Artists at Work

Prix Goncourt-winning writer Leïla Slimani this year completed a trilogy of novels; an era-spanning epic family saga set in Morocco, which concludes with the semi-autobiographical I'll Take The Fire. Never one to stay in her comfort zone and compelled to write, she has now embarked on her very first play. She discusses the challenges of adapting Leo Tolstoy’s moralising final novel Resurrection for stage, and the surprising connections with her previous, diverse, body of work. Ahead of the play's world premiere in Lorient next week, theatre director Simon Delétang also joins from his rehearsals with Comédie-Française to discuss collaborating with Slimani on the project.

Nikki Bedi speaks to visionary Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn about his latest movie, Her Private Hell, and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Zing Tsjeng:
Plus, we hear from Oscar-winning French actor Juliette Binoche on her morally complex new film, Queen at Sea
British author Candice Carty-Williams on bringing back her much-loved character, Queenie for her new novel
American actor Bill Pullman on playing groovy jazz legend Bill Evans’ father in a new biopice
And man of the moment, Welsh actor Matthew Rhys on Widow’s Bay and The Beast in Me, which have just earned him a record-breaking scoop at the Emmy Awards

An edition of In The Studio on the subject that became the dominant story across the world in the summer of 2026. In December 2024, the Scottish poet Leonie Charlton’s house burned to the ground. From that moment, Leonie was obsessed with fire. She saw it everywhere, writing about and mulling over the acute experience of watching everything she and her family had ever owned go up in flames. In early summer this year, Leonie set off through the ruggedly wild and beautiful landscape of the West Coast of Scotland to write a new poem about fire for her forthcoming collection Deerlands. But, within days, the thousands of wildfires across the world began to take hold, reaching into Scotland too. This is a programme about a poet responding to a personal calamity just at the moment it becomes a global calamity. Presented by Antonia Quirke.

In the south of England, Hastings' traditional Jack in the Green takes place every early May Day weekend and sees a seven foot-tall conical tower of leaves - the Jack - being processed through the old fishing quarters of the town before being led up to a steep hill overlooking the sea where it is 'slain' to release the spirit of summer as the gathered, fervent, crowds take home leaves from him as symbols of luck and fertility. Neil McCarthy goes behind the scenes of one of the biggest celebrations of May Day in the United Kingdom.

The Bayeux Tapestry has English history stitched into its fabric, depicting the last time the country was invaded, by William the Conqueror in 1066. France has been its home since then. But now thanks to high-level negotiations involving President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles III, it will be on display at the British Museum until next summer. Ten colours of woollen thread were used create battlefields and sea voyages on the artwork, as well as scenes of everyday life in the 11th century. Loaded into a specially-built case designed to withstand vibrations, it was transported on its own train under the English Channel – along with a police escort. They even had two practice runs without the tapestry to make sure things ran smoothly. In this episode of In the Studio, where we follow artists as they work, Julian May tells the story of the tapestry’s safe return to England and the preparation for what promises to be a blockbuster exhibition. A million people are expected to see the tapestry and it still inspires memes that show French and English football players in the World Cup wearing chain mail. In the dimly-lit gallery Julian watches while the condition of the Tapestry is checked, as it lies flat in its temperature-controlled case. He witnesses how a millennium after a small group of expert needlewomen embroidered the work of art, a small group of skilled curators – all women too – are nurturing their work: a sisterhood stretching over 70 metres of linen cloth – and a thousand years.