Episode details

Radio 3,28 Feb 2013,45 mins
Caesar Must Die, 1930s Berlin, Stage Design, Anarcho-Capitalists
Night WavesAvailable for over a year
Extreme libertarian thought is on the rise in right wing politics, with many politicians and commentators identifying themselves as anarcho-capitalist. Formerly the preserve of left wing thinkers, anarchist thought is now being appropriated by the right. Business editor of The Economist Robert Guest and American historian Tim Stanley discuss the implications of this step change in political thought. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die was made in Rome's Rebibbia Prison, where the inmates are preparing to stage Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Hardened criminals, many with links to organized crime, these actors find great motivation in performing the play. Italian film writer Pasquale Iannone reviews. Theatre productions are often praised for the quality of the acting, or the work of the director, but the talents of the set-designer often go unmentioned. The designer is an essential member of the production team and a number of innovative productions over the past few years, from An Inspector Calls to Evita, have seen the vision and artistry of the designer have a transformative effect on the audience. Tony Award winning British designer Christopher Oram and Night Waves theatre reviewer Susannah Clapp take a look at what makes great set design. To coincide with a weekend of events at The Rest is Noise festival at London's South Bank Centre which will showcase different facets of 1920s and 30s Berlin, Anne McElvoy reassesses the transformation from a city of political possibilities and artistic excitement to its darkest chapter and asks whether, eighty years on, the symbolic torching of the Reichstag of 1933 still resonates with Germans today.
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