British Theatre Guide podcast

Ellie Nunn, daughter of director Sir Trevor Nunn and actress Imogen Stubbs, talks to BTG reviewer Belle Lupton about her one-woman show Bombshells . Ellie talks about playing six different roles in this comedy by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith which she performed at Jermyn Street Theatre in London in January 2014. She also explains about not going to drama school and about growing up wi...

Jersey Boys is a smash hit musical based on the songs and the life story of pop band Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons which started life at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California in 2004, moved to Broadway the following year and has since opened all over the world, winning best musical awards at the Tonys in 2006 and the Olivier Awards in 2008. Producer David Ian talks about bringing th...

Playwright Anya Reiss, whose first play was produced by London's Royal Court Theatre less than four years ago, talks about her adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull , written for Southwark Playhouse and currently being revived by Manchester's Library Theatre Company. Anya talks about her original works— Spur of the Moment and The Acid Test at the Royal Court, Forty-Five Minutes for National Theatre...

Actor and writer Deborah McAndrew, who played Angie Freeman in Coronation Street in the 1990s, talks about her latest play, An August Bank Holiday Lark , commissioned by Barrie Rutter of Northern Broadsides Theatre Company to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War. Deborah talks about her research and writing process for this play, her 20-year association with Northern Broad...

London editor Philip Fisher speaks to some of the stars of Broadway and off-Broadway on his annual trip to New York's theatreland. Bryce Pinkham stars in the hit Broadway show The Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder . This is a musical based on the same story as the classic Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets . He talks about his road to stardom and also the pleasure of working in a Broadway s...

Home Manchester is a new purpose-built arts centre that will bring together Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema and Library Theatre Company into one organisation with shared facilities, due to open in spring 2015. BTG editor David Chadderton speaks to Walter Meierjohann, who takes over from Library Theatre Company artistic director Chris Honer, and chief executive Dave Moutrey about the new building....

The Nottingham Playhouse and Birmingham Hippodrome are two of the UK's leading pantomime powerhouses. Simon Sladen speaks to Rebecca Little of the Nottingham Playhouse's Jack and the Beanstalk and Danielle Hope, Gary Wilmot and Matt Slack of Birmingham Hippodrome's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs about their pantomime careers and this year's festive productions. Nottingham Playhouse 's Jack and th...

Kat B and Matt Dempsey have appeared in many Hackney Empire pantomimes. The two performers speak to Simon Sladen about the pantomime rehearsal process, their love for the Hackney Empire and their roles as Puss and Tom in this year's production of Puss in Boots . Having returned to the UK after filming Mister Maker Around the World for CBeebies, Phil Gallagher speaks to Simon Sladen about his panto...

The winners of the £16,000 first prize and three judges prizes of £8,000 in the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting were announced at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester on 22 November 2013. We present some highlights of the ceremony itself, followed by a chat with winning playwright Anna Jordan and three members of the judging panel: broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray, Bruntwood chairman Michael Ogle...

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his publishing house, Nick Hern talks to Philip Fisher about a career in theatre and his work with some of the greatest names in the business. For more information about Nick Hern Books, see www.nickhernbooks.co.uk .

Actor Martin Barrass on playing the fool in his 28th panto at York Theatre Royal, the art and the craft of slapstick, having the part of Alfie written for him by Richard Bean in One Man, Two Guvnors and his home town of Hull becoming City of Culture. Martin will appear in Aladdin and the Twankeys by Berwick Kaler at York Theatre Royal from 12 December 2013 to 1 February 2014. See www.yorktheatrero...

Paul Holman Associates has produced over 200 pantomimes since 1995. Simon Sladen speaks to Paul Holman (founder, company chairman and Managing Director) and Lee Waddingham (Artistic Director / Associate Producer) about their pantomime careers, producing pantomimes and Paul Holman Associates' 2013 season, which sees the company produce thirteen pantomimes and one Christmas musical in venues across...

