Welcome to our audio interviews and podcasts. We talk to those who make and influence fringe theatre and arts.
Audio Interviews
Audio interviews with fringe theatre and show makers.
After they returned from the Fringe and the venue The Space on the Mile, I caught up with some of the cast and the director of Get Thee to a Nursery… Disgracefully, I was unable to go and see it, however they still let me in to talk to them about their experiences of a […]
Most visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe in August will find themselves seeing a show at Summerhall. Quite of a few of those will know it is also a year round arts and cultural hub and its many events are not just confined to the Fringe weeks. Less will be aware of the over a hundred […]
“(Mommy’s a whore, Daddy’s a hitman). Laugh, cry and see God in this award-winning solo show by writer/performer Mitch Hara. Strap yourself in for a heart-wrenching rollercoaster ride you’ll never forget, featuring sex, drugs, disco balls and blackouts. All during an audition for Hamilton Unplugged. Directed by Carlyle King.” That’s the premise for Mitch Haras’s […]
Having highly reviewed an impressive Louis Katz‘s debut show at the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe, Paul Levy caught up with him at the City Restaurant and explored how he makes his comedy, the origin of the show and some of the important material covered in the show. “Fresh off his hit (1M+ views!) […]
“A surreal journey about reconciling with grief through the natural world. Jesse returns to the cottage he grew up in with a photo and cardboard box. The land is just as he left it, and his grandmother is brash as ever, but why did it take him so long to come back? Dead Animals uses […]
Jo Tomalin talks with members of Buzzcut performing Bark Bark at 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Beckett Gray, Faye James and Gabe Winsor. Buzzcut make live performances with live cameras and have created several projects. “A dog with a bird-killing problem. Two people stitching their relationship together. A house filled with taxidermy animals. When a young […]
Jo Tomalin talks with Samuel Cunningham, Lennie Longworth and Rowan Armitt-Brewster from Skedaddle Theatre about their company and A Brief Case of Crazy, playing at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. “Thomas is a remarkable, unconventional introvert – typically fiddling and fumbling his way through a 9 to 5 job, occasionally looking up to admire his […]
Gregorio Richter of Circo Goyo is a circus artist and busker from Argentina who performs around the world. Gregorio speaks to Jo Tomalin from the Edinburgh Fringe where he performs his act in the streets. He talks about how and when he started to learn circus skills and why he is called Balloon Man! More […]
Living. Dying. Dead. is an improvised theatre show that has been created to engage audiences on the taboo subjects of death, dying and bereavement. After sharing the show at improv festivals around Europe they brought their first full length (one hour) show to Edinburgh Fringe 2024. Owen talks about his work as a consultant physician […]
Bert and Nasi have developed several original devised shows together. For their latest show L’Addition they worked with director Tim Etchells to create it and they talk to Jo Tomalin about the experience and their work. “Two performers armed with a single scene – a customer orders a drink from a waiter. And then things […]
Physical theatre and dance performers and creators Luca Vaccari and Yuxi Jiang talk about their fringe production In The Round. “A dance theatre production exploring the perpetual cycles that bind our existence. Blending dance, film and verbatim sound derived from live interviews. It weaves inspirations from Tibetan spiritual practice to the vibrancy of Japanese pop […]
Earlier in the Fringe Paul Levy was in conversation with Actor Gareth Watkins and Director Pete Gomes about The Gentleman of Shallot at Edfringe 2024. In this conversation, Jules Smekens is added to a fascinating four-way discussion of Theatre of the Absurd at the Edinburgh Fringe and elsewhere. This genre has become rather niche at […]
Chris Grady has been helping producers to develop their skills, experience and expertise for many years. In this wide-ranging conversation with Paul Levy, Chris defines exactly what a producer is, how the role of prodicer is a moving feast in different contexts within the Arts, and how he helps producers to develop their capability.
