Starving Artists

David Ireland is a playwright, screenwriter and actor from Belfast. His first play, What the Animals Say, was produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow in 2011. He was Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2012. He went on to win the Meyer Whitworth Award in 2012 for his second play, Everything Between Us, produced by Tinderbox Theatre Company in Belfast. In 2016 Cyprus Avenue , starring St...

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Kerry Shale is a Canadian actor, VoiceOver artist, writer and podcast co-host. His career spans more than 4 decades and includes theatre work at The National, The Almeida, The Hampstead, The Donmar Warehouse, The Royal Court among others. Selected credits on screen include Yentl, The Trip, Wednesday, The Sandman, Patrick Melrose and many many more. He is a prolific VoiceOver actor, as well as co-h...

Theo Toksvig-Stewart is an internationally produced, multi-award nominated writer for stage, screen, and radio. He is a BAFTA Connect member, and an alumnus of the BBC Writersroom Drama Room, and the Minack Emerging Playwright programme. His first play 'Endless Second', which blew me away when I first saw at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, was nominated for the Holden Street Theatre Award a...

Far too few people in this life have even one teacher who has inspired them. I have been lucky enough to have a few in my time, and this man was the first. Stephen Pritchard read English at Oxford and studied William Blake's visionary work for his PhD, before working as a music journalist. Upon interviewing the great Peter Gabriel, they both subsequently went on to become to parts of the founding...

This week I am delighted to introduce actor, songwriter, BAFTA Nominee, and old friend of mine from our drama school days - Leah Harvey. Since graduating from LAMDA in 2016, Leah has gone from strength to strength, appearing both on our screens, as well as on some of the biggest stages in this country and abroad. Some of her credits include: Fighting with My Family (Channel 4 Films), Sweetpea (Sky...

I will simply say that this is one of the most insightful, interesting and wonderful conversations I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of. Henry Shukman is a poet, writer and - more prominently in the last few decades - a zen Buddhist master. Henry runs the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He wrote his first book at the age of 19, subsequently publishing several award boo...

I am delighted to introduce Gordi to the podcast this week. Gordi (born Sophie Peyton) is an Australian singer-songwriter whose music I describe as 'a punch to the heart', in the best way possible. Gordi has had an unbelievable career so far, in a relatively short space of time. Her debut album Reservoir is a particular favourite of mine. Her debut single Can We Work It Out was featured on...

I am thrilled to have Alexa Morden on the podcast this week. Alexa is an actor, writer, podcaster and coach, and you may know her as the co-host of the brilliant The 98% Podcast, which was a real inspiration for me to start this podcast, so thank you Alexa for that! Alexa is a shining light in an industry that can often be dark and difficult. Her work in exposing industry malpractice, as well as c...

Hello there, today I bring you something a little different. From this point forwards these bonus episodes will only be available to our lovely Tier 2 Patreon subscribers, but I wanted to give you all the chance to listen to the first bonus episode to see if it's something you enjoy enough to subscribe to Tier 2. This week I talk about The Blindboy Podcast, Irish art and culture, my Dublin acc...

This week I welcome the talented, genuine and generous Tom Bright onto the podcast. Tom is a musician and songwriter, who has gone from strength to strength since his debut album Self-Service Checkout in 2020. Since then he has gone on to feature on the One Show, BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live, Radio X, as well performing at iconic venues and festivals such as the London Palladium, Shepherd's Bush Em...

Rosa is an actor and writer whose plays include Madame Ovary, premiering at the Pleasance in Edinburgh in 2019, before going on to run at Vault Festival in 2020. As an actor she has worked with Hull Truck, The Arcola, Wildchild Productions and on multiple UK Tours, as well as for the BBC and Netflix, about to appear in the upcoming series of Bridgerton. Rosa was a beautiful guest to get to sit dow...

This week we welcome acting mentor and career coach Charlotte Thornton to the podcast. Charlotte trained at Mountview and after graduating without an agent, she worked primarily in Fringe Theatre before an encounter with a career coach specifically in LA changed the trajectory of her career. After going on to appear on the West End and at The National Theatre, Charlotte has gone on to coach actors...

This week we welcome actor Shelby Flannery to the podcast. Shelby is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shelby trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and has gone on to appear on stage and screen in The 100, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, FBI: Most Wanted, and short film Together, as well as working with Krymov Lab in New York. She stars in the film 'April', that will be...

This week I am delighted to introduce to the podcast the incredible Emmanuel Olusanya. Emmanuel is an actor, musician and podcast host. Since graduating from LAMDA Emmanuel has released three singles: Runnin' (2022), Let's Go (2022), La tete dans les etoiles (2023), and last year he released his debut EP 'Genre Pending'. He has also appeared in Phaedra at the National Theatre, as w...

We are back with a bang for 2024! I am so honoured to welcome Andrea von Kampen to the podcast this week. Andrea is an American musician who has been likened to Nick Drake by The New York Times. She has worked with some of the finest folk musicians working today, including The Tallest Man on Earth, Punch Brothers, Anais Mitchell's band Bonny Light Horsemen, Lief Vollebekk and many others. Afte...

This week I welcome one of my best friends to the podcast. Jack Sunderland is an actor, teacher and someone who possibly saved my life. During our conversation we discuss drama school, the decision to step away from acting, why kindness is so important and at such a shortage in our industry, boldness in creativity, how losing his Dad has had a lasting impact on him, shame, sobriety and most of all...

This week I welcome a guest who has a very special place in my heart. When I had to step away from drama school in 2015, I had a year before I returned and it was the darkest period of my life. Ella had left the same drama school due to similar mental health reasons in 2014 and her love, care and guidance may have saved my life. She gave me hope again and I gained a truly special friend, and for t...

This week I am delighted to share with you all the conversation I had with Stanley Morgan. Stanley trained at LAMDA and since graduating is known for I Used to Be Famous, The Sandman and Argylle. It was a real pleasure to talk to him and I think you're all really going to get a lot from this one. I want to thank Stanley for his openness, honesty and passion for his craft. Art of the Week: A Me...

This week we welcome the supremely talented Georgie Bailey to Starving Artists. George is a playwright, poet, producer and co-founder of Chewboy Productions. I have always admired Georgie as a writer since seeing the wonderfully surreal 'Tethered'. Not only is his work moving, truthful and often absurd (in the best of ways!), but I think he challenges the conventions and form of theatre it...

Welcome back, as we start the second half of season one. This week I am honoured to have been talking to the wonderful Michael Defilippis. Michael is an actor living in Brooklyn, New York. He trained at LAMDA and has worked extensively in theatre. However, most of our discussion falls on the topics of God, the ego, the nature of the mind and consciousness, spiritual awakenings, plus a whole realm...