Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,11 May 2015,30 mins

Pirates of Penzance, Brighton Festival, Francois Ozon, New Culture Secretary

Front Row

Available for over a year

With Samira Ahmed. With the appointment of John Whittingdale as the new Culture Secretary, critic and writer Quentin Letts assesses what lies ahead for him in the arts. Film maker and director Mike Leigh has made his operatic debut directing the English National Opera's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. Peter Kemp reviews the production for Front Row. French director François Ozon's films often focus on the beauty of the body, and in his latest film The New Girlfriend, the body once more takes centre stage. Following the death of his young wife, a husband and new father responds to his grief by dressing up in her clothes. Ozon reflects on the controversial subject matter of cross-dressing. With the Brighton Festival approaching its half-way point, Samira heads to the coast to hear from this year's Guest Director - the novelist Ali Smith - and some of the artists celebrating the themes of flight and migration. Presenter : Samira Ahmed Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Programme Website
More episodes