Front Row Folgen

Paradise opens at the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre tomorrow. It's a new version of a play that had its premiere, and was acclaimed, in 409BC - Philoctetes by Sophocles. Just before the final preview begins, writer Kae Tempest tells Kirsty Lang why this ancient story of a wounded soldier, in constant pain, abandoned on an island, grips them today.John Boyne’s new novel is a humorous and scathing takedown of the world of social media through the lens of a particularly grotesque family. He talks to Kirsty about how the Twitter backlash to one of his previous books inspired The Echo Chamber, and his new-found love of writing in a comic style.GIANT, the largest artist led-space in the UK has opened in Bournemouth. Its director Stuart Semple joins us to discuss the inaugural exhibition, Big Medicine, and his hopes for the future of art in his hometown.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn

Phil Wang joins us to discuss his stand up show, Philly Philly Wang Wang that he filmed at the London Palladium over the pandemic. Exploring race, romance, politics, and his mixed British-Malaysian heritage, he talks about his addiction to making people laugh, as well as explaining why he doesn't fear getting cancelled. Shape Open have created an online exhibition featuring the work of 24 disabled and nondisabled artists working across Europe and North America, and has disability as its theme, and particularly the experience of the individuals during lockdown. One of the artists, Abi Palmer, discusses the exhibition All Bound Together and the work she's made for it.Nearly 20,000 pages of lost manuscripts by French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline have emerged, causing controversy - and a lawsuit. Céline was one of France’s most important 20th century literary figures. He was also a virulent anti-Semite, described by Le Monde as “one of the Nazis’ most famous French friends”. The whereabouts and provenance of the papers, combined with Céline’s reputation, are creating a storm in the French literary world, six decades after his death. Damian Catani’s biography of Céline is about to be published and he talks to Samira Ahmed about the significance of the manuscripts and the qualities of the writing.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Production Co-ordinator Fiona Anderson Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon Producer: Julian May

Sir Tom Stoppard's Olivier Award-winning play Leopoldstadt closed because of Covid in March 2020. Tomorrow it returns to the same stage and the same cast will tell again the story a Jewish family, in Vienna in the first half of the 20 century. They fled the pogroms in the East and later suffered terribly under Nazi rule. The plot has parallels with Stoppard's own family - all four of Stoppard's grandparents perished in concentration camps. He talks about returning to the theatre, if he has revised the play in the interregnum, and if he is tempted to revisit his earlier plays. We hear from the first of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today we hear from Catherine Hemelryk from the Centre of Contemporary Art in Derry-Londonderry.Ryan Bancroft has just finished his first year as the Principal Conductor for BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and this week he makes two appearances at the BBC Proms. He tells us how he became a conductor, his excitement for music by Welsh composers and his favourite aspects of American music.Novelist Nick Laird talks to us about writing grief as he creates an elegy for his fatherPresenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones