Front Row

Lucy Prebble’s play A Very Expensive Poison opened last week at the Old Vic in London. It tells the story of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 with a treatment ranging from the high theatricality of song, dance and puppetry to simple direct address to the audience - and has a love story at its core. Lucy Prebble joins Front Row to talk about putting truth on stage.Mark Strong and Daniel Mays star in new Sky One drama Temple, set in a disused underground station being used as a covert hospital to treat criminals and CEOs of massive companies who need to keep their health a secret. David Butcher of the Radio Times reviews.Lynda Clarke has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with Ghillie’s Mum. The writer discusses her story which is about a shape shifting mother whose animal forms delight her son but horrify the wider world . The story is broadcast on Radio 4 at 1530 on Friday 13 September and the winner of the BBC NSSA is announced on Front Row on 1 October.Lope de Vega wrote about 500 plays but there can’t be many writers with more plays to their name than years to their age. Alan Ayckbourn can claim that honour: he’s 80 and last night his 83rd play opened, like so many of his previous dramas, in Scarborough. Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present has all the deft stagecraft we expect from the playwright; it opens on the day of Micky’s 80th birthday party and works backwards to the birthdays of his wife, his son and daughter. What happens offstage is as important as what the audience sees. This is a family drama about rumour, reputation and what really happened. So, a play for our times. Nick Ahad, drama critic for the Yorkshire Post, reviews the production.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn

John Wilson presents Front Row from the BBC Proms, with the American mezzo soprano Jamie Barton, about to perform as the soloist at the Last Night of the Proms, singing Verdi, Bizet, Saint-Saens and paying tribute to Judy Garland with Over the Rainbow. Composer Daniel Kidane talks about his new piece, commissioned to open the Last Night of the Proms this Saturday, which is called Woke. How will Brexit impact Classical Music? John is joined by the Association of British Orchestras director Mark Pemberton, opera impresario Wasfi Kani from Grange Park Opera and Claire Fox, The Brexit Party MEP who is on the Culture Committee of the European Parliament. They discuss whether classical musicians will be particularly affected by Brexit, deal or no deal. Violinist Daniel Pioro performs Biber's Passacaglia in G minor live. Presenter: John Wilson Producers: Rebecca Armstrong and Tim Prosser

Ten years ago when the first British Ceramics Biennial took place, things didn't look good for pots or Stoke-on-Trent, known as 'the potteries' of the UK. The 240-year-old Spode factory had shut, ceramics had a dusty image and the pot-making artist Grayson Perry said the art world had more of a problem with his being a potter than with him wearing a frock. In Front Row this evening Kirsty will hear how things have changed. Now the old Spode works hosts artists studios and a boutique hotel and this year is at the heart of multiple exhibitions featuring the work of 300 artists - both established and emerging, from home and abroad.US author Nell Zink's new novel Doxology features two generations of an American family coming of age, one before 9/11, one after. She tells Kirsty about her decision to broaden the scope of her writing to tell a story of modern America and the stark differences between Baby Boomers and 'Generation Z'. Tamsin Grey is one of the five authors shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. The writer discusses her story My Beautiful Millennial, which is about a lone young woman living in London and her complicated relationship with an older man. And The Jumper Factory, a prison drama developed by the Young Vic Theatre with the help of eight serving prisoners. It's performed by actors with little or no stage experience, though all of them have been affected in some way by the criminal justice system. The play was intended for performance within prisons, but has been such a hit that it is now touring for the public. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Olive Clancy

For Sama is a prize-winning documentary by female Syrian filmmaker Waad al-Kateab, recording life in Aleppo for her young daughter who was born shortly after the conflict began there. Film critic Hannah McGill reviews and reports on the winning films at this year's Venice Film Festival. Lucy Caldwell has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with The Children. Her story is about the Victorian social reformer Caroline Norton, who successfully campaigned for women to have the automatic right to have custody of their children in divorce proceedings; and in her story Lucy Caldwell draws parallels with child migrants today who are separated from their mothers. We speak to the author.British playwright Peter Nichols - A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, Privates On Parade, Passion Play - has died at the age of 92. Michael Billington joins us to discuss his importance The Israeli short story writer Etgar Keret discusses his new collection Fly Already, 22 stories – several featuring the surreal and the apocalyptic - which were inspired by a serious car accident he had in America.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones

