02/11/2011

This week Libby Purves is joined by Ceri Levy, Rita Tushingham, Gillian Lynne and Gisli Örn Gardarsson. Ceri Levy is a film-maker, birdwatcher and co-curator of a new exhibition, 'Ghosts of Gone Birds' which features eighty artists, including Sir Peter Blake, Ralph Steadman and Margaret Atwood, each of whom has depicted an extinct or endangered species of bird. Ghosts of Gone Birds is at the Rochelle School, London E2. Rita Tushingham's breakthrough movie 'Taste of Honey' is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a screening in Liverpool, her hometown, as part of this year's 'Homotopia Festival'. Rita won a Bafta and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Jo, a young girl with a difficult mother, leaving home, living with a gay flatmate and getting pregnant. Gillian Lynne is the former ballerina, theatre director and renowned choreographer, best known for her iconic choreography of shows including 'Cats' and 'Phantom of the Opera'. Her memoir, 'A Dancer in Wartime - one girl's journey from the Blitz to Sadler's Wells' is published by Chatto & Windus. Gisli Örn Gardarsson is an Icelandic actor and director, who originally trained as a gymnast. His theatre company Vesturport is best known for its gymnastic productions, circus skills and leftfield set designs which he is about to bring to the RSC at Stratford-upon-Avon in David Farr's new version on the much loved myth of Robin Hood. 'The Heart of Robin Hood' is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford over Christmas. Producer: Chris Paling.