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PODCAST

The WhatsOnStage Podcast

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’s happening on stage (and in film and on television) now, in the past and in future. From musicals, to plays, to immersive shows, to interviews with the biggest stars, there"s something for everyone! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

arts performing arts

All Episodes

42:02

Why Jane Austen finds herself at home in modern Essex

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/26

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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24:30

Bonus episode: Rob Madge and Sophie Drake bring a...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/24

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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30:26

Exclusive: Indhu Rubasingham and Nima Taleghani on...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/19

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more

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30:11

Children will listen: Kate Fleetwood talks playing...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/16

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… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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32:38

The best autumn theatre part two

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/12

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? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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32:34

Bonus episode: Podcast chaos with Lucie Jones, David...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/10

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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30:17

Emma Rice starts a new chapter – and wants to solve...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/05

This week, Emma Rice rechristened her company Wise Children with the new name Emma Rice Company, and we took the opportunity to sit down and reflect on her career so far – from touring new work, to enchanting families at Christmas and taking productions across continents. She explains her efforts to try and solve the problems around regional tours, her opinions on her time as artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe, and the magic of working with Ncuti Gatwa. And, controversially, that she thinks

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31:06

Kyle Soller talks Romans, bringing Albee to Star Wars...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/09/03

In this episode, we sit down with Olivier Award-winning actor Kyle Soller to talk about his latest role in Romans, a novel, Alice Birch’s ambitious new play at the Almeida Theatre. Directed by Sam Pritchard, the piece is a sweeping exploration of masculinity from the nineteenth century to today. Kyle reflects on what drew him to the project, the challenges of embodying such expansive storytelling, and how Romans fits within his acclaimed career spanning stage and screen, from The Inheritance to

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37:00

The best autumn theatre part one: from Bacchae to...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/29

As the nights draw in, Sarah and Alex discuss some of their favourite shows about to hit the stage in the next couple of months including a stage version of The Hunger Games, the return of the Conor McPherson classic The Weir and appearances from Joe Alwyn, Nicola Walker, Letitia Wright, Susan Sarandon and many more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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24:59

Bonus episode: Tony Award winner Laura Benanti...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/27

As she wraps up a month at the Edinburgh Fringe, Laura Benanti travels south to present her solo comedy show Nobody Cares. She explains her inspiration for the show, why it isn't like anything else she's done on stage, and how she's found a month of performing at the iconic Scottish arts festival. Oh, and why it's such a scary time for comics in the current climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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39:12

Is stage door etiquette getting worse?

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/22

It's a packed agenda on this week's episode of the WhatsOnStage Podcast. First up, Sarah reflects on her latest trip north of the border to talk on a panel about all things criticism, alighting on the subject of critic Arifa Akbar's wonderful series on criticism available on BBC Sounds. From there, Alex and Sarah mull over Sarah's fantastic interview with Alicia Vikander, due to sail onto the London stage this autumn in The Lady from the Sea. Finally, the pair discuss the hot topic of stage door

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47:04

Bonus episode: What happens when your press night...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/20

In this episode, we’re joined by two leading lights of musical theatre who are stepping into one of the most beloved shows in the canon. Phillip Attmore and Lucy St. Louis star as Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont in Top Hat at Chichester Festival Theatre this summer, taking on roles made famous by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.We also discuss how the Harlem Renaissance influenced the original film, what it was like when press night had to be restarted, the importance of representation on stage, and

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37:56

Why Liam Gallagher is wrong about festivals

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/15

Sarah has been to the Edinburgh Festival at the same time as Oasis and Liam Gallagher chose to make a few choice remarks about there being another event up the road. She and Alex discuss why his comments - he saidthe festival consisted of people “juggling f---ing b------s… swallowing swords” and “s----y card tricks” - cut against the spirit of festivals.And why a new book about the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival’s first 30 years sums up the unique appeal of that particular event

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17:03

Bonus episode: Bridgerton star Luke Newton talks...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/12

Luke Newton has won over millions of hearts as Colin Bridgerton, but will face a wholly different challenge when he stars in Darrah Cloud’s House of McQueen off-Broadway at The Mansion at Hudson Yards. Newton will take on the role of Lee Alexander McQueen, more commonly known simply as Alexander McQueen, in a show based on the iconic fashion designer's life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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32:57

Who’s getting married in the morning?

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/08

It’s wedding season and Alex is away at one of the numerous celebrations he’s been invited to this summer. Which made him and Sarah think about the way that weddings are used on stage, screen and television.As Beth Steel’s Till the Stars Come Down packs them in in the West End, they look back at plays bywriters such as Lorca, Shakespeare and more surprisingly Brecht have used the conventions, tensions and hidden dramas of marriage to unpick uncomfortable truths about human nature and how sometimes a

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30:12

Bonus episode: Rosalie Craig talks Good Night, Oscar,...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/06

West End star Rosalie Craig will be returning to the stage this summer to appear alongside Sean Hayes in the London transfer of Good Night, Oscar, now playing at the Barbican Theatre. We sat down to have a virtual chat about the show, why it fits the Barbican so well and how for Craig, it's something of a homecoming. Beyond that, she also pined for an actor-musician version of Company – perhaps reuniting with her former co-star, and clarinet-playing friend, Jonathan Bailey... Hosted on Acast. See

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37:52

Has the New York Times sent shockwaves through the...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/08/01

Sarah and Alex pick up the debate about the role of criticism triggered by the New York Times decision to take three critics off their customary beat. And apply the lessons to the extraordinary range ofreactions to Burlesque. And Alex reports back from Jesus Christ Superstar at the Watermill and Top Hat at Chichester. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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29:44

Bonus episode: How do we build theatre audiences of...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/07/30

We checked in with Emma De Souza, executive director of audience and commercial at Society of London Theatre and the mastermind behind the long-running audience development initiative, Kids Week. The scheme provides free theatre tickets for youngsters accompanying paying adult punters – a huge move in order to encourage the audiences of the future into the West End and beyond.Decades on from its launch, De Souza reflects on where Kids Week went so right, and why we live in unprecedented times for

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48:05

Burlesque's turbulent arrival in the West End – and...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/07/25

Sarah is still swanning it up in bella Italia (the country, not the restaurant), so Alex has brought in TheaterMania's editor-in-chief David Gordon to comb through two big stories in theatre this week. First of all, the turbulent Burlesque the Musical has had its opening night at the Savoy Theatre, with Alex giving his verdict on the production – and whether or not the behind-the-scenes controversy was over-sensationalised. Then – David reflects on his trip to Williamstown Theatre Festival in

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32:13

Bonus episode: Three Elphabas talk the new world of...

The WhatsOnStage Podcast ·

2025/07/23

In a special midweek episode, three former Elphabas – Louise Dearman, Kerry Ellis and Rachel Tucker – come together to discuss the legacy of Wicked and the new surge in love for the franchise after the release of the hit film. The trio will be appearing together for a special concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane at the end of August, and have used this opportunity to reflect on the lasting legacy of the production, and how it set the blueprint for the modern musical – and its very devoted fanbase

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164 results

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