This week's guests are Sarah-Louise Young and Paulus, two cabaret performers fresh off successful Edinburgh runs with their shows, and who are now touring nationally (and quite possibly internationally) during 2022 and into 2023. Sarah Louise actually has two shows on the go, An Evening WIth Kate Bush and Julie Madly Deeply (described as a love letter to Julie Andrews) whilst Paulus' show is Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood, a homage celebrating the music of the late comedy genius and national treasure.

We discuss their love of cabaret before delving into each show some more, finding out why An Evening Without Kate Bush isn't so much about Kate Bush as it is about her fans, and why Looking For Me Friend is obviously not just a collection of Victoria Woods songs, but a journey through Paulus' love of her work. 

You can find out more about An Evening Without Kate Bush here, and Looking For Me Friend here. Both shows are touring now and all dates can be found on the seperate websites.

Our guest this week is Kitty Cecil-Wright from Back To Back Theatre Productions. Based in Hampshire, they are focusing on touring plays around the South of England. Their second full production, will take in six venues across Hampshire and Dorset, from 28 September to  15 October.

We discuss the play, whilst skirting around the issues of spoilers! It is a play that clearly has a big twist coming so Kitty was very coy in giving too much away. We also talk about the difficulties, along with the joys, of touring a play like this. It's an interesting insight into what it can be like outside of our usual London bubble.

This week's guest on our Runn Radio show was Lydia Sax, who is the new Artistic Director of Barnes' OSO Arts Centre, as well as director of A Hundred Words For Snow, the debut play from new theatre company, In Her Element. 

A Hundred Words For Snow was a big success when it first hit the stage around 2018, so we were more excited to hear about this revival. We chat to Lydia about why she wanted to make this play, whether there is ever any concern about reviving such a successful play, and what they are bringing differently to make this a worthwhile revival (spoiler: live cello and new graphical visualisations).

The play is on at OSO Arts Centre 6 - 11 September, more info can be found here. 

This week's podcast was a little different to normal as we asked one of our reviewers along to just chat about theatre in general. Some might say it was because we weren't organised enough to arrange a proper guest, but we like to think it just made a nice change. You decide!

Dave Bushe was that lucky reviewer. Dave's only been writing for Everything Theatre since the start of 2022, but he has a depth of theatre knoweldge, having immersed himself in London theatre since moving back to the capital a few years back. So we discuss some of his favourite theatre experiences, from the West End to the best that the fringe has to offer, plus why he is seeking out that elusive Irish/ New Zealand cross over play.

Oh and we push him to say why it is so great writing for Everything Theatre, if only because it's free tickets!

This week's guest is Lisa O'Hare, a spoken word artist who is bringing her show, Do You Remember The First Rhyme? to Camden Fringe for one evening only on 27 August.

Lisa is what can only be described as a late entry into the arts. She didn't even consider she could be a performer until in her 40s. Then in what can only be described as utter madness, she decided in 2019 that she would put on a show at Manchester Fringe. Without any prior experience or either performing or of what is required to produce your own show. But she did. It was a success and she has not looked back.

Her new show is her life story told thru prose, from putting on shows as a child, the years inbetween when real life got in the way, and how she rediscovered her love of poetry and put on that first show. 

Our chat with Lisa was truly inspirational, showing that it's never too late for anyone to do something that they really love. And best of all, we get to hear one of her wonderful pieces of writing.

Do You Remember The First Rhyme plays at Museum of Comedy as part of Camden Fringe on 27 August, further information can be found here.

This week's guest on our Runn Radio show were the team from the wonderfully named Not God Complex. They came along to chat to us about their Camden Fringe bound show, What Makes A Body Terrifying. The show plays at The Hope Theatre between 15 and 18 August. 

Hear company founders Zoe Glen and Billie Grace, plus the play's director, Bethan Burke, tell us about the show, a queer exploration of two strikingly similar folk tales: the Slavic Rusalke and the Celtic Selkies. We talk about folk tales, and how just a subtle change of language can change the meaning of a tale completely. We also discuss why it is vital that we see representation on the stage of those less well represented.

As always, you can find out more about this show and everything else we do at https://everything-theatre.co.uk/

This week's guest is David Brady, returning for his third time! Which means we must be doing something right. David is Artistic Director of Proforca Theatre, who are the company running Lion and Unicorn Theatre. So as well as programming in artists to perform at the theatre, they also put on their own show.

And it's their latest show, FlashBang, David is here to chat about, although as always we get into other subjects, such as the art of lighting a show and what they have playing for Camden Fringe in August. 

As for Flashbang, it's an exuberant, explosive and gut-punching rollercoaster ride through the ties that bind five best mates together and what happens to those friends when that world is blown apart. We've never been let down by a Proforca play in the past so it was a pleasure chatting about the next play, and just increased our excitement to be seeing the play in September.

You can book tickets now to see FlashBang when it plays at Lion and Unicorn between 6 and 17 September here.

This week we were joined by emerging theatre artists Steph McNeil and Helin Ekin. The pair have forged a great friendship, out of which they have become writing partners. And the first result of this new partnership is Hoops and Hookups, a dark comedy about sexuality, identity and family relationships.

Steph and Ekin are full of energy and abition, not just for this play but for where they will go next. So it was a joy to chat about not just the play, but what brought the pair together originally and what they hope to do in the future. We also have a rather heated debate about whether spaghetti hoops (the hoops of the show’s title) are an acceptable food item or not.

The show plays as part of Camden Fringe in August, taking in dates at The Cockpit, The Hope Theatre and Water Rats, a venue more use to live music than theatre! You can find further details here.

You can find more podcasts and written interviews, including some upcoming articles for other Camden Fringe shows on our website here.

CoLab Theatre are experts in the field of immersive theatre, creating shows that really do live up to the immersive tag. Their new show, The West, looks to be no different, taking us back to the Wild West into a township that has been decimated and needs rebuilding. And that's where the audience come in, as they become the townsfolk and can take on various roles to fulfil that aim.

So we were very excited when we got the opportunity to chat to Charlotte and Bertie from CoLab ahead of the show opening (previews from 13 July). We chat about what they see as immersive theatre, all about the show and what you can expect if you go along, and we even get to share with them a special delievery that arrived as we were recording! No spoilers, but it is strong stuff...

You can find out more about the show on their website here.

This week's guest is James Lark, who has written and composed a new musical, Infants. The show follows one day in the life of an infant school, where something bad has happened and the teachers are trying to stop the parents finding out. A cast of six play the children, the teachers and the parents. It certainly looks like it will be a lot of fun.

We chat to James about the show, musicals in general and why at times they may not be treated as seriously as they deserve, and we also touch on a little politics. 

Infants plays at OSO Arts Centre in Barnes 14 - 17 July, you can find more info here.