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Frankenstein, William Boyd, Rachel Whiteread, The Sister

Frankenstein reimagined: how today's society creates its own monsters; William Boyd on his latest novel, Trio; Rachel Whiteread's new Lockdown works; ITV drama The Sister reviewed.

In Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster, six performers from Battersea Arts Centre's Beatbox Academy interpret Mary Shelley’s classic novel from their own perspective; as young people growing up in 21st-century Britain. Using only their own mouths and voices to make every sound in the film, they explore how today’s society creates its own monsters. John Wilson talks to one of the creator performers, Nadine Rose Johnson.

Acclaimed author William Boyd talks about his new novel, Trio. Set in the summer of 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, there are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling, three characters - a producer, a novelist and an actress - are involved in making a Swingin' Sixties movie in sunny Brighton and each of them is harbouring a dangerous secret.

Artist Rachel Whiteread discusses her series of works she has been creating in lockdown at her home in the Welsh countryside: March-Sept Drawings, as well as a newly-revealed resin sculpture, Untitled (Pinboard), which goes on digital display today.

Author Irenosen Okojie and journalist Mik Scarlet review the new ITV drama series The Sister, written by Neil Cross (creator of Luther) and starring Russell Tovey. Mik will also be discussing the Shaw Trust Power 100, an annual publication aiming to further inclusivity by celebrating 100 most influential disabled people, and Irenosen celebrates her current cultural highlight, the Netflix American comedy film The 40-Year-Old Version.

Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Oliver Jones

Main image: Grove in Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster
Image credit: Lukas Galantay

Available now

42 minutes

William Boyd

William Boyd
Trio by William Boyd is out now in hardback, as an eBook, ans Audio Download and an Audio CD.Image: William BoydImage credit: Trevor Leighton

The Sister

The Sister
The 4-part series, The Sister is on ITV, starting from 26 October 2020. Image: Bertie Carval, Russell Tovey, Amrita Acharia and Simone Ashley in The Sister Image credit: ITV.com

Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster

Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster
Frankenstein: How To Make Monster is on BBC4 at 11.00pm on 25 October 2020, and on the iPlayer. Main image: Grove in Frankenstein Image to the left: the Frankenstein cast membersImages credit: Lukas Galantay/Battersea Arts Centre

Rachel Whiteread

Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread: Artist Spotlight is on the Gagosian Gallery website until 27 October 2020. Image: Blood Red and Pink Triangles (March- Sept), 2020Ink on watercolour paper 29.7 x 42.1 cm(c) Rachel Whitehead Photo: Prudence Cummings Associates Courtesy Gagosian

This week's cultural picks

Mik Scarlet: The Shaw Trust Power 100

Irenosen Okojie: The Forty-Year-Old Version

William Boyd: Inside Story by Martin Amis

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  • Fri 23 Oct 202019:00

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