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Front Row: Playwright Arnold Wesker and author Val McDermid

Playwright Arnold Wesker and author Val McDermid

08/09/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Playwright Arnold Wesker and author Val McDermid

Mark Lawson talks to playwright Arnold Wesker and crime novelist Val McDermid.

Mark Lawson meets playwright Arnold Wesker, crime novelist Val McDermid and reviews Norwegian mockumentary Troll Hunter.

Mark Lawson talks to playwright Arnold Wesker as the National Theatre revives his 1959 play The Kitchen, which is set in a West End restaurant where many nationalities work together. The 79 year old playwright reflects on his career and expresses his frustration that despite constant revivals of his famous plays, such as Roots and Chicken Soup with Barley, nobody will produce his new work.

Norwegian mockumentary Troll Hunter plays with fairy-tale myths and explores what happens when three student film-makers accidentally come across the last remaining Troll Hunter. Writer Tibor Fischer reviews.

Crime novelist Val McDermid discusses the twists and turns in the relationship between criminal profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan in her 25th novel The Retribution. In this book chilling serial killer Jacko Vance is out of prison and desperately seeking revenge. 

When Edward Gardner picks up the baton at the Albert Hall this Saturday night, he will be the youngest conductor since Henry Wood himself to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. He discusses the programme and what preparations he's making for the event. 

Producer Claire Bartleet.

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