Claire Armitstead

In the acclaimed new film about boys written off by the system, Murphy drew on his own past as a troublesome schoolboy while Little Simz played a teacher – and wrote a 90s-style banger of a song

Outspoken poet and dramatist admired for his stage adaptations, including The Mysteries

At just 20, the poet is one of the most vivid witnesses to the conflict. She talks about dreams of Oxford, the deaths of friends and how tragedy has shaped the person she has become

When the great artist saw a shocking play by Martin McDonagh about the torture of children, she asked him for more dark stories. As the vivid, extraordinary works they triggered go on show, the playwright looks back

A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter

Kenneth Branagh's return to the RSC as Prospero, directed by the great Richard Eyre, might sound like a heritage piece – but this is a production that fizzes with invention, illusion and relevance, writes Claire Armitstead

Enraged at how the victims of Jeffrey Epstein are being forgotten, more than 80 female and non-binary writers united – to create an epic drama fusing art, activism and anger. How will it work?