Front Row - Emma Thompson, Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, Anthony McCarten, D-Day weather play
Emma Thompson discusses her role as a TV chat show host in her new film Late Night and, as she embarks on her first stand-up show, talks about politics, performing , and how much things have changed for women in comedy.
As the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 is announced, we talk to her live from the ceremony. The books are: It’s The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker; My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite; Milkman by Anna Burns; Ordinary People by Diana Evans; An American Marriage by Tayari Jones; Circe by Madeline Miller.
Anthony McCarten's screenplay credits include Bohemian Rhapsody, The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour. He is also a prolific novelist and playwright. McCarten discusses his new play, The Pope, about Pope Benedict XVI who in 2013 became the first pontiff in seven centuries to resign. The title role of The Pope has tempted Anton Lesser (Thomas More in Wolf Hall) back to the UK stage for the first time in a decade.
This morning in Portsmouth, as part of the D-Day commemoration, David Haig recreated a scene from his 2014 play, Pressure. In this true story, James Stagg, the meteorologist, persuades General Eisenhower to delay the invasion by a day because he forecasts that the storm raging in the Channel will, briefly, abate. We hear from the actor as he prepared to stage his play for the first time.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Julian May
Published on Wednesday, 5th June 2019.
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