The Everything Theatre Interviews: Recent Episodes
Everything Theatre
Already a successful website for reviews and interviews, we've recently taken to the airwaves with our first radio show. But if you can't listen to the show, we'll be bringing you the interviews we carry out there to our podcast series here
Lady Montagu Unveiled promises us a blend of Gossip Girl, Bridgerton, with dashes of Hamilton. What's not to like about that combination.
Throw in Thesy Surface, an actor with some fine pedigree, including a recurring role in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as the rather disturbing and monobrowed Margaret McPoyle. But she's given up the glamour of working in America to bring her one woman show to Camden Fringe. She reckons Lady Montagu Unveiled will be the hippest historical stage memoir in town, and who are we to disagree?
The show comes to The Courtyard Theatre for three performances only - 23/24th at 8.30pm and 25th at 1.30pm. Further information and bookings available here.
We grabbed five minutes with Alice Motta during the recent Camden Fringe Launch Party, firstly as we needed someone to take a photo of our little team who were there, but also so we could chat about her show.
Find out about her show and why she has stopped using an actual bath in her set!
You can read more about the show in a fuller interview we did with Alice here.
We first spoke to sisters Rosa and Maya back at the start of 2022, when they were preparing to take their new show, Experiment Human to VAULT Festival.
That festival was unfortunately cancelled, but not to bedeterred, they made alternative plans, including a short run in July of that year, which coincided with the heatwave that saw temperatures pass 40C and resultingin the first dates being cancelled as the venue was deemed too hot!
Two years on from it’s rather disrupted beginnings, Experiment Human is now an award winning show andwill be making its way to Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. It’s also doing a preview night at London’s Old Red Lion (28 July) for those not heading North this summer.
So it felt like a great time to catch up with two of our favourite people to find out how the show has changed and grown in that time, and whether this might finally be the time Benedict Cumberbatch finds himself in the audience face to face with himself on stage.
Experiment Human plays EdFringe 1 - 25 August, further information here.
There is also a London preview date on 28 July at Old Red Lion Theatre, tickets available here.
We first bumped into Anya Hope Birch as part of Act II Festival, where she was an Assosiate Producer. After bending her ear for an hour or so in the bar afterwards, it only seemed fair we should give her the chance to chat back on our podcast.
So that's how Anya, along with director Henry Roberts and writer Lucy Josephine, who collectively make up Mooski Theatre Company, found themselves as our latest guests, here to tell us all about their Camden Fringe show, Teach Me About Dying. It's a show that asks that all important question, what would you do if death turned up on your door unexpectedly?
Teach Me About Dying will be playing at Little Angel Theatre 20 - 24 August for Camden Fringe. Further information available here.
If you're going to call your show We Can Be Heroes, well, for many of us it's almost impossible not to follow that up with "just for one day" in honour of the classic David Bowie song.
But as Anna Krauze tells us, it has nothing really to do with that, but rather it's a newly written play about what it means to be a superhero. Which all sounds rather intriguing doesn't it.
Anna talks about the play that sees Peanut tell us about her brother, the superhero who was scared of the rain, thunder and just about everything else, so what makes him a superhero? We discuss this, why Edinburgh is still the aim for Anna, and what makes Camden Fringe such a great place to test out new work.
We Can Be Heroes plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 12 - 14 August, more information and tickets available here.
We have a soft spot for gig theatre, at least gig theatre when it is done right. So when Rona Johnstone and Katie Slater got in touch to tell us not just about their Edinburgh Fringe bound show, Mary: A Gig Theatre Show, but also that they had done some research into gig theatre as part of their degree course, how could we not want to chat with them about it all.
So, as well as telling us all about their show, based on Mary Queen of Scots, they also talk about what they feel gig theatre is. We may also disagree a little on their definition but we do agree that it shows just how varied the genre can be! We also get very close to begging them to bring the show to London, because we all want to see it now!
Mary: A Gig Theatre show plays at theSpace for EdFringe from 12 - 17 August. Further information and tickets available here.
We're joined for this week's edition by writer Niamh O'Donnell, director Anna Millington and RamPage Theatre AD and producer Rachel McKay, who are bringing new show Cianalas to King's Head Theatre at the end of July as part of Camden Fringe.
Cianalas tells the story of a community’s resistance to mass evictions during the Highland Clearances – one of the darkest moments of Scotland’s history.
We chat about why that title, how they all became involved with the show, and why fringe theatre is something we should all be out supporting.
Cianalas plays 30 & 31 July at King's Head Theatre - further information can be found here.
Our latest guest is Jessie-Wren Jacobs, who is getting ready to take her show, This Porno Does Not Pass the Bechdel test, to Edinburgh Fringe. Although before then, she is making a quick stop off at Camden's Etcetera Theatre in July.
Describing her show as a feminist tragicomedy, Jessie-Wren tells us what the Bechdel test is and why it actually doesn't have a massive amount to do with the show anyway. We also discuss sex education, the issues of teens being exposed to porn from such a young age and how this feeds into the show, and whether the show is suitable for her grandparents!
This Porno Does Not pass The Bechdel test plays at Etcetera Theatre for one night only on 5 July, then Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 19 - 24 August. More information can be found here.
Leah Brotherhead chats about her role in upcoming play, Some Demon, which takes us to an eating disorder unit.
We discuss what it's like to tackling such themes as eating disorders, the differences in playing on the West End and smaller intimate venues, and why you should never ask an actor what they are doing next!
Some Demon plays at Arcola Theatre from 14 June to 6 July, and then Bristol Old Vic from 9 to 13 July
This week we're talking all things Wandsworth Arts Fringe, which is heading back to the borough for 17 days and nights over June. Here to tell us more of what to expect is Festival Producer Cath Mattos, along with Dodomu's Tom Sargeant and Nataliya Kharina, who are Associate Producers taking charge of The Arches at St Mary's Church.
We chat about the festival and what to expect, what Associate Producers actually do, and some of the highlights to look out for at this year's festival.
Wandsworth Arts Fringe runs from 7 - 23 June, with over 100 events happening across more than 40 venues ranging from parks, streets, churches, estates, libraries, pubs, and dedicated performance spaces all across the borough.
Find out more on their website here.
Our latest guest is Sam Smithson, whose show, Taking A Love Pill At The End of The World, is about to open at The Hope Theatre.
As Sam tells us very early on, the show is very much all about what the title suggests, it's about two people who are given the option to take a love pill whilst the world is coming to an end! But thankfully, there's a lot more to it than that, or this would have been a very short podcast indeed.
We discuss the play and whether it is a metaphor for our need for instant gratification nowadays, plus Sam tells us about the live cooking that happens during the show, and whether it would be wise to turn up hunrgy!
Taking A Love Pill At the End of The World plays at The Hope Theatre from 14 May - 1 June. Further information and bookings can be found here.
Sierra Sevilla is a woman on a mission. And that mission is to convince us that spam (the food not the junk email) is worthy of another chance. For too long us Brits, as well as many other countries around the world, have scoffed at spam as just a cheap food from a forgotten era. But to Sierra it's much more than that, it's a memory of her home country, the tiny island of Guam, and it's a versatile one as well, as she plans to show us in her show.
That show is For The Love of Spam, where she talks about spam, what it means to her, and its connection with modern-day colonialism. And here Sierra tells us more about that, as well as does a good job convincing us that we really should give this food another chance.
This week we chat to Nicholas, Nieve and Nadia, who make up Midnight Circle. Having already made immersive shows based on Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, they are now turning their hand to M.R. James' Ghost Stories of An Antiquary, a series of ghost stories originally published in 1904, but here moved to the 1940s during the Blitz.
We chat about the show, what their immersive means to them this time out, just how scary it might all get, and why they want you to come along in period costume!Note: Due to a technical error (we forgot to plug a mic in) the interviewers voice is a little muffled, but we hope this doesn't distract from what is still a highly entertaining listen!
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary plays at Longfield Hall, Brixton, from 17 - 27 April, further information can be found here.
If your show is called Pansexual Pregnant Piracy, it probably goes without saying that things are going to get a little silly. And that's just what we got when we sat down with Eleanor Colville, Ro Suppa, Robbie Taylor Hunt, the trio who make up Airlock Theatre.
Pansexual Pregnant Piracy is the story of eighteenth-century pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, although it's probably not giving too much away to say that they have taken some artistic licence with the story and it may not all be entirely based on truth. But as they tell us, they want to tell queer stories that are also a whole lot of fun.
The show plays at Soho Theatre until 13 April.
This week's guest is Kieran Dee, one half of Moon Loaf. We're big fans of their work, so always pleased when we get the chance to chat with Kieran, although that's usually when we bump into him all too regularly at Lion and Unicorn Theatre. But this week was planned and recorded!
Moon Loaf are about to bring their latest show, Insult To Injury, to Lion and Unicorn. The show is a dark satirical look at social media and its moderators. So as well as chatting about the show itself, it seemed appropriate to ask Kieran his thoughts on social media, along with a question we ask quite a lot - what is it about Lion and Unicorn that makes so many artists want to hang out there?
Insult To Injury plays 2 - 13 April, more information available here.
We welcome back writer Nina Atesh to the podcast. Nina has appreared twice before, once to talk about her play The Drought, and a second time to discuss GrimFest. This time she is joined by director Chloe Cattin, the pair here to tell us about their latest work Horne's Descent, a dark new drama exploring the destruction of man, set against the backdrop of a broken England, trying desperately to pull itself out of the shadow of war.
We hear more about the play, what it's like putting on a show at Old Red Lion with its unusual layout, and whether we're going to get some glorious facial hair (spoiler alert: No).
Horne's Descent comes to Old Red Lion Theatre between 2 - 13 April, further information available here.
We've been massive fans of Conrad Murray's work for a number of years. His work with Batterseas Arts Centre's Beat Boxing Academy alone would be enough in itself, but Conrad has also devised shows that uses all his beatboxing and rap skills in creating new exciting ways to tell a story. So when we bumped into him at the recent OffWestEnd Awards, where he won for best TYA Production, it was a great opportunity to ask him if he'd like to join us on our podcast. And thankfully he said yes.
