Podcast appearances and mentions of Michael Billington

The acclaimed English folk singer-songwriter Kate Rusby performs live and chats about her new Singy Songy Session Tour.Theatre critic Michael Billington celebrates the life and legacy of the provocative British playwright Edward Bond, whose death was announced today.Dr Stacy Smith, and film data researcher Stephen Follows, discuss Dr Smith's recent report revealing that the number of female film directors in Hollywood has fallen. And playwright Eve Steele on her new play, Work It Out, inspired by real-life moments in a Zumba class and is now on at HOME in Manchester.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

The most cracked out of all theatre junkies is Jonny's guest this week. At least 10,000 nights in the theatre and counting after over 50 years as the doyen of British theatre critics, Michael Billington was THE arbiter of critical taste for the entirety of Jonny's life. In this chat Michael opens up about his trouble with mime, air-kissing C list celebrities, how even critics are joining in the rise in audience participation, spaghetti in the stalls, hearing Laurence Olivier in his head, the “inexhaustible surprise” of the theatre, missing Harold Pinter, never finding Marilyn Monroe, how Chekov understood his 20 year old feelings and the way criticism completes the cycle of creation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Karen Krizanovich and Michael Billington to review The Fabelmans and the 40th anniversary production of Noises Off. Steven Spielberg's new film, The Fabelmans, is a portrait of the artist as a young man, chronicling the development of Sam Fabelman, a boy drawn irresistibly to film-making. He finds meaning, and achieves some power, through his art. Critics Karen Krizanovich and Michael Billington assess Spielberg's fictional autobiography. They also review the fortieth anniversary production of Noises Off, Michael Frayn's farce about a troubled touring company putting on a farce, as it opens in the West End with a cast including Felicity Kendal, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Joseph Millson. Director Joe Cornish, best known for his sci-fi comedy Attack the Block, talks about heading up a new TV drama series Lockwood and Co. Based on the young adult novels by Jonathan Stroud, it follows a group of teenage ghost hunters. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire

Peter Brook: we look back on the life and career of the great theatre and film director, with critic Michael Billington. Gone With the Wind was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1936 and became the most successful Hollywood film ever. In her book, The Wrath to Come, Sarah Churchwell reveals its role in American myth-making, and how it foreshadows the controversies over race, gender, white nationalism, and violence that divide American society to this day. Joseph Coelho: the performance poet, playwright and author of the young adult verse novel The Boy Lost in the Maze was today named as the new Children's Laureate. Joseph joins Tom to discuss his desire to make poetry accessible, showcase new talent in publishing, and undertake a Library Marathon - joining a library in every local authority in the country. And Faith I Branko: the musical duo and married couple discuss their fusion of Serbian Roma influenced music, cross cultural influences and musical connection, and perform live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May

调戏马丁麦克唐纳的「枕头人」祝大家春节快乐，虎年万事如意！这周调戏，我们一起分享一部当代戏剧，剧作家/电影导演马丁麦克唐纳1995年代写成，2003年在伦敦国家剧院首演的一部充满了格林童话和黑镜画风的 The Pillowman/枕头人。节目中提到的作品信息：枕头人 The Pillowman, Martin McDonagh剧本：https://www.joculartheatre.com/scripts/The%20Pillowman.pdfB站录像英文版：https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1yW411S7t3中国巡回演出：https://www.douban.com/location/drama/11610316/麦克唐纳女友的英剧作品是Fleabag/伦敦生活：https://movie.douban.com/subject/26838164/麦克唐纳的奥斯卡奖得奖作品「三块广告牌」：https://movie.douban.com/subject/26611804/1998 年是伦敦 Finborou Theatre 首次举行了「枕头人」的剧本朗读会，节目中年份口误：https://finboroughtheatre.co.ukGigi 提到的杀猫的戏剧是麦克唐纳的 The Lieutenant of Inishmore另外一部 Gigi 提到的有点残酷的戏剧是 Edmond Bond 的 The Saved糯米提到的 Theatre of Cruelty 首先是是先锋派剧作家、演员、评论家及理论家安托南·阿尔托在其著作《戏剧及其重影》中阐述的一种戏剧形式。这个短语正好也被纽约书评前主编 Ian Buruma 用来作为自己的一本书名。两者没有关系，节目中说得比较模糊。方瞾提到的麦克唐纳的丽南山三部曲是：The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996)A Skull in Connemara (1997) 以及The Lonesome West (1997).Gigi 提到的德国恐怖儿童故事叫「蓬头彼得」Struwwelpeter方瞾提到的「白夜行」是东野圭吾的一部推理小说。糯米提到的 Netflix 警察审犯人的系列叫 The Criminal节目中两次提到卡夫卡的小说，糯米提到的是主角叫 Joseph K 的「审判」，方瞾提到的是主角叫 K 的「城堡」。糯米推荐的医生分析医疗剧的 YouTuber 叫 Dr Hope's Sick Notes： https://www.youtube.com/c/DrHopeSickNotes节目中提到两个 B Movie 一个是Mean Girls另外一个是最近 Netflix 比较火的Don't look up节目中提到的「卫报」左派剧评人叫 Michael Billington，他 2007 年出版的一本书叫 State of the Nation。节目尾声方瞾提到的「此房是我造」是拉斯·冯·提尔 2018 年上演的恐怖片 The House Jack Built.祝大家春节快乐，愿意大赏赞助土豆的朋友请前往：http://culturepotato.com/shop See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

EIRI 1/3/22: Interview with Dr. George Koo conducted by Executive Intelligence Review's Michael Billington. Full transcript available: https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/01/03/interview-with-dr-george-koo-u-s-confrontation-with-china-is-destroying-the-u-s/

EIRI 12/18/21: The following is an interview with Dr. Shah Mohammad Mehrabi conducted December 15, 2021 by EIR's Gerald Belsky and Michael Billington. Since 2002, Dr. Mehrabi has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Da Afghanistan Bank, the Afghan central bank. Since 1992 he has been a professor in the Business and Economics Department at Montgomery College in Maryland and chairman of the department since 2003.

