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Cornelia Parker discusses her new exhibition at the re-developed Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. The show features some of the works which brought Parker to public attention including her blown-apart shed - Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View - and some new commissions such as Blakean Abstract, a collaboration with Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Professor Kostya Novoselov.

As part of Sheffield Theatres' Sarah Kane season, marking the 20th anniversary of the premiere of her play Blasted, the actor and director Richard Wilson directs a new production of this controversial work. The season has been programmed by Sheffield Theatres' artistic director Daniel Evans. Both talk to John Wilson about the late Sarah Kane's work, and her legacy as a playwright.

Barrie Rutter, founder and artistic director of Northern Broadsides, first played the role of King Lear in 1999 for a Northern Broadsides production. 16 years later he's playing Lear for the second time in his career. Barrie Rutter talks to John Wilson about taking on the leading role in the play that many feel is Shakespeare's greatest tragedy.

Maria Balshaw, Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, on how the building's £15m redevelopment has stayed true to the Victorian instincts of its founders but provided a bridge to the needs of its 21st century visitors.