Â鶹Éç

Maev Kennedy – writer
Piers Plowright – radio producer
Fay Weldon - novelist

Much Ado About Nothing
Zoë Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale star as Shakespeare’s merry sparring partners, Beatrice and Benedict, in Nicholas Hytner’s production for the National Theatre.

Much Ado About Nothing is in the Olivier auditorium at the National Theatre and continues in repertory until March 29 2008.

I’m Not There
Todd Haynes’s film about Bob Dylan is not a conventional biopic, but employs six actors, including Christian Bales and Cate Blanchett, to play seven different versions of Dylan.

The Pitmen Painters
This play by Billy Elliott writer Lee Hall was written for the re-opening of Newcastle’s Life Theatre after a major refurbishment and has now been recorded for Radio 3. Inspired by the book by William Feaver, it tells the true story of a group of miners in the 1930s who met in an old army hut in Ashington in Northumberland to learn about art.

The Human Animal in Western Art and Science
Art historian Martin Kemp explores the relationship between animals and humans and how it has been regarded scientifically, artistically and philosophically.

The Human Animal in Western Art and Science by Martin Kemp is published by The University of Chicago Press.

Ballet Shoes
This dramatisation for Â鶹Éç television of Noel Streatfeild’s classic story contains a cluster of stars, including Victoria Wood, Eileen Atkins, Harriet Walter and Richard Griffiths. The adaptation is by Heidi Thomas who also adapted Cranford.