Ordinary woman Celia reviews Hobbies Weekly. Russell Nigel’s Thought for The Day includes a message to theatre critic Michael Billington. Celia’s regular session with a shrink recalls her previous boyfriends. Support Wife on Earth and the Cosmic Shambles Network by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

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

This week we travel back to Elizabethan England with Shakespeare in Love! Join us for a discussion of dogs on the stage, John Webster, early modern toothbrushes, the death of Christopher Marlowe, and more! Sources: Film Background: Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_in_Love Rebecca Keegan and Nicole Sperling, "Shakespeare in Love and Harvey Weinstein's Dark Oscar Victory," Vanity Fair (8 December 2017). https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/shakespeare-in-love-and-harvey-weinsteins-dark-oscar-victory "Entertainment Novelist sues Shakespeare makers," (23 March 1999) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/301620.stm . Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shakespeare_in_love Roger Ebert, "Shakespeare in Love" (25 December 1998). https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shakespeare-in-love-1998 Nyay Bhushan, "'Shakespeare in Love' Director on Harvey Weinstein: "It's About an Abuse of Power"" The Hollywood Reporter (16 October 2017). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shakespeare-love-director-harvey-weinstein-an-abuse-power-1049015 William Demastes, The Cambridge Introduction to Tom Stoppard (Cambridge University Press, 2012). THR Staff, "Recount! Oscar Voters Today Would Make 'Brokeback Mountain' Best Picture Over 'Crash'" The Hollywood Reporter (18 February 2015). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/recount-oscar-voters-today-would-773522 "Harvey Weinstein timeline: How the scandal unfolded," BBC News (29 May 2020). https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672 "The Cast Against Harvey Weinstein, Part 1" The Daily Podcast (9 January 2020). Carolyn Thompson, "Another delay granted for Harvey Weinstein extradition," ABC News (11 December 2020). https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/delay-expected-harvey-weinstein-extradition-74669118 Shakespeare's Signature: Folger Shakespeare Library staff and Alan H. Nelson, "Shakespeare's signature" https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/highlights/shakespeares-signature and https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/node/1011 https://doi.org/10.37078/1011 and https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/william-shakespeares-last-will-and-testament-original-copy-including-three Maev Kennedy, "William Shakespeare's will featuring his last signatures goes on show" The Guardian (2 February 2016). https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/feb/02/william-shakespeares-will-featuring-his-last-signatures-goes-on-show "Shakespeare's Signature at the National Library" https://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/digitallibrary/gallery/Humanities/Pages/Shakespeare.aspx "Shakespeare's will" The National Archives https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/museum/item.asp?item_id=21 Doug Stewart, "To Be or Not to be Shakespeare," Smithsonian Magazine (September 2006). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/to-be-or-not-to-be-shakespeare-127247606/ Dogs on the Stage: Louis B. Wright, "Animal Actors on the English Stage before 1642," PMLA 42:3 (September 1927): 656-69. https://www.jstor.org/stable/457395 Stephen Dickey, "Shakespeare's Mastiff Comedy," Shakespeare Quarterly 42:3 (Autumn, 1991): 255-75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2870843 Jason Scott-Warren, "When Theaters Were Bear-Gardens; Or, What's at Stake in the Comedy of Humors," Shakespeare Quarterly 54:1 (Spring, 2003): 63-82. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3844120 Eva Lauenstein, "Exit, pursued by a bear" (29 January 2016) https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2016/01/29/exit-pursued-by-a-bear/ https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/gentlemen-of-verona/lance John Webster: "Who was John Webster," Royal Shakespeare Company. https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-duchess-of-malfi/about-the-play/who-was-john-webster "John Webster," British Library https://www.bl.uk/people/john-webster# Michael Billington, "An introduction to The Duchess of Malfi" British Library (24 April 2017). https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/an-introduction-to-the-duchess-of-malfi David Coleman, John Webster, Renaissance Dramatist (Edinburgh University Press, 2010). https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g0b0b7 Timeline of Shakespeare's Plays: "Timeline of Shakespeare's Plays," The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company, available at https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-plays/timeline Toothbrushes: "Who Invented the Toothbrush and When Was It Invented?" Library of Congress. Available at https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/who-invented-the-toothbrush-and-when-was-it-invented/ Chew Sticks on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/818439482/african-chewing-stick-twig-brush-3-bunch?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=chew+stick&ref=sr_gallery-1-10&organic_search_click=1&frs=1 Victoria Sherrow, For Appearances' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming. Greenwood Publishing, 2011. Cassidy Cash, "Did Shakespeare Use a Toothbrush?" Available at https://www.cassidycash.com/did-shakespeare-use-a-toothbrush/ Death of Kit Marlowe: "Death in Deptford," Marlowe Society. Available at http://www.marlowe-society.org/christopher-marlowe/life/death-in-deptford/ Amelia Hill, "New Twist to Marlowe's Murder Riddle," The Guardian. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/01/books.humanities

