The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that it will be launching its first in-house podcast. Interval Drinks will bring together members of the RSC’s 2020/21 acting companies and features guests from the Company’s history. 

The series is supported by Darwin Escapes and will be made up of seven episodes, which will be available to download for free via the RSC website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms. The episodes will be released every Thursday and will share a rare insight into the professional journeys that artists go on, what life is like inside the RSC and discuss issues facing the theatre industry today. There will also be a Vodcast episode on supporting platforms and RSC YouTube Channel. 

The first two episodes are available for download now here. Episode one features actor and comedian Miles Jupp and Tim Minchin, who joins the RSC this year to celebrate Matilda the Musical’s ten year anniversary. Episode two features Mogali Masuku speaking to playwright, actor and political activist John Kani, to discuss the RSC production Kunene and the King which he wrote and starred in. The show was brought to a premature end at the Ambassadors Theatre because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Further guest stars include Adjoa Andoh (Netflix’s Bridgerton, RSC’s Troilus and Cressida) Charlotte Arrowsmith (RSC’s As You Like It and The Taming of the Shrew), Justin Audibert (RSC’s The Taming of the Shrew 2019/20) Paul Chahidi (BBC’s This Country, Death of Stalin) and Juliet Gilkes Romero (RSC’s The Whip). 

2020/21 RSC acting company members Kemi-Bo Jacobs, Hal Chambers, Greg Haiste, Avita Jay and Bea Webster, will be taking part in further episodes and the full series schedule can be found here.

The music used on the podcast was originally composed by Sam Kenyon for 2016’s version of A Midsummers Night’s Dream and is called ‘Oberon’s Theme – King of Shadow’.