The Literary London podcast.: Recent Episodes
Nick Hennegan - Writer, Producer and Broadcaster
A collection of stories about writers, past and present, in London - and anecdotes of those who live and work in the Arts including episodes of writer and producer Nick Hennegan's weekly radio show, 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4FM, London's Arts Radio station.
Nick Hennegan closes this season with a look at the Edinburgh Fringe, International Book Festival and Camden Fringe. And features some music from his Edinburgh Fringe hit play 'Winston And David' It's at the Tabard Theatre in London W4 and is about the two famous politicians - and their women!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to actor Kevin McNally about his life and career. 'Pirates of The Carribbean', Birmingham, R.A.D.A. and his book, 'Sons Of Sol.'
See the video at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates Bloomsday... the annual celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses, with rare recordings of Joyce reading part of his work, his first-time publisher Sylvia Beach (founder of Shakespeare and Co Bookshop in Paris) and Brendan Behan singing! Also news of some upcoming writing competitions.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of American 'beat' poet Allen Ginsberg. With some of his most famous poems.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of Orson Wells with part one of 'War of The Worlds.'
"The War of the Worlds" was an episode of the radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air which was broadcast live at 8 pm on October 30, 1938 over the CBS Radio Network. The episode was directed and narrated by Orson Welles as an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds and is infamous for inciting a panic by convincing some members of the listening audience that a Martian invasion was actually taking place.
The first half of the program was delivered in a realistic "breaking news" format. Since the Mercury Theatre on the Air had few commercial interruptions, the first break came after fictional reporters had described a devastating alien invasion and the fall of New York City. This apparently caused some confusion and fear among its listeners, though the scale of the panic is disputed.
Welles apologized at a hastily called news conference the next morning, and no punitive action was taken. The broadcast and subsequent publicity brought the 23-year-old Welles to the attention of the general public and gave him the reputation of an innovative storyteller and "trickster"
Here is part one of the broadcast www.BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of William Wordsworth. We feature his poetry and some very modern artists influenced by him!
BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of writer Tennessee Williams - in his own words! Tennessee reads from his own plays and a short story.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Jack Kerouac's birthday takes Nick Hennegan back to 1950's America and a celebration of the Beat Poets.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan takes your requests for music and poetry on 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4fm. Includes beat poetry, music... and one of Nick's own songs!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick celebrates International Women's Day with music and poetry from Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Emily and Anne Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Carol Anne Duffey, Christina Rossetti and others.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the arrival of Spring with poetry and music.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates some of the greatest love songs and poems on BohemianBritian.com and Resonance 104.4fm.
On my radio show 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4fm, I chat to Professor Carl Chinn about Birmingham, his writings and the REAL truth about the Peaky Blinders gang. A new film is due soon from fellow Brummie Stephen Knight.
See www.BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan celebrates Literary birthdays in January. With Virgina Woolf, JRR Tolkien and Monty Python's Terry Jones' music and material.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan, a recent fan of Robert Burns since he wrote the Edinburgh (NOT London!) Literary Pub Crawl presents a celebration of Burns Night, the annual celebration of the Scottish poet.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Celebrating another New Year, Nick Hennegan plays your literary requests which include Beat Poets, Dylan Thomas and West End Musicals.
www.BohemianBritain.com
A personal message from Artistic Director Nick Hennegan.
"Thank you so much for your support - and for being on our newsletter list!
2025 was a frantic year - I had to move home (A BIT stressful!) although fortunately we still have our lovely Maverick broom cupboard ... sorry, office!
We created the first demo episodes of our audio drama. 'George Holmes and the Seven Dimensions' showcases a brilliantly talented young cast.
Then we reprised my award-winning play 'A Ghost of A Chance' with an equally brilliant cast at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick at Easter.
(The Tabard won London Pub Theatre of the Year for 2025! Well deserved. Clever Them!)
Thanks to Bob Paisley, and Central Standard Theatre, I went to the beautiful Kansas City, Missouri , USA (there's a difference between that one and Kansas City, Kansas, I now know... I think!)
I met some lovely creative people and saw some great theatre at the BlackBox Theatre where we created a new, multi-media, multi-city Literary Pub Crawl (coming to an online screen near you very soon!)
Then we were at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the summer.
We started Thursday evening 'London Literary Pub Crawls' around Soho and Fitzrovia.
And we ended the year raising seed funds for the first ever London People's Theatre Company.
The Brilliant Birmingham cast of our first People's Theatre Company. Henry V by William Shakespeare. Adapted and directed by Nick Hennegan. Original music by Robb Williams. For the sixth year in a row, the version of Charles Dickens'A Christmas Carol' I Adapted and Directed is once again selling out theatres in the UK. Performed and Produced by Olivier-Award Winner, Guy Masterson.
I started to take part in my first NotNanNoWriMo, where you write 50,000 words of a novel in a month. I got to 37,000 words, but I did start ten days late. Soooo...! Watch this space!
Phew!
So in 2026 - we are presenting the first ever Maverick People's Theatre Company production in London - 'Romeo and Juliet F.C.'
We are celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the play that started it all. 'Henry V - Lion of England' will have a UK and overseas tour in the autumn. And a number of on-line projects which I hope you might like.
We are once again running our Diploma in Creative Producing three evenings a week. It's online for anyone who wants to make their own Theatre.
Oh... and my messy little blog, BohemianBritain.com (The one you're reading now!) has been voted Number Two of the Top Ten Bohemian Blogs in the world! Get me!
I have another couple of mad ideas. Which might create a new female-focused musical. And also lead to a unique celebration of Birmingham AND London!
Maverick is a tiny not-for-profit charity started in 1994 on a Birmingham (Britain's Second City, by the way!) council estate housing project, so your support - just being here - is hugely appreciated.
Have a lovely and peaceful Christmas. And hopefully we will see you live (or virtually) soon!
Oh, here's the main website if you want to know more... www.MaverickTheatreCompany.com
Yo-Ho-Ho! See you next year ❤️"
Nick Hennegan. x
Artistic Director (and tea boy.)
The Maverick Theatre Company.
In the final 'Literary London' show of 2025, Nick Hennegan presents two Christmas classics! Part of his OWN version of A Christmas Carol, preformed by Olivier Award Winner Guy Masterson, and the Welsh Wizard Dylan Thomas, reading his own 'A Childs Christmas in Wales'
Happy Holidays!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Join Nick Hennegan who celebrates the annual Westminster Abbey wreath-laying ceremony for Welsh Poet Dylan Thomas. He includes 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' and music and poetry from Cerys Matthews.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents poetry and music from the War To End All Wars!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthdays this week of two of the greatest writers of the last century – Dylan Thomas and Sylvia Plath - in their own words!
www.BohemianBritain.com
And celebrate writers live every week in London with The London Literary Pub Crawl!
Poet Cahal Dallat talks to Nick Hennegan about a celebration of 150 years of a unique part of London. The area was built specifically to attract artists, writers, poets, painters, and creators.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to writer Sam Cullen about his latest book commemorating some of London’s greatest lost pubs.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan is in a pub in Wales, celebrating national poetry of TWO countries. With contributions from T. Lew Jones, Dylan Thomas and John Keats.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of one of the most famous writers of all time - Thomas Stearns Eliot. With contributions from Y.B Yeats... and Taylor Swift!
www.BohemianBritain.com
A new season of 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4fm starts - with the live video on www.BohemianBritain.com.
Nick Hennegan talks to Torin Douglas about the Chiswick Book Festival in West London, featuring workshops and events with Jeremy Vine, Jeremy Hunt, Reeta Chakrabarti, Jeffrey Holland, Gill Hornby, Lyse Doucet, Fee Man, Sam Cullen and others.
www.ChiswickBookFestival.net
Pre show. Pretty Literary Pub (Sort of!)
The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Bar, King Street, London W6 - before the crowds arrive. A great place to write. Sir Kenneth Branagh cut his acting teeth here and our own Nick Hennegan is a regular writer here too! 📕🍺
And this is not a sponsored post. Nick just really likes it here! https://lyric.co.uk/our-home/eat-and-drink/
Nick Hennegan goes inside the mind of English writer Aldous Huxley, who discusses a range of profound topics, including the literary contributions of D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce and Marcel Proust. Huxley explores the intricate dynamics of relationships, delving into the complexities of human connections and their impact on individual lives.
His thoughts span various elements of life, emphasizing the interplay between personal experiences and broader societal themes. Huxley reflects on the significance of literature as a mirror to the human condition, drawing parallels between the struggles of his contemporaries and his own existential musings.
Moreover, he examines the theme of human desire—how it informs our aspirations and often leads to disillusionment. This dialogue between Huxley and the existential questions posed by his literary peers sheds light on the enduring quest for meaning in a rapidly evolving world.
Through Huxley's lens, we are invited to consider the depths of creativity, the spiral of thought that connects writers across generations, and the timelessness of the human experience, all while navigating adult themes that challenge societal norms and philosophical boundaries.
Just back from the USA, Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of Ernest Hemingway, one its greatest writers, with some rarely heard recordings.
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of George Orwell and plays some requests - including one of his own songs!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan introduces a rare conversation with Irish writer and critic Ulick O'Connor on the worldwide influence of W.B. Yeats, live from Dublin's Mill Theatre
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Irish poet Cahal Dallat about the 150th anniversary of the first Garden Suburb, and its influences, not just in London, but around the world!
BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Cathy about her new one-person theatre show, Cabaret For the End of the World, her new film production company, her start in the arts, working with the likes of Stephen Fry and Cathy Tyson, the 'Me Too' movement and her experiences as a young female producer.
BohemianBritian.com
As Bob Dylan celebrates his 84th Birthday, Nick Hennegan looks at his background, legacy… and first appearances in London.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the Welsh Wizard on International Dylan Thomas Day.
www.BohemianBritain.com
As he begins preparations for another Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, Nick Hennegan celebrates the 'Beyond The Fringe' veteran and comedic genius, Alan Bennett.
Nick Hennegan takes an alternative look at William Shakespeare's work with offerings from the likes of Brian Ferry and Annie Lennox!
www.BohemianBritain.com
The brilliant actors Juliet Ibberson and Greg Snowden, reprising an award-winning show, A Ghost of A Chance, at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick, London, W4, nearly three decades after its premiere, talk about their experiences as actors and how to make the most of life as creatives.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates International Women's Day, with poems from Sylvia Plath and the Bronte sisters.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates one of his favourite books and the birthday of its writer, Anthony Burgess - with a podcast from the foundation named after him.
Nick Hennegan's Literary London celebrates St Valentines Day with some Literary Requests... and news about Resonance 104.4fm's fundraising events. https://fundraiser.resonance.fm/
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates some famous writers birthdays and their quotes on writing... and celebrates a classic UK soap - Crossroads.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates J.R.R. Tolkien's Birthday with some music, famous comments from his letters and tips for writers. Like most writers, even this legend experienced insecurities!
www.BohemianBritain.com
George Holmes is a normal boy who lives on a council estate in Birmingham with his younger sister, Libby, his older brother, Andy and his Mom and Dad. Or at least he did!
After the White Light and all the adults disappear, a strange voice directs them to Billesley Common in Birmingham. Where they end up by the River Thames in London, meet a strange boy soldier and are stalked by a lethal Lungii War Machine!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Duration 9′ 18″. Written, Directed and Produced by Nick Hennegan. Original music and studio production by Robb Williams. Thanks to the Cross Keys Pub, Hammersmith, London. Presented by the Maverick People’s Theatre Company.
Celebrate this festive season with Nick Hennegan, the WORLD PREMIERE of GEORGE HOLMES AND THE 7 DIMENSIONS - and music from Cerys Matthews and Christmas in Soho, with Boisounds.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Our occasional request show, where Nick Hennegan plays your requests... includes George Holmes and the 7 Dimensions, Romeo and Juliet, Wicked and Dylan Thomas.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the recent birthdays and famous works of writers who have had their books televised - J. G. Ballard and Margaret Atwood.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birth of Bram Stoker, writer of Dracula... and the 'birth' of his new Radio Science-Fiction Young Adult Drama, George Holmes and the 7 Dimensions. Hear the first-ever episode here.
www.BohemianBritain.com
George Holmes is a normal boy who lives on a council estate in Birmingham with his younger sister, Libby, his older brother, Andy and his Mom and Dad.
George has a bit of trouble with a local bully, but is rescued by his best friend Dermot, who appears on his bike and gives George a lift home. But then at home, a strange event happens that will change George's life forever...
Duration 7' 26". Written, Directed and Produced by Nick Hennegan. Original music and studio production by Robb Williams. Thanks to the Cross Keys Pub, Hammersmith, London.
Starring Lucy Barton, Rebecca Bright, Grace Manson, Nick Hennegan and Henry Richards. With Rebecca Raybone. Voiceover Mason Laird.
Would you like to hear more? Mail: nick @ bohemianbritain.com
The Beatles were the biggest band in the world. Nick Hennegan celebrates the life - and death - of founder John Lennon.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan is in Wales talking about a new Young Adult Fantasy, George Holmes and the 7 Dimensions, a lovely country, and Dylan Thomas.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan on his new Literary Pub Crawl at the Edinburgh Fringe and Scotland's greatest poet.
Nick Hennegan looks forward to performing at the World's biggest open arts festival in Edinburgh on Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com. There's music and speech from some new shows and some classics, including The Choir of Man and Guy Masterson.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Before his appearance with the First 30th Anniversary London Edinburgh Literary Pub Crawl at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, Nick Hennegan shares some of his Scottish discoveries! There's more information on his show HERE
www.BohemianBritain.com
With England in the final of the European Football Cup in Germany, Nick Hennegan looks back at 60 years of Football songs and the drama and excitement shared by millions. Not just in England!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan looks back at previous Edinburgh fringes, music and programmes - and looks forward to this coming August.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday, works, influences and inspirations of writer George Orwell.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Megan Prescott shot to fame at the age of 15 in the hit Channel Four TV show ‘Skins’. After the show finished, she took regular jobs. She was working seven days a week, and struggling to find opportunities to write and create, when a friend suggested she try sex work. She’s now selling nude photographs of herself… to raise money to fund her first-ever Edinburgh Fringe production.
She talks to Nick Hennegan about her career, autism, sex work… and the Edinburgh Fringe.
See the video at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan looks at Wales, Dylan Thomas, the Edinburgh Fringe, Skins on Channel Four, Winston Churchill and the 80th anniversary of D-Day!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan plays requests from his world-wide audience featuring poetry and music from Dylan Thomas, Cerys Mathews, Robb Williams and Romeo and Juliet!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Celebrating Shakespeare's Birthday, Nick Hennegan talks about his links to the Bard and features speeches by the classic actors Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud and music from 'Shakespeare In Love.'
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates a birthday and a deathday! Nick Hornby and Lord Byron! And plays music from the acclaimed theatre production, inspired by Byron and Shelly's time in Greece - 'The Birth of Frankenstein' by Robb Williams.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates a number of creative events this week from William Wordsworth, Seamus Heaney... and Paul McCartney and Wings...
www.BohemianBritain.com
Currently starring in The Appraisal by Tim Marriott at Theatre At The Tabard in London, actor and producer Angela Bull talks to Nick Hennegan about her life and career on stage and on TV - and has some sound advice for new actors.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates St Patrick's Day with a rare recording of writer Seán O'Casey talking about his work... and leads us on a London Pub Crawl around some of the favourite haunts of Charles Dickens!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Best known for his role in the hit TV sitcom, 'The Brittas Empire', Tim Marriott took seventeen years out of his acting career... to be a teacher.
Now his original productions are acclaimed around the world and his latest hit - Appraisal is coming to Theatre at The Tabard in London.
He talks to Nick Hennegan about his bohemian story.
(To read a review of the original Edinburgh production of Appraisal, see http://bohemianbritain.com/2022/08/28/the-appraisal-edinburgh-fringe-22/ )
Nick Hennegan celebrates World Poetry Day with poems from the great American 'Beats' - Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan plays music and poetry celebrating International Women's Day
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to writer and performer June Carryl about 'Blue' her award-winning star vehicle, premiering in London and dealing with race, Society and the Police. They talk about growing up and her writing practice and background.
See the live video at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of W.H Auden and Samual Pepys - and links to a certain British Film!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to veteran British Comedy Actor Jeffrey Holland about his new play ‘After All These Years’ and his time with British Comedy classics, ‘Hi Di Hi!’, ‘You Rang M’Lord?’ and ‘Dad’s Army’ See the video at - www.BohemianBritain.com
Guy Masterson talks to Nick Hennegan about life as an artist and performer.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe - the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. His Mother was an English born actor.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates recent birthdays and words of wisdom, advice for writers, inspired music and insightful quotes from world-famous talents, Tolkien, Asimov and Forster.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan takes your Christmas requests... which get very Welsh with Dylan Thomas and Cerys Matthews.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan had the pleasure of meeting the Pogues frontman, Shane MacGowan - punk, traditionalist and perceived hell-raiser - who has passed away. This is his personal tribute.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the Dylan Thomas wreath-laying in Westminster Abbey by presenting the Welsh poet telling stories - live!
www.BohemianBritain.com
This week, Nick Hennegan celebrates the birth of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, with performances from Cerys Matthews and Guy Masterson.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates Oscar Wilde with one of his most famous poems and some of his most famous one-liners!
www.BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan takes your requests, with new music and poetry and some classics too.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan is in Wales! So this time 'Literary London', looks at the influence place has on poets, with readings from Dylan Thomas and T.S. Eliot.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan is at the George lV Pub in Chiswick, for the second part of the Book Festival's Local Authors party - where local scibes have just two minutes to describe their books.
www.BohemianBritain.com
After returning from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Nick Hennegan is in Chiswick, West London, for the Book Festival's Local Writers evening at the George lV Pub on the High Road. Hear a selection of local writers with just TWO minutes to present their books... before being noisily penalised!
Part 2 next week.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Before its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Nick Hennegan talks to Teryn Gray, Callum Pardoe and Jamie Patterson, the three actors from The Birth Of Frankenstein, about their background and the characters they play.
Further details from www.MaverickTheatreCompany.com
Celebrating the Birthday of American writer Ernest Hemingway, Nick Hennegan plays recordings of the man himself reading his own works.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan plays a rare 1940's recording of a Sherlock Holmes story. "A Scandal in Bohemia!'
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates BloomsDay with his first ever reading of Ulysses by James Joyce.
