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Andrew O'Hagan, The Singapore Grip, Theatre at the point of no return

Andrew O'Hagan on his new novel Mayflies. A review of ITV's new drama The Singapore Grip. And we discuss Andrew Lloyd Webber's claim today that the arts "at the point of no return"

Andrew Lloyd Webber told MPs today that the arts are at the "point of no return". Also speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee was Rebecca Kane Burton, chief exec of LW Theatres, who joins us to discuss the crisis, and Lucy Noble, chief exec of the Royal Albert Hall. Will performing venues be saved by the government's recently announced Operation Sleeping Beauty?

Andrew O鈥橦agan鈥檚 latest novel, Mayflies, is the story of two young friends in a small Scottish town who spend the summer of 1986 escaping from the world of their fathers and into the freedom of a magical weekend in Manchester. Thirty years after that, one calls the other with devastating news. O鈥橦agan talks about how the novel was inspired by the joy and sadness of a real-life friendship.

A Christopher Hampton adaptation of J G Farrell鈥檚 1978 novel The Singapore Grip starts on Sunday on ITV, starring David Morrissey, Jane Horrocks, Charles Dance and Luke Treadaway. Set in the Second World War it tells of the fortunes of a family of rich rubber planters in the months before and during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Actor and writer Daniel York Loh reviews.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Timothy Prosser
Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris

Available now

29 minutes

Andrew O'Hagan

Andrew O'Hagan's new book Mayflies听is out now

Main image: Andrew O'Hagan

The Singapore Grip

The Singapore Grip
Cast of The Singapore Grip
Photo credit: ITV

The Singapore Grip
is on ITV
at 9 pm on Sun 13 Sept

Broadcast

  • Tue 8 Sep 2020 19:15

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