Season 12

2009-07-08

Highlights from the Manchester International Festival, including a collaboration between film-maker Adam Curtis, theatre company Punchdrunk and Damon Albarn - the theatrical experience It Felt like a Kiss. Plus the Young at Heart Choir, a group of singers aged 70-plus, whose new show is based on iconic Manchester songs, and an interview with Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk.

2009-07-15

This second show from the Manchester International Festival sees Rufus Wainwright discuss his first opera, Prima Donna; dancer Carlos Acosta preparing a new work for the festival; and a profile of the Young at Heart chorus - 25 singers in their 70s and 80s who are preparing a new show based on iconic Manchester songs. Also tonight, Zaha Hadid converts the Manchester Art Gallery into a music hall where violinist Alina Ibragimova performs Bach.

2009-07-22

Tim Marlow presents from the Manchester International Festival, examining the collaboration between indie band Elbow and the Halle Orchestra. Vini Reilly pays tribute to "Madchester" music producer Tony Wilson, and Tom Dyckhoff assesses Zaha Hadid 's new chamber-music hall.

2009-07-29

Lawrence Pollard presents from the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall, which features an unusual mix of literature, music and summer entertainment.

2009-08-05

Lauren Laverne hosts this week's show from the courtyard of Somerset House in central London, where Pedro Almodovar's new film Broken Embraces is premiering. There she meets the director and the film's star, Penelope Cruz. Also tonight, Mark Kermode chats to director Sam Mendes and Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals a mosaic marvel at Westminster Abbey.

2009-08-13

Lauren Laverne presents from the Pleasance Courtyard - the heart of the biggest ever Edinburgh festival. Lauren looks at the best of the first week of the Fringe, including The Hotel, a transformed building in the city centre which offers a different theatrical, comic or musical experience in every room (directed by comedian Mark Watson), and Internal at The Traverse Theatre, which explores the worlds of speed dating and group therapy, and makes the audience take part in both.

2009-08-19

Lauren Laverne presents from the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh and takes a look at the pick of the Edinburgh Fringe and International Festival. Lauren meets journalist and author Lynn Barber and talks to her about her autobiography An Education, which includes a description of her early relationship with a much older man as well as tales from her career as one of the country's most formidable interviewers.

2009-08-26

Presented by Lauren Laverne from the Pleasance Courtyard, covering the pick of the shows and events in Edinburgh.