As our mission reaches the letter B, it heralds the arrival of some heavy Bond hitters. In this episode the team delves into the stories of actor Joe Don Baker, who – as two different characters - straddles two eras of 007. They explore the life and work of John Barry, the award-winning composer whose sound defines Bond, and three-time theme tune singer Dame Shirley Bassey, who worked closely with Barry. Also discussed is two-time Bond Girl Martine Beswick, 'From Russia With Love' ally Kerim Bey, and actor Michael Billington who tried and failed many times to become 007 himself. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rebel Wilson discusses her new TV series Last One Laughing, where ten comedians are locked in room and if they laugh they get kicked out. The last one standing wins a big cash prize. The death was announced today of the actor Sir Ian Holm. Theatre critic Michael Billington pays tribute. Bob Dylan has just released a new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. For our Friday Review, music journalist Laura Barton and commentator Michael Carlson give their verdict on whether this is vintage Dylan. And they discuss The Luminaries, a new BBC drama based on the Booker-winning novel by Eleanor Catton set during New Zealand’s Gold Rush in 1866. Unemployed theatre professionals in Minneapolis have been putting their skills to good use, protecting businesses during recent Black Lives Matter protests in the city where George Floyd lived and was killed. As the protests subside, Daisuke Kawachi discusses the University Rebuild project that she's been working on. Alison Brackenbury has been Front Row’s poet-in-residence this week, reading one of her Museums Unlocked poems every evening. Alison travels about the country to give poetry readings. She makes a point, wherever she goes, of visiting the museum or art gallery. With most now closed, Alison has written new poems about some of the museums she has visited. Her final poem is inspired by a letter she came across in Charles Dickens’ house. During the lockdown author Rebecca Stott has re-read Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year, a fictional account of the bubonic epidemic of 1665; Rebecca tells Kirsty Lang how the book resonates during Covid-19. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Sarah Johnson Studio Manager Matilda Macari

Michael Billington reflects on almost 50 years and some 10,000 reviews as he steps down as the Guardian's chief theatre critic. Michael is introduced by Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre. A number of guests including actors Penelope Wilton, Simon Russell Beale, Aisling Loftus and Oliver Ford Davies read from some of Michael's favourite plays.

This week we chat with Laurene Cooper-Fox about which of life's truths can be gleaned from that classic tale of love and unionization - The Pajama Game!"This is about capital and labour," a character announces at the start. But it's fair to say that the book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell is just as much about the romance that develops between an arrogant superintendent and a shopfloor militant in a midwestern pyjama factory. Refreshing as it is to find a musical in which passion collides with politics, I notice how cannily the show harks back to the past. The fractiousness of the lovers echoes Annie Get Your Gun and, when the workers go on a picnic, I was reminded of the box social in Oklahoma! and the clambake in Carousel. It adds, however, rather than detracts from the pleasure to find an original theme reinforced by a sense of tradition. What really counts in this revival is the brilliance of Stephen Mear's choreography in matching the mood of the songs by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. - Michael Billington, The Guardian- FURTHER READING -Wiki - Musical, 7½ Cents, FilmIMDbiTunesSpotifyLike us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon!Email us: musicalstaughtmepodcast@gmail.comVisit our home on the web thatsnotcanonproductions.comOur theme song and interstitial music all by the one and only Benedict Braxton Smith. Find out more about him at www.benedictbraxtonsmith.com

Bards Logic welcomes Michael Billington, editor and head of the Asia desk at the Executive Intelligence Review. We will discuss who is the greater threat to the United States- China, the Deep State, or something else.  Ours guest will tell us their work on End(ing) the Mccarthyite Witch Hunt against China and President Trump.  Conservatives believe the Deep State and China are our greatest threats. Liberals belive it is the Russians and President Trump. Who if any of them are correct? Listen in and decide for yourself.  You can access the articles from this episode by going to the Bards Logic Newsroom Bards Logic is the Grassroots, We the People show. 

Polish director Agnieszka Holland, best-known for her Oscar nominated feature films about the Holocaust, discusses her new film Mr Jones, starring James Norton as the Welsh journalist Gareth Jones. Jones exposed the truth about Stalin’s genocidal famine which killed millions in Ukraine in the early 1930s and his reporting of the story inspired George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Continuing Front Row’s risk season, theatre critic Michael Billington talks about when risks fail to pay off. Failure in the arts can be a taboo subject and Doctor Leila Jancovich from Leeds University has been exploring histories of failure and why it seems the arts find it difficult to learn from their mistakes. Timur Vermes' first novel Look Who's Back was a satire imagining the return of Hitler in the present day and sold over 3 million copies. The German novelist's new book, The Hungry and the Fat, translated by Jamie Bulloch, considers what would happen if thousands of refugees walked to the German border. Presenter: Tom Shakespeare Producer: Sarah Johnson Main image: James Norton in Mr Jones Photo credit: Signature Entertainment

