Front Row

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Front Row: The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed,  Adrian Scarborough, Ronald Pickup remembered, Joanna Pocock

26/02/2021

The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed,  Adrian Scarborough, Ronald Pickup remembered, Joanna Pocock

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed,  Adrian Scarborough, Ronald Pickup remembered, Joanna Pocock

The United States vs Billie Holiday starring Andra Day reviewed

Andra Day's performance in The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed, actor Adrian Scarborough, Michael Billington on Ronald Pickup and nature writer Joanna Pocock

We review a new biopic of jazz singer Billie Holiday, directed by Lee Daniels, which tells the story of the FBI’s campaign against her.  They were afraid that performing her most famous song Strange Fruit, about the lynching of Black Americans, would incite unrest. Andra Day stars as Holiday.  Barb Jungr and Be Manzini give their verdict, comment on the week's arts news and give recommendations for what they've been enjoying recently.

A True Born Englishman, a monologue written 30 years ago for Radio 3 by Peter Barnes but never broadcast, is now available online as part of Barnes' People, a collection of the writer's monologues, produced by Original Theatre Company.  It imagines the story of a long-serving footman at Buckingham Palace. We talk to actor Adrian Scarborough about the role and why it wasn't broadcast at the time.

We mark the passing of the much loved actor of stage and screen Ronald Pickup. Praised as a great character actor, he also played many lead roles. He found global fame with The Crown and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel following a prolific and acclaimed career.  Theatre critic Michael Billington discusses Pickup’s career and interrogates the label of character actor.

Joanna Pocock is the winner of the Arts Foundation Futures Award for Environmental Writing. Her book Surrender is a long-form essay blending reportage, memoir, and nature writing focusing on the ecological crisis in the American West and beyond. Joanna discusses the future of environmental writing in an environment with an uncertain future.

And another Moment of Pleasure as Max Liu celebrates a scene from Annie Baker's play The Flick, an homage to the power of celluloid and the cinema.

Presenter:  Tom Sutcliffe
Producer:  Sarah Johnson
Studio manager:  Duncan Hannant

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The United States vs Billie Holiday reviewed, Adrian Scarborough, Ronald Pickup remembered, Joanna Pocock

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