British Theatre Guide podcast

London’s VAULT Festival was founded in 2012 by Andy George and Mat Burtcher in the tunnels under Waterloo Station. The lockdown due to the COVID pandemic came during the 2020 festival and resulted in the cancellation of the 2021 and 2022 festivals, but the programme has now been announced for a big return in January 2023. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to VAULT’s Director and co-founder Andy George about the principles and criteria for the festival programme, it’s humble beginnings ten years ago, survival over three years of COVID and highlights of the 2023 event, plus he comes up with an interesting metaphor for creating theatre taken from Wallace and Gromit. VAULT Festival 2023 takes place in various venues around Waterloo from 24 January to 19 March featuring more than 500 theatre, comedy, cabaret and late-night shows.

16 Dec 202235min

Since 2005, Manchester-based property company Bruntwood has worked with the Royal Exchange Theatre to present the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. The 2022 ceremony was held at the Royal Exchange on 14 November. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the three of the winners—International Award winner Rochelle Fong, North West Original New Voice winner Patrick Hughes and Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting winner Nathan Queeley-Dennis—immediately after the ceremony about their work and how they felt about their awards.

15 Nov 202228min

The new Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot, Merseyside is an Elizabethan-style theatre which opened in July 2022. However, its first production of a play by Shakespeare came later with A Midsummer Night’s Dream produced by Warrington-based associate company Not Too Tame. The production will transfer to Newcastle for a run in the Epic Space at Northern Stage. David Chadderton spoke to Not Too Tame’s Artistic Director Jimmy Fairhurst, who co-directed the production with Matthew Dunster, and a company co-director, Andrew Butler, who appears in the production, about their take on the play, how it fits with the company’s philosophy of accessible theatre for the working classes (“a good night out”) and how this new theatre sits within the community in Prescot, as well as about their introduction to and love for Shakespeare. Not Too Tame’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs at Shakespeare North Playhouse from 22 September to 22 October and at Northern Stage from 29 October to 12 November 2022.

17 Okt 202242min

On 29 September 2022, Manchester International Festival officially announced its plans for the opening of its new permanent performance venue, to be called Factory International, in the St John’s area of Manchester city centre. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to John E McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of both Manchester International Festival and Factory International, about what the new building would provide for Manchester and the international arts scene, as well as about the opening production, Free Your Mind, a stage adaptation of the film The Matrix directed by Danny Boyle with a script by Sabrina Mahfouz, music by Mikey J Asante, choreography by Kenrick Sandy and design by Es Devlin. Following this, you can follow us on a tour of the building led by lead architect Ellen van Loon of OMA and Creative Director Low Kee Hong. Free Your Mind will run from 18 October to 5 November 2023, and tickets are now on sale. (Photo of John E McGrath at the Factory International Launch, credit: James Speakman / PA Wire)

6 Okt 202252min

Derby Theatre and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are to stage a co-production of a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde. Neil Bartlett has brought the story up to date and introduced some female characters. BTG Midlands Editor Steve Orme spoke to two of the actors, Nicholas Shaw and Polly Lister, about the show while Derby Theatre’s Sarah Brigham who’s directing and Mathew Russell from Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch talk about the benefits of their collaboration. Jekyll and Hyde will run at Derby Theatre from 30 September until 22 October and at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch from 26 October until 12 November 2022.

20 Sep 202222min

Nottingham Playhouse is presenting a new play, The Clothes They Stood Up In, which is described as a “bittersweet exploration of marriage, dreams and lives unlived”. Adrian Scarborough appears in the production and adapted the script from a story by Alan Bennett. Scarborough spoke to BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme about writing the script, getting the go-ahead from Bennett himself and how his career has developed over two-and-a-half decades. The Clothes They Stood Up In runs at Nottingham Playhouse from 9 September until 1 October 2022.

13 Sep 202222min

Oldham Coliseum Theatre is opening its 2022 autumn season with a revival of Jim Cartwright’s acclaimed portrait of life in a Lancashire town in Thatcher’s Britain of the 1980s, Road, which premièred at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1986. Returning to the Coliseum after directing the theatre’s first post-COVID production, Love n Stuff, in September 2021 is director Gitika Buttoo, who spoke to BTG Editor David Chadderton about the relevance of the play to today’s world, the stories it tells, her casting decisions and a career that has taken her from Leeds Playhouse to Bolton Octagon to the National Theatre and now to Oldham Coliseum, amongst others, in just five years. Road by Jim Cartwright will run at Oldham Coliseum from 16 September to 1 October 2022.

7 Sep 202222min

Peter Straker’s first big break was in the West End première of the musical Hair in 1968, following which he has had a long and impressive career in both musical and non-musical theatre and as a recording artist, notably collaborating with his close friend Freddie Mercury. His show based on the songs of Jacques Brel was a hit a few years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe, but this year, he is trying something new with Adventures of Straker, featuring songs from various musicals accompanied by musician Gabriele Baldocci. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Peter about his Edinburgh show, as well as a bit about his journey from Jamaica to the West End stage, performing in the taboo-breaking musical Hair just as the censorship of the Lord Chamberlain was ending on the British stage and a few other highlights of his career, plus some of his packed future plans. The Adventures of Straker will be at theSpace @ Niddry Street in Edinburgh from 15 to 20 August 2022 each day at 6:55PM. For more information, see www.adventuresofstraker.co.uk, or to book tickets, go to www.edfringe.com. You can find more information about Peter Straker and his work at his own web site, newsite.peterstraker.com.

12 Aug 202223min