British Theatre Guide podcast

Tim Jackson is a British director, choreographer, musical director, music arranger and performer who recently received his first Tony nomination for directing the musical Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York). Tim has directed and choreographed a revival of the musical Something Rotten, with music and lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by John O'Farrell, which has just opened for previews at the Opera House in Manchester starring Jason Manford, Richard Fleeshman and Marisha Wallace. Tim spoke to BTG Editor David Chadderton about his current show, as well as about his experience at the Tonys in New York and the development of both shows. Something Rotten opened at the Opera House in Manchester on 16 June and runs until 19 July 2026. For more information and tickets, see somethingrottenthemusical.com.

The British Theatre Consortium, headed by playwrights Dan Rebellato and David Edgar, has followed up its reports on the state of the British theatre repertoire in 2013 and 2014 with a study into how things have changed in the industry between 2019, the year before the COVID lockdowns began, and 2023. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Dan Rebellato about the findings of the report, what it tells us about the problems, vulnerabilities and stability of British theatre over those four years and how it was changed by the pandemic. The report British Theatre Before & After Covid was published on 26 November 2025 by the British Theatre Consortium based on the work of a research team led by Catherine Love-Smith. The full 143-page report can be read at or downloaded from the BTC web site.

Buzz Goodbody was the first female director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford where she was instrumental in setting up the venue The Other Place. She died just 50 years ago at the age of 28, and her nephew, Adam Goodbody, has created a new theatre company, Buzz Studios, in her honour. The company's first production is Petty Men at London's Arcola Theatre. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Adam and his co-writer and fellow performer, John Chisham about the play and its creation, adapting Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to create a modern piece, the importance of theatre and Shakespeare education and of course the legacy of Adam's aunt, Buzz Goodbody. Petty Men runs at the Arcola Theatre in London from 19 November to 20 December 2025. (Petty Men image of John Chisham and Adam Goodbody, photography by Tom Dixon.)

Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole, as Sh!t Theatre, have been making theatre together for fifteen years. They will be spending the 2025 Christmas season at London's Southbank Centre with their new show Evita Too, set in the presidency of Argentina, like the other Evita, but they are looking at the perhaps more interesting story of Juan Perón's second wife, Isabel, who became president after his death. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Rebecca and Louise about their discovery of the story of "gogo-dancer-turned-president" Isabel, how they turned this into a show and their research in Argentina and Spain, as well as how the company was originally formed and whether there are any regrets about its name. Evita Too from Sh!t Theatre will be performed in the Purcell Room at London's Southbank Centre from 9 to 31 December 2025.

Jessica Norman is a playwright and screenwriter whose play This Little Earth, which was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Playwriting, will debut at London's Arcola Theatre this autumn. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Jessica a couple of days before the production opened about the play and its development, conspiracy theories and those who believe them and about writing in general. This Little Earth runs at the Arcola Theatre in London from 22 October to 15 November 2025. A post-show discussion with Jessica and journalist and author Gabriel Gatehouse, Emeritus Professor of Anomalistic Psychology Chris French and CEO of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust Camilla Nichol will take place on Thursday 30 October. The Antarctic Climate Café, allowing people to come and talk about the climate crisis, will be before the show on Thursday 13 November.

Playwright Martin Sherman was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey but has lived in London for more than forty years. His memoir On the Boardwalk is about to be released, covering the first part of his life up to his first major success as a writer with the play Bent at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1979, which starred Ian McKellen, who has written a foreword to the book. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Martin about his life and work including his mother's Huntington's Disease which he feared inheriting, his father's narcissistic personality disorder, his time at Boston University and Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio, his failed productions before his introduction to Gay Sweatshop in London and the O'Neill in Connecticut, being represented by the great Peggy Ramsey and his success with Bent, where the book ends. On the Boardwalk will be released by the publisher Inkandescent on 25 September 2025.

Actor and author Emily Woof is best known for her film and TV work such as Mandy in The Full Monty, Shannon in Velvet Goldmine and Nancy in Oliver Twist, but she has also written novels and devised her own theatre pieces. At this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, she is performing her own solo play, Revolver, directed by her husband, Hamish McColl, writer and co-founder of theatre company The Right Size. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Emily during her Edinburgh run about the play's subject matter, its predecessor piece at the 1993 Fringe, her devising process and her other writing work. Revolver, produced by Shared Experience, opened at Pleasance Courtyard on 14 August and runs daily at 2:20PM until 25 August 2025. (Photo of Emily Woof in Revolver, credit Sheila Burnett)

This episode features two very different solo shows, which can both be seen at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thom Tuck is playing the titular 100-year-old clown, whose life story takes audiences though some of the major events of the 20th century, in Justin Butcher's Scaramouche Jones, which he performed in Edinburgh in 2005, then again in 2015. His partner, Jenny Ryan, best-known as The Vixen on TV quiz programme The Chase, is performing her musical comedy show Björn Yesterday that unpacks her theory that ABBA never existed. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to them both together almost halfway through the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe about their shows, the current state of the Fringe, remembering lines and quiz answers, philosophy, the music they grew up listening to and lots more. Björn Yesterday runs every day at 5:30PM in the Cabaret Bar at Pleasance Courtyard from 30 July to 17 August. Thom Tuck is appearing in Scaramouche Jones at Hoots at Potterow at 2:45PM from 1 to 25 August 2025.