Front Row

American actress Viola Davis, who has won an Oscar, Emmy and a Tony for her outstanding performances, plays a female warrior in the historical epic The Woman King. Viola Davis and director Gina Prince-Bythewood discuss bringing the story of a 19th Century female general to life. Rona Munro’s trilogy The James Plays were one of the theatrical highlights of the year when they premiered in 2014. She has now returned to Scottish history with two further monarchal plays – James IV: Queen of the Fight, and Mary. She talks to Samira about how her new plays challenge the traditional histories about the court of James IV and the life of Mary, Queen of Scots.Amy Sherald is a celebrated American painter, known for her striking official portrait of Michelle Obama. As her first European exhibition opens in London, she joins Samira in the Front Row studio to discuss her new paintings, which continue to explore themes of American realism and Black portraiture.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian MayImage: Viola Davis in The Woman King

Artist Samson Kambalu talks to Shahidha Bari about his sculpture Antelope, a thought provoking commentary on colonialism which has just been unveiled on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth.Period gangster drama Peaky Blinders has been turned into a ballet by dance company Rambert. As it opens in Birmingham, Rambert Dance's Helen Shute explains how they've interpreted the TV show for the stage.Screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce and critic Helen Nugent review the first Shakespeare production at the new Shakespeare North theatre in Prescot, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Joyland, the the first Pakistani film to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Blackwater Lightship is a novel by Colm Tóibín, published in 1999 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was later made into a film and has now been dramatized for the Dublin Theatre Festival. Set in the early nineties, it tells of a young gay man suffering from AIDS who visits his grandmother in rural Wexford and the repercussions his arrival has on her, his mother, and sister. Elle talks to the writer and director David Horan about adapting the novel for the stage, and the issues it raises about mother-daughter relationships and attitudes to AIDS then and now.On the 40th anniversary of the First National Black Art Convention, held at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and an accompanying exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, we look at that foundational moment for black art now, 40 years on. Elle speaks to Marlene Smith, artist, curator, and a founding member of the BLK Art Group, and to Alice Correia - art historian and editor of a new collection of documents from that time.Plus filmmaker Kirsty Bell discusses her directorial debut, A Bird Flew In - set during lockdown, and featuring a stellar cast, including Sadie Frost, Derek Jacobi, and Frances Barber.Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood Producer: Ellie Bury

Luke Jones meets the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, whose show Only An Octave Apart is about to begin a month long run at Wilton’s Music Hall in London. He discusses how he discovered his range, why he fuses opera with pop and his return to the ENO next year in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten.Luke takes a tour round See Monster in Weston-super-Mare, a retired North Sea rig that's been turned into one of the UK's largest art installations as part of the Unboxed festival.And a discussion on the impact of the cost of living crisis on theatre and live music. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin speaks from the Labour Party Conference and Mark Davyd from the Music Venue Trust. Eleanor Lloyd from (SOLT) The Society of London Theatres/UK Theatre.

Michael Winterbottom discusses writing and directing a SKY TV drama, This England, starring Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson during his tumultuous first months as Prime Minister and the first wave of the COVID pandemic.GALWAD, an ambitious, multiplatform arts project set in Wales, imagines what it would be like if we could receive messages from people living in 2052. Audiences can follow the story as it unfolds across the week, both online and on social media, and watch a broadcast of the whole event on Sky Arts. The lead producer Claire Doherty and lead writer Owen Sheers, explain why they wanted to push the boundaries of storytelling.The literary critic John Mullan and the novelist Katherine Rundell discuss the life and work of Hilary Mantel.

Critics Boyd Hilton and Sarah Crompton review Blonde, Andrew Dominik’s film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel about Marilyn Monroe. They also discuss Inside Man, a new drama from Sherlock creator Steven Moffat, starring David Tennant and Stanley Tucci.Anna Bailey is the last of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They’ll be talking about their story Long Way to Come for a Sip of Water, about a man’s road journey across the vast expanses of Texas, which will be broadcast on Radio 4 tomorrow at 1530.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ellie Bury

Beth Orton performs two songs from her new album, Weather Alive, and discusses creative partnerships as well as life after being dropped by her record label.American author Jodi Picoult has turned Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Book Thief into a musical, which has just had its world premiere at the Bolton Octagon. She discusses adapting a novel for the stage and explains why she feels the UK is a more fertile landscape for launching musicals.Jordan Erica Webber, arts and culture broadcaster and video games expert, reviews Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the V&A’s new exhibition exploring the South Korean art, music, TV, cinema and fashion that’s spreading its influence around the world: from Gangnam Style to Squid Game, Parasite to Nam June Paik.Samira speaks to Vanessa Onwuemezi, who's the latest of the authors shortlisted for this year's BBC National Short Story Award for her story, Green Afternoon.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Eliane GlaserMain Image Credit: Eliot Lee Hazel

Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of our country's greatest ever composers. Born 150 years ago in 1872, he is known for creating a sense of Englishness in twentieth century music by drawing on his love of folk song, Tudor church music and landscape, in pieces like the perennially popular The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Samira Ahmed explores his musical language and revels in live performance with her guests, the solo violinist Jennifer Pike , baritone Roderick Williams, Paul Sartin of the folk band Bellowhead, Kate Kennedy from Oxford University, and composer, writer and pianist Neil Brand.This programme was recorded before the sad news of Paul Sartin's death.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Nicki Paxman

Bestselling author Louise Doughty discusses her new BBC One drama Crossfire, a thriller about a terrorist attack in a luxury holiday resort, starring Keeley Hawes. She talks about writing for the screen for the first time, after her novels Apple Tree Yard and Platform 7 were adapted for television. Singer songwriter Miki Berenyi, who is best known as part of the 1980s/90s indie rock band Lush, talks about her memoir Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved me from Success. Her book covers her jaw-dropping childhood and the highs and lows of being a woman in the music business, touring America and the dark side of Britpop. The novelist and short story writer Jenn Ashworth is the latest of the authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2022. She joins Front Row to talk about Flat 19, inspired by a work by Doris Lessing, exploring the daily pressures on a woman who finds a surprising way to escape them.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paul Waters

Journalist and author Hadley Freeman, and Art UK editor and art historian Lydia Figes, review Ticket to Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and the Winslow Homer exhibition at the National Gallery.And head judge Elizabeth Day joins Front Row for the announcement of the shortlist for the 2022 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University. The first two shortlisted authors will be talking about what inspired their stories.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Eliane Glaser