Mychelle Colleary talks to Kate Saffin about her first experience of developing a solo auto biographical show. Without giving too much away about the content she shares some of the influences, the work in getting this far and the challenges of navigating the Fringe for the first time. Ambitious Underachiever is an musical one-woman show at […]
Actors Matthew Boston and Mark Boyett talk about Plotters by Brian Parks from Twilight Theatre Company. Playing in a Brian Parks work is usually a challenge for actors. Words fly up off the pages, into and out of the mouths of performers at breakneck speed. Matthew and Mark discuss the excitement and the exertions involved […]
Will talks to Kate Saffin about his journey to his first solo political satire show at the Fringe: Will Sebag-Montefiore: Will of the People Like many presenting political satire, Will found himself engaged in a major rewrite in the run up to the Fringe… He also talks about how he came to add this style […]
British actor and writer Yolanda Mercy is presenting her new solo show Failure Project at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She talks with Jo Tomalin about why she writes and performs and the mental health and other struggles writers experience. “A comedy drama… or “dramedy” about Ade, a successful writer, or so it seems. She […]
Storyteller Sinead O’Brien from Wandering Stories brings her acclaimed show No One is Coming to the Scottish Storytelling Centre during the Edinburgh Fringe. “No One Is Coming is a devised, storytelling performance about a mother and a daughter inspired by lived experience and infused with Irish mythology and comedy. This storytelling event is not just […]
San Francisco Fringe Festival:https://www.theexit.org/
Billed as a “kaleidoscopic one-creature show merging the circus with storytelling and spoken word”, Gobbess arrives comes to Edfringe with a clutch of positive reviews from Brighton Fringe. Creative force of nature and acclaimed performer, Naomi Wood, discusses the origins of the show and its development towards the Edinburgh fringe and beyond with Paul Levy. […]
Beowulf and Grendfel is a faithfully told version of this legendary tale from Tawnydog Productions. In this interview performer and adapter Evan Quinlan discusses the original “codex”, the original text from which this show at CC Blooms as part of PBH’s Free Fringe has been adapted. This is “the gripping tale of a prince’s struggle […]
Paul Levy wends his way down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in August during Edfringe 2024. He hears about shows that find their way into his hand from the many performers in all kinds of costumes flyering their shows to passersby. The noise of the crowds,street performers and a few landmarks on the way…
Action Theatre Italy are a truly international troupe, with two shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024. The Italians in England is set in 1572. “Shakespeare is some years away but Commedia dell’Arte’s combination of mask, comedy, wild plots, hilarious improvisation and women performing on stage is taking Europe by storm. Queen Elizabeth I insists on […]
Edinburgh Deaf Festival is in its third year. It runs from 9th – 18th and here Joanna Matthews shares her picks – all suitable for Deaf and hearing audiences. The festival has it all – stand up comedy, new writing, a walking tour, workshops, exhibitions and dance. Edinburgh holds a unique place in Deaf history […]
FringeReview’s Paul Levy got five diverse theatre and arts makers around the Press Room table at theSpace at Surgeons’ Hall, with one thing in common: They all come from New York. So, what draws them to the world’s largest arts Festival and why is there no longer a New York Fringe? We hear about their […]
As someone who had a career spanning 43 years in the NHS, the opportunity to explore Fifty Minutes to Save the NHS with Drs Phil Hammond and Clare Gerada (also Dame Clare) was a real treat. Phil has been a doctor in the public eye for many years with a long career spanning not just […]
FringeReview’s Nicholas Collett talks to musician and now musical writer and performer Sean Findlay about The Shakey Shakey Hips at Paradise Green at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024. “Hilarious epic 50s rock musical following Shakey Sean (Elvis character) working in an Arbroath egg’n’roll van. A customer asks for a ‘rock’n’roll’. Shakey concedes he doesn’t sell this, […]
Jo Tomalin talks to Hannah Smith and Ralph McCubbin-Howell from Trick of the Light theatre company based in New Zealand. They talk about how they work with light and developed prior shows that they have presented at EdFringe. Their latest show – at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 – is Suitcase Show. “A traveller arrives at […]
