Amateur of Life and Death

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This episode features an interview with performer Mark Horne about his life and loves in amateur theatre, including his early days as a ‘Crescenteenie’ and his membership of the Crescent Youth Theatre.

Mark also tells us about his role in the Crescent Theatre’s forthcoming production of [title of show], Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen’s witty love-letter to musical theatre and the creative process.

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This month we welcome actor and director Steph Urquhart onto the podcast to share her life and loves in amateur theatre. Steph is also directing the Crescent Theatre's forthcoming production of Nora: A Doll's House by contemporary playwright Stef Smith, a powerful reimagining of Ibsen's classic play. Steph tells us more about the challenges and rewards of staging this exciting take on A Doll's House, set simultaneously in three different time periods.

Meanwhile Luke, who is appearing in Nora: A Doll's House himself, has been backstage with two of his fellow cast members to find out how they are tackling playing their roles in scenes set in 1918, 1968 and 2018.

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This month's episode explores James Graham's award-winning play Labour Of Love and we find out how the Crescent Theatre Birmingham's upcoming production of the show has been a real 'labour of love' in more ways than one...

Our Studio Guest is actor Katie Merriman. Katie spills the beans on her life and loves in amateur theatre and talks about her role as straight-talking Labour constituency agent Jean Whittaker in Labour of Love.

We also go behind the scenes of the production to find out more about the use of video in theatre and how video footage plays a crucial role in the show. Director and producer Rod Natkiel shares his experience and thoughts on creating and using video in theatre.

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The Crescent Theatre's podcast, Amateur of Life and Death, is back for a fourth season.

In this episode Luke and Liz talk to actors Jason Adam and Helena Lima about their life and loves in amateur theatre, and about their roles in the Crescent Theatre's forthcoming production of The Effect by Lucy Prebble. In the play, Jason and Helena play Tristan and Connie, two volunteers in a clinical trial who experience love as an unexpected side effect of the new anti-depressant being tested on them.

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This month’s episode focuses on Red Velvet, the 2012 play by Lolita Chakrabarti.

Laura has been speaking to actor Papa Anoh Yentumi about his role as the young Ira Aldridge in the upcoming Crescent Theatre Company production of the play.

We also learn more about the play and the actor who inspired it, the American Ira Aldridge, who was the first black actor in England to play Othello on the professional stage.

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Each episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre, and features an amateur theatre-maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve ‘died’ on stage. 

In this month’s episode, our Backstage Pass holder, John O’Neill, speaks with director Dewi Johnson, who’s recently been working in London’s West End theatres including as Associate Director on Simon Nye’s ‘The Crown Jewels’ at the Garrick Theatre, starring Al Murray and Mel Giedroyc, and as Assistant Director on Ben Elton’s stage production of ‘Upstart Crow’, starring David Mitchell. You’ll find Dewi’s resumé contains its fair share of comedy!

Dewi’s journey from teenage director, to Drama School student, to West End associate director, took him through the Crescent Theatre (Birmingham), along the way. Here, Dewi’s also had amateur experience over the last 11 years including as an actor, costume designer, set designer, and of course director, most recently directing the Crescent’s dazzling 2019 production of Jessica Swale’s semi-musical play ‘Nell Gwynn’, set during the heart of the Restoration period in England in the late sixteen-hundreds. Dewi’s expertise in and love of the Restoration era theatre is an absolute gift to his cast and crew, and so, of course, to his audiences too.

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This month we're focussing on two great American musicals of the 20th century.

We speak to actor, singer and dancer Jo Brookes about her role as Louise in the Crescent Theatre's production of Gypsy.

We also go backstage with Tinker's Farm Opera and speak to director and choreographer Emma Harley  to find out more about the history of society and its forthcoming production of Guys and Dolls, which Emma is directing.

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Each episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre, and features an amateur theatre-maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve ‘died’ on stage. 

This month’s episode focuses on the upcoming production of the play ‘Love From a Stranger’ by Agatha Christie and Frank Vosper, a “psychological thriller”, which the Crescent Theatre Birmingham are performing in April 2024 as part of the Crescent’s Centenary Season. 

Laura speaks to Andrew Crocker, the Production Assistant for the show, and a long-serving member of the Crescent Theatre.

Luke Plimmer is this month’s Backstage Pass holder and he’ll be talking to set designer Poppy Chalmers, who’ll explain more about creating 1930s Britain inside the black box venue that is the Ron Barber Studio space.

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This episode delves into the world of Willy Russell's modern classic, Educating Rita. We talk to actress Vicky Youster about her theatrical life, theatrical loves and the times when she's 'died' on stage. 

Vicky is playing Rita in the Crescent Theatre Birmingham's production of Educating Rita and she also tells us all about rehearsals, the challenges of taking on such an iconic role, and how to master the Liverpool accent.

Laura takes a delve into the Crescent Theatre's archives to find out more about previous productions of the show.

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Each episode takes a look at a different aspect of the wonderful world of amateur theatre, and features an amateur theatre-maker talking about their theatrical life, theatrical loves, and the times when they’ve ‘died’ on stage. 

This episode focuses on the Crescent’s upcoming pair of productions, 'House' and 'Garden', both by Alan Ayckbourn. Luke Plimmer is borrowing our backstage pass this month to learn more. He’ll be talking to the Stage Manager for 'Garden', Suzie King, and to Jordan Starks-Browning, who is working on Props for both 'House' and 'Garden'. Our studio guest is Naomi Jacobs, who is the Production  Assistant on 'Garden'.  Naomi also tells us about her life and loves in amateur theatre.