British Theatre Guide podcast

The production of Hadestown the Musical , written by Anaïs Mitchell, currently running on the West End and Broadway premièred at the National Theatre in 2018 before transferring to New York, where it won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score. The production returned to London in 2024, with some of the original principal cast members returning for a short run in 2025, including Reeve...

Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro meets 1970s Britain, Yorkshire poetry and Indian classical music in a new production for Bradford Opera Festival with a rewritten libretto by Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan and a score reworked by composer Ben Crick. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Ian and Ben about why they started this project and how they have gone about writing it, as well as about subtle vari...

Tristan & Yseult , said to be Cornwall's oldest love story, has had numerous retellings, including the opera Tristan and Isolde by Wagner and Kneehigh Theatre Company's 2003 production directed by Emma Rice with a script by Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy. The Kneehigh production is being revived by the Emma Rice Company for a tour in 2026 and 2027 with a cast including John Leader as Tristan and...

The work of multi-award-winning lyricist Don Black spanning more than five decades is to be celebrated in From The Heart , which had a short, sold-out run last year and returns to London's Garrick Theatre this October. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Clive Rowe, who stars in the production alongside Caroline O'Connor and Michael D Xavier, about performing these famous songs and a few new ones...

"Alfred Hitchcock meets Monty Python in a fast-paced comedy spy thriller packed with theatrical magic". That's how Derby Theatre and Hull Truck are describing their co-production of The 39 Steps which is inspired by John Buchan's classic novel and Alfred Hitchcock's film.   BTG Midlands Editor Steve Orme spoke to director Cal McCrystal, "the country's finest comedy director", as well as two of the...

Anthony Almeida, the only person to have received both the Royal Theatrical Support Trust Sir Peter Hall Director Award and the European Opera Director Prize, is directing his first Shakespeare play, Othello , for a co-production between Northern Stage in Newcastle, HOME Manchester and Citizens Theatre in Glasgow in association with Royal and Derngate in Northampton. BTG Editor David Chadderton sp...

Ihsane from Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and Eastman by double Olivier Award-winning Belgian choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, drawing on his Moroccan heritage, will be performed as part of the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival . BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Sidi before the Festival about the creation of the show, looking back on life after turning 50, his changing vi...

The King's Theatre in Edinburgh, originally built in 1906, closed after the 2022 Edinburgh festivals for a major refurbishment project, and is to reopen in time for the 2026 festival season. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Fiona Gibson, CEO of Capital Theatres, the company that owns the King's as well as the Edinburgh Festival Theatre and the Studio Theatre, about the refurbishment, the new a...

Tim Jackson is a British director, choreographer, musical director, music arranger and performer who recently received his first Tony nomination for directing the musical Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) . Tim has directed and choreographed a revival of the musical Something Rotten , with music and lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by John O'Farrell, which has just opene...

Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland, is about to open its 75th anniversary season, its first since star of stage and screen Alan Cumming took over as Artistic Director. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Sam Hardie, Associate Director at the theatre, who is directing a revival of Iain Heggie's Wiping My Mother's Arse , and to playwright Douglas Maxwell, whose new play Inexperience will open i...

Liverpool's Unity Theatre is the last surviving member of the Unity Theatre movement formed from left-wing workers' drama groups in the 1930s. The theatre is to present a series of events under the name A Radical Reimagining to celebrate a century of radical theatre in Liverpool, a project conceived by Artistic Director Eli Randle. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Eli about the project, the th...

Birmingham Rep is to present its first Shakespeare play for ten years. Joe Murphy who became artistic director 12 months ago is directing A Midsummer Night's Dream along with deputy artistic director Madeleine Kludje. BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to Joe and Madeleine about their take on the play before chatting to three of the cast, Evie Ward-Drummond, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Charlotte W...

Bryony Kimmings has been creating and performing shows based closely on events in her own life since her award-winning Sex Idiot in 2010. Her latest solo show, Bog Witch , about her difficult move from the city to the countryside and growing awareness of environmental issues, is currently on a tour of the UK and Ireland. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Bryony about the show, her creative proc...