Julian Mayer talks to Paul Levy at Greenside at Riddle’s Court after their sell out show “A Cosmologist’s Guide To Life and Love” In this show “Astrophysicist Dr Julian Mayers asks whether studying the Universe gives us any insight into earthly matters of life, death and love. Down to earth, accessible, funny and ultimately uplifting, […]
Gareth Watkins, writer and performer of The Gentleman of Shallot, “began developing experimental improvised and devised theatre, which led him to study with the MA Theatre Lab at RADA. He has since written two plays: Boy for Life, on the lasting effects of gay conversion ‘therapy’ and The Gentleman of Shalott, his radical reimagining of Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott as […]
“In a world full of ugliness, desperation and people touching you with dirty hands, OCD became a coping mechanism. This young girl tries to hide her symptoms, for example touching things three times, but it’s in her DNA and to her discomfort the world starts noticing. But, relax. It’s a comedy. Fine, tragi-comedy. A monologue […]
Herbert F Mintz II talks about his show My Uncle Sam, My Military Family and Me with Jo Tomalin, before its run at the 2024 San Francisco Fringe Festival. He talks about his projects, writing and how he developed this show. “A series of interconnected nonlinear memories that lay bare the personal and institutional arrangement […]
Producer, Storyteller and Standup Turan Ali talks with Jo Tomalin about his international storytelling shows – and Queer Folks’ Tales playing weekly on Thursdays August 8, 15 and 22 at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the Scottish Storytelling Centre. “The five-star hit LGBTQ+ storytelling show returns for its second Fringe – camper, fruitier and […]
Stand up comedian Cathy Zhao talks with Jo Tomalin about her latest show playing at the 2024 San Francisco Fringe festival in August. “I Wish I’d Said That: A Standup Comedy with Hecklers Presented by the Family of Chaos,comedy by Cathy Zhao, Frank Zhao, and Fiona Zhang, Laugh It Out Hub, San Francisco, CA. Standup comedian Cathy […]
Terry Baum is a writer, director and performer who talks to Jo Tomalin about her latest solo performance Lesbo Solo, One Dyke’s Life in the Theater, playing at the 2024 San Francisco Fringe on August 10, 24 and 25. “She recalls crashing the mayoral forums that refused to invite her to speak. These and other […]
Agpalo “Ting” A.J. Alvarez-Maquinta talks about his background as a multidisciplinary artist, his choreography and storytelling to Jo Tomalin in San Francisco. Listen to our Interview with Ting here (17 minutes):
More information about Plexus Polaire: plexuspolaire.com
More Information about TANGRAM Kollektiv: https://tangram-kollektiv.com
For more information about Judith’s company – Judith Hope Puppet Maker:www.JudithHope.co.uk or www.JudithHope.comInstagram: @judithhopepuppetmaker
Adrian Minkowicz Instagram: adriannminkowicz
Lucy Stevens talks to Kate Saffin about creating A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening’, the story of Gertrude Lawrence using Lawrences own words. She then goes on to talk about the process of researching the lives of other women whose stories she has told through performance, or whom she came across and who drifted […]
Alison Skillbeck is no stranger to the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a writer and actor with several critically acclaimed plays under her belt Are There More of You?, The Power Behind The Crone and Mrs Roosevelt Flies to London. In this interview she talks to Kate Saffin about the isolation of lockdown, how important the […]
Gillian Lacey-Solymar is a first-time Fringer at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Gillian is the Bookwriter and Lyricist of IrrePRESSible: The Musical and she talks to Jo Tomalin about how and why she is inspired to create the show. Gillian’s career includes working as a consumer affairs correspondent at the BBC and as a senior […]
Matthew Roberts has created and performed several solo shows at recent Edinburgh Fringes – Sunny Runny Runcorn, Canoe and Teach. Since Teach, which played to full houses at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe he is focusing on his writing, while teaching full-time. Jo Tomalin has interviewed Matthew for several Fringe Review audio interviews about creating and […]
Antonio Vega is artistic director of Por Piedad Teatro (Mexico | USA) and he is co-creator of DJANGO IN PAIN with Por Piedad Teatro founder and artistic producer, Ana Graham. Jo Tomalin talks to Antonio Vega about his background in theatre, and how he developed this show during the pandemic. DJANGO IN PAIN is digital […]
