The Standard Theatre Podcast

Olivier-nominated Gabrielle Brooks joins us from the Kiln Theatre to talk about her role in Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage – and the “magic” of how the production brings an elephant to life in this heartbreaking story about the ivory trade. She tells us about going from Grange Hill to performing in the West End’s biggest musicals and about her recent turn as Bob Marley’s wife Rita in Get Up, Stand U...

Shaun Escoffery and George Asprey, who play Mufasa and Scar in Disney's The Lion King, join us at London's Lyceum Theatre to chat about their incredible 15 years in the West End musical. They discuss their funniest moments, the costumes, rolling around and practising Brazilian jiu-jitsu before shows, and their reaction to finding out their children would be born in the same week (and breaking the...

Frankie Bridge joins us to talk about her acting debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story , which is now on at the Apollo Theatre. Frankie tells us about her character, Lauren, and why it’s nice for her not to feel compared to Cheryl and Lily Allen - who played Jenny. She also tells us the future of her old band The Saturdays, why she thought she might end up advertising Cheestrings, and what her footballing h...

West End and Broadway stars Charlie Stemp and Tom Edden join us to chat about the critically acclaimed musical Crazy For You . Charlie says it's "the hardest thing" he's ever done due to the many elements involved, including performing extremely physical choreography and comedy in perfect timing. They also discuss the challenges of their hilarious Marx Brothers-inspired mirror scene, and reveal wh...

School’s out for summer, so what’s good on the West End? Spitting Image & Have I Got News For You writer, John O’Farrell, joins us to talk about turning the iconic Mrs Doubtfire into a musical . He also discusses his work on the movie Chicken Run - and drops a few hints about the upcoming sequel. Following on from our interview with House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock and Succession’s Caitlin F...

A love letter to old school American showbiz - we review Crazy for You , which is now on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. This feet-tapping musical features the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, and it’s directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Cherrelle Skeete, star of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Amazon original, Hanna, joins Nick Curtis to talk about her role in Beneatha’s Place ,...

To mark the halfway point of 2023, join Nick Clark and Nancy Durrant for this special episode showcasing the finest shows that have impressed them this year so far. You can find all the links to the full shows below, but theatrical amuse-bouches to tempt you with the best of the West End and beyond include: Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical  Interview with the cast and creators Our revi...

Double Tony Award-winning American playwright Michael R. Jackson joins us to chat about his Broadway show A Strange Loop , which is now on at London’s Barbican. The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner tells us about the long journey to success, life as a theatre usher before fame, his irritation with Disney corporate rules, a “complex phone relationship” with American actor Tyler Perry, and his upcoming mu...

House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock and Succession’s Caitlin FitzGerald join us at the Gieldgud theatre for The Crucible . The stars share what they love about the play, working with 17th-century language - which Milly describes as “like cooking with really good meat" - plus what they miss about home, how fame has changed their lives, and adopting London life. We review Dear England at the National...

We're joined by the star of the hit BBC TV series' Eric and Ernie, award-winning comedian and actor, Daniel Rigby. He tells us about his new role in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, a play by Dario Fo and Franca Rame. He shares what it was like stepping away from comedy and how it felt to beat the likes of Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch for a BAFTA. Our review of Groundhog Day is in and let'...

Recorded from our new TV studio, this week’s reviews are Patriots at the Noël Coward Theatre - starring Tom Hollander and Will Keen - plus A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe. We speak with actor Jamie Parker, who you’ll know from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The History Boys. He joins us from Southwark Playhouse Elephant to talk about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Thi...

We have an accidental Dickens special this week for you. Our review of Great Expectations starring and produced by Eddie Izzard at the Garrick Theatre , plus Bleak Expectations at the Criterion Theatre. For some non-Dickens relief, actor Kate O’Flynn joins us during rehearsals for All of It by Alistair McDowall at the Royal Court Theatre . Kate tells us what it’s like to bring the one-woman trilog...

Actor, writer and director Mark Gatiss joins us to discuss his role as Sir John Gieldgud in the National Theatre’s sell out show The Motive and the Cue, written by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes. He reveals what drew him to the role and how he got a little help from his famous friends in pulling it off. For our first review we talk about the new adaptation of Brokeback Mountain at @SohoPla...

