Author:Lenny Henry,Lenny Henry
A collection of BBC radio shows presented by comedian and actor Lenny Henry.
Stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, TV presenter: Lenny Henry is a multi-talented Renaissance man with a wide range of interests. But there are a few things (and people) he just doesn't get, despite their iconic status - and in What's So Great About...?, he explores them to find out what makes them so appealing. He questions the mystique surrounding Method Acting; discusses the benefits of Life Coaches with Phill Jupitus; hears about the joy of Maths from Carol Vorderman and asks Simon McBurney and Fiona Shaw to persuade him of the genius of Samuel Beckett. He also investigates the art of Jackson Pollock, meets stars from the world of Snooker to discover the lure of the cue and chats about Chaucer with Terry Jones.
Lenny was once sceptical about Shakespeare too, but he's now a passionate convert. In Lenny Henry Plays Othello, we follow him as he embarks on his first straight stage role and first Shakespearean role, playing one of theatre's most tragic characters. From voice coaching to first night nerves, we eavesdrop on his journey from comedian to tragedian.
In August Shines, inspired by his theatrical success in August Wilson's Fences, Lenny travels to Pittsburgh to tell the story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American playwright. The city was also home to the bad-boy pop artist whose work Lenny explores in Andy Warhol: Time Regained. Visiting the Warhol Museum, he learns about the 'Time Capsules' - an artwork consisting of 300,000 eclectic objects assembled across the last 13 years of Warhol's life - and joins the audience for the unboxing of the mysterious Capsule 528...
Finally, in the compelling 10-part series Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen, Lenny traces the long, painful road that black Britons have travelled on stage and screen, from the overt racial discrimination of the 19th Century, via the veiled slurs that persisted throughout the 20th, to today's more equal society. Talking to playwrights such as Kwame Kwei-Armah, and actors and directors including Carmen Munroe, Yvonne Brewster and Steve McQueen, he tells the story of black drama and the influential artists who have shaped it over the past century, and looks to the future to examine the prospects for young black British talent.
Published by Penguin Random House Ltd
Licensed by BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
MCPS
Presented by Lenny Henry
What's So Great About...?
Produced by Simon Elmes
With Ellen Burstyn, James Lipton, Phill Jupitus, Carol Vorderman, Celia Hoyles, Professor Brian Butterworth, Simon McBurney, Fiona Shaw, John Calder, James Knowlson, Brian Sewell, Julian Joseph, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Dennis Taylor, John Virgo, John Parrott, Terry Griffiths, Ardis Butterfield, Mike Poulton, Terry Jones
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 July 2008-11 June 2011
Lenny Henry Plays Othello
Produced by Simon Elmes
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 February 2009
August Shines
Produced by Simon Elmes
With Chris Rawson, Professor Larry Glasco, Kim Ellis, Jeff Folino, Sala Udin, Nelson Harrison
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 October 2014
Andy Warhol: Time Regained
Produced by Simon Elmes
With Ben Harrison, Rick Armstrong, Tim Marlow, Erin Byrne, Benjamin Liu, Donald Warhola
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 September 2014
Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen
Presented by Lenny Henry
Produced by Simon Elmes
Series Consultant: Dr Michael Pearce
Featuring: Bola Agbaje, Yvonne Brewster, Michael Buffong, Lolita Chakrabarti, Isaac Julien, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mustapha Matura, Steve McQueen, Carmen Munroe, Horace Ové, Winsome Pinnock, Paulette Randall, Roy Williams
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9-20 November 2015
Fluent and readable... [Levitin] rightly insists that we are all better equipped to perform and appreciate music than we think... We are, he says, hard-wired for music.
—— ObserverConsistently interesting... Music, Levitin argues, is not a decadent modern diversion but something of fundamental importance to the history of human development
—— Literary ReviewEndlessly stimulating
—— Oliver SacksMusic seems to have an almost willful, evasive quality, defying simple explanation, so that the more we find out, the more there is to know... Daniel Levitin's book is an eloquent and poetic exploration of this paradox
—— StingYou'll never hear music in the same way again
—— Classic FM magazineUllmann navigates the dangerous and fissile territory... with great power. I am in awe
—— Edmund de WaalEffortlessly lucid, full of grace and restraint
—— Sunday TimesA powerful and unsettling hybrid of memoir, fiction and meditation ... The work of a lifetime
—— GuardianBeautiful. A book to treasure which I'll keep on returning to.
—— Sue Stuart-Smith, author of THE WELL GARDENED MINDThis is nature writing at its most romantic
—— GeographicThis captivating miscellany, richly illustrated with paintings, photographs, maps and line drawings, is a scintillating celebration of the nightingale by a Mercury Prize-nominated folk musician, environmental activist and conservationist.
—— Caroline Sanderson , Bookseller, Editor's ChoiceA marvellous miscellany of the nightingale, the sweet-singing bird which is now, alas, on of the "endlings" - the last of a species facing extinction
—— IndependentLee's book is not just a lyrically crafted biography, but a moving rebellion against political inaction and lost connections. It is a bell to toll you out into a forest of re-enchantment.
—— New StatesmanA really beautiful book . . . Lovely.
—— Mark RadcliffeA vivid and often moving account of a bird that has inspired everyone from the ancients to John Keats and Oliver Messiaen
—— HeraldHeaven to hold in the hand, mind and heart.
—— Dr Amy-Jane BeerLyrical, sweet and loving, this account of one bird's link to human culture and history through the evocative presence of its voice was impossible to put down.
—— Bernie Krause, founder of Wild SanctuaryLee delves into the intricacies of the song, habitat and migration of this mysterious, enchanting creature in a tale that's as lyrical as the bird itself
—— Radio TimesA composer who can write as eloquently as he sings. A rare bird, indeed!
—— Leah BorromeoWith our new-found love of wildlife, this book promises to lift the spirits of not just bird enthusiasts, but nature lovers, too.
—— People's FriendThe exuberance of folk-singer Sam Lee's The Nightingale is irresistible
—— Bird WatchingA master storyteller
—— Guardian praise for Sam Lee's Singing with Nightingales