Explore every episode of the podcast The Everything Theatre Interviews

How To Kill Your Landlord is certainly a provocative title, and so befitting of a show that is going to be making its way to Edinburgh this August, with a quick stop off at Drayton Arms Theatre (20 and 21 July) for a quick tune up beforehand.

Harry Conway's show places three very different characters in a house share, and as the title suggests, they begin to plan their dastardly deed.

As we discuss with Harry, the title itself has a classic Ealing Comedy feel to it, and comedy was very much at the forefront of his mind when writing this, whilst at the same time acknowleding the difficulties of renting today.

You can catch How To Kill Your Landlord at Drayton Arms Theatre on 20 and 21 July (tickets here) before a full run at Edinburgh between 30 July and 25 August (tickets here)

James Haddrell discusses his role as Artistic Director of Greenwich Theatre

With the announcement of two exciting additions to their 2025 programme, plus their usual high quality Christmas Panto, it felt like a great time to chat with James Haddrell, Artistic Director of Greenwich Theatre.

Frm starting as Press Officer in 2001, James has worked his way up the ladder in his 20+ years with Greenwich Theatre, so if anyone understands the venue, it's him!

We discuss their upcoming programme, why people may not have noticed the Studio space so far, but why it's an important part of the planning, and whether Greenwich Theatre is a London venue or not!

You can find details of all Greenwhich Theatre's upcoming programme here.

Emmy Happisburgh grew up when the rave scene was very much at its peak in the early 90s. And it's that time and place that she has returned to with her show Second Summer of Love, described as one-woman’s first-hand trip celebrating the early 90’s UK rave scene.

We chat with Emmy about the show and how her experiences of that time inspired it, how the show has developed from a one-woman show at 2022 EdFringe to a three-hander that is about to tour the UK and what difference director Scott Le Crass has made since taking over the reigns.

Second Summer of Love tours from 3 July until 4 October. Full dates and bookings can be found here.

Elegy Theatre talk about The ExperimentIt's nearly four years since we first came across Elegy Theatre, with Truth/Reconciliation. Since then they have been busy putting on some amazing work, and are now all set to present The Experiment at Golden Goose Theatre (17 - 21 June).

The Experiment takes us into the lives of Sadie and Will, a couple who are thrilled that their brief experiment with an open relationship has been a success. They worked out rules, discussed possibilities – they even wrote a manifesto. But soon, a stranger comes to Sadie with a disturbing alternate history, forcing her to choose between her identity as a woman and her desire to trust her partner.

We caught up with the team behind this new show; Elegy's Artistic Director Matt Gouldesbrough, Director Madison Gerringer and writer Serena Berman. It's a very international affair, with Serena joining all the way from America to chat about her play, why it's not really a story about open relationships, and how this play has found its way to London for its full world premiere.

Further information and tickets available here.

Tip Top Theatre Collective chat about God, The Devil and Me

We're always trying to expand our coverage outside of the usual London bubble, and one way of doing that is by chatting to those theatre makers who operate outside of the M25. So when we heard from Tip Top Theatre Collective we really wanted to find out more.

Whilst they might be bringing their latest show, God, The Devil and Me to London's Drayton Arms Theatre, the team are spread around the country, but all originate from the South West. As well as putting on shows in the South West, they have toured work across the country. They will also soon be taking not just God, The Devil and Me to Edinburgh, but a second show as well!

Which all means there was plenty to chat about when we caught up with the shows writer/ director/performer Fionn Donnelly, producer/ performer Noah Edmondson and performer Neo Jelfs.

God, The Devil and Me plays at Drayton Arms Theatre 24 - 28 June before heading to Edinburgh for all of August. Further information and tickets available here.

Bridge House Theatre's Artistic Director Luke Adamson joins us to chat about both the venue and it's upcoming show, Penge West.

Having now been in charge at the venue for four years, we chat about what lead him here, the importance of fringe venues in the community, and why it is safe to head south of the river.

