British Theatre Guide podcast

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...

Border Crossings , a UK-based theatre company that collaborates with artists from around the world, is celebrating its 30th anniversary, formed in 1995 by Artistic Director Michael Walling. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Michael about the history, methodology and extensive catalogue of work of the company over three decades and what he views as the increasing urgency of bringing together peo...

Jessica Norman is a playwright and screenwriter whose play This Little Earth , which was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Playwriting, will debut at London's Arcola Theatre this autumn. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Jessica a couple of days before the production opened about the play and its development, conspiracy theories and those who believe them and about writing in general. This...

Rebecca Atkinson-Lord was Director of Theatre at London's Ovalhouse (now Brixton House) until 2016, but has since moved to the island of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides as Chief Executive and Artistic Director of An Tobar and Mull Theatre . BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Rebecca while she was in rehearsals for a stage adaptation of Sarah Moss's novel Night Waking , adapted by Shireen Mula. She...

Playwright Martin Sherman was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey but has lived in London for more than forty years. His memoir On the Boardwalk is about to be released, covering the first part of his life up to his first major success as a writer with the play Bent at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1979, which starred Ian McKellen, who has written a foreword to the book. BTG Edito...

Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran 's most famous works are TV sitcoms such as Shine On Harvey Moon , Birds of a Feather , Goodnight Sweetheart and The New Statesman . They have also written for radio and for stage musicals such as Dreamboats and Petticoats , but their latest piece, currently running at London's Upstairs at the Gatehouse, is a play called Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mrs Hitler . BTG E...

Actor and author Emily Woof is best known for her film and TV work such as Mandy in The Full Monty , Shannon in Velvet Goldmine and Nancy in Oliver Twist , but she has also written novels and devised her own theatre pieces. At this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe , she is performing her own solo play, Revolver , directed by her husband, Hamish McColl, writer and co-founder of theatre company The...

Indie rock band The Wedding Present was formed in Leeds in 1985, achieving a huge critical success with its debut album, George Best . 40 years and 300 songs later, the band is still going, and Artistic Director of Engine House Theatre and Wedding Present fan Matt Aston has written and is directing a new musical, Reception , based on the band's back-catalogue. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to...

This episode features two very different solo shows, which can both be seen at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe . Thom Tuck is playing the titular 100-year-old clown, whose life story takes audiences though some of the major events of the 20th century, in Justin Butcher's Scaramouche Jones , which he performed in Edinburgh in 2005, then again in 2015. His partner, Jenny Ryan, best-known as The V...