The Traverse Podcast: Recent Episodes
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Podcast is a new series of conversations between the Traverse’s Co-Artistic Director Designate Debbie Hannan and the most exciting and innovative theatremakers, creatives and cultural figures around.
Taking the author Arundhati Roy’s provocation, ‘the pandemic is a portal’, they discuss what theatre and culture means, where it’s at right now, what it could – or should – be, and lots more besides. They are intimate, candid conversations about lived experience, where people speak their personal truth to power. From internationalism to disability rights, politics to music videos, censorship to signing BSL in a Scottish accent, The Traverse Podcast is a lively place to listen, debate and have a laugh too.
It’s always got its eyes on the future – and how we get there.
Set in iconic Edinburgh locations When The Sun Leaves The Sky tracks Maggie through the decades as she discovers herself, her city and tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that’s eluded her since childhood.
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Set in iconic Edinburgh locations When The Sun Leaves The Sky tracks Maggie through the decades as she discovers herself, her city and tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that’s eluded her since childhood.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Set in iconic Edinburgh locations - from summertime in the Meadows after the war, to a Beatles gig in the ABC on Lothian Road, Christmastime on the Mound in the 80s and ending up in the Port O’Leith after the turn of the millennium, When The Sun Leaves The Sky tracks Maggie through the decades as she discovers herself, her city and tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that’s eluded her since childhood.
Shaped by personal stories from the dementia community of Edinburgh and the Lothians and with a score by composers VanIves, this new audio play is co-created by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse with experts from the Capital Theatres dementia-friendly community.
Set in iconic Edinburgh locations - from summertime in the Meadows after the war, to a Beatles gig in the ABC on Lothian Road, Christmastime on the Mound in the 80s and ending up in the Port O’Leith after the turn of the millennium, When The Sun Leaves The Sky tracks Maggie through the decades as she discovers herself, her city and tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that’s eluded her since childhood.
Shaped by personal stories from the dementia community of Edinburgh and the Lothians and with a score by composers VanIves, this new audio play is co-created by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse with experts from the Capital Theatres dementia-friendly community.
Set in iconic Edinburgh locations - from summertime in the Meadows after the war, to a Beatles gig in the ABC on Lothian Road, Christmastime on the Mound in the 80s and ending up in the Port O’Leith after the turn of the millennium, When The Sun Leaves The Sky tracks Maggie through the decades as she discovers herself, her city and tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that’s eluded her since childhood.
Shaped by personal stories from the dementia community of Edinburgh and the Lothians and with a score by composers VanIves, this new audio play is co-created by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse with experts from the Capital Theatres dementia-friendly community.
Follow the Dreamers from dusk until dawn in this seamless, 40 minute audio journey, encompassing all episodes of The Dream Frequencies in a single listening experience.
Over the last 12 months, our waking lives have changed beyond our imagining – and for many of us, so have the lives we lead during sleep.
During the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown, musician and sound designer MJ McCarthy (Turntable) found himself regularly talking to his friends and family about their dreams; dreams which were getting more frequent, vivid, abstract, confusing, disturbing, and sometimes even liberating.
Inspired by these conversations and confessions, MJ set out to explore the liminal world of dreams in a series of interviews with a range of creative collaborators. Blending a polyphonic selection of excerpts from these interviews with an original score in three movements, The Dream Frequencies is an invitation to tune into an evening of sleep and dreams.
Journey with MJ and his contributors from dusk until dawn - from the unsettling to the bizarre to the soothing and back again - in this immersive audio theatre experience which transports listeners into the unknown and unexpected worlds inside the heads and under the eyelids of others.
Contributors include journalist Peter Geoghegan, comic Mark Thomas, writers Kirstin Innes and Cathy Forde, playwright and nurse Uma Nada-Rajah, poet Tawona Sitholé, storyteller Mara Menzies and theatremaker Isobel McArthur.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Over the last 12 months, our waking lives have changed beyond our imagining – and for many of us, so have the lives we lead during sleep.
During the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown, musician and sound designer MJ McCarthy (Turntable) found himself regularly talking to his friends and family about their dreams; dreams which were getting more frequent, vivid, abstract, confusing, disturbing, and sometimes even liberating.
Inspired by these conversations and confessions, MJ set out to explore the liminal world of dreams in a series of interviews with a range of creative collaborators. Blending a polyphonic selection of excerpts from these interviews with an original score in three movements, The Dream Frequencies is an invitation to tune into an evening of sleep and dreams.