Selina Cadell is one of our most versatile and accomplished actresses - from French and Saunders to Chekhov on Broadway, and from Alan Bennett to Shakespeare, she brings humour and sensitivity to stage and screen. Michael Billington described her recent performance in Charlotte Jones’s play Humble Boy as ‘one of the best pieces of acting you’ll see anywhere'. Instantly recognisable to millions as the infatuated neck-braced pharmacist in the hugely popular TV series Doc Martin, Selina has another string to her bow – as a director specialising in 18th-century drama and, particularly, opera. She talks to Michael Berkeley about how she coaches singers to become better actors and she chooses arias from operas she’s directed: Handel’s 'Arianna in Creta' and Stravinsky’s 'The Rake’s Progress', written in 1951 but set in Handel’s time. Selina shares memories of her godfather Sir Ralph Richardson - and his acting tips – and we hear his beautiful reading of Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale. She chooses a song by Noel Coward in memory of her brother, the actor Simon Cadell, and she speaks movingly about the death of her husband and mother earlier this year, choosing Debussy’s 'La Mer' as a celebration of her husband’s love of the sea. Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3

The dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo grew up dancing to Michael Jackson songs on the streets of Soweto. She later trained as a ballerina and contemporary dancer. Now she creates very modern takes on classical ballets. Her reworking of Swan Lake tackled homophobia and AIDS in South Africa. Her Giselle, traditionally the tragic story of a girl who dies after being betrayed by a man, has been seen as a feminist tale of revenge for the #MeToo generation. As she begins a UK tour, Dada Masilo tells Front Row about street dance, growing up in Soweto and shaking up classical dance. Extinction Rebellion protestors - described by the Prime Minister as ‘Crusties’ living in ‘hemp-smelling bivouacs’ – have included different types of performance as they blockade areas of central London, from dancing and chanting to yoga sessions, drumming and mime. Is this ‘open-air theatre’ as Charles Moore describes it in The Telegraph, providing an easy target for its critics? Musician Sam Lee, who led a folk dance on London Bridge yesterday, gives his view. A new film from Netflix - The King - combines Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 and Henry V into a single storyline, starring Timothee Chalamet. Some film reviewers have been extremely scathing about the project. Historian Sarah Gristwood gives us her opinion . Theatre critic Michael Billington recently ruffled feathers when he said that the standard of Shakespeare productions was in decline... Creative and novel approaches to Shakespeare abound: are we living through a golden age of innovation or have directors and producers become too fearful of trusting Shakespeare’s text? Michael Billington and critic Sarah Crompton discuss. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Oliver Jones

For Sama is a prize-winning documentary by female Syrian filmmaker Waad al-Kateab, recording life in Aleppo for her young daughter who was born shortly after the conflict began there. Film critic Hannah McGill reviews and reports on the winning films at this year's Venice Film Festival. Lucy Caldwell has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with The Children. Her story is about the Victorian social reformer Caroline Norton, who successfully campaigned for women to have the automatic right to have custody of their children in divorce proceedings; and in her story Lucy Caldwell draws parallels with child migrants today who are separated from their mothers. We speak to the author. British playwright Peter Nichols - A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, Privates On Parade, Passion Play - has died at the age of 92. Michael Billington joins us to discuss his importance The Israeli short story writer Etgar Keret discusses his new collection Fly Already, 22 stories – several featuring the surreal and the apocalyptic - which were inspired by a serious car accident he had in America. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver Jones

“Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.” — Alençon, Act III, scene ii In episode #13, a quick jaunt through the critical fortunes of Henry VI, Part 1, not an historically beloved play. From the “prequel” question to the plays role as a barometer of Britain’s feelings on nationalism, to just how many times a play can cut Talbot, Joan, or both! Come join me. Listen to episodes at iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Castbox, or download direct from Libsyn. The Patreon campaign is up and running, with bonus Sonnet episodes! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or by email at podcastshakespeare@gmail.com. We also have a Spotify playlist, which will be updated as we work through the plays. Key links below. You can also visit the bibliography page here, which is a work in progress. Links mentioned: E.M.W Tillyard and the “Tudor Myth” Key source: Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and Yorke (1548) Key source: Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland ,and Ireland (1577) E.K. Chambers, William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems, 1930 Thomas Nashe, Defence of Plays from “Pierce Penniless” (1592) Emrys Jones, Origins of Shakespeare, 1977 Jonathan Bate, Genius of Shakespeare, 1997 Marjorie Garber, Shakespeare After All, 2004 “Shakespeare And Marlowe: Attributing Henry VI Authorship” – Folger Library Festival of Britain, 1951 Birmingham Rep Theatre: BBC An Age of Kings (1960) Royal Shakespeare Company John Barton and Peter Hall, RSC Wars of the Roses (1963): “The Inheritance” and “Margaret of Anjou” on Youtube Jane Howell, BBC The First Part of Henry the Sixt (1983) at BFI Screenonline English Shakespeare Company: Wars of the Roses (1988) d: Michael Bogdanov Jan Kott (1914-2001), Shakespeare Our Contemporary (1961) – profiled by Michael Billington in The Guardian Edward Hall, Rose Rage (2001), Propeller Theatre Company Shakespeare’s Rugby Wars: Toronto Fringe Festival Michael Boyd, This England (2001) – Royal Shakespeare Company Yushi Odashima, complete translations of Shakespeare into Japanese: at Oxford Reference Bell Shakespeare, Wars of the Roses (2005 – 2008), reviewed by Alison Croggon Benedict Andrews, Wars of the Roses (2010) for Sydney Theatre Company, reviewed by Alison Croggon Globe Theatre: Wars of the Roses Battlefield Performances, review in Telegraph Seattle Shakespeare Company, Bring Down the House (2016), review in Seattle Times Dominic Cooke, Henry VI, BBC Hollow Crown cycle (2016) Audio: Donald Sinden (Plantagenet), RSC Wars of the Roses “The Inheritance” (1965) Music: Sergei Prokofiev, “Montagues and Capulets”, from Romeo and Juliet (ballet), 1935 Armand Broshka, The Sadness of King Henry VI Tchaikovsky, The Maid of Orléans , 1881, Jeanne’s aria performed by Elena Obraztsova Ralph Vaughan Williams, Serenade to Music (1938) from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice Giuseppe Verdi, Overture from Giovanna d’Arco (Joan of Arc), 1845 Henry Ley, The Prayer of King Henry VI (c. 1940), The King’s Singers