Erin B. Mee talks to Jo Tomalin about directing theatre in innovative spaces and her latest digital show, Tree Confessions, written by Jenny Lyn Bader. Tree Confessional is a digital audio play, site-specific and self-scheduled, presented on demand through the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023, January 4-15. “While it is obvious that we need to […]
http://www.cookingstageleft.com BriggsBreese Productions
Angry Black Woman 101 takes a introductory dive into the microaggressions,tropes and stereotypes Black women grapple with daily. Using slides, videos, music and history this storyteller deftly illustrates misogynoir and it’s effects. This show is couched in a truthful and hurtful work situation during her tenure at TechSoup, a nonprofit. Twitter @JuicyDLight Facebook
https://nakedempirebouffon.org/
Potato Topos by Andomifevin comprised of Andrew Rose, Dominique Nigro, Fenner Merlick, and Kat Countiss A poet, a dancer, a clown, and a clarinetist bring you their first collaboration, a multi-sensory poem-play about potatoes. An hour long show with themes of nostalgia, fantasy, and expansion. The modalities include performance, light, sound, textiles, and language. The […]
Instagram @bingewatchimprov
“I’m a San Francisco based solo performer. My shows are about my experiences with bipolar mood disorder, which I’ve managed to keep private the majority of my life. For the most part my mood swings have been mild enough to hide, but I’ve had a few full on manic episodes that have led to some […]
https://www.loreleizarifian.com/author/lorelei-zarifian https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-scar-is-born-tickets-346834349877?aff=odcleoeventsincollection
Kazu Kusano (Producer, Writer, Performer) is a comedian, actress, and writer. She has a Japanese accent, crazy physicality, a dark sense of humor, and hot flashes. Kazu immigrated to America all alone in her thirties to do comedy. Kazu can be seen on Comedy Central UK’s Cannel Hopping as a Japanese correspondent. Also, she is the […]
Christina Augello’s Bio from The EXIT Theatre Website: Christina Augello is the founder and artistic director of EXIT Theatre and is an actress, arts activist and arts administrator. She has been involved with American theater for over 50 years, growing up in the 1950s as the daughter of the proprietor of a famous theater saloon and […]
Pamela Banchetti – Instagram @pamelaandpinolinoPoldo and Pinolino Show Reel
“Award-winning contemporary circus company returns with an extraordinary show looking at the hectic pace of today’s world. In a unique set design featuring a giant treadmill, four performers and two musicians mix dance, running, cyr-wheel acrobatics and original live music, while running almost a whole marathon. This UK debut for Runners marks the company’s fourth […]
Sarah-Louise Young is a theatre maker with 26 years’ experience at her 17th Fringe with her 40th production and the 13th show she has created. Which is nicely serendipitous because it’s also the first show she has made telling a very personal story. We found what we thought would be a quiet corner of Summerhall… […]
Actor, Samara Neely Cohen talked to Kate during Edfringe 2022 about 9 Circles, 9 Circles by Bill Cain asks how can a soldier be trained to be a cold-blooded killing machine while clinging on to the threads of humanity? A Dantesque descent into the conundrums, contradictions and hypocrisies of war through the eyes of a […]
Sarah talks about her journey to embracing the chronic pain she has lived with since her teens and how she developed Pain and I. She describes it as a bold exploration into chronic pain experience, featuring playful choreography, experimental dance, intimate autobiographical text, and original classical music composition by Alicia Jane Turner. In addition to […]
Daniel Cainer and Kate Saffin met in a dressing room at Sweet on the Grassmarket as Fringe virgins in 2006. Since then Daniel has brought his ever evolving stories in song show to a number of different venues and now seems to have permanently settled at Underbelly. In this interview he shares something of those […]
Fourth Wall’s musical show Fruit Flies Like a Banana comes in two flavours for their first Edfringe: one for children and a longer one for adults (not that there is anything unsuitable for children in the longer version, it is just framed differently). It’s a show that combines extraordinary physical acrobats with virtuoso musical skill […]
www.annerabbitt.com
“Dublin’s hottest all-women improv troupe brings you an unscripted comedy show unlike any other. We create extended and continuously improvised stories based entirely on your suggestions, full of whacky worlds and crazy characters.”
