Nottingham Playhouse has released the first three episodes of a new podcast series that will explore the careers and lockdown experiences of nationally and internationally renowned artists.
The first episodes feature Olivier Award-winning actor and playwright David Haig, director and writer Gbolahan Obiesesan and director Natalie Abrahmi.
Haig is known for his stage play My Boy Jack which went on a UK tour in 2004 and Pressure which toured in both 2014 and 2018. He appeared at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End in 2010 in Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s Yes, Prime Minister.
Obiesesan adapted Chigozie Obioma’s Man Booker-nominated novel The Fishermen which was produced by Nottingham-based New Perspectives and had a run at London’s Trafalgar Studios.
Abrahmi was artistic director at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill before joining the Young Vic as Genesis fellow and associate director. She has also been an associate artist at the Nuffield Theatre and Hull Truck.
She directed Anna by Ella Hickson and Ben and Max Ringham at the National Theatre in 2019 and Queen Anne by Helen Edmundson for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2017. Her production of Nancy Harris’s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata in 2016 transferred to New York.
Interviews were conducted by Craig Gilbert, artist development producer for the Playhouse's Amplify programme, which aims to inspire and support theatre-makers from the East Midlands.
He said, “in having these informal chats with our peers and collaborators, I hope to bring a little joy to our friends who can't currently come to see shows and some inspiration to artists stuck at home.”
Nottingham Playhouse will release podcast episodes each week featuring artists including its artistic director Adam Penford, Jeremy Herrin, Maria Aberg, Nick Bagnall, Sam Hodges, Tim Sheader, Nikolai Foster, Luke Barnes, Davina Moss and Amit Sharma.