James Graham on Boys from the Blackstuff, and are maestros behaving badly?

Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff is widely regarded as television drama at its best with a cultural footprint that led to the phrase “Gi’s a job” being heard up and down the country. Forty years on from the first broadcast, James Graham, known for plays such as This House, about the UK’s hung parliament of the 1970s, and Dear England about the England football team, has adapted Alan’s screenplays for a stage production at the Royal Court theatre in Liverpool. He discusses why now was the right time to revisit and remodel.

Chester Contemporary is a new visual arts biennial curated by artist Ryan Gander who was born and raised in Chester and has created a citywide event that features some of the visual art world’s biggest names. Front Row visited Chester on the opening weekend to talk to Turner Prize-nominated artist Fiona Banner, emerging artist William Lang, Chester native Tim Foxon whose art pops up all over the city centre, and Turner Prize-winning artist Elizabeth Price, about their creations for the cathedral city.

The renowned conductor John Eliot Gardiner has cancelled all his appearances for the rest of this year after allegedly slapping and punching a singer backstage after a performance. He is far from the only conductor linked to reportedly bad behaviour. But as society puts conductors on a cultural as well as physical podium, and addresses them as ‘maestro’, perhaps such behaviour isn’t surprising. Perhaps, too, marshalling a large orchestra requires dictatorial leadership. Igor Toronyi-Lalic, music critic of The Spectator, and the conductor Ben Gernon join Nick Ahad to discuss how conductors conduct themselves, and how they should.

Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Lorne Campbell 1:30 James Graham 6:09 Conductors 16:33 Chester Art 29:36