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Front Row: Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stilgoe, Cattelan / Druet

Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stillgoe, Cattelan/Druet

Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stilgoe, Cattelan / Druet

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stilgoe, Cattelan / Druet

Jack Absolute Flies Again, Joe Stilgoe, Cattelan/Druet

We talk to 'Jack Absolute Flies Again' director Emily Burns and actor Peter Forbes. Joe Stilgoe performs live in the studio. Lawyer Mark Stephens on the case of Cattelan v Druet.

Jack Absolute Flies Again, at the National Theatre, is an adaptation of Sheridan’s comedy of manners The Rivals. Writers Richard Bean (who wrote One Man, Two Guvnors – a big hit) and Oliver Chris keep the original characters – Lydia Languish, Sir Anthony Absolute and the lexically challenged Mrs Malaprop – but move the action from 18th Century Bath to the Battle of Britain. Samira Ahmed talks to director Emily Burns about this, and to Peter Forbes, who plays Sir Anthony, about finding character in the comedy.

Pianist and songwriter Joe Stilgoe on his new album, Theatre - which he describes as a love letter to the theatre - and performs for us live in the studio.

In Paris, conceptual art has found itself in the dock, as rights of authorship over some of the artworks created by artist Maurizio Cattelan -  including one of his most famous works,'La Nona Ora' (The Ninth Hour), a wax figure of Pope Jean Paul II struck by a meteor – are at the centre of a legal case brought by the French sculptor Daniel Druet. In the wake of the court’s judgment, lawyer Mark Stephens, discusses the issues the case raises.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May

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