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Howard Barker, Welcome to India, attracting young opera audiences

Mark Lawson meet the uncompromising playwright Howard Barker, plus how British TV has covered life in India, and the English National Opera's plans to recruit younger audiences.

With Mark Lawson.

Welcome to India is a new 大象传媒 series which aims to lift the lid on the reality of life for India's 1.2 billion residents. The poet Daljit Nagra reviews the programme, and also considers previous Western documentaries about the country.

The playwright Howard Barker - who coined the term 'Theatre of Catastrophe' - shares his uncompromising views on collaboration, accessibility, and art as an ordeal. And as his play Scenes from an Execution receives a new production at the National Theatre, he offers a theory as to why his works have never been staged there before.

For younger audiences, opera can seem an unwelcoming art-form, and its reputation for high ticket prices can also make it seem unattractive. As the English National Opera launch a scheme designed to encourage young people to try opera, artistic director John Berry explains how Damon Albarn and Terry Gilliam are part of the plan to bring in new audiences.

In the week that Channel 4 gathers a whole host of its presenting talent under one roof for its week-long Hotel GB series - including Gok Wan, Mary Portas, Gordon Ramsay and Katie Piper - David Quantick considers such celebrity supergroups, and whether they can ever be more than (or even as much as) a sum of their parts.

Producer Ellie Bury.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Welcome to India

    • Welcome to India

      Daljit Nagra looks at how British TV has covered life in India

      Duration: 08:39

  • Undress for Opera

    • Undress for Opera

      John Berry from the ENO on encouraging younger visitors to opera.

      Duration: 03:48

  • Howard Barker

    • Howard Barker

      Playwright Howard Barker discusses his National Theatre debut

      Duration: 11:14

  • Celebrity Supergroups

    • Celebrity Supergroups

      David Quantick considers celebrity supergroups

      Duration: 04:11

Broadcast

  • Wed 3 Oct 2012 19:15

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