Their upcoming show, Penge West, is an attempt to bring the classic soap opera to the stage, with eight episodes played out over three weeks. As Luke tells us, it could all go horribly wrong, but that is going to be part of the fun of it all, but should still provide plenty of fun and certainly something rsther different.

Penge West plays from 17 June to 5 July, with each "episode" playing for two evenings. Further information and tickets available here.

The Hope Theatre's Co-Artistic Directors Laurel Marks and Toby Hampton

Just over a year ago, there was a fear we'd be losing one of our amazing pub theatres when The Hope Theatre announced its closure. But thankfully it never happened, with Laurel Marks and Toby Hampton arriving to save the day.

A year on from officially taking over as co-Artistic Directors, we caught up with them to find out how it's going, and more importantly, what they have planned for the future - something that includes their first in-house production of Hampton's own play, Grace Mistake.

You can find more about The Hope Theatre and Grace Mistake here.

Our latest guest includes the return of Sam Smithson, who last year was telling us all about his show Taking A Love Pill At the End of the World.

This time around he is joined by Cameron Wilson, who together make up Not Quite Ready Productions. They are in full preparation to bring a fresh production of Martin Crimp's Attempts On Her Life to Hen and Chicken Theatre later in June. The play, first performed in 1997 at Royal Court Theatre, consists of seventeen seemingly unrelated scenes in which groups of people provide contradictory descriptions of an absent protagonist, a woman who is discussed as a terrorist, the daughter of grieving parents, an artist, and even a new car. 

The playtext doesn't assign lines to any specific character, meaning that there's a lot to unravel even before you reach rehersals. It also means a lot to unpick as we chat to Sam and Cameron to work out just why they wanted to take on what looks a highly ambitious piece of work, why they decided this time to work on an existing play and not new writing, and why it's a tough old world trying to be a writer!

Attempts on Her Life plays at Hen and Chickens Theatre from 10 to 14 June. Further information and bookings can be found here.

Back at the very start of 2023 Eleanor Hill spoke to us about Sad-vents, a show we called "visually impressive" in our 4 star review. In the two years since, she's been rather busy. After her run at VAULT Festival, she then took the show to Edinburgh. And then started to work on her new show, Overshare. Oh and found time for some neurosurgery after expeirencing a medical emergency!

Overshare explores the realities of mental health & trauma in the age of social media, but with the same humour that made Sad-vents such a powerful show. It also incorporates much of the same technical genuis of its predecessor, with the whole show performed to her phone instead of the audience, and livestreamed on screens behind her.

We chat with Eleanor about how much of Sad-vents has found its way into Overshare, whether there's the worry that the technology will overshadow everything else, and why the aim isn't to try to tell us what's wrong with social media, but rather to generate conversations in the bar after the show.

Overshare comes to Greenwich Theatre from Tuesday 6 - Saturday 25 May.

Whilst most of our podcasts are supporting specific upcoming shows, it's always fun to do something a little different. And that's what this latest edition is. Because we're chatting to Matthew Parker - director, actor, PR, and well, just about anything else that is needed to get a show on to the stage. Above all that, just an all round lovely fellow.

We chat to Matthew about his career, from starting out at a dance school through to running The Hope Theatre and now a freelancer who has won awards for his work. We also hear about how he found himself flying out to Australia to direct a show, and what he's up to next.

You can find out more about Matthew on his website here.

We came across Bespoke Plays in 2024 when Mimi Collins put on their first London show, a staged reading of her own play The Water Party.

What we soon found out was that Bespoke Plays is a transatlantic venture, having been brought to London by Mimi in partnership with its LA founders.

So the chance to chat about those LA origins with Mimi and one of Bespoke's founders, Ellie Pyle was something we were more than happy to take.

We discuss how Bespoke started, how it was used as a way to get through lockdown for so many artists, the difference between LA and London, and even how arts funding differs between the two countries (spoiler: it's a lot better in the UK than USA!). And we find out about Bespoke's fundraising drive and what they want the money for.

