The WhatsOnStage Podcast

By Sarah Crompton & Alex WoodTV & Film Society & Culture Arts Performing Arts

The WhatsOnStage Podcast episodes

November 03 216. Did The Lives of Others live up to the hype? Plus Sarah has a problem with theatre programmes...
Back in the same room, Sarah and Alex chat all things Lives of Others as the glitzy West End show begins performances at the Adelphi Theatre. But does Robert Icke's adaptation with Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson and Stephen Dillane stick the landing? Elsewhere, the pair pay tribute to Patrick Stewart, Sarah heads to the RSC for Middlemarch and it seems that every theatre in the country has a new season to reveal...
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52 min
October 30 215. Comedy in the West End: Hay Fever special
Nancy Carroll and Charles Edwards are starring alongside Christine Baranski and Richard E Grant in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre. Sarah went along to talk to them about the pleasures of plays that simply entertain, the qualities of Noel Coward, plus working with Angela Lansbury, Judi Dench and adventures in the DC and Lord of the Rings universes.
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31 min
October 28 214. Bonus episode: Michael Sheen, Rakie Ayola and Sophie Melville discuss Owain & Henry
Michael Sheen might currently be on screens running amok in a Scottish castle, but in a matter of days he'll be back on stage in an epic new Welsh play having its world premiere – Owain & Henry. Reframing the legendary tale of the last true Prince of Wales, the piece will open at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre next week. Sheen is joined by stage and screen stars Rakie Ayola and Sophie Melville.
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24 min
October 23 213. The Best Plays Of The Century Part Ten: the years 2018/2019
Sarah and Alex are within touching distance of the 2020s as they continue their examination of the best plays of the century. 2018 and 2019 offer up an array of epic plays exploring American history, solo shows that leave audiences flabbergasted, and a lot (really, a lot) of plays based on hit novels – from A Little Life, to Life of Pi, to Small Island. But which plays will Sarah single out as her favourite of each year? She has some difficult choices to make...
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1 hr
October 20 212. Bonus episode: Manchester's 2027 theatre scene just got more exciting
Today, artistic director Selina Cartmell unveiled her brand new season at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, coming hot on the heels of the 50th anniversary celebrations at the beloved theatre. Featuring new work by Simon Stephens and Ben Power as well as revivals of Faith Healer and Much Ado About Nothing (featuring the legendary Beverley Knight), Cartmell spills the beans on championing the theatre’s central ethos and telling vital stories for 2027 and beyond.
She also had a lot to say about her love of Sondheim and her plans for an all-string orchestra for A Little Night Music, opening this Christmas.
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25 min
October 15 211. When does a show deserve five stars?
Finally reunited after Alex's foreign forays, Sarah runs through her tireless fortnight of reviews – featuring Rent with Gaten Matarazzo, Hay Fever with Richard E Grant and Christine Baranski, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, and As You Like It with Fisayo Akinade and Jonathan Groff. The conversation brings up a range of questions about reviewing revivals, the nature of star ratings and whether we should have more music critics reviewing musicals. After that, the pair discuss the new Almeida and Pitlochry seasons, and what audiences might expect from the new Tarantino play.
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50 min
October 12 210. Bonus episode: Phantom at 40 with Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more
On Friday night, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera turned 40 – with the event seeing a special reunion between original stars Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. We chatted to the pair, Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and current stars Jordan Donica and Beatrice Penny-Touré on the show's red carpet as this musical blockbuster hits four decades in London.
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14 min
October 08 209. Special interview: Simon Russell Beale
The great British actor is currently on stage as the great American showman Liberace. As he finished rehearsals he talked to Sarah about how to play characters with whom you have little sympathy, returning to the stage after serious illness, the Shakespeare roles he longs to play and working with Tom Stoppard just before the playwright’s death.
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45 min
October 07 208. Bonus episode: Gillian Anderson and Derren Brown bring magic to the West End
Hello WhatsOnStage Podcast listeners! With Alex freshly back from a fortnight away, he lets intrepid video expert Tom Millward sample some of his finest, starry interviews from the last couple of weeks – featuring multi-award-winning stage star Gillian Anderson and the legendary Derren Brown, explaining their experiences in their respective shows – Anderson leading the five-star Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Brown with his new West End residency with Only Human.
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14 min
October 01 207. The Best Plays of the Century Part Nine: the years 2016/2017
Sarah and Alex continue their journey through the finest new plays of the 21st century. This episode, Harry Potter hits the stage,climate change becomes a major theme and James Graham has an exceptionally busy year. Plus new plays by Lucy Kirkwood, Caryl Churchill, Mike Bartlett and a romance from David Eldridge.
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55 min

About The WhatsOnStage Podcast

From the publisher's feed

WhatsOnStage managing editor Alex Wood and chief theatre critic Sarah Crompton host a weekly podcast on all things theatrical. News, views, frank exchanges and lists offer an unmissable guide to…