Right now he is working on a hip hop retelling of Romeo and Juliet, playing at Polka Theatre, aimed at a younger audience. He's also bringing Pied Piper back for a short run at Southbank Centre. On top of that, he has a few other projects in development, so there was an awful lot to pack in to our chat.
Note: We recorded this after he had just come off stage at Polka, and so you will hear a little background noise of the theatre going about its business! The sound also goes slightly odd for the final minute, apologies for that.
You can find out more about Romeo and Juliet here, and Pied Piper here.
When Mimi Collins moved to the UK from the States, she brought with her a little piece of Bespoke Plays, a theatre group dedicated to giving new writing the chance to be heard via their staged readings. Bespoke already put on readings in New York and L.A. but now Mimi has added a third string to their bow with London.
Their first show, Water Party, performed to a sold our Union Theatre and, if a taste of what may be to come, means we are in for plenty of amazing treats in the future.
We sat down with Mimi to chat about Bespoke, why staged readings are a great stepping stone for new writers, and what else they may have planned for 2024.
Burnt Orange Theatre is an award winning youth theatre company championing the voices of young creatives across London. They work collaboratively, consciously and cleverly to create new and boundary-pushing theatre for young people, by young people.
Right now, that includes their inaugural REP Company Season, which means taking a group of 16 - 21 year old's and putting them through their paces by working on not one, but two shows; The Tempest and Constellations. Both shows are then being taken to Drayton Arms Theatre from 23 April.
We caught up with one of Burnt Orange's founders, Rosie Thomas, to discuss what they do, what we can expect from the upcoming shows, and why in an ideal world, companies such as Burnt orange wouldn't even be required.
The Tempest plays 23 - 27 April, and Constellations from 30 April - 4 May
When we were offered the opportunity to chat to Leah Vassell about performing in Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, it seemed obvious that we really needed a woman to do the interview! So we asked Lucy Boardman, who had reviewed the show in Edinburgh in 2022. It probably helped that she had given it 5 stars at the time, and so was more than willing to take over the mic for this one.
She chats to Leah about what makes this show so incredible, why it's vital to have female role models and who inspires her.
Fantasically Great Women Who Changed The World is currently on tour. Further information, including venues and dates, can be found here.
For our latest podcast, we sat down with Joseph Derrington, who is getting ready to hit the road with Blackeyed Theatre, in their latest production, Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear.
Joseph will be reprising his role of Dr Watson, a role he first played in their production of The Sign of Four. This time out the show takes them from Bakers Street all the way to the bleak Pennsylvanian Vermissa Valley, all via stages in London, Dundee, Derby and Bath.
We discuss the show, what it's like playing such an iconic role, and why he is now compelled to keep the beard until his passport expires.
You can find more infotmation and tour dates for The Valley of Fear here.
Our first podcast guest of 2024 is Nell Hardy from Response Ability Theatre (RAT). RAT's new play, I, Lord, tackles the difficult subject of spiritual abuse. It's a term that perhaps many of us don't quite understand its meaning, but Nell helpfully explains what it means.
As well as that, we discuss what to expect from the play, what it is they hope to achieve with it, and why they are putting on an accompanying children's show playing at the same time, so you can bring your kids along for the evening and leave them in safe hands.
I, Lord plays at The Space from 13 - 17 February. Further information and bookings can be found here.
We were graced with two West End stars for our latest podcast, in the forms of Tanisha Spring and Dom Simpson, who are currently starring in Moulin Rouge.
Tanisha and Dom sat down with Lily Middleton to talk about their careers, offer some advice to those who want to fill their shoes one day, and just how you manage your life when you're working six evenings a week!
It wouldn't be Christmas without some festive horror to enjoy on stage. And this year that is being provided by Jacob Lovick & Jack Robertson, writers of Midwyntar.
To find out more, we caught up with Jack to chat about the show, how we should pronounce the title, and just why seeing the show on its final night could be a murderous occasion!
Midwyntar plays at Old Red Lion 12 - 22 December, more information and bookings can be found here.
This week we are chatting to writer and director Roxy Cook. Roxy's debut play, A Woman Walks Into A Bank, won the 2023 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, and is now about to be performed for the first time.
The play's initial idea came from an incident that happened to Roxy's grandmother, when she really did walk into a bank, but from there, the story is a work of fiction, exploring the consequences of what happened. Set in Russia in 2018, it is a look at Russia and the everyday people that we may easily overlook when we currently think of the country.
A Woman Walks Into A Bank opens at Theatre503 from 21 November. Further information and bookings can be found here.
This week we were joined by Megan Brewer and Mikko Juan, Artistic Directors of Halfpace Theatre Company. The pair are about to bring their new devised show Transit to The Space.
Drawn from the lived experience of marginalised artists, Transit explores cycles of violence and the toxic systems that push our communities to the margins. Dynamic, migrant-led company Halfpace Theatre comes out swinging with this devised physical theatre piece, asking how we keep ourselves alive in a world that does not want us and how far we have to go to reshape it into one that does.
We discuss the show, ask what devised theatre actually is, how you pitch a show with no script and why two Americans have come all the way to the UK to get involved with London's Fringe Theatre scene.
Transit plays at The Space from 28 Nov - 2 Dec, and will also be available to livestream on 2 December then available on-demand for two weeks. More information and bookings can be found here.
Joe Facer & Adam Sandy are founders and artistic directors of To The Ocean, a company aiming to build a collection of stories, within theatre, film and tv, exploring narratives rooted in reality but often existing in a world with a touch of the fantastical.
Right now, they are putting the finishing touches to Alex and Maggie Go Ghost Hunting, which will be playing at The Space from 31 October to 4 November, plus livestreamed on Friday 3 November and then available on-demand for two further weeks.
Whilst the title may suggest a straight forward ghost story, it promises much more, exploring sibling friendships and life for young adults in a Northern town that maybe hasn't seen the leveling up that has been promised.
We discuss this and much more in this week's podcast, available here and from all the usual podcast providers.
About the show:
In a sleepy South Yorkshire town, nothing of interest really happens. Except for Alex, and on the odd occasion, his sister Maggie. For them, this town is a perfect place to go ghost hunting (and that’s not because half of the residents look dead). But when Alex and Maggie begin their hunt, it’s their own personal lives and recent loss that comes back to haunt them.
Set in an old school hall, Alex & Maggie Go Ghost Hunting is the new play from To The Ocean that offers an authentic lens into life in a Northern town and a depiction of real ghostbusters (not really, Maggie doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing).
So join Alex and Maggie this Halloween for a night of spooky and paranormal encounters.
Tickets available here.
October is always the time when the ghosts and ghouls appear on the stage, and we are all for it here at ET. So it was a horrific pleasure to get to spend time with Nina Atesh and Jack Roberston, who are curating the second edition of GrimFest.
GrimFest is a celebration of all things slightly creepy. It first appeared in 2022 to fill the void left when London Horror Festival didn't appear. And with no LHF again in 2023, they have decided to bring it back for a second outing. But this time with Nina onboard to help take some of the strain.
We discuss the festival, the range of shows you can catch and why there really is something for everyone, even those who say they don't like horror, plus we muse on why we don't get this 365 days of the year and whether podcasting has helped grow people's desire for more of it on stage.
GrimFest runs from 17 October to 4 November at The Old Red Lion Theatre, and you can find out all the shows appearing here.
We've been big fans of Make It Beautiful Theatre since day one. We were lucky enough to catch their first ever show, The Co-op, and happily gave it all five stars in our review, and said we were "finding it hard to fault Make it Beautiful Theatre’s debut production and am already looking forward to their next one."
We've seen the team go from strength to strength, so were delighted when we got the chance to chat to Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson, one third of the team behind all their work.
Gabriel joined us to chat about their next project, The Nag's Head, their chilling take on ghost stories, and which will be playing at Park Theatre from 17 October (more info and bookings here)
Hear about the play, why they decided to venture into ghost stories, and just why pubs are the perfect setting.
We caught up with Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman for this week's interview. Daveed and Nobu are the creators of Choir!Choir!Choir!, and they are just about to bring the show to the UK from their homeland of Canada.
With Choir!Choir!Choir! they travel around the world bringing friends, foes, and strangers together to sing the greatest songs of all time. All you have to do is show up and they’ll teach you your parts!
So ahead of their Uk trip, we spend time with them to ask them about the show, how they ended up performing with Rick Astley, and how they plan to deal with that English reserved nature!
You can find out more about the show as well as all the UK dates here.
We chat to Harrison Cole, one of the founders of TheDefectors. Harrison and the Defectors team have recently completed a run atCamden Fringe for Defective Inspector: A Stitch in Time, the follow up to theoriginal Defective Inspector show. Next they are putting together Scratch n’Sniff, a scratch night at Bread and Roses Theatre as part of Clapham Fringe.
We chat about the success of the Defective Inspector shows,what to expect from the scratch night, and most importantly, whether they areever mistaken for the Bournemouth soul band of the same name!
Scratch n’ Sniff plays at Bread and Roses on 29 September,more information and tickets can be found here.
Our guest this week is Jacob Newton. You may have come across Jacob if you've ever been to Lion and Unicorn Theatre as he is very often one of the cheerful people greeting you as you head in for your next theatre fix.
But right now Jacob has other things on his mind, primarily, his debut play, Breast-baring, which will be playing at, well, you can guess where!
Breast-baring introduces us to Annabel, a woman who hides in the corners of parties, if she is even invited. Until Annabel discovers the story of Anne Bonny, a ferocious pirate, and an idol who will lead Annabel to... well, that is what you will find out if you go and see the play.
But before then, why not find out more by listening to our chat with Jacob. We talk about the inspiration behind it, why he no longer sits in cafes nursing one coffee all day long, and whether there will be any sword fighting - and if so, has that increased his insurance costs?
Breast-baring plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 26 - 30 September. Further information and bookings can be found here.
Our latest interview finds a change of host, as Amelia Braddick sits in the hot seat to chat with Alexander S. Bermange.
Alexander's latest work is I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical, which is currently playing at Wilton's Music Hall. But Alexander has a rich history in theatre, so we couldn't let him go without delving into his vast experience.