A celebration of the short story as chair of judges Nikki Bedi joins Front Row to reveal the 2019 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University and we hear from the first shortlisted author.Steve Knightley, half of the popular duo Show of Hands, has teamed up with historian Michael Wood to celebrate one of England’s great musical traditions - songs of social protest. In the year of the Peterloo anniversary, they explore songs from the Peasants' Revolt right up to the present day. Steve performs live.And do you know how to listen to jazz, to understand and enjoy it? Stig Abell doesn't - so he joins trumpeter Andy Davies at Ronnie Scott's in London for enlightenment. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Sarah Johnson

Margaret Atwood's long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale - The Testaments - is due to be published next Tuesday, but following the release of a number of copies by Amazon, reviewers have managed to obtain early copies. M J Hyland reviews Atwood's sequel which takes place 15 years after the original tale of Gilead. In 1958 Alvin Ailey, aware that there were few opportunities for African-American dancers and choreographers, founded a company to tell the stories of black people through movement. Since then the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has become one of the most popular modern ensembles in the world. The company's artistic director, Robert Battle, talks to Kirsty Lang about its history, ambition and that constant difficulty – how to get boys to dance. Conductor, composer and pianist Ryan Wigglesworth is playing all three roles in this year's BBC Proms. He discusses the challenge, and considers how his early experience as a chorister influenced his future compositions.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome Weatherald

Proceedings in the House of Commons yesterday drew an unusual degree of public attention, with set pieces from Boris Johnson (interrupted by the defection of one of his MPs, crossing the floor to join the Liberal Democrats), the Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg lying supine, humour from Kenneth Clarke and a range of colourful interventions from Mr Speaker, it represents one of the most colourful and dramatic days in the Commons in recent memory. Newsnight Culture Correspondent Stephen Smith and Lyn Gardner of The Stage newspaper join Samira to bring an artistically critical eye to the parliamentary theatrics. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Rebecca Pow, has put temporary export bars on five works of art up for sale this summer, including paintings by Turner and Monet, and a Victorian crab sculpture. We speak to the Minister about why they don’t want these works sold abroad and ask what the Conservatives are doing to protect the arts amid the Brexit high drama in the House of Commons this week.Chrissie Hynde, singer with rock band The Pretenders, on her new album which is all covers of songs by people such as Hoagy Carmichael, John Coltrane and Charlie Mingus. But, she insists to Samira, Valve Bone Woe is not a jazz album.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May

William Feaver discusses the first part of his comprehensive biography of the great British figurative painter Lucian Freud, who died in 2011. Feaver first got to know the mercurial artist in 1973 and had regular conversations and meetings with him over the decades. The former Observer art critic's two detailed biographies – Youth and Fame - are the result of 20 years’ work.Earlier today the shortlist for the 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction was announced. Critics Arifa Akbar and Toby Lichtig give their verdict on the chosen few.Arts Council England recently published a report about if and how the arts and cultural offer within a place can attract and retain individuals and businesses and help to shape its identity. We speak to Laura Dyer, Deputy Chief Executive, Places & Engagement at Arts Council England about what the arts actually contribute to a place. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones

BBC One’s big autumn thriller serial is The Capture. Telling the story of former soldier Shaun Emery, whose conviction for an unlawful killing during active duty is overturned because of flawed video evidence. The drama delves into the increasing reality of misinformation and fake news. Scriptwriter Ben Chanan talks to Samira about the manipulation of video evidence in our criminal justice system. Venice Film Festival is well underway where the films coming to our screens in the autumn compete for the coveted Golden Lion Prize. Critic Jason Solomon fills us in on the highlights including Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker, the new Polanski film and Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver’s depiction of a divorce in Marriage Story. A Freedom of Information request placed by the Daily Mail has revealed that in 2016 the Royal Mint was considering honouring children’s author Enid Blyton with a commemorative 50 pence coin, but that officials withdrew the author from consideration because "she [Blyton] is known to have been a racist, sexist, homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer". Literary historian John Mullan and columnist Harriet Hall discuss the resulting furore and consider the ethics of viewing the culture of the past through a contemporary lens. Presenter : Samira Ahmed Producer : Dymphna Flynn

Sir Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children has twice been named the Best of Booker. Now his new novel Quichotte, a modern take on Cervantes' classic that is both a satire of modern politics and a consideration of familial love, has been Booker longlisted. Rushdie discusses writing about the new politics, family, and keeping up with popular culture.Director Joanna Hogg discusses her new film The Souvenir, in which a young film student in the early '80s becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man. Honor Swinton Byrne plays the student, with her real-life mother Tilda Swinton playing the matriarch of the well-to-do family.Presenter Stig Abell Producer Jerome Weatherald