Theatre Interviews

'By the end I’d lost me': Joe Simpson, mountaineer and writer - interview

Jasper Rees Saturday, 16 November 2019

In Peru in 1985, Joe Simpson - then 25 - and his 21-year-old climbing partner Simon Yates were descending the remote Siula Grande, which was hard to get up but even harder to get down, when Simpson broke his leg. They both assumed it was a death sentence, but Yates gave him a couple of paracetamol, dug himself into a bucket seat in the snow and lowered the stricken Simpson down the mountain slope, paying out 300ft of rope, then climbing down and doing it again, and again, for hours.

theartsdesk Q&A: Lia Williams on the challenges of theatre

Heather Neill Sunday, 14 July 2019

Lia Williams is not an actor who looks for easy options. Twice she has played two characters in the same production, switching between them for different performances.

theartsdesk Q&A: playwright William Nicholson

Heather Neill Saturday, 27 April 2019

It is 30 years since Shadowlands, William Nicholson's much-loved play about CS Lewis's unexpected love affair with Joy Gresham, an American poet, was first seen on stage.

10 Questions for actress and playwright Nicôle Lecky

Thomas H Green Wednesday, 24 April 2019

Nicôle Lecky’s one woman show Superhoe has added fire to the reputation of an already fast-rising actress and writer.

10 Questions for Candice Edmunds of Theatre Company Vox Motus

Thomas H Green Thursday, 14 March 2019

“When we graduated we were seeing lot of theatre as a literary form,” explains Candice Edmunds of the theatre company Vox Motus, “But we were really excited by it as a visual form and everything we make, from our earliest scratch pieces up to Flight, has really been an experimentation into how much we can substitute dialogue and the written word for theatrical visuals.”

Robert Hastie: 'a seam of love runs through the play' - interview

Heather Neill Monday, 12 November 2018

Robert Hastie is a little late for our meeting. Directing Shakespeare's darkest tragedy in London while also running Sheffield Theatres must sometimes cause a logjam of simultaneous demands, but whatever the morning's problem in the north of England, he remains smiling, relaxed, thoughtful and gracious during a break from rehearsals.

theartsdesk Q&A: Theatre Producer Elyse Dodgson

james Woodall Friday, 26 October 2018

The Royal Court Theatre has long been a leader in new British drama writing. Thanks to Elyse Dodgson, who has died aged 73, it has built up an international programme like few others in the arts, anywhere. At the theatre, Elyse headed up readings, workshops (in London and abroad), exchanges and writers’ residencies that might have suggested a team of 15 or so but her department was modest in size.

Ian Rickson: 'I'm an introvert, I want to stop talking about myself' - interview

Jasper Rees Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Ian Rickson’s route into theatre was not conventional. Growing up in south London, he discovered plays largely through reading them as a student at Essex University. During those years he stood on a picketline in the miners’ strike, and proudly hurled the contents of an eggbox at Cecil Parkinson. He is a lifelong supporter of Charlton Athletic.

10 Questions for Sharon Smith of Arts Collective Gob Squad

Thomas H Green Thursday, 26 April 2018

Gob Squad is a “seven-headed” Anglo-German arts collective who specialise in multimedia performance. Beginning in Nottingham in 1994 and now based in Berlin, their work ranges from site-specific to installation and film but, more recently, mainly theatre. They major in using technology to “make connections with places outside the theatre or to...

10 Questions for Performer Seth Kriebel

Thomas H Green Thursday, 05 April 2018

Seth Kriebel, 45, is a performer, much of whose work involves audience participation. He is bringing the show A House Repeated to the Brighton Festival 2018 between 6^th and 11^th May. Of American origin, born and raised near Philadelphia, Kriebel moved to the UK in 2001 and,...

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