Trigger Warning: this episode includes discussions about mental health struggles, suicide and death. If you find yourself becoming upset during the episode, please contact the organisation or person you rely upon for support.

Andrew Keates chats with journalist, broadcaster and presenter Matthew Wright about his controversial comments about using outside spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic, the last two years of coping with multiple bereavements and PTSD and what it’s like to be second to Nick Knowles in the world of fly fishing.

Andrew chats with Alex Dyer, who runs Theataccounts - a specialist accountancy firm looking after performers and theatremakers in the performing arts industry and advising them on tax and their accounts.

In this special episode, Alex takes Andrew through all of the various financial measures and schemes created by the government open to theatremakers during these unprecedented times in a simple and understandable way, including the grants for self-employed people, universal credit, VAT and many other things you may not know you could be eligible for.

Also, we hear from Harry Francis, Drew Colby and Charlie Keable.

Andrew chats with Owen Farrow aka Divina De Campo about life post RuPaul’s Drag Race, whether they admire Geri Halliwell and finds out how the drag scene has been affected by Coronavirus. He speaks transatlantically with Robi Hager, writer of Basic Witches, which was a musical due to open in Philadelphia and Robi is now using his drag musical to raise funds for his cast (who we also hear perform a song from the show at the end of the episode). And we open up the Show People Podcast answering machine to listen to messages from Mama G, Ross and Monica of the Montague Arms and Dolly Parton (Well, Kelly O’Brien).

We open up the Show People Podcast answering machine and we hear from and AJ O’Neill and Emily Clare about what they’re doing to use their craft to benefit the theatre industry. Andrew chats with West End leading man and teacher George Ure about what it’s like swapping the West End for Tesco Express and we hear a song by Flloyd Kennedy all about social distancing.

Andrew Keates explains how The Show People Podcast is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Merry Christmas from The Show People Podcast! Listen to our Christmas special and last episode of 2019 with actor and author Pauline Mclynn. We make fun listening whilst stuffing a turkey, or of course, if you're having a nice cup of tea.

Pauline is best known for playing Mrs. Doyle in the iconic sitcom Father Ted, not to mention roles in Shameless, EastEnders and the acclaimed film Gyypo, of which she was nominated as Best Actress in the Irish Film And Television Awards. She’s recently graced our stages playing Mephistofeles in Doctor Faustus at the Globe, Mother Courage at Leeds Playhouse and Trixie in Daisy Pulls It Off.

Thanks to two bottles of Malbec and a lot of Christmas spirit, the two amble around our usual format and have a good natter about Pauline’s life, career and Christmas.

Merry Christmas and have a very happy new year.

Director, Andrew Keates is joined by actor, singer, composer, writer and musician Kurt Kansley. Kurt was born in Cape Town, South Africa and due to apartheid fled to Australia with his family. He’s had a career that’s taken him all over the world playing roles in Ragtime, Show Boat, Evita, Naked Boys Singing and later would find himself becoming a British citizen when he joined the West End production of The Lion King and go on to other productions including Miss Saigon, Hair and Sweet Bird Of Youth (to name but a few

Kurt shares with Andrew Keates the difficulties he’s faced thanks to his ethnicity, what an international life as a performer has been like as well as his journey in the performing arts and his cherished writing partnership with Oliver Lidert.

Episode features:

Dramatic News: Andrew covers the latest dramatic news and performing arts stories.

The Platform: We hear a song written by Kansley and Lidert.

And of course we have a little silliness along the way too.

Andrew is joined by Rosalind James just before she performs a showcase of her new musical Stigma – a piece about HIV/AIDS. In one of the most emotional episodes we’ve ever produced, Rosalind discusses some very difficult times in her life as well as her experiences training at Sylvia Young Theatre School and performing in shows such as Les Miserables (where she was the first black Eponine), Hair, Ragtime, Little Shop Of Horrors and more. Rosalind split one of her vocal chord whilst working on a show; an event she found totally disabling, both mentally and physically and she opens up about her fight to regain her reputation and quash the industry’s misconceptions about her.

Trigger Warning: this episode includes discussions about abuse, mental health struggles, suicide and abortion. If you find yourself becoming upset during the episode, please contact the organisation or person you rely upon for support.

Episode Features:

Act Hacks: Andrew gives some great tips to save money this Christmas.

The Platform: We hear a song written and performed by Rosalind from her new musical Stigma. 

Andrew is joined by actor, writer, director and musician Daniel York Loh. The two discuss how their friendship was forged during a protest against The Print Room production of In The Depths of Dead Love and their shared passion for the fair representation of BAME artists in the performing arts, the boys discuss Daniel’s career that has taken him from fringe theatres to Hollywood movies, the RSC and the Royal Court and so much more.

Act Hacks
It’s national HIV testing week. Visit www.startswithme.org.uk to find out how you can get tested. Also, get your free tickets to see Gloves Off – West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Tuesday 19 November 2019. Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gloves-off-tickets-79748075641 

The Platform: We hear a song called A Woman of A Certain Age from Stephen Cole and Jeffrey Saver’s musical Dodsworth, performed by Christine Ebersole.

Plus the latest dramatic news and our infamous Show People Podcast challenges.

Happy Halloween from The Show People Podcast! Today’s guest may be best known for being the Marmite judge on the BBC reality series All Together Now – however there’s more to judge Paulus than meets the eye. We discover the truth about the man behind the mascara, including his upbringing in Kent, his 30 year career in cabaret and why Paul L. Martin is a very different person to who you may have watched on television. 

Act Hacks: Andrew delivers another ‘Act Hack’ to help you look after the pennies, so the pounds can look after themselves.

The Platform: We hear a song called Tribe from Paul L. Martin and Jordan Clarke’s new musical in development, performed by Paul himself.