Explore every episode of the podcast Not True, But Useful... A Cheek by Jowl Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 5, Episode 5: Separate Demons | 03 oct. 2022 | 00:20:25 | |
| Series 5, Episode 4: Études and Explorations | 12 sept. 2022 | 00:18:05 | |
| Series 5, Episode 3: The Central Question | 05 sept. 2022 | 00:19:20 | |
| Series 5, Episode 2: Advice to Self | 29 août 2022 | 00:15:50 | |
Declan and Nick think about advice they give to themselves when they are making a play, and the problem of letting yourself get in the way of the work. Even after four decades of rehearsing, they keep making notes to self. | |||
| Series 5, Episode 1: Verse and the Big Lie | 18 août 2022 | 00:21:26 | |
| Series 4, Episode 12: Time | 06 juin 2022 | 00:15:49 | |
Time is never the character’s friend - but this makes it useful to the actor. In this episode, Declan chats to Lucie about time in Shakespeare’s texts, and how there is never enough of it. He emphasises the importance of liveness in theatre, and the interconnectedness this creates. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 11: Treacherous Exercises | 27 mai 2022 | 00:17:00 | |
Declan talks to Lucie about a question he can’t stand: can he share the exercises he uses in the rehearsal room? He urges directors to ask not for a technique, but for what they’re trying to achieve, and talks about how he himself is constantly observing in order to become more attentive to the needs of the actor. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 10: Flow | 23 mai 2022 | 00:13:05 | |
Lucie talks to Declan about his favourite word in the rehearsal room: Flow. Flow is like love, like a football match, like a good evening spent with friends. For actors, flow is being a part of the living thing on the stage, and focusing what’s outside and within you. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 9: The Art of Forgetting Things | 16 mai 2022 | 00:13:31 | |
Declan presents an unusual piece of advice to actors: forget things. He talks to Lucie about how this allows the actor to be truly present as the character on stage, trusting what they need will be there when they need it. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 8: Imposter Syndrome | 03 mai 2022 | 00:19:25 | |
Imposter syndrome is another longstanding problem that most actors face. For Declan, however, it is not unique to actors: the characters of Shakespeare’s plays all go through these same feelings. In this episode, Declan talks to Lucie about how the relationship between the actor and Shakespeare’s texts should be equal, and how those characters also go through their own insecurities | |||
| Series 4, Episode 7: The Problem of Not Feeling | 29 avr. 2022 | 00:15:08 | |
In this episode, Declan chats to Lucie about the age-old problem actors face of not ‘feeling’ what their character feels, and whether the character themselves might be feeling anything at all. Declan talks about the theatre of feeling in everyday life, and how all the world is indeed a stage. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 6: Oedipus | 22 avr. 2022 | 00:15:59 | |
In this episode, Declan and Lucie discuss the transgression and intensity of Sophocles' classic tragedy, Oedipus. They talk about Declan and Nick's upcoming production of Oedip Rege in Craiova, how ideas can drastically change over a production period, and how even today Oedipus can be truly frightening. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 5: Shakespeare and Love | 12 janv. 2022 | 00:19:55 | |
In this episode, Declan and Lucie discuss the subject of love in As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet. They talk about the BBC Open University documentary on Cheek by Jowl's production of As You Like It, which you can watch here (https://www.cheekbyjowl.com/resources/as-you-like-it-documentary-cheek-by-jowl-open-university/). | |||
| Series 4, Episode 4: To Be Or Not To Be | 05 janv. 2022 | 00:18:33 | |
Beginning with a reading of Hamlet, Declan dives deep into the universal themes of (non-)existence, futility, and being driven by the fear of anonymity. This episode contains brief mention of suicide when discussing the text of Hamlet. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 3: The Element of Surprise | 29 déc. 2021 | 00:17:57 | |
In this episode, Declan and Lucie talk about the issue of heightened behaviour and the act of being surprised on stage and on screen. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 2: Body and Meaning | 22 déc. 2021 | 00:21:06 | |
This week, Declan joins Lucie to discuss the limitations of language and how the body ought to be prioritised in the rehearsal space. | |||
