John Cleese, A first for Jay Z, Electricity: The spark of life
Monty Python's John Cleese on the attraction of farce, the significance of Jay Z's induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and artist John Gerrard on electricity as inspiration.
Monty Python legend John Cleese has adapted George Feydeau's 1892 French comedy BANG BANG for a brand-new staging at Colchester's Mercury Theatre. He talks about his enthusiasm for farce.
Jay Z is to become the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Jacqueline Springer discusses the significance and why it's taken four decades for rap to be recognised in this way.
Authors Hannah Kent and Kate Summerscale discuss the process of using real court cases as inspiration for their books. Hannah's novel, The Good People, is based on a mysterious case of a 'fairy doctress' in 1820s Ireland and Kate tells us about The Wicked Boy which she based on a grisly murder in Victorian England.
From Galvani and twitching frogs' legs to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; from Sci-fi to Bovril; electricity has inspired inventors, scientists and artists alike. As a new exhibition Electricity: The spark of life opens at the Wellcome Collection in London, curator Ruth Garde and Irish artist John Gerrard show us round.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Angie Nehring.
Last on
Chapters
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John Cleese
Duration: 08:26
A first for Jay Z
Duration: 04:16
Court narratives
Duration: 08:35
Electricity: The spark of life
Duration: 06:32
John Cleese's Bang Bang
![John Cleese's Bang Bang]()
Feydeau's Bang Bang, adapted by John Cleese is at the , Colchester from 24 February - 11 March 2017.
Images:
Main image above: John Cleese, credit: Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images
Image to the left: Caroline Langrishe in a Bang Bang rehearsal, credit: Robert Day
A first for Jay Z
![A first for Jay Z]()
Image: Jay ZCourt case narratives
![Court case narratives]()
book The Wicked Boy is听out in paperback on 09 March 2017.
second book The Good People is available now.
Images: Hannah Kent (Left) and Kate Summerscale
Images credits: Lauren Bamford (Left) and Eamonn McCabe
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Electricity: The spark of life
![Electricity: The spark of life]()
is at the Wellcome Collection, London from 23 February - 25 June 2017.
It can be seen听at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester later in 2017.
Image: 鈥楯ohn Gerrard, X. laevis (Spacelab) 2017.
Credit: John Gerrard, Thomas Dane Gallery, London/Simon Preston Gallery, New York
Credits
Role Contributor Presenter Kirsty Lang Interviewed Guest John Cleese Interviewed Guest Jacqueline Springer Interviewed Guest Hannah Kent Interviewed Guest Kate Summerscale Interviewed Guest Ruth Garde Interviewed Guest John Gerrard Producer Angie Nehring Broadcast
- Thu 23 Feb 2017 19:15主播大秀 Radio 4
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