Theatre Deli Podcast

As a young female director, Nadia Latif has had to navigate her own route through an institutionally white world of British theatre. Her ongoing and outspoken fight against the sheer ‘level of fuckery’ is equally humbling and inspirational. Roland and Nadia talk about her career, her work and the repercussions of 'Homegrown' which reverberate to this day.

"These experiences don't stop. You carry on doing the one-star review shows all your life. Until you go, 'I've got to make my own work. Something's got to change'..." As Theatre Deli celebrates 10 years since our first production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Roland talks to one of that show's cast members, Esther McAuley, about her company 'Macs Arcadian' and her quest to make fearless and accessible performances for adults and children.

"I don't think the victory is for a brown kid to see a brown person on stage and say, 'That's me!', it's for a white kid to see a brown kid on stage and say, 'That's me.'..." Vinay and Roland talk about being in bands, writing work that you want your football team to see and why, in career terms, it is absolutely fine to take your time.

"Our vision is a world where dreaming is taken seriously." That quote is taken from the Improbable website. It is the first line on the section 'Our vision'. Those 10 words capture the very essence of the interview with Lee Simpson. Both encapsulate the humour and fierce insight, the lightness of speech that carries a deep understanding of the artist's life. In our conversation, Lee talks about failing as a Commercial Radio Breakfast DJ, the teacher that introduced him to improvisation, why improvisers feel the need to be funny and those moments when try as you might you just can't stop Rolf Harris dropping by.

In this first episode from the Theatre Deli Podcast Roland Smith talks to Tom Morris, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic and Associate Director of the National Theatre. Together they talk about whether audiences are important or not, who first thought to call it a 'scratch night' and why sometimes you just need to talk to the most interesting artist in the room.