INTERVIEW: KATHRYN HUNTER. Having just played Timon of Athens for the Royal Shakespeare Company – a production that will go to New York in due course – Kathryn Hunter has added another improbable role to an eclectic CV. She won an Olivier Award in Complicite’s revival of The Visit, played King Lear before turning 40 […]

PANEL DISCUSSION: THEATRE PHOTOGRAPHY. As a collection of Ivan Kyncl’s production photography goes on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, theatre photographers Manuel Harlan, Johan Persson and Helen Murray join Matt Trueman to discuss the art of distilling a show down to a still. In a wide-ranging conversation, they examine the practicalities […]

INTERVIEW: TRACY LETTS. With August: Osage County running at the National Theatre, the American playwright Tracy Letts sat down with Philip Fisher in the summer of 2008 to discuss his Pulitzer Prize winning play and look back over a career that began with a series of so-called ‘kickass’ plays, including Killer Joe and Bug. Recorded […]

INTERVIEW: A PLAY A PIE AND A PINT. Since its launch by the late David MacLennan in 2004, Glasgow’s lunchtime theatre A Play, a Pie and a Pint has made an indelible mark on the Scottish theatre scene. As the name suggests, a ticket will get you a drink, something to eat and a 50-minute premiere. […]

INTERVIEW: JOHN KANI. South African actor and playwright John Kani looks back over his life with Matt Trueman, focusing on the way art grounded his activism against apartheid. They discuss the two plays he created with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island, both of which toured the world, and […]

INTERVIEW: PENELOPE WILTON. As she stars in a revival of David Hare’s 1986 play The Bay at Nice at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the Downton Abbey actor discusses the highlights of her 50-year stage career with Dominic Cavendish, from the premiere of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal to her garlanded performance in Enid Bagnold’s The Chalk Garden. […]

DISCUSSION: FRANCES MAYLI MCCANN, JOHNNY MCKNIGHT, JULIE WILSON NIMMO. Actors McCann, McKnight and Wilson Nimmo discuss the vibrancy of the pantomime tradition in Scotland and explore how it affects their work throughout the rest of the year. In 2018, McCann plays Princess Jasmine in Aladdin at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, having previously starred in The […]

INTERVIEW: SHARON D. CLARKE. As she storms the West End with a revelatory performance in Caroline or Change, musical stalwart Sharon D. Clarke discusses her career with critic David Benedict. Looking back to her start after a stint in social work, they examine the opportunities available to black actors on television and the way the […]

INTERVIEW: BREACH THEATRE. One of the smartest emerging companies in British theatre, Breach Theatre are interrogating the nature of veracity on stage. Against the backdrop of the post-truth era, their work often interrogates the limits of documentary theatre and re-enactment. Following the success of It’s True It’s True It’s True, a verbatim piece fashioned out […]

ARCHIVE INTERVIEW: KEN CAMPBELL. Back in 2004, the legendary eccentric of British theatre spoke to Dominic Cavendish about his life and work. In the course of a delirious and rambling conversation that recalls the tone of Campbell’s own solo shows, they discuss the roots of the Ken Campbell Roadshow featuring actors like Bob Hoskins and […]