Saturday Review

By BBC Radio 4Society & Culture

Saturday Review episodes

June 15, 2019 Diego Maradona, Sweat, Catch 22, Elif Shafak, Manolo Blahnik
Sweat, starring Martha Plimpton was a sel-out success when it premiered at London's Donmar Warehouse last year. Now it's got a West End transfer to the Gielgud Theatre
Asif Kapadia won an Oscar for his biopic about Amy Winehouse. Now he's looking at Diego Maradona's extraordinary career as the finest footballer in the world and also his unravelling life off the pitch
George Clooney appears in and is a producer and director for a new TV adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch 22 on Channel 4
In Elif Shafak's new novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World we look backwards from the death of a prostitute. In flashback, she remembers her life and reflects on the changing nature of Turkish society
The shoe designer Manolo Blahnik has staged an exhibition of his footwear at The Wallace Collection in London, drawing inspiration form the paintings and objects on display there
Rajan Datar's guests are Linda Grant, Deborah Orr and David Hepworth. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast suggestions:
Linda: the British Music Experience in Liverpool
David: High Maintenance TV series
Deborah: Killing Eve
Rajan: Jumpa Lahiri -The Namesake, soul music and Tahnee Lonsdale at Dellasposa
52 min
June 08, 2019 Gloria Bell, Wife at The Kiln Theatre, Frank Bowling, Brian Bilston, Wild Bill
Chilean director Sebastián Lelio's 2013 film Gloria has been remade for an English-speaking audience as Gloria Bell. Starring Julianne Moore it's extremely faithful to the original; what's new about it?
Wife is the latest play by Samuel Adamson which has just opened at The Kiln in London. Drawing on many influences including Ibsen's A Doll's House, it explores many decades of gay history
Guyana-born artist Frank Bowling OBE has lived in then UK since he was a teenager and been a painter almost as long. Now at the age of 85, Tate Britain is staging a retrospective exhibition of his abstract expressionist work. Comparisons are being drawn to Rothko, Pollock and Turner
Brian Bilston has been described as the Poet Laureate of Twitter. His new comic novel Diary of a Somebody follows his attempt to write a new poem everyday for a year
Wild Bill is ITV's comedy starring Rob Lowe as an American police chief constable who is transferred from Boston Massachusetts to Boston in Lincolnshire with hilarious consequences!
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Jenny McCartney, Dea Birkett and Ekow Eshun. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Dea: Delighted by the return of big top circuses
Ekow: Faith Ringold at Serpentine Gallery. Also Get Up Stand Up and Kaleidoscope at Somerset House
Jenny: Lowborn by Kerry Hudson
Tom: MIke Nelson at Tate Britain
52 min
June 01, 2019 Starry Messenger, Thunder Road, This Brutal House, Hauser and Wirth Somerset, Good Omens
Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth McGovern in the London premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's play The Starry Messenger
Thunder Road was made for $200,000 and went on to win awards at international film festivals. What was it about the film which beguiled jurists and audiences?
Niven Govinden's novel This Brutal House looks at the New York drag scene of the 1980s and 90s
Hauser and Wirth Somerset's latest exhibition ‘Unconscious Landscape: Works from the Ursula Hauser Collection’ is focused entirely on work by female artists
There's a TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Good Omens, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen - how well can it translate the peculiar magic of the books to the small screen?
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Kamila Shamsie, Natalie Haynes and David Benedict. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Kamila: The Cricket World Cup
David: Crossroads Motel board game and Green Smoke by Rosemary Manning and Mum on BBC2
Natalie: Hay Festival and Chris Ridell and Po’ Girl
Tom: Oliver Morton – The Moon and the OED
52 min
May 25, 2019 Memoir of War, King Hedley II, Gerald Murnane, Leonardo Da Vinci, When They See Us
Memoir Of War,based on Marguerite Duras's book “La Douleur” is set in Occupied France. Critical opinion has varied widely from 'dreadful' and 'empty' to 'masterpiece'. What will our reviewers make of it?
King Hedley II starring Lenny Henry, has opened at the Theatre Royal Stratford East
Gerald Murnane's novel A Season On Earth tells the tale of a lustful teenager in Melbourne in the 1950s. It was originally published in 1976 and is now reissued as was originally intended; with two previously unseen new chapters
Marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham palace brings together more than 200 of his drawings from the Royal Collection, forming the largest exhibition of Leonardo's work in over 65 years.