BohemianBritain.com
Home to Notting Hill, Grenfell Tower and some of the most expensive property in London, Nick Hennegan talks to Artistic Director Verena Cornwall about a Covid-inspired lock-down success story in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
See the video at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan, award-winning theatre producer, director and writer, talks to Mya Khan about his production of Two, by Jim Cartwright with Maverick Theatre at The Billesley Pub in Birmingham. www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan plays literary requests from Dylan Thomas, The Choir of Man and a chilling short story commemorating the passing of Charles Dickens.
www.BohemianBritain.com
This time, Nick Hennegan has been at the London Library Summer Party, but is taking The Birth of Frankenstein to the Edinburgh Fringe... and invites you to join in the research!
www.BohemainBritain.com
Nick Hennegan is in the Cross Keys Pub in Hammersmith, London W6 and looks at some of the famous local writers and celebrates American Walt Whitman's Birthday!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates International Dylan Thomas Daywith readings from Cerys Matthews and Guy Masterson. www.BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan plays requests and poems on his radio show, with celebrity choice from John Le Carre and the Literary Pub Of The Week, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
www.BohemianBritain.com
This week on Literary London, Nick Hennegan’s celebrity poem has a moving insight into Lord Melvyn Bragg’s past. He also introduces his Literary Pub of The Week - The George in Southwark, London.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan looks at some facts - and otherwise - about William Shakespeare on his birthday weekend in April. Or was Shakespeare actually born in May? Find out why! Nick also shares his own experiences with The Bard of Avon and plays some classic poems, speeches and music.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Apr 21 2023 Shots. Not big or clever. Although one per production should be okay! The TWO gang… Greg, Nick and Claire. It’s not big, and it’s not clever, but it’s a tradition we have at the Maverick Theatre Company that dates back to the 1990’s. The first night shot! Of course, it’s not compulsory for Maverick people to have a shot after our first production, or indeed drink any alcohol, but it goes back to the early days of Maverick at the Billesley Pub in Birmingham.
Our first production was very difficult financially. (There’s a surprise! They still are!)
On one of our early first nights, Glenn Bayes, a local actor who I thought would make a good director (I was correct!) and I were standing at the bar, trying to work out if we had enough cash to buy a pint which we could split – a half pint each. It was cheaper that way.
Then, a very sartorial member of the audience came to the bar and saw us. He knew who we were because in the early days at the Billesley we always did a raffle before the production and explained to our first-time theatre attenders how it all worked.
This man was obviously impressed with us.
“What a marvellous show,” he gushed. “The acting, the intimacy of it all… what an experience. I’m a regular theatre-goer but I LOVE this concept. It’s proper art.”
We mumbled some thanks and shuffled on the spot. But then…
“I MUST buy you a drink. What do you want?”
Glenn and I looked at each other and shoved our small change back in our pockets.
“That’s very kind of you,” I said. “A pint of lager would be lovely.”
“Yes”, said Glen. “Lager for me too. Thank you very much.”
Sartorial-man looked at us.
“What! Lager? Certainly not. A quality experience needs a quality drink. Whisky. A good one. Or a Brandy? I won’t buy you anything less!”
Now me and Glen were both born and raised on a council estate – in fact the Billesley estate, where this pub was and the show had just happened. I’d had some radio experience and record industry launch parties, but we both REALLY just wanted a pint. It became an early lesson in established theatre culture!
So lovely Posh man bought us a short each. I think I had an Irish whisky and Glen had a Bourbon. And Glen, being a younger man, shotted his drink. Down in one. So I followed his example. Posh man looked on, at first puzzled, but then quickly followed our example.
“Wow! You guys! What a blast!”
We never got the pint. Financially things eventually got a bit better. But Glenn and I always joked about that night. And got each other – and our actors and crew – a shot for years afterwards on our first nights.
And there are hundreds of Maverick actors, artists, techies and friends who have suffered/enjoyed our first nights ever since. Including the lovely current TWO actors, Claire and Greg.
So if you ever want to buy me a drink, a pint will be great. Unless, of course, it’s the first night of a Maverick Theatre production…
Come and see Two At The Tabard Theatre… Our acclaimed production runs until 29th April. It’d be great to see you. And not just in the bar afterwards. Although it’s a bit ‘dangerous’ booze-wise, as the show starts at 7.30pm, has a 15 minute interval and we’re still back in the ‘proper’ bar downstairs at The Tabard before 9pm! Cheers! Hic!
FURTHER INFORMATION HERE.
🍷🍷🍷🍷 🍷 - 5 stars out of 5. Plus a packet of crisps!
Two by Jim Cartwright - till 29th April, 2023.
Nicholas Hennegan and The Maverick Theatre Company at the Theatre At The Tabard, 2 Bath Road, London, W4 1LW.
Jim Cartwright's TWO is the story of one night in a Working Class Pub. Presumably somewhere 'Oop North'. But the location doesn't matter. It could easily be in Chiswick, West London. Cartwright is a Northern Playwright, but the assorted characters we meet as they pass through the unnamed pub are universal. We meet an older woman, looking after a frail, bedridden husband, lusting after the local butcher and taking her reward for the day in a glass of Guinness. There's an old man, now a widower, but philosophically and without bitterness still spending time with the presence of his dead wife and recalling her "soft cotton hair". There's Moth, boyfriend of Maudie and a not-so-young man who can't help but attempt to seduce, epically unsuccessfully, every woman he comes across. A lost little boy who's been left in the pub by his forgetful Father. A lustful woman who likes "big men" but who's own husband is a loved, but "compact chap" and finally has enough. There's Roy, posh abuser of his wife, Lesley and the overweight, loveable and loved Elvis and Western fans Fred and Alice (Elvis Presley died from a choked bum, by the way!) and The Other Woman who has had enough of furtive affair meetings in hotels and car parks and decided to confront her lover... and his wife... in the pub. And against all this are the bickering Landlord and Landlady who hold the pub together in spite of their obvious dislike for each other. Or is it an obvious dislike? We find out that this normal night is not perhaps, so normal.
The impressive thing with this production is that all the characters coming and going through the busy pub are all the same people! Or at least, two people. Claire Louise Amias and Greg Snowden give magnificent performances that are lithe and completely believable. Assured direction from Richard Woolnough ensures the action never lags. It's also incredible that so much is squeezed into such a short time. We started at 7.30pm and even with Two Acts and an Interval, we were back in the 'real' pub downstairs before 9pm.
Maverick Theatre are known for creating great nights out. And this is another one of those night. Go see Two. You may become a regular.
REVIEWER: Billie Andrews.
TICKETS: £18 full price/£15 concessions. Limited number of premium on stage seats available for £20.
https://tabard.org.uk/whats-on/two/
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birth on 21st April 1816 of Charlotte Bronte. We all know she was the author of Jane Eyre, but she also wrote poetry. Nick looks at her life and poetry.
Nick Hennegan talks to actors Claire Louise Amias, Greg Snowden and director Richard Woolnough live from Gerry's Club in Soho, about their forthcoming production, TWO by Jim Cartwright at the Tabard Pub Theatre in Chiswick, London, W4. Cheers!
For details, see https://tabard.org.uk/whats-on/two/
This week on 'Literary London', Nick Hennegan (who, as you will hear, has had his new phone stolen!) plays your requests, with music and poetry from The Pogues, WB Yeats and The Dubliners.
The second part of the 2015 interview when Nick Hennegan talks again to the late Sally Fiber about her time growing up in one of the most famous literary pubs in London in the company of Walter Sickert, Augustus John, Jacob Epstein, Nina Hamnett, Dylan Thomas, George Orwell and Tommy Cooper to name but a few! And her memories of Britain's last Official Hangman, Albert Pierrepoint!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to the late Sally Fiber about her time growing up in one of the most famous literary pubs in London in the company of Walter Sickert, Augustus John, Jacob Epstein, Nina Hamnett, Dylan Thomas, George Orwell and Tommy Cooper to name but a few!
Nick Hennegan celebrates the genius of Jules Verne... "the father of Science fiction" with a reading of the first chapter of 'A Journey To The Centre of the Earth - and music from the film of another Verne classic, 'Around The World In 80 Days'.
Nick Hennegan celebrates songs inspired by literary classics, from Victor Hugo, Kate Bush, David Bowie and The Beatles!
Nick Hennegan talks to theatre worker and writer Nick Bromley about his life, books, work... and Theatre Ghosts! Nick has been a West End Company Manager since 1971, with shows such as The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Love Never Dies to his name. He is the sixteenth Master of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, founded by David Garrick in 1766, and a member of both the Ghost Club and the Society for Psychical Research. SEE THE VIDEO at Bohemian Britain.com More information on Nick at https://lnpbooks.co.uk
This week, Nick Hennegan creates a musical and spoken word soundscape around the theme of love!
Nick Hennegan celebrates the birthdays of Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo and a new English translation of Italo Calvino.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Celebrating a new, free, interactive app celebrating the life of Yeats in Chiswick, Nick Hennegan found an old recording discussing the poet, live in Dublin.