You can read more about Bespoke Plays on their website here.

We do love a good tag line, and that's just what our latest guests are Libby Boyd and Ruby Blue Tansey-Thomas, who make up two-thirds of Themis Theatre, gave us for their upcoming show, Schrödinger's Lesbians.

RIght now they are working on bringing the show to Waterloo's The Glitch, having previously played as part of last year's Camden Fringe.

Structured around the fragmented writings of Sappho's, ‘Schrödinger's Lesbians’ is a joyful, irreverent new play from Themis Theatre about love, lesbians, and how to cope with a history that's written you out of it.

We discuss the play, the important of representation on stage, lessons learnt from Camden Fringe and whether history is still being written by old white men.

Schrödinger's Lesbians plays at The Glitch from 9 - 14 April. Further information and tickets available here.

Synergy Theatre Project is more than just a theatre company. Formed over 20 years ago they work across theatre and the criminal justice system, including within prisons putting on work with prisoners, whilst the shows they put on will often include ex-prisoners in both the cast and creative roles.

That's certainly true of their next show, Providers, a new play about family, money and what we do when we don’t have enough of it. Not only does the cast include ex-prisoners alongside professional actors, but so does the backstage team.

We chat with Artistic Director Esther Baker about why Synergy does what it does, what it's like working in prisons, and quite why in an ideal world the company just wouldn't exist!

Providers comes to Brixton House 25 - 29 March. Further information available here.

Emma Wilkinson Wright and Greg Wilkinson discuss The Last Days of Liz Truss.

Poor Liz Truss, forever to be remembered for her failures and not the amazing work she did in promoting Britain's pork markets! But maybe that's all about to change with Greg Wilkinson's The Last Days of Liz Truss surely here to correct the record on her behalf? Well, ok, maybe not...

The Last Days of Liz Truss joins Liz in her last morning at number 10, taking us on a tragic-comic exploration of the tensions in politics: between ambition and ability, vision and reality, going short and playing it long. Can a fighter ever quit?

We caught up with Greg, along with performer Emma Wilkinson Wright to talk about the show, and find out if they are planning to set the record straight in support of our shortest ever Prime Minister.

The Last Days of Liz Truss plays at White Bear Theatre from 18 - 29 March. Further information and tickets available here.

Chris Fung is about to bring his show, The Society for New Cuisine, to Omnibus Theatre, a show that asks "What would you give for a taste of new understanding?"

Chris will be known to many for his West End work, including roles in Frozen and Cyrano de Bergerac, but as we discuss, this is his first foray into writing. We also chat about the delights of fringe theatre and how it differs from being on a West End stage, performing to just three people at Edinburgh Fringe and how the play was written whilst performing in Frozen.

The Society for New Cuisine will play at Omnibus Theatre from 19 March to 5 April. Further information available here.

Sometimes a show pops up that says it is based on a true story, but well, you have to double check these things when they sound so ridiculous.

And that is exactly what we had to do before we sat down with writer Nikhil Vyas to chat about The Mosinee Project, which is coming to New Diorama Theatre from 11 March.

The Mosinee Project tells the true story of a fake invasion, when in 1950 a small town in America decided to show what would happen should the Russians invade!

We discuss the show, how Nikhil happened upon this surreal story and why playing it straight is the only real way to make it so funny.

You can find out more about the show and book tickets here.

Not heard of Mary De Morgan? Don't worry, we have to admit most of us here at ET hadn't either, but that's all about to change as we chat to Claire Parker about her show The Vegan Tigress.

Mary De Morgan was a writer, a woman of independent means, a socialist and an activist. She wrote several volumes of fairy tales, tearing up the rule book on expected outcomes for boys, girls and happy ever afters.

