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Samira Ahmed

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Gail Babb

Ekow Eshun

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Front Row: Diverse casting in historical dramas, Roots returns, Beyonce's pregnancy portrait, John Burnside

Diverse casting in historical dramas, Roots returns, Beyonce's pregnancy portrait, John Burnside

02/02/2017

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Diverse casting in historical dramas, Roots returns, Beyonce's pregnancy portrait, John Burnside

Diverse casting, Roots remade, Beyonce's pregnancy portrait, poet & novelist John Burnside

Arts news, interviews and reviews. Front Row addresses the issue of diverse casting in TV, film and theatre. Ekow Eshun discusses the remake of Roots, 40 years on.

Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Half a Sixpence has been criticised for casting all-white actors. Julian Fellowes wrote the book and addresses this on tonight's Front Row. Then to discuss the issue of diverse casting in historical drama, Samira is joined by Talawa Theatre Company producer, Gail Babb, and writer and critic Ekow Eshun.

It's nearly 40 years since the TV mini-series Roots shook America with its portrayal of slavery and the brutal civil war. Now a new series has been made. Writer and critic Ekow Eshun explores whether this version can have the same impact on audiences today.

The picture that Beyoncé released announcing that she's pregnant with twins has become an internet sensation. As the numbers of views and likes continues to rise, art critic Laura Freeman discusses the long history of images that Beyoncé's photograph draws upon.

John Burnside is a prolific award-winning poet and novelist. As his new novel, Ashland & Vine, and new collection of poems, Still Life with Feeding Snake, are published, he talks to Samira Ahmed about these stories, and his different approaches to telling them.

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Diverse casting in historical dramas, Roots returns, Beyonce's pregnancy portrait, John Burnside

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