Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 277,924 playable programmes from the BBC

Midweek

Chris Boardman, Bella Merlin, Rex Pickett, Natalie Nicole James.

Duration: 43 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW

Available for over a year

Libby Purves meets Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman; writer Rex Pickett; writer and academic Bella Merlin and performer Natalie James.

Bella Merlin is an actor, writer, and professor of acting and directing at the University of California, Riverside. In her book, Facing the Fear, she draws on her own and other actors' personal experiences to address the issue of stage fright and how the complex relationship between the actor and the audience affects the condition. Drawing on neurological research, she also offers practical tips from physical wellbeing to performance strategies. Facing the Fear An Actor's Guide to Overcoming Stage Fright is published by Nick Hern Books.

Natalie Nicole James is dancer and circus performer. She plays Mowgli in Metta Theatre's new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. The story of a child raised by wolves has been transposed to a contemporary urban jungle featuring street dancing monkeys, a beat-boxing bin man Baloo and graffiti artist Bagheera. The Jungle Book is at Cork's Midsummer Festival and at London Wonderground Festival, Southbank.

Chris Boardman MBE won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – the first British cyclist to win for 75 years. He went on to become the first British rider since Tommy Simpson in 1967 to wear the race leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Now a commentator and presenter, his endeavours both on and off the bike have made him the founding father of the current gold generation of British cyclists. His memoir, Triumphs and Turbulence My Autobiography, is published by Ebury Press.

Rex Pickett is a writer and the author of the novel Sideways which became an award-winning film directed by Alexander Payne. Now a play, adapted by the author, Sideways is the story of Miles and Jack, best friends facing their own personal crises who head off to Santa Barbara for a week of wine tastings. Sideways is at the St James Theatre, London.

Producer: Paula McGinley. Show less

Contributors

Presenter:
Libby Purves
Interviewed Guest:
Bella Merlin
Interviewed Guest:
Natalie Nicole James
Interviewed Guest:
Chris Boardman

Brand

Midweek

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More