The Vegan Tigress tells the story of De Morgan through one of her own fairytales, reimagining the moment a formidable ghost from Mary’s past forces her to re-evaluate her own story as she finds herself on the cusp of a life-changing journey. Lily Middleton chats to Claire about the show and why she wanted to write a show about De Morgan.

The Vegan Tigress plays at Bread and Roses Theatre from 18 February to 1 March. Further information and tickets available here.

There's an old saying about making the best out of a bad situation, and that's just what the team at MARIA WHO? seem to have done with Miss Brexit.

Framing the show as a beauty contest, with the winner given a chance to remain in the UK, Miss Brexit takes a playful look at what it is like to be a migrant in a country that at times seems not to want them here.

We chat to co-director Amaia Mugica to find out about more the show, how it has developed over the last two years, and whether it's story can translate to stages across Europe.

Miss Brexit will play at Omnibus Theatre from 11 to 15 February. Further information and tickets available here.

It's always lovely to chat to old friends, and that's just what this week's podcast is. David Brady, Artistic Director of Lion and Unicorn Theatre and Proforca Theatre, has been a guest at least three times before, but that's no reason not to ask him back because he is always a lot of fun.

This time it's to chat about their latest work And If The Surface Tension Breaks, a show about "the end of the world, living for the moment, and the mother of all goodbye parties". What's not to love?

So we chat about why this is more about people than the end of the world, the importance of music when working on new shows, where that the show title comes from (there's a clue in the title of this episode) and we even find time to ask about new year's resolutions.

And If The Surface Tension Breaks comes to Lion and Unicorn Theatre betwen 11 February and 1 March, more information and bookings here.

You can also find a playlist of songs inspired by the show here.

Our latest guests are Jamie Sefton and Alex McKeon, who together make up Mirror Up Productions.

Jamie has been a guest before, previously to chat about A Thousand Sons, a show about the ongoing battle for veterans of the nuclear testings of the 1950s to receive recognition and acknowledgement of what happened at that time.

He has now formed Mirror Up with Alex, and are just about to put on Reflections, their second Scratch night of new works at Drayton Arms Theatre.

We chat about the scratch nights and why they are an important cog in the theatre machine, their own contribution to the night with an extract from their work in progress show, and look at what else they have planned for the future.

Reflections plays 26 and 27 January at Drayton Arms Theatre. Further information and tickets can be found here.

Craig Henry joins us to chat about his new play, Her Country, following four young people navigating the early stages of their careers during a time of national upheaval. And yes, those four are made up of a librarian, a civil servant and two journalists. But as far as we're aware, they don't all arive at the theatre together, although you can catch them all when the show plays at The Hope Theatre from 27 January as part of Write Club Festival 2025.

We chat about the play, it's origins dating back to 2015 and the murder of Jo Cox, and what it is like to finally see the play staged after nine years in the making.

Her Country plays at The Hope Theatre from 27 - 30 January, tickets available here.

When you call your show Thanks For Having Me, well, the intros just write themselves. But the show is more than just a clever title, as we found out when we sat down with writer/ performer Keelan Kember and director Monica Cox.

Thanks For Having Me is a comedy about getting over breakups and navigating the rules of modern romance at the end of your twenties. Who is really seducing who?

We discuss why 30something is an important age, what it's like directing the writer, and what's it like spreading your time between theatre and TV.

Thanks For Having Me plays at King's Head Theatre from 3 - 8 February. Further information and tickets available here.

For some of us, October means one thing - the chance to get some good horror stories on the stage. But for the rest of the year, well, we can feel a little neglected. Which is why we were delighted to hear from Monkey Cymbals, the theatre company of Claire Louise Amias and Jonathan Rigby, to let us know that their show Haunted Shadows: The Gothic Tales of Edith Nesbit was making a return to the stage at the end of January.

Georgie Henley, best known for her role as Lucy Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia, and more recently, The Diplomat (Netflix) and Partygate (Channel 4), will be performing in the Philip Ridley monologue Tarantula at Arcola Theatre throughout January. She first performed the show online for Southwark Playhouse in 2021, but it is now set for its live premiere.