I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical is on at Wilton's Music Hall until 9 September, more information available here.
This week's guests are Writer Ewen Moore and director Elizabeth Huskisson, who are about to bring their show, Battersea Bardot to the studio at New Wimbledon Theatre.
Battersea Bardot is a one woman musical about the life of actress Carol White, who found fame in the 60s, including in the iconic Ken Loach drama Cathy Come Home.
We chat about what inspired Ewen to write this musical, why White's life and career make for an interesting story, and what it's like to create a one woman musical.
Battersea Bardot plays at Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre from 16 - 23 September. More information can be found here.
This week we are joined by Dodie Finamore and Kieran Dee, who are about to star in The Shatter Box, the latest play from Proforca Theatre, who we've been big supporters of over the years.
The Shatter Box is "a rollercoaster dystopian cat-and-mouse tango of interrogation, confession, staying alive and lying through your teeth", so there was plenty to ask about when we sat down with Dodie and Kieran.
We talk about the play, what it's like for an actor to perform in the round, and discuss why The Lion and Unicorn Theatre is a place where artists always seem to be.
The Shatter Box plays from 5 - 16 September, more info here.
This week we were joined by three of the team behind Friction Burn, which is playing at The Hope Theatre from 20 August as part of Camden Fringe.
The three were Sophie Faurie, who wrote and will be acting in her play, Leah Bonaventura, who directs, and Grace Bown, who co-composd the music with Sophie and plays fiddle for the show.
We chat about the play and how the theme of suicide developed without Sophie realising, how music can play an important part within a show without it actually being a musical, and whether there is the risk of tripping over the audiences feet in the tight space that is The Hope Theatre.
Friction Burn plays at The Hope from 20 - 23 August, with tickets available here. The show will also be playing at The Space in November, more info here.
This week we handed the mic over to our wonderful Lily Middleton who chats with Jak Malone. Jak is currently starring in the West End smash hit Operation Mincemeat, a show that begun life in fringe theatre (our first review for the show was way back in 2019), so we're very proud to see how it has grown and grown in that time to now be the West End success. And it's just announced another extension that will take the show into 2024!
Jak talks about how he first became involved with the show, why he wants to one day do a play where he can sit down for a rest, and how the show's fans have helped in discovering more about the woman at the heart of the show. He even shares a strange story that he has never told anyone before!
Operation Mincemeat is playing at Fortune Theatre, and is now booking through to 2024. Further information and bookings can be found here.
This week we were joined by Amy Tickner and Gabriele Osella from Act II Festival, who are just about to hit Camden Fringe with their new show Neverland.
We met Amy and Gabriele earlier this year for the Act II Festival that played at The Space, a collection of 12 short plays created by young artists, all under the guidance of the organisers.
Neverland sees Amy and Gabriele continue the success of the festival by inviting a group of young creatives to devise a play for this year's Camden Fringe, all from an initial idea of a play about a music festival.
We chat about the show and how it is all coming together, plus we look back at the Act II Festival from April and find out about where some of the shorts featured have gone on to already.
Neverland will play at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 2 - 5 August at Lion and Unicorn Theatre - further information and tickets available here.
This week's guests were Fergus Head and Michael Zwiauer from Face Oddity, who are about to take their latest show This Isn't Working to Edinburgh in August, with a quick stop off at Canal Cafe on 29 July before that.
We caught up with the pair to discuss the show, how they manage to put it all together when you've got a team of writers all bringing ideas to the table, and why sketch shows should really be more common at the theatre.
This Isn't Working plays Canal Cafe 29 July - more info here before moving to Edinburgh 4 - 19 August - more info here.
Ahead of two nights at Applecart Arts on 7 and 8 July, before then heading up to Edinburgh for August, we caught up with Monia Baldini to find out what Be My Guest is all about.
We discuss the show, where it came from, why she writes in English even though she is Italian, and how audiences vary from country to country. Plus a whole lot more.
Our latest guests on our Runn Radio show were Nicky Diss and Vicky Gaskin, Artistic Directors of Open Bar Theatre. This summer they are taking two of the bard's finest works on a tour of Fullers pub gardens, come rain or shine.
We chat about the originals of the company, why pub gardens are actually the perfect place to perform Shakespeare, and how they cope with the variables of the British summer weather! We also discuss why their casting process allows them to cast their net wider and hopefully results in a greater diversity of actors than would be the case if they followed more normal processes.
Romeo and Juliet and Twelth Night will be touring Fuller pub gardens from 3 July until 15 September. You can find full details of venues and shows here.
This week our guest on our Runn Radio Show was Molly O'Gorman, the writer of new musical Ghost Light. This new musical that tells the story of a washed-up child star named Kat trapped in a cycle of emotional and financial abuse, and the toll that the nature of being a woman in the public eye takes on her mental health. When her sister returns and finds Kat at her lowest, dissatisfied with her own life, she has to decide whether to go back to the world that destroyed her.
We chat with Molly about the show, and why the portrayal of mental illness on stage can sometimes be done in ways that are not realistic. We also talk about the joys of making fringe theatre and how having to make a show on a very limited budget can often lead to some very inventive ideas.
Ghost Light comes to The Hope Theatre 11 - 29 July. Further information and tickets available here.
Tom Derrington has been writing a monthly diary for Everything Theatre during 2023, giving a fascinating insight into what he gets up beyond actually writing plays. So when he informed us back in March that it looked like he would be putting a play on in London soon, we did get rather excited. As soon as it was confirmed that his play Bounce would be coming to Lion and Unicorn Theatre in June, we quickly asked him to be a guest on our podcast. Thankfully he said yes!
Bounce
Jesse is electric! A self-made millionaire, motivational life coach, best-selling author and showman. He travels the world, helping tens of thousands of people to uncover their true purpose and take control of their destiny. But when a young man living with depression is transformed during one of Jesse’s intense live events, things quickly unravel. Sylvia, his mother, is desperate to find out what happened to her son. Unable to understand, she books herself a ticket, takes a seat in the front row and seeks to uncover the answers she needs.
Bounce plays at Lion and Unicorn 6 - 10 June, tickets available here.
Lucinda Coyle and Samuel Xavier join us this week to talk about their show Our Last First. On first glance, it may seem a simple love story, but it doesn't need much digging to discover why this is so much more. For a start, it's written without any character features, so no gender, age, appearance, or anything else that might usually be used to place a character into a particular category. And then to mix it up even more, all four actors are cast each evening for any of the four roles, which means the show could, and will, be different every night as the dynmaics between characters change.
There's a lot going on, and so we try to cover it all as we chat to the writer (Lucinda) and director (Samuel) on why they choose to set the bar so high, whether this makes rehersals a whole lot harder, and just what this means for the audience.
Our Last First comes to The Space on Canary Wharf 6 - 14 June, bookings here. The show will also be livestreamed and available on demand for two weeks afterwards.
Our latest guest on our Runn Radio show was Georgie Bailey, well known on these pages for his work with Chewboy Productions. Their latest show, these words that'll linger like ghosts till the day i drop down dead comes to The Pleasance from 13 June, so it seemed the perfect time to sit down and ask the one question that is surely on everyone's lips - why on earth have you given your show such a long title?!
But we do more than just moan about the length of that title, we also discuss what the play is all about, whether due to its space themes if there will be any zero gravity special effects and what else Chewboy are planning for the year. We also get a little history about how Chewboy came into being, something we cannot believe we've never actually asked when he has been our guest before.
About these words that'll linger like ghosts till the day i drop down dead
Two living, breathing people face each other in a theatre space. One is here to help. The other is here for redemption.
These words that’ll linger like ghosts till the day I drop down dead is a brand-new experimental play from the multi-award-winning playwright Georgie Bailey, exploring the things we wish we’d said to those that have left, how effective art is as a coping therapy mechanism, how we manage grief and how ultimately, we can never change the past no matter how hard we try.
Our latest guest is Sarah Thom, who has been working in theatre for over 30 years. She is currently putting on her own one woman show, Beak Speaks, which she describes as an "homage to the fringe". The show finds Gillian Beak putting on a masterclass for actors, and as you will hear, is very much based on experiences she has had in her career, all wrapped around a story about Gillian's life.
The show was first performed back in 2017 at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and only returned this year after a chance encounter with the AD of The Hen and Chickens Theatre. And after a very successful run, she has been invited back for another week's run (9 - 13 May). Tickets are available here.
We chat with writer Andy Walker and director Lesley Manning as they prepare to bring their new show Happy Hour to Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
Happy Hour finds Jacqui confronting her inner demon, who happens to be called George, and who is constantly tempting her to keep drinking. As we hear, whilst a work of fiction, the play comes from Andy's own fight with drink, although he has been sober for a few decades now.
The play comes to Upstairs at the Gatehouse from 16 - 28 May
We first came across Ruby Shrimpton when she brought her show Unstitching to Camden Fringe in 2022. The show is centred around Ruby's love of the Eurovision Song Contest, although as with all great theatre, that is just a starting point for something much more fulfilling. We said about the show at the time "when you accept the randomness of it, it can be genuinely enjoyable and unironic fun."
The show was written long before it was announced that Liverpool would be the host for the 2023 edition of Eurovision. But as Ruby tells us, coming from Liverpool, how could she not want to have the opportunity to put her Eurovision loving show on as part of the city's celebrations around the contest. Which is exactly what is happening when she takes the show to Liverpool Arts Bar in May.
So it was a perfect time to chat with Ruby about the show, more about how she got involved with Liverpool's celebrations and what else she might have planned, both for the show and herself, in 2023.
As well as Liverpool, the show will also be playing at Brighton Fringe Festival (22 - 24 May), London's King's Head Theatre (29 May & 2 June) and Edinburgh Fringe Festival (14 - 22 August).
Back at the start of 2022 we spoke to Maya and Rosa from Hooky Productions, who were deep in preparations to take their show Experiment Human to VAULT Festival. A few days after we recorded the interview the festival was cancelled!
Thankfully it didn't stop them, and the show found new places to play throughout 2022, including Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It also picked up a few awards on its travels, including our own Ettie Award for best comedy.