When They See Us is a new series beginning on Netflix. Directed by Ava DuVernay which tells the true story of the 1989 Central Park Jogger case in which five juvenile males – four African-American and one Hispanic – were convicted of the crimes. They spent time in jail and were eventually cleared 25 years later
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Laura Freeman, Jim White and Lynn Shepherd. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Jim: Free Solo and Dawn Wall
Laura: Barbara Hepworth/Ben Nicholson at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert Gallery
Lynn: Don Giovanni at Garsington Opera
Tom: BBC podcast Shreds
51 min
May 18, 2019 Birds of Passage, White Pearl, Thomas Harris/Denise Mina, Tale of Two Empires
Colombian film Birds of Passage explores the emergence of illegal drug trading in the 60s and 70s and it's ghastly effects and lasting legacy on family.
Corporate black comedy White Pearl has opened at London's Royal Court. About 6 Asian women in an office in Singapore who try to fix a problem when their advertisement goes viral by mistake. And then things spiral out of control.
New novels from Thomas Harris - Cari Mora: set in Miami, monsters lurk in the crevices between male desire and female survival. And also from Denise Mina - Conviction: about a woman whose complicated secret past begins to catch up with - and then threatens to overtake - her.
A Tale of Two Empires at Birmingham's Barber Institute looks at the coins from the same period of Rome and Persia. Also we take a look at their permanent art collection.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Tom Holland, Arifa Akbar and Danielle Thom. The producer is Oliver Jones.
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Tom H: Linda Grant - A Stranger City and Game of Thrones.
Arifa: Rejoicing at her Wondrous Vulva, the Young Woman Applauded Herself at The Oval House and Whatever Happened to Interracial Love by Kathleen Collins.
Danielle waxed lyrical about the joy of mending and making things by hand and of psychogeography. Also the imminent Secret Rivers Of London exhibition at The Museum of London.
Tom S: The Longdrop by Denise Mina and Years and Years on BBC1.
55 min
May 11, 2019 Death of a Salesman, The Hustle, The Virtues, Mark Haddon, David Nash
The latest production at London's Young Vic Theatre is Death of a Salesman. It recasts the Lomans as an African-American family with Wendell Pierce as WIlly
Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway play female con artists in Chris Addison's directorial debut, The Hustle. It's a gender-swap reworking of 1988 comedy film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; but is it funny?
Shane Meadows has created a new 4 part drama for Channel 4: The Virtues, starring Stephen Graham as a traumatised young man who grows up and becomes a loving dad but can't quite let go of his past
Mark Haddon's new novel The Porpoise reworks Shakespeare's Pericles, weaving a contemporary story with the classic tale
An exhibition of David Nash sculptures in Cardiff is a look at a long career collaborating with nature to make predominantly wooden works.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Stephen Hough, Sarah Churchwell and Louise Doughty. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra choices
Stephen: Chocolaterie Luc Van Hoorebeke in Ghent
Louise: The Author's Club Best First Novel Award
Sarah: Orson Welles' The Stranger
51 min
May 04, 2019 The Long Shot, Jude, Making Your Mark at British Library, The Heavens
Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen star in Long Shot playing an American presidential hopeful and a lovable doofus. Take a wild guess who plays which part?
Howard Brenton's new play Jude -at The Hampstead Theatre - is a re-imagining of Thomas Hardy's Jude The Obscure with a Syrian cleaner who possesses a prodigious skill set in the classics and ancient languages - as the title character
Writing: Making Your Mark is the newest exhibition at The British Library. It charts 5,000 years of human innovation from hieroglyphs to emojis
Sandra Newman's novel The Heavens can be seen as five works in one - a time travel story, historical fiction, political allegory, social realism and a love story. How satisfyingly do the component parts combine into a coherent whole?
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Tom Shakespeare, Helen Lewis and Katie Puckrik.
The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Tom Shakespeare - Phyllida Barlow at the Royal Academy and The Porpoise by Mark Haddon and The Bodmer Library in Geneva
Helen Lewis - Ritblatt Treasures at The British Library and Patrick Melrose on NowTV
Katie Puckrik -Clique on BBC3 and
Tom Sutcliffe -Barry on NowTV
50 min
April 27, 2019 Eighth Grade, All My Sons, Lux by Elizabeth Cook, Stanley Kubrick, Curry House Kid
Youtube star/standup comedian Bo Burnham has now turned his hand to film directing and his debut work is a coming-of-age tale: Eighth Grade. It's about a 15 year old girl dealing with the trials and tribulations of high school life, discovering how the world works and why.