We caught up with Georgie during rehearsals to chat about the joys of working with Philip Ridley, what it's like coming back to a role she first played during lockdown to an empty theatre and what it will be like to finally have an audience present this time around.

Tarantula plays at Arcola Theatre from 8 - 25 January. Further information and tickets available here.

Lydia Kavanagh and Chloe Cattin join us to chat about their new show Deck The Stalls.

We're always delighted to welcome back previous podcast guests, and that's what we have this week with the return of director Chloe Cattin. And this time around Chloe brings with her writer Lydia Kavanagh, whose latest play is Deck The Stalls. It won't surprise you to know it's directed by Chloe!

Deck The Stalls is set around the office party and all the horrors that come with it. Except that Serena has escaped from it all by hiding in the toilets, where the play is set as she rants about the party and her life.

We discuss the play and its themes of loss and grief, whether it's based on personal experience of office parties, and why RIverside Studios is such a great place to put on a show.

Deck The Stalls plays at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith from 16 to 22 December. More info available here.

Our latest guests are Grace, Hen and Sadie, who together are Full Frontal Theatre. Their latest show, Rodney Black: Who Cares? It's Working is about to hit the stage at Lion And Unicorn Theatre, so it seemed a good time to sit down and chat to the trio.

We discuss the show, cancel culture, being young females in the arts and whether the audience should be naked during the show (spoiler, no, especially not in December!)

Rodney Black: Who Cares? It's Working will play at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 17 to 21 December, with tickets available here.

Voila! Festival has grown from its humble beginnings back in 2012 when it was a French and English bilingual festival held just at The Cockpit. As a response to Brexit, it initially expanded its remit to include all European languages across three venues.

But after a year off in 2023 to reset, it’s back even bigger and even stronger, now finding itself across nine different venues across London with a whole host of nationalities and languages involved.

So it seemed a good time to two of the festival’s Artistic Directors, Amy Clare Tasker & Katharina Reinthaller, along to tell us more about it.

We discuss what the festival is all about, a little history, why Brexit made them even more determined to bring a touch of Europe to London, and we push them to name a few of their favourite shows.

Voila! plays from 4 – 24 November at venues spread across London. You can find a list of venues along with all the available shows on their website here.

When we were offered the chance to chat with Fred Deakin, well, as soon as we realised Fred was one half of Lemon Jelly, whose CD's adorn many a record collection, how could we not be excited.

Fred has brought his life of the 80s and 90s in and out of clubs to the theatre stage in what could well be a whole new genre; club theatre! It was a big success in Edinburgh, winning 2023 Edinburgh Fringe-First Award for innovation, and now it's making its London debut at Omnibus Theatre in Clapham.

Fred is joined by director Sita Pieraccini, who was vital in helping him move his ideas onto a very different stage to what he was use to in the past.

We discuss what to expect, why audience interaction is absolutely allowed, and what it's like performing to a very different audience that when he was created music for clubs.

Club Life plays at Omnibus Theatre from 12 - 24 November. Further information and tickets available here.

This week's guest is Rio Matchett, Artistic Director of Camden People's Theatre, and in theory, here to chat about CPT's current The State We're In Festival, which is running until 10 November.

However, Rio had only been in post for five days at the time of the interview, and so the conversation found itself going in all sorts of different directions - from what she has planned for the future at CPT to why she is so eager to bring more family orientated shows to the venue.

So whilst we do discuss the current festival, it was also a chance to really delve into the inner thoughts of someone who will be helping to shape a theatre that has been a vital component of London's theatre scene.

The Cast and Crew of Frank's Closet chat about the evolution of the show.

Frank's Closet has been on a journey and is about to 'dip it's glittery toe in the pool' of the West End at the Arts Theatre for two special performances. It premiered in 2009 at the Hoxton Hall, in celebration of this historic venue. It lay dormant until it was unearthed during the Lockdown.

