Question and answer interviews

theartsdesk Q&A: actor and comedian Andi Osho on her debut novel 'Asking For A Friend'

THEARTSDESK Q&A: ANDI OSHO Actor and comedian on her debut novel 'Asking for a Friend'

The multi-tasking artist talks social media, 'Line of Duty', and learning how to not act

In her 15-year career, Plaistow-born Andi Osho has worked in theatre, TV and stand-up, and is the only contestant to have won Celebrity Mastermind twice. Highlights of her astonishingly varied CV include appearances in Casualty, Waking the Dead, EastEnders and Death in Paradise, and she played therapist Carrie in Michaela Coel’s acclaimed I May Destroy You.

theartsdesk Q&A: Amina Cain on her first novel and her eternal fascination with suggestion

Q&A: AMINA CAIN On her first novel and her eternal fascination with suggestion

The American writer discusses 'Indelicacy' and characters who are flawed and unfixed

Amina Cain is a writer of near-naked spaces and roomy characters. Her debut collection of short fiction, I Go To Some Hollow (Les Figues, 2009), located itself in the potential strangeness of everyday thoughts and experience.

theartsdesk Q&A: Isabella Pappas on how 'Finding Alice' is a blueprint for bereavement

THEARTSDESK Q&A WITH ISABELLA PAPPAS: Youngest star of the ITV drama 'Finding Alice' discusses grief, teenage girls, and getting into character

Youngest star of the ITV drama discusses grief, teenage girls, and getting into character

Isabella Pappas was nominated for an Olivier Award seven years ago – before she’d even started secondary school. The 18-year-old now stars in ITV’s new comedy-drama about grief, Finding Alice, opposite Keeley Hawes, Joanna Lumley, and Nigel Havers.

theartsdesk Q&A: actor Polly Walker on 'Bridgerton' and the new breed of period drama

Q&A: ACTOR POLLY WALKER On 'Bridgerton' and the new breed of period drama

Talking wigs, women, and her (brief) experience of coronavirus

Polly Walker's character in Netflix's sumptuous new Regency romance, Bridgerton, could've easily been little more than a villainous Mrs Bennet. We meet Lady Featherington as she's forcing one of her daughters into a tiny corset, muttering about how she could fit her waist "into the size of an orange and a half" when she was the same age.

10 Questions for Musician and Broadcaster Cerys Matthews

10 QUESTIONS FOR CERYS MATTHEWS Thoughts on an album which places poets centre-stage

Thoughts on an album which places poets centre-stage

Cerys Matthews is a best-selling author, award winning DJ and multi-million selling musician, singer, reciter... and broadcaster, originally from Wales. Her wide-ranging Sunday morning radio show on BBC 6 Music has a large, loyal and appreciative audience. She also presents the Monday night Blues Show on BBC Radio 2.

theartsdesk Q&A: poet laureate Simon Armitage on landscapes, libraries, home and edgelands

THEARTSDESK Q&A: Poet laureate Simon Armitage on landscapes, libraries, home and edgelands

Interview with the Yorkshire-born poet ahead of his appearance on The South Bank Show

Simon Armitage is a poet at the top of his game: in his second year as poet laureate, he has given voice to the experiences of lockdown. In March, he released his collection Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems, a return to the childhood village in West Yorkshire that has served as his lifetime inspiration.

Filmmaker Frank Marshall: 'People don’t understand what geniuses The Bee Gees were'

Director of the new Bee Gees documentary discusses the brothers' legacy in music

Frank Marshall might not be the biggest household name, but his footprint on Hollywood is unrivalled. He has produced hits ranging from Indiana Jones and Back to the Future to Jason Bourne and Jurassic World. He also takes occasional forays into directing, such as the madcap Arachnophobia and cannibalistic rugby tale Alive.

10 Questions for Singer/Pianist Joe Stilgoe

10 QUESTIONS FOR JOE STILGOE The pianist / songwriter on his lockdown hit "Stilgoe in the Shed"

Joe Stilgoe learned 250 new songs for the 67 episodes of "Stilgoe in the Shed"

Singer/pianist/songwriter/entertainer Joe Stilgoe responded remarkably rapidly to the new circumstances of March 2020. Even before the first nationwide lockdown was declared, he had started doing a series of daily performances on YouTube: “Stilgoe In The Shed”.

theartsdesk Q&A: Mick Talbot of The Style Council

THEARTSDESK Q&A: MICK TALBOT The keyboard don discusses the ups and downs of life in The Style Council

The keyboard don discusses the very Eighties ups and downs of life in The Style Council

Following the break-up of The Jam in 1982, Mick Talbot (b 1958) was chosen by Paul Weller as his sparring partner in a new band, The Style Council. Talbot, a keyboard player from south London, had flourished amid the late-Seventies Mod revival, initially in the Merton Parkas, with his brother Danny, but also in The Chords, and even appearing on a couple of The Jam’s records.

Filmmaker Bassam Tariq: 'Great cinema doesn't need to be perfect - embrace the imperfections'

FILMMAKER BASSAM TARIQ 'Great cinema doesn't need to be perfect - embrace the imperfections'

Director of 'Mogul Mowgli' discusses taking risks, and the differences between the British- and American-Asian experience

After Bassam Tariq's feature debut These Birds Walk was released at SXSW 2013, things seemed to slow down. The documentary about a runaway boy in Pakistan garnered strong reviews, but soon Tariq was working in a New York butchers pondering his career. However, the film did catch the eye of someone: Hollywood star Riz Ahmed.