Nick Hennegan talks to Irish Poet Cahal Dallat on Literary London on Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com about a new, interactive trail following the life and works of London Irish Poet WB Yeats around his boyhood home in Bedford Park, Chiswick, London. They also chat about inspiration and other famous Irish and London artists. For details of the project, see www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com
A gentle look back of some of the Bohemian highlights of 2022 with Nick Hennegan on Resonance 104.4fm's 'Literary London' It includes an interview with Andy Slaughter, M.P. for Hammersmith in London, on the occasion of a new artwork celebrating WB Yeats; music from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Prejudice And Pride and Winston and David.... news of Jim Cartwright's TWO, and how you can put it on at your local bar, pub or community centre... and will Nick return to acting for the first time in 30 years? www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents your Holiday Season requests with Cerys Matthews and Dylan Thomas, a history of Christmas… and gives you a few bad Christmas Cracker jokes!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
We get festive with Cerys Matthews and Nick Hennegan talks about his version and plays part of A Christmas Carol which he's adapted and directed and is currently touring the UK, performed by Olivier award-winner Guy Masterson!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan launches the festive season by exploring his relationship with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, including how his Junior School helped inspire a current UK tour with Guy Masterson. It features a reading by the Olivier Award-winning actor. With Music by Cerys Matthews and Robb Williams.
For details of where you can see the show now, see www.TheChristmasCarol.co.uk
Nick Hennegan looks at Soho, Pubs on Dean Street, Karl Marx andDylan Thomas with his lost script and A Visit To America. Also on www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to young London-based New Yorker, singer songwriter Esme White, about her first single Pearly Gate Crashers and her career to date. See the video at -www.BohemianBritain.com
A Bohemian lifestyle guide..! Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Failing early in our careers can make us question whether we are on the right path. We may look at people who have succeeded from the outset and wonder why it doesn’t come so easily to us. Classical violinist Nigel Kennedy, actor Natalie Portman and painter Pablo Picasso are examples of young geniuses who were successful early on.
But for some of us, failure at the beginning of our careers is important to later success. For many creatives, how we deal with those moments when things aren’t going right or you’ve received yet another rejection letter can make or break us.
The author and self-improvement lecturer Dale Carnegie maintained that inaction breeds doubt and fear; action creates confidence and courage, which inevitably ends up helping a person to succeed. This chimes with what American psychologist Carol Dweck outlines in her 2006 book Mindset.
Dweck discusses the concept of people with a “fixed mindset” versus a “growth mindset”. The former is a way of thinking where there is a lack of self-belief and a negative persona while the latter is where no challenge or task is too large to take on board. Which mindset you have dictates how you will interpret failure and success and how well you approach everyday life.
A passion for learning and a desire to improve upon failure creates opportunities to learn and challenge yourself. This mentality is a boon to creatives. While yes, there are the Picassos and Portmans of the world, there are also a few famous creatives who had to overcome failure early on in their careers. These individuals demonstrate the “growth mindset”.
Rejection doesn’t have to kill dreams A young schoolteacher from Maine, US, was a passionate part-time writer who worked tirelessly trying to get his novels published (unsuccessfully) in the late 1960s. He continued to believe in himself and chase the dream of becoming a successful author. But sometimes the reality of failure gets the better of a person and after 30 rejections he famously threw his fourth attempt at a novel away.
Fortunately, the manuscript was saved by his wife who, having confidence in his work, persuaded him to continue trying. Eventually, the novel was sold for an advance of £2000, a nice bonus for a schoolteacher. The publishing rights were ultimately purchased for an additional £200,000 and the novel Carrie turned Stephen King into a household name.
A young Stephen King failed to get his first three books published and nearly gave up on the fourth. Archivo/Alamy
Dreams can propel us forward but they can also be crushed by rejection. The composer Johnathon Larson spent years working on his 1991 musical Superbia only for it to be turned down by theatre producers. He was told by his agent to “go away and write something you know about”.
This was a crushing moment for Larson. Eight years of work rejected. However, he listened to the advice and his next musical Rent premiered on Broadway in 1996, becoming a box office sensation. The semi-autobiographical Tick, Tick Boom, which Larson began performing as a one-man show in 1990, went on to also be a hit when it premiered in 2001. It has recently been turned into a major motion picture directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of Hamilton).
Larson’s secret was to learn from failure and take on the advice given to him. He used that experience to propel himself forward. Sadly, Larson never witnessed his triumph, he died on the eve of Rent’s Broadway premier in 1996 from an aortic dissection. But his life, including his failures, made him successful. His roadblocks became his inspiration. Both of his successful productions tell the stories of larger-than-life characters struggling with their failings while trying to achieve a degree of success.
Overcoming difficult circumstances There are situations in life that conspire to make us fail. However, adversity can often act as a springboard of determination to succeed. My turning point as a youngster was failing my grade five music theory exam. That one singular event, although heartbreaking, made me determined to succeed in music and become a composer and producer of Scottish Musicals.
Others deal with much more difficult circumstances. Imagine being homeless, penniless with partial facial paralysis, yet dreaming of an acting career. Never-ending rejection from talent scouts and agents, hours of waiting for appointments that never materialise, such a life would be demoralising. However, the realisation of personal failure can become the catalyst for success.
This real-life scenario eventually earned Sylvester Stallone over £178 million and catapulted his writing and acting career to stardom. He didn’t let these circumstances, which led to failure, stop him. The key here is that he believed in his ability and that drove him onward. Continual failure reinforced his resolve to succeed.
Steven Spielberg had poor high school grades and was rejected three times from film school. He battled through his early career failures before eventually directing 51 films and winning three Oscars. Again, it was his perseverance and self-belief that drove his determination to succeed.
We might never become the next Spielberg, King, or Larson but the lesson learned from their experiences is a sharp reminder of the mantra of playwright Samuel Beckett:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Failure is not damaging, it is part of a proactive progression and once we learn to accept that we might be unstoppable. I eventually passed my grade five theory exam and went on to get two degrees and a Ph.D. in musical theatre, the rest is history … my personal history began with a failure for which I am very proud.
Stephen Langston
Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Performance, University of the West of Scotland writing for The Conversation.
https://bohemianbritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to writer Elika Ansari, about her new novel, ‘The Five Stages of Moria: “The Worst Refugee Camp on Earth”’ based on true stories from her time as a worker in the camp.
See the video recording at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including a new folk musical - Prejudice and Pride, the classic The Choir Of Man - and the new ballet, Hamlet, starring Sir Ian McKellen.
Also at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including a new folk musical - Prejudice and Pride, the classic The Choir Of Man - and the new ballet, Hamlet, starring Sir Ian McKellen.
Also at www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including the new ballet, Hamlet, staring Sir Ian McKellen.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including the new ballet, Hamlet, staring Sir Ian McKellen.
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates National Poetry Day with poems from some of the greatest names in the world... and some of his own!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates National Poetry Day with poems from some of the greatest names in the world... and some of his own!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
🍷🍷🍷🍷 🥃 (4 glasses out of 5, PLUS a shot !) It’s always a novelty going to see a play with a name you find hard to pronounce! But having done a bit of research (you’re welcome!) it turns out the story is based, as so many brilliant stories are, on an Ancient Greek myth. And Splott is in Wales.
So good, so classical. But there is a burning contemporary edge to this story. Set in Wales, the modern name for our heroine is Effie… a Slapper and Dirty Skank. Although, of course, she is neither of these.
To be honest, I always get a bit nervous, when ‘working-class’ characters are presented through the prism of largely middle-class theatre practitioners. And this does miss a few beats and isn’t perfect — we occasionally lose some of the dialogue — but generally writer Garry Owen has created a classic character that I identify with as working-class myself. I instantly recognised and sympathised with the frustration of few opportunities, lack of self-worth and over compensation for an emptiness many working class people feel.
Sophie Melville gives a great performance that mixes elements of a wild Irvine Welsh character and a still Alan Ayckbourn monologue. Indeed, having just returned from the home of one-person shows, the Edinburgh Fringe, (where this show appeared some time ago) it is full of paradoxes: a monologue constrained by singularity through its form, but a production which feels peopled by an entire Welsh town. And an epic tragedy captured by a white working-class woman with no hint of ‘Vicky Pollard’ despite her scraped-back hair, snarls, three day piss-ups, hangovers and street brawls. She is eminently ordinary but exceptional in her heroism, too. And director Rachel O’Riordanmust take credit for her pacing and variation of the piece — and of course, for commissioning Gary Owen’s lyrical script back in 2015.
It’s a modern classic in a beautiful theatre and feels even more relevant now than when it was first created in Austerity Britain. The play is brutally effective in depicting the human cost of the cuts and closures and ends on a note of accusatory fury. Yet its politics are surprisingly subtle.
The name may be a bit confusing, but this is a quality piece that makes perfect sense. Go see it.
🍷🍷🍷🍷 🥃 (4 glasses out of 5, PLUS a shot !) It’s always a novelty going to see a play with a name you find hard to pronounce! But having done a bit of research (you’re welcome!) it turns out the story is based, as so many brilliant stories are, on an Ancient Greek myth. And Splott is in Wales.
So good, so classical. But there is a burning contemporary edge to this story. Set in Wales, the modern name for our heroine is Effie… a Slapper and Dirty Skank. Although, of course, she is neither of these.
To be honest, I always get a bit nervous, when ‘working-class’ characters are presented through the prism of largely middle-class theatre practitioners. And this does miss a few beats and isn’t perfect — we occasionally lose some of the dialogue — but generally writer Garry Owen has created a classic character that I identify with as working-class myself. I instantly recognised and sympathised with the frustration of few opportunities, lack of self-worth and over compensation for an emptiness many working class people feel.
