I had my own introduction to Ginger Johnson and Sink the Pink a year ago when I chaired a Q&A for How to Catch a Krampus, the first in a new queer trilogy at the Pleasance Theatre, which also marked the drag collective’s first-ever theatrical residency after a decade of mega club nights, festivals and glitter-doused parties.
WATCH An Act of God post-show Q&A video: Is the Almighty a peri-menopausal woman… like Zoe Lyons?
How do you get SIX MILLION followers on Twitter? As someone who spends all day most days on social media, I’m staggered by the very notion. It must require divine intervention… of sorts. David Javerbaum has achieved it.
WATCH The Play That Goes Wrong post-show Q&A video: How does it feel to make your debut in a Mischief comedy?
What part do costumes play in branding for The Play That Goes Wrong around the world? How are they made durable enough to survive eight performances a week of one of Theatreland’s most physical productions?
WATCH The House of the Spirits Q&A video: How does Isabel Allende’s novel work onstage?
Are you fans of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits? Allende’s multi-award-winning debut novel, released in 1982, charts four generations of one family from the 1920s and the 1970s, and how tightly entwined their personal fortunes are with political winds of change.
WATCH The Good Scout post-show Q&A video: What lessons can we learn from the British Boy Scouts & Hitler Youth?
In The Good Scout’s final sell-out week at Above the Stag Theatre, Mate Terri Paddock returned to chair a post-show discussion with writer-director Glenn Chandler and his cast about the play’s frightening timeliness.
WATCH: After #MeToo, should we stop staging The Taming of the Shrew?
As the RSC’s latest staging of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, here’s a throwback to when Mate Terri Paddock chaired a fascinating panel discussion in Stratford-upon-Avon around the themes in the play and production.
WATCH: What was Frank Sinatra thinking on the eve of retirement?
After Rat Pack Confidential and Sinatra and Me, Richard Shelton wanted to take a new look at the life of Frank Sinatra, on the eve of his (short-lived) retirement. Terri Paddock chaired a Sinatra: Raw post-show talk.
WATCH Ages of the Moon Q&A video: Do British actors have a different take on Sam Shepard?
I’m a big fan of the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright (and Oscar-nominated actor) Sam Shepard. How wonderful to be able to see and discuss one of his late plays, Ages of the Moon, which now receives its UK premiere two years after Shepard passed away.
WATCH Groan Ups Q&A video: What’s the secret of Mischief Theatre’s success?
As part of an ongoing series, I’ve chaired post-show talks with various Mischief Theatre casts this year, all of whom waxed lyrical about the brilliance of the company founders. Last week, I had a chance to pose questions to those original mischief-makers themselves at their brand-new comedy Groan Ups.
The Girl Who Fell Q&A video: How is social media damaging our children?
I feel like I’ve known writer Sarah Rutherford for years… that’s one of the positives of social media. (We follow each other on Twitter.) The irony is it’s her new play, The Girl Who Fell, about some of the negatives of social media that finally precipitated my meeting her in person.
Q&A video: What would Ionesco & Sally Challen think of absurdist drama Mites?
A philosophising cat, a famished dog and a family of mites all make appearances – and strong impressions – in Mites, a new play by up-and-coming young British playwright James Mannion, written in the best traditions of the Theatre of the Absurd.
WATCH: How to talk about disability & A Day in the Death of Joe Egg in 2019?
Mate Terri Paddock chaired a post-show discussion at the West End revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg with director Simon Evans and the cast.
Q&A video: How much does the atmosphere at The Vaults add to The Permanent Way?
Did you know that David Hare’s The Permanent Way has a subtitle? It’s “La Voie Anglaise”… “The English Way”. This play is about more than just railways.
Danelaw Q&A video: Is there a difference between racism & ‘racist attitudes’?
Why revive the play in 2019? How are people separate from their beliefs? What happened to the real Combat18 (and what does its name stand for)?
The Comedy About a Bank Robbery Q&A video: How do a new cast put their stamp on a long-running show?
What fun to return to the Criterion Theatre to see a brand-new cast put their stamp on Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, as the first in a series of monthly post-show Q&As with the comic geniuses. Watch the full discussion.
HighTide Festival video: Terri Paddock interviews leading director Deborah Warner OBE
At this year’s annual HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, I was privileged to chair an hour-long “In Conversation With” platform discussion with legendary director Deborah Warner, reflecting on nearly 40 years in the business.
Q&A video: 20 years after she wrote it, Paloma Pedrero witnesses the UK premiere of The Eyes of the Night
I thought it was especially interesting to have lighting designer Nigel Lewis involved in the discussion – I was fascinated to hear how terrifying it was for him to plunge the stage into darkness for a lengthy portion of the evening.
At Last Q&A video: Can kindness be a form of rebellion against fascism?
Are you worried about the state of politics and society in the UK today? That’s the question I asked at the start of my post-show Q&A for At Last at London’s Lion & Unicorn Theatre.
Q&A video: Why did Arrows & Traps reset Jekyll & Hyde during the US presidential race?
Arrows & Traps’ 18th production in its five-year history is also its tenth at London’s Brockley Jack Theatre, where it is now an associate company, and its third in a Gothic trilogy. And it’s a corker.
Q&A video: How does Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret resonate even more strongly in 2019?
A musical about loss of rights, freedoms and humanity as a far-right populist party takes over a once-liberal society? Nothing familiar about that…