Interval Drinks

Playwright and director Isobel McArthur takes a break from rehearsals for The Fair Maid of the West to meet up with fellow Scottish playwright Gary McNair for a chat about breaking into the industry and dealing with unexpected success. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare Company actors with RSC artists who have inspired them. This episode may contain occasional strong language. T...

Just as rehearsals were getting underway for our 2024 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, its director Eleanor Rhode and illusion director John Bulleid caught up to whisper about all the magic going on both on and offstage. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare Company actors with artists who have inspired them. This episode may contain occasional strong language. The music is...

Fresh from her role as a witch in Macbeth, actor Amber Sylvia Edwards chats to RSC Associate Artist Greg Hicks about his 50-year career in theatre. Greg shares memories of his mentor Peter Hall, divulges which global superstar is one of the biggest backstage pranksters and admits the embarrassing story that led to him missing his debut with the RSC. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakes...

Actor Anyebe Godwin meets film, stage and television actor Cleo Sylvestre. Cleo talks about breaking down boundaries by becoming the first black actress with a permanent role on a British television soap in the original series of Crossroads, collaborating with The Rolling Stones in the ‘60s and the time that Laurence Olivier knocked on her dressing-room door. Each week we bring together current Ro...

Actor and RSC Associate Artist Alexandra Gilbraith talks to Adam Bambrough, founder of Wellbeing in the Arts, an organisation dedicated to providing mental health and wellbeing support for creatives and artists in the entertainment industry. They talk about mental health in the theatre industry, stage fright itself as well as their own experiences and getting help. Each week we bring together curr...

Actor and writer Charlie Josephine talks to Chris Sonnex, Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens. They talk about “theatre and about class and about identity and about passion”, including making theatre for and about people that have lived experience of homelessness, poverty and inequity. Cardboard Citizens creates theatre and art with and for people who experience homelessness, inequity, or pove...

Actor and learning facilitator Ibrahim Toure talks to Philip J Morris – theatre director and Artistic Director of Trybe House Theatre about their own first encounters with Shakespeare and how they make those first encounters for young people. Philip explains how, “I had a bit of a complex of not feeling like I saw enough people that looked like me in theatres to begin with when I was younger.” Eac...

Director, environmental consultant and activist Elizabeth Freestone who directed The Tempest for the RSC in early 2023 talks to Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. They talk about the climate crisis and the place of theatre and the arts within that, as well as the mini ice age that happened in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Elizabeth is also the co-author of 100 Plays to Sav...

Director Erica Whyman talks to novelist Maggie O’Farrell, author of Hamnet which was recently adapted for the Stratford and London stages and directed by Erica. They talk about Hamnet – the novel and the process of putting it on stage, as well as Hamlet and about autobiography in fiction, including the part Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, plays in his work. Erica was Acting RSC Artistic Director at the...

Director Atri Banerjee chats to Actor Lucy Ellinson about noisy snacks, theatre activism and playing Puck. Lucy talks about beginning her career: "I was out there is the world and quite lost, if I'm honest. So I'm not a trained actor and I didn't have very much confidence and to be honest not much of a clue about how to begin a career at all." Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare...

Playwright and TV writer Nina Segal meets writer, director and performer Tim Crouch and they talk about intervals, honey and mango margaritas, going rogue, and having an "accidental" career as a writer. Tim says: "I keep carving into a block of stone and find new things in it. It's still the same block of stone. The plays, when they come, they're very different but they're still returning to some...

Actor Minnie Gale meets fellow actor Pippa Nixon and they talk about how the theatre industry is beginning to change so that women and men can continue working when they've become parents. Pippa talks about her experiences of performing in The Importance of Being Earnest and breastfeeding a newborn, and Minnie reflects of  her journey playing Margaret in all three parts of Henry VI, beginning when...

Actor Thom Petty talks to actor, writer and director Prasanna Puwanarajah. Both Thom and Prasanna came to acting after a career in the NHS (National Health Service) as doctors. They talk about playing doctors onstage and portraying the reality of life in the medical world, about going from medical school to drama school and beyond, and about using lasers on stage.