Fast forward to March 2024 and Frank's Closet opened at the Union Theatre where it had great success and an extended run. The next stop on the journey was in September at Wilton's Music Hall, this 'Unmissable!' run opened the door to the West End, on the 3rd and 17th November at the Arts Theatre.

We are in discussion with Luke Farrugia (The Diva), Daniel Walford (Gaiety Girl - Alice Plate) and David Tate, aka Dolly (Head of Wardrobe and original Gaiety Girl) about their experiences of this unique musical ahead of rehearsals for Frank's next chapter.

Andrew Keates talks about the genesis of Queer Theatre Ltd.

Originally founded in 2012 as Arion Production Ltd, in July 2024 a rebrand and a renewed focus occurred, following dramatic events in Andrew Keates' personal life. The result, Queer Theatre Ltd.

We talked to Andrew about the events that lead up to this change and the redemptive nature of his story and his renewed drive to nurture LGBTQIA+ theatremakers and authentic queer stories. They want to work in partnership with individuals and organisations to grow the visibility of queer stories in the mainstream as well as directly to the LGBTQIA+ community. This is a man on a mission, but one that has changed the direction of his life and career.

Warning: there is discussion of addition and sexual assualt)

Camden People's Theatre's The State We're In Festival is three weeks of theatre and performance lifting the lid on Britain’s democracy, politics and public life at the dawn of a new government. It seems the perfect home for Worklight Theatre's It's The Economy, Stupid, which sees Joe Sellman-Leava, alongside Worklight colleague Dylan Howells, embark on a quest to uncover how the economy wins elections, and why the force that dominates our lives is so bloody complicated!

It might sound all rather dry for a theatre show, but as Joe tells us, it promises to be anything but. Of course the best way to find out is to head along to check the show out when it comes to Camden People's Theatre on 25 and 26 October. The show also plays at Theatre Royal Bath on 28 and 29 October. It will then return in 2025 with a fuller London run promised, so watch this space.

One of the more unusual shows (and there were certainly plenty of them!) we saw at this year's Camden Fringe was Play-AI. Taking the traditional improv approach of asking the audience to suggest ideas, it was then all fed into ChatGPT and a script made up on the spot for the cast to act out.

Yes it sounds horrific for so many reasons, but as Emma Richardson tells us, that is almost the point, especially as it's improv, so the fun is watching the cast work with some questionable material.

We chat with Emma about the why's and how's of it all, and whether the future of the writer is at risk from the rapid progress being made with AI (spoiler alert, we don't think so!)

Play-AI was performed for one night only at this year's Camden Fringe, but will undoubtably return in the not too distant further.

Having made a brief appearance on our GrimFest Launch Party Special podcast, we invited Finella Waddilove back to chat some more about her show The Blair Bitch Porject, which will be playing at Old Red Lion Theatre from 15 to 18 October. And she even brought along Katryn Crosby, who shares acting duties with Finella in the show.

We chat about the show, whether there will be an abundance of fake blood, why the play on words in the title, and just why we love horror so much.

The Blair Bitch Project plays as part of GrimFest from 15 to 18 October, tickets available here.

Our final guest in our short run of GrimFest Launch Party interviews is Nilgün Yusuf, who tells us about her show Nine Moons.

Nine Moons is a play about hair, blood and guts, a rites-of-passage story with a supernatural twist unfolds through nine lunar cycles and explores the relationship of women to their bodies, the world and each other.  Note that as this was recorded during the launch party, there is the background noise of the party all around us!

Nine Moons will play at Old Red Lion on 26 and 27 October, before transferring to Lion and Unicorn from 29 to 31 October.

Next in our run of GrimFest launch party interviews is Maya Hallpike, one half of the Hooky Productions team, whose show Experiment Human we've been supporting since we first met them at the start of 2021.

