72 episodes
The WhatsOnStage Podcast Sarah Crompton & Alex Wood
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- Arts
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5.0 • 12 Ratings
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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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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From Edinburgh Fringe to world domination?
As the Edinburgh Festival begins, Sarah and Alex talk about their memories of festivals past - from great shows such as Fleabag!, Six and Baby Reindeer, to disasters, miseries and the rain.
Is the Edinburgh Festival still really a hotbed for new talent or are prices and rents simply too high for the truly unknown to thrive? And what part did the Fringe play in the end of Alex's career as a playwright
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Is Death of England the great state of Britain play? Ft Roy Williams and Clint Dyer
In this guest episode, Sarah talks to playwright Roy Williams and the National Theatre's deputy artisitc director Clint Dyer about the three plays they wrote together that seem to sum up the spirit of the times. As Michael, Delory and Closing Time are performed together for the first time at Soho Place, the writers discuss what promted the plays, their struggles with illness, Covid and sheer bad timing to get them to the stage, and the impact their work has had. Plus why you can be deadly serious and very funny at the same time.
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What happens when a show loses its star?
In a week of shock substitutions Alex and Sarah talk about James Corden at the Old Vic, Justine Mitchell at the Almeida and the way that history of theatre is filled with understudies who become the star.
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Is Andrew Lloyd Webber cool now?
With a new production of Starlight Express taking over the Wembley Troubadour and Jamie Lloyd's radical Sunset Boulevard due to open on Broadway, Sarah and Alex ask whether the British composer is having a renaissance. Plus: does the seat you sit in change your feelings about a show?
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Are musicals manipulative?
Alex has been singing along to Taylor Swift and Sarah has been on a musical theatre adventure with London Theatre at Sea. Which got us thinking about the power of song and how it makes people feel. Why does that make musicals such a potent force and are our emotions being played on - with special reference to Ghost Quartet, Dear Evan Hansen and Next to Normal
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Tonys special: Light in a troubling time for Broadway + Sondheim's supremecy cemented
In the second WhatsOnStage podcast, Sarah is literally all at sea but still finds time to talk to Alex about the most significant awards in American theatre - and how new thinking and some British input is changing Broadway.
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Customer Reviews
Fascinating
I am neither from the UK nor remotlely theatre-literate, but I do like listening to knowledgeable people talking about things they love and this absolutely ticks that box. An absolute pleasure to listen and a fascinating insight into a cultural tidepool I have never dipped my toes into before. The best possible way to be snowed in with the flu. (And definitely a bit of a gateway drug …)
Great women Talking About theatre & Life
Terrific listening- not just fascinating view of the craft of theatre & criticism - but hearing women’s voices—intelligent, knowledgeable & funny —discussing much more is a treat.
Interesting & informative podcast
I was delighted to learn of this new podcast from the Instagram account of Nancy Carroll. She is such a beautiful & talented actress and her wit shines in this podcast filled with delightful anecdotes.