Amateur of Life and Death

Send a text Each episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre and features an amateur theatre maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve died on stage.  For this episode, the last in our current season, we’ve pulled together some clips that we didn’t have time for the first time around.  We’ve also thrown in a few...

Send a text This episode explores the witty and wonderful work of Oscar Wilde, whose satirical theatrical masterpieces continue to delight audiences more than a hundred years after his death. We’ll be interviewing Alan Bull, actor, stage manager and production manager, to find out about his life and loves in amateur theatre and his experience of performing Wilde’s plays. And John will be going beh...

Send a text For this month’s episode Liz and John have hit the road, well the M6, and taken a trip to Coventry to visit the Criterion Theatre, an amateur theatre in the Earlsdon area of the city which has a proud history of producing theatrical entertainment for over 65 years. We’ll be interviewing Anne-Marie Greene, the Artistic Director of the Criterion, to find out about her life and loves in a...

Send a text I n this episode we find out about the true story that inspired Lee Hall’s play The Pitmen Painters, which tells the tale of the Ashington Group: a group of coal miners who became well-known artists. We’ll be interviewing Karen Kelly, who is a voice coach, actor and production assistant, to find out about her life and loves in amateur theatre, and her experience of teaching accents and...

Send a text This episode explores musical theatre and the story of the iconic musical Little Shop of Horrors. We’ll be interviewing Karen Leadbetter, actor, singer and director, to find out about her life and loves in amateur theatre, and her experience of musicals. John will be going behind the scenes on the Crescent Theatre’s forthcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors, by Howard Ashman and...

Send a text This episode is about the comedies of William Shakespeare and we will interview the Director of The Crescent Theatre's upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing.  Our Backstage Pass holder, John, will flip things and go Front of House with Deputy Theatre Manager, Elliot Mitchell.

Send a text This episode explores keeping it simple on stage when producing plays that are written to be performed with minimal set and costume. Plays where the words, characters and ideas create the drama and the world of the play without lavish backdrops or fancy frocks. We’ll be interviewing Fi Cotton, actor and director, to find out about her life and loves in amateur theatre, and her experien...

Send a text Each episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre and features an amateur theatre maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve died on stage. Our Backstage Pass Holder, John O’Neill, will also take us behind the scenes at The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham to discover more about what goes into making a gre...

Send a text This episode explores the challenges and rewards of creating theatre for children and families, especially at Christmas and we’re delighted to be talking to David Hill of Charlemont Dramatics Society in West Bromwich about his life and loves in amateur theatre. We will also be going backstage to discover the secrets of the Crescent Theatre Birmingham’s Christmas production for 2021, Ja...

Send a text We’ve given this podcast, our fourth Amateur of Life and Death episode, the title of ‘Life in the Farce Lane.’ We talk to Geoff Poole, one of the longest standing members of The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham about his theatrical life, loves and the times that he's died on stage.  We also catch up with some of the cast of The Crescent Theatre's upcoming production of Alan Ayc...

Send a text In this episode, we explore theatre that is based on real events.  We will speak to Rod Natkiel about his amazing career in television and theatre, including his experience of producing verbatim theatre - plays written using the actual words of real people.  We will also hear from Trish Henley and Alistair Hurst, who are working on The Crescent Theatre's new production of The Revl...

Send a text The Amateur of Life and Death Podcast brings together amateur theatre makers to talk about their theatrical lives, theatrical loves and the times when they've died on stage. We take you behind the scenes at The Crescent Theatre to discover more about what goes into making a production - shining a spotlight on the stars behind the scenes as well as those on stage. Theatre is our pa...

Send a text E ach episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre and features an amateur theatre maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve died on stage. This episode looks the history of The Wizard of Oz. CREDITS Presenters: Laura East, Liz Plumpton, John O'Neill Music: Brendan Stanley Researchers: John O&apo...

Send a text E ach episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre and features an amateur theatre maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve died on stage. This episode looks at performing outdoors and in other spaces that are not "traditional" theatres. CREDITS Presenters: Michael McLernan, Luke Plimmer, J...