Pullitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is being revived by director Bijan Sheibani for HOME Manchester in March 2018. Set in a creative drama class in a community centre in Vermont, the cast comprises Amelia Bullmore as Marty, Anthony Ofoegbu as James, Sian Clifford as Theresa, Con O’Neill as Schultz and Yasmin Paige as Lauren. Just over a week before the production opened, BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Sian Clifford and Anthony Ofoegbu during their ...
Mar 06, 2018•20 min•Ep. 151
Midlands editor Steve Orme speaks to actors Sean McKenzie and Jo Mousley about performing Jim Cartwright's popular two-hander Two at Derby Theatre. The play, which premièred at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton in 1989, focuses on a single evening in a Northern pub, with the same two actors playing the feuding landlord and landlady as well as an array of customers who visit their establishment. Two will run at Derby Theatre from 2 to 24 March 2018. For more information....
Mar 01, 2018•22 min•Ep. 150
Mark Smith talks to Esther Richardson, Bryony Lavery and Hannah Peel in a busy York Theatre Royal café about Pilot Theatre ’s new adaptation of Brighton Rock . They discuss the appeal of Brighton Rock’s morally complex underworld, getting younger people into regional theatres, creating a musical and choreographic world for the play, and how the company set out to look at Graham Greene’s classic story through a lens which is both contemporary and of the time. Director Esther Richardson has been t...
Feb 23, 2018•26 min•Ep. 149
In November 2015, a new fringe theatre opened up in Ancoats, Manchester with the ambition of presenting full-scale commercial productions of musicals. Created by musical theatre performers Joseph Houston and William Whelton, Hope Mill Theatre has since won multiple local and national awards, transferred productions to London and been named in The Stage 100, a list of the most influential people in the whole of UK theatre from The Stage newspaper. In the middle of January 2018, during auditions f...
Jan 30, 2018•32 min•Ep. 148
Philip Fisher interviews Ngozi Anyanwu about her new play for Atlantic Theater Company , The Homecoming Queen . Set in Nigeria, it follows the fortunes of a woman returning home for a visit after 15 years as a New Yorker. They discuss writing, acting and the New York theatre scene in the current political climate, with particular reference to the African-American community.
Jan 23, 2018•21 min•Ep. 147
PUSH from Manchester’s HOME arts centre is an annual festival each January that brings together Manchester-based performance artists and companies for just over two weeks of performances, readings, workshops, screenings, exhibitions and other events. At the launch on 12 January, BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to one of the programming team for PUSH, Jodie Ratcliffe, as well as some of the artists whose work will be featured in the festival: Ben Mellor of Pen-Chant Emilie Lahouel and Laura Edw...
Jan 16, 2018•28 min•Ep. 146
Philip Fisher and Village Voice columnist/critic Michael Feingold discuss trends in New York Theatre, the latter concluding that “we have a lot of signs of hope in the theatre”.
Jan 12, 2018•23 min•Ep. 145
In 2016, Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield produced its first ever professional pantomime, Cinderella , written by one of the UK’s leading pantomime writers, Andrew Pollard, who has been brought back to write this year’s Jack and the Beanstalk . Andrew is taking a year off from playing Dame at Greenwich Theatre to tour in Around the World in 80 Days as Phileas Fogg. However there are still 6 of his panto scripts in production this Christmas around the UK. In this episode, Andrew speaks ext...
Dec 07, 2017•30 min•Ep. 144
At the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester on 13 November 2017, the winners were announced of the sixth biennial Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. The winners of three Judges’ Prizes of £8,000 each were announced as Tim Foley for his play Electric Rosary , Laurie Nunn for King Brown and Sharon Clark for Plow . The £16,000 top prize went to the play Heartworm by Tim X Atack, who had just worked at the Royal Exchange as sound designer for a production of Jubilee based on the Derek Jarman film. In ...
Dec 01, 2017•28 min•Ep. 143
BTG's Mark Smith speaks to acclaimed director Sally Cookson about her forthcoming production of family classic The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe . The show is set to transform the West Yorkshire Playhouse's main theatre, the Quarry, into an in-the-round stage for the first time in the venue's history. Speaking towards the end of the company's seven-week creative process, Cookson talks about the "dark days" you can have when devising, as well as the process's moments of joy and inspiration. Sh...
