Front Row

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music

BBC Radio 4 FM

Front Row: Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film

Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film

Samira talks to Patsy Ferran, discusses Rubens' women and explores black British cinema.

Samira talks to Patsy Ferran, who stars in a new production of Pygmalion.  Amy Orrock and Louisa Buck discuss Rubens' women, plus Clive Nwonka and Leila Latif on black men in film

The actor Patsy Ferran talks to Samira about her transformation from flower girl (with some autonomy) to duchess (with none at all) in Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and a career in which she transformed from Edith, the maid in Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury to Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal, via Jem in Treasure Island.

“Rubenesque” has long evoked a voluptuous image of female nudity in art, but a new exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery seeks to explore the complex relationship between Peter Paul Rubens and the women in his life. Co-curator Amy Orrock and critic Louisa Buck discuss how they influenced, and in many cases financially supported, the 17th century Flemish painter.

And as Netflix airs the fifth and final series of ‘Top Boy’, which first appeared on Channel 4 starring Ashley Waters, Clive Nwonka, author of ‘Black Boys The Social Aesthetics of British Urban Film’ and film critic Leila Latif discuss representations of black urban culture on screen.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Nicki Paxman

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Front Row

Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4