Camden Fringe Pod

In this last episode before the 2025 Camden Fringe starts we aim to give a little flavour of the sort of thing you might find at the festival, by chatting to 4 of the shows taking part. The Tempestuous: A Shrew'd New Comedy by Will Shakespeare & Penny Ashton 7th - 9th August at The Old Red Lion https://camdenfringe.com/events/the-tempestuous-a-shrewd-new-comedy-by-will-shakespeare-penny-ashton...

This episode we meet Jack Robertson, the artistic director of the Old Red Lion. Jack also runs Medium Rare Productions who are the resident company at the Old Red Lion.  We chat about the recent change of ownership at the Old Red Lion, what they have in store at their festival within a festival Shakesfest at the Camden Fringe and the spooky history of the theatre, which inspires the annual Gr...

In this episode we pick the brains of Richard Hirst - the general manager of Levensulme Old Library - on how to successfully apply for funding from the arts council and beyond. Richard Hirst: https://richardvhirst.co.uk/ Levensulme Old Library: https://levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk/ Zena's Book: https://www.breakthroughbookcollective.com/product/two-similar-looking-men-with-umbilical-hernias/ More...

We get some great advice on photos and posters from performer Alexis Dubus in this episode. Alexis is a character comic - best known as Marcel Lucont - as well as a photographer and graphic designer. Here come your useful links! Alexis's photography site https://www.alexisdubus.co.uk/ Alexis's performing site http://www.alexisdubus.com/ Charles Quarterman: An Evening With Charles Quarterman For On...

Elijah Lifton produced a double bill of shows called Lost and Found at the 2024 Camden Fringe. He's back again this year with 2.36, a two-hander sibling drama set in Vianden, Luxembourg. We talk to him about the lessons he learnt last year that he'll be benefitting from in 2025. 2.36 is on at the Etcetera Theatre from the 1st to the 3rd of August. Marigold Productions: https://www.instagram.com/_m...

This is a super practical episode full of advice about accounting and budgeting. Do you need to become self-employed, or start a limited company when you start putting on fringe shows? What do you do with your profit? What counts as profit? All this and more will be explored as we chat to Tyler Lappage from Nabarro Poole, the Camden Fringe accountants. Find our more about Tyler and his company Nab...

This episodes we focus on marketing, and particularly the free boost that you can get my creating great social media content for your company / show. Huge thanks to Juliet Barry from Mobius for talking us through all of this and giving us loads of great ideas. More info on Mobius: https://www.mobiusindustries.com/ More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com Our music is by: https://www.pur...

We chat to Amy Clare Tasker & Katharina Reinthaller from Voila! Theatre Festival, London about the ethos behind their pan-linguist programme and how to get involved in the festival this year. More info about Voila https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/ More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

In this episode we speak to Dan Mersh who is a very experienced comedy actor, sketch comedian and now director about how would go about putting tofather a show and what directors can add to the process. The show he is currently working on will be at the Camden Fringe in August. Find out more about Magic and Sex here: https://camdenfringe.com/events/magic-sex/ Link to the Etties Awards: https://eve...

An autumnal extra episode as we chat to writer/performer Thesy Surface and director Julia Sopher about their show Lady Montagu Unveiled. Lady M has had a busy year, with a debut at Brighton Fringe, shows at Camden Fringe and more performances planned for the London stage Catch the show at the Hen and Chickens at 3pm on Sundays the 27th of October and 17 November https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/...

Nearly 3 weeks after the Camden Fringe finished we're back for a little bit of reflection on this years festival. Our guest interview is with Harriet Waterhouse who performed her debut solo show Sex Chat Granny at the Etcetera Theatre on the 5, 6 and 11 August as part of the Camden Fringe. Following her performances we caught up with her to find out how it went. More info on the show Sex Chat...

We chat to Griffin Jenkins who programmed the Camden Fringe shows at The Cockpit this year and also produced his own show. We discuss the important things to companies to present to get themselves considered seriously by a venue and future plans for The Cockpit. We also go a bit true crime and talk about Jack the Ripper, as all podcasts must do at some point. As a bonus Zena's daughter Meredith re...