Nov 10, 2017•15 min•Ep. 142
Mark Smith talks to producer John Tomlinson about SBC Theatre, the company he co-created and which has recently become the UK’s first "Theatre Company of Sanctuary". This status recognises the company's work with, about and for those seeking sanctuary in the UK. John is also Associate Producer at York Theatre Royal, working on in-house shows such as the massive community production Everything Is Possible as well as helping with the programming of other events at the theatre. John discusses the e...
Nov 03, 2017•19 min•Ep. 141
As part of its A Revolution Betrayed? spring and summer season across its film, art and theatre programmes, commemorating the centenary of the Russian Revolution, HOME Manchester will present a new production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya directed by the centre’s Artistic Director for Theatre, Walter Meierjohann. BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Walter in a dressing room at HOME just over a week before the production opened about his take on this classic play, Chekhov's comedy, multi-layere...
Oct 25, 20170•Ep. 140
Mark Smith talks to emerging director Julia Levai and York Theatre Royal Associate Director Juliet Forster about the theatre's TakeOver Festival. The festival pairs Theatre Royal staff with emerging artists aged between 12 and 26 in a mentoring relationship which enables the younger artists to curate and run a week-long festival. As the Artistic Director of this year's festival, Julia Levai has curated a selection of works around the theme of "Walls", as well as devising a show of her own. The p...
Oct 17, 2017•27 min•Ep. 139
Adam Penford has taken over as artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse. The 37-year-old had been working as a freelance director and replaces Giles Croft who had been at the helm of the Playhouse for the past 18 years. Penford tells BTG's Midlands editor Steve Orme that he was thrilled to have been given the job. (Photo of Adam Penford is by Creative by Wren)
Oct 14, 2017•25 min•Ep. 138
Director Max Stafford-Clarke has revived for his theatre company Out of Joint Andrea Dunbar’s play Rita, Sue and Bob Too , which he directed originally while Artistic Director of the Royal Court in London in 1982, working closely with the 19-year-old playwright. BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to lead actors Taj Atwal (Rita), Gemma Dobson (Sue) and James Atherton (Bob) during the production's initial run at the Octagon Theatre Bolton about the play and the issues it raises, the politics of the...
Oct 04, 2017•39 min•Ep. 137
Derby Theatre is to produce Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations directed by artistic director Sarah Brigham. BTG's Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke during rehearsals to Sarah about the production and about her choice of cast, before chatting to Geoffrey Breton who plays Pip and Kate Spencer who plays Estella about their roles. The production runs at Derby Theatre from 29 September to 21 October 2017....
Sep 29, 2017•28 min•Ep. 136
Mark Smith interviews Jenny Harris, creative producer for 509 Arts, about their production Calderland . Forming the centrepiece of the Landlines & Watermarks project, this "people's opera" aims to investigate, question and celebrate Calderdale's relationship with water, in the wake of the 2015 Boxing Day floods which were devastating to large parts of Yorkshire. The production has a cast of over 200 singers drawn from local communities, and a script by award-winning writer Mike Kenny. It's t...
Sep 26, 2017•18 min•Ep. 135
Mark Smith talks to Gilly Roche, the West Yorkshire Playhouse's New Work Producer, as she launches this year's Furnace Festival celebrating a range of new work in the north. Roche has been part of a recent reorganisation of the support for new artists at the theatre, which offers a year-long forum in which theatre makers can forge links and try out work-in-progress works in an unpressured environment. She talks about the works, both new and well-established, at this year's festival, her career l...
Sep 21, 2017•18 min•Ep. 134
Northern Broadsides theatre company's For Love or Money , directed by and featuring company founder Barrie Rutter, has been adapted from a French play, Turcaret by Alain-Rene Lesage, by regular Broadsides collaborator Blake Morrison. Blake speaks to us about the play, about play translation and about 21 years of collaborations with Rutter and Broadsides. For Love or Money opened at The Viaduct Theatre in Halifax on 15 September 2017. After that, it will tour to West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds,...
Sep 18, 2017•20 min•Ep. 133
Playwright Kevin Fegan talks to BTG editor David Chadderton about his 30-year career as a playwright and, more specifically, about his new plays opening soon: The Ruck opens on the main stage at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield on 15 September 2017, before touring to Theatre Royal Wakefield , Cast in Doncaster and The Civic, Barnsley . The Shed Crew runs at Albion Electric warehouse (tickets from West Yorkshire Playhouse ) in Leeds from 21 September to 1 October. Bess the Commoner Que...
