The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast

In this episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast James is delighted to have as his guest the actor George Costigan. George has been working as an actor on stage and screen for over 40 years. He's played such iconic roles as Willy Loman in 'Death of a Salesman', Claudius in 'Hamlet', Estragon in 'Waiting for Godot' and James Tyrone in 'Long Day's Journey into Night', not to mention that he was the original Mickey in 'Blood Brothers'. A familiar face on tv and film, he might still be best known as Bob in 'Rita, Sue and Bob Too' but he's also appeared in 'Shirley Valentine', 'Calendar Girls', Clint Eastwood's film 'Hereafter' and in Clio Barnard's avant-garde docudrama 'The Arbor'. More recently he's played leading roles in Sally Wainwright's hit series 'Happy Valley' and 'Gentleman Jack'. In this lovely interview George regales us with anecdotes from his career and offers valuable insights for wannabe actors into how he approaches his craft.

Just a little Christmas message... and why not?

Our guest for this episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast is Jason Pennycooke. Jason has been the recipient of multiple Olivier Award nominations including for his dual roles of Thomas Jefferson and Lafayette in 'Hamilton' along with roles in 'Memphis' and 'La Cage Aux Folles'. He's worked with legendary theatre director Trevor Nunn in 'Kiss Me Kate', he appeared as Wilson in the Elton John biopic 'Rocketman' and is starting to become successful in the world of animation too including playing the Lead Wildebeast in 'Jungle Beat The Movie'. In addition to this Jason also works as a choreographer including on further Award winning shows such as 'Porgy and Bess'. 

In this episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James talks to the Olivier Award Nominated actor Andrew Langtree. They begin by talking about Andrew's experience in an exciting sounding production of Bruce Norris' play Clybourne Park which was unfortunately closed due to the Covid 19 crisis. They move on to discuss happier memories by chatting about what it was like for Andrew as a young actor, freshly out of drama school, when he created the role of Sky in the original West End cast of Mama Mia. They chat about how he approached playing Eddie in Blood Brothers and go into depth about Andrew's appearances in a trilogy of Tennessee Williams plays; The Rose Tattoo (at the National Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (at The Manchester Royal Exchange) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (at Theatr Clwyd). Andrew also played Justin Gallagher in Emmerdale and he tells James about the differences he finds between stage and screen acting and they discuss that Olivier nominated role of Ned in Groundhog Day. With all this, there's no time to ask Andrew about playing Carl Bruner in Ghost or about his regular work with the RSC (the company he dreamed of joining as a boy).

In Part 2 of this specially extended episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James chats more with Lynette Howell-Taylor about her work as a Hollywood film producer. Lynette discusses her work with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga on 'A Star is Born', with Brie Larson on 'Unicorn Store', with Tim Burton on 'Big Eyes' and with Mark Ruffalo and Director Derek Cianfrance on the Emmy Award winning HBO series 'I Know This Much is True'. Lynette describes the pride and fulfillment she feels when a project succeeds artistically and her worries about the impact of the covid 19 pandemic upon the film and theatre industries. She also tells James what it was like to produce The Oscars Ceremony. So with all this to pack in, we barely got chance to mention her past work with Ryan Gosling on such wonderful films as 'Blue Valentine', 'Half Nelson' and 'The Place Beyond the Pines''... maybe we'll have to convince Lynette to come back for part 3 some other day!

In Part 1 of this specially extended episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James chats with Lynette Howell-Taylor about her work as a Hollywood film producer. They go into detail about her films 'Captain Fantastic' starring Viggo Mortensen and 'The Accountant' starring Ben Affleck. Lynette also discuss how she develops projects, how she works with actors and directors and what she is searching for creatively. Look out for Part 2 when Lynette talks about her films 'A Star is Born', 'Unicorn Store' and 'Big Eyes' and her experience producing the Oscars!

In this fourth episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James chats with the Head of New Work at the celebrated Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London; Clare Slater. Prior to joining The Donmar, Clare worked as the Assistant Literary manager at The National Theatre and then as the Executive Director of The Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. They discuss Clare's involvement with productions such as a recent new version of Brecht's 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui', adapted by the Pulitzer prize winner Bruce Norris, her role in the development of Alice Birch's extraordinary play [Blank], and of the multiple award winning 'Grounded' by George Brant. Clare tells us about her experiences running a theatre and we learn all about the concept of dramaturgy.

In this third episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James talks to the actor, writer and director Duncan Macinnes. They discuss Duncan's affection for his hometown of Hull and how this has lead him back recently to perform as Laurence Moss in an innovative new production of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party, directed by Amanda Huxtable at Hull Truck Theatre. We talk about the importance Duncan places on choosing work which explores and encourages diversity such as his role in The Life and Death of Martin Luther King and we also hear about Duncan's latest project as a playwright; Dagger Lane, a genre bending new work exploring dementia and detective work! We chat about Duncan's creative approach as a writer and also his recent guest lead appearance in the BBC's Doctors and we consider some of the different approaches actors use in performing for both stage and screen.

In this second episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James talks with the National Film Award nominated actor Mhairi Calvey. They discuss Mhairi's first screen role as young Murran in the Oscar winning epic Braveheart directed by and starring Mel Gibson and how this brush with child stardom led her to pursue a successful career as an actor appearing in films such as 3 Lives, Alan, The Curse of Hobbes House,  Eden Grey and Robert the Bruce, TV series such as Horizon and her recent move into producing and directing helming her debut short film Gaslight. Mhairi offers some great insights into her approach to acting and has some inspirational words of wisdom for anyone else wanting to begin a career as an actor. 

In this first episode of The Acting for Stage and Screen Podcast, James talks to Olivier Award Nominated actor Gavin Spokes. They discuss Gavin's experiences in West End productions playing King George III in Hamilton, Harry in Marianne Elliot's production of Company, Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls and Francis Henshall in the National Theatre's One Man, Two Guvnors. Gavin talks about what it was like to play real life characters such as Major Charles Ingram in James Graham's Quiz and Andrew Cooper in the BBC film Brexit - The Uncivil War, the differences between acting for stage and screen and offers some words of wisdom for aspiring young actors.