RSC releases two new in-house podcast episodes
Published:
10 December 2021
Reporter:
Steve Orme
The Royal Shakespeare Company has released two new episodes of its in-house podcast Interval Drinks which gives listeners an opportunity to learn more about the life of the RSC from those at the heart of the company.
In episode one, actor Alfred Clay, who is playing Dr Finch in The Comedy of Errors at the Barbican, speaks to RSC associate artist Lucian Msamati as he describes how it felt to see live theatre for the first time when he was growing up in Zimbabwe. He founded the first professional multi-racial theatre company in the country.
Msamati talks about playing Iago in Othello at the RSC in 2020 and the hardships of forging an acting career. He also explains his irrational fear of camels.
Episode two features playwright Nancy Harris speaking to children’s author Kate DiCamillo about her inspiration—the “divine spark” that grew into The Magician’s Elephant which is playing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford.
She explains how gifting a notebook to a friend led her to create the “unique” cast of characters. The two writers talk about their writing processes and DiCamillo shares how many rejection letters she received.
Two more episodes will be available for download from Thursday 6 January 2022. RSC associate artist David Threlfall speaks to Zoe Lambert, also in The Comedy of Errors at the Barbican. They talk about Threlfall’s theatre career, from starting out at the RSC, to playing Frank Gallagher in the television series Shameless and Tommy Cooper.
Renu Arora, who plays Madame LeVaughn in The Magician’s Elephant, will then be in conversation with deaf writer and performer Sophie Woolley. Both are artists who have had to adapt their practices after acquiring disabilities. This episode will also be available to download as a BSL-interpreted vodcast via the RSC web site.
Previous episodes include conversations with Tim Minchin, John Kani, Paul Chahidi, Justin Audibert, Juliet Gilkes Romero and Adjoa Andoh. Each episode is available to download free via the RSC web site as well as other podcast platforms.