Sep 13, 2017•28 min•Ep. 132
Producer Richard Jordan and BTG's Philip Fisher talk about trends in Edinburgh and discuss the best shows to see. Philip Fisher also chairs a critics panel with Joyce McMillan of The Scotsman and freelancer Mark Fisher in which they discuss Alan Ayckbourn's The Divide , Frances Poet's Adam and Ontroerend Goed’s £¥€$ (LIES) and also pick some personal favourites from Edinburgh 2017. (Photos of Erin Doherty in The Divide by Marc Marnie; £¥€$ photo credit Thomas Dhanens)...
Sep 08, 2017•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 131
This year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival featured a series of events subtitled “a theatrical exploration”, in which well-known Scottish novels were partly staged by a director, scriptwriter and actors produced in association with Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre. One the three novels explored in this way was Booker-nominated His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet, who spoke to BTG editor David Chadderton about his involvement with the project on a busy final Saturday at the 2017 Book Fest...
Sep 04, 2017•59 min•Ep. 130
Philip Fisher reports from the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Lara Foot is the Director and CEO of the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town. She talks to Philip about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, her own career and the theatre scene in South Africa over the last thirty years. Award-winning stage and screen star Monica Dolan tells Philip about her first play as a writer, The B*easts , and its Edinburgh Fringe debut. They also discuss her passion for acting and the key moments o...
Aug 17, 2017•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 129
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Luke Barnes is the latest "gig theatre" production from Hull-based theatre company Middle Child . After a run at the Welly Club in Hull in June, the production will be performed at this year's Latitude Festival . BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Middle Child artistic director Paul Smith about the show, as well as musing on political theatre, adapting for festivals, attracting new audiences to theatre and becoming a new National Portfolio Organisation for ...
Jul 13, 2017•22 min•Ep. 128
At this year’s Latitude Festival, Clod Ensemble will present a special ‘festival edit’ of its new show On the High Road , which will be directed by Suzy Willson with music composed by Paul Clark, founders of the company in 1995. Suzy and Paul spoke to BTG editor David Chadderton a week before Latitude was due to open about the show, the company's work and methods and plans for future work. Latitude Festival runs at Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk from Thursday 14 to Sunday 16 July 2017....
Jul 09, 2017•24 min•Ep. 127
Mark Smith talks to Juliet Forster, Associate Director of York Theatre Royal, and Katie Posner, Associate Director of Pilot Theatre, about their latest large-scale community production, Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes . This new play is written by Bridget Foreman and based on the true stories of militant suffragettes in York, centring on the real-life figure of Annie Seymour Pearson. The role is to be played by award-winning actress Barbara Marten, who also unearthed the stories an...
Jun 12, 2017•19 min•Ep. 126
Mark Smith talks to artist and performance maker Ellie Harrison about her interactive installation work The Unfair . This is part of her ambitious long-running project The Grief Series, which aims to offer playful and open artistic environments for the contemplation of taboo subjects such as loss and grief in many forms. The Unfair examines the anger which might be associated with a range of such experiences, and gives visitors an opportunity to vent their frustrations through fun and games whic...
May 08, 2017•19 min•Ep. 125
Timberlake Wertenbaker was commissioned by the Octagon Theatre in Bolton to write Winter Hill , named after a local landmark most famous for its TV mast. BTG editor David Chadderton spoke to Timberlake when she had spent nearly a week in rehearsals for the play in Bolton, and then a couple of weeks later to three of the cast: Cathy Tyson, Souad Faress and Janet Henfry. Winter Hill by Timberlake Wertenbaker will be at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton from 11 May to 3 June 2017. (Photo of the Winter ...
May 02, 2017•44 min•Ep. 124
In 1992, Barrie Rutter directed and played the title role in Shakespeare’s Richard III for what became the inaugural production of Northern Broadsides . Twenty-five years later, he is directing Mat Fraser as Richard for Hull’s 2017 City of Culture. In this episode, David Chadderton speaks to Barrie about a quarter of a century of Broadsides, his own forthright views on how to direct and perform Shakespeare and on returning to the city where he grew up for this anniversary production. Richard III...
Apr 26, 2017•25 min•Ep. 123
Mark Smith talks to RashDash's Helen Goalen and Abbi Greenland about The Darkest Corners , a bold new commission for Transform Festival about fear and feminism on the streets. The award-winning theatremakers also discuss their recent productions We Want You To Watch and Two Man Show and how their work blends the political and the personal. "If we're going to bring this down one brick at a time, we're going to need to do it all together." The Darkest Corners runs at the Transform Festival in a si...
Apr 17, 2017•21 min•Ep. 122
