OffCast gets out the sleigh bell sound effects for a Christmas special, including the best new shows and interviews with comedian and songwriter Tim Minchin – talking about Mathilda, writing a pop record and his love of Orangutans – and outgoing Tricycle Theatre Artistic Director Nick Kent on The Riots

Shows featured:

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings (Little Angel)

The Kitchen Sink (Bush)

The Riots (Tricycle)

And a Christmas round-up including Cinderella (Hackney Empire), Aladdin (Lyric Hammersmith), Hamlet (Young Vic), The Comedy of Errors (National) and John Hegley's Christmas Crackers (BAC)

And don't forget - listeners can get 20% off all Oberon Books publications mentioned on the show, including the perfect Christmas gifts! Visit the webpage for more information, this week including the Royal Ballet Yearbook 2011-12, The Riots playtext,

From the Horse's Mouth: How Handspring and the National Theatre made War Horse and Catching the Light: Sam Mendes and Simon Russell Beale – A Working Partnership.

Buy now: www.oberonbooks.com - enter discount code ONOFFCAST at checkout for any of these titles!

OffCast catches up with award-winning comedian and podcaster Richard Herring and Evening Standard award-nominated playwright Nick Payne.

Plus we take in two new plays about modern Africa and showcase an unusual ability for mediocre theatrical puns...

Download the bonus extended interview with Richard Herring - just visit www.offwestend.com/podcasts/OffCast_Richard_Herring.mp3

Shows featured:

Fanta Orange (Finborough)

The Swallowing Dark (Theatre 503)

Richard Herring: What Is Love Anyway? (Soho)

and Stewart Lee: Carpet Remnant World (Leicester Square Theatre)

Also...

Oberon Books special offers

You can buy all of the Oberon Books publications mentioned in this episode at a special discount rate of 20% off - the cheapest place anywhere on the web:

Fanta Orange: £7.99 (usually £9.99)

Electra, adapted by Nick Payne: £7.99 (usually £9.99)

Oberon Glossary of Theatrical Terms: £11.99 (usually £14.99)

Buy now: www.oberonbooks.com - enter discount code ONOFFCAST at checkout for any of these titles!

OffCast gets gothic with a halloween theme,

plus theatrical polymath Che Walker,

a look back at the Bush Theatre's 66 Books with actors

Ralf Little & Miranda Raison, Jonny tries some accents and OffWestEnd's own Sofie Mason sticks her oar in.

Shows featured

Revenge of the Grand Guignol - Courtyard Theatre

Terror 2011 - Soho Theatre

Inadmissable Evidence - Donmar Warehouse

Danny & the Deep Blue Sea - Southwark Playhouse

66 Books - Bush Theatre

and Shalom Baby - Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Also...

Oberon Books special offers

You can buy all of the Oberon Books publications mentioned in this episode at a special discount rate of 20% off - the cheapest place anywhere on the web

66 Books £11.99 - usually £14.99

How to Do Accents £15.00 - usually £18.99

How To Do Standard English Accents pre-order £15.00 - usually £18.99

Shalom Baby £7.99 - usually £9.99

Oberon Glossary of Theatrical Terms £11.99 - usually £14.99

Buy now www.oberonbooks.com - enter discount code ONOFFCAST at checkout for any of these titles!

Bonus feature: this week you can also download an extended full-length recording of our interview with Simon Russell Beale.

The first episode of OffCast's second season - now with sponsorship and a proper theme tune!

We talk to double Olivier Award-winning actor Simon Russell Beale about Catching the Light, the new book about his work with director Sam Mendes; fellow Olivier Award-winner Timberlake Wertenbaker talks about her new adaptation of Britannicus at Wilton's; and Jonny investigates the mysterious Bruntwood Prize for playwrighting.

Plus the usual reviews, news, top tips and a few surprises!

The OffCast Boys, Will and Jonathan, talk to rising star Mike Bartlett about his debut at the National's Olivier Theatre; present their first field report with a rain-soaked review of Latitude; offer their top tips on making the most of summer festivals in London; review auspicious debut plays For Once at the Hampstead and Mirror Teeth at the Finborough; and devise as many puns as possible for the transfer of Mamma Mia to Shanghai...(it's painful! Ed)

In episode two of the acclaimed new OffWestEnd.com podcast OFFCAST, Jonathan and Will embrace the onset of summer with a look at open air theatre, including an interview with leading writer and director Mark Ravenhill. They also look at the new Lost Arts campaign and talk to Equity about the need for artists to be better with numbers; grapple with Jonny's recurring Cliff Richard nightmares; wonder at the Fringe's tallest actor; and visit shows at the Gate, Oval House, King's Head, Hampstead, Watford Palace and Globe Theatres, as well as previewing the new free theatre season at The Scoop.

In the first ever episode of OFFCAST - the OffWestEnd.com Podcast - Jonathan Donahoe and Will Young offer their own wry and reverent look at today's theatrical landscape including interviews, reviews, previews, top tips and how much you can expect to pay for some crisps at an average theatre bar. They catch up with Simon Callow, look at recent events at the now-endangered Wilton's Music Hall and stop off at the Finborough, Hampstead, New Red Lion and Tricycle Theatres.

ARIADNE and LEONORA

Welcome to the weird world of Alyssa Kyria. Meet Leonora, the mentally abusive Australian life coach and Ariadne, the Greek Footballers wife who tells us about her bitchy life as a WAG. Seriously funny stuff.

Faultless material and comic timing! - London Theatre Review

A potential star...my jaw dropped. She deserves to be on Saturday night TV with giant ratings! - Chortle

Natural Selection - A new comedy by Paul Rigel Jenkins comes to Theatre503

In this podcast - a Post-Show Discussion on 14 May 2008

Q and A with Paul Rigel Jenkins (Writer), Tim Roseman (Director) and cast members - Alex Beckett, Alan Cox, Lisa Diveney, Wendy Nottingham and Daniel Rigby.

Discussion led by Anthony Biggs (Education Director, Theatre503).