Lights Up!
The Real Putney Theatre Company
Entertaining, thrilling and uplifting the Putney Theatre Company's dedicated podcast features show reviews, interviews with directors, cast and crew, and feedback from our wonderful audiences. We're a regional theatre working with the community to encourage new writing, new actors, offering fresh perspectives and familiar drama. Come and see us at the South West End!
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Lights Up! Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Lights Up! episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Lights Up! for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Lights Up! episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Season Preview 2024–25
Lights Up!
09/03/24 • 14 min
Artistic Directors Barney and Cait sit down to talk about the incredible range of new productions coming up, including Flare Path, Death and the Maiden, Shakespeare in Love, It's A Wonderful Life, Alligator and Accidental Death of an Anarchist.
Tickets for all shows will soon be available on putneyartstheatre.org.uk
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recording at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Midsummer Night's Dream
Lights Up!
09/12/22 • 16 min
The first performance of the new season is the magnificent Midsummer Night's Dream, one of Shakespeare's most popular and enduring plays. Suitable for families, children and anyone interested in theatre this new production is the perfect introduction to the Putney Theatre Company with performances at the Hurlingham Club and Putney Arts Theatre. This episode features the inimitable Chris Cully and an edited version of the Riverside Radio interview with Frances Bodiam, Cait Hart Dyke and Penny Weatherall.
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recording at the Putney Arts Theatre and, elements courtesy of Riverside Radio
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Seasonal Review 2022-23
Lights Up!
08/31/22 • 9 min
Cait and Barney run through the new productions for the coming season with a taste of contemporary and classic drama designed to appeal to families, schools and the culturally curious.
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recording at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Death and the Maiden
Lights Up!
10/11/24 • 8 min
An emergency episode in the absence of Cait, the cast of Death and the Maiden (by Ariel Dorfman, directed by the inestimable Kim Dyas) drop in for a chat, late evening, during a break in rehearsals.
Cast: Paulina Escobar (Sharon Czudak), Gerardo Escobar (Aidan Kershaw) and Roberto Miranda as Paul Dineen.
Set in a country that is transitioning to democracy. Death and the Maiden explores how - and if - a nation can start to heal its wounds after years of living in a dictatorship regime.
Gerardo and Paulina are married and have finally started to relax after years of living in fear. When a stranger visits their home at Gerardo's invitation, Paulina thinks that she recognises his voice as one of her torturers – "the Doctor". Determined to administer justice for herself, she takes matters into her own hands and makes sure he pays for his former sins. But, is this stranger really "the Doctor", or simply an innocent citizen?
A classic of 20th-century theatre, Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden ran for a year in the West End, was a hit on Broadway and was filmed by Roman Polanski starring Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver.
"A play for today, for the age of revenge, when dictatorships crumble right and left and the victims, the living dead, emerge from the shadows and present their accounts..." – Sunday Times
Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman
15-19 October, 7.45pm. Matinee, 19 October, 3pm
The Studio, Putney Arts Theatre
Cast: Paulina Escobar (Sharon Czudak), Gerardo Escobar (Aidan Kershaw) and Roberto Miranda (Paul Dineen).
Crew: Kim Dyas (Director), Veronika Wilson (co-Director), Paul Tierney (Stage Manager), Rich Evans (Set and Lighting Design) Caroline D'Arcy (Production Manager), Loetitia Delais (Sound and Light operator), Nick Wells (Music and Sound Design).
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor, sound design and interview: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Box Set Summer Festival
Lights Up!
07/16/24 • 20 min
10 plays in 8 days, The Putney Theatre Box Set Summer Festival brings the energy of the Edinburgh Fringe to your doorstep. Cait interviews Festival Director Ian Higham about everything you'd like to know.
For tickets and full information, take a look at https://www.putneyartstheatre.org.uk/event-5741694
Performances: 27 July – 2 August main stage
A Hundred Words for Snow by Tatty Hennessy
Directed by Cait Hart Dyke
Cast: Isabella Walsh-Whitfield
Bobby & Amy by Emily Jenkins
Directed by Geoff Saunders
Cast: Zach Matcham & Ellen O'Farrell
Borders by Henry Naylor
Directed by Paul Dineen
Cast: Sarah Assaf & Nathan Chatelier
Comment is Free by James Fritz
Directed by Jeff Graves
Cast: Elly Meacham, Ian Felce & Sarah Perkins
Edgar & Annabel by Sam Holcroft
Directed by Graham Kellas
Cast: Hannah McCorry, Govind Hodgson, Carol Hudson, Andy Hall
& Alice Jade
Growth by Luke Norris
Directed by Perry Savill
Cast: Robert Wallis, Will Hunter & Lyndall Brown
How to Date a Feminist by Samantha Ellis
Directed by Frances Bodiam
Cast: Alexa Adam & Owen T Jones
How to Spot an Alien by Georgia Christou
Directed by Lois Savill
Cast: Emily Fellows, Ian Wainwright & David Miller
How We Begin by Elisabeth Lewerenz
Directed by Loetitia Delais
Cast: Alice Wilson & Jessica Allen
Not Talking by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Jim Dixon
Cast: Roger Blitz, Clare Wall David, Harry Pavlou & Sophie Anderson
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor and Sound Designer: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Elements Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Agatha Christie's Go Back For Murder
Lights Up!
06/11/24 • 13 min
Recorded in our busy theatre (four directors and their casts in all parts of the building), Cait interviews Angel Witney (Lady Melksham, Past), Emily Dixon(Miss Williams, Past) and Reid Edmond (Amyas Crale) from the stunning new production.
Agatha Christie's Go Back for Murder is a stunning drama from the Queen of Crime. After a wrongly convicted woman dies in prison, it is up to her daughter to recreate the scene of the crime and exonerate her memory. When Carla Crale receives a letter from beyond the grave, she believes her mother was wrongly convicted of her father’s murder. In a passionate attempt to clear her name, she persuades those present on the day of her father’s death to return to the scene of the crime and ‘go back’ 16 years to recount their version of events.
Directed by Zoe Thomas-Webb
Production dates: 18-22 June 2024
(Saturday matinee, 22 June)
Putney Arts Theatre
Cast:
Cara Bullimore: Clara Crale (Present)
Reid Edmond: Amyas Crale
Isla Mackenzie: Caroline Crale
Jack Willard: Justin
Adriana Abara: Angela Warren (Present)
Anna Angela Warren (Past)
Angel Witney: Lady Melksham (Past)
Josie Murphy: Lady Melksham (Present)
Charles Golding: Philip Blake (Present)
Alberto Lais: Philip Blake (Past)
Julia Blyth: Miss Williams (Present)
Emily Dixon: Miss Williams (Past)
Jerome Joseph Kennedy:Meredith Blake (Present)
Oscar Whitaker:Meredith Blake (Past)
Murray Deans:Jeff
Enid Gayle: Turnball
Dotty: Clara Crale (Past)
Crew
Zoe Webb-Thomas:Director
Edith Webb: Costume Designer
Katie Bonham:Producer
Aiste Mizgeryte: Assistant Director
Kate Halstead:Set Designer
Rich Evans:Lighting Designer
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Beginning by David Eldridge
Lights Up!
05/08/24 • 11 min
Cast preview with Debra Bond ( Laura) and Des Healy (Danny). Interviewed by Cait they discuss the themes and drama of David Eldridges powerful play Beginning, directed by Ben Clare.
Laura's thrown a housewarming party at her new flat. Danny is the last man standing. It's meant to be isn't it? Or is it? They're both single. They both really like each other. But can they take the leap?
A brilliantly observed, funny, poignant play about being fortyish and single and being open to falling in love again. Award winning writer David Eldridge's play include Under the Blue Sky, In Basildon and Festen.
"It's the tentative (anti) romance for 21st century London life and it , quite simply, magnificent... never less than utterly refreshing." Evening Standard
A Putney Theatre Company production, 14-18 May 2024, in the Studio.
Some tickets still available here
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
The Lovely Bones
Lights Up!
04/10/24 • 16 min
The Lovely Bones cast members Isabella (Susie), Ava (Lindsey) and Andrew (Mr Harvey) interviewed by Cait (Grandma Lynn). Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones has been a bestseller throughout the world and the 2009 film, directed by Peter Jackson starring Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon won a number of international awards.
Now a major new production by the Putney Theatre Company, with a wonderful ensemble cast and crew led by director Frances Bodiam.
Susie Salmon is 14 years old. She is dead. Murdered by a neighbour. When she arrives in her Heaven she can have anything she desires except to be alive again. But she is determined to help her family through their grief and identify her killer. She watches helplessly as her family falls apart and her brother and sister grow up without her, but can she exact revenge for her death from her place in heaven?
Putney Theatre Company presents The Lovely Bones, 23–27 April 2024 , at Putney Arts Theatre. Box Office: putneyartstheatre.org.uk.
Cast and Crew
Susie Salmon - Isabella Walsh-Whitfield
Mr. Harvey - Andrew Curry
Franny - Penny Weatherall
Abigail Salmon - Cat Roche
Jack Salmon - Tim Iredale
Lindsey Salmon - Ava Moore
Buckley Salmon - Elisa Benham
Grandma Lynn - Cait Hart Dyke
Ruth Connors - Alice Jade
Ray Singh - Callum Locker
Ruana Singh - Shilpa Varma
Len Fennerman - Jason Rosenthal
Samuel Heckler - Harry Jefferies
Principal Caden - Sarah Kitchen
Mrs Flanagan - also Sarah Kitchen
Director – Frances Bodiam
Assistant Director – Theo Leonard
Production Manager – Sarah Jillings
Stage Manager – Helen Woods
Set Design – Simon Crump
Original Music and soundtrack – Nick Wells
Choreography - Penny Weatherall
Visual assets courtesy of Adobestock and Shutterstock. With excerpts of The Soundtrack, The Lovely Bones (Putney Theatre Production) by Nick Wells/jakejackson451.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Scandaltown
Lights Up!
03/05/24 • 15 min
Episode featuring Scandaltown by Mike Bartlett, a new production from the Putney Theatre Company, directed by Stuart Watson. Cait interviews cast members Lucy Oglesby, Louisa Pead and Sammy Moore.
About the play:
Moral and progressive young heroine Phoebe Virtue disguises herself as an IT consultant and journeys to London to rescue her brother Jack from the temptations of the depraved metropolis, where she suspects he is taking drugs and reading the Daily Telegraph.
Meanwhile, vampy, scheming Lady Susan Climber attempts to ascend the ladder of influence and land a breakfast TV spot by getting cancelled for being outrageous on social media. Their fates collide in a night of mayhem, mistaken identities, and mind-blowing sex at the Netflix masked ball.
Mike Bartlett’s post-pandemic love letter to the reopened theatres is a rollicking modern take on Restoration comedy that holds a satirical mirror up to the fads and fashions of our time, as well as a joyful celebration of London.
Production dates:
Tuesday 19 - Saturday 23 March 2024, 7.45pm, main stage
Matinee: Saturday 23 March, 3pmCast:
Aunty Julie/Rebecca de Souza: Sarah Perkins
Phoebe Virtue: Lucy Oglesby
Kevin the postman/Sir Dennis Hedge: Roger Beaumont
Jack Virtue: Sammy Moore
Hannah Tweetwell: Katie Kelly
Freddie Peripheral: David Lindley-Pilley
Jenny Hood: Megan Good
Lady Susan Climber: Louisa Pead
Carson/Peter Media OBE: Roger Blitz
Matt Eton MP: Tom Sainsbury
Rosalind Double-Budget: Emily Fellows
Tom Double-Budget: Owen Thomas JamesCrew:
Director: Stuart Watson
Assistant director:Megan Good
Movement and choreography: Angela Botha
Set and costume design: Lexa Barbulescu
Production manager: Tom Sainsbury
Composer: Simon Herd
Sound designer: Barney Hart Dyke
Lighting designer: Rich Evans
Stage manager: Helen Wood
Assistant stage managers: Bryony Aird, Anastasia Babich, Emily Kate Dixon, Annie Spencer
Costume assistants: Ally Dixon, Sylvie Hobden, Sorcha Verey
Hair and wigs: Peter Love
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Flare Path
Lights Up!
09/17/24 • 21 min
New episode for Flare Path a new production of the Rattigan play, directed by Ian Higham at the Putney Arts Theatre. Cait interviews three of the star perfomers, Emma Bugg (Patricia), Theo Leonard (Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham) and Guy Robarts (Peter Kyle).
24-28 September, 7.45pm
Matinee 28 September, 3pm
Ticket link
Written in 1941 and first staged in London in 1942 Flare Path is based around Rattigan’s own experience as a tail gunner in RAF Coastal Command.
Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command Airbase in Lincolnshire during the Second World War the play focuses on a love triangle between an actress (the wife of a Wellington Bomber pilot) and a Hollywood actor. The action plays out against a night time bombing raid on Germany, while the women wait together to hear about the fate of the crew.
Flare Path is a deeply moving, funny and compelling portrait of the bravery and stoicism of RAF Bomber crews and their wives during World War Two. This story and setting provides the perfect showcase for Rattigan’s unique ability to portray the struggle to keep powerful emotions hidden from view while presenting a ‘proper’ respectable face to the world, even in the hardest of situations.
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Podcast Editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recording at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does Lights Up! have?
Lights Up! currently has 28 episodes available.
What topics does Lights Up! cover?
The podcast is about Acting, Drama, Shakespeare, Podcasts, Arts, Theatre and Performing Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Lights Up!?
The episode title 'Agatha Christie's Go Back For Murder' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Lights Up!?
The average episode length on Lights Up! is 16 minutes.
How often are episodes of Lights Up! released?
Episodes of Lights Up! are typically released every 28 days, 5 hours.
When was the first episode of Lights Up!?
The first episode of Lights Up! was released on Aug 31, 2022.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