Persistent and Nasty

After a little bit of podcast hiatus we welcome back our super busy co-founder Louise Oliver. This week Louise sits down with the hilarious and very lovely Karen Bartke.

Karen Bartke is a Scottish actor from Glasgow. Appearing on stage from an early age, Karen first found her feet as a member of Glasgow Schools Youth Theatre, before studying for a degree in archaeology. The lure of the stage was strong, however, and in recent years Karen has converted her long-held passion for performing into a successful stage and screen career.

Karen is probably best known as Desk Sgt Karen Ann Miller (Officer Karen) in BBC One mockumentary Scot Squad for the Comedy Unit. She was recently seen in Planet Hogmanay on BBC Scotland, contributing alongside Darren Connell, Billy Kirkwood, Alex Norton, Sanjeev Kohli. She has also appeared in Fakers for Aficionado Films; in a series of comedy sponsorship idents for the ITV talent search show Superstar and in Episode 1 of The Kronicles of Kirk, a series of Comedy Blaps for Channel 4 directed by Noddy Davidson, produced by the Comedy Unit and starring James Kirk.

Karen’s stage credits have been wide and varied in recent years. In 2014, she originated the role of Suzy in Tamasha Theatre Company’s My Name Is…., written by Sudha Bhuchar and directed by Philip Osment. Karen was deeply honoured to be nominated for an Offie award for Best Female Performance for the original production at the Arcola Theatre in London and returned to the role for the subsequent UK tours, receiving a further nomination for an ACTA Award for Best Female Performance: Stage in the 2015 tour of My Name Is….

You can find out more about Karen at www.karenbartke.com

Follow Karen on Twitter @kazbaa

You can support Persistent and Nasty and receive exclusive members only content by subscribing to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/persistentandnasty

Persistent and Nasty is produced in association with Edinburgh based live-arts production house Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience is committed to creating and supporting queer work and theatre and art that addresses issues of inequality and injustice. You can find out more about the Persistent and Nasty project and all the work that Civil Disobedience do by visiting wearecivildisobedience.com. You can also find us on all the usual social media platforms.

On Twitter @weareohsocivil / @PersistentNasty

On Instagram @wearecivildisobedience / @persistentandnasty

And on Facebook at Facebook.com/wearecivildisobedience

#StayNasty

This week Misha talks to Sarah Schlesinger, a professional actor, fight choreographer, and VO artist from New York City. Her eclectic career has spanned across America, Scotland, and South Korea; but even more impressive than her resume is her dedication to intersectional feminism. Listen in as she talks about her decision to be surgically sterilized at age 23, the hurdles she had to overcome to do so, and the personal and practical aftermath of her decision. Today, launch day, Sarah is doing a TEDx Talk at the Woosong University in South Korea. We will be sure to share the links of the live recording of her performance when they are online.

You can find Sarah

on Twitter @Sarschlesinger

on Instagram @Schlehehe

or check out her website www.sarahschlesingertalent.com

You can support Persistent and Nasty and receive exclusive members only content by subscribing to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/persistentandnasty

Persistent and Nasty is produced in association with Edinburgh based live-arts production house Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience is committed to creating and supporting queer work and theatre and art that addresses issues of inequality and injustice. You can find out more about the Persistent and Nasty project and all the work that Civil Disobedience do by visiting wearecivildisobedience.com. You can also find us on all the usual social media platforms.

On Twitter @weareohsocivil

On Instagram @wearecivildisobedience

And on Facebook at Facebook.com/wearecivildisobedience

In todays Episode Elaine chats with Co-Artistic Director Jo Rush of Braw Fox. Jo was in London for her recent production with Coreth Arts Ivory Wings at Drayton Arms Theatre. Jo is co-artistic director of new writing company Braw Fox Theatre. As a director she has premiered new work at the Edinburgh Fringe including Mary the Last Farewell (Cutting Edge Theatre), The Society of Ethical Cat Burglars (Foolproof Theatre), and Hide & Seek, based on the short stories of Carol Ann Duffy. With Braw Fox she is currently developing a new play about fire supported by the University of Edinburgh. As an associate director she has most recently worked on the premiere and tour of Fringe First Award winning production Stand By with Utter Theatre Company. As an assistant director she has worked at Dundee Rep on Death of a Salesman and The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil, at the Traverse Theatre on Bloody Trams and The Arthur Conan Doyle Appreciation Society and at the Royal Lyceum on Dark Road.

