Front Row Folgen

Backstairs Billy is a new play about Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, and her loyal, camp and working class servant, William Tallon. Penelope Wilton, who plays the Queen Mother, and Luke Evans, who plays her Steward and Page, talk to Tom Sutcliffe about creating these characters.Jonathan Escoffery has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel If I Survive You. Through a series of interlinked short stories it explores issues of race, masculinity and living in the United States as a second-generation Jamaican immigrant. The decision by the Arts Council of Wales to stop funding National Theatre Wales has made headlines in and outside Wales. Executive Editor of Wales Art Review, Gary Raymond, and theatre director and producer, Yvonne Murphy, join Front Row to discuss the ramifications.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May

The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, has been hailed as a return to tense and stylish form for the director David Fincher. Critics Rhianna Dhillon and John Mullan join Tom Sutcliffe to give their views on this new take on the assassin genre. They also venture into uncanny realms with a review of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination, a new exhibition at the British Library which charts tales of fairies, folklore and flights of fancy from Ancient Greece to the modern day. Comedian and gamer Ellie Gibson gives her round up of the cornucopia of new video games out this month, including the Playstation’s fastest ever seller Spider-Man 2 and family favourite Super Mario Bros Wonder.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Parker

Daniel Rachel’s book Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story is a new history of the iconic record label. He’s joined by Pauline Black, lead singer of The Selecter, to discuss the cultural impact of the Ska music it released.Actor Martin Shaw remembers the late, great theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, whose productions included Willy Russell's Blood Brothers and Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, who has died at the age of 78.The game of squash and a family overcoming grief are at the heart of Chetna Maroo’s debut novel, Western Lane, which has been shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. She talks to Samira about creating the story which centres on a spirited 11-year-old protagonist, Gopi.In Lyonesse, Kristin Scott Thomas plays Elaine, a star who gave up her career and retreated to a remote house on a Cornish cliff. 30 years later she decides she must return and tell her story. Kate, played by Lily James, is a young film executive, juggling work, a toddler and a peripatetic director husband. She comes to help Elaine – and is transformed. But who will control her story, who will get to tell it? Playwright Penelope Skinner tells Samira Ahmed about her new drama of female solidarity and male power.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Paula McGrath