Front Row Folgen

As the six-month-long 57th International Art Exhibition - otherwise known as the Venice Biennale - opens its doors to the world, John Wilson reports from the Italian city. The artist selected for the British Pavilion in the Giardini this year is 73-year-old Phyllida Barlow, following in the footsteps of Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth, Howard Hodgkin and Rachel Whiteread. Phyllida Barlow describes the new large-scale sculptures made of concrete, wood, cloth and polystyrene that she has created for her show Folly, and discusses the challenge of representing Britain in an age of global political unrest.Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald.

The 1992 Hull Festival provided the launch pad for Northern Broadsides with the company presenting a new production of Richard III distinguished by its use of the northern voice. Twenty five years on, Northern Broadsides are back in Hull for its UK city of culture celebrations with Mat Fraser as Richard III. Director Barrie Rutter and Mat, who has thalidomide-induced phocomelia, discuss what casting a disabled actor in the role of theatre's most high profile disabled villain has brought to this anniversary production.Anne with an E is a new adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic novel, Anne of Green Gables. Meg Rosoff reviews the Netflix series which tells the story of Anne Shirley, a precocious orphan placed in the care of uptight Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew on a farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada.Amy Schumer talks to Kirsty about her new film Snatched, where she and her mother, played by Goldie Hawn, are abducted whilst on holiday in Ecuador.Tony Kushner discusses his musical Caroline, Or Change, which is on in Chichester, and also reveals that he's adapting West Side Story for a new film directed by Stephen Speilberg.

We speak to director John Madden about his new political thriller Miss Sloane, where Jessica Chastain stars as a ruthless lobbyist taking on the might of the gun lobby. The film was released in the USA two days after Trump was elected and John discusses the effect this had on both on the American box office takings and on how the he now views the film.It is a controversy that has caused thousands of complaints to the BBC and debate in the House of Lords. Last week even saw Judi Dench became involved when she criticised young performers about it. Actors 'mumbling' their dialogue, especially on TV drama, has become a common complaint of modern audiences. The director of RADA Edward Kemp and voice coach Barbara Berkery comes in to tell us why actors are struggling to be heard by viewers - and what can be done to improve their diction. Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Ford discusses his first non-fiction book, Between Them, a two-part memoir of his parents, Edna and Parker Ford, who lived an itinerant life during the depression until their son's birth in 1944.(Photo: Richard Ford, Jackson, Mississipi, 1947. Credit: Richard Ford).