Northern Stage and Derby Theatre are joining forces to present the musical Little Shop of Horrors . Kristian Cunningham will play Seymour while Amena El-Kindy will take the role of Audrey. BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to director Sarah Brigham about her take on the play before chatting to Kristian and Amena. Little Shop of Horrors will run at Northern Stage in Newcastle from Friday 8 until...

London's Marylebone Theatre is soon to present a revival of Arthur Miller's 1968 play The Price , directed by Jonathan Munby and starring Henry Goodman in the role of 89-year-old Gregory Solomon. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Henry about the role and the play and its current relevance as well as about rehearsing, directors, political theatre, the influence on him of playing Freud in Terry J...

The 2016 Palme d'Or and BAFTA-winning film I, Daniel Blake , directed by Ken Loach, written by Paul Laverty and featuring comedian and actor Dave Johns in the title role, was adapted by Johns for a stage production in 2023 directed by Mark Calvert. The production is to be revived for a short tour in 2026 produced by Northern Stage in Newcastle and Leeds Playhouse featuring most of the original cas...

English Touring Opera has been taking live opera productions and educational and community projects around the UK since 1979. The company has been based in London up to last year, when it began a move to Sheffield, and its spring 2026 season will be its first to open in the South Yorkshire city. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to ETO's Artistic Director and CEO, Robin Norton-Hale, about the thre...

Ockham's Razor was founded in 2004 by its current Artistic Directors, Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney, who have directed and toured many large-scale circus-based productions over the last two decades. Their latest show, Collaborator , is an intimate two-hander that sees the company founders back on stage together for the first time in five years. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Charlotte abo...

BTG's Panto Editor Simon Sladen spoke to Allan Stewart, who marks an extraordinary milestone of 50 years in pantomime. Allan reflected on his early start as a teenage club performer, his unexpected first role as Buttons without ever having seen a panto and the lessons learned from mentors such as Jack Radcliffe and producer Paul Elliott. He shared stories from working alongside stars including Les...

The Big Tiny Productions Ltd, founded in 2019 by Will Cousins and Ben Richards, is producing four shows in the North West for Christmas 2025, three of which are pantos written by Ben and designed by Will. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to them both, with a few contributions from their dog, Toby, about the company and this year's shows, as well as about the changing nature of panto, the balance...

The British Theatre Consortium, headed by playwrights Dan Rebellato and David Edgar, has followed up its reports on the state of the British theatre repertoire in 2013 and 2014 with a study into how things have changed in the industry between 2019, the year before the COVID lockdowns began, and 2023. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Dan Rebellato about the findings of the report, what it tells...

David Ireland is an Irish playwright with a reputation for writing hard-hitting drama such as The Fifth Step , Ulster American and Cypress Avenue , but director Max Elton is reviving a very different play by him, Most Favoured , which can be seen at Soho Theatre in London over the Christmas period. BTG David Chadderton spoke to David about the play and his influences as a writer, as well as how hi...

Buzz Goodbody was the first female director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford where she was instrumental in setting up the venue The Other Place. She died just 50 years ago at the age of 28, and her nephew, Adam Goodbody, has created a new theatre company, Buzz Studios, in her honour. The company's first production is Petty Men at London's Arcola Theatre. BTG Editor David Chadderton sp...

Steve Marmion is currently in his second season as Chief Executive and Director of Programming for Watford Palace Theatre, but he also ran Soho Theatre in London for eight years and founded PantoCo Ltd. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Steve about the upcoming panto production of Jack and the Beanstalk with the voice of Stephen Fry as the Giant, but he also spoke at some length about the value...

Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole, as Sh!t Theatre, have been making theatre together for fifteen years. They will be spending the 2025 Christmas season at London's Southbank Centre with their new show Evita Too , set in the presidency of Argentina, like the other Evita, but they are looking at the perhaps more interesting story of Juan Perón's second wife, Isabel, who became president after h...