Night Waking on Mull
British Theatre Guide podcast
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord was Director of Theatre at London’s Ovalhouse (now Brixton House) until 2016, but has since moved to the island of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides as Chief Executive and Artistic Director of . BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Rebecca while she was in rehearsals for a stage adaptation of Sarah Moss’s novel Night Waking, adapted by Shireen Mula. She explained about the play and the process of adapting and rehearsing it, as well as the challenges of touring to rural venues and to theatres where some of your audience comes by boat and what she misses about working in...
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Martin Sherman, from the Boardwalk to Bent
British Theatre Guide podcast
Playwright Martin Sherman was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey but has lived in London for more than forty years. His memoir On the Boardwalk is about to be released, covering the first part of his life up to his first major success as a writer with the play Bent at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1979, which starred Ian McKellen, who has written a foreword to the book. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Martin about his life and work including his mother’s Huntington’s Disease which he feared inheriting, his father’s narcissistic personality disorder, his time at...
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Marks and Gran ask if Freud could have saved the world from Hitler
British Theatre Guide podcast
’s most famous works are TV sitcoms such as Shine On Harvey Moon, Birds of a Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart and The New Statesman. They have also written for radio and for stage musicals such as Dreamboats and Petticoats, but their latest piece, currently running at London’s Upstairs at the Gatehouse, is a play called Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mrs Hitler. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Laurence and Maurice about the play’s story, history and long gestation as well as the extensive research that went into it, touching on how they have dealt with controversy over their work in the...
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Edinburgh 2025: Emily Woof looks back to '60s feminism and John Lennon
British Theatre Guide podcast
Actor and author Emily Woof is best known for her film and TV work such as Mandy in The Full Monty, Shannon in Velvet Goldmine and Nancy in Oliver Twist, but she has also written novels and devised her own theatre pieces. At this year’s , she is performing her own solo play, Revolver, directed by her husband, Hamish McColl, writer and co-founder of theatre company The Right Size. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Emily during her Edinburgh run about the play’s subject matter, its predecessor piece at the 1993 Fringe, her devising process and her other writing work. Revolver, produced by...
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The Wedding Present musical to open in the band's Leeds birthplace
British Theatre Guide podcast
Indie rock band The Wedding Present was formed in Leeds in 1985, achieving a huge critical success with its debut album, George Best. 40 years and 300 songs later, the band is still going, and Artistic Director of Engine House Theatre and Wedding Present fan Matt Aston has written and is directing a new musical, Reception, based on the band’s back-catalogue. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Matt during rehearsals for the show about how he put it together, his history as a long-time fan of the band and the challenges of producing an original musical. David also spoke to David Gedge,...
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Edinburgh 2025: The 100-year-old clown and The Chase's Vixen on whether ABBA existed
British Theatre Guide podcast
This episode features two very different solo shows, which can both be seen at the 2025 . Thom Tuck is playing the titular 100-year-old clown, whose life story takes audiences though some of the major events of the 20th century, in Justin Butcher’s Scaramouche Jones, which he performed in Edinburgh in 2005, then again in 2015. His partner, Jenny Ryan, best-known as The Vixen on TV quiz programme The Chase, is performing her musical comedy show Björn Yesterday that unpacks her theory that ABBA never existed. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to them both together almost halfway through the...
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Classic Thrillers return to Nottingham for 2025
British Theatre Guide podcast
For almost 40 years, the Classic Thriller Season has been held during the summer at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. It’s one of the few rep seasons left in the country. In 2025, the season has been reduced to three weeks instead of four and will feature plays by Peter Gordon, Ira Levin and Richard Harris. BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to Karen Henson from the producers as well as Mark Pearce, who’s taking part in his first Thriller Season as the incomparable Inspector Pratt, and Sarah Wynne Kordas, who will be appearing in all three plays. The Classic Thriller Season...
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Scotland's The List celebrates 40 years in print
British Theatre Guide podcast
While the various Edinburgh festivals are running, one of the many publications providing extensive coverage of them is The List magazine, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. The List publishes year-round free print publications and online content on arts and entertainment in Scotland, but it will be producing seven print publications in six weeks dedicated to the festivals, as well as bringing back its cross-festival awards, which it inaugurated last year and this year has expanded with new categories. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to List Publishing Ltd’s CEO, Sheri...
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Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting winners 2025
British Theatre Guide podcast
The winners of the biennial , which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, were announced at a ceremony at Manchester’s on Monday 21 July 2025. Immediately after the awards were presented, BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to four of the five winners: Daisy Miles, who won the £10,000 North-West Original New Voice Award for her play R Lady’s, Terri Jade Donovan, who won a special commendation of £5,000 for Dog Dog Dog, Silva Semerciyan, who won the Judges’ Prize of £10,000 for her play Przewalski's Horses, and Tolu Okanlawon, who won the £20,000 overall prize for his play...
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New Mosse family novel—from theatre writing specialist Greg
British Theatre Guide podcast
was the founder of the based at the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End in 2015 and has written and produced 25 plays and musicals at venues including Chichester Festival Theatre, Portsmouth Guildhall and Worthing Theatre. Since lockdown, he has turned to writing novels, despite being married to best-selling novelist Kate Mosse, and his latest book, The Coming Fire, the third in a series that he began writing during lockdown, was published by on 17 July 2025. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Greg just before the new book was released about the series and how he came to write it, as...
info_outlineLeading pantomime company Evolution Productions will this year celebrate its 20th anniversary with ten productions at theatres right across England.
BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the conpany’s founders, Paul Hendy and Emily Wood, about their upcoming panto season and about what goes into making their pantos, as well as about Paul’s play The Last Laugh, which will follow a very successful run at the last Edinburgh Fringe with a West End run early next year.
Evolution Productions’ twentieth anniversary panto season in 2024 will run at theatres in Canterbury, Sheffield, Northampton, York, St Albans, Crawley, Dunstable, Shrewsbury, Lichfield and Basildon.
Paul’s play The Last Laugh will run at London’s Noël Coward Theatre from 25 February to 22 March 2025.