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Front Row: John Hurt's paintings, The Fool in King Lear, Summer reads for the UK

John Hurt's paintings, The Fool in King Lear, Summer reads for the UK

23/07/2018

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, John Hurt's paintings, The Fool in King Lear, Summer reads for the UK

John Hurt as Artist, and the role of the Fool in King Lear.

Sir John Hurt's widow Anwen on the late actor's paintings and drawings; the role of the Fool in King Lear; and recommendations for summer reading for those holidaying in the UK.

John Hurt as Artist is a new exhibition in Norfolk which reveals a less well-known side of the actor who died last year. Sir John Hurt's widow Anwen discusses the mainly figurative paintings and drawings which mostly relate to the actor's off-screen life, but also include self-portraits of him in prosthetic make-up for his role as John Merrick in The Elephant Man from 1980. 

Ian McKellen is playing King Lear in the West End and recently Anthony Hopkins played him on television. Accompanying Lear on his bleak and tragic journey is his Fool. Karl Johnson, Fool to Anthony Hopkins' Lear, and Lloyd Hutchinson, McKellen's Fool, discuss the way they approach this enigmatic figure.

Recently we've been offering inspiration on holiday reading to help you choose which books to cram into your suitcase. Today New Statesman book critic Sarah Ditum concludes the series with a set of recommendations for people holidaying closer to home, in the UK and Ireland. 

Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Main image: Sir John Hurt printmaking. Credit: Andi Sapey

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