Sophie Melville gives a great performance that mixes elements of a wild Irvine Welsh character and a still Alan Ayckbourn monologue. Indeed, having just returned from the home of one-person shows, the Edinburgh Fringe, (where this show appeared some time ago) it is full of paradoxes: a monologue constrained by singularity through its form, but a production which feels peopled by an entire Welsh town. And an epic tragedy captured by a white working-class woman with no hint of ‘Vicky Pollard’ despite her scraped-back hair, snarls, three day piss-ups, hangovers and street brawls. She is eminently ordinary but exceptional in her heroism, too. And director Rachel O’Riordanmust take credit for her pacing and variation of the piece — and of course, for commissioning Gary Owen’s lyrical script back in 2015.
It’s a modern classic in a beautiful theatre and feels even more relevant now than when it was first created in Austerity Britain. The play is brutally effective in depicting the human cost of the cuts and closures and ends on a note of accusatory fury. Yet its politics are surprisingly subtle.
The name may be a bit confusing, but this is a quality piece that makes perfect sense. Go see it.
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! This is the final part. And we hear from the founders of The Space UK - enterprising venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! This is the final part. And we hear from the founders of The Space UK - enterprising venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! Part Two of Three!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! Part Two of Three!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local authors party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local authors party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
After the Edinburgh Festival Fringe finishes, Nick Hennegan revisits his old haunts in Stratford-on-Avon near the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his theatre ventures first began - back in the 1990's!
After the Edinburgh Festival Fringe finishes, Nick Hennegan revisits his old haunts in Stratford-on-Avon near the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his theatre ventures first began - back in the 1990's!
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! On his last day in the Scottish Capital!
Also at BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! On his last day in the Scottish Capital!
Also at BohemianBritain.com
Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
5 out of 5. The Full bottle!
We all know about Sherlock Holmes and his arch-enemy, Moriarty. And we all know about Holmes' best friend, Watson.
But do we?
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street is a world-wide Literary Legend. Indeed, I've quite recently interviewed an author who has been commissioned to write new Sherlock stories. Have a fumble through this blog and you'll find it!
But here, at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Watson is touchingly alone. His beloved wife Mary and the great Sherlock Holmes are both gone. London seethes with false reports and rumours. So it is time to set the record straight.
What the hugely talented Tim Marriott has done, with co-writer and director Bert Coules, is give us a fresh and fantastic take on the whole Sherlock Holmes and Watson story and what really happened with the two friends from Watson's partisan point of view.
You need no previous knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. Tim (forever famous for playing Gavin in the rather brilliant BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire) takes us on an adventure that is both epic, yet strangely emotional. Watson, the now lonely old soldier, is very keen to do the right thing by everyone - especially Holmes. Marriott brings a very relevant characterisation to a fictional conceit and plays the various characters - including of course, Holmes - with a nuanced talent which is both intimate yet expansive.
Watson, the old soldier, has a story to tell. And we get an entertaining Boys-Own romp with an adult and emotional heart.
Elementary, my dear Marriott.
Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
5 out of 5. The Full bottle!
We all know about Sherlock Holmes and his arch-enemy, Moriarty. And we all know about Holmes' best friend, Watson.
But do we?
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street is a world-wide Literary Legend. Indeed, I've quite recently interviewed an author who has been commissioned to write new Sherlock stories. Have a fumble through this blog and you'll find it!
But here, at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Watson is touchingly alone. His beloved wife Mary and the great Sherlock Holmes are both gone. London seethes with false reports and rumours. So it is time to set the record straight.
What the hugely talented Tim Marriott has done, with co-writer and director Bert Coules, is give us a fresh and fantastic take on the whole Sherlock Holmes and Watson story and what really happened with the two friends from Watson's partisan point of view.
You need no previous knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. Tim (forever famous for playing Gavin in the rather brilliant BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire) takes us on an adventure that is both epic, yet strangely emotional. Watson, the now lonely old soldier, is very keen to do the right thing by everyone - especially Holmes. Marriott brings a very relevant characterisation to a fictional conceit and plays the various characters - including of course, Holmes - with a nuanced talent which is both intimate yet expansive.
Watson, the old soldier, has a story to tell. And we get an entertaining Boys-Own romp with an adult and emotional heart.
Elementary, my dear Marriott.
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! This time, Sir Ian McKellen, Sherlock Holmes and Scrummie Mummies!
Also at BohemianBritain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! This time, Sir Ian McKellen, Sherlock Holmes and Scrummie Mummies!
Also at BohemianBritain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Here we find out about a youth company in Edinburgh
Also at BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan blasts off with full coverage of the SpaceUK venue launch for the Edinburgh Fringe, 2022.
Contains some strong language and adult themes.
Also on BohemianBritian.com
Nick Hennegan's Rough Guide to the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe continues with the creator of Fringe Review, Paul Levy. Also on BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to American Brendan George about his time at the Edinburgh Fringe with A Eulogy for Roman.
Also on Bohemian Britain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to first-time theatre producer Izzy Parriss about her first ever production and launch at the Edinburgh Fringe, Dear Little Loz.
Also on Bohemian Britain.com
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Here he finds out about an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's speeches with Heather Alexander, a former Pans People dancer! Also at BohemianBritain.com.
It’s a question I’m often asked. My first Edinburgh Fringe was in 1992. And it cost me nothing. Zero. Zilch! Other than beer and food, of course! And I wasn’t COMPLETELY happy about that!
I feel a bit click-bait about this, but if you know me, you’ll know I’ve never been as commercial as I should be. I’ve also only recently realised that I’m actually very experienced when it comes to the Edinburgh Festival having been there most years since 1992.
So, how much does it cost? The short answer is it can be hugely expensive. This year, 2022, ironically, post-lockdown, perhaps more than most! Accommodation, particularly, has rocketed. But it doesn’t have to be. If you are an artist reading this, the first question you need to ask yourself is - WHY do Edinburgh? We all kinda know the answer. Probably everyone you’ve ever seen in comedy on British TV was ‘discovered’ in Edinburgh. The whole theatre and TV industry decamps to Scotland for the festival in August. But don't let the idea of fame and fortune be your only motivation. It's a sobering fact that the average audience in the Fringe is four. Yep, four people. I've been to productions where I'm the only person in the audience!
It’s also worth clarifying what the Edinburgh Festival is. It’s actually a number of different festivals. The Fringe was a radical reaction to the very posh International Festival started after the Second World War. Which was a Very Good Thing! But then, 75 years ago this very year, a bunch of Oxbridge type students (I think) decided to 'ambush' the Posh Festival and be 'alternative'. I put these words in quotation marks, because what was then the Fringe has now become the biggest open arts festival in the world.
So, should you go? Maybe. Are you doing Comedy? Look at the Free Fringes. There's a couple of them. You have to do your own door-keeping and I'm not sure they're so good for drama, but let me know if you disagree. It's no frills, pass the hat around afterwards, and you may not make your student accommodation rent (oh, and by the way, in spite of the madness of the Scottish Government changing the rules this year, try and get student accommodation for August. It'll cost more than a Chelsea flat, but less than the £10.5k I was quoted for a 3 bed flat this August!!)
And, mainly, expect nothing, but have fun!
It’s a question I’m often asked. My first Edinburgh Fringe was in 1992. And it cost me nothing. Zero. Zilch! Other than beer and food, of course! And I wasn’t COMPLETELY happy about that!
I feel a bit click-bait about this, but if you know me, you’ll know I’ve never been as commercial as I should be. I’ve also only recently realised that I’m actually very experienced when it comes to the Edinburgh Festival having been there most years since 1992.
So, how much does it cost? The short answer is it can be hugely expensive. This year, 2022, ironically, post-lockdown, perhaps more than most! Accommodation, particularly, has rocketed. But it doesn’t have to be. If you are an artist reading this, the first question you need to ask yourself is - WHY do Edinburgh? We all kinda know the answer. Probably everyone you’ve ever seen in comedy on British TV was ‘discovered’ in Edinburgh. The whole theatre and TV industry decamps to Scotland for the festival in August. But don't let the idea of fame and fortune be your only motivation. It's a sobering fact that the average audience in the Fringe is four. Yep, four people. I've been to productions where I'm the only person in the audience!
It’s also worth clarifying what the Edinburgh Festival is. It’s actually a number of different festivals. The Fringe was a radical reaction to the very posh International Festival started after the Second World War. Which was a Very Good Thing! But then, 75 years ago this very year, a bunch of Oxbridge type students (I think) decided to 'ambush' the Posh Festival and be 'alternative'. I put these words in quotation marks, because what was then the Fringe has now become the biggest open arts festival in the world.
So, should you go? Maybe. Are you doing Comedy? Look at the Free Fringes. There's a couple of them. You have to do your own door-keeping and I'm not sure they're so good for drama, but let me know if you disagree. It's no frills, pass the hat around afterwards, and you may not make your student accommodation rent (oh, and by the way, in spite of the madness of the Scottish Government changing the rules this year, try and get student accommodation for August. It'll cost more than a Chelsea flat, but less than the £10.5k I was quoted for a 3 bed flat this August!!)
And, mainly, expect nothing, but have fun!
