The Making Theatre Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

For this episode, we return to the world of stage lighting,  and a discussion with one of the UK’s leading lighting programmers, Vic Brennan. The role of lighting programmer varies considerably depending on the style of the work being made,  but there is no-one more crucial to the process of bringing the lighting designer’s vision to life, whether it be  a fast-paced music theatre number or a subtle, shifting scheme for a play. Vic joins Bruno and James to consider the nature and significance of this collaboration, what makes for a good programmer, and to reveal there is a whole lot more to the job than sitting in the dark and pointing bright lights in everyone’s eyes...

This time we are talking to Laura Cubitt about her experience as puppeteer and puppetry director. Laura was part of the team that brought the iconic Warhorse, Joey, to life and this is a fascinating insight into a world that is, by it's very nature, secretive if not entirely hidden away. We learn that puppetry has a parallel with lighting; often no-one notices you if you're doing your job well. We hear about the mysterious pleasure to be found in the 'suffering state' and how despite the sweat and cramps, it can be the most thrilling version of performing, with lines of communication akin to a virtuoso jazz trio. We also discover that humans and puppets are successfully holding the line against the onslaught of CGI and AI - in many ways, this interview is a celebration of the humanity at the heart of Making Theatre.

We kick off season two by inviting you to the secret world of the west end swing. We discover what happens when a member of an ensemble or a principle cast is off sick, and uncover the remarkable feat of behind-the-scenes organisation that takes place to ensure the show still goes on. We learn about tracks, split tracks, cut shows, a curious condition called ‘swing eye’, the difference between swings and understudies and why 4pm is zero hour. Above all, we learn just how motivated and downright talented you have to be to cut it as a west end swing…

Bruno and James take a moment to have a cuppa and say thank you to the Making Theatre Podcast listeners. 

This time we talk to Bernie Davis, the veteran television lighting director, about a subject increasingly apposite to our own work; adapting stage lighting for television and online broadcast.  Bernie is responsible for numerous NT Live and Royal Opera House broadcasts, alongside his work on countless television productions (including a fair number of Royal Weddings), and we discuss the difference between the camera and the eye, how we should now be considering the audience at home alongside the punters in the stalls, and how advances in technology have provided us with a multitude of ways to get it all wrong...

Prasanna Puwanarajah is an actor, director and writer, working across theatre, film and television. He also happens to be a fully trained medical doctor..who is also writing a graphic novel. We thought someone with so many different hats might be well placed to offer a unique perspective on the experience of making theatre, and he doesn’t disappoint.

From the solitary life of the writer, to the first flag in the ground at the beginning of rehearsals, through to the joys of tech, this time viewed from both sides of the footlights, we embrace the unknowable...and also discover that you’re not really wet until your pants are wet.

In this episode we talk to the technical director of the Really Useful Group, Lee Batty.

We hear how a supportive family and some key advice from a trusted teacher played a pivotal role in setting Lee on his path. From childhood in a Yorkshire mining community, and an inspirational sixth form college, to life as a touring ASM charting a steep learning curve, who now turns left on the plane, with responsibility for an eye watering number of large scale musical productions all over the world.

We discuss the pros and cons of going to drama school versus an informal apprenticeship and learning ‘on the job’.  We also discover that you can never be sure what you might find hidden away on an abandoned airstrip, and that there might be something good in the water in Barnsley.  Just don't mention the tech...

We return to our comfort zone of lighting and have an insightful discussion with Ben Ormerod, who gives us the best explanation we have ever heard about what a lighting designer does. Ben has thought deeply about his art and developed it over many years of practice and we enjoy a conversation covering everything from his approach to design to how to how Ben’s career began. We learn to avoid clown vomit, to be careful around sleeping giants and discover that footlights are like fried onions and garlic.

In Episode 19, we talk to our agents Clare Vidal-Hall and Amy Markatis of Clare Vidal-Hall Management.  We discuss their routes into the industry, negotiating with producers and why representation is necessary, not just to secure the best deals and unpick the legalese, but to provide emotional and moral support when all hell is breaking loose onstage. We also learn that a stint as a followspot operator, a stage manager, a secretary and the occasional glass of bubbly at the Ritz makes for a good agent, and that if you want the best job in the world, you'd best have a healthy capacity for nights out at the theatre and Espresso Martinis - and still be able to catch the early flight home. 

In Episode 18 we discuss all things props with Lizzie Frankl, props supervisor and director of Propworks, who clearly loves her job and the people she works with.  We learn that research, organisation and creativity is key, the feel of a prop can be as important as its look, and that it is vital to have a fascination for detail. It can take quite a team to get a prop from a rehearsal note to the stage, and the most likely place to find them (and their mobile workshop) is in the bar.