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Episode details

Radio 4,25 Nov 2019,28 mins

Rapper Wretch 32, Hamlet on the Faroe Islands, Blue Story controversy

Front Row

Available for over a year

Rapper Wretch 32 discusses his new memoir, Rapthology. Part autobiography, part guide to creativity and part cultural history, Rapthology unpacks the songs that have shaped him over the last 30 years, from gospel music to dancehall anthems, offering a portrait of his life through his best-known works. Two cinema chains have pulled the film Blue Story, about a violent street rivalry in south London, from its screens. The decision came after a violent brawl at a Birmingham leisure complex and, according to Vue Cinemas '25 significant incidents' in the film’s opening weekend. Dr Clive James Nwonka discusses the cinema chains’ decision, which has been criticised by some as an overreaction, and discusses the historical context of reactions to Black British Urban cinema. Tim Ecott visits the Faroe Islands where the local theatre company has just put on its first production of Hamlet which the director has reinterpreted, strengthening the female roles and emphasising the role of death and funerals in the story. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald

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