Arthur Miller's All My Sons was his breakthrough work when it debuted on Broadway in 1947. A new production at London's Old Vic theatre stars Sally Field and Bill Pullman
Lux is the latest historical novel by Elizabeth Cook, it continues her fascination with exploring classical themes; this time the story of David and Bathsheba interwoven with the life of 16th century poet Thomas Wyatt
There's a new exhibition celebrating the work of film director Stanley Kubrick which has just opened at The Design Museum in London. On display are items from his personal archive directly related to his long career on groundbreaking films including 2001 A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket and Spartacus
Curry House Kid on Channel 4 is a documentary about Akram Khan's upbringing above a curry house and his desire to dance. it includes a new work about the world of the migrant
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Amber Butchart, Bob and Roberta Smith and Kerry Shale. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra recommendations:
Bob: Sister Corita Kent at The House of Illustration
Amber:Canterbury Archaeological trust the margate Caves
Kerry: David Hepworth - a Fabulous Creation and Space Odyssey... by Michael Benson and After Life on Netflix
Tom: documentary "Room 237"
53 min
April 20, 2019 Sweet Charity, Machines Like Me, Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic, Loro
Josie Rourke returns to the work of Cy Coleman, who wrote the music for City of Angels; with the Broadway classic Sweet Charity. With choreography from the world-renowned Wayne McGregor, Rourke reunites with Anne-Marie Duff as Charity, and Arthur Darvill makes his Donmar debut as Oscar, for her farewell production as Donmar Artistic Director. During Sweet Charity, multiple guest actors will play the role of Daddy Brubeck including Shaq Taylor, Adrian Lester, Le Gateau Chocolat, Beverley Knight and Clive Rowe.
Ian McEwan’s subversive and entertaining new novel Machines Like Me poses fundamental questions: what makes us human? Our outward deeds or our inner lives? Could a machine understand the human heart? Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London, where Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. The novel's narrator Charlie drifts through life making his money by playing the stock market when he becomes involved in a menage a trois with a difference - one of the three is one of the first synthetic humans. It is not long before this strange love triangle inhabiting an even stranger alternate reality have to confront some profound moral dilemmas.
Smoke and Mirrors The Psychology of Magic at the Wellcome Collection in London explores how magicians have achieved astonishing feats of trickery by exploiting the gap between what we think we perceive and what we actually perceive. Recently scientists have begun to appreciate this ability as a powerful tool for the study of human psychology. This research has emerged from an extraordinary history that stretches back to the 19th century, where a fascination with the paranormal coincided with the birth of science as a profession and the flourishing of the entertainment industry.
Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino’s new film Loro - which means "them" - focuses on the controversial life of the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi around the time of the “bunga-bunga” parties and the earthquake in L’Aquila.
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Geoffrey Durham, Naima Khan and Stephanie Merritt. The producer is Hilary Dunn.
Podcast Extra Selections:
Naima recommends Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Geoffrey recommends the Swedish fantasy film Border and movie Leave No Trace
Stephanie recommends the following Kate Atkinson 'Jackson Brodie' novels: One Good Turn, Case Histories, Started Early Took My Dog, When Will There Be Good News, Big Sky
Tom recommends the Jon Ronson podcast 'The Last Days of August'
50 min
April 13, 2019 Wild Rose, Mary Quant, Intra Muros, The Parisian - Isabella Hammad, Life After Lock-Up and Back To Life
In her new film Wild Rose, rising star Jessie Buckley plays a Glaswegian country singer with dreams of making it big in Nashville. The trouble is that she has two small kids and is just out of jail.
The Mary Quant exhibition at London's V&A shows a wide selection of her vibrant daring designs, made to be worn by real women and girls in the 60s and 70s
A new play by one of France's brightest new names has just opened at London's Park Theatre; Intra Muros by Alexis Michalik is set in a drama workshop in a prison
The Parisian is a novel by Isabella Hammad, set in pre-Balfour Middle East. It has received a lot of extremely warm praise from other authors, what will our panel make of it?
We look at a couple of TV programmes coming at the same subject from different angles Life After Lock-Up, a documentary on Channel 4 about prisoners returning to society and Back To Life, a dramedy on BBC1 with Daisy Haggard
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Patrick Gale, Ayesha Hazerika and Catherine o'Flynn. The producer is Oliver Jones
Podcast Extra selections
Ayesha: Fleabag and The Breakup Monologues podcast
Catherine: 1970s Public Service information films, and especially "Apaches"
Patrick: BP Portrait of the Year exhibition in Winchester and Kate Clanchy- Some Kids I Taught
Tom: David Sedaris on Radio 4. Barry on Sky Atlantic
49 min