Front Row - 07/05/2009

Arts news and reviews with Kirsty Lang. Strictly Come Dancing judge and dance choreographer Arlene Phillips reviews the film documentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit, which follows four children competing in Europe's biggest songwriting contest for kids, The Junior Eurovision. Kirsty Lang travels to the coast to meet the Brighton Festival's Guest Artistic Director Anish Kapoor and follow his sculpture trail around the town. She heads for the pier to learn about an unusual piece of theatre that takes place as a promenade performance, with the actors in Joe Orton's The Empingham Camp mingling with members of the public. Michael Jackson's former publicist is starting proceedings to sue him for $44 million; Britain's first swine flu sufferers are taking on the services of publicist Max Clifford. Kirsty talks to former editor of Heat Magazine Mark Frith about the growing power of the publicist. Gregory Burke's Black Watch, based on interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq, is the most successful Scottish play of recent times. In March 2009, its London production won four Olivier awards. Burke's new play, Hoors, is a black comedy about a group of twenty-somethings waking up to the realities of recession. Crime writer Denise Mina reviews the opening at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. A group of children will be presenting their remixed versions of well-known classical music pieces at Radio 1's Big Weekend festival in Swindon. The event will be one of the episodes of Clash - a forthcoming CBBC series which is the latest attempt to introduce a younger audience to classical music. For Front Row Geoff Bird explains why making such introductions can be a mixed pleasure.