British Theatre Guide podcast

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is regarded as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. A new production is touring the UK.

BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to David Hayman, who plays Willy Loman, and director Andy Arnold about the previous production they worked on as well as their current project. Death of a Salesman runs until 3 May. Further information is available at the Trafalgar Entertainment web site.

The next production from Wise Children theatre company will be a new stage adaptation of the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock Cold War thriller North by Northwest, adapted and directed by Emma Rice.

The roles of Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall, played in the film by Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, will be taken by Ewan Wardrop and Patrycja Kujawska.

A week before previews at York Theatre Royal, BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Patrycja about the production and about the working process of a company and a director with whom she has had a long association.

North by Northwest runs at York Theatre Royal from 18 March to 5 April 2025 before touring to HOME Manchester, Liverpool Playhouse, Bath Theatre Royal, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Alexandra Palace Theatre in London.

(Rehearsal photo of Patrycja Kujawska as Eve Kendall and Ewan Wardrop as Roger Thornhill, credit Steve Tanner)

The programme for the tenth biennial Manchester International Festival for 2025 was announced on 11 March at Aviva Studios.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to John McGrath, Factory International's Chief Executive and Artistic Director, and Creative Director Low Kee Hong, as well as Jonathan Watkins, director and choreographer of A Single Man, and the writer, Ntombizodwa Nyoni, and director, Monique Touko, of Liberation.

The 2025 Manchester International Festival runs from Thursday 3 to Sunday 20 July.

A Single Man, produced with The Royal Ballet and created by Jonathan Watkins from Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel with new music by Jasmin Kent Rodgman and John Grant, will be at Aviva Studios from 2 to 6 July.

Liberation, written by Ntombizodwa Nyoni and directed by Monique Touko, will be at the Royal Exchange Theatre from 27 June to 26 July.

For more information about all of the events in the festival, see the Factory International web site.

(Photos of Monique Touko, Ntombizodwa Nyoni and Jonathan Watkins courtesy of the artists; photo of John McGrath, credit Tarnish Vision.)

Playwright Jane Upton has taken her experiences of motherhood and included them in a new play, (the) Woman.

Nottinghamshire company New Perspectives is touring the play which will also have a five-week run in London.

Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to Jane Upton and New Perspectives artistic director Angharad Jones about the play and how it was conceived.

(the) Woman is on tour until 15 March and will be at London's Park Theatre from 24 September until 25 October 2025. (Photo: Jane Upton and Angharad Jones, credit Steve Orme)

Mary Wollstonecraft, famous for her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was born in London in 1759 but spent some of her early life in Beverley near Hull in Yorkshire.

Playwright Maureen Lennon and actor Laura Elsworthy will together bring her back to the region in Maureen's play Mary and The Hyenas, in which Laura will play Mary.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Maureen and Laura while the play was in rehearsal in Hull about Mary's life and legacy, the continuing relevance of her message, bringing her story to life on stage and the flourishing arts scene in Yorkshire.

Laura Elsworthy stars in the title role of Mary and The Hyenas by Maureen Lennon for Hull Truck Theatre and Pilot Theatre, directed by Esther Richardson with music by Billy Nomates, which runs at Hull Truck Theatre from 7 February to 1 March 2025 before transferring to Wilton's Music Hall in London from 18 to 29 March.

Mama G is an award-winning year-round storyteller whose work is driven by the magic of pantomime. She has appeared in professional pantomimes across the UK for almost twenty years and this year stars in Aladdin at the Beck Theatre, Hayes. She has also written, directed and produced pantomimes for numerous holiday parks and theatres, including Stanley Arts Centre, South Norwood.

Since 2018, Mama G has been sharing stories with children and their families about being who you want and loving who you are. The work has taken her to libraries, theatres, schools and festivals throughout the United Kingdom and in 2023 she appeared Off-Broadway with her show The Magic Bookmark.

In October 2024, Mama G released of her first traditionally published picture book, Oh Yes I Am!, which celebrates the power of pantomime and is set to receive its first stage adaptation in the West End this December.

Mama G speaks to BTG Panto Editor Simon Sladen about her career to date, the evolution of her Daming and her many ventures including appearing on Britain's Got Talent.

Leading pantomime company Evolution Productions will this year celebrate its 20th anniversary with ten productions at theatres right across England.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the conpany's founders, Paul Hendy and Emily Wood, about their upcoming panto season and about what goes into making their pantos, as well as about Paul's play The Last Laugh, which will follow a very successful run at the last Edinburgh Fringe with a West End run early next year.

Evolution Productions' twentieth anniversary panto season in 2024 will run at theatres in Canterbury, Sheffield, Northampton, York, St Albans, Crawley, Dunstable, Shrewsbury, Lichfield and Basildon.

Paul's play The Last Laugh will run at London's Noël Coward Theatre from 25 February to 22 March 2025.

Fierce Festival is a "youthful and joy-filled festival of international theatre, performance and experiences" which takes place in and around Birmingham every two years. Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to Fierce's artistic director Clayton Lee and Adam Kinner whose one-to-one show Manual will be presented daily in the Library of Birmingham. Fierce Festival will run from Tuesday 15 until Saturday 19 October. (Photo: Clayton Lee and Adam Kinner, credit Steve Orme)

In 2009, TV writers Trevor Suthers and John Chambers put together a night of short, brand new plays written by established TV writers which took its name from its original venue, the Joshua Brooks pub on Princess Street in Manchester.

Fifteen years on, and now at fringe venue 53two, JB Shorts is an established biannual event on the Manchester theatre calendar with its two-week runs of six 15-minute plays.

With the 25th JB Shorts about to open, BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Trevor together with actor James Quinn, who wrote for the very first JB and has written, directed and performed in many since, about what JB is all about and what this next run will offer, as well as how the whole thing began.

JB Shorts 25 runs at 53two, Arch 19, Watson Street, Manchester from Wednesday 9 to Saturday 19 October 2024.

Derby Theatre is to present a new play, Welfare, by local playwright Abi Zakarian, that will take audiences to The Derbyshire Miners' Holiday Camp in Skegness, where miners went initially to convalesce and later to holiday, as it was turned into a holiday camp for Derbyshire miners and their families.

Midlands Editor Steve Orme spoke to director Sarah Brigham and three of the actors, Jo Mousley, Hanna Winter and John Holt-Roberts, about the play and about the history behind it, both local and from much further afield.

Welfare will run at Derby Theatre from 28 September to 12 October 2024.

(Photo Jo Mousley, Hanna Winter, Sarah Brigham and John Holt-Roberts, credit Steve Orme)