The recent Pinter season at the Pinter Theatre in London, culminating in the current production of Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, suggests that Harold Pinter has a durability that other writers of his generation may not be able to claim. What are the qualities that give his work resonance to an audience today? The director Jamie Lloyd, theatre critic and Pinter biographer Michael Billington, and Dr Catriona Fallow, research fellow on the Harold Pinter: Histories and Legacies project, tell Front Row why they think his work endures.In his award-winning play The Believers Are But Brothers, Javaad Alipoor invited audiences to experience the world of young disaffected men online by joining a WhatsApp group. Alipoor talks to Stig Abell about the play which tells four fictional stories - an Islamic State group recruiter, two British recruits and an Alt-Right 'white boy' from California, and has which has now been adapted into a drama BBC Four. Guitarist and songwriter Richard Hawley thought he hated musicals, realised that actually he quite liked them and went on to write one that opened this week at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Standing at the Sky's Edge is about Park Hill, the flats the that flank Sheffield like a city wall. It tells their story, from the optimism of their conception as an urban utopia, through dereliction and recent redevelopment and recovery. Woven through are Hawley's songs, and the professional cast is augmented by many local people. The writer, broadcaster and Sheffield resident, Paul Allen, reviews the show.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Julian May

This week we chat with Laurene Cooper-Fox about which of life's truths can be gleaned from that classic tale of love and unionization - The Pajama Game!"This is about capital and labour," a character announces at the start. But it's fair to say that the book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell is just as much about the romance that develops between an arrogant superintendent and a shopfloor militant in a midwestern pyjama factory. Refreshing as it is to find a musical in which passion collides with politics, I notice how cannily the show harks back to the past. The fractiousness of the lovers echoes Annie Get Your Gun and, when the workers go on a picnic, I was reminded of the box social in Oklahoma! and the clambake in Carousel. It adds, however, rather than detracts from the pleasure to find an original theme reinforced by a sense of tradition. What really counts in this revival is the brilliance of Stephen Mear's choreography in matching the mood of the songs by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. - Michael Billington, The Guardian- FURTHER READING -Wiki - Musical, 7½ Cents, FilmIMDbiTunesSpotifyLike us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon!Email us: musicalstaughtmepodcast@gmail.comVisit our home on the web thatsnotcanonproductions.comOur theme song and interstitial music all by the one and only Benedict Braxton Smith. Find out more about him at www.benedictbraxtonsmith.com

This week we chat with Dorothy May about which of life's truths can be gleaned from her name-sake musical - The Wizard of Oz!You can see Dotty performing in the near future! Just click this link:http://www.sitdowncomedyfringe.com.au/the-treble-makers/"The star of the show is undoubtedly the set and costume designer, Robert Jones. The Kansas cyclone that whisks Dorothy into a dreamworld is evoked through vorticist projections (the work of Jon Driscoll) that betoken chaos in the cosmos. The Yellow Brick Road is on a tilted revolve from inside which poppyfields and labyrinthine forest emerge. The Emerald City is full of steeply inclined walls suggesting a drunkard's vision of the Chrysler Building lobby. And the Wicked Witch of the West inhabits a rotating dungeon that might be a Piranesi nightmare. ... Of course, there are the songs; it's good to be reminded of such classics as "Over The Rainbow", "We're Off To See The Wizard", and "Follow The Yellow Brick Road". The additions by Lloyd Webber and Rice are also perfectly acceptable. Dorothy is given a good plaintive opening number, and Red Shoes Blues, sung by the Wicked Witch, has a pounding intensity."- Michael Billington, reviewer at The Guardian- FURTHER READING -Wiki - 1939 Film, Lloyd Webber MusicalIMDb - 1925, 1939, 2015iTunesSpotifyLike us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon!Email us: musicalstaughtmepodcast@gmail.comVisit our home on the web thatsnotcanonproductions.comOur theme song and interstitial music all by the one and only Benedict Braxton Smith. Find out more about him at www.benedictbraxtonsmith.com

