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!
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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.
It's A Wonderful Life
Lights Up!
12/05/24 • 15 min
“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings...”
Christmas Eve, 1946, Bedford Falls. Down-on-his-luck banker George Bailey feels life has passed him by, and he's at the end of his rope.
But when George's guardian angel pays him a visit, he's amazed to discover what life in his beloved town would be like without him. Maybe it's a wonderful life, after all?
Cait interviews the cast, Matt Hoisch, Nicole Pavlou, Rob Wallis and Ben Wheeler of the new production of It's A Wonderful Life, at Putney Arts Theatre, based on the critically acclaimed Frank Capra movie, reimagining a joyful story of love, hope and community.
Directed by Lois Savill and Kate Lawrence, adapted by Mary Elliott Nelson.
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.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
The Last of the Haussmans
Lights Up!
03/01/23 • 13 min
As a long, hot summer fades to winter, the Haussmans both love and hate one another, their dysfunctional pasts overwhelming the present. Of the original National Theatre production The Stage said “gloriously textured, utterly authentic... hilarious and haunting.” A brilliant play by BAFTA award winner Stephen Beresford, brought to life by the expertise and craft of the Putney team.
Preview of the production by Director Frances Bodiam with Penny, Peter and Adam.
Cast: Penny Weatherall (Judy), Cait Hart Dyke (Libby), Chris Cully (Nick), Isabella Walsh-Whitfield (Summer), David Kelly (Peter), Adam Batty (Daniel).
Directed by Frances Bodiam, with Assistant Director Theo Leonard.
14–18 March 2023
7.45pm Main Stage, Putney Arts Theatre.
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 and The Kitchen's rehearsal studio.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Lights Up!
09/20/23 • 16 min
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story gets a gloriously funny makeover:
When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his estate, with a look of terror still etched on his face, and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is summoned from Baker Street, with Dr Watson in tow, to unravel the mysteries surrounding his death, and investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles...
Packed full of the verbal and visual ingenuity the production offers abundant opportunities for silly comedy and slapstick, a barking spoof is all set to be a howling success!
The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by John Nicholson & Steve Canny
Directed by Perry & Lois Savill
Tuesday 26 – Saturday 30 September 2023, 7.45pm, main stage
Matinee: Saturday 30 September, 3pm
Cast
Andrew Hall: Actor 1 - Sherlock Holmes, Jack Stapleton, Cecile Stapleton, Mr Barrymore, Mrs Barrymore and a Yokel
Tim Iredale: Actor 2 - Dr John Watson and a Yokel
Jacob Smith: Actor 3 - Sir Charles Baskerville, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr Mortimer, a cabbie and two other Yokels
Creative Team
Directors: Perry and Lois Savill
Production Manager: Ian Higham
Stage Manager: Kate Lawrence
Lighting Design: Peter Rees
Sound Design: Simon Herd
Costume Design: Helen and Edward Ogilvie
Set Design: Tony Bennett, Robert Hellstrand, Barney Hart Dyke & Sasha Adam-Grylls
In association with Nick Hern Books.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Sense and Sensibility
Lights Up!
06/06/23 • 15 min
Cait interviews Emma (Elinor) , Olivia (Marianne) and Isabella (Margaret) to introduce the wonderful new production from the Putney Theatre Company: Sense & Sensibility, Jane Austen's classic, adapted by Jessica Swale and directed by Ben Clare.
In case you don't know, here's an outline of the ageless story. When their wealthy half-brother cheats them of their fortune, the penniless Dashwood sisters are forced to leave the comforts of Norland Park and relocate to chilly Barton Cottage in Devonshire. Eminently sensible Elinor pines for the kind-hearted Edward Ferrars, but the impulsive Marianne loses herself in the idea of her hero on horseback. When handsome stranger John Willoughby arrives one day with a rain-drenched Marianne in his arms, the sisters are convinced that their fortunes are changed forever.
In Jessica Swale’s delightful adaptation of Austen’s dearly-loved classic, we follow the fortunes of Elinor and Marianne as they chase their dreams from Devonshire to London and back.
CAST
Elinor Dashwood: Emma Bugg
Marianne Dashwood: Olivia Jackson
Margaret Dashwood: Isabella Walsh-Whitfield
Mrs Dashwood: Enid Gayle
Edward/Robert Ferrars: Josh Mallalieu
Willoughby: Jamie Cameron
Colonel Brandon: Alexsei Toshev
Mrs Jennings: Sarah Kitchen
Sir John: Perry Kitchen
Fanny Dashwood: Emily Thomas
John Dashwood: Pascal Orzabal
Lucy Steele: Meg Christmas
Mrs Palmer: Lois Savill
Mr Palmer: Hubert MacGreevy
Sophia Grey: Helen Wood
CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Ben Clare
Assistant Director: Cait Hart Dyke
Production Manager: Lyndall Brown
20–24th June 2023
Ticket link: https://www.putneyartstheatre.org.uk/event-5177715
(click on the calendar date for tickets)
Box office hours: 020 8788 6943
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 and The Kitchen's rehearsal studio.