Journey with MJ and his contributors from dusk until dawn - from the unsettling to the bizarre to the soothing and back again - in this immersive audio theatre experience which transports listeners into the unknown and unexpected worlds inside the heads and under the eyelids of others.
In this final episode, 'Dawn', the dreamers reveal further nocturnal experiences, including an awkward octopus extraction, a first encounter with sleep paralysis and the eventual emergence into wakefulness once more.
Contributors to this episode, in order of appearance, are comic Mark Thomas, journalist Peter Geoghegan, playwright and nurse Uma Nada-Rajah, theatremaker Isobel McArthur, writer Kirstin Innes, are storyteller Mara Menzies, writer Cathy Forde and poet Tawona Sitholé,
The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, with additional support from The Scottish Government Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.
The Dream Frequencies is part of the Creative Community - Irish Theatre in Scotland series, a Traverse Theatre partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Over the last 12 months, our waking lives have changed beyond our imagining – and for many of us, so have the lives we lead during sleep.
During the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown, musician and sound designer MJ McCarthy (Turntable) found himself regularly talking to his friends and family about their dreams; dreams which were getting more frequent, vivid, abstract, confusing, disturbing, and sometimes even liberating.
Inspired by these conversations and confessions, MJ set out to explore the liminal world of dreams in a series of interviews with a range of creative collaborators. Blending a polyphonic selection of excerpts from these interviews with an original score in three movements, The Dream Frequencies is an invitation to tune into an evening of sleep and dreams.
Journey with MJ and his contributors from dusk until dawn - from the unsettling to the bizarre to the soothing and back again - in this immersive audio theatre experience which transports listeners into the unknown and unexpected worlds inside the heads and under the eyelids of others.
In this second episode, 'Deep Sleep (Lockdown)', the Dreamers describe how their dreams have become more interesting to compensate for their increasingly boring waking lives. For some that means dreaming of train travel, bumping into old friends, going to the theatre, and meeting David Bowie...
Contributors to this episode, in order of appearance, are storyteller Mara Menzies, poet Tawona Sitholé, comic Mark Thomas, writer Kirstin Innes, journalist Peter Geoghegan, theatremaker Isobel McArthur, writer Cathy Forde, andplaywright and nurse Uma Nada-Rajah.
The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, with additional support from The Scottish Government Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.
The Dream Frequencies is part of the Creative Community - Irish Theatre in Scotland series, a Traverse Theatre partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Over the last 12 months, our waking lives have changed beyond our imagining – and for many of us, so have the lives we lead during sleep.
During the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown, musician and sound designer MJ McCarthy (Turntable) found himself regularly talking to his friends and family about their dreams; dreams which were getting more frequent, vivid, abstract, confusing, disturbing, and sometimes even liberating.
Inspired by these conversations and confessions, MJ set out to explore the liminal world of dreams in a series of interviews with a range of creative collaborators. Blending a polyphonic selection of excerpts from these interviews with an original score in three movements, The Dream Frequencies is an invitation to tune into an evening of sleep and dreams.
Journey with MJ and his contributors from dusk until dawn - from the unsettling to the bizarre to the soothing and back again - in this immersive audio theatre experience which transports listeners into the unknown and unexpected worlds inside the heads and under the eyelids of others.
In this first episode, titled 'Dusk', we hear from the dreamers about the slide into sleep, recurring dreams, sleep paralysis, and the presence of animals, bird and nature in their dreaming lives, including an unexpected armadillo...
Contributors to this episode, in order of appearance, are storyteller Mara Menzies, comic Mark Thomas, poet Tawona Sitholé, writer Cathy Forde, journalist Peter Geoghegan, writer Kirstin Innes, theatremaker Isobel McArthur, andplaywright and nurse Uma Nada-Rajah.
The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, with additional support from The Scottish Government Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.
The Dream Frequencies is part of the Creative Community - Irish Theatre in Scotland series, a Traverse Theatre partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Over the last 12 months, our waking lives have changed beyond our imagining – and for many of us, so have the lives we lead during sleep.
During the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown, musician and sound designer MJ McCarthy (Turntable) found himself regularly talking to his friends and family about their dreams; dreams which were getting more frequent, vivid, abstract, confusing, disturbing, and sometimes even liberating.
Inspired by these conversations and confessions, MJ set out to explore the liminal world of dreams in a series of interviews with a range of creative collaborators. Blending a polyphonic selection of excerpts from these interviews with an original score in three movements, The Dream Frequencies is an invitation to tune into an evening of sleep and dreams.