The show is now back for 2023, and following a brief stopover at this year's VAULT Festival it will be making its way to Oxford this week before making its way to the South coast for Brighton Fringe in May.
It therefore felt like a great time to catch up with Maya and Rosa to find out just what they have been up to since we last spoke, and whether they ever worry that Benedict Cumberbatch has somehow placed a curse on them for what they may or may not do to him in the show.
You can find out more about the show and upcoming dates on their website here.
Our guests this week are writer Andy Walker and director Leslie Manning, chatting about their upcoming show, Happy Hour. Happy Hour is a comedy/ drama about Jacqui and her relationship with drink, and her demon George who encourages her to keep drinking.
As he tells us, Andy has been sober for 40 years now, but has tapped into his past to write this play. So we obviously have to discuss that, and why they decided to make the protaganist female and not male then. We also chat about how his background in animation means he writes very visually, and how this helps or hinders Leslie when it comes to directing his work.
Happy Hour plays Upstairs At The Gatehouse from 16 - 28 May. Further information can be found on the venue website here.
Happy Hour
Jacqui has a problem: herself.
She’s controlled by an internal demon named George. George is everything Jacqui would like to be: funny, attractive, sociable.
But George’s purpose is tempting Jacqui to drink alcohol. Jacqui doesn’t need much tempting. And drinking is killing her.
Jacqui needs to break free from the self-slavery of addiction and regain her soul. However, George isn’t prepared to free his captive without a titanic struggle.
HAPPY HOUR tackles a truly universal subject – alcohol addiction – with an imaginative blend of comedy and drama.
Our latest guest is Aaron-Lee Eyles. Aaron-Lee is no stranger to Everything Theatre, having reviewed for us in the past inbetween working on his own shows. And his latest show is Mi$fortune, which tells the tragic story of Billie-Bob Harrell Jr, an American lottery winner, who quickly found that winning big isn't always that good. The show started life a couple of years ago under a different title, and we actually spoke to Aaron-Lee about it then. So this time around we recap the show but also discuss what has happened in the two years since. It's a great insight into the lifecycle of a play.
Mi$fortune comes to Golden Goose Theatre from 18 - 22 April, further information can be found here.
About the show.
Texas, Summer 1997. Home Depot worker and devout Christian Billie-Bob Harrell Jr. wins big on the lottery, $31 Million big. The months that followed surely changed his life, but not in the way you might imagine. What many would expect to be a life-changing miracle for a humble family man unravelled into a fatal battle of faith vs pride.
From Unmarked Theatre, whose previous work has been described as 'experimenting with form and structure in ways traditional theatre probably never will' (Everything Theatre, 2022) comes MI$FORTUNE - a bold exploration of one man's tragedy told through physical theatre, improvisation & song.
Our guest this week is Jonathan Oldfield. Jonathan is bringing his new show, One Way Mirror to The Pleasance from 24 April. The show is about his experiences of watching people through the one way mirror that is the frontage of the solicitors office he has been living in as a guardian since 2019. This means people outside see their own reflection in the office windows, completely unaware that on the other side is actually someone's front room. It sounds far fetched, but it is completely true, as you will hear.
We chat about why he found himself living in such an unusual place, how the show devleoped from this, and we of course have to touch upon whether he feels a voyeur as he watches people outside, and whether he feels like the wildlife cameramen who film but never interfere with what is happening.
This week's guest is Amy Tickner, Artistic Director of Act II Festival. The festival returns to The Space on 8 and 15 April, and so it seemed a great time to sit down with Amy to find out what it's all about.
ACT II is a creative programme bridging the gap between student theatre and the industry. They provide a creative development programme for London Students, giving them access to skills workshops, Q&As, and tips from those currently working in the industry. The festival encourages London’s students to work alongside one another, creating a London Student Drama community that does not discriminate one institution from another.
We discuss the festival and what it offers new theatre makers, whether that be writers, directors or actors. Plus why The Space is such a great fit to host the festival, and just what we can expect if we come along to see the shows.
You can find out more about Act II on their website here. Tickets for the festival can be found on the Space website here.
This week we were joined by writer Molly Anne Sweeney, whose latest play, Decommissioned, is coming to Pleasance Theatre in April. It's a funny and confronting play about how we're meant to care for children, fall in love and stay sane while tackling the climate catastrophe.
The play was inspired by the true story of Fairbourne, the Welsh village that has been earmarked for "managed retreat" due to authorities deemed it unsustainable to defend, given predicted sea level rise. The best estimate was that the area would be abandoned between 2052 and 2062.
We chat about the play, and why climate anxiety is something that we are instilling in children. Plus we discuss whether there is a risk that with so many plays tackling climate change, whow we avoid becoming bored of the message.
Decommissioned comes to Pleasance Theatre between 10 - 15 April, and it is then hoped that it will be toured later in the year. Tickets for Pleasance are available here.
This week's guests over on our Runn Radio show were Zena Barrie and Michelle Flower, who between them set up Camden Fringe back in 2006. Since then it's grown and grown, and is now a vital cog within the Fringe Theatre calendar.
We chat about its history, but more importantly, how people can get involved this year.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe on their website here. You can also hear more from them on their own podcast, available from all the usual podcast providers, including Spotify here.
This week's guest is Matthew Jameson. Matthew is most well known as being part of the team at The Space on Canary Wharf. But as well as his day job, he has also been busy writing his play, Ten Days. Well, we say busy, but as he tells us, it has been ten years in the making!
Ten Days is a slice of intensified history, based on the memoirs of those that lived it and adapted for 2022. An epic, comic, political thriller from journalist John Reed as he follows Lenin, Trotsky, Tsar Nicholas II and (of course) The People of Russia from the February uprising through the Storming of The Winter Palace in an action-packed, ridiculous and urgent retelling of ten days that changed our history and shook the world.
As well as discussing the play, we also find a little time to talk about The Space, and some of what they have been up to.
Ten Days plays between 14 and 25 March. The play will also be livestreamed on 23 March and then available on-demand for two weeks afterwards. Further information and bookings here.
Improv theatre is a genre of theatre that both scares and excites us, although probably more scares if we're being honest. But luckily we aren't the ones getting up on stage each night having to think on our feet and come up with funny and surreal scenario’s. Instead we can leave it to the pro’s who in this case are Pinch Punch Improv.
Pinch Punch are bringing their latest show, Locomotive for Murder, to the VAULT Festival on 4 and 5 March. And before then, they found the time to sit down with Lily Middleton to chat about the show and how you go about devising an improv show.
(We apologise for the slightly grainy quality of the recording on this one, but hopefully it won’t distract from your enjoyment).
You can book tickets for the show here.
We are massive fans of the VAULT Festival, which takes place over January to March each year. It's grown year on year, and in 2023 will be hosting over 500 shows, ranging from theatre, comedy, cabaret and anything else you can put on in one of its many spaces.
But they have now been informed by the venue landlord that their lease is not being renewed for 2024, and so they are now seeking a new home for the future. So we wanted to give them the chance to explain what is happening and why they are seeking to raise £150,000 by the end of this year's festival to ensure their future.
Bec Martin, Head of Programming, found the time to chat with us about all this, and whilst we had it, it would have been a waste not to also ask her about some of her highlights of this year's festival, and how people can go about applying to be part of the future festivals.
We were joined this week by Laura Sampson, whose show, Hide, will be playing at VAULT Festival Saturday 25 February, and then Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 March. Tickets are available here
We chat about the shows themes of identity, and how the show mixes together fairytale and modern day, using the Lindworm story as an analogy of Laura's own life. We also discuss spoken word and story telling in general, and why it can such an incredibly powerful device when done right.
About Hide.
There’s a legend that says the power to shed one’s skin was given to snakes by accident: the gods meant it for us. But instead of being able to shuck off each identity as we grow out of it, our human skins layer up and harden into leather – a Hide, to hide inside.
Inspired by timeless folktales such as THE LINDWORM, Laura Sampson will speak of the challenges she faces as a person of mixed heritage. Is that story’s monster-prince, tricked into shedding his hide to reveal what’s underneath, a way to understand the protective layers of identity Laura’s grandparents had to build when they first arrived in England from Trinidad & Tobago?
What is the cost of growing a thick skin?
About Laua Sampson
Laura Sampson is a performance storyteller and writer whose mixed heritage and myth studies have led her on many adventures. Recent London credits for adult audiences include THREE-CROSSING RIVER (White Conduit Projects), WOMEN WHO GAVE NO FUCKS with Story Jam (Rich Mix; Tobacco Factory), and LEGEND OF THE BURNING BELL (British Library), plus appearances with top storytelling collective The Crick Crack Club. Previous collaborations with Sam Enthoven include THE OLD BLACK DOOR (RADA Studios) THE NEW MIRROR (Bloomsbury Festival), and DEADTOWN (AMP Studios, also with Andrea Aste).
Our latest guest on our Runn Radio show was Stephen Leach. Stephen is the writer and director of Can't Wait To Leave, his debut full length play that will be coming to Waterloo East Theatre from 21 February.
Can't Wait To Leave introduces us to 19 year old Ryan, a school drop-out and turkey sandwich enthusiast. New to London, when the one person he thought he could rely on ups and leaves, Ryan finds himself adrift in a city he still hasn’t learned to like, looking for direction.
We discuss the play and its inspirations, the joys (and pitfalls) of being both the writer and director, and what the auditioning process is like.
You can find out more about the play and book tickets here.
Our latest guest on our Runn Radio show was Mahad Ali, who joined us to talk about his play My Brother's Keeper. Based in a seaside town, two brothers find themselves living in a hotel whilst awaiting a decision on their refugee status. But it is not just a story about refugees, it is a story of love, pain and learning in building community. It's certainly a timely play in today's climate, even if Ali begun writing in back in 2016.
We discuss the play and its themes, the issues facing both refugees and the towns that often find themselves hosting large numbers of refugees. We also chat about Theatre503, and why we need more risk taking within theatre if we want to see it thrieve.
My Brother's Keeper plays 14 February - 4 March at Theatre503. Further information can be found here.