| Series 4, Episode 1: Character Revisited | 15 déc. 2021 | 00:17:33 | |
In this first episode of our winter mini-series, Declan revisits 'character', a much discussed subject, and questions how useful it may be in rehearsal to the actor and director exploring a play. | |||
| Series 4 Trailer... | 10 déc. 2021 | 00:01:20 | |
We're back with some special bonus episodes for the cold winter months... | |||
| Series 3, Episode 9 - Extra Tagliatelle | 17 août 2021 | 00:19:15 | |
To mark 40 years since our first ever touring production - The Country Wife - we're delighted to release a bonus episode of Series 3. Declan and Nick join Lucie one more time to discuss their four decades of work as Cheek by Jowl, including the company's emphasis on ensemble, their dream dinner guests, the danger of asking 'how' and 'why', and the advice they would give to their younger selves... | |||
| Series 3, Episode 8 - Troilus and Cressida | 16 juil. 2021 | 00:32:33 | |
Declan and Nick discuss Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare's scathing anti-war satire on glory, chivalry and doomed love. Find out why the play is possibly the most un-Shakespearean of Shakespeare's plays, the dangers of 'truth', and the importance of reserving one's judgment when approaching a work of art. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 7 - Much Ado About Nothing | 09 juil. 2021 | 00:33:21 | |
Declan and Nick take a deep dive into one of Shakespeare's best loved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing. They join Lucie to discuss the darkness beneath the play's lightness, the horror and dread in Beatrice and Benedick's love story, and how it has become the blueprint for many modern romcoms. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 6 - The Revenger's Tragedy | 02 juil. 2021 | 00:32:54 | |
Ahi ahi ahi ahi! This week’s discussion takes us back to Piccolo Teatro di Milano and Cheek by Jowl’s last live onstage production before the lockdown of 2020, The Revenger’s Tragedy by Thomas Middleton. In this episode, Declan and Nick speak about theatre as a problem-solving business, and what Middleton’s play teaches us about being right and our need to seek justice. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 5 - Measure for Measure | 25 juin 2021 | 00:39:13 | |
This week, Declan and Nick talk the politics of acting, the importance of ensemble, and the danger of logic in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 4 - Three Sisters | 15 juin 2021 | 00:36:58 | |
If you think Chekhov’s plays are about nothing happening, think again. This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Three Sisters, another play of love, loss and self-deception in which – from the very first line - the protagonists are faced with an overwhelming predicament… | |||
| Series 3, Episode 3 - Hamlet | 11 juin 2021 | 00:24:59 | |
This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Hamlet, including their experiences of staging the play as a ballet for the Bolshoi (without the words!), the difference between what we say and what we do, and Hamlet's greatest fear: non-existence. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 2 - Twelfth Night | 04 juin 2021 | 00:29:05 | |
This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s great tale of love, loss, and self-deception. More information about Cheek by Jowl's 1986-87 English production here, and their 2003-18 Russian production here. | |||
| Series 3, Episode 1 - Macbeth | 28 mai 2021 | 00:33:31 | |
Welcome back for another series of Not True, But Useful! To kick off Series 3, Declan and Nick join Lucie Dawkins to discuss Macbeth, a play that continues to reveal new things to us, including the universal problems of loneliness, gratitude, and the danger of trying to solve life's great mysteries. More information about Cheek by Jowl's production of Macbeth here. | |||
| Series 3 is on its way... | 21 mai 2021 | 00:01:54 | |
Series 3 of ‘Not True But Useful’ is on its way! The new series will see Declan, Nick, and Lucie returning to their mics to share personal insights into acting, directing, and plays, but above all, to build a bridge between these processes and life as we live it now. Featuring Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Three Sisters, and many more... www.cheekbyjowl.com/podcast/ | |||
| Series 2, Episode 8 - Cymbeline | 08 janv. 2021 | 00:34:50 | |
In the final episode of the series, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Shakespeare's 'badly behaved' play Cymbeline. They chat about empathy, the idea of 'realism', inventing one's own exercises, and THAT boyband number, performed by Tom Hiddleston in their 2007 production. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 7 - Boris Godunov | 01 janv. 2021 | 00:29:32 | |
