Front Row: Archive 2014

John Wilson reviews Fading Gigolo, which follows two friends who become an unlikely gigolo and pimp in a bid to make money. Written and directed by John Turturro, the film stars Woody Allen as a Brooklyn bookseller who becomes his friend's "manager." Larushka Ivan-Zedeh reviews.

Ceramic artist Edmund de Waal, author of the award-winning memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes, shows John Wilson around his London studio and demonstrates how he creates an 'Edmund de Waal' bowl at the potter's wheel; The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a band of eight brothers from Chicago, all taught by their jazz musician father, Phil Cohran. They perform in the studio and talk about continuing their father's legacy; Last night, 17-year-old pianist Martin James Bartlett won the BBC Young Musician 2014 competition. He discusses entering the competition for a second time and why he chose Rachmaninov for his performance in the finals; E4's series Youngers chronicles the attempts of two teenage musicians to make it in the Peckham urban music scene. Writer Levi David Addai and star Calvin Demba discuss the challenges of keeping the show authentic, while Val McDermid, Phil Redmond and Joss Whedon reflect on how they've tried to make their teen characters ring true.

Presenter: John Wilson

Actress, writer and comedian Dawn French talks candidly to Kirsty about preparations for her first ever solo stage show, and why she's decided to include personal stories in her performance ranging from her marriages, body issues and family tragedy. Ben Miles - who plays Thomas Cromwell in the RSC version of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - on being onstage for nearly six hours. Plus after lead singer Chris Martin's conscious uncoupling from Gwyneth Paltrow, we review the Coldplay album which supposedly reveals his heartbreak.

In tonight's Front Row, John talks to Gary Kemp about his role in a revival of Lionel Bart's East End musical, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be - and Rachel Johnson and Nicola Beauman consider the legacy of Diary Of A Provincial Lady, the hilarious and quintessentially English journal of a fictional country wife, first published in 1930.

Also in the programme: a review from the Cannes Film Festival of Mike Leigh's new film, Mr Turner, which stars Timothy Spall as JMW Turner - and, as a new exhibition opens exploring the impact of art historian Kenneth Clark, one of the most influential twentieth century figures in British art, his biographer, James Stourton, and exhibition curator, Chris Stephens, discuss Clark's role as patron, broadcaster and collector.

With Kirsty Lang.

Thriller writer Louise Welsh reviews Penny Dreadful, produced by Sam Mendes and staring Eva Green; Kirsty talks to The Two Faces of January star Oscar Isaac; gets the low down from Cannes; and discusses Moog synthesizers with Goldfrapp's Will Gregory.

Produced by Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Godzilla's back in cinemas this Thursday in a new film by British director Gareth Edwards, who earned worldwide acclaim for his debut Monsters in 2010. This time the world's most famous monster is pitted against a humanity arrogant enough to think it can control nature. Antonia Quirke reviews.

John meets Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello, two young American singers dubbed "America's fastest-rising husband-and-wife opera stars" who are starring in La Traviata at London's Royal Opera House.

From There To Here is the latest TV series from writer Peter Bowker. The drama follows two families from different backgrounds in the aftermath of the 1996 bomb explosion in central Manchester. Peter tells John about his desire to write a love-letter to Manchester.

Six British feature films including A Matter of Life and Death and Bend It Like Beckham are being celebrated today with a new issue of stamps. Philip Parker, Head of Stamps Strategy at the Royal Mail explains the choices.

With John Wilson

Actor James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, Trance) discusses being one of the X-Men, and what it has in common with playing Macbeth.

To mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth, Andrew Davies has written a new TV drama focusing on the poet's fourth and fatal visit to New York in 1953. Starring Tom Hollander, the story captures the last few days of Dylan Thomas' life - weaving in the memories of his childhood in Wales and his relationship with his wife, Caitlin. Gillian Clarke, National Poet Of Wales, reviews.

Natalie Merchant, the American singer-songwriter known for the poetry in her songs, talks to John about her new CD. The self-titled album is her first collection of all her own work for 13 years.

Tuesday sees the British Council unveiling its first ever photographic exhibition - their Director of Visual arts Andrea Rose travelled to North Korea with acclaimed photojournalist Nick Danziger as they collected images of people doing ordinary things, swimming, waiting for a tram, students walking down the street. Andrea describes the experience.

Acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter talks to Kirsty Lang in his role as Guest Artistic Director for this year's Brighton Festival, and for her report she also visits a disused beer depot which is staging a production of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's chamber opera Down by the Greenwood Side. Also tonight, a review of Michael Jackson's second posthumous album Xscape; 20 years after Nelson Mandela's inauguration, young South African playwrights Amy Jeptha and Napo Masheane respond to the change their country has witnessed; and blog-turned-film documentary Advanced Style follows the sartorially elegant older women of New York.

Producer: Ellie Bury

The artist Yinka Shonibare MBE talks to Kirsty Lang about his latest work The British Library, a study of immigration in Britain, currently showing at the Brighton Festival. US Novelist Akhil Sharma's new novel Family Life is based on his own family history and the tragedy of his brother's death, so why a novel rather than a memoir? A new report released this morning highlights a significant lack of female film directors on the big and small screen. Drama director Beryl Richards reflects on the findings. And as a new musical version of The Water Babies opens this week at Curve Theatre in Leicester, which features a waterfall, video projections of the performers singing under water and a hologram of Richard E Grant, the director, video designer and one of the actors discuss the mixture of musical theatre and special effects.

Producer Jerome Weatherald

Antony Gormley and Simon Starling reflect on the influence of Henry Moore on a new generation of sculptors, author Alice Hoffman discusses her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things, the story of love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century and Rachel Campbell-Johnston discusses the Turner Prize shortlist and what the choices say about the world of contemporary art. Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang on his play Yellow Face, which explores issues of race and identity through the the playwright's real life involvement in protests about the casting of Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon and, as Russia's entry for Eurovision is booed, music journalist John P Lucas talks us through the political pressures of the competition.