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Also at BohemainBritain.com
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Also at BohemainBritain.com
Nick Hennegan's VERY rough guide to the Edinburgh Fringe continues when he grabs a word with Edinburgh Fringe venue The SpaceUK creators, Charlie and John. In a bar, of course! www.TheSpaceUK.com And thanks to the Assembly Festival for supplying the brilliant Club Bar! Home to much Bohemian Creativity www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan's VERY rough guide to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Not sure what day it is - but we sold out Winston and David at the Edinburgh Fringe and there's talk of the USA - gee wiz!
Nick Hennegan presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe!
Also at BohemainBritain.com
Nick Hennegan presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe!
Also at BohemainBritain.com
Nick Hennegan (in the pub!) marks the 200th anniversary of the passing of one of Britain's best-loved poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley who drowned at the age of 29, a relative, if controversial, unknown. Nick looks at one of his most famous poems.
29th June 1613. The Globe Theatre, London - a short history, a few speeches and a few tunes too with Nick Hennegan.
Nick Hennegan attended the House of St Barnabas Private Members Club in Soho for a conversation with acclaimed Writer and Producer Heidi Thomas, arranged by the Sandford St Martin Trust. Part One of Two.
This week Nick Hennegan celebrates the annual Dylan Thomas Day, with a reading from the man himself and Thomas-inspired music from the fabulous Cerys Matthews.
Also at www.BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan is writing in Wales, bumping into a Craft Beer House in Aberystwyth and sharing holiday stories with Dylan Thomas! Also on BohemianBritain.com
On the Bard's Birthday, Nick Hennegan presents a tapestry of Shakespeare happenings, from famous speeches by John Gielgud and Sir Laurence Olivier, to modern music from the 'Shakespeare In Love' movie and Hennegan's own 'Hamlet - Horatio's Tale', by Robb Williams. On Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com
The original Fringe space - and the first home of the Soho Theatre - that allowed some famous writers, directors and actors to cut their teeth, celebrates its 50th anniversary - by reopening after being abandoned for years! Nick Hennegan went to find out what's happening for Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com
This time Nick Hennegan plays some very rare recordings of WB Yeats and Sean O’Casey to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
This time Nick Hennegan is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, where, amongst the swans and the boats, he runs down modern films inspired by the Bard!
Nick Hennegan looks at some of the world famous writers who made their home in West London. Including a tragic tale of Peter Pan! BohemianBritian.com
Celebrating the centenary of its publication, join Nick Hennegan as, for the very first time, he reads the first part of Ulysses, by James Joyce on Resonance 104.4fm and https://bohemianbritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Chiswick crime-writer SR Garrae, about her writing and the life-changing circumstances that saw her quit the corporate world and start her new career.
See it at BohemainBritain.com
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BL935WY.
West End Theatre Producer Julius Green talks to Nick Hennegan about theatre and his THREE books – on Agatha Christie – A Life In The Theatre, Stars and Spies and How To Produce A West End Show. Blood Brothers by Willy Russell features! www.BohemianBritain.com www.TheatreProducerTraining.com
Broadcaster, writer and producer Nick Hennegan – on Resonance 104.4fm and The London Literary Pub Crawl YouTube Channel and BohemianBritain.com – talks to poet and critic Cahal Dallat about an ambitious project to raise funds to celebrate W.B Yeats and his upbringing in Bedford Park, Chiswick, West London. For further details see - www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com. Or Twitter @YeatsBedfordPk
Nick Hennegan talks to festival director Gerry Maguire about some of the highlights of this years festival and the Irish in London. (Apologies for the echo in parts of the recording!)
Tues 9th November is Internet Kindness Day, commemorating what would have been the birthday of TV presenter Caroline Flack. Nick Hennegan talks to author Lucy Beresford about how we can all be nicer to each other and mark the day. See the live video at https://bohemianbritain.com
The lockdown had a devastating effect on theatre. This week, Nick Hennegan talks to two theatre workers at the Chiswick Book Festival, John Griffiths and Nick Bromley who, devastated by the lockdown, were motivated to write and publish books - proving there’s no business like show-business!
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe returned in 2021, but much smaller after the ravages of Covid. What do the participants think about this year? What about the future? Nick Hennegan talks to actor Tim Marriott, New York stand-up Jack Dennis, Assembly PR Hannah Bradley Croall and Assembly Marketer, Daniel Saunders in the Assembly Festival Gardens, for Resonance FM and Bohemian Britain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
The opening of the Chiswick Book Festival local Author's party at the George 4th in Chiswick. Nick Hennegan is featured on the Writers Trail, so took his trusty mic! The opening is by Torin Douglas, director of the book festival. Hear and see more at BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan leaves the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a heavy heart. But why do thousands of artists keep returning year after year?
Find out here https://bohemianbritain.com/2021/08/30/goodbye-edinburgh-festival-fringe-2021-nicks-time-with-you-is-over-or-is-it/
Image; When We Died by Alexandra Donnachie. On Fringe Player
http://www.BohemianBritain.com — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
Listen HERE to Nick get morbid down the Pub
So sad. RIP #UB40 talent and decent, lovely Brummy bloke, Brian Travers. We would occasionally meet up at the Hare and Hounds Pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham and we spoke about a musical idea a while ago. Not to be now. But Brian and the band were true to the Bohemian spirit with their record label, DEP.
Then Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts. Then a DJ I used to work with at BRMB Radio in Birmingham. And since I recorded this little ramble, I heard that an actor I knew when she was 18, who went on to become a successful agent, has also passed away! All under 60! What a week!
“Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.”
Dylan Thomas.
— Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
As you'll know if you've read Nick's Edinburgh Festival blog on www.BohemianBritain.com - it took him a while, but thanks to the Pleasance Press People, Nick Hennegan finally got to see 'Bacon' with the actor - and jeweler - Pip Utton! Known for his one-man shows, Nick and Pip talk about his life, career and what he thinks about Adolf Hitler! From Nick's blog and Resonance FM show.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is back, but much smaller after the ravages of Covid. What do the participants think about this year? What about the future? Nick Hennegan talks to actor Tim Marriott, New York stand-up Jack Dennis, Assembly PR Hannah Bradley Croall and Assembly Marketer, Daniel Saunders in the Assembly Festival Gardens, for Resonance FM and Bohemian Britain.com
LIVE FROM THE Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Nick Hennegan talks to actor Tim Marriott (TV’s Brittas Empire) about his compelling, contemporary drama, Shell Shock– written with veteran Neil Watkin; his new Sherlock Holmes flavoured premier Watson and his company, Smokescreen Productions. As featured on www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival about what we can expect in 2021 from the biggest arts festivals in the world! See the video at www.BohemianBritian.com
To celebrate the return of the Fitzrovia Arts Festival, Nick Hennegan went to the opening event in Warren Mews, London, W1. There he meets (and tries to drink with!) the locals… who are writers, artists, historians, gallery owners, Soho tailors and office workers, all sharing a love for a unique and hidden part of London. And this gem of an area almost throws up the truth about… Jack the Ripper! (Sort of..!)
An interview with broadcaster Nick Hennegan - on Resonance 104.4fm and the Maverick Theatre Company YouTube Channel and BohemianBritain.com - and poet and critic Cahal Dallat about an ambitious project to raise £135,000 to celebrate W.B Yeats and his upbringing in Bedford Park, Chiswick, West London - the first Artists suburb in the world! For more information see www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com Twitter @YeatsBedfordPk
Nick Hennegan talks to the Rose Playhouse in London, about its fascinating history and a new series of webinars with some of their famous supporters, including Dame Janet Suzman.
www.RosePlayhouse.org.uk
www.MaverickTheatreCompany.com
www.BohemianBritain.com
https://youtu.be/-j7UOBbs7LU Nick Hennegan with Linda Shannon and Celia Gilbert.
Nick Hennegan finds out about the Royal Society of Literature, in London, a 200 year old organisation with a very modern outlook.
Nick Hennegan talks to writer Bonnie Macbird about her new series of Sherlock Holmes novels; how she came to work in Hollywood and created and wrote the Tron series of films - and how she discovered comedian Robin Williams!
www.BohemianBritain.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Rosemary Richards, director of the Bloomsbury Festival, about Bloomsbury, coping with COVID, filming live events and the future. Broadcast on 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4 FM.
See the live interview below and on the Maverick Theatre Company's YouTube channel.
Well! It's been a weird and often tragic 2020. So Nick Hennegan put out a call on social media for Literary Requests for his Resonance 104.4FM Radio show. And here is the first episode of his listeners rather eclectic choice.
Featuring the theme music from A Christmas Carol by Robbie Williams and a beautiful version of a Dylan Thomas poem by Cerys Matthews.
Contact Nick on radio @ MaverickTheatre . co . uk if you'd like a mention!
For his Resonance 104.4FM radio show, Nick Hennegan talks via Zoom to American writer, Eric Chase about Edgar Allan Poe.
Nick Hennegan's 'Literary London' radio show returns on Resonance 104.4fm and Nick Hennegan talks to Torin Douglas about the Chiswick Book Festival, its Writers Trail and why Chiswick in West London is considered one of the most literary places in the world!
Writer Nick Hennegan talks to writer Lucinda Hawksley about her relative - Charles Dickens, for his Resonance 104.4fm Radio show - Literary London.
Nick Hennegan talks to Irish poet Cahal Dallat about taking the John Hewitt Festival online for the first time, and Chiswick in West London, perhaps one of the most 'writerly' place in the world!