Our latest guest on our Runn Radio show was Claire Parry. Claire is about to bring her latest show, Boorish Trumpson to this year’s VAULT Festival. In it she plays Boorish Trumpson, a power-grabbing rehearsal conductor who will stop at nothing to gain ultimate control over the orchestra. Now whoever could she be thinking about with that character and his unpleasant traits?
We discuss the show and how the audience are all part of her orchestra (no musical knowledge required, so don’t panic), why you don’t really need to know much about politics to enjoy the show, whether we should be allowed to tell young children to never vote Tory (spoiler alert, we agree it should be compulsory) and why Arts Funding is never enough for what it delivers in return!
Boorish Trumpson plays at VAULT Festival 11 and 12 February, tickets available here.
When we got asked if we would like to record a podcast with a theatre company based in Kyiv, Ukraine, well, you don't say no to that do you! So we tasked our reveiwer Dave Bushe with the task of making it happen, and that was how, on Boxing Day, he found himself on Zoom with Pro English Theatre, direct from their theatre which they have now rebranded as the Art Shelter, a theatre turned into a bomb shelter housing local elderly people, parents with kids and 8 cats. It really is quite remarkable that they could find the time to chat.
We talk about what they are doing right now, hosting a Christmas party, and how they worked with Finborough Theatre to put on shows both in London and then Kyiv itself.
Considering the situation the recording went remarkably well, except for one drop out in the middle where we thought we'd lost them for good, although thankfully it was just an internet glitch, and then as you will hear, the ending drops out suddenly just as we are saying our farewells.
Olivia Thompson on Fantastic Garland's La MaupinOur latest guest on our Runn Radio show was writer and actor Olivia Thompson from Fantastic Garland. Olivia's latest show is La Maupin, a folk punk play with songs, shining a light on a remarkable woman ahead of her time.
The show has already had one run at Lion and Unicorn, where we gave it a four star review, saying it was "bonkers and delightful". And the show is now back for another week from 31 Janaury, again at the always wonderful Lion and Unicorn. You can book tickets here.
It was therefore our pleasure to get to chat to Olivia to find out more about the play. We discuss what inspired her to write a musical about this real life French woman, how you go about finding actors who can also play a range of insturments, as well as asking whether musicals should be banned to help protect the NHS.
Our latest guest on our Runn Radio show is Eleanor Hill. Eleanor is heading to Vault Festival (31 Jan - 3 Feb) with her show Sad-Vents. The show grabbed our attention when we read the press release, especially it’s very clear notice that you are encouraged to get your phones out to take part. It was something that we really needed to find out more about.
Eleanor discusses the show, why she is telling people to come with phones prepared, why her trigger warnings are longer than War and Peace, and whether you can ever overshare on stage.
In her own words, Eleanor is "is a loud, brazen and darkly comic theatre-maker, who has decided to take some terrible things that happened to her and turn them into a play. Sounds pretty intense, right? But it is funny, she promises." And as we found out from our chat, she is also a delightful guest who we had so much fun talking with.
The show plays in the Cavern at The Vaults for four nights at 8.30. Further information and bookings can be found here.
If you want to support Eleanor develop her show further in 2023, you can do so via her GoFundMe page here.
You can follow Sad-Vents on social media via Instagram here and Twitter here.
Our latest guest on our podcast is Joe Strickland from Chronic Insanity. It's Joe's second time, as they previously appeared to talk about their Puncture The Screen festival earlier in 2022.
This time around We ae talking about All Falls Down, which is their show coming to Vault Festival 2023. All Falls Down is an an interactive and improvised storytelling show about a group of friends trying to make contact with civilisation, and survive in the wilderness, after a plane crash.
We find out more about the show and why it will be different every performance. Plus we discuss how you go about devising what is very much an improv show, how you deal with over eager audience members, and whether the venue of a shipping container has an effect on how the show performs.
All Falls Down will be at Vault Festival between 24 - 28 January 2023. Further information and bookings here.
This week our guests are director Lou Corben and writer Kate Webster. The pair are currently working on a new play Morveren, which is coming to Baron’s Court Theatre in January. (more info and bookings here)
Morveren is centred around a hidden coastal village where women make the rules and no one has to shout to be heard. It’s also a damn difficult word to pronounce, especially when none of us could quite agree on how it’s actually meant to be pronounced!
We chat about the play, their call out for people to be part of the choir, why Baron’s Court is a venue that is certainly on the up now, and how the director/ writer relationship works in rehearsals.
Our latest guests are Billie Grace and Zoe Glenfrom The Not God Complex. This is their second time on our podcast, having previously appeared to talk about What Makes A Body Terrifying, which was part of Camden Fringe 2022. We described that show as “abstract. Weird. Confusing” as well as “visually and aurally beautiful from start to finish.” You can read the full review here.
Their next show, All In Good Time, will be playing as part of Vault Festival 2023. time around they promise us a show about our different perspectives on time, with a dash of ADHD time travel, dodo’s, disco balls and no doubt a whole lot more. We have a feeling it could be as weird and wonderful as their last show!
We chat about the show and why they are so interested in the concept of time, what they learnt from Camden Fringe in the summer, and so much else besides. It was a joyful conversation filled with a lot of laughter.
All In Good Time plays at Vault Festival 24 - 27 January. Further information can be found here.
Our guests this week on our Runn Radio show were Stephen Smith (from ThreeDumb Theatre) and Scott Le Crass. Stephen and Scott are currently putting the finishing touches to their production of Harry's Christmas, which will open at King's Head Theatre from 6 December (playing thru to 24 December).
Stephen is someone we know well at Everything Theatre having picked up a catelogue of 4 and 5 star reviews for his previous work. He has now teamed up with director Scott to put on this Steven Berkoff play about lonliness and isolation. It's a play that, as we discuss, is as timely now as ever as it explores something that can be so easily overlooked at Christmas time, those people who spend it alone.
As well as talking about such themes and why the past couple of years has made this play even more relevant, we also chat about working together, and how easy it is for Stephen to hand over the directing to someone else, having self-directed much of his recent works.
The show plays at King's Head theatre throughout December, more info here.
This week's guest on our Runn Radio show was Aini Javaid. Aini is a 2022 Ambassador for SPID Theatre's Estate Endz Exhibition.
Over the last 12 weeks the young participants (13-25 year olds) on their ‘Estate Endz’ programme have been gaining skills in audio- visual with the guidance of industry professionals specialising in audio-visual and architecture. With social housing heritage and solidarity at the heart of the project, the participants have been curating audio-visual material which will contribute to an exhibition taking place on the iconic Alexandra Rd Estate, London (26th Nov-Tenants Hall) and the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum, London (27th Nov- Learning Centre/Art Studio).
We chat to Aini about the exhibition and her involvement, why SPID is such a vital organisation and fantastic in giving voice to youth, and why everyone should get involved with projects like this.
For our latest podcast, we’re chatting to Lemon Squeeze’s Sarah Archer. Sarah Is writer and director of Crunch!, which asks that age old question, what do you get when you cross a dead iguana, an employee with a very rare medical condition and the HR department in a high-end toilet factory?
We chat to Sarah about the play and how it came about from hearing of a bizarre employment tribunal case. Which obviously leads us to discuss how those involved in the real life case might react should they know they were the basis for this comedy drama! We also hear about why they are so excited to be bringing the show to Penge’s Bridge House Theatre, and why the model of that venue is one they hope to replicate by opening a new venue in Hove in the future.
Crunch! Plays at Bridge House Theatre 15 – 19 November, before heading to Royal Wootton Bassett on 2 December. Full info and booking links can be found on Lemon Squeeze’s website here.
We spoke to Jamie Sefton, writer and performer of A Thousand Sons back in 2021, just before the show played at Camden Fringe. It was a fascinating chat about this true story set over seven decades, charting the effects that being present at the atomic bomb testings in the 1950s has had on the men involved, and their families.
Since then we have reviewed the show on two occasions. Firstly at Camden Fringe 2021, and more recently at EdFringe 2022. Both times we were taken by its powerful narrative, stating that "it is clear that A Thousand Sons is achieving its goals: both theatrically and politically."
So when Jamie got in touch to say the show was back in London for a week at Camden People's Theatre, we thought it would be a great time to catch up with him to talk not so much about the show itself, but what's happened since we spoke last year. We chat about playing in front of just six people for one performance, why Edinburgh was such a success, and how nerve wrecking it was to put this show about veterans in front of a room full of them!
The show plays Camden People's Theatre 1 - 5 November, tickets available here.
This week's guest is Helena Collins O’Connor from We Are Bosstress. Helena joins us to chat about her show Auto-Engrain, which is described as "a harrowing and blunt re-telling of a woman’s experience of a past relationship and how she got to now. No sugar coating allowed."
We chat with Helena about the play's themes of toxic relationships, coercive behaviour and what theatre's role is in starting conversations on such subjects. We also chat about female masturbation, another theme addressed within the play, and why British audiences can be a little prudish when it comes to such topics.
Auto-Engrain is heading to King's Head Theatre between 15 - 19 November, tickets can be found here.
This week's guests are writer Nina Atesh, along with actors Andrew Callaghan and Jack Flammiger. Nina's play, The Drought, was the winner of 2021's London Horror Festival playwirght competition. From there it had its first run at King's Head Theatre in September, and is now preparing for a second run, this time as part of Old Red Lion Theatre's GrimFest season.
The Drought is a psychological horror/ thriller, set aboard a naval ship in the Victorian era. Except the ship is now on the seabed, as the sea has vanished. It's a fascinating premise, which we discuss in the interview, asking where it came from and why Victorian times? We also discuss what it is like as actors when you are involved in such an intense play, how do you unwind, and what happens when you forget your next line!
You can find our review of the play from it's King's Head run here, and book tickets for its Old Red Lion run between 1 - 4 November here.
For this week's chat on Runn Radio we had the immense pleasure of Linus Karp, making his third appearance. This time out we chat about his new show, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, which as you can guess, is very loosely based on Princess Diana. As Linus tells us, the untrue part of the title is the most telling!
