The WhatsOnStage Podcast

We put out our main episode on Friday, but had to have something special for the weekend! Nica Burns, the Citizens Theatre, Claybody Theatre and many more winners were crowned at the Central Hall in London for the inaugural Great British Theatres Awards on Monday, and we were on hand to hear more from them. Celebrating the way in which theatres made a profound impact on their local communities, the rallying cry came from Kemp: 'Draining the arts is no way to create a community.'

Back in the same room, Sarah and Alex chat all things Lives of Others as the glitzy West End show begins performances at the Adelphi Theatre. But does Robert Icke's adaptation with Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson and Stephen Dillane stick the landing? Elsewhere, the pair pay tribute to Patrick Stewart, Sarah heads to the RSC for Middlemarch and it seems that every theatre in the country has a new season to reveal...

Nancy Carroll and Charles Edwards are starring alongside Christine Baranski and Richard E Grant in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre. Sarah went along to talk to them about the pleasures of plays that simply entertain, the qualities of Noel Coward, plus working with Angela Lansbury, Judi Dench and adventures in the DC and Lord of the Rings universes.

Michael Sheen might currently be on screens running amok in a Scottish castle, but in a matter of days he'll be back on stage in an epic new Welsh play having its world premiere – Owain & Henry. Reframing the legendary tale of the last true Prince of Wales, the piece will open at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre next week. Sheen is joined by stage and screen stars Rakie Ayola and Sophie Melville.

Sarah and Alex are within touching distance of the 2020s as they continue their examination of the best plays of the century. 2018 and 2019 offer up an array of epic plays exploring American history, solo shows that leave audiences flabbergasted, and a lot (really, a lot) of plays based on hit novels – from A Little Life, to Life of Pi, to Small Island. But which plays will Sarah single out as her favourite of each year? She has some difficult choices to make...

Today, artistic director Selina Cartmell unveiled her brand new season at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, coming hot on the heels of the 50th anniversary celebrations at the beloved theatre. Featuring new work by Simon Stephens and Ben Power as well as revivals of Faith Healer and Much Ado About Nothing (featuring the legendary Beverley Knight), Cartmell spills the beans on championing the theatre’s central ethos and telling vital stories for 2027 and beyond.She also had a lot to say about her love of Sondheim and her plans for an all-string orchestra for A Little Night Music, opening this Christmas.

Finally reunited after Alex's foreign forays, Sarah runs through her tireless fortnight of reviews – featuring Rent with Gaten Matarazzo, Hay Fever with Richard E Grant and Christine Baranski, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, and As You Like It with Fisayo Akinade and Jonathan Groff. The conversation brings up a range of questions about reviewing revivals, the nature of star ratings and whether we should have more music critics reviewing musicals. After that, the pair discuss the new Almeida and Pitlochry seasons, and what audiences might expect from the new Tarantino play.

The great British actor is currently on stage as the great American showman Liberace. As he finished rehearsals he talked to Sarah about how to play characters with whom you have little sympathy, returning to the stage after serious illness, the Shakespeare roles he longs to play and working with Tom Stoppard just before the playwright’s death.