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Radio 4 Collections: Theatre Collection

This collection contains major interviews broadcast on Radio 4 in recent years.
It excludes reviews of particular productions.

Playwrights

Edward Albee - Front Row
Mark Lawson interviews the 78-year-old American dramatist Edward Albee.
Alan Ayckbourn - Front Row
In a special edition of Front Row, Sir Alan Ayckbourn explains the visual appeal of writing for theatre.
Samuel Beckett - Great Lives
Business guru Sir Gerry Robinson chooses another Irishman, playwright Samuel Beckett.
Alan Bennett - Front Row
In conversation with Mark Lawson, Alan Bennett discusses his play The Habit of Art, early success and brushes with the British press.
Alan Bennett - Front Row
In a special edition of Front Row with Mark Lawson, Alan Bennett reflects on his long career as a television playwright.
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti - Front Row
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti explains why the controversy around her play Behzti, inspired her to write another play, Behud.
Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg - Front Row
Mark Lawson talks to Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, the team behind musicals Les Miserables and Miss Saigon.
Bertolt Brecht - Great Lives
Playwright John Godber discusses the life of German writer Bertolt Brecht.
Howard Brenton - Desert Island Discs
Playwright Howard Brenton chooses his desert island discs.
Howard Brenton - Front Row
Playwright Howard Brenton, author of The Romans in Britain, Pravda (with David Hare) and Paul, talks about three new projects.
Peter Brook - Start the Week
The director Peter Brook talks about his new work 11 and 12, which explores prejudice and colonial interference.
Moira Buffini - Women's Hour
Playwright Moira Buffini talks about her play Welcome to Thebes.
Anton Chekhov - Great Lives
Author William Boyd champions playwright Anton Chekhov's claim to greatness.
David Edgar - Front Row
David Edgar the founder of Britain's first graduate playwriting course, talks about his book How Plays Work.
Michael Frayn - Front Row
Playwright and novelist Michael Frayn talks to Mark Lawson about his childhood and his career.
Lucy Gannon - Desert Island Discs
Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright and television screenwriter Lucy Gannon.
David Hare - Start the Week
The playwright talks about his last forty years as a dramatist and explains why British theatre is unique and flourishing.
David Hare - Front Row
In a programme recorded before an audience in Sheffield, Mark Lawson interviews dramatist Sir David Hare.
Ronald Harwood - Desert Island Discs
Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright and screenwriter Ronald Harwood.
Kwame Kwei-Armah - Start the Week
Kwame Kwei-Armah's latest play, Seize the Day, explores the idea of a black man running for mayor of London.
Tracy Letts - Front Row
Pulitzer prize winner Tracy Letts talks about how Oklahoma's history influenced the writing of his play August: Osage County.
Christopher Marlowe - In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg examines the life of glittering Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe.
Frank McGuinness - Front Row
Kirsty Lang talks to playwright Frank McGuinness, whose latest play was inspired by Greta Garbo's visit to Ireland in 1967.
Bruce Norris - Front Row
American playwright Bruce Norris discusses his new satirical comedy Clybourne Park.
Lynn Nottage - Front Row
Lynn Nottage discusses Ruined, her Pulitzer prize-winning play about women who work in a brothel in war-torn Congo.
Harold Pinter - Front Row
A special edition of Front Row in tribute to the Nobel prizewinning playwright Harold Pinter.
Lucy Prebble - Front Row
Playwright Lucy Prebble explains how she went about translating a complex story of financial corruption into drama for her play Enron.
JB Priestley - Great Lives
Barry Cryer nods to his Yorkshire roots in choosing JB Priestley, the Bradford born author of An Inspector Calls.
Nina Raine - Start the Week
The playwright Nina Raine talks about her new play Tiger Country, set in a busy London hospital.
Mark Ravenhill - Start the Week
Mark Ravenhill talks about his latest play which reflects on the reunification of Berlin through the lives of separated twins.
Shakespeare and Literary Criticism - In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enduring popular and academic appeal of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's Life - In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider the enigma of the life of William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's Work - In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg examines what it is about Shakespeare's work that makes it universal.
Who Wrote Shakespeare? - Front Row
James Shapiro looks at the various conspiracy theories surrounding the identity of the playwright.
George Bernard Shaw - Great Lives
Comedian and broadcaster Dr Phil Hammond nominates George Bernard Shaw for greatness.
Wallace Shawn - Start the Week
Wallace Shawn talks about his play The Fever, in which an American traveller becomes ill in an impoverished foreign country.
Stephen Sondheim - Desert Island Discs
Sue Lawley's castaway is the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
Stephen Sondheim - Front Row
Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim reflects on his career, in a programme recorded at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Sondheim's Women - Woman's Hour
Judi Herman speaks to musical theatre experts to discuss the influences behind some of Stephen Sondheim's characters.
Tom Stoppard - Front Row
In a special programme, Mark Lawson profiles the dramatist Tom Stoppard.
Tom Stoppard - Start the Week
Tom Stoppard talks about his play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour which questions our ideas of fiction and reality.
David Storey - Front Row
Playwright David Storey looks back on some of the defining moments of his varied career.
Oscar Wilde - In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Oscar Wilde, his literary legacy and the Aesthetes.
Tennessee Williams - Great Lives
Stand-up comedian Rich Hall discusses the life of playwright Tennessee Williams.
Young British Playwrights - Front Row
Kirsty Lang talks to six of Britain's most promising young playwrights: Lucy Prebble, Polly Stenham, Chloe Moss, Lucy Kirkwood, Ella Hickson and Alia Bano.