Maya was at the lauch party to do a short solo performance taken from Experiment Human, so we were delighted to get to chat with her afterwards about the show and how their Edinburgh Fringe run went earlier this year.

Note that this was recorded during the party and as such there is the background noise of the party around us.

Experiment Human will play for one night only on 14 October. Tickets available here.

We continue our short run of GrimFest interviews with Paul Kalburgi talking about bringing his show Almost The Birthday Party back for this year's festival.

As Paul tells us, the show was originally performed around ten years ago, but has now been reworked for this year's festival.

This interview was recorded during the launch party, and as such, there is background noise of the party in full swing around us!

GrimFest is, as the name tells you, a festival of all things grim. So you can expect plenty of shows with a little spookiness.

We took ourselves along to the recent launch party for the festival, and grabbed some time with a few people involved.

Finella Waddilove's The Blair Bitch Project takes us deep into the woods where Fay is waiting for her friend to arrive. But something seems terribly wrong.

We chat about the show and what brings Finella to GrimFest, plus our shared love of good horror films!

The Blair Bitch Project plays at Old Red Lion Theatre from 15 to 18 October.

Note that the interviews were recording at the launch party, and as such, the noise of the party can be heard!

GrimFest is, as the name tells you, a festival of all things grim. So you can expect plenty of shows with a little spookiness.

We took ourselves along to the recent launch party for the festival, and grabbed some time with a few people involved.

David Hoskin's A Haunted House is a title that really doesn't need much more explaination! We talk to David about the show, and why mime and horror actually are a perfect combination.

Note that the interviews were recording at the launch party, and as such, the noise of the party can be heard!

GrimFest is, as the name tells you, a festival of all things grim. So you can expect plenty of shows with a little spookiness.

We took ourselves along to the recent launch party for the festival, and grabbed some time with a few people involved.

First up are Nina Atesh and Jack Robertson, curators of the festival, to talk about what to expect from this third edition of GrimFest.

Note that the interviews were recording at the launch party, and as such, the noise of the party can be heard!

Having only just recovered from Camden Fringe, we were thinking we'd have a couple of quiet weeks. But then we realised Lambeth Fringe was around the corner.

So instead we headed south of the river to catch up with one of the festival organisers, Velenzia Spearpoint.

We discuss why the festival has been rebranded for this year, having previously been known as Clapham Fringe, why they cannot walk through Lambeth without looking at possible new venues, and try to push Valenzia to pick her favourite shows!

Lambeth Fringe opens 19 September to 20 October. Further information can be found on their website here.

We invited a group of artists who had shows on at this year's Camden Fringe to discuss the experience - what they learned from putting their show on, what problems they encountered, and why ultimately it was a worthwhile experience.

Participants:

Ruby Blue Tansey-Thomas

Zofia Zerphy 

Hassan Govia

Benedict Esdale

Jon Hague

You can find out more about the participants on our website.

Lady Montagu Unveiled promises us a blend of Gossip Girl, Bridgerton, with dashes of Hamilton. What's not to like about that combination.

Throw in Thesy Surface, an actor with some fine pedigree, including a recurring role in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as the rather disturbing and monobrowed Margaret McPoyle. But she's given up the glamour of working in America to bring her one woman show to Camden Fringe. She reckons Lady Montagu Unveiled will be the hippest historical stage memoir in town, and who are we to disagree?

The show comes to The Courtyard Theatre for three performances only - 23/24th at 8.30pm and 25th at 1.30pm. Further information and bookings available here.

We grabbed five minutes with Alice Motta during the recent Camden Fringe Launch Party, firstly as we needed someone to take a photo of our little team who were there, but also so we could chat about her show.

Find out about her show and why she has stopped using an actual bath in her set!

You can read more about the show in a fuller interview we did with Alice here.

We first spoke to sisters Rosa and Maya back at the start of 2022, when they were preparing to take their new show, Experiment Human to VAULT Festival.

