Front Row: Archive 2013 - Wadjda, Philipp Meyer, Alison Balsom, Paul Franklin

Download Wadjda, Philipp Meyer, Alison Balsom, Paul Franklin

With John Wilson.

Wadjda is the first film from Saudi Arabia to be directed by a woman, Haifaa Al Mansour. It's the story of an 11-year-old girl who enters a Koran recitation competition in order to buy a bike with the winnings, even though women are discouraged from cycling and are banned from driving cars. Critic Shahidha Bari delivers her verdict.

American writer Philipp Meyer's ambitious new novel, The Son, maps the legacy of violence in the western United States. When a young man is taken captive by the Comanches, he learns to adapt to their way of life before their tribe is destroyed by disease, starvation and an overwhelming number of armed, white settlers. Philipp Meyer discusses the breadth of scope - and the five years it took to research and write - of his epic 560-page novel.

Starring trumpet soloist Alison Balsom, Gabriel opens at Shakespeare's Globe this evening. The play, set during the Glorious Revolution, showcases the music of Purcell through a combination of drama, instrumentals and songs. John talks to Balsom, as well as the play's director Dominic Dromgoole, about the project.

Producer Karla Sweet.

Published on Friday, 19th July 2013.

Available Podcasts from Front Row: Archive 2013

Subscribe to Front Row: Archive 2013

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Front Row: Archive 2013 webpage.