This week, we head to Russia to discuss Pushkin's great lyrical masterpiece Boris Godunov, a compelling exposé of the seductive appeal of power and the price that must be paid for it. Declan and Nick discuss the beginnings of their Russian ensemble, the mystery of how electorates behave, and the show's Shakespearean scope. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 6 - The Changeling | 25 déc. 2020 | 00:28:23 | |
'The whole point of making art is that you’re sharing something with somebody that cannot be put into words.’ This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie deep dive into The Changeling, a bloody Jacobean tragedy filled with lunatics, ghosts, horror, sex and obsession. They discuss the making of their 2006 production (starring Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Williams), using the rehearsal space as the inspiration for the design, the worlds of the madhouse and the court, and the running theme of self-delusion in the great classic plays. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 5 - The Tempest | 18 déc. 2020 | 00:32:13 | |
How does theatre make us less alone? What is the role that the audience has to play in the act of art? What does Shakespeare have to teach us about humanity and forgiveness? Declan and Nick join Lucie to discuss The Tempest, a play in which Shakespeare juggles magic, laughter, danger and love with all the flair and freedom of his maturity. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 4 - As You Like It | 11 déc. 2020 | 00:25:24 | |
"If it's not painful, it ain't love!" | |||
| Series 2, Episode 3 - Ubu Roi | 04 déc. 2020 | 00:28:09 | |
Blood, sex, tyranny, and sausages! Declan and Nick join Lucie to discuss Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry's gruesome and raucous 1896 satire. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 2 - Tis Pity She's A Whore | 27 nov. 2020 | 00:28:05 | |
Tis Pity She's a Whore is a vivid and violent Jacobean tragedy about a brother and sister’s passionate descent into hell. It is also the first production Declan and Nick ever worked on together before forming Cheek by Jowl, mounting the production again in 2011. The transcript of this episode is available upon request. Please contact info@cheekbyjowl.com to request a link. | |||
| Series 2, Episode 1 - The Winter's Tale | 20 nov. 2020 | 00:26:55 | |
Declan and Nick discuss Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, a play in which unity of time, place and action are hurled aside as we range across Europe, from court to country, from high tragedy to low comedy, across a time span of sixteen years. They discuss their shifting ideas when directing the play, the central character around whom the play hinges, the mystery in Hermione’s final scene, as well as sage words of advice to auditioning actors: 'go and touch something!' The transcript of this episode is available upon request. Please contact info@cheekbyjowl.com to request a link. | |||
| Series 2 Trailer | 12 nov. 2020 | 00:01:18 | |
Cheek by Jowl are back with a new series of 'Not True, But Useful...' as Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod and host Lucie Dawkins bring fresh insights on theatre, life and what the classics can tell us about how we live now. Like and subscribe to get the latest episodes as they're released in November! | |||
| Episode 10 - Tagliatelle | 30 juin 2020 | 00:25:54 | |
Like the delicious Italian meal made from the remainders of other pasta, in this episode we have assembled the tastiest bonus offcuts from the interviews for Season One. Declan Donnellan shares his thoughts about life, art, and the theatre, including working with verse, why Caravaggio is a genius, myth, mystery, and Racine. Cheek by Jowl's production archive (www.cheekbyjowl.com/productions/) Facebook (www.facebook.com/cheekbyjowl/) Twitter (www.twitter.com/cbyj/) Instagram (www.instagram.com/wearecheekbyjowl/) | |||
| Episode 9 - Character and Process | 19 juin 2020 | 00:31:57 | |
How does an actor go about stepping into a character? How can they begin to embody them onstage? In Declan's view, a character is not fixed, but is always a living being in a process of adapting to the predicaments of human life. This episode was recorded on Monday 8 June 2020 ahead of its release on 19 June 2020. In the second half of the podcast, we go on a deep dive through Act 1 Scene 7 of Macbeth, which you can read here (https://bit.ly/2YgTFFM) To find out more about Cheek by Jowl’s past productions of Macbeth, Othello, and more, check out the online archive here (https://bit.ly/2UXJ6W2). | |||
| Episode 8 - Encountering the Predicament | 12 juin 2020 | 00:29:43 | |
