The One and Only Ivan director Thea Sharrock, Educating Rita, writing about music, research on Covid-19 risk from singing

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The One and Only Ivan is a new Disney film about a 400-pound silverback gorilla called Ivan. He lives in a suburban shopping mall with other animals where they perform in a circus owned by Mack, played by Bryan Cranston. The film is a hybrid of live action and CGI and features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren and Chaka Khan. We speak to the film's director Thea Sharrock. 40 years since Willy Russell wrote Educating Rita Stephen Tompkinson stars in an open air production at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Novelist Patrick Gale reviews. How dangerous is singing at a time of Covid-19? Declan Costello, Consultant Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon and an accomplished tenor, has been leading UK research to assess the risks. He joins Front Row to share the results. David Mitchell said of his recent novel Utopia Avenue – about a band - that writing about music is impossible. Former concert violinist now poet Fiona Sampson, novelist and one time cellist Patrick Gale and writer and teacher Jeffrey Boakye, whose book Hold Tight explored grime’s cultural impact, reflect on the premise that writing about music is – as the saying goes - like dancing about architecture. What made them take up the challenge in their different writing forms? Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hannah Robins