Journey with MJ and his contributors from dusk until dawn - from the unsettling to the bizarre to the soothing and back again - in this immersive audio theatre experience which transports listeners into the unknown and unexpected worlds inside the heads and under the eyelids of others.
Contributors include journalist Peter Geoghegan, comic Mark Thomas, writers Kirstin Innes and Cathy Forde, playwright and nurse Uma Nada-Rajah, poet Tawona Sitholé, storyteller Mara Menzies and theatremaker Isobel McArthur.
The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, with additional support from The Scottish Government Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.
The Dream Frequencies is part of the Creative Community - Irish Theatre in Scotland series, a Traverse Theatre partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In our final podcast episode of 2020, host Debbie Hannan, speaks to writer, performer and Edinburgh resident, Harry Josephine Giles.
Harry Josephine Giles is a writer and performer from Orkney, who now lives in Edinburgh, where they co-founded the spoken word events series Inky Fingers and co-directs the live art platform Anatomy. They hold an MA in Theatre Directing from East 15 Acting School, and are studying for a PhD at Stirling University. They chat to Debbie about workers' theatre, when art is mistaken for terrorism, the mental strain of the pandemic, and the excitement of working across art forms.
In this week's episode host Debbie Hannan chats to actor and theatremaker Bea Webster.
Bea Webster is a deaf Scottish-Thai actor and theatre-maker who graduated with a BA Performance in British Sign Language and English from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She communicates in both Spoken English and BSL and has recently worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre of Scotland and the BBC. In their chat, Bea and Debbie cover topics including how to sign in a Scottish accent, intersectional identities, inclusion of deaf performers and audiences, the financial realities of the pandemic, their hopes for the future of theatre, and Sailor Moon tattoos.
In episode 7 of our podcast series, the Traverse's Co-Artistic Director Designate, Debbie Hannan, speaks to producer, academic and all-round cultural figure, Jess Brough.
Jess is the founder of Fringe of Colour, a ticketing initiative which aims to increase the diversity of audiences at the Fringe, focused on shows featuring performers of Colour, and which in 2020 became an online festival of short films by artists of Colour that ran through August. They speak about how Fringe of Colour began, how they were one of the first companies that went digital to much success, Jess' writing and PhD, and their hopes for the future of the Fringe post pandemic.
If you’re familiar with our usual podcast format, this episode is something a bit different.
In the last of our three concept episodes, with Joe Biden confirmed as having won the 2020 US election, playwright Sarah Kosar (and her puppy Meatball) has a very unexpected conversation with her Trump supporting father.
If you’re familiar with our usual podcast format, this episode is something a bit different.
It's the second of our three concept episodes, which take a surreal look at the personal politics of the US election, and the repercussions they may have for one particular individual - playwright Sarah Kosar. You can listen to part one here.
In this episode: As they’re waiting on the results of the 2020 election, Sarah's puppy, Meatball, persuades her to talk to her father about their opposing hopes for the outcome…
This episode was recorded before votes had been fully counted.
If you’re familiar with our usual podcast format, this episode goes somewhere a bit different. It’s a surreal look at the personal politics of the US election, and the repercussions they may have for one particular individual - playwright Sarah Kosar. It contains the voices of real people giving their genuine responses to questions they’ve been asked – which may sometimes be insensitive or inaccurate, but are never scripted. It was recorded in late October, a couple of weeks ahead of the election and before the result was known.
Credits
Created by Sarah Kosar
Direction and dramaturgy by Debbie Hannan
Sound Design by Richard Bell
Music by Patricia Panther
Cast: Meatball
With appearances from: Random people from Sarah’s life. And her dad.
Debbie chats with Glasgow based director Leonie Rae Gasson, who directs plays that are a mixture of theatre and virtual reality. They cover topics including expanding people’s ideas of what theatre can be, supporting intersectional queerness in practical terms and how rage can be a useful fuel for creativity.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Abhishek Majumdar is an Indian playwright and director whose plays have been performed around the world. Having previously collaborated on Pha-La at the Royal Court, he and Debbie discuss internationalism, having your work repeatedly banned, and his hopes for theatre in the future.
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In the first episode of the brand new Traverse Podcast, Debbie Hannan speaks to her frequent collaborator, self-described bionic playwright Matilda Ibini. They chat about their mutual appreciation of music videos and choreography of Missy Elliot, the unsung heroes in their careers and how it’s been getting through the pandemic whilst shielding.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.