Declan and Nick talk about the predicament of being a human, and how that helps us to think about plays. They consider cats, Breaking Bad, Shakespeare, Beckett, cheese trolleys on the Titanic, falling in love, and the ways that good theatre makes us look back at ourselves. This episode was recorded on Friday 5 June 2020 ahead of its release on 12 June 2020. They take a deep dive into Act 5 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which you can read here (https://bit.ly/37qMxJZ) They also discuss several of their past productions, which you can find in the Cheek by Jowl archive (https://www.cheekbyjowl.com/productions/). | |||
| Episode 7 - Design Deep Dive | 05 juin 2020 | 00:28:33 | |
Co-Artistic Director Nick Ormerod joins Lucie to dive into the world of theatre design, discussing how design can be informed by the space and the actors, his thespian ambitions, his mentors, his influences, last-minute brainwaves, and his unique working relationship with Declan Donnellan. You can see images from Cheek by Jowl’s production of The Winter's Tale here (www.cheekbyjowl.com/productions/the-winters-tale/) You can find the text of The Winter's Tale scenes here. Act III, Scene 3 (https://bit.ly/30dQG2s) Act IV, Scene 1 (https://bit.ly/2BCP9Zq) | |||
| Episode 6 - Why We Do What We Do | 29 mai 2020 | 00:30:22 | |
In this episode, Declan Donnellan talks about motive, and ways of examining why people in real life and characters in plays do what they do. He talks about dread as a motor for dramatic action, and goes on a deep dive through Act 1 of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, passing through Oscar Wilde, Macbeth, TV crime dramas, and Sally Rooney’s Normal People on the way. You can read Act 1 of Three Sisters here (https://bit.ly/3clnnxn). | |||
| Episode 5 - Words Grown False | 22 mai 2020 | 00:30:45 | |
Declan and Nick talk about how words can behave treacherously, and explore what this means with staging the great plays. With Fawlty Towers, detective novels, Three Sisters, Othello, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night all in the mix in this week's episode, they call into question whether we can really trust the words coming out of our mouths. At the end of the episode, they go on a deep dive into the first scene of Twelfth Night, which you can find the text of here (https://bit.ly/2A3CTjD). To see photos and archive material of all the plays they discuss this week, visit Cheek by Jowl's website (https://www.cheekbyjowl.com/productions/) | |||
| Episode 4 - Scenes and Sandcastles | 15 mai 2020 | 00:31:43 | |
In this episode, Declan and Nick discuss an important idea in their work: 'Thresholds', following on from their discussion about 'Space' in Episode 2. They share with us lessons they have learned about the theatre from holidays in Margate, King Kong, and newborn babies. At the end of the episode, they discuss Act II Scene 2 from Shakespeare's Macbeth, the text of which can be found here (https://bit.ly/2zKO3JZ). You can see archive material from Cheek by Jowl's production of Macbeth here (https://bit.ly/2zHxjmS). | |||
| Episode 3 - Into The Woods | 08 mai 2020 | 00:42:39 | |
In this episode, Declan and Nick talk about the history of their collaboration, and the way they work together as director and designer. They map 40 years of a shared creative life together, taking us from the UK to Russia, via boxes and shipwrecks, through wigs and words, and right into the woods. They discuss several past productions in this episode, and you can find archive material of them at this link (https://www.cheekbyjowl.com/productions/) | |||
| Episode 2 - Space and Shakespeare | 01 mai 2020 | 00:36:35 | |
What do lobsters, Shakespeare, the room next door, and our lockdown all have in common? They all have something to tell us about space and the theatre. This week, Declan and Nick talk about why space is so important to the way they think about plays, and how that influences their design and rehearsal process. You can find the scenes they discuss in depth here. Macbeth Act I Scene 7 (https://bit.ly/3fb0LSM). Macbeth Act II Scene 2 (https://bit.ly/2KMeU). You can find archive images of Cheek by Jowl's production of Measure for Measure, also discussed in this episode, here (https://bit.ly/2YmgqbS). | |||
| Episode 1 - Thoughts from Inside Quarantine | 21 avr. 2020 | 00:33:48 | |
In this first episode, Cheek by Jowl's Artistic Director Declan Donnellan talks to Lucie Dawkins about his thoughts on life, quarantine, making theatre, the brain and Macbeth, while he writes the follow-up to his book The Actor And The Target. Music by Pavel Akimkin. Follow Cheek by Jowl on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. | |||