Front Row: Archive 2012 - The Amazing Spider-Man; Joe Penhall

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With Mark Lawson.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the latest summer blockbuster, a reboot of the tale of nerdy teenage Peter Parker, who acquires superpowers after he's been bitten by a spider. This time Andrew Garfield takes the title role, with Martin Sheen as his uncle Ben, and Rhys Ifans as an evil genius. Natalie Haynes gives her verdict.

Joe Penhall on how watching his wife going through labour gave him the inspiration for his new play Birthday, why it had to star a pregnant man instead of a pregnant woman, and the audiences reaction to Stephen Mangan's prosthetically enhanced full-frontal.

American academic and author Elaine Showalter and playwright Marcy Kahan pay tribute to Nora Ephron whose death was announced today.

The Robben Island Bible is a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare, smuggled into South Africa's Robben Island prison, disguised as a religious text. Many political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, read and annotated the book. Writer Matthew Hahn has written a play based on this, and the book itself is in a forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum. Matthew Hahn and British Museum curator Becky Allen reflect on the book's significance.

Producer Erin Riley.

Published on Wednesday, 27th June 2012.

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