LISTEN to the FULL episode 10 w/ former political prisoner and author Mike Billington BELOW! While purportedly fighting for democracy and human rights in Venezuela and other countries, the US neglects abuses elsewhere, including at home.What is also interesting is that even over long decades, you will find the same individuals involved in this home-grown, perverse American persecution.One such person is Robert Mueller.In the 1980s, as Robert Mueller was head of the "Get LaRouche" Task Force that brought the heavy hand of the American State down upon one of its visionary dissidents, the late Lyndon LaRouche.Michael Billington was one of the Larouche Movement's leading activists, and experienced the full brunt of these long coordinated actions first hand.In this excerpt of our recent conversation, Billington speaks of how Robert Mueller started to prosecute the LaRouche movement after Ronald Reagan adopted LaRouche's Strategic Defence Initiative.  Interestingly, it was Roger Stone (the same one Mueller recently had arrested using a similar overwrought display of armed State force) who brought LaRouche's ideas to President Ronald Reagan's attention. These were designed to facilitate cooperation between the USA and the USSR at the time, similar to Trump's stated goals of wanting to work together with Russia and China.Billington recounts the dramatic events when law enforcement and military forces surrounded the LaRouche headquarters in what appears to have been a preparation for a something like a deadly Waco, Texas event, which actually occurred in just a few years later.Billington eventually received the harshest and longest sentence from the Mueller prosecution - 77 years -in what was clearly an abuse of process and wrongful prosecution.Last week, Lyndon LaRouche passed away at the age of 96, just a few weeks after the Larouche Movement launched a petition to exonerate him and the others from these false charges.This is very relevant for what is occurring today in the United States. I urge you to learn more and sign the petition.

EIR has just produced a new edition of its landmark report, The New Silk Road Becomes the World Landbridge ( https://schillerinstitute.nationbuilder.com/wlb_ii ). As many of you know, Lyndon LaRouche and Helga Zepp LaRouche have worked over the course of 40 years to conceptualize and develop the massive hard and soft infrastructure projects outlined in the report and reflected now in Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative. These ideas can bring into being the prosperous future of the world, one in which Africa, Southwest Asia, Central and South America and all the formerly underdeveloped and colonial satrapies of the Anglo-Dutch empire flourish. Join EIR Asia Desk editor Mike Billington tonight for a guided tour of the new report and the exciting ideas it presents. Mike will also outline the current war against OBOR being waged by the very Anglo-Dutch imperialists who will do anything and everything to preserve their decadent, bankrupt, "order." ---------- Subscribe to LaRouchePAC Live: http://lpac.co/youtube Subscribe to LaRouchePAC Videos: http://lpac.co/youtube-vid Subscribe to LaRouchePAC Science: http://lpac.co/youtube-sci Get active, become an organizer: http://lpac.co/action Receive daily email updates from LaRouchePAC: http://lpac.co/daily Donate to LaRouchePAC: http://lpac.co/donate-yt Keep connected at: https://larouchepac.com/ https://www.facebook.com/LaRouchePAC https://soundcloud.com/larouche-pac https://twitter.com/larouchepac ==========

The Royal Shakespeare Company opened in Britain in 1961 and changed theatre forever. 400 years after his death, the playwright's work began to be performed in a radical new way. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive of the founder of the theatre company, Sir Peter Hall, and speaking to Britain's longest serving theatre critic, Michael Billington about the move which made Shakespeare more relevant than ever before.Photo: Portrait of English dramatist William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), circa 1600. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Michael Billington recently said of Andrew Lloyd Webber: “For all his attempts to encourage new talent, he also looks like a swimming instructor in a largely empty pool. Stiles and Drewe are the only team to have left their imprint on the British musical post-Lloyd Webber”. Nick and composer, book-writer, translator, director and orator - Jeremy Sams - as they discuss this statement travel on a wonderful musical journey covering everything from pop rhymes to jukebox musicals - via Sondheim and The Beatles.

The death of Sir Peter Hall was announced today, at the age of 86. Friends and colleagues look back on his life. We'll be hearing from those who lived and worked with him including the Opera singer Maria Ewing, who was married to Sir Peter Hall for eight years and who was directed by him many times. We'll also speak to former heads of the National Theatre Sir Nicholas Hytner and Sir Richard Eyre, the director Sir Trevor Nunn, playwright David Edgar and theatre critic Michael Billington.Peter Hall, whose career spanned more than six decades, was a director of theatre, opera and film. As well as founding the Royal Shakespeare Company, running the National Theatre for 15 years, working as artistic director at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and setting up the Peter Hall Company, he will be remembered for his extensive work which ranged from Shakespeare and the Greek classics to Pinter and of course Peter Shaffer's Amadeus with Paul Scofield and Simon Callow. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Helen Fitzhenry.

Kenneth Branagh takes on the role of Archie Rice in John Osborne's 1957 play The Entertainer. The Guardian's theatre critic Michael Billington talks to us about watching Laurence Olivier in the original production at the Royal Court, and gives us his views on this latest revival.Ellen is a powerful, prescient story of a tough teenager trying to take control of her chaotic life. We talk to the writer Sarah Quintrell and actress Jessica Barden who plays 14-year-old Ellen.Sausage Party the animated Pixar pastiche that sees Seth Rogan and friends get rude with food. James King reviews.Herman Koch, the writer of the international bestselling novel, The Dinner - discusses his latest book, Dear Mr M, a literary thriller which explores the art and morality of turning fact into fiction.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Marilyn Rust.

Playwright Peter Shaffer is remembered by theatre critic Michael Billington and director Thea Sharrock, who worked with him on the revival of Equus in 2007. In a rare interview, American novelist Don DeLillo talks to Samira Ahmed about his new novel Zero K which explores cryogenics, immortality and death. New Blood, is the latest series from Anthony Horowitz, creator of Foyle's War and the Alex Rider novels. In it, two junior investigators for the police and the Serious Fraud Office, Rash and Stefan, are brought together on television for the first time, linked by two seemingly unrelated cases. Beth Orton has ditched the acoustic guitar and folk songs for her new album Kidsticks which is mostly composed from electronic loops, drum machines and keyboards. She describes the freedom of creating music without any expectations.