Playwright Tom Morton-Smith and director Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder on In Doggerland , the first national tour from new writing company Box of Tricks Theatre Company . The play will tour to: 7-9 November: The Lowry Studio, Salford 10-11 November: New Diorama , London 14 November: Rosehill Theatre , Whitehaven 15 November: Derby Theatre Studio 19 November: Mill at the Pier , Wigan 20 November: York Thea...

After two and a half years, the newly-refurbished Birmingham REP has reopened with an additional third auditorium. REP executive director Stuart Rogers takes us on a tour of the new building and artistic director Roxana Silbert explains what it is like to have three separate spaces to programme.

At the Edinburgh International Book Festival , author Philip Zeigler talks about his new biography of Laurence Olivier , based largely on 50 hours of taped interviews with the great actor, and theatre director Michael Bogdanov gives us his views on directing and Shakespeare as his books on directing and directing Shakespeare are published. Over at the Assembly Rooms, actor and writer Pip Utton , c...

Phoebe Waller-Bridge talks to Philip Fisher about her solo show Fleabag at Underbelly as well writing, performing in the West End and elsewhere and the Edinburgh experience. The Traverse 's Artistic Director Orla O'Loughlin takes a break from rehearsals to discuss with Philip Fisher the theatre's work and what the Festival Fringe means to her. Animator and stand-up comedian Howard Read talks to Da...

On the day of the official start of the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe (Friday 2 August), we bring you our first Edinburgh podcast with interviews with the creators of some events we will be reviewing: Andy Lawrence of Theatre of Widdershins on Rumpelstilskin and the Wheel of Fortune Richard Medrington and Rick Conte of Puppet State Theatre on The Man Who Planted Trees Oliver Lansley of Les Enfants Terribl...

Co-founder Simon Willis, head of content for Wise Buddah, talks about the proposed new Internet radio station dedicated to musical theatre called Stage Door and about the crowd-funding campaign, currently running on Indiegogo, to raise the funds to launch it. The presenters on Stage Door will all be current stars of musical theatre, and two of them spoke to us about their involvement. Canadian act...

In July 2013, Manchester's 24:7 Theatre Festival, dedicated to producing brand new one-hour plays in venues around the city, will celebrate the tenth of its annual events. Actor David Slack, who co-founded the festival in 2004 and is still its producer, reflects on ten years of putting new writing on stage and talks about new developments for this year's event. Following this, five of the writers...

At the Manchester International Festival, Alexander Vlahos talks about playing Malcolm in Macbeth , a production that sees Kenneth Branagh return to the stage in the title role opposite Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth, directed by Rob Ashford and performed in a deconsecrated church at a secret location in Manchester. Also, Hadley Fraser talks about playing chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in The Mac...

Philip Fisher talks to actor Seth Numrich, currently playing Chance Wayne opposite Kim Cattrall as Alexandra del Lago in Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams at the Old Vic in London following Broadway success in Golden Boy and War Horse .

BTG London editor Philip Fisher chats with actress Sarah Greene, currently playing a romantic lead opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Noel Coward Theatre. See Philip's review of this production .

Dukes Theatre artistic director Joe Sumsion talks about his production of a new adaptation of Robin Hood in Williamson Park, Lancaster this summer, a comeback for the Dukes's famous outdoor productions by popular demand after it was announced that the 25th anniversary production two years ago would be its last due to funding issues. Joe talks about their unusual approach to the famous story in a p...

Manchester's Library Theatre Company has created a trilogy of site specific works about Manchester since leaving its home of more than half a century at Manchester Central Library in 2010. The third of these, Manchester Sound: The Massacre , written by Polly Wiseman and directed by Paul Jepson, will take place at a secret location in Manchester city centre between 8 June and 6 July 2013. BTG edito...

Playwright Fin Kennedy was thrust into the heart of the debate about arts funding when he produced a report—called In Battalions , a title taken from a quote from Hamlet —with professional researcher Helen Campbell Pickford into the effects of cuts in public funding to theatres on their production of and development of new writing. In this episode, Fin talks about the origins of the report in a co...