“How do you live your best ho life? Have you accidentally become your parents? These are the questions NYC-based comedian Ann Chun (SF Chronicle, Timeout) explores in her solo show about an immigrant coping with the dissolution of her parents’ marriage in Thailand, while learning how to be a fuccboi in America. Ann’s immersive storytelling […]
Emilienne Flagothier creates contemporary dance, directs non-theatrical text theatre and performs in street theatre, a solo show and more. At the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe she directs a new show called We Should Be Dancing, based on observations of children playing, working with her collective from Brussels.
“Triple Fringe First and Olivier winning Fishamble, in association with Fringe First winning Sunday’s Child, return to Summerhall with the 2019 hit show Mustard by Eva O’Connor. A darkly comic play about heartbreak, madness and how condiments are the ultimate coping mechanism. When the man of her dreams, a professional cyclist, leaves E, she plummets […]
‘If I invited you to come with me on a journey, a story, will you come with me?’ Northern Uganda. When Okumu’s village is attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), he and his brother’s lives are changed forever. Far Gone is a profoundly moving story of a young boy’s journey from childhood innocence to […]
“Pluto and Vector have been dating for almost a year now, but as they hike up the mountain where the Greek god Prometheus was bound as punishment, their relationship hits its breaking point. The myth of Prometheus looms large over the mountain’s cold peak as Pluto and Vector confront their differences, their fears about their […]
Alyssa Mitchel, Dancer/Choreographer/Artistic Director/Teacher based in San Francisco talks with Jo Tomalin about how she chose to be a choreographer and her influences, after training in tap, jazz, ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. She presents a new show Here. Now. outdoors at the Exploratorium, San Francisco in November, 2021. Listen to our interview with Alyssa Mitchel […]
Emma Jordan is Artistic Director of Prime Cut Productions in Belfast and an independent Theatre Director in Ireland. She talks to Jo Tomalin about the company – and directing. Recently she directed East Belfast Boy, which is being presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021 and she describes how this play was adapted for physical […]
Scottish Pakistani actor, writer and stand-up comedian talks about how she started writing and performing with Jo Tomalin. Lubna presents Tickbox – her latest theatre/comedy/storytelling show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021. “Tickbox is a semi-autobiographical, one-woman play, in Scots-English and Urdu. Describing a Pakistani woman’s journey from a middle-class life in Pakistan to Govan in […]
Martin Mor talks about circus, comedy storytelling and stand-up, developing his two shows and how he has fared during the pandemic with Jo Tomalin. He will present both shows at Laughing Horse (The Counting House) in Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021. Martin Mor: At the Edge “Martin Mor is doing a stand-up comedy […]
Writer, performer mandla rae talks to Jo Tomalin about their work, how they started writing and performing and their show: mandla rae -as british as a watermelon. “‘My name is mandla. It means power. I gave it to myself’ – mandla rae has a selective memory and they are scrambling to piece together their life. […]
Pete Wells and Rabiah Coon talk about comedy
It’s Sunday 6th of June, and I find myself sitting the Caroline of Brunswick. I’m here for a comedy show, and fall into conversation with Pete Wells and Rabiah Coon. It was an interesting and free ranging look at comedy from different perspectives. Rabiah is starting out, Pete is more experienced (and runs London’s Comedy […]
Joe Angella talks to Rabiah Coon about her first show at Brighton Fringe
In a rather noisy pub, I talk to Rabiah Coon about bringing her first show to Brighton Fringe. For any new comic, it is a thrilling experience to get on stage at your first fringe festival and hope that the audience like it. Here, Rabiah gives us a brief insight into why you’d do that! […]
The Coily Dart Theatre Company produces parodies of Gilbert and Sullivan themes and comedy musicals. Director, Sue Ellerby, who is also author of the company’s scripts speaks to Jo Tomalin about the Gilbert and Sullivan genre, Coily Dart’s focus in the latest production on the lesser known Helen Carte, the parody comedy style of Coily […]
