The WhatsOnStage Podcast

By Sarah Crompton & Alex Wood

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 what’... more

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FAQs about The WhatsOnStage Podcast:

How many episodes does The WhatsOnStage Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 168 episodes available.

The WhatsOnStage Podcast episodes:

October 10, 2025 What is the secret to Les Misérables' success?
To be or not to be - that is the question... Or is it "Do You Hear The People Sing?" As Les Misérables celebrates 40 years in the West End, Sarah and Alex reflect on the runaway success of the iconic musical that has enchanted audiences for decades. What does it say about the critics that they got it so wrong? Meanwhile, the National Theatre has opened a new production of Hamlet - laden with Easter eggs and references - and a standout performance that wowed Sarah!
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41min
October 08, 2025 How one venue is bringing Hope to regional theatres
We’re heading to Manchester to celebrate a remarkable milestone. It’s been ten years since the Hope Mill Theatre first opened its doors, transforming a former textile mill into one of the country’s most respected independent producing houses.

With just over 145 seats, it’s an intimate space that’s punched well above its weight — staging acclaimed revivals and brand-new work alike, and helping to launch careers both on and off stage. Its productions have included the award-winning Spring Awakening, Rent, Mame, and, later this month, the team are bringing Young Frankenstein to the Hope Mill stage. And looking ahead to 2026, they’re taking on their biggest project yet with High School Musical at The Lowry.
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29min
October 03, 2025 The magic of rain on stage, the greatness of Brendan Gleeson and the start of the National Theatre’s new regime
Sarah and Alex catch up on the latest in a hectic season of theatre and talk about why The Weir by Conor McPherson really is one of the great plays of the past 50 years. And - actors getting wet is always irresistible, but does it just make you think about drainage?
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34min
September 30, 2025 Bonus episode: Rachel Zegler, Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher join us for a red carpet special!
In a little midweek episode, we bring you red carpet interviews from London and New York. On Sunday, Rachel Zegler picked up the Best West End Debut Performer award at The Stage Debut Awards in London for her performance leading Evita in the West End, while over in New York, the stars of the forthcoming production of Chess came together to discuss making all the right moves in the upcoming revival of the much-loved show.
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23min
September 26, 2025 Why Jane Austen finds herself at home in modern Essex
As Jane Austen celebrates her 250th birthday, Ava Pickett has adapted Emma for the stage. She’s taken a radical approach. She talks to Sarah about why Austen is still the best portrayer of complex women, how hard it is to write comedy, the freedom of writing period drama and why the craft of women writers still isn’t recognised.
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43min
September 24, 2025 Bonus episode: Rob Madge and Sophie Drake bring a classic into the 21st century
How do you bring a play into the present day? That’s the question facing playwright Rob Madge and director Sophie Drake, as they bring Brandon Thomas' 19th century gender-hopping farce into the present day. The show opens at the rustic, beautiful Watermill Theatre, and marks a first collaboration for the award-winning duo.

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25min
September 19, 2025 Exclusive: Indhu Rubasingham and Nima Taleghani on why they’ve put the god of theatre on stage at the National Theatre
Nima Taleghani is best known as Mr Farouk in Netflix’s Heartstopper. Now his first play - an adaptation of Euripides’ Bacchae - has become the first debut play in the Olivier theatre. And it opens his director Indhu Rubasingham’s first season as artistic director of the National Theatre. They talk to Sarah about making classics contemporary, rhyming verse and why theatre - like life - is best when it’s a little bit cheeky and a little bit risky
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31min
September 16, 2025 Children will listen: Kate Fleetwood talks playing the Witch in Into the Woods
In a WhatsOnStage Podcast first, we exclusively reveal that Kate Fleetwood will be playing the Witch in Jordan Fein’s upcoming Into the Woods revival, playing at the Bridge Theatre from early December. We want to hear about how it feels for the performer to appear in their first EVER Sondheim production, and what might be in store for audiences when they head over to the Bridge this winter…
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31min
September 12, 2025 The best autumn theatre part two
Sarah and Alex make their top picks for shows towards the end of the year from plays such as End, The Line of Beauty and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo to the great raft of musicals coming our way. Plus, how will Paddington tackle the bear question?
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33min
September 10, 2025 Bonus episode: Podcast chaos with Lucie Jones, David Hunter and the writers of 13 Going On 30
Another mid-week bonus episode of the WhatsOnStage Podcast sees Alex talking to the team behind the world premiere production of 13 Going On 30 The Musical, which opens this September in Manchester. Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, who penned the original Hollywood classic, are back at the helm of the new stage production, which reunites Lucie Jones and David Hunter.
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33min

FAQs about The WhatsOnStage Podcast:

How many episodes does The WhatsOnStage Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 168 episodes available.

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