Jo has a BA Hons degree in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeyrushy?lang=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrawFox

IVORY WINGS

Written and performed by Susie Coreth, directed by Jo Rush, with music performed by Anna Coreth.

“The words were ringing in my ears like some long forgotten tune twisting their way around my skull, knocking on every crevice, praying for a way to get in, a way to stay.” Ivory Wings is a moving and poignant new play about courageous female pilots, wartime love and the enveloping fog of memory loss. A one woman play with a live piano score, Ivory Wings celebrates and shares the unsung stories of the remarkable women of the Air Transport Auxiliary whose job was to fly wartime aircraft, such as Spitfires and Hurricanes, from the factories to the RAF bases during World War Two, whilst exploring Alzheimer’s and the therapeutic effects of music on patients’ memory.

We hope you all enjoy todays episode and remember to Stay Nasty.

You can support Persistent & Nasty and receive exclusive members only content by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/persistentandnasty

Twitter: @PersistentNasty

Instagram: @PersistentandNasty

Persistent and Nasty is produced in association with Edinburgh based live-arts production house Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience is committed to creating and supporting queer work and theatre and art that addresses issues of inequality and injustice. You can find out more about the Persistent and Nasty project and all the work that Civil Disobedience do by visiting wearecivildisobedience.com. You can also find us on all the usual social media platforms.

On Twitter @weareohsocivil

On Instagram @wearecivildisobedience

And on Facebook at Facebook.com/wearecivildisobedience

In this episode Elaine sat down with the wonderful Kahleen Crawford of Kahleen Crawford casting. This episode is honest, funny and genuine. With Kahleen giving great tips for actors when it comes to castings. Once again, we at P&N are bowled over by the incredible women we continue to talk to. Kahleen is an inspiration. Enjoy episode 34 and as always Stay Nasty!

KCC casts for a broad range of film, television and advertising. In the UK and internationally.

Most recent work includes:

His Dark Materials (which can be currently seen on BBC 1 on Sunday evening and HBO on Monday evenings).

Sorry we missed you (in UK Cinema’s from the 1st November 2019).

The North Water (2019), The Outlaw King (2018), Wild Rose (2018)

Kahleen’s childhood love of black and white films and the actors in them, and obsession with Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, were the start of what led her graduate from Glasgow University with a degree in film and television with theatre studies. After graduation, she moved to London to work in live television production, but after several months of ludicrous lectures from her boss (the highlight being a showdown regarding the apparently life-threatening lack of decaffeinated earl grey tea in the production office) Kahleen quit her job and drove back to Glasgow. A fortnight later, and back working at the bar she had worked at when she was a student, Kahleen decided to try and get her ideal job in casting. She applied for a job as an agent’s assistant, but a lengthy telephone conversation led to the agent instead telling Kahleen about a new casting company, set up a few months earlier by Gillian Berrie of Sigma Films. Kahleen started in casting the next day. She thanks Maryam for her time, advice, and for not hiring her, and Gillian for hiring her.

Kahleen set up KCC in 2006 and moved to London again in 2014.

She will never yell at anyone about speciality tea.

https://kahleencrawford.com

https://twitter.com/kccasting

We hope you all enjoy todays episode and remember to Stay Nasty.

You can support Persistent & Nasty and receive exclusive members only content by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/persistentandnasty

Twitter: @PersistentNasty

Instagram: @PersistentandNasty

Persistent and Nasty is produced in association with Edinburgh based live-arts production house Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience is committed to creating and supporting queer work and theatre and art that addresses issues of inequality and injustice. You can find out more about the Persistent and Nasty project and all the work that Civil Disobedience do by visiting wearecivildisobedience.com. You can also find us on all the usual social media platforms.

