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Episode details

Radio 4,15 Jul 2011,30 mins

The biggest ever symphony; smoking on stage; Ben Mezrich

Front Row

Available for over a year

With Mark Lawson. Havergal Brian's epic Gothic symphony demands a vast orchestra, choirs and unusual percussion effects. Conductor Martyn Brabbins discusses how he's leading 1000 musicians and performers through this rarely-heard piece, in a performance at the BBC Proms on Sunday. Ben Mezrich's book about the founding of Facebook inspired the Oscar-winning film The Social Network. His new book also focuses on a true story: Sex on the Moon is the tale of the daring theft of lunar rocks from NASA. Mezrich reflects on the art and the ethics of writing non-fiction in the style of fiction. A London theatre recently warned its audiences that the actors would be smoking on stage for much of the evening. Mark reports on why the theatre is allowed to remain a public building which permits smoking, including the views of actors Kristin Scott Thomas and Dominic West and director Simon Godwin.

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