Bunker Teatro from Spain presents their show Land If You Can! at the Brighton Fringe 2021. This is an interactive role-playing play where the audience not only experiences the mystery story first hand, but also the improvisational style. Jo Tomalin speaks to the cast Auba Ramos and Juan Sanchez, and Gracia Rios (book, director and producer […]
Actor and writer Christopher Tajah from Resistance Theatre Company talks to Jo Tomalin about his career so far, and writing and performing his latest solo play at the Brighton Fringe 2021, 14 – 27 June 21 & The Space Theatre, East London 17 & 18 August 21. “‘Under Heaven’s Eyes’ is a new 60-minute solo performance exploring the […]
Unique Derique (aka Lance McGee) is a performer from the San Francisco Bay Area. As a professional clown Derique has performed his unique physical comedy show to audiences of all ages in the US and internationally. He is also a Trauma-Informed Wellness Consultant, Drama Therapist, and Mindfulness Coach providing support to Oakland, CA middle-school educators, administrators, […]
On the occasion of Hanane Hajj Ali receiving The League of Professional Theatre Women’s (LPTW) Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award 2020, in February 2021, we are bringing back into focus our audio interview with Hajj Ali: Hanane Hajj Ali, writer and performer of Jogging: Theatre in Progress, talks with Fringe Review’s Jo Tomalin about the development […]
Anne Rabbitt planned to perform her one person show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last summer. But when the pandemic made this impossible she quickly adapted and reinvented her work to a new short film format. Jo Tomalin talks with Anne about her creative process and new work: I Know the Truth. Listen to […]
Manual Cinema performs Frankenstein as part of Cal Performances at Home, streaming premiere Thursday, October 29 at 7pm PDT; Performance will be available on demand until January 27th, 2021. Pictured left: Sarah Fornace (credit: Drew Dir). Pictured right: Creature and Victor. Sarah Fornace is one of the five Co Artistic-Directors of Chicago’s Manual Cinema and […]
Matthew Roberts is a playwright who has written several one-person plays, which he has also produced and performed at several UK Fringe festivals, including Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He recently started a MA programme and he talks to Jo Tomalin about his experiences and discoveries that are meaningful to him these days. Listen to our interview […]
Garlic Theatre Co artistic directors Iklooshar Malara and Mark Pitman travel around the UK performing several different shows that focus on puppetry and movement. They create every show – including a myriad of beautifully crafted puppets, imaginative stories, and original music. Jo Tomalin (in San Francisco) talks to Iklooshar and Mark (in Norfolk) about their […]
How do we stay motivated, creative – and sane – during COVID-19? Jo Tomalin (in San Francisco) talks to playwright Matthew Roberts (in London) about what he has been doing since the end of the run of his successful 2019 Edinburgh Fringe solo play, TEACH, which he wrote and performed, directed by Helen Tennison. […]
You can’t keep actors down. Close the theatres and they just switch their webcams on! Coronavirus Theatre Club is bringing socially distanced new writing via Twitter every Sunday evening at 7pm. Brian shares the story of how it all started with a tweet… and before they knew it he and Sam Neale were running a […]
Whatever Happened to Jaggy Nettles Interview
Scottish Editor, Donald C Stewart caught up with Alan and Carly to talk about their new play by a care experienced ensemble that will bring punk back centre stage in February in Glasgow!! “We’re a punk band. A politically motivated Marxist punk band that want tae bring doun the rich by any means necessary!” It’s […]
Scottish Editor Donald C Stewart talks to playwright, Catriona McNicoll about her new play, ADRIFT
THIS PRODUCTION TAKES PLACE AT SCOTTISH YOUTH THEATRE 28 Jan 2020 – 31 Jan 2020 “‘My dear Cammy, this is the most real experience you’ll ever have. In fact, it’s a matter of life and death.’ A bottle of pills. That is the last thing that Cammy remembers before waking up in the middle of the ocean. She […]
Theatrical Clown: Jo Tomalin talks to Áine Donnelly, producer/author/performer from San Francisco about Theatre Infinite and developing her clown character and show Hi. (Jean-Luc Godard). “Inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, clown Rodeo Debbie conducts an aesthetic investigation, where symposium meets jam session, and the audience contributes vital material. Mr. Godard knows a lot, but you are […]