Eddie Izzard joins us to talk about her new one-woman adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations and how the show borrows heavily from her stand-up. Eddie talks preparations for another one-woman show, this time Hamlet, and about holding open rehearsals around Britain this year. We review SplitLip Theatre’s raucous Second World War musical Operation Mincemeat , at the Fortune...

Comedian Tim Minchin and screenwriter Danny Rubin talk Groundhog Day the musical, which is returning to the Old Vic seven years after its debut there. They discuss how they looked for the ‘things that could sing’ in the original script as they brought the much-loved film to the stage, and why so many fans – and Bill Murray – have left the show with their minds blown. Recorded at the Jermyn Street...

Recorded at His Majesty’s Theatre in time for the King’s coronation we’re joined by playwright Ryan Calais Cameron to talk about his new production Retrograde, now on at the Kiln Theatre. You may well know Ryan for his show For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy. We review The Motive and the Cue , a play by Jack Thorne, directed by Sam Mendes, starring Janie Dee, Ma...

Downstairs at the Kit Kat Club we meet the cast of Cabaret. Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood takes on the iconic role of Sally Bowles, and John McCrea, plays the Emcee. John previously had a hugely successful run as Jamie New in Everybody's Talking About Jamie. Recorded at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, currently home to A Little Life, we review Ain’t Too Proud - The Life and Times of The...

This week we’re at the Duke of York’s theatre on St Martin’s Lane.  We review Secret Life of Bees , at the Almeida Theatre, directed by Whitney White and with music by Spring Awakening’s Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. Over at the Bush Theatre's rehearsal space we chat with Sir Lenny Henry and Artistic Director Lynette Linton about their forthcoming show August in England. Plus w...

This week we're at the Wyndham’s Theatre - currently home to Oklahoma! - we review Black Superhero by Danny Lee Wynter and directed by Daniel Evans at the Royal Court, starring Emmy Award winner Dyllón Burnside from Netflix’s Pose. Plus, Sea Creatures , by Cordelia Lynn and directed by James Macdonald, which is now on at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs. We’re also joined by Hamilton’s Giles Terer...

Coming to you from the Criterion Theatre, we review A Little Life starring Happy Valley’s James Norton, It’s a Sin’s Omari Douglas, and Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson. Based on the novel by Hanya Yanagihara, it’s now on at the Harold Pinter Theatre. We’re joined by Natasha Hodgson and David Cumming to talk about their new musical Operation Mincemeat. Plus, we review Ryan Calais Cameron's For Black Boy...

Actor Matthew Modine tells us about To Kill a Mockingbird, performing again in London, and Stranger Things conspiracy theories. We discuss A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Normal People’s Paul Mescal, now on at the Phoenix Theatre. Also, Berlusconi: A New Musical at Southwark Playhouse’s new Elephant space. Plus, what’s been happening in theatre this week, research shows audiences are behaving b...

Line of Duty star Daniel Mays and Broadway's Marisha Wallace join us to discuss their five-star show Guys & Dolls , at the Bridge Theatre. We review Further Than the Furthest Thing , starring Jenna Russell, at the Young Vic, and Marjorie Prime, starring Anne Reid , at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Plus Nancy Durrant and Nick Clark react to playwright David Hare’s comments about musicals ‘stran...

We chat to It’s a Sin’s Callum Scott Howells about Romeo & Julie at the National Theatre , on the independence he grew from moving to London, and his role in Cabaret - once played by Eddie Redmayne. Plus, our five-star review of Guys & Dolls starring Marisha Wallace & Daniel Mays, directed by Nick Hytner, which is on at the Bridge Theatre. We also review Sleepova , which we also love....

Star of Friday Night Dinner, EastEnders and Toast of London, the actor and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman joins our chief theatre critic Nick Curtis in between performances of the Merchant of Venice 1936. Tracy-Ann on why she’s always wanted to do the play despite "hating" it because it was written “at a time of huge antisemitism”. She explains how this new production can be used as an educational tool....

We chat with Jenna Coleman and director Josie Rourke backstage at the Harold Pinter Theatre a couple of hours before an evening’s performance of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons . Also, Nick Curtis and Nancy Durrant review Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York’s Theatre, starring Sheridan Smith. Plus, Nick Clark and Nick Curtis review Lulu Raczka and Rupert Goold’s “ferociously bold” Women, Bewa...