On Twitter @weareohsocivil

On Instagram @wearecivildisobedience

And on Facebook at Facebook.com/wearecivildisobedience

Today’s episode we are joined by the incredible female that is Polly Kemp. Actress, Co-founder of the wonderful ERA50:50 campaign and amazing human.

ERA (Equal Representation for Actresses) is a movement of actresses in the UK set up in 2015 by actresses Lizzie Berrington and Polly Kemp.

It was set up in response to the Geena Davis Institute publication ‘Gender Bias Without Borders’ report on gender in the media revealing the staggering ratio of 2:1 actors to every actress and an average of 17% female representation in crowd scenes in films

The first meeting was attended by a fabulous and diverse range of women of all ages and profile. As a result, Polly and Lizzie felt they had a mandate to create and pursue this campaign.

Most of 2016 was spent pounding the streets making as many contacts as possible and honing what and where the problem lay and developing solutions.

Early on Polly and Lizzie enlisted the help of designer and project manager Karin Paynter who designed the badges and communications and quickly became the heart of the campaign alongside a core group of actresses who worked hard to ensure that the ERA badge became an essential accessory at red carpet events.

Actress Deirdre Mullins who attended the first meeting has continued to be the main driver of a team lobbying Parliament for policy change and generating sponsorship.

Over 200 high profile actresses, actors and industry leaders have worn our badge, most recently Claire Foy and Emma Watson at the Golden Globes, making this one of the most exciting industry led campaigns in recent times.

Website: https://equalrepresentationforactresses.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ERA50_50

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/era50_50/

Well this is it. The final #WomenOfFringe Nasty Pod of Fringe 2019 and it is a firecracker. Misha talks all things pussy power - from the art of female gaze pornography to using comedy and performance to process trauma with the enchanting Crystal Tassels and electric Liliana Velásquez. And as an extra special Fringe Finale treat we've included their smash hit song, featured in their show A Pussy Powered Protest, about our expectations for a modern day lover boy: 'Trashboy'.

Listen to their own podcast Two Lips at

https://twolips-podcast.com/

Find Shameless Showcase

FB: /ShamelessShowcase/

IG: @ShamelessShowcase

Liliana:

FB: /freudianslipsclub/

Crystal:

IG: @CrystalTassels

In today’s episode we chat to the lovely Kaleigh Wilkie-Smith of Pinwheel Productions. Kaleigh discusses being a female director at the beginning of her career. What she hopes to achieve in the industry and the work she wants to create. Kaleigh has a wonderful, infectious energy and wisdom beyond her years she is a force to be reckoned with.

A director to definitely watch.

Australia Director, performer and producer, Kaleigh started her career as a musical theatre performer, receiving BA in musical theatre from Australian Institute of Music. She set up Pinwheel Productions with partner Alex Giles.

Their latest show, Switch Witchetty’s Almanac of Everything, is an adventure story for all the family. Giving us beautiful messages about friendship, love and saving our world.

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Almanac has been destroyed.

Stories of inconvenient love, outrageous adventure and implausible piracy could be lost forever, unless Switch Witchetty (an ambitious fool) can chronicle every story ever told. This Australian production turns original stories into folklore with music, mayhem and ordinary bed sheets. On his quest to complete the Almanac, Switch hears stories such as An Extraordinary Boulder, The Ghastly Little Girl and The Grimacing Ghost and How to Keep an Island in Your Pocket.

When the kingdom needs a storyteller, Switch must choose – hero or fool?

Check Pinwheel Productions out on the social media:

www.pinwheelproductions.space

Twitter: @pinwheelaus

Insta: @pinwheel_productions

FB: /pinwheelproductionsaus

This week we’re talking about women of horror, creating low budget theatre and the challenges that come with fake blood on stage. Ahead of their London Horror Fest debut, with their smash hit show Serial Killer Cabaret, the spooks of Nevermore Theatre are sharing an insight into their horror theatre making process in a growing horror community whilst eating biscuits and digressing only briefly to discuss covens (this is now a running Nasty theme, get on board y’all witches). Listen till the end for a discount code for Serial Killer Cabaret on 15th October at Pleasance Islington.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Our fascination with serial killers has never been greater but what if the infamous turned their ‘talents’ towards legitimate forms of entertainment?

