Festival City returns for its first episode of 2018 as intrepid host Gareth K Vile catches up with a trifecta of interviews, headlined by the upcoming manipulate festival. His first guests are Artistic Director Simon Hart and Puppet Animation Scotland's Projects Manager, Melanie Purdie. The three discuss some of their festival highlights and get excited about the 'biggest concentration of experimental theatre outside of the Fringe'. Next up, well known for their TV acting on Emmerdale and Coronation Street respectably, John Middleton and Chris Harper come in for a chat about their stage adaptation of Strangers on a Train. And Gareth's final guest of the pod is Ewan Downie of Company of Wolves, as the two talk physical theatre and his new show Achilles.Rundown:00:00:40 – Simon Hart and Melanie Purdie00:16:46 – John Middleton and Chris Harper00:34:26 – Ewan DownieCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City Podcast

Festival City #12 | manipulate festival gets physical

In this triple interview edition of the Festival City podcast Gareth is joined by Robbie Thompson, who talks about his work as part of Cryptic's Sonica festival, including a club night at Art School where he harnesses the power of the Tesla coil, the 19th century invention that first made electricity visible, to fuse sound and light.Next he dashes to Edinburgh, where Morag Deyes (Artistic Director of Dance Base) and Lindsay Kemp (dancer, teacher and choreographer) discuss past controversial performances, current projects and enjoy an impromptu chorus of 'Nobody Loves a Fairy When She's Old'.Last but not least he meets cartoonist Nick Newman and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop to chat about The Wipers Times, their play based on the true story of the satirical newspaper created on the front line during WWI. The pair discuss the medium of the stage in contrast to TV or print, and the benefits and pleasures of experiencing audience reactions first hand.Show notes:00:00:20 – Introduction00:01:18 – Robbie Thompson00:13:24 – Morag Deyes and Lindsay Kemp 00:33:22 – Nick Newman and Ian Hislop00:51:00 – Outro Credits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #11 | Triple thrills across Sonica, Luminate and The Wipers Times

Now onto its third edition, the Scottish Queer International Film Festival has found success fast, and managed to push a few buttons along the way. A great lineup of films catering to a broad spectrum of identities as well as a brilliant programme of lectures, workshops and parties propelled it to the number nine spot on The List's Hot 100 last year. The team behind the SQIFF have continued this trend with the 2017 festival, taking place now in Glasgow.In episode ten of the podcast, our host Gareth K Vile is joined by SQIFF programming committee member Marc David Jacobs to discuss the festival, what queer means and share some recommendations. For part two of the episode we're very lucky to have writer, photographer and underground filmmaker Bruce LaBruce for a wide ranging discussion starting with the New Queer Cinema of the 80s, punk, confrontational filmmaking and the difficulty of being an 'underground' artist in 2017. LaBruce's The Misandrists just made its Scottish premiere on opening night at the GFT, and he'll be DJing at the Drygate on Sunday, so don't miss that.Show notes:00:00:00 – Interview with Marc David Jacobs00:11:01 – Marc's festival recommendations, including Greg Araki's Nowhere00:17:02 – Bruce LaBruce interviewCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #10 | Bruce LaBruce and SQIFF

In the latest episode of Festival City, host Gareth K Vile is joined by the Birds of Paradise theatre company. Actors Robert Softley Gale (also writer), Garry Robson, Kinny Gardner and Amelia Cavallo (also musical director) discuss their new show, Blanche & Butch, a new production inspired by Noel Greig's 2006 play Heels on Wheelz, catching us up with three disabled drag queens ten years later. As well as chatting about the production, the conversation touches on accessibility and where drag sits between cabaret and theatre today. Blanche & Butch is touring now.Credits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #9 | Drag on wheels with Birds of Paradise

In episode of eight of Festival City our host Gareth K Vile is joined by Dr Carnesky to talk reclaiming menstruation and cabaret in Dr Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman. Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken, the writers and actors behind the play Mouthpiece, discuss having the 'aha' feminist moment and emotional audience reactions to their personal feminist piece. Finally Danyah Miller, writer and solo-performer of Perfectly Imperfect Women, chats with Gareth about her relationship with her mum, being a storytelling trainer and her excellent flyering technique. Show Notes00:00:00 – Gareth's introduction00:00:45 – Interview with Dr Carnesky of Dr Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman00:16:42 – Interview with Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken of Mouthpiece00:29:18 – Interview with Danyah Miller of Perfectly Imperfect WomenCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #8 | Are you surprised there's feminist theatre at the Fringe?

In episode seven of Festival City, the writer-director of Morale is High (Since We Gave up Hope) Adrian Berry and host Gareth K Vile get in deep about David Bowie, fandom and obsession with music. Writer Jessica Barker-Wren and director Lucy Ray come in to discuss Cow and end up debating PJ Harvey's cultural importance and West Country accents. And Gareth's final interview of the episode is a fascinating discussion with Palestinian writer-performer Amer Hlehel about the poet Taha Muhammed Ali.Show Notes00:00:00 – Music from Morale is High (Since We Gave up Hope)00:01:35 – Interview with Adrian Berry00:10:02 – Music from Morale is High (Since We Gave up Hope)00:12:15 – Interview with Jessica Barker-Wren (writer, performer), Lucy Ray (director) of Cow00:24:30 – Interview with Amer Hlehel of TahaCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #7 | Morale remains high at the Fringe

Brace yourself: our theatre editor Gareth K Vile confesses he's actually enjoying himself at the Fringe. It might be down to his enthusiasm for Wild Bore, which he describes as the 'most important piece of work I'll see this year at the Fringe, or anywhere else for that matter'. Today's episode is a little inspired by that show, as he looks at different ways of making theatre, starting with traditional, script-based director and ensemble cast. First up, director James Haddrell of Greenwich Theatre introduces to the festival two shows from female playwrights, Under My Thumb and Gazing at a Distant Star. In part two, Sha Nazir, Art Director and Publisher of BHP Comics and Founder of Glasgow Comic Con, shares a couple of festival picks. Finally Gareth talks to Rachel Briscoe, director of Lists for the End of the World, and they discuss that show, theatrical form, and the meaning of dramaturgy.Show notes: 00:00:00 – introduction00:01:11 – interview with James Haddrell, director of Under My Thumb and Gazing at a Distant Star00:11:09 – Sha Nazir (Glasgow Comic Con, BHP Comics) festival picks: One Man Shoe, Ahir Shah: Control00:19:41 – interview with Rachel Briscoe, director of Lists for the End of the WorldCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #6 | A dramaturg versus the end of the world

It's a special triple bill as we move into week two of the Fringe: and we are getting serious and excited about the plethora of performers banging on the door to get onto the podcast. Kicking off with a chat with a bin-man, host Gareth K Vile decides to share the reasons for his fear of baked beans with performer David William Bryan, whose show Trashed at Underbelly is a booze-fulled sucker punch of a play. Gareth moves swiftly onto his next guest, Nicola Wren from Replay (Pleasance Courtyard), who admits that she rather likes being at the Fringe. Finally, Joanne Ryan delves into Ireland's sexual health history in Eggsistentialism, an autobiographical comedy about trying to figure out whether to have children and all the cultural baggage that comes with that in her home country.Show notes00:00:10 – Intro and David William Bryan interview for Trashed00:14:08 – Nicola Wren for Replay00:23:18 – Joanne Ryan for Eggsistentialism00:36:09 – Outro and thanksCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #5 | One person shows at the Fringe

Beginning with a song about lice, Gareth K Vile offers a food and drink episode bereft of food and drink recommendations for the duration of your visit to Edinburgh. First up on the pod we talk to Daniella Isaacs of Hear Me Raw and discover why eating healthily isn't necessarily a good thing and how ghost writing a fitspiration book is a very bad idea. Composer and producer Matthew Whiteside is accosted to share his Fringe experiences so far and what he plans to see. And finally, Vile meets a man who has been eaten by a lion, as performance artist Mamoru Iriguchi comes to the studio to discuss Eaten.Music in today's episode comes from Ami and Tami, a musical reimagining of Hansel and Gretel.Show notes:00:00:41 – Welcome introduction00:01:48 – Daniella Isaacs, writer and performer of Hear Me Raw00:13:24 – Music from Ami and Tami00:13:47 – Composer Matthew Whiteside talks Assembly Rooms' VR Experience, Sonica installation Nearer Future by Heather Lander, Rhinoceros and Scottish Opera's Greek00:19:03 – Music from Ami and Tami00:19:15 – Performance artist Mamoru Iriguchi of Eaten00:28:16 – Outro and thanksCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #4 | Those chia seeds won't make you happy

Episode three of Festival City stays in Glasgow (outrageous!), or at least meets a couple of artists who are either from or living on the West Coast. They are still, of course, at the Fringe during August.First up, there is more Vile conversations with the National Theatre of Scotland: this time, Graham Eatough dives into the problems of making theatre as he reveals the process behind How to Act. Musical interludes come from the new musical, The Local, featuring songs about that subject dear to all critics at the Fringe – the pub. Gareth then decides to 'indulge himself' by giving his opinions on what he wants to see, and goes on and on about clowns... before the show is rescued by the arrival of a comedian Rachel Jackson. Gareth asks her for some dating advice, even though she is a bit of a Bunny Boiler.Show Notes:00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:58 – Graham Eatough interview00:12:31 – Music from The Local00:14:36 – Gareth's clowning picks: Hi. (Entering Burned Area), Cheeks, Natalie Palamides: LAID00:17:54 – Music from The Local00:23:18 – Rachel Jackson interview00:31:44 – Outro and thanksFurther reading: Gareth's interview with Lina Minora for CheeksNatalie Palamides interviewCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #3 | Bunny Boiler seeks love

It's here folks, the city is awash with lanyards, Spiegeltents (yes, plural) have been erected, the purple cow is upside down and the circus has most definitely come to town, literally and figuratively. For episode two of Festival City our intrepid host Gareth K Vile headed to National Theatre of Scotland's new, multiple purpose venue Rockvilla for two conversations on plays showing at the Traverse Theatre during the Festival. His first interview is with Jo Clifford on her autobiographical play Eve in which they discuss the lack of trans-narratives in the arts and how these pieces have universal dimensions, after all, we're all just trying to figure out who we are. After critic Lorna Irvine stops by with some theatre recommendations, Gareth is joined by director Cora Bissett to discuss Adam, which tells the story of a boy born in a girl's body in Egypt and who travels to Glasgow in search of liberation. There may also be some Glasgow spruiking in a podcast about the Edinburgh Fringe... cheeky.Show notes:00:00:00 – Introduction from Gareth00:01:47 – Jo Clifford interview for Eve00:11:57 – Music, Derailed 'Oxytosin' Pleasance Dome00:13:23 – Lorna Irvine, theatre picks from Fringe. Lilith the Jungle Girl, To Be Me, Staging Wittgenstein00:16:59 – Music – Behind the Mirror, Go (company) C Venues00:19:41 – Cora Bissett interview for Adam00:30:12 – OutroFurther reading:Rebecca Monks article 'A look at the trans shows of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe'Lilith: The Jungle Girl previewRead more of Lorna Irvine's work on The List and follow her on Twitter @LorIrvineFestival City is now on StitcherCredits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to podcasts[at]list.co.uk

Festival City #2 | Demystifying trans at the Fringe

In the first episode of the Festival City Podcast, host Gareth K Vile speaks to three of the List's roving reporters: music editor Kirstyn Smith, Deputy Content Manager Murray Robertson and Content Manager Rowena McIntosh. Offering a selection of choices from the digital, musical, comedy and theatre sections of the Fringe – and beyond – the podcast eases into the Festival month with a selection of interludes from cello maestro Peter Hudler.Festival recommendations:Rowena: Sleeping Trees at the Movies, Courtney Act, PerformersKirstyn: Richard Herring, Nothing Ever Happens Here, Pictish Trail, Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon, Dark Side of the MoonMurray: Adam Riches, Sara Pascoe, Steen RaskopoulosFurther reading:Festival Top RatedBest magic shows to see at the Edinburgh Fringe 201720 Fringe shows talking about mental healthBest comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2017Reality Is Only Screen Deep: explore 3D art in a virtual worldMusic: Lamentatio (Giovanni Sollima) and Black Run (Svante Henryson)Credits:Festival City Podcast is co-created by Gareth K Vile (host) and Scott Henderson (producer). Intro music by The Joy Drops. Supported by SGSAH.Please send feedback to webeditor[at]list.co.uk

Festival City # 1 | Edinburgh Fringe preview 2017

Festival City is a podcast from Edinburgh, the world capital of theatre and comedy, and home to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe — the largest arts festival in the world. Hosted by theatre editor and critic Gareth K Vile, we welcome guest performers, directors and writers into The List's attic recording studio to talk theatre, comedy, dance and anything else that takes our fancy. As well as sharing the world of the Edinburgh Fringe with our far-flung listeners, we’ll be talking to arts programmers and curators around the world about their own festivals and institutions.

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Festival City Podcast

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