Bradford Postcard; Rons Gone Wrong; Re-directing a play

Published: Oct. 21, 2021, 7 a.m.

Producer-director Sarah Smith made her animation debut with the festive favourite, Arthur Christmas. Ten years on she\u2019s back with Ron\u2019s Gone Wrong, a warm-hearted romp with a robot and a critique of social media\u2019s impact on young minds.

For this week\u2019s audio postcard, presenter and local boy Nick Ahad is in Bradford. He dons his hard hat to check out what\u2019s happening at the famous art deco building, known as the Bradford Odeon, as it\u2019s turned into a new cultural centre for live music. He also visits Kala Sangam, an intercultural arts centre established by two consultant doctors that provides a place for locals to try new arts and crafts and which supports local artists and arts organisations. And he meets one of those emerging local artists, playwright and actor Kamal Kaan.

And how can theatre respond to a seismic event like the coronavirus pandemic, or the murder of George Floyd? Erica Whyman, Acting Artistic Director of The RSC and Roy Alexander Weise, joint Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, discuss the experience of returning to their respective productions of The Winter\u2019s Tale and The Mountaintop with fresh eyes and renewed urgency.

Presenter: Nick Ahad\nProducer: Ekene Akalawu

Photo: Nick Ahad at The Bradford Odeon building site \nPhoto credit: Mark Nicholson