Rowan Atkinson on stage, Costa winner Hilary Mantel, and Samuel West - podcast episode cover

Rowan Atkinson on stage, Costa winner Hilary Mantel, and Samuel West

Jan 30, 201328 min
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Episode description

With Mark Lawson

Rowan Atkinson takes on his most serious role yet as the eponymous hero of Simon Gray's play Quartermaine's Terms. Atkinson and director Richard Eyre discuss the challenges of such a quiet and sedentary part, and why audiences who turn up expecting to see Mr Bean quickly adapt to the tone of the play.

Hilary Mantel was announced last night as the winner of the £30,000 Costa Book of the Year award for her novel Bring Up the Bodies. She discusses her golden year, having already won the Man Booker Prize for the same novel.

Samuel West discusses his role as King George VI in Roger Michell's film Hyde Park on Hudson. Also starring Bill Murray as Franklin D Roosevelt, the film focuses on the weekend in 1939 when the King and Queen visited Roosevelt in an attempt to persuade America about the threat of World War II.

Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, reveals his plans for the Theatre's 50th birthday celebrations, and hints at when he will end his tenure, which began in 2003.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

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