‘Serial Killer Cabaret’ satirises the celebrity of undesirables, taking a stab at separating fame from infamy - all through song and dance of course!

Book tickets online at:

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/london-horror-festival-serial-killer-cabaret/performances

You can check out Nevermore Theatre on Social Media:

FB: /NevermoreTheatre

IG: @nevermoretheatre

T: @NevermoreHorror

#Spooks4Spooks #StaySpooky #StayNast

ABOUT THE SHOW

PINK HOUSE

Peri is fifteen when her adopted mother dies. In losing a parent, she also loses her carefree way of life when her adoptive grandmother moves in. The two have never met before but now share a tiny, cluttered house. They share meals. They share Jewish holidays. To Peri, Shira seems relentless and cruel. To Shira, Peri seems unhinged and uneducated, much like her daughter was. Meanwhile, this messy house seems to wake up spirits from her past. Taking place across two hopelessly interwoven timelines, the play examines the meaning of heritage and belonging.

ABOUT PARADIGM LAB

Paradigm Lab is a young theatre company based in Edinburgh, committed to creating engaging contemporary shows and providing a platform to experiment with all aspects of theatre, from new writing to stagecraft and tech.

Twitter: @paradigm_lab_

IG: @paradigmlabtheatre

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradigmlabtheatre/

ABOUT THE SHOW

WATCHING GLORY DIE

Judith Thompson’s riveting and exquisite portrayal of three women trapped in a broken prison system will leave you dumbfounded.The play is inspired by the shocking and true story of teenager, Ashley Smith, who – after five years of being misdiagnosed, and mistreated, hallucinating away in ‘therapeutic quiet’ – died by suicide in her prison cell because the guards were ordered not to interfere.

When asked why she wrote the play, Ms. Thompson stated:

“because Ashley is an outlier, like every artist. Ashley simply could not be a “good girl.” She could not shut up and do what she was told. She was wild, and reckless, and if she had been a boy, she would have been admired. The artist’s job is to throw those crab apples, to unsettle and startle conforming folks, to question everything. That is what Ashley was doing, in her way, and she paid with her life. Hers was not a suicide. It was a homicide. It was, in fact, ruled a homicide in civil court. Who was punished for her death? Only the guards, who were doing their jobs, afraid to jeopardize their pensions. Those who gave the orders were promoted. I am as interested in the guard, who I call Gail, and Ashley’s mother Coralee, who I call Rosellen, as I am in Ashley. Three women, all ensnared in patriarchal fascism.”

WINDSOR FEMINIST THEATRE

Windsor Feminist Theatre, a non-profit theatre company founded in 1980, is recognised as one of the nation’s first feminist theatre organisations and is among the oldest organisations of its kind in Canada.

MISSION STATEMENT

Illuminating the reality of women’s lives and stories through theatre and the arts.

CORPORATE OBJECTS

a) To provide improved opportunities and facilities for the general public to become aware of and appreciate theatre arts relating to the situation of women;

b) To provide improved opportunities and facilities for emergent and established artistic talent, and to conduct or support performances, recitals, workshops, artists’ residencies, and other like events for such purposes;

c) To promote interest in and study of theatre arts on the status of women.

VISION STATEMENT

“A community that values and celebrates women’s stories expressed through the arts.”

GOVERNING CORE VALUES

A Feminist Framework – We recognize & support the social, ethnic, political, and economic empowerment of women and girls.

Engagement – We encourage critical thought and creative expression for effecting social change with participating artists and our audience.

Learning – We foster collaborative mentorship, training and education within our organization and our community.

Twitter: @windsorfemtheat

IG: @windsorfemtheat

Website: http://windsorfeministtheatre.ca/about/