British Theatre Guide podcast

Following Night of the Living Dead—Remix and Dracula: The Untold Story, imitating the dog is again collaborating with Leeds Playhouse, this time on a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein co-created by Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Andrew Quick during rehearsals at Leeds Playhouse about the technical challenges of this two-hander for creators and performers, the state of touring shows around the UK and Europe at the moment and the company's style and creative process.

Frankenstein, featuring design by Hayley Brindle, lighting by Andrew Crofts and original music by James Hamilton, will open at Leeds Playhouse from 15 February 2024, before touring to Oxford Playhouse, Watford Palace Theatre, The Lowry in Salford, Cast in Doncaster, Mercury Theatre in Colchester, Liverpool Playhouse, The Dukes Lancaster and Northern Stage in Newcastle.

(Photo of Andrew Quick, credit Ed Waring)

For Christmas 2023, there were two new stage adaptations of stories by Roald Dahl in the UK: The Witches at the National Theatre in London and The Enormous Crocodile at Leeds Playhouse, the first to be co-produced by the Roald Dahl Story Company.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the company's Artistic Director of Theatre, Jenny Worton, about what the Roald Dahl Story Company actually is, how it develops new shows based on Dahl's books and some of the plans for the future.

The National Theatre production of The Witches runs until 27 January 2024.

Pilot Theatre, a York-based touring company that creates theatre for young people is to tour England in February and March 2024 with an adaptation of David Almond's book A Song for Ella Grey, written by Zoe Cooper and directed by Pilot's Artistic Director, Esther Richardson.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Esther while the production was still in rehearsal about the play, its North East setting, having a TikTok star in the title role, the process of adapting a challenging novel for the stage and the current state of theatre for young people in the UK.

A Song for Ella Grey will open at Northern Stage in Newcastle 1–15 February 2024, before moving to York Theatre Royal 20–24 February, Theatre Peckham 27 February to 2 March, Hull Truck Theatre 5–9 March, Liverpool Playhouse 13–16 March and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford 19–23 March.

Physical theatre company Gecko, based in Ipswich, was founded in 2001 by Amit Lahav, who is still its Artistic Director.

The company's latest production, Kin, toured the UK in 2023 and will be at the National Theatre in London in January 2024.

Amit spoke to BTG Editor David Chadderton about the origins of the production in the story of his grandmother Leah's journey from Yemen to Palestine as a child in 1932 to escape persecution, how this developed to look at migration stories more widely, the politics of migration then and now and Gecko's—and Amit's—creative process in making theatre.

Kin will run at the Lyttelton Theatre from 12 to 27 January 2024.

(Photo of Amit Lahav in Kin by Gecko (c) Malachy Luckie)

Mark Thomas is a stand-up comic whose work for stage and TV has frequently crossed over into theatre and into political activism, in some cases resulting in changes in the law.

He is currently performing a show he hasn't written himself for the first time, England & Son by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Mark while the play was touring about the play, the importance of storytelling, football, class, what makes a 'creative act', Oliver Cromwell, Brecht, Shakespeare and a lot more.

England & Son, directed by Cressida Brown, is at the Arcola Theatre in London until 25 November 2023 then moves to the Playhouse in Sheffield from 28 to 29 November and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh from 5 to 9 December.

For more information about Mark, performance dates and tickets, see his web site.

(Performance shot of Mark Thomas in England & Son, credit Alex Brenner)

The Prince of Egypt, the DreamWorks animated film from 1998, was brought to the West End stage in 2020 at the Dominion Theatre but had to take a break due to the COVID lockdown. It completed its run the following year when it was filmed for a cinema release.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to the show's composer and lyricist, multi-Grammy and Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz, about the show's West End run and how it originally came about, as well as some of his views on songwriting.

The Prince of Egypt will be released in selected cinemas across the UK and internationally on 19 and 22 October 2023 by Trafalgar Releasing. Tickets are on sale at ThePrinceOfEgyptMusicalFilm.com.

For information about Stephen and his work, see the Stephen Schwartz official web site.

(Photo of Stephen Schwartz, credit: Nathan Johnson.)

Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre and Tamasha will present Tanika Gupta's adaptation of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens set during the Indian partition in Bengal, directed by Pooja Ghai, Artistic Director of Tamasha

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Pooja during rehearsals about the production, the history and concept behind Tamasha and a recently announced programme to "diversify dramaturgy" funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Great Expectations will run at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester from 8 September to 7 October 2023.

Photo of Pooja Ghai in rehearsals for Great Expectations by Abey Lam

Dublin Theatre Festival in Ireland has been running since 1957, and Willie White has been its Artistic Director and Chief Executive since 2011.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Willie about the 2023 festival and the history and general focus of the festival.

Dublin Theatre Festival runs from 28 September to 15 October 2023.

After the Silence, image credit Juliana França Nurith Wagner-Strauss Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel, image credit Amy Gibson Warrior - Karen Egan, photo Shane McCarthy Zona Franca, © Renato Mangolin

Glasgow-based writer Nat McCleary's play Thrown for National Theatre Scotland is set in the world of backhold wrestling and is concluding its tour of Scotland with a run at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

It is directed by Johnny McKnight, who spoke to BTG Editor David Chadderton at the mid-point of the festival about the play, Scottish traditions, this year's festivals and the influence panto has had on everything he does in theatre.

Thrown continues at the Traverse until Sunday 27 August 2023, as does the musical No Love Songs, with a book co-written by Johnny with Laura Wilde.

Towards the end of its summer season, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will present the world première of a new play by Peter Arnott, Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape, set in a Perthshire country house during the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014, directed by David Greig in a co-production with Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre.

The main character Rennie is played by John Michie, best-known as DI Robbie Ross in TV's Taggart, and his friend Moon is played by fellow Scottish actor Benny Young.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to John and Benny while the production was in rehearsal about the play and the continuing relevance of its subject matter, as well as about rehearsing and performing in Pitlochry.

The play will be performed at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 25 August to 28 September 2023. It will then transfer to the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh from 4 to 14 October.