Saturday Review - Richard Diebenkorn, Mommy, Frozen, The Shore, Coalition
Download Richard Diebenkorn, Mommy, Frozen, The Shore, Coalition
The first major retrospective of Richard Diebenkorn's work for 25 years opens at London's Royal Academy. Derided by some for making abstract art popular, does this new show, which includes his figurative paintings too, restore his reputation as a serious artist? A new Channel 4 drama "Coalition" dramatises the negotiations which took place immediately after the last general election and is based on first hand research by writer James Graham, whose past work includes Privacy, Tory Boyz and the Olivier-nominated This House. With Mark Gatiss as Peter Mandelson, how much of a behind the scenes insight does Coalition give us about this historic moment in British politics? And how well does it work as a drama? A revival of Bryony Lavery's award winning play Frozen opens at the Park Theatre in London tells the story of the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl, Rhona, through three protagonists: the girl's killer, her mother and a New York psychiatrist researching why people commit such crimes. How does Frozen negotiate such a controversial and complex subject as child killers? Set on a collection of islands off the coast of Virginia, Bailey longlisted debut novel "The Shore" by Sara Taylor interweaves stories that trace different generations of the same family over the course of 150 years. In "Mommy" 25 year old Canadian director Xavier Dolan returns to the theme of mothers and sons, first explored in his debut feature "I Killed My Mother." Casting Anne Dorval as a strong, independent woman overwhelmed with the task of caring for a teenage tyrant, how does he portray the pressures inflicted by the chaotic, testosterone fuelled madness of a 15 year old boy.
Published on Saturday, 21st March 2015.
Available Podcasts from Saturday Review
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 Saturday Review webpage.