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Salman Rushdie, playwright Katori Hall, computer games tax avoidance

Salman Rushdie answers listeners’ questions about his Booker prize shortlisted novel Quichotte, a satire on politics, the opioid crisis and a study of family relationships.

The latest Front Row Booker Prize Book Group features Salman Rushdie answering listeners’ questions about his shortlisted novel Quichotte, a satire on current politics, the opioid crisis and the influence of popular culture that’s also been praised for its touching study of family relationships.

Playwright Katori Hall, whose previous plays include Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and The Mountaintop, on a new production of her 2010 play Our Lady of Kibeho at Theatre Royal Stratford East. In 1981 at Kibeho College in Rwanda, a young girl claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary who warned her of the unimaginable: Rwanda becoming hell on Earth. She was ignored by her friends and scolded by her school but then another student saw the vision, and another, and the impossible appeared to be true. Hailed as one of 'the 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century' (The Guardian) and 'the most important play of the year' (The Wall Street Journal, 2014), this vibrantly theatrical meditation on faith, doubt and miracles is inspired by the extraordinary events in Rwanda that captured the world’s attention.

Last year computer games accounted for more than half of the UK’s entertainment market for the first time, with sales approaching £4 billion, more than music and films combined. However a recent investigation has shown that despite massive growth, several multinational companies have been avoiding millions of pounds in UK corporation tax through an initiative intended to support the sector in the UK, with some critics fearing that it is being exploited. Gaming journalist Jordan Erica Webber discusses this and other gaming industry news.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May

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28 minutes

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie

by Salman Rushdie is out now in hardback, as anÌýeBook and as an Audio Download.

Images: Main image above: , credit: Rachel Elizabeth Griffith

Images to the left: Salman Rushdie, credit: Beowulf Sheehan

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Playwright Katori Hall

Playwright Katori Hall

by is at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until 02 November 2019.

Image: Pepter Lunkuse as Marie Claire and Michelle Assante as Sister Evangelique in Our Lady of Kibeho.

Image credit: Manuel Harlan

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  • Wed 9 Oct 2019 19:15

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