As ever, it was a great pleasure to chat with Linus about the show, its origins, whether he fears any backlash from the easily offended, and how on earth he manages to look spookily like Diana in the show's trailer (which you will find on our website should you wish to check it out). Plus we talk touring, and his recent Edinburgh run.
Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story opens at The Pleasance in London on 8 November, before heading on a national tour thru to April, all the dates for which you will be able to find here.
Admit it, we've all done it, laid in bed in the middle of the night and thought to ourselves, what we really need is a potato based retelling of Faustus? What do you mean, you've never thought that? You must be on your own then.
So imagine our absolute joy when we came across Freddie Hayes's Potatohead at this year's EdFringe Festival. Because yes, this is what we'e been calling out for, this is Faustus, told by potatoes, with the help of other potato based foods. And as Freddie is now taking the show on a little tour of the country, we couldn't resist asking her along for a chat.
Find out just how she got the inspiration to dress up as a potato for her show, hear about her love of puppets and why she could be found crying in her potato suit one evening at Edinburgh!
You can find out more about the show and its upcoming dates on our website here.
This week’s guests are writer/ performer Andrew Houghton and director, Sami Sumaria from Pink Milk Theatre.
The pair joins us to chat about their show, Naughty, which is coming to The Hen and Chickens Theatre soon (27 Sept to 2 Oct), before heading to Salford (6 Oct), Hull (7 Oct) and Cardiff (8 & 9 Oct).
The play, a darkly comic, queer coming-of-age tale, had a successful run at 2021’s Camden Fringe, and is now back after some rewrites and further development.
In Naughty, we meet Andrew, just days after ending his seven-year relationship with college sweetheart, Jake, when he is messaged out of the blue by a former ‘friend’. This unwelcome advance triggers an emotional spiral as Andrew recounts his unstable first steps into the world of gay sex and queer identity; all under the increasingly imposing guidance of Kevin, a teacher at his drama academy.
Tickets for the London run can be found here.
For this week's interview, we went big. And by big, we mean we had five guests all at the same time. Those five consisted of the four cast members of upcoming musical, The Last Sales Conference of the Apocalypse, along with the show's choreographer. Remarkably, we didn't spend half the interview talking over each other.
The musical is the latest from Skitzoid Productions, in which Sam has just accidently initiated a nuclear missile countdown. How we just don’t know as Sam apparently works for a new start-up company. But we’re sure all will be explained in the show. And if that opening sounds bizarre, we have a feeling that is only the start of the madness, as from there, Sam passes out and we enter his subconscious, where he sees everything as a TV franchise and he is the showrunner. It’s certainly a show we are eager to see!
But for now, we get to talk to its four strong cast and choreographer, to find out more about their characters and how they got involved with the show in the first place.
The show plays at Waterloo East Theatre from 4 to 30 October, bookings here.
This week's guests are Sarah-Louise Young and Paulus, two cabaret performers fresh off successful Edinburgh runs with their shows, and who are now touring nationally (and quite possibly internationally) during 2022 and into 2023. Sarah Louise actually has two shows on the go, An Evening WIth Kate Bush and Julie Madly Deeply (described as a love letter to Julie Andrews) whilst Paulus' show is Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood, a homage celebrating the music of the late comedy genius and national treasure.
We discuss their love of cabaret before delving into each show some more, finding out why An Evening Without Kate Bush isn't so much about Kate Bush as it is about her fans, and why Looking For Me Friend is obviously not just a collection of Victoria Woods songs, but a journey through Paulus' love of her work.
You can find out more about An Evening Without Kate Bush here, and Looking For Me Friend here. Both shows are touring now and all dates can be found on the seperate websites.
Our guest this week is Kitty Cecil-Wright from Back To Back Theatre Productions. Based in Hampshire, they are focusing on touring plays around the South of England. Their second full production, will take in six venues across Hampshire and Dorset, from 28 September to 15 October.
We discuss the play, whilst skirting around the issues of spoilers! It is a play that clearly has a big twist coming so Kitty was very coy in giving too much away. We also talk about the difficulties, along with the joys, of touring a play like this. It's an interesting insight into what it can be like outside of our usual London bubble.
This week's guest on our Runn Radio show was Lydia Sax, who is the new Artistic Director of Barnes' OSO Arts Centre, as well as director of A Hundred Words For Snow, the debut play from new theatre company, In Her Element.
A Hundred Words For Snow was a big success when it first hit the stage around 2018, so we were more excited to hear about this revival. We chat to Lydia about why she wanted to make this play, whether there is ever any concern about reviving such a successful play, and what they are bringing differently to make this a worthwhile revival (spoiler: live cello and new graphical visualisations).
The play is on at OSO Arts Centre 6 - 11 September, more info can be found here.
This week's podcast was a little different to normal as we asked one of our reviewers along to just chat about theatre in general. Some might say it was because we weren't organised enough to arrange a proper guest, but we like to think it just made a nice change. You decide!
Dave Bushe was that lucky reviewer. Dave's only been writing for Everything Theatre since the start of 2022, but he has a depth of theatre knoweldge, having immersed himself in London theatre since moving back to the capital a few years back. So we discuss some of his favourite theatre experiences, from the West End to the best that the fringe has to offer, plus why he is seeking out that elusive Irish/ New Zealand cross over play.
Oh and we push him to say why it is so great writing for Everything Theatre, if only because it's free tickets!
This week's guest is Lisa O'Hare, a spoken word artist who is bringing her show, Do You Remember The First Rhyme? to Camden Fringe for one evening only on 27 August.
Lisa is what can only be described as a late entry into the arts. She didn't even consider she could be a performer until in her 40s. Then in what can only be described as utter madness, she decided in 2019 that she would put on a show at Manchester Fringe. Without any prior experience or either performing or of what is required to produce your own show. But she did. It was a success and she has not looked back.
Her new show is her life story told thru prose, from putting on shows as a child, the years inbetween when real life got in the way, and how she rediscovered her love of poetry and put on that first show.
Our chat with Lisa was truly inspirational, showing that it's never too late for anyone to do something that they really love. And best of all, we get to hear one of her wonderful pieces of writing.
Do You Remember The First Rhyme plays at Museum of Comedy as part of Camden Fringe on 27 August, further information can be found here.
This week's guest on our Runn Radio show were the team from the wonderfully named Not God Complex. They came along to chat to us about their Camden Fringe bound show, What Makes A Body Terrifying. The show plays at The Hope Theatre between 15 and 18 August.
Hear company founders Zoe Glen and Billie Grace, plus the play's director, Bethan Burke, tell us about the show, a queer exploration of two strikingly similar folk tales: the Slavic Rusalke and the Celtic Selkies. We talk about folk tales, and how just a subtle change of language can change the meaning of a tale completely. We also discuss why it is vital that we see representation on the stage of those less well represented.
As always, you can find out more about this show and everything else we do at https://everything-theatre.co.uk/
This week's guest is David Brady, returning for his third time! Which means we must be doing something right. David is Artistic Director of Proforca Theatre, who are the company running Lion and Unicorn Theatre. So as well as programming in artists to perform at the theatre, they also put on their own show.
And it's their latest show, FlashBang, David is here to chat about, although as always we get into other subjects, such as the art of lighting a show and what they have playing for Camden Fringe in August.
As for Flashbang, it's an exuberant, explosive and gut-punching rollercoaster ride through the ties that bind five best mates together and what happens to those friends when that world is blown apart. We've never been let down by a Proforca play in the past so it was a pleasure chatting about the next play, and just increased our excitement to be seeing the play in September.
You can book tickets now to see FlashBang when it plays at Lion and Unicorn between 6 and 17 September here.
This week we were joined by emerging theatre artists Steph McNeil and Helin Ekin. The pair have forged a great friendship, out of which they have become writing partners. And the first result of this new partnership is Hoops and Hookups, a dark comedy about sexuality, identity and family relationships.
Steph and Ekin are full of energy and abition, not just for this play but for where they will go next. So it was a joy to chat about not just the play, but what brought the pair together originally and what they hope to do in the future. We also have a rather heated debate about whether spaghetti hoops (the hoops of the show’s title) are an acceptable food item or not.
The show plays as part of Camden Fringe in August, taking in dates at The Cockpit, The Hope Theatre and Water Rats, a venue more use to live music than theatre! You can find further details here.
You can find more podcasts and written interviews, including some upcoming articles for other Camden Fringe shows on our website here.
CoLab Theatre are experts in the field of immersive theatre, creating shows that really do live up to the immersive tag. Their new show, The West, looks to be no different, taking us back to the Wild West into a township that has been decimated and needs rebuilding. And that's where the audience come in, as they become the townsfolk and can take on various roles to fulfil that aim.
So we were very excited when we got the opportunity to chat to Charlotte and Bertie from CoLab ahead of the show opening (previews from 13 July). We chat about what they see as immersive theatre, all about the show and what you can expect if you go along, and we even get to share with them a special delievery that arrived as we were recording! No spoilers, but it is strong stuff...
You can find out more about the show on their website here.
This week's guest is James Lark, who has written and composed a new musical, Infants. The show follows one day in the life of an infant school, where something bad has happened and the teachers are trying to stop the parents finding out. A cast of six play the children, the teachers and the parents. It certainly looks like it will be a lot of fun.
We chat to James about the show, musicals in general and why at times they may not be treated as seriously as they deserve, and we also touch on a little politics.
Infants plays at OSO Arts Centre in Barnes 14 - 17 July, you can find more info here.
This week's guest is Tristan Jackson-Pate from Cherwell Theatre Company. Tristan has written the company's latest show, Song of the Summer, a piece of gig theatre inspired by his time in bands around 2006.
We talk about the show and why Tristan feels it is very different to other gig theatre shows, as it is much more indie-rock based. Plus we talk gig theatre in general, and why it really is an exciting new genre of theatre, and why we need to find ways to bring kids into theatre both as audience and as future theatre makers.
Song of the Summer plays at Northampton's The Picturedrome between 11 and 28 August, more information can be found here.
This week's guest is Joe Strictland from Chronic Insanity Theatre Company. The company are currently putting the finishing touches to their Puncture The Screen Festival, which will play 16 and 17 July. It consists of digital art and performance, workshops, panel discussions, and educational opportunities for creatives and audiences alike. They will be presenting many of the works live, but also online and broadcast to various partner venues around the country.
