benedetti was awarded The Queen's Medal for Music, the youngest person ever to receive it. She talks about her musical journey.Yesterday Tony Walsh responded to the atrocity in Manchester with poetry. He wasn't the first: Shelley wrote The Mask of Anarchy after the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1819, and the bombing of the city in 1996 inspired poems, too. Michael Schmidt, director of the poetry publisher, Carcanent Press, based in Manchester, considers the way poets react to such events. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May.

Music journalist Laura Snapes reflects on the Manchester attacks. Matt Thorne on the return of cult TV drama Twin Peaks; after a twenty six year break, will the surreal world of its creator and director David Lynch please new audiences and super fans alike?American crime writer Bill Beverly on the success of his debut novel Dodgers which won a string of awards including a Gold Dagger from the Crime Writers Association. Described as The Wire meets JD Salinger, Dodgers is a coming of age story which raises issues about race, class and youth whilst providing a new take on the classic American road novel. Bond director John Glen and TV and film writer Andrew Collins on Sir Roger Moore, who has died.