Front Row - 16/06/2009

Arts news and reviews. Nina Bawden's novel, Carrie's War, was based on her own experiences of being evacuated to a Welsh mining village during WWII. Now, as a stage production of Carrie's War starring Prunella Scales opens in London's West End, Nina Bawden shares her memories and explains how evacuation politicised her forever. The Take is the latest big-budget Sky 1 TV drama, an adaptation of a novel by bestselling author Martina Cole. Set in the criminal underworld of London's East End, The Take follows the fortunes of the Jackson family across a decade that takes in the height of Thatcherism through to the birth of New Labour. Crime novelist Dreda Say Mitchell reviews the drama. Mark Lawson reports from The Wedgwood Museum near Stoke-on-Trent, one of four shortlisted contenders for the 2009 Art Fund Prize. Director Gaye Blake Roberts explains the long struggle to re-house the collection and archives of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, and local MP Mark Fisher discusses the importance of the museum to Stoke's history. The premiere is taking place of a new piece by composer Michael Berkeley, inspired by the sounds of humpback whales. As Berkeley started composing the piece, his family friend Gabriel Bailey died, at the age of 21; shortly after that, the conductor Richard Hickox, a long time friend and collaborator of Berkeley, also died. The composition is dedicated to the memory of both men. Michael Berkeley talks to Mark about the sad chain of events which led to this piece.