What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. Our eight episode features designer Es Devlin and was released on Friday, July 10, 2020. From fringe theatres to worldwide stadium tours for the likes of Beyoncé and Adele, there are few worlds and scales untouched by designer Es Devlin. Starting as a...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. Our seventh episode features actor Paul Chahidi and was released Friday, June 26, 2020. Actor Paul Chahidi has had an extensive career on stage, highly regarded for his Shakespearean performances at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. Our sixth episode features playwright Alan Ayckbourn and was released this Friday, June 12, 2020. Alan Ayckbourn has written more than 80 full-length plays, with more than half of them having been produced in the West End.  These include huge hits such as...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. Our fifth episode features Olivier award-winning actor Noma Dumezweni and was released this Friday, May 28, 2020. Noma Dumezweni is best known for playing Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage in the West End and on Broadway. For her...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. The fourth episode featuring choreographer Arlene Phillips is released this Friday, April 3, 2020. Choreographer Arlene Phillips is best known to the general public for her appearances as a judge on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, but has enjoyed a diverse...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. The third episode featuring playwright and director David Lan is released this Friday, March 20, 2020. David Lan was the Young Vic’s artistic director for 18 years and in that time he transformed the landscape of British theatre, ensuring international...

The second episode of Seven Stages featuring multi-award winning lighting designer Paule Constable What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible.   In 2005 Paule Constable was the first woman to win an Olivier Award for lighting design. She has since won three more Oliviers, along with two Tonys and...

What was the first show you ever saw? Your biggest theatre regret? And which production would you choose to watch on a loop for eternity? These questions and more make up Seven Stages, the new podcast from The Stage, sponsored by Audible. The first episode is released this Friday, February 21, 2020, featuring Ian McKellen. Ian McKellen topped The Stage 100 as the most influential person in theatre this year and boasts one of the most extraordinary, long-lasting careers in theatre. In the...

In our June episode, Tim Bano meets the four members of exciting musical theatre troupe Spitlip, who tell him how they created their first full-length show Operation Mincemeat – a madcap, wartime espionage thriller that recently opened to five-star raves at the New Diorama Theatre in London. Meanwhile, Ian Charleson Award-winning actor Bally Gill talks about working with Steven Berkoff, representation on stage, and being the first Sikh actor to play Romeo at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The...

In our March episode, Tim Bano talks to magician Ben Hart about making heads spin in The Exorcist and how he summoned up Marley's ghost in The Christmas Carol for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Meanwhile, Desmond Jordan from Performing Pets tells our roving reporter Fergus Morgan about his trials with pigs, goats and pooing Corgis, and tries to train him to become an animal wrangler. The Stage Podcast, hosted by Tim Bano, is presented in association with Charcoalbluehttps://www.charcoalblue.com

In our January episode, critics Tim Bano and Lyn Gardner reveal their top picks of of 2019 ranging from major West End musicals to emerging fringe shows and with shows across the UK. We interview Vault Festival's head of theatre and performance Gillian Greer about this year's programme and the London fringe festival's huge growth in recent years.   Meanwhile, after previous disappointing attempts to learn an American accent and become an acrobat, reporter Fergus Morgan reveals a surprising...

In our sparkly pantomime special, Doctor Who star Sharon D Clarke and her wife, panto expert Susie McKenna, discuss their enduring love for the art form and recall how they first met on a show at the Hackney Empire 20 years ago.   Lyn Gardner and Tim Bano try to convince Christmas grinch Rosemary Waugh to embrace her inner Buttons.  Plus, after a failed bid to run off and join the circus, Fergus Morgan tries his hand at becoming a pantomime dame, with some (very patient) help from the Lyric...

In our October episode, critics Tim Bano and Lyn Gardner discuss Marianne Elliott's new gender-swapped production of Company by Stephen Sondheim with comedian Tom Allen. Plus, we go backstage to talk to Steph Parry, the 42nd Street understudy who made headlines when she stepped in to save Mamma Mia! in the West End. Meanwhile, after last month's failed attempt to learn an American accent, reporter Fergus Morgan runs off to join the circus, with some help from circus company Mimbre.   The...

