Top theatre podcasts worth having on your radar

Podcasts! Theatre! Two great things that can often come hand-in-hand. Here's some of our favourite stage-y podcasts well worth adding to your collection for all those dreary commutes, lazy Sundays or long runs.

Hamilcast

As most of you know there's a pretty epic musical out there called Hamilton, and the Hamilcast provides an in-depth analysis of the show (with over 160 episodes to choose from) as well as the historical period that it is based on. There's even a massive interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda over the space of five episodes (88 to 92) that makes for a riveting listen.

Bechdel Theatre Podcast

Alison Bechdel, the creator of the iconic Bechdel test (and the writer of the graphic novel Fun Home which was made into the also iconic Tony Award-winning musical) is namesake for Bechdel Theatre's regular podcast, hosted by Beth Watson and Pippa Sa. Debating representation and gender within the arts, Watson and Sa have some pretty incredible guests on previous episodes including award-winning writer Isley Lynn, the brilliant Katie Leung and Kae Alexander, and the entirety of RashDash Theatre Company.

Royal Court's Playwright's Podcast

An essential component of any aspiring playwright's toolkit, Olivier Award-winning writer Simon Stephens is joined on a weekly basis by some of the best writers of a generation to talk shop. There is three seasons' worth of gold to binge on, and some amazing stories worth having a listen to.

Off Book podcast by the Young Vic

The Young Vic has been regularly supplying podcasts for the last two years, usually to coincide with their latest shows. Recent highlights include director Ola Ince, who discusses her spellbinding revival of The Convert, as well as artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, who opened his first season with the UK premiere of the musical Twelfth Night.

David Tennant Does A Podcast With…

Doing a podcast with a bunch of your mates every week might be a bit dull, unless you happen to be David Tennant and you have some of the best mates in the business. Guests have so far included Ian McKellen, Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker, each of whom have some hilarious stage-y stories.

Desert Island Discs

Sometimes it's good to go with the tried and tested format, and none come more well-known than the indomitable Desert Island Discs. Theatre legends including Mark Rylance, Judi Dench and Marianne Elliott have contributed to the podcast, though our personal favourite is the consistently fascinating Sonia Friedman, who has some brilliant stories about working with the greats.

NT Talks

The National Theatre host some brilliant talks across the year, and frequently upload recordings to the internet for general consumption. There're some great chats with Anaïs Mitchell, who penned Hadestown, Simon Godwin on his hit production of Antony and Cleopatra, as well as Natasha Gordon and Roy Alexander Weise on the Olivier Award-nominated Nine Night.