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Front Row: Samuel L Jackson, British-Chinese play Under The Umbrella and the launch of Scala Radio

05/03/2019

Samuel L Jackson, British-Chinese play Under The Umbrella and the launch of Scala Radio

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Samuel L Jackson, British-Chinese play Under The Umbrella and the launch of Scala Radio

Samuel L Jackson, British-Chinese play Under the Umbrella and the launch of Scala Radio.

Samuel L Jackson on the new Captain Marvel film, British-Chinese play Under the Umbrella  and the new DAB radio station Scala Radio - pitched as a rival to Radio 3 and Classic FM.

The career of Hollywood superstar Samuel L Jackson was recently revealed to have made him the highest-grossing actor of all time. He joins Samira to discuss the new Marvel superhero film, Captain Marvel; in which he reprises the role of Nick Fury... This time around he's playing a Nick Fury who is twenty years younger than before, as the film is set in the 90s. He reveals how he de-aged himself for the part and also talks to Samira about The Oscars, why he chooses “popcorn” films to star in, and which of the 120 films in which he's appeared is his favourite.

Amy Ng’s new play, Under the Umbrella, opens tonight at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. The story is about Wei, a Chinese PhD student researching human fertility, enjoying life with her English flatmate in the city. But family pressure to return home and get married grows intense.  Her grandmother survived famine, her mother the Cultural Revolution and the one-child policy, so while this is a highly entertaining comedy, it's a dark one, exploring the dilemmas and traumas of three generations of contemporary Chinese women. There are ghosts, too. Samira Ahmed talks to Amy Ng and unpacks the issues.

There's a new classical music station available on your DAB radio.  Scala Radio launched on Monday with a morning show hosted by Simon Mayo. It's being pitched as a rival to Classic FM and BBC Radio 3. The Sunday Times' radio critic Gillian Reynolds has been listening to it for us and will let us know whether she thinks it'll be a serious rival.

Presenter, Samira Ahmed
Producer, Oliver Jones

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