Programme Details

Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah's first work for the National Theatre, Elmina's Kitchen, won him widespread critical acclaim, playing to capacity crowds last year. Dealing vividly with black alienation, the play established Kwei-Armah as one of the most original talents in British theatre today. Tonight on Night Waves he talks to Paul Allen about his latest play, Fix Up, and why he chose to confront some of the more problematic aspects of mixed race identity in it.

Also tonight - what happened to Brazil's architecture after the great modernist Oscar Niemeyer designed Brasilia in the 1950s? Academic Adrian Forty has just edited a book which looks at the strong shadow cast by the modernist movement in Brazil, leading to its disappearance from the global architecture scene for many decades. Tonight he explains how Brazilian architects struggled to find a new path which didn't follow in Niemeyer's footsteps, and how they have triumphed.

Is religion becoming a more important marker of identity than race? As the comedian Rowan Atkinson leads protests against the proposed legislation against incitement to religious hatred, Night Waves asks if religion is overtaking race when it comes to the way young Britons establish their cultural identity. Cultural commentators Jatinder Verma and Gerard Lemos discuss.

Plus, a re-appraisal of the classic Ealing psychological thriller, Dead of Night and the final instalment of Night Waves' week-long look at sacred architecture - tonight, the Hindu temple in Neasden, London, is explored.

That's all on Night Waves with Paul Allen live at 9.30pm



Presenter: Paul Allen
Producer: Aasiya Lodhi






Additional Information

Fix Up by Kwame Kwei-Armah is at the National Theatre in London and runs until 23rd March 2005.

Modern Brazilian Architecture edited by Elisabetta Andreoli and Adrian Forty is published by Phaidon.

What Ron Said is on BBC One on Monday 13th December at 10.35pm.

Dead of Night, certificate PG, is out on VHS and DVD as part of the Ealing Classics Collection, and will be showing at the National Film Theatre in London from 1st January 2005 as part of the Robert Hamer season.

New Sacred Architecture by Phyllis Richardson is published by Laurence King.