The WhatsOnStage Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

In their brand new podcast the chief theatre critic of WhatsOnStage and the managing editor Alex Wood talk about the ties that bind them to the theatrical world. And to Coventry. Plus their plans going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 60 episodes, Nancy's going to leave As the Actress Said to the Critic - but Sarah is launching a new podcast with WhatsOnStage. They talk about what has surprised them, what they've learnt - and plans for going forward. Stay subscribed for new adventures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huge, enthusiastic queues are surrounding the Duke of York's theatre where Tom Holland, famous for Spider-Man is playing Romeo opposite Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet. Next door, veteran actor and star of Lord of the Rings, Ian McKellen is performing Falstaff for his own adoring fans. In this week's episode Nancy and Sarah discuss the two productions and what it shows us about Shakespeare - and about the new generation of actors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy and Sarah discuss their attitudes to food on stage and off. Does Nancy eat before a show? Does Sarah write hungry or stuffed? And are there perilous foodstuffs that you might want to avoid on stage? Plus: who would they both invite to their dream dinner parties? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy and Sarah discuss terrific new productions of Love's Labour's Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Machinal at the Old Vic and Nancy reveals the secrets of memorising long parts - and why the writers whose words are hard to learn aren't always the ones that you'd expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.