And as if that wasn't enough to be keeping them busy, they are midway through their aim of putting on 12 of their own shows in 12 months. It's the third year they have attempted such a feat, and both previous years they have managed to go way beyond the 12.
So there was certainly plenty to chat to Joe about. And that's before we even touch on the fact they are also a magician!
You can find out more about Puncture The Screen here.
This week our guest on Runn Radio was 3Dumb Theatre's Stephen Smith. We've been big fans of their work since we first saw their online show Within towards the start of lockdown. Their ability to create inventive pieces with limited resources stood out from that first show. And since then, they have garnered a collection of wonderful reviews, not just from ET, but generally everyone who has witnessed their work.
So it was our pleasure to sit down and chat with Stephen to find out what their initial ambitions were, why their work has been so successful and what is next for them.
You can find links to current shows, plus many of their online creations on our website.
This week's interview is a rather more serious affair to normal - not that we don't take all our guests seriously and treat their shows with respect, but as regular listeners will know, we do tend to laugh a lot as well.
Not this week. Because Nathaniel McBride's Dictating To The Estate is a play that looks at the estate where the Grenfell Tower was. It doesn't look at the fire directly, but at the events that went on over the seven previous years as residents spoke out about the redevelopment that was planned for the estate, and which ultimately lead to the tragic fire.
Nathaniel talks about why he felt the need to write this play, and why he feels it is important to highlight the voices of the victims and those living on the estate. It's a fascinating insight into aspects of what lead to the fire that many people might not be aware of unless they had been paying close attention to the ongoing public enquiry.
The show plays 31 May to 12 June at Maxila Social Club, in the heart of the estate iteself.
Tickets are available here
SIxty-seven is the retirement age for most of us now. It's the age we will have to work to until we can claim our state pension. For those in their 20s it must feel a daunting thing to imagine, having to work until that age, especially if you are in a job that you don't enjoy.
Sixty-Seven is also the play by Tiny Theatre which is coming back to Lion and Unicorn Theatre in June. It had an initial, albeit curtailed, run at the end of 2021. They must have impressed though as they have been invited back.
Having reviewed the show during its 2021 run, we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up with Alex and Olivia from Tiny Theatre to ask them about the play, how it may have changed since last year, and whether they are anything like the characters they play
This week sees another returning guest to our podcast in Chewboy Productions' Georgie Bailey. And this time he has company in the form of co-artistic director, Hal Darling and Resident DIrector, Lucy Betts. The three tell us all about CHewFest, a week long celebration of some of the weirdest, whackiest flavours from early-career companies, dynamic new writers of all ages and bold screen work from some of the most exciting filmmakers in town.
The festival takes place at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 23 - 28 May. You can find out more on their website here.
This week we chat with Adam Hemming, the Artistic Director of The Space Arts Centre, a marvellous fringe theatre venue just a ston'e throw from Canary Wharf. Adam tells us what's involved in being an AD, what keeps him wanting to stay even after 18 years, and how well their recent excursion into putting on wrestling went!
We met Ian McFarlane back in 2020 when we spoke to him about Revellers Society. He is now back with Forever Oz, which, as the title suggests, is based on L. Frank Baum's series of books from which The Wizard Of Oz came. But rest assured, this is not a new stage adaptation of the film we all know and love, but instead is based on the second and third books in the series, along with some adaptations by Ian himself.
Ian's love of not just the Oz books, but Peter Pan are clear to hear as he tells us about the show and why his theatre company is called Big Adventure Productions. Plus we discuss why he the show will be playing at Barnes OSO Arts Centre 19 - 22 May, more information can be found here.
This week sees the return of Lily Middleton to interview duties, when she sits down with Split Infinitive Theatre to talk about their new show I Heart Michael Ball.
As you should expect from the best of fringe theatre, the title is only half the story, and it is not just a love-in for Michael Ball, but an exploration of loss and depression. But yes, there is also a lot of love to be had for Michael Ball - who we should add does not make an apprearance. Although if you are reading Michael, I'm sure they would happily have you along one night.
The show will play Brighton Fringe before returning to London for August and Camden Fringe.
This week's guest is Jack Condon, whose play If. Destroyed. Still. True is opening at The Hope Theatre in a few weeks time. As Jack explains, the phrase If. Destroyed. Still. True was one he knew from schoolddays and was surprised it wasn't widely known. He was originally intending to call the play I.D.S.T. until he realised no one knew what it meant!
As well as explaining the title, Jack tells us more about the plays themes of alienation and not quite feeling you belong in the place you were brought up. And we also talk about the play being filmed and his hopes that it can be shown in small communities who may connect with some of its themes and who may not normally have access to fringe theatre.
The show opens at The Hope Theatre 26 April until 14 May. Tickets can be purchased here.
This week we caught up with actor and writer, Will Charlton. Will is next to be found acting in Jumper at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre, a play set across two different times frames five years apart, the first of which finds him stuck on the underground on election night.
Will tells us more about the play, and what it is like to act in someone else's work when you are a writer yourself. We also discuss his own play, The Boys, which will be his next project as he prepares for its debut in June. About three men who flatshare but are struggling with the rent so turn to escorting, it obviously leads us to the question of "is it written from personal experience?"
This week we caught up with Helen Monks and Matt Woodhead from Lung Theatre. A campaign lead theatre company, there have recently launched Unmute, a monologue writing competition for 11 - 18 year olds.
We had a great time chatting about the competition, why they wanted to aim it at 11 - 18 year olds, and just what they might be looking for in a winning entry. And along the way we found time to chat about how the past two years have affected youths and why schools are sometimes scared to allow the kids to speak.
For our latest episiode, we sat down with playwright Andrew Sharpe. Andrew's play, The Spiral Path, has already received great reviews from its initial run at The Maltings Theatre, and it is now preparing for its London debut at the White Bear Theatre.
Andrew is of a more mature age to many of our guests on the podcast, having started writing later in life when he stopped practicing law. So it was interesting to chat about fringe theatre from that viewpoint. And of course, being an ex-lawyer, he takes his time to lay out his thoughts very clearly. We also discuss the pure joy of seeing your play performed for the first time, having left it fully in the hands of his director.
The Spiral Path opens at White Bear Theatre on 22 March for 5 nights and a matinee. You can book tickets here.
This week we chat to David Brady from Proforca Theatre, about their latest play Volcano. The play follows Max on a 12-hour odyssey across London that will change his life forever.
Made in collaboration with Georgie Bailey from Chewdog Productions, who have also been guests on this podcast (ep 1), we talk to David about the play, working with Chewboy, and whether he has succeeded in his aim to direct a play without any set or props.
And we also find time to discuss the difficulties of taking fringe theatre outside of London, and just what we might need to do in the future to make it possible.
Volcano plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre between 8 and 12 March. Tickets are £14 available here.
We enjoyed chatting to Aaron-Lee Eyles last year so much that we didn't hestiate to invite him back for a second time when we heard about his new show, DeFriest. And this time he brought along his lead actor, Jay O'Connell, to join in the chat.
DeFriest tells the story of real life Mark DeFriest, an American who has spent much of his adult life in prison, even though it has been widely argued that his crimes have been as a result of his mental health, and his first crime was one that really feels like it should never have resulted in being locked up anyway! Along the way he has been credited with having made 13 escape attempts, 7 successfully.
We chat about how Aaron-Lee first came across Mark DeFriest, and even made contact with him to ask permission to tell his story on the stage. Plus whether there is a risk of glorifying the story simply for entertainment values, or whether telling such stories is important to raise awareness.
DeFriest play at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 15 - 19 March.
Noga Flaishon makes a welcome return to chatting with us about Harpy Productions' latest show, Lethe. As weith much of their work, it's set in a future dystopian world, where you can now have bad memories erased permenantly. But at what cost?
Lethe was scheduled to play at Vault Festival, and this interview was recorded ahead of the festival's cancellation. At the moment there are no confirmed dates for the show, but we suspect that won't be the case for long.
in the meantime, hear us talk about how influencial Black Mirrors is to Noga's work, the experiences and joy of putting on a night of horror shorts with The Fright Before Christmas and we make another attempt to convince her to watch Dark on Netflix.
Paper Mug Theatre may be fairly new, but they have been busy! Last summer we saw their show I Lost My Virginity To Chopin’s Nocturne In B-Flat Minor, and now they are back with not one, but two shows. The first of which is Steve and Tobias Verses Death, which will be playing at The Pleasance in March.
The show finds a zombie apocalypse happening outside brothers Steve and Tobias' front door, but worse still, their mum appears to be patient zero!
We chat to the show's writer and founding member of Paper Mug about the show, whether there will be plenty of fake blood splashing around, and we also ask that all important question, was I Lost My Virginity To Chopin’s Nocturne In B-Flat Minor based on real life?
(note: This show was originally scheduled for the VAULT Festival, and recorded prior to the festival cancellation, so there is mention of it playing at that venue)
Tommy, AKA The Queer Historian, is a disabled theatre maker. His latest show, How DIsabled Are You? explores what it is like when your disability is called into question and how the benefits system really isn't as easy to claim on as the Daily Mail might have you believe.
This is yet another show that was planned for the cancelled Vault Festival, recorded before the sad news of the cancellation, so there are a few mentions of the Vaults. The show though will be seeing future life, but in the meantimes, it's an interesting discussion on the prejudices faced by benefit claimants and why the media can be complicate in demonising claimants.
We recorded this interview just before Christmas, and at that time, we had no idea the Vault Festival would be cancelled for 2022. So when we sat down to chat about Pickle with Deli Segal (written and actor) and Tanya Truman (producer) we thought it would be to promote the show when it played at the festival.
However, what we ended up with was a great discussion about the lack of representation of Jewish female on stage and TV, and why anti-semistism is still something we all need to learn more about. And whilst we edited out some mention of the Vault Festival, we also touch upon why such festivals are so important to emerging theatre makers like Deli and Tanya.