Another mid-Camden Fringe episode and we are beginning to lose our minds. I tell you who'd have something to say about that: Sigmund Freud. So it's very appropriate we are talking to 3 of the creatives behind A Series of Introductory Lectures On Psychoanalysis: The Musical which plays at the Camden Fringe on the 20th - 24th of August 2024 at the Kings Head. Alex Rawnsley is the writer, Harriet Gil...

By some sort of magic we've managed to make a podcast in the first week of the actual Camden Fringe actually happening. We have a short but sweet chat with James Mackenzie who is the director of Zoo Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe and also a lighting designer. We speak to James about supporting and programming dance shows at fringe venues and festivals. Zoo online: https://zoofestival.co.uk/ More i...

It's our final episode of the Camden Fringe Pod before the 2024 Camden Fringe starts. And to help us out with all those last minute technical matters we're talking to Richard Williamson. Richard trained at LAMDA in Stage Management in Technical Theatre. Richard is a lighting designer and theatre consultant based in London who has work extensively at Edinburgh Fringe and is also on the board of tru...

Our guest is Nick Hooton who is the Artistic Director & Head of Drama st Centre Stage school of performing arts. Each summer, for the last 12 (or is it 13?) with Upstaged Theatre Company he's bought a production to the Camden Fringe (mainly at Upstairs at the Gatehouse). Established in 2006; Upstaged Theatre Company is a creative Drama Group for Centre Stage students over the age of...

We talk to James Seabright about being a producer. James has 25 years of experience in producing live theatre, with an emphasis on touring shows around the UK and internationally, as well as productions in various venues both on and off West End in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. He's also written a book about this. See the link below. We also try and talk about football and politics in this e...

Our guest this week is Danielle Scott who self produced her one woman show Sex, Drugs & Hairy Bumholes at the Camden Fringe in 2023. We catch up with Danielle one year on to find out how the show - now titled Sour Candi - has developed ahead of it's run at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, and what she has learnt along the way. This episode was recorded and published 2 days ahead of the UK Gener...

We talk to Emily Hunter and Gemma Green, the co-founder of Moonstone Theatre who are bringing their show Enough. to the Camden Fringe following an award winning run at the Greater Manchester Fringe is 2023. We find out about the inspiration behind the show, the challenges of moving a show away from your home town to a new festival and pick up some great marketing tips. You can find out more about...

In this epsiode we speak to Oli Gordon who is the Professional Licensing Manager at Concord. Concord Theatricals provides the UK arts sector with theatrical licensing with a huge catalogue of works including scripts by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Harold Pinter and Rodgers & Hammerstein. If you want to put on an existing piece of work, at an amateur or professional level, then you'll need to get permis...

Paul Kalburgi is a British playwright and screenwriter, currently based in New Zealand and acting as an international Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild of America. Yep, we are going global! Paul has a book and a podcast called The Writers Toolkit and as a guest on our podcast we've asked him to provide some really practical tips on creating written work and getting on the stage. Paul's website:...

Zena and Michelle have a great catch-up with John Plews and find out what he's been up to since he and Katie stood down as the managers of Upstairs at the Gatehouse. The big news is - he's bring his own show to the Camden Fringe this summer! Titanic - The Inquiry: https://camdenfringe.com/events/titanic-the-inquiry/ Ovation UK: https://ovationuk.com/ Upstairs at the Gatehouse: https://www.upstairs...

We were absolutely delighted to talk to brilliant comedy writer Joel Morris about his new book Be Funny Or Die - How Comedy Works and Why It Matters which is an excellent dissection of comedy, but also contains loads of great advice on writing in general. Joel is one of Britain’s busiest and most respected comedy writers, working on everything from Charlie Brooker’s Wipe shows to the hit Paddingto...

An insightful interview with Matthew Parker, an all-round accomplished Fringe Theatre maker. He speaks to us primarily about marketing and press relations, but has many insights to share. If you only take one bit of his advice, make it "don't be a dick." But do take more of his advice as it's excellent and based on his wide experience. Find out more about Matthew and engage his services: https://w...

Zena and Michelle meet Nia Williams and Katie Blackwell of Three Chairs and a Hat Theatre who are bringing their show Mrs Pack to the Camden Fringe this summer. Find out about the real story behind this new piece, the challenges of putting on a fringe musical and recording your performance. Mrs Pack can be seen at the Etcetera Theatre on the 19th, 20th, 24th and 15th of August https://camdenfringe...