Front Row marks 60 years of The Royal Court Theatre by discussing the value of new writing for the stage. In front of an audience John Wilson is joined by The Royal Court's Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone, The Guardian's theatre critic Michael Billington, and playwrights Simon Stephens, Stef Smith and Diana Nneka Atuona. Scenes from key plays are performed by David Tennant, Daniel Mays and Ami Metcalf, Ashley Zhangazha and Lisa Mcgrillis, Roy Williams, Kate Ashfield and Tom Hollander.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Roger Michell discusses his new production of Harley Granville Barker's play with Michael Billington. #ntWaste

-Alla säger att jag är så arg men ingen frågar varför jag är arg, sa nobelpristagaren Harold Pinter till teaterskribenten Michael Billington. I Spotlights julspecial hörs Harold Pinters röst och andras röster om honom.Kerstin Berggren har plockat fram en godbit ur sitt arkiv. Programmet gjordes i samband med att Harold Pinter tilldelades Nobelpriset i litteratur år 2005.Kerstin Berggren vandrar i Pinters barndomskvarter i Hackney i östra London och pratar med skådespelarna Douglas Hodge och Lindsay Duncan.Medverkar gör också kritikerna Michael Billington och Benedict Nightingale, och Sveriges Radios legendar Torsten Ehrenmark minns ett möte på en pub med den store dramatikern.Översitteri och hot från myndigheter var en drivkraft i Harold Pinters författarskap. I hans pjäser finns ofta ett dolt, outtalat hot mot den lilla människan. När som helst kan man bli bortförd, hunsad eller bestraffad.Hos Pinter kan dialogen ofta te sig nonsensartad men innehåller ett existentiellt djup.Efter en trög start tog hans karriär som dramatiker fart. Pjäser som Födelsedagspartyt, Hemkomsten och Ingen mans land räknas som moderna klassiker. 

Michael Billington has been theatre critic of The Guardian since 1971 and of Country Life since 1986, but began reviewing for The Times in 1965. He is the author of biographies of Harold Pinter and Peggy Ashcroft, critical studies of Tom Stoppard and Alan Ayckbourn, a celebration of Ken Dodd and a collection of reviews, One Night Stands. At his home in West London, Michael talks to BTG's Philip Fisher about his new book, The 101 Greatest Plays from Antiquity to the Present, and about his 50-year career as a theatre critic. Photo credit: Natasha Billington

Fiona Gruber speaks to theatre critic and Harold Pinter biographer, Michael Billington, about Pinter, his writing and his affair with TV presenter Joan Bakewell on which his play, Betrayal is based.

Closing symposium in which critic Michael Billington, playwright Rachel De-lahay, theatremaker Chris Goode academic and Dr Liz Tomlin discuss with David Edgar the place of the playwright in contemporary theatre. This event was filmed on 7th February 2015. The challenge to traditional roles and hierarchies in the theatre has involved academics and critics as well as practitioners. What effect is the controversy having on the content, form and working methods of contemporary theatre? What would the theatre look like without playwrights? What can the industry learn from new working methods, and how might performance companies benefit from collaborating with writers?

Murray Melvin reflects on his acting career in the original productions of A Taste of Honey and Oh What A Lovely War and working with people such as Joan Littlewood, Ken Russell and Stanley Kubrick. This is a recording of a live Platform event from March 2014.

Psychoanalyst, Mike Brearley, and academic, Laurie Maguire, discuss Shakespeare's understanding of the complexities of the human mind, as seen in King Lear. This event was chaired by Michael Billington. This is a recording of a live Platform event from March 2014.

Marknadskrafter och konsumtion, habegär och identitet - Henrik Schyfferts och Fredrik Lindströms nya scenshow handlar om shopping, pengar och livet i ekonomins skugga. Ägd är uppföljaren till Ljust och fräscht, som lovordades av flera kritiker, hur blir det den här gången? Dessutom, Gunnar Bolin talar med den brittiske teaterkritikern Michael Billington om kritikens uppgift i konsumtionssamhället och Katarina Wikars funderar vidare, med begreppet Konsumism i minnet, vilka vi konsumenter egentligen är. Första mars har Monteverdis L´Orfeo, en över 400 år gammal opera, premiär på Wermlands opera. Omsusad redan i förväg, eftersom den regisseras av Kristofer Steen, känd som gitarrist i hardcorebandet Refused. Men berättelsen om Orfeus och Eurydike är också aktuell på Göteborgsoperan, där Glucks opera från 1762 nyligen hade premiär. Hör Per Feltzin gripa sig an en myt om trofast kärlek, liv och död. Programledare: Anneli Dufva Musiken som spelas i Per Feltzins essä om Ofeusmyten är hämtade från en inspelning av Christoph Willibald Glucks Orfeo ed Euridice (2001), dirigent René Jacobs och en inspelning av Claudio Monteverdis L´Orfeo (2007), dirigent Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Premiär! Här är Sveriges radios nya kulturprogram som ska läsa, lyssna, titta, hylla och kritisera konst i alla former. I första programmet skärskådas själva kritiken, vilken är dess uppgift och vilken betydelse har den? Programledare Anneli Dufva borrar sig in i begreppet tillsammans med bland andra Gunnar Bolin och Göran Sommardal. Och så börjar Katarina Wikars och Jenny Aschenbrenner att snickra på ett Kritikmanifest - hur låter ett sådant 2014? Den brittiske kritikern och författaren Michael Billington har arbetat på tidningen The Guardian många år, bland annat som teaterkritiker. Vilka utmaningar menar han att kritiken står inför? Gunnar Bolin har träffat honom i London. Hör också Björn Fritz, en av Kulturradions lyssnare som hört av sig till Kulturredaktionens Publiknätverk, som berättar om ett verk som vägrar att släppa taget om honom - romanen Den röda nattens städer av William S Burroughs. Programledare: Anneli Dufva

