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Front Row: King Lear, Tom Wolfe remembered, Deadpool 2, Royal Academy at 250

King Lear, Deadpool 2, Cornish artist Patrick Heron, Royal Academy at 250

15/05/2018

King Lear, Tom Wolfe remembered, Deadpool 2, Royal Academy at 250

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, King Lear, Tom Wolfe remembered, Deadpool 2, Royal Academy at 250

Richard Eyre on his new TV production of King Lear, starring Anthony Hopkins.

Richard Eyre on his new TV production of King Lear. Plus a tribute to Tom Wolfe and, as the Royal Academy of Arts turns 250, what does it mean to be a Royal Academician?

The American writer Tom Wolfe has died aged 88. His style of reportage in the late 60s became known as the New Journalism, and his best known books were the Right Stuff about the first NASA astronauts, as well as his novel The Bonfire of the Vanities which epitomised the excesses of Wall Street in the 80s. Writer and critic Diane Roberts pays tribute.

Director Richard Eyre talks about his new film of King Lear which is a co-production between BBC Two and Amazon. The stellar cast includes Anthony Hopkins as Lear alongside Emma Thompson and Emily Watson as his scheming daughters. 

Deadpool 2 is the follow-up to the hugely successful Marvel Comics' Deadpool, whose eponymous anti-hero is a wisecracking mercenary played by Ryan Reynolds. The latest film sees him assembling a team of superheroes to rescue a young mutant. Rhianna Dhillon reviews. 

As the Royal Academy of Arts celebrates its 250th anniversary, what does it mean to be a Royal Academician? Samira talks to its President, Christopher Le Brun and Keeper of the RA, Rebecca Salter.

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