Theatre director Tinuke Craig meets RSC director Aaron Parsons to explain what is similar about directing a Sarah Kane play about trauma and a pantomime. Tinuke talks about what drives her as a director, how she decides which are the stories she wants to tell and some of the barriers she faced on her way to becoming a director. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare Company actors w...

Sound designer Claire Windsor chats to to MOBO Award nominated musician and composer Femi Temowo about his musical journey, from first picking up a guitar at age 19. Femi composed the music for the RSC's 2022 production of Much Ado About Nothing. He explains why theatre is like Power Rangers and shares his guilty pleasure in music. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare Company acto...

Mark Quartley, who is currently playing Henry VI in the RSC’s productions of Henry VI: Rebellion and Wars of the Roses, speaks to stage and screen star David Tennant about auditioning for drama school as a 16-year-old from Paisley, how it feels when you forget the lines on stage and imposter syndrome. They cover why David likes playing characters by Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies and Shakespea...

Listen to Renu Arora, who plays Madame LeVaughn in The Magician’s Elephant, in conversation with Deaf writer and performer Sophie Woolley. Both Renu and Sophie are artists who have needed to adapt their practices following acquiring disabilities. They touch on Sophie’s past work, their experiences of the theatre industry, how their work has changed over time and what advice they would give to othe...

“I just like pretending at dressing up.” RSC Associate Artist David Threlfall speaks to Zoe Lambert, who can also currently be seen in The Comedy of Errors at the Barbican. They talk about David’s theatre career, from starting out at the RSC, to playing Tommy Cooper and Frank Gallagher in Shameless. Zoe asks David where the character of Frank came from, and David explains why he loves working and...

“I always feel like a book is never done until it is in the hands of a reader that I do not know. And then and then we make a community of two.” Children’s author Kate DiCamillo talks to playwright Nancy Harris about her inspiration – the “divine spark” that grew into The Magician’s Elephant and how gifting a notebook to a friend led her to create the unique cast of characters. The two writers tal...

“We are artists, we are mischief makers, we are magic makers.” Actor Alfred Clay, currently performing in The Comedy of Errors at the Barbican, talks to stage and screen actor Lucian Msamati. Lucian describes how it felt to see live theatre for the first time, growing up in Zimbabwe and founding the first professional multi-racial theatre company in the country. He talks about playing Iago at the...

In the last episode of the series, Avita Jay talks to fellow actor Adjoa Andoh. They talk about Shakespeare, casting, fairness and why theatre and creativity matter. Adjoa is currently best known for her role as Lady Danbury in Netflix’s original series Bridgerton, but has appeared in multiple TV series, including Silent Witness, Death in Paradise, Line of Duty, New Tricks, River, Doctor Who, Casu...

Actor Kemi-Bo Jacobs meets Juliet Gilkes Romero, who won the prestigious Alfred Fagon Best Play Award for The Whip in 2020. Over a glass of her favourite red wine, Juliet talks about slavery, storytelling and knowing her characters. Each week we bring together current Royal Shakespeare Company actors with RSC artists who have inspired them. Interval Drinks is sponsored by Darwin Escapes. The music...

Hal Chambers (Assistant Director for the RSC's The Comedy of Errors) interviews Unicorn Theatre Artistic Director Justin Audibert. They talk about theatre for young people, how they would change UK theatre for the better and which of Shakespeare's characters Justin would like to meet for an interval drink. Justin has directed plays for the RSC and the National Theatre, including The Taming of the...

Actor Bea Webster interviews actor Charlotte Arrowsmith in the RSC's first vodcast. Charlotte became the first Deaf actor to understudy for a principal hearing actor in 2019, stepping in as ‘Vincentia’ in The Taming of the Shrew. She is also an RSC Associate Artist. In the RSC's first vodcast, Bea interviews Charlotte in British Sign Language, with voiceover by interpreters and captions. Each week...

Actor Greg Haiste meets Olivier-nominated British Iranian actor Paul Chahidi. On screen, Paul has a recurring role as a vicar in BBC comedy series This Country. He also played defence minister Nikolai Bulganin in Armando Ianucci’s historical comedy The Death of Stalin. Paul has played numerous roles at the RSC and is a Royal Shakespeare Company Associate Artist. Paul and Greg talk about starting o...