We've been informed the show should be announcing new dates soon, so it seemed as good a time as any to release this wonderful conversation with two charming and interesting theatre makers.
Paul Bradshaw is a writer and performer, whose latest show, Tell Me Straight was first played at King's Head Theatre, and is now about to open for a run at Chiswick Playhouse. The play follows Him, a gay man who seems to have a history of going after the wrong type of men - straight ones! All to the despair of his friend Dani is on hand to try to guide him in the right directly.
We caught up with Paul just before Christmas (hence some confusion over our mentions of next year!) to talk about the play, how it was received during its initial run, and whether having a voice actor is just a cheap way of avoiding paying them for future performances!
Suzy Kohane and Sidsel Rostrup created their theatre company, Secretariat, in 2019, just a few months before the world came to a halt in 2020! Their debut show, Hexenhammer, was due to play at the Vault Festival this March, that was until the festival became another casualty of covid.
Undetered though, the pair found time to come and chat with us about what inspired them to create a theatre company, how they have found the positives from the lockdown, and what we can expect from Hexenhammer.
Hexenhammer is a comedy about German medieval monks and modern day Incel groups. The monks wrote a pamphlet on witch hunting and which was used throughout the country to persecute woman accused of witchcraft, and this is compared to the Incel movement and how both treated woman as inferior.
Whilst the show currently doesn't have any confirmed dates, we suspect it won't be long before we get the chance to see what sounds like a very interesting show.
This is the first of our interview series carried out by Lily Middleton, one of our reviewers who has now stepped up to be an interviewer as well.
It’s always fascinating to find out where the original ideas for a play come from, and that’s just what we hear about from sisters Maya and Rosa, who make up Hooky Productions. The pair tell us about turning a childhood idea into the central concept for their show, Experiment Human. We also hear the truth about Benedict Cumberbatch, who has a leading part to play in their show.
The interview was recorded on the day that it was announced that the Vault Festival had been cancelled. The show was scheduled to play there in March, so at the time of recording, plans were very much up in the air. But the pair were not too downhearted and kept us entertained with their laughter and sheer weirdness of what the show offers. We do hope we get to see it in a theatre near us soon.
Charlotte Anne-Tilley came to our attention a year ago when her show Twenties was online as part of TheSpaceUK's short online festival showcasing many of the artists who would normally have been planning to head off to Edinburgh that summer. The show caught our attention for both its inventiveness and for being what felt a very true portrayal of a young girl moving to London where she believed she would soon be heading off to all the celeb parties and bumping into famous names every street she walked down.
Since then Charlotte and the team have been busy rewritting Twenties into a live full length show, which will be playing at The Space in Canary Wharf from 13 to 15 January 2022, before they hope to then take it to this year's Edinburgh Fringe. So it seemed the perfect time to sit down with Charlotte to find out how the show has changed, not only with its name now being Almost Adult, and how her life has changed since we presented her with an award as part of TheSpaceUK's festival season.
Linus Karp became the first two-time guest on our Runn Radio show (the first interview can be heard here).
Linus is getting ready to take his "How To Live A Jellicle Life: Life Lessons from the 2019 Hit Movie Musical 'Cats'" on the road in 2022, starting at Bristol and then two months of dates up and down the country. So it felt the purrfect time to catch up with him and find out what it is like putting on a small theatre tour, as well as why 80 year old's are more than welcome to come and see the show.
You can find the full list of dates here
Jane was another writer we came across as part of The Fright Before Christmas, a night of short horror plays at The Space Arts Centre. It was a very abstract play that left as many questions about what it all meant as we had answers! So we thought it would be great to sit down with Jane and get her to explain it a little more to us. We were surprised by how much we'd missed, so it turned into a fascianting chat about violence against women, and how some woman can turn from prey to predator.
We came across Freddie Valdosta when her show, Flipping The Switch, performed as part of The Fright Before Christmas; a collection of short horror plays curated by Harpy Productions and Danse Macabre and performed for one night only at The Space.
Not only did Flipping The Switch blow us away, it was similary loved by the rest of the audience who voted it the best of the night. So we were really excited when Freddie agreed to join us for a chat about the show, how it was inspired by her own battles with OCD, and just what else she has planned. She also found time to admit to writing teen fan fiction, although we haven't (yet) been able to find it online, much to her relief we suspect.
You can see a recording of Flip The Switch here (note that this was recorded on a smartphone and not for professional use. But we hope it still gives a good idea of how tension filled this play was on the night).
Our latest guest to chat to Everything Theatre is Christopher Smart from Mangled Yarn Theatre. This time last year they released Everytime A Bell Rings, their "prequel" to It's A Wonderful Life. It was a show we loved, so when we heard this year they were putting on It's A Wonderful Life, both in person and on-demand (to be recorded on Christmas Eve) it seemed a great chance to speak to them about both shows, their association with The Place Theatre in Bedford, and what else they might have planned for next year.
This week we sat down with one of our own reviewers, Lily Middleton. Lily has written for ET for a number of years, although she took a break before returning at the start of 2021. She is a big advocate of musical theatre, and so we tells us why it's an often misunderstood genre and why it doesn't always get the respect it deserves. She also talks about some of her favourite shows and why reviewing is just so much fun for a theatre lover.
https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/sht-faced-showtime-a-pissedmas-carol/Sh!tfaced-Showtime, and sister company, Sh!tfaced-Shakespeare have entertained audiences now for over ten years with their high energy shows. It looks a simple idea on paper; one cast member each performance drinks for four hours prior to the start, and so whilst the rest try to carry on with the script, have to work around the antics of a drunk colleague. Mayhem will usually follow!
About to bring A Pissedmas Carol back to Leicester Square Theatre in December, it felt a great time to sit down with producer and actor, James Murfitt, about how the company came about, answers allegations from some critics who claim they aren't really drunk, and tells us about the craziest thing a drunk colleague has ever done during a performance.
A Pissedmas Carol plays at Leicester Square Theatre from 6 December until 15 January. You can book your tickets at https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/sht-faced-showtime-a-pissedmas-carol/
Belinda McGuirk works for Chickenshed, a theatre in North London that is more than just a theatre, it is also a place that provides education and training - many actors have gone on to big things after their involvement with Chickenshed.
They also, each Christmas, put on what can only be described as a big production - 800 people, divided over a rolling 4 day rota. This year, Belinda will be directing the show, which will be EverAfter.
So it was a pleasure to chat with Belinda, about directing the show and how you even start directing it when there are 800 people involved, plus why the Chickenshed is a place that once you join, you really don't want to leave.
You can find out more about the Chickenshed here
In our latest podcast interview we chat to Gavin Dent and Neil Sheppeck from Rising Tides about Good Cop, Bad Cop 26: A Climate Festival, which is playing at The Space between 1 and 12 November.
The festival is in response to the COP26 summit taking place in Glasgow as the festival opens. During its 12 days it will features plays, workshops and live music, all with the climate crisis at their heart.
Gavin and Neil tell us about the festival, why theatre has a role in making people talk about the climate issue and their hopes for the summit itself.
This week we chat to Andrew Muir and Georgia Bates. Andrew is co-creative director of Ardent Theatre, plus the writer of their latest show, Rethink. Georgia is a young actor involved with the play as well as part of Ardent8, the theatre company's project that takes eight young actors from outside of London and helps them put on a show.
Rethink, the show that has come out of this, is a direct response to the government's ad campaign early on in lockdown that suggested those in the arts could retrain elsewhere. Hear what Andrew and Georgia thought of that suggestion.
You can find out more about Ardent Theatre at https://www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/
Matt Woodhead is the co-artistic director of Lung Theatre. He also created Who Cares? a verbatim play about young carers in the UK. Listen to Matt talk about the play, how it was created, and the campaign that it launched.
More information on the Who Cares campaign can be found here
The play is touring the UK throughout October and November. The radio version of the play can also be found on BBC Sounds here.
This is the second of two interviews originally recorded as part of Everything Theatre's contribution to Runn Radio's Mental Health and Wellbing Day.
Phoebe Angeni talks to us about mental health, the important role therapy can play in helping you cope, and just how she has turned her own struggles, including anxities and body image phobias, into a positive by putting on her stage show Ithaca.
You can find more information about Phoebe at https://www.phoebeangeni.com/
This is the first of two interviews originally recorded as part of a Mental Health and Wellbing Day run by Runn Radio, where Everything Theatre hosts a weekly show.
Jen Roehrig tells us about her theatre work, and more importantly, how she overcame both physical and mental health difficulties to return to education in her 40s. Along the way we talk about how theatre can help normalise mental health and why its important to look after both body and mind.
We head outside of London for our latest interview, which finds us chatting to co-Artistic Director of Imitating The Dog, who are about to stage their live graphic novel, Dracula: The Untold Story at Leeds Playhouse. Andrew tells us about their version of this familiar tale, taking it into the 1960s and focusing their attention on Mina Harker. We also hear how they have turned this live show into a graphic novel, merging live performance with technology to give us a glimpse of a whole new world.
You can find out more about Imitating the Dog here
Stepping away from our usual Fringe surroundings, we caught up with Jaki WIlford, founder and owner of Flamenco Express. As the name would suggest, they are a dance theatre company, with the simple aim of putting on accessible Flamenco dance shows. Jaki tells us about the company's history, what great flamenco dancing should be like, and their plans for the future.
You can find out more about the company at https://flamencoexpress.co.uk/
Max Mackay talks to us about her professional directing debut with The Arsonists. She also tells us about StoneCrabs Theatre Company, whose programme for emerging artists has made this possible, and culmilates with the Play-doh Festival, showcasing nine new directors. Along the way we chat about the excitement of knowing your play is about to be performed at Southwark Playhouse, and why she really wants to one day direct the play in its original German!
In our first episode, we chat to Georgie Bailey, Artistic Director of Chewboy Productions and Jack Sunderland, who is starring in their new show, DJ Bazzers Year Six Disco. They tell us more about the show, how they are finding their first time working at Golden Goose Theatre, plus so much more.
DJ Bazzers Year Six disco is performing at Golden Goose Theatre 7 - 17 September. You can get tickets at www.goldengoosetheatre.co.uk/dj-baz
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