To pay tribute to the actor Peter O'Toole, Matthew Sweet is joined by director Roger Michell, film producer Kevin Loader, actresss Annabel Leventon and theatre critic Michael Billington. Behavioural geneticist Robert Plomin presents his theory on the importance of genetic inheritance for determining academic achievement. New Generation Thinker Christopher Harding leads a tour of Japanese Christmas. New Generation Thinker Eleanor Barraclough and John Lennard, literature and fantasy scholar, explore dragons in myth and literature, from Beowulf to Smaug.

Fifty years since Oh What a Lovely War was first performed, Night Waves pays tribute to Joan Littlewood's revolutionary anti-war musical. In a programme recorded before an audience at the Theatre Royal Stratford East where the show received its premiere, Samira Ahmed and her guests, the critic, Michael Billington, Erica Whyman from the RSC, the historian, David Kynaston and Murray Melvin from the original cast, discuss how Oh What A Lovely War changed Britain's theatrical landscape and redefined the way the think about the First World War.

Actor and writer David Walliams chooses Harold Pinter's play No Man's Land. Presented by Mark Lawson. The interview is followed by selected clips from the BBC archive: Pinter himself on his relationship with the audience and his famous pauses; an extract from his 1978 play Betrayal; Pinter's widow Lady Antonia Fraser on writer about her husband; Rob Brydon on meeting Pinter and Diane Abbott and Michael Billington on Pinter's pacifism.

This Night Waves special explores ‘kitchen sink realism', the cultural movement which gave urgent, vivid expression to the reality of post-war Britain. Samira Ahmed is joined by celebrated film maker Ken Loach, film historian Melanie Williams and theatre critic Michael Billington to discuss the aims and achievements of the movement. Composer Neil brand performs live, illustrating a brief history of how music is used in ‘kitchen sink' films. And art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston explains the how the term was originally coined to describe the work of painters such as John Bratby.

Matthew Parris is joined by Diane Abbott MP and biographer and critic Michael Billington to explore the life of playwright and Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. His name - if you add an "esque" to it, as in Thatcheresque or Ortonesque - defines that which is 'marked especially by halting dialogue, uncertainty of identity, and air of menace'. But today's great life is not an easy man to encapsulate. He was a polymath - a playwright, poet, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and Nobel Laureate - whom his biographer describes as 'an instinctively radical poet whose chosen medium is drama.' He was one of Britain's most celebrated writers - the master of the pause - Harold Pinter. Pinter is said to have 'stamped his mark on the cultural and political scene as an observer of suburban brooding and as an irate iconoclast.' He was also born in Hackney, which explains in part why he has been chosen by Diane Abbott, Shadow Minister for Public Health, and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. The programme explores Pinter's life and his appeal for Abbott with expert assistance from Pinter's biographer, the writer and critic Michael Billington.

Kulturradion om Harold Pinter I vintras gick Nobelpristagaren i litteratur 2005 Harold Pinter bort vid 78 års ålder. Idag fylls Kulturradion av engelska röster om teatermannen Pinter. Han började som skådespelare inom repertoarteatern på Irland och i England och erfarenheterna från scenen, minnesbilder från uppväxten i Hackney och vardagliga iakttagelser ligger till grund för hans dramatik. Kulturredaktionen återutsänder idag Kerstin Berggrens porträtt av Harold Pinter, ett program som gjordes i anslutning till Nobelpriset. I programmet medverkar teaterkritikern Michael Billington som skrivit den stora biografin om Pinter och även skådespelarna Lindsay Duncan, Douglas Hodge och kritikern Benedict Nightingale. Kulturradion Långfredag 10 april kl 18.15 i P1 Kulturradion Påskdagen 12 april kl. 16.03 i P1

I vintras gick Nobelpristagaren i litteratur 2005 Harold Pinter bort vid 78 års ålder. Idag fylls Kulturradion av engelska röster om teatermannen Pinter. Han började som skådespelare inom repertoarteatern på Irland och i England och erfarenheterna från scenen, minnesbilder från uppväxten i Hackney och vardagliga iakttagelser ligger till grund för hans dramatik. Kulturredaktionen återutsänder idag Kerstin Berggrens porträtt av Harold Pinter, ett program som gjordes i anslutning till Nobelpriset. I programmet medverkar teaterkritikern Michael Billington som skrivit den stora biografin om Pinter och även skådespelarna Lindsay Duncan, Douglas Hodge och kritikern Benedict Nightingale. Det blir inget Kino denna vecka. Utan istället sänds ett specialprogram om Harold Pinter. Lyssna på det så hörs vi igen den 17 April. Då handlar Kino om erotik.Glad påsk!

Margaret Shewring interviews Guardian theatre critic and author Michael Billington