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Juliet Stevenson; The Armstrong Lie

Arts news, including Juliet Stevenson in Beckett's Happy Days, documentary The Armstrong Lie reviewed, American writer Willy Vlautin, and poets in residence in zoos.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is the subject of Oscar-winning documentary-maker Alex Gibney's latest film, The Armstrong Lie. In 2009 the film-maker, whose previous documentaries include Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, set out to make a film about Armstrong's comeback year after a four-year retirement from the sport, but found himself with a bigger story in the wake of his doping confession on Oprah. Michael Carlson reviews.

Juliet Stevenson stars as Winnie in Samuel Beckett's play of resilience and self-reliance, Happy Days, at the Young Vic. Juliet tells Kirsty about her reservations in playing this major role, seen by some as the female Hamlet, and about the challenges of acting when submerged from the neck up.

In American writer Willy Vlautin's new novel The Free, a young member of the National Guard is returned home after suffering serious brain injury as a result of a roadside bomb in Iraq. The Free charts his slow recovery and the struggles he faces in a country which seems not to care. Vlautin discusses his novel and the dispossessed who feature so much in his work and his songs.

The poet Ahren Warner, who recently took up his position as poet-in-residence at London Zoo, joins Gillian Clarke - who had a similar role at the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge - to discuss the experience of writing from nature, and the inspiration it can bring.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • The Armstrong Lie

    Duration: 05:21

  • Juliet Stevenson

    Duration: 07:16

  • Willy Vlautin

    Duration: 07:55

  • Writing from Nature

    Duration: 07:04

Juliet Stevenson

Juliet Stevenson plays Winnie in at the Young Vic Theatre in London until 8 March 2014.

The Armstrong Lie

is in UK cinemas across the country from this Friday 31 January, certificate 15.

Willy Vlautin

Willy Vlautin
The Free by is out this Thursday 30 January in paperback and ebook published by聽Faber & Faber.聽

Writing from Nature

Poet recently took up a position as poet-in-residence at London Zoo, while poet had a similar role at the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge.聽

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Interviewed Guest Juliet Stevenson
Interviewed Guest Mike Carlson
Interviewed Guest Willy Vlautin
Interviewed Guest Ahren Warner
Interviewed Guest Gillian Clarke
Producer Dymphna Flynn

Broadcast

  • Tue 28 Jan 2014 19:15

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