Coin Toss Conversations
Our new podcast Coin Toss Conversations is a space for chatting about the methods, magic and madness behind making theatre with a diverse range of emerging and established companies and creatives.
SERIES 1
This first series of our ‘conversations’ aims to explore how we create theatre in response to the climate emergency. This series was inspired by our own chats with each other as we reworked FREAK OUT! - our show about how coastal communities are affected by climate change - for VAULT Festival 2023, and we wanted to open up conversations with other theatre companies, creatives and shows tackling similar themes.
We Are Going To Die - Episode 1
Conversations about... creation, loss and parties
In our first episode, Alyssa chatted to writer/director Phoebe Bakker and actors George Le Blond James and Tara Kitson from the play We Are Going to Die, performing in the first week of VAULT 2023.
Both FREAK OUT! and We Are Going to Die share a common theme of partying in the face of doom and loss. This conversation explores comedy in the face of grief, how we find inspiration and parties of course.
Cpnversations about... salmon, shopping lists and sustainable practice
In episode 2, Claudia chatted to performers and co-founders of ecological gig theatre company Bradán - James Ireland, writer, and Kate Bauer, director of My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse - performing in Week 6 of VAULT 2023!
In this conversation we discuss making work with research, avoiding climate burnout, how to cultivate a sustainable creative practice as artists... and salmon, of course. Both shows share the common theme of how climate anxiety manifests in our daily lives and interpersonal relationships. Lots of food for thought.
The Greenhouse Theatre - Episode 3
Conversations about... the UK's eco-theatre scene, holistic theatre making and zero-waste venues
In this episode, Weronika chatted to Oli Savage, Artistic Director and co-founder of The Greenhouse Theatre, the UK's first zero-waste theatre venue.
We discussed the need to normalise sustainable theatre-making practice, the importance of sharing stories that connect us to the environment, and reimagining what a theatre venue can look like.
The Greenhouse Theatre will be open 1st June - 16th July 2023 at the Royal Docks in London - make sure to pay them a visit!
YellowHat Productions - Episode 4
Conversations about... sponsorship, typos and selfishness
In episode 4, Alyssa chatted with the co-founders of Yellow Hat Productions, Madeleine Gray and Theo Toksvig-Stewart, performing The Play With A Slightly Poetic Sounding Title That's Actually A Bit Too Long But That's OK Because It's About Something Important... Or, She Howls Kelp in the penultimate week of VAULT 2023.
Not only were Maddy and Theo hilarious guests, we also discussed the morals of creating theatre about the climate emergency, the stress of trying to be funny, and naming things.
Hypok Theatre - Episode 5
Conversations about... Godot, climate doomerism and finding our inner animal
In this episode, Rosie chatted to two polar bears and an Arctic skua... aka actors and co-founders of Hypok Theatre - Holly Darville, Charlie Lloyd and Aidan Alexander - about performing Treading Water in Week 7 of VAULT 2023.
Hypok dive into their process of bringing their tragi-comic play to life, from its scratch origins at East 15 to its upcoming full-length debut at VAULT, which has included Kurzgesagt, Samuel Beckett, sustainable set-making, "light anthropomorphism" and everything in between. Sounds intriguing? You'll have to listen to find out why!
ShyBairn - Episode 6
Conversations about... empathy-led theatre, bamboo toothbrushes and activism
It's the last episode before we get ready for VAULT! Rosie was back to have a chat with Becky Jones, producer and 'token southerner' of Geordie theatre company ShyBairn about their upcoming show Burnout, like us also performing in the final weekend of VAULT 2023.
Rosie and Becky found a lot of common ground between both our shows and discussed the importance of using research and real human stories when dramatising the effects of climate change, and finding joy and humour in times of darkness.