That festival was unfortunately cancelled, but not to be deterred, they made alternative plans, including a short run in July of that year, which coincided with the heatwave that saw temperatures pass 40C and resulting in the first dates being cancelled as the venue was deemed too hot!

Two years on from it’s rather disrupted beginnings, Experiment Human is now an award winning show and will be making its way to Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. It’s also doing a preview night at London’s Old Red Lion (28 July) for those not heading North this summer.

So it felt like a great time to catch up with two of our favourite people to find out how the show has changed and grown in that time, and whether this might finally be the time Benedict Cumberbatch finds himself in the audience face to face with himself on stage.

Experiment Human plays EdFringe 1 - 25 August, further information here.

There is also a London preview date on 28 July at Old Red Lion Theatre, tickets available here.

We first bumped into Anya Hope Birch as part of Act II Festival, where she was an Assosiate Producer. After bending her ear for an hour or so in the bar afterwards, it only seemed fair we should give her the chance to chat back on our podcast.

So that's how Anya, along with director Henry Roberts and writer Lucy Josephine, who collectively make up Mooski Theatre Company, found themselves as our latest guests, here to tell us all about their Camden Fringe show, Teach Me About Dying. It's a show that asks that all important question, what would you do if death turned up on your door unexpectedly?

Teach Me About Dying will be playing at Little Angel Theatre 20 - 24 August for Camden Fringe. Further information available here.

If you're going to call your show We Can Be Heroes, well, for many of us it's almost impossible not to follow that up with "just for one day" in honour of the classic David Bowie song.

But as Anna Krauze tells us, it has nothing really to do with that, but rather it's a newly written play about what it means to be a superhero. Which all sounds rather intriguing doesn't it.

Anna talks about the play that sees Peanut tell us about her brother, the superhero who was scared of the rain, thunder and just about everything else, so what makes him a superhero? We discuss this, why Edinburgh is still the aim for Anna, and what makes Camden Fringe such a great place to test out new work.

We Can Be Heroes plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 12 - 14 August, more information and tickets available here.

We have a soft spot for gig theatre, at least gig theatre when it is done right. So when Rona Johnstone and Katie Slater got in touch to tell us not just about their Edinburgh Fringe bound show, Mary: A Gig Theatre Show, but also that they had done some research into gig theatre as part of their degree course, how could we not want to chat with them about it all.

So, as well as telling us all about their show, based on Mary Queen of Scots, they also talk about what they feel gig theatre is. We may also disagree a little on their definition but we do agree that it shows just how varied the genre can be! We also get very close to begging them to bring the show to London, because we all want to see it now!

Mary: A Gig Theatre show plays at theSpace for EdFringe from 12 - 17 August. Further information and tickets available here.

We're joined for this week's edition by writer Niamh O'Donnell, director Anna Millington and RamPage Theatre AD and producer Rachel McKay, who are bringing new show Cianalas to King's Head Theatre at the end of July as part of Camden Fringe.

Cianalas tells the story of a community’s resistance to mass evictions during the Highland Clearances – one of the darkest moments of Scotland’s history.

We chat about why that title, how they all became involved with the show, and why fringe theatre is something we should all be out supporting.

Cianalas plays 30 & 31 July at King's Head Theatre - further information can be found here.

Our latest guest is Jessie-Wren Jacobs, who is getting ready to take her show, This Porno Does Not Pass the Bechdel test, to Edinburgh Fringe. Although before then, she is making a quick stop off at Camden's Etcetera Theatre in July.

Describing her show as a feminist tragicomedy, Jessie-Wren tells us what the Bechdel test is and why it actually doesn't have a massive amount to do with the show anyway. We also discuss sex education, the issues of teens being exposed to porn from such a young age and how this feeds into the show, and whether the show is suitable for her grandparents!

This Porno Does Not pass The Bechdel test plays at Etcetera Theatre for one night only on 5 July, then Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 19 - 24 August. More information can be found here.