The Stage critic Tim Bano and associate editor Lyn Gardner discuss the National Theatre's latest major opening – Antony and Cleopatra starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo – with Time Out theatre editor Andrzej Lukowski. What was the highlight: Fiennes, Okonedo, the live snake? We recap on The Stage Debut Awards and hear from some of the great emerging and established talent who joined us on the night.  In the first of a new series, The Stage critic Fergus Morgan visits the Royal...

In the third and final of our weekly podcasts from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, The Stage critic Tim Bano and associate editor Lyn Gardner discuss all the big shows and key issues of the festival. In episode 3, they are joined by cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat, The Stage reviews editor Natasha Tripney and critic and theatremaker Ben Kulvichit. Our critics discuss some of the best shows from emerging theatre companies at this year's festival, Lyn Gardner reveals what she thinks...

  In the second of our weekly podcasts from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, The Stage critic Tim Bano and associate editor Lyn Gardner discuss all the big shows and key issues of the festival. In episode 2, they are joined by actor Julie Hesmondhalgh and reviewer Fergus Morgan, plus Helen Monks, who shares some stories of Edinburgh Fringe disasters that she has collected for her show You’ve Been Fringed. Find out what the critics thought of four Edinburgh plays focussing on the NHS,...

In the first of our weekly podcasts from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, The Stage critic Tim Bano and associate editor Lyn Gardner discuss all the big shows and key issues of the festival. In episode 1, they are joined by theatremakers Chris Thorpe and Rachel Chavkin, actor and playwright Yolanda Mercy and The Guardian reviewer Kate Wyver. Find out what the critics thought of controversial play Ulster American, whether Thorpe and Chavkin manage to walk Edinburgh's Royal Mile and be...

As he collects The Stage Special Award, part of The Stage Edinburgh Awards 2016, Mark Thomas talks to Thom Dibdin about discovering Brecht, the difference between comedy and theatre, how he deals with phones in the auditorium and his show at the Traverse Theatre, The Red Shed.

In our sixth Edinburgh episode, we catch up with Sarah-Louise Young, who is juggling three shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. How does she do it? "My day is boringly military." The cabaret performer – who is appearing in Cabaret Whore Presents... La Poule Plombee, Roulston and Young: Songs for Lovers (and Other Idiots) and Royal Vauxhall, as well as guest spots throughout the month – also discusses tips to preserve your voice and talks about the difference between Edinburgh and London...

In our fifth Edinburgh-specific podcast episode, Mark Thomas talks about his show The Red Shed at the Traverse Theatre, and how his work has increasingly moved from stand-up towards theatre in a bid to reflect the truth. He also talks about performance, journalism, audience participation and why he nearly voted Leave in the EU referendum. Meanwhile, our critics pick some of their top shows. This week things take an immersive turn as Tim Bano and Paul Vale discuss the relative merits of an...

In episode four of The Stage Podcast's Edinburgh 2016 series, we catch up with Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen, aka RashDash. The company has returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the first time in four years with Two Man Show. In this podcast, they discuss gender, feminism, men and masculinity, plus the practical benefits of getting naked on stage. Tim Bano and Paul Vale are perched on the critics' sofa this week. Their recommendations include Foiled, a site-specific play set in a...

As we hit the mid-point of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Glasgow-based theatremaker Kieran Hurley talks about storytelling, sound design and the apocalypse. Plus Stewart Pringle takes to the critics' sofa to discuss his picks of the fringe. Daniel Kitson, Breach Theatre and Forest Fringe are all on his radar. Tim Bano presents.

New Zealander Tim Carlsen talks about his Edinburgh show, One Day Moko, and about the challenges of bringing a piece of theatre from the other side of the world to a new city for the first time. The answer? Three large suitcases, Skyping the director, government grants and crowdfunding, apparently. Plus Tim Bano and Stewart Pringle talk about which shows they're looking forward to in Edinburgh, both at the International and Fringe festivals, and how to choose what to see and when.

The Stage Podcast is back for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016. Tim Bano hosts a series of six shows interviewing theatremakers and critics at the world's biggest trade show for theatre. In this episode, Tim talks to Kill the Beast about its new show, Don't Wake the Damp, which Stewart Pringle has called the company's best work in his review for The Stage. Stewart also joins Tim on the critic's sofa for a rundown of the brightest prospects at this year's festivals.