I had the pleasure of discussing the audition process with Sam for her NT Guide on the subject, due to be released in May 2025

Auditions can often be the most feared aspect of being an actor and yet, as the author points out, casting directors are on the side of everyone who auditions for them. They want you to do well, feel confident about the audition and in turn give the director the confidence they need to choose you.

The insights and reassurances throughout this book provide a little-seen glimpse into the world of casting, helping you to understand how casting directors and directors view the process and what purpose the audition serves.

Casting director Sam Stevenson draws on her rich experience, from both her time as deputy head of casting at the National Theatre and her varied freelance career, to delve into the challenges and possibilities that you might face. She explores the intersecting, underlying principles of auditioning for stage and screen, whether you are meeting online, in-person or self-taping.

This book helps bridge the gap between you and the people who are making the decisions, to help it feel like a less scary process.

Bristol Old Vic’s 2022 production of Hamlet, in which I play Horatio, will go out in a primetime slot, on the evening of Sunday 5th November 2023 on BBC Four.

The production forms part of the BBC’s Shakespeare season, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Full details for the rest of the season can be found here:

** Khalid Abdalla — Tamim Barghouti — Julie Christie— Esther Freud — Mohammed Hanif —Abdulrazak Gurnah — Rashid Khalidi — Soweto Kinch — Sabrina Mahfouz — Tobias Menzies — Andrew O'Hagan — Vanessa Redgrave — Harriet Walter — Isabel Adomakoh Young **

Join some of the biggest names of stage and page to mark 75 Years of ongoing Nakba and steadfast resistance - a night of performance, poetry, music and reflection that will journey through a century of struggle, colonization and insistence on life.

Actors will bring to life words from the past, beloved authors will reflect on the present.

With live music from Soweto Kinch.

This is a one night only, one time only event organised by the Palestine Festival of Literature & Friends. Tickets at £15 standard and £12 for students.

On 6 October, If It Please You brings a night of glam, drag and high camp by candlelight (inspired by Shakespeare) in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Starring in As You Like It as Orlando and Rosalind this summer, Isabel Adomakoh Young (founding member of Pecs Drag Kings), and Nina Bowers (actor, theatre maker and drag king) curate queer cabaret and conversation paying homage to the performance of gender that began on the Shakespearean stage, celebrating an artform whose roots go back centuries.

Further details on performers and acts will be announced in due course.

** Khalid Abdalla — Tamim Barghouti — Julie Christie— Esther Freud — Mohammed Hanif —Abdulrazak Gurnah — Rashid Khalidi — Sabrina Mahfouz — David Morrissey — Andrew O'Hagan — Juliet Stevenson — Harriet Walter — Isabel Adomakoh Young **

Join some of the biggest names of stage and