The British actor Oliver Reed was huge in the 1970's and had a reputation as a 'hell-raiser'. But was it deserved? As we launch a new Literary Pub Crawl in Wimbledon, London, Oliver's birthplace and home, Nick Hennegan looks at his career and talks to locals about the REAL Oliver Reed.
Writer and director Nick Hennegan celebrates the life and work of T.S. Eliot, on his weekly London radio show on Resonance 104.4fm
Nick Hennegan on his Resonance 104.4FM radio show Literary London, celebrates the bi-centenary of the birth of American poet Walt Whitman.
See more at www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Henneganmarks the passing of David Bowiewith music from Clifford Slapper; celebrates J. R. R. Tolkienand The Lord of the Ringsand talks theatre and Ken Campbellto Ken's daughter Daisy.
Nick Hennegan celebrates the 10th anniversary of the death of theatrical maverick Ken Campbell, with his daughter, Daisy. Features parts of her hilarious one-woman show ‘Daughter of Pigspurt’ recorded live at the British Library.
Nick Hennegan goes to an underground drinking club in Soho for the launch of a new spoken word anthology. Contains adult themes and language.
Nick Hennegan talks backstage at the Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Festival, to singer and writer Melinda Hughes about her new album and fringe festival performance.
Before his appearance at Maverick Theatre's SpeakEasy Cabaret in London, Gavin/Greg talks to Nick Hennegan at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe about acting, the West End, writing, David Bowie, Thunderbirds, and Jeremy Irons!
The Chiswick Book Festival is a local London festival with a national profile. As it celebrates its 10th year, Nick Hennegan talks to festival director Torin Douglas about his career as a journalist and how the Festival came about.
www.MaverickTheatre.co.uk
Nick Hennegan talks to Guy Masterson and the cast of The Marilyn Conspiracy - a new play premiering at the Edinburgh Festival. What REALLY happened to Marilyn Munroe? Also news of new versions of Shakespeare's classics, Henry V-Lion of England and Hamlet-Horatio's Tale with Sir Derek Jacobi.
www.MaverickTheatre.co.uk
Nick Hennegan attends a brilliant Royal National Theatre revival of Absolute Hell - a play about a drinking club in Soho, London - then goes to a modern drinking club in London - the Poetry Cafe - to celebrate the third International Dylan Thomas Day!
www.MaverickTheatre.co.uk
Join Nick Hennegan for episode three of the London Book Fair - with writer Jon-Jon, a 'Walking Dead' TV show bar and find out which 60's icon turned down The Beatles as a backing band! @LondonBookFair
www.MaverickTheatre.co.uk
Join Nick Hennegan for his radio show 'Literary London' on Resonance 104.4fm. With The Bookseller Magazine, Brian Ferry and Annie Lennox singing Shakespeare!
Writer Nick Hennegan takes his mic to the London Book Fair and gets the stories behind the stories, as it were...!
Nick Hennegan, award winning writer and director, returns to Resonance 104.4Fm with his weekly 'Literary London' radio show. This week he celebrates Martin Luther King and hears from Irish writer, Sean O'Casey about 'The Plough and The Stars', currently playing at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.
Writer Nick Hennegan takes a personal look back at some of the creative highlights of 2017. It includes music from The Royal Court production of Road and the new version of A Christmas Carol and US politician Hillary Clinton talking about Russia, sexism, her political future and what George Bush said about Donald Trump's inauguration!
Nick Hennegan celebrates Christmas in Soho with some of the artists past and present who live and work there. Includes the fab Christmas in Soho song with Dusty O and The Soho Cares Singers, Guy Masterson with Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales and the Pogues, A Rainy Night In Soho. And Nick may relent and play that other famous Pogues Christmas tune!
Join Nick Hennegan for Christmas in a London Pub. With music and poetry from Cerys Matthews and new music from Robb Williams' acclaimed score from the new theatre production of A Christmas Carol. Nick also has late-night reminiscences with local Londoners from Hammersmith, Ireland and Notting Hill.
Links from this podcast -
Thanks to The Raven Pub and their staff - www.theravenw6.com
Cerys Matthews - http://cerysmatthews.co.uk
A Christmas Carol - www.TheChristmasCarol.co.uk
Robb Williams - Composer - Robb@iconik.co.uk
After 32 years, Gerry O'Brian is hanging up his beer glasses. On his last night at his beloved The Churchill Arms in Kensington, London, Nick Hennegan joins Gerry and locals, journalists, brewery workers and rowdy regulars for an emotional night in a London pub.
William Blake, Jah Wobble, Counting Crows, William Wordsworth, Dylan Thomas, Richard Burton and others! Nick Hennegan presents another Summer literary and musical mix-up.
Details at www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
We've celebrated the Summer Solstice recently in the UK. In response to numerous emails and other requests, writer and presenter, Nick Hennegan has complied an hour of poetry and music special to him. See more details, and why he made this selection, on the website podcast page at www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
On the occasion of International Dylan Thomas Day, co-ordinator and poet Mab Jones talks to Nick Hennegan about the day. And has some great insights and advise about how to live as a poet and writer in the modern world!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Alan Ginsberg was one of the seminal American 'Beat Poets' of his generation. Nick Hennegan looks at his life and plays some rare recordings - including the once hugely controversial poem 'Howl'
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Celebrating St Patrick's Day, Nick Hennegan introduces interviews from the past about famous Irish Writers Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Sean O'Casey.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan looks at Anthony Burgess' most famous work - A Clockwork Orange - with a podcast from the Anthony Burgess Foundation and music from the Stanley Kubrick film. First broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM - London's Art Station.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan celebrates the centenary of the birth of Anthony Burgess - with two guest podcasts! One from the International Anthony Burgess Foundation and another featuring the author himself reading the first chapter of his most famous hit 'A Clockwork Orange'.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan presents his weekly radio show on Resonance 104.4FM. This week he wants to hear from you about ASMR - and reads two short stories to celebrate the birthday this week of Charles Dickens.
This week on 'Literary London', join Nick Hennegan at the after show discussion from The Orchard Cafe in Ealing where writers, actors and audiences talk about the four new play extracts we played last week - and which can be heard on this podcast. And there’s a chance for you to vote for your favourite at AirPlayScript.com
We also celebrate Burns night. with a classic poem!
Four recordings as part of AirPlayScript.com
Nick Hennegan presents four play excerpts as part of a new radio play competition. Four plays were selected to be performed at the Orchard Cafe, in Ealing, London.
Hear ten minute excerpts of the winning shortlist...
NAT - THE DENTAL DOCTOR. Written by Jon Baker
SYSTEM FAILURE: Mission Number 5. Written by Leah Ashfield
THE EXPORTS. Written by James Elliott
FESTIVE SPIRIT. Written by Anna Ferris
PLEASE VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE PLAY. THE MOST POPULAR WILL BE SELECTED FOR FULL PRODUCTION IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE LATER IN THE YEAR. We'd ask if you could make a donation too, to enable us to fund the full production.
The after show discussion will be available here soon too.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Cast
Katie Wells - graduate of E15 and the voice of Rimmel, London!
Shaun Mendum - An Elmhurst boy, hot out of CATS.
Hillary Field - known to Ealing audiences for previous performances in 10x4
Claire-Marie Hall - worked opposite actors such as Ronnie Corbett, Caroline Quentin and Liza Tarbuck and just finished Panto in Manchester! Oh yes she has…!
Peter Sarasen - another local Ealing actor-laddy, just finished working with the BBC.
Fred Harris - local actor and good egg, now retired, but famous for PlaySchool and other iconic TV offerings.
Directed by Nick Hennegan
www.AirPlayScript.com
Nick Hennegan talks all things Dylan Thomas at the Wheatsheaf Pub in London - after a wreath laying ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
A classic tale for Halloween, by non other than Rudyard Kipling! His 1904 story, 'They'
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Writer Lucy Beresford talks to Nick Hennegan from The London Literary Pub Crawl about her new book Hungry For Love. She also talks about her sex-therapy, radio and TV career and how she started in the business.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan supported the first International Dylan Thomas celebrations last year. In 2016 he was involved with Dylan Day again, with the help of Literature Wales. Hear Dylan's 'Return Journey' and Nick chat to to a number of Thomas experts, including Hilly Janes and John Goodby as well as random artists and poets at The Wheatsheaf Pub in London, where Dylan met his wife and where the Dylan Thomas walks start. First broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM, London's arts radio station.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan supported the first International Dylan Thomas celebrations last year. In 2016 he was involved with Dylan Day again, with the help of Literature Wales. Hear Dylan's 'Return Journey' and Nick chat to to a number of Thomas experts, including Hilly Janes and John Goodby as well as random artists and poets at The Wheatsheaf Pub in London, where Dylan met his wife and where the Dylan Thomas walks start. First broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM, London's arts radio station.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks to writer Glenn Chandler, creator of the longest running TV Detective series in the world, Tagart, about his latest project, The Sins of Jack Saul, the story of a Victorian rent-boy!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Issy van Randwick, formerly of Fascinating Aida, about a festival at The Hampstead Theatre. Then (23 mins in) he visits Fitzrovia to talk about the Fitzrovia Centre and a charity event with Griff Rhys Jones.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick joins Will Derham, writer of Lost Ireland, and the Crane family, publishers of the book and owners of the new Chiswick Book Shop, on the day of the book's UK launch.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan ventures to Park Street in London's Southwark, to watch a professional production of Hamlet - in a genuine Elizabethan Theatre UNDER a modern office block! Artistic Associate Suzanne Taylor explains the remarkable story of how a group of actors and well-wishers managed to change the law in the UK a few years ago - and the future for the first Elizabethan Theatre on London's South Bank.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
On Valentine's weekend, Nick Hennegan descends on the Raven Pub in Hammersmith, London W6. It's late at night, but the locals like an eclectic mix of music and poetry, including Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Robbie Burns, Bryan Ferry, Annie Lennox, Lord John Wilmot, William Shakespeareand more.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks to Fiona Rule about her new book, 'Streets of Sin - A Dark Biography of Notting Hill.' Not just Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant but the Murders of John Christie, notorious landlord Rachman and a fascinating and colourful history of a special area of London!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan's Christmas show on London Art station, Resonance Fm, featuring Dylan Thomas reading his own 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' an unusual Charles Dickens Christmas ghost story, your requests and music from Cerys Mathews.
You may have heard of the Royal Academy in London. The RA is for painters. So what is the British Academy all about? Nick Hennegan battled through Mulled Wine to find out for Literary London!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
A crime fiction novel with a difference. The hero Detective is a carrot assisted by humans and a couple of fruits! Matthew Redford has written an unusual story and talks to Nick about being an accountant and a proud Bermondsey boy!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Join Nick Hennegan live at the Wheatsheaf Pub in Fitzrovia, London for the launch of a 'new' poem by Dylan Thomas. With Hilly Janes, Jeff Towns, Dylan's son-in-law, Trefor Ellis and actor Celyn Jones who wrote and performed Dylan in the film 'Set Fire To The Stars' withElijah Wood. And Dylan Thomas himself!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan travels to Bloomsbury to talk to about the Bloomsbury Festival, 2015. He's joined by new Festival Director Kate Anderson, Programmer John-Paul Muir and an old friend of the podcast, writer Louisa Tregus who is celebrating the first birthday of her book, The Lodger.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Natasha Pulley’s debut, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a magical novel set in Victorian London and Japan which features a mysterious Japanese watchmaker who can ‘remember the future’!
Discover more at www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Live from the Edinburgh Festival 2015. Part One - Actor, Producer and Edinburgh fringe veteran Guy Masterson.
Guy talks frankly to Nick Hennegan in the Assembly Room bar about being Richard Burton's nephew; the real Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin; Hannah Ellis; his career in Los Angeles and offers advice to anyone thinking of acting or bringing a show to the Edinburgh Fringe. Includes excepts of Guy's acclaimed recording of Under Milk Wood and Fern Hill, with music by Matt Clifford. For further infomation on Guy, see http://www.theatretoursinternational.com www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Tom Evans - New Magic - How to Live a Charmed Life. LLPC 037.
Nick is joined by ex-BBC technician, company founder and now author Tom Evans about how we can all find new magic and live a charmed life. That's GOT to be a goer!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.
Nick Hennegan Goes To Bedford Park! Torin Douglas and Father Kevin talk to Nick at St Michael and All Angels, Chiswick, about the Bedford Park Festival, the changing face of West London, religion in the community and their famous Irish son, W.B. Yeats. Features music from Torin's favourite script 'Shakespeare In Love' and Dylan Thomas reading his own poem and one of Father Kevin's favourites, 'Fern Hill'.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks internet grooming, sexting, sexism and some of the pressures teenage girls are facing today with award-winning journalist and TV presenter Suzanne Virdee. Suzanne deals with some of these probems in her new book and shows how tennage girls can be Fabulous!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
The Welcome Trust Book Awards - Nick Hennegan records live on the night, drinks Bellini's and gorges on Tapas! He also chats to some of the shortlisted writers including TV presenter and writer Dr Alice Roberts and has a rare interview with celebrated author Bill Bryson.
www.LiteraryLondonHQ.com
The Fitzroy Tavern is the legendary pub that gave its name to Fitzroiva - the bohemian centre of London W1, just north of Oxford Street. Between the wars Dylan Thomas, Augustus John, Betty May, Nina Hamnet were all regulars, as were Bud Flanagan, Tommy Cooper, Walter Sickert, Ralph Reader and the last Hangman in England at various times in its history!
Sally Fiber was born in the pub and talks to Nick Hennegan about her autbiography of the establishment.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, Alan Bennett, Kingsley Amis, George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf - just a few of the writers who loved and lived in the London Borough of Camden. Archvist Tudor Allen joins Nick Hennegan to talk about the origins of the Fleet River, Holborn and the pubs of Withnail and I!
Playwrights Ian Dickson-Potter and Robert Pope and White Bear Theatre Artistic Director Michael Kingsbury join Nick Hennegan on Literary London to talk about writing and producing their new play, The Dead Shepherd. The play looks at the life and times - and authorship - of William Shakespeare and looks at the myths behind the death of Christopher Marlow.
Literary London Podcasts
Since its creation over 40 years ago, London's Freedom Pass concessionary travel scheme has continued to grow in popularity and there are now over 1 million registered holders. Whether a fruit picker or forager, a rambler or angler, or simply someone who enjoys the quirky charm of a local pub, Bradt's new Freedom Pass book is the perfect read to help you get the most out of your Pass. Featuring 25 walks and days-out for Freedom Pass holders, the guide covers an area up to 25 miles from central London, all easily accessible by train, tube or bus. The authors, Mike Pentelow and Peter Arkell, are keen ramblers who can count walking the entire length of the Thames amongst their many adventures. Long time London residents, they are both members of numerous local organisations and societies and take Nick Hennegan on the Literary London Tour. Part One. See www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
With nearly 50 years experience in the newspaper industry, journalist James MacManus became a novelist. His latest book, Sleep In Peace Tonight, is a story of drama and romance, but combines truth to bring the London of the Blitz to life. Churchill, Roosevelt and his special envoy, the now forgotten Harry Hopkins, all star. James talks to Nick Hennegan about the book, his career and how he misjudged Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe.
Author and internet entrepreneur Joanna Penn joins Nick Hennegan to talk about self-publishing, changing careers, Harry Potter and the joys of creative self-employment.
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
At the end of the Dylan Thomas centerary, Nick Hennegan talks to the creators of the 'Dylan Thomas in Fitzrovia Festival', Griff Rhys Jones and Dylan's Granddaughter, Hannah Ellis. We talk about Dylan Thomas' legacy, copyright of his work, a proposed Dylan Thomas Day and a new foundation and how Dylan was an academic 'outsider.'
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks Richard Burton and Dylan Thomas to James Albrecht, Creative Director of the St James Theatre and actor Rhodri Miles who plays both characters in his one man shows. Jeff Townes joins in the conversation from the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea and talks about the excitment of successully bidding £120,000 at Sotherby's for the newly discovered Dylan Thomas notebook!
www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan talks and plays tracks from Soho writer and performer Celine Hispiche's 'Tiger Woman and the Beast' - a new musical about the late Betty May.
See Literary London.
Writer and producer Nick Hennegan is joined by Juila Bell, writer and creator of the Birkbeck Creative Writing Programme, Dave The Hat, of 'In Yer Ear' fame, and first time novelist, Radio Luxemberg DJ Bob Lawrence. They talk self publishing, an authentic voice and read extracts from their books.
Hilly Janes - daughter of artist Alfred Janes who moved to London with Dylan Thomas in the 1940's - talks about her new book 'The Three Faces of Dylan Thomas'. Also joining Nick Hennegan is Geoff Haden, ower of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea, Wales.
See more at www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Nick Hennegan visits comedian and producer Griff Rhys Jones' kitchen! From his home in Fitzrovia, London, Griff talks about Dylan Thomas, Fitzrovia, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester and the highlights of his centenary Dylan Thomas in Fitzrovia Festival.
This is the unedited version of the Resonance 104.4FM 'Literary London' Friday at 7pm radio show.
Nick Hennegan talks to Fitzrovia writer Sue Blundell, director Katie Merritt and the cast about Sue's new play, '189 Pieces'. It's about the 2,000 year old Portland Vase. The play premiers at London's British Museum.
This week Writer and Director Nick Hennegan is joined by Louisa Treger on her debut novel The Lodger - a biographical novel about author Dorothy Richardson, and a great London story.
Dorothy was a peer of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Set, and pioneered the new style of fiction which became known as stream of consciousness. She was the lover of H. G. Wells,as well as a feminist and bisexual, at a time when this was extremely taboo.
Louisa herself is an expert on Dorothy, having written her PhD about her – Louisa discovered lesser-known Dorothy while initially researching Virginia Woolf.
Nick is also joined by The Saison Poetry Library's Assistant Librarian, Pascal O’Loughlin from London’s Southbank Centre to talk about a new, FREE, Poetry e-loan scheme.
Former 'Eastender' Marc Elliott and former Dr Who actor Caroline Morris join Nick Hennegan in the first show after the summer break to talk about Scotland, writing and Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square.
Nick Hennegan, writer, director and producer of the London Literary Pub Crawl, is joined by artists and writers Nicholas Johnson, Claire Allfree and Richard Strange, who are performing or curating events at the London Southbank Centre's 2014 Literary Festival. Performances are based around William S Burroughs, Ray Bradbury’s 'Fahrenheit 451' and features one-time Camden vagrant alcoholic, writer John Healy.