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
The Welkin
Lights Up!
04/13/23 • 27 min
Podcast preview of the new stage production of Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin, with cast members Lucy Mabbitt (Sally Poppy) and Sarah Perkins (Elizabeth (Lizzy) Luke).
A murderer’s fate lies in the hands of 12 women. Sally has committed the wickedest of crimes but her claims of pregnancy, perhaps, demand clemency. A panel of Suffolk matrons, pulled from their everyday into the machinations of 1760s justice, must assess if she’s telling the truth.
Will she escape a hanging, be transported, or will the mob tear her to pieces? Village midwife, Lizzy might be all that stands in the way of Sally’s execution. Female wisdom and strange portents spin Kirkwood’s incendiary play into a darkly comic theatrical tapestry.
The Welkin. By Lucy Kirkwood.
Directed by Kim Dyas. Assistant Director - Veronika Wilson
25–29 March 2023
7.45pm Main Stage, Putney Arts Theatre.
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.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.
Full Cast:
Lucy Mabbitt: Sally Poppy
Sarah Perkins: Elizabeth (Lizzy) Luke
Sharon Czudak: Judith Brewer
Louisa Pead: Charlotte Grey
Kristen Millar: Kitty Givens
Lizzie Iredale: Helen Ludlow
Lois Savill: Sarah Hollis
Zoe Thomas-Webb: Emma Jenkins
Angel Witney: Ann Lavender
Alexa Adams: Mary Middleton
Emily Dixon: Hannah Rusted
Carol Hudson: Sarah Smith
Megan Good: Peg Carter
Richard Seedhouse: Mr Coombes
Aleksei Toshev: Frederick Poppy
Ian Recordon: Dr Willis
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
11/11/22 • 12 min
A quick update for Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations. This episode features an extract, recorded by Zoom from the Riverside Radio interview with Ian Higham (Director), Clare Wall David (Miss Haversham) and Graham Kellas (Abel Magwitch). We apologise for the audio quality of the main segment, but the discussion is really interesting!!
Artistic Directors: Barney and Cait Hart Dyke.
Emergency Edits: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Main segment recorded by Zoom, and used by courtesy of Riverside Radio (Thank you!). Riverside interview by Sian Kenyon
The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – putneytheatrecompany.org.uk
Ulster American
Lights Up!
09/27/22 • 13 min
Preview of Ulster American for its London premiere following acclaimed productions in Edinburgh and Dublin. This scintillating play examines issues of cultural identity, abuse of power, and male privilege. It's uncompromising, exhilarating, viciously funny, and not for the faint of heart. Three people meet on the eve of rehearsals for a new West End play about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Hollywood star Jay wants to explore his Irish heritage, director Leigh wants to run the National Theatre, and playwright Ruth wants to meet Quentin Tarantino, but without having to compromise her artistic vision. Three careers could be made – or broken. Then something is said that cannot be unsaid, a line is crossed, and mayhem ensues. This episode features Cait Hart Dyke interviewing one of the three stars, Paddy Cooper.
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
Shakespeare in Love
Lights Up!
11/05/24 • 14 min
Cait interviews cast members for the new production of the Tom Stoppard move blockbuster, Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage.
Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block... the deadline for his new play is fast approaching but he's in desperate need of inspiration. That is, until he finds his muse – the courtly Viola de Lesseps. This beautiful young woman is Will’s greatest admirer and will stop at nothing (including breaking the law) to appear in his next play, disguising herself as boy-player Thomas Kemp. Against a bustling background of mistaken identity, ruthless scheming and backstage theatrics, Will’s love for Viola quickly blossoms and inspires him to write his greatest masterpiece.
The story is, at heart, a romantic comedy but it is also about the glorious world of show-business - nothing much changes in theatre and that London's Bankside in 1593 was much like commercial theatre today. Money men assert their power, scripts get rewritten, egos have to be massaged, rivalries develop and last-minute crises intervene. Yet, by the magic that is theatre - somehow Shakespeare manages to turn the distinctly unpromising Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter into the masterpiece that is Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare in Love
Based on the Screenplay by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Directed by Jodi Rilot & Barney Hart Dyke
12-16 November, 7.45pm
16 November, 3pm
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
Kindertransport
Lights Up!
02/07/23 • 20 min
Preview of the powerful new production by Putney Theatre Company. Brutally separated from her German Jewish parents at the age of nine, Eva is brought to England with the promise of a new life. Diane Samuels’ seminal play is a modern classic about one woman's struggle to come to terms with her past, a story of family partings - of love and loss. Now widely considered a modern classic, Kindertransport has been read and studied the world over.
Interview with Director Diane Denton-Baker, cast member Carol Hudson and historical advisor Sarah Jillings.
21–25 February 2023
7.45pm Studio
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.
Main segment used by courtesy of Riverside Radio (Thank you!).
Elements Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.
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
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FAQ
How many episodes does Lights Up! have?
Lights Up! currently has 31 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 29 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of Lights Up!?
The first episode of Lights Up! was released on Aug 31, 2022.
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