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Last broadcast on Fri, 27 Jan 2012, 22:00 on BBC Radio 2.
Synopsis
Claudia is joined by Horrible Histories creator Terry Deary. Terry's books poke fun at the beheadings, burnings and plagues of the "bad old days", and he's now preparing to shock theatre-goers with stories from our barmy British history in a new live show featuring Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes.
Actress Leslie Ash discusses her starring role in the new play All The Single Ladies.
Durham University's Oriental Museum throws its doors open to The Radio 2 Arts Show as curator Craig Barclay joins us for our latest 'Tour Guide's Guide To Art'.
Wakefield-based artists Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater discuss their romantic visual art project Neon Love. Visible from the train, the striking installation sits atop the city centre's roofs, bringing to life in glowing red neon the lyrics of well-known love songs from Elvis's 'I'm in Love, I'm All Shook Up' to R.E.M.s 'This One Goes Out To The One I Love' - and they change on a monthly basis.
Plus Michael Billington reviews theatrical productions and Joe Partridge has the latest from the world of photography.
Richard William Wheater & Victoria Lucas' neon sign of a Joy Division lyric
From the art project 12 Months of Neon Love
Lucas & Wheater's neon art from an Elvis lyric
Another of their 12 Months of Neon Love installations
MICHAEL BILLINGTON'S THEATRE CHOICES
Big Society at City Varieties, Leeds
Led by Phill Jupitus, Big Society is centered around a cast of showmen, starlets and ventriloquists, and set in the Leeds City Varieties of a century ago. We are invited to sing along with the assembled conjurors, drunks and suffragettes as they wrestle with the forces of wealth and morality.
The Taming Of The Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon
Petruchio of Verona is seeking his fortune by gaining the hand in marriage of a rich woman, and he'll do anything. Katharina and Bianca's father, wants his daughters to be married and is offering a generous dowry for his daughters' hand, but not until Katharina is tamed and her wild and unruly ways put to bed. Will Petruchio succeed in taming Katharina to a submissive life of domesticity?
Our New Girl at the Bush Theatre, London
Behind the door of Hazel Robinson’s London home nothing is as it seems. Hazel's plastic surgeon husband Richard has embarked on his latest charitable quest in Haiti, leaving the heavily pregnant Hazel with a failing business and a problem son.
When a nanny arrives unannounced on the doorstep, Hazel finds her home under the shadow of a stranger with an agenda of her own. Nancy Harris’s play, Our New Girl is a psychological drama about the darker side of modern parenthood.
The Trial of Ubu at Hampstead Theatre, London
This is a new play by Simon Stephens based on a famous old one. Back in 1896 the French surrealist, Alfred Jarry, wrote a play about a despotic monarch called Ubu. Simon has now updated the action to show a modern dictator being put on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
JOE PARTRIDGE'S PHOTOGRAPHY CHOICES
Shaped by War - The Imperial War Museum, London
Don McCullin is one of Britain's most critically acclaimed photographers. This exhibition brings together McCullin’s iconic photographs that have shaped our awareness and understanding of modern conflict and its consequences.
An Eye for Fashion at Bristol’s M Shed
This is seen through the archive photographs of Norman Parkinson coupled with dresses and artefacts from the Bristol Museum's collection. It looks at the decade from 1954 as Britain emerged from wartime austerity through to Mary Quant; the decade where young women shook off their mothers' taste.
Making the Invisible Visible at St Andrews Square, Edinburgh
The best of the International Images for Science are going to Edinburgh as part of a large outdoor exhibition linked to the Edinburgh Science Festival where they will be joined by other pictures from National Maritime Museum’s ‘Astronomy Photographer of the Year’.
Black Country Stories - The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Black Country Stories brings renowned photographer, Martin Parr, on a photographic journey across the Black Country. It is very much work-in-progress from a 4 year project to illustrate, record and celebrate the Black Country, its people, industries and culture.
THE TOUR GUIDE'S GUIDE TO ART - DURHAM UNIVERSITY'S ORIENTAL MUSEUM
Curator Craig Barclay tells us about his favourite exhibit in the museum -
"It is almost impossible to select a favourite item with so many to choose from, but I have to confess to having a soft spot for this magnificant nineteenth-century Chinese bed.
It is fabulous piece of furniture, but it also seems to me to capture something of the human condition. A bed is the place where we are born, where we seek intimate human contact and security and - all being well - where we die."
Children's author, Terry Deary - 27/01/2012
Actress, Leslie Ash - 27/01/2012
Artists, Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater - 27/01/2012
6 Music's Burns Night special
To celebrate Burns Night 6 Music's Gideon Coe devoted his Wednesday night show to Caledonian music of all hues; from Alex Harvey to Orange Juice, plus Teenage Fanclub in concert from 1996.
Music played
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The Divine Comedy
— Absent Friends -
Paul McCartney
— My Valentine -
The Big Impact Music
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Carl Aubit/Claire Marchand/Andre Moisan — The Family Way Variation 1
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The Tremeloes
— Even The Bad Times Are Good -
Ella Fitzgerald
— A cheerful Little Earful -
Billy Joel
— We Didn't Start The Fire -
Phill Jupitus — Big Society
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Lotte Mullan
— I'm Alright With Me -
The Kingsmen — Louie Louie
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Ren Harvieu — Through The Night
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The Vapours — Turning Japanese
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Joy Division — Love Will Tear Us Apart
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Altered Images
— Don't Talk To Me About Love -
Harry Chapin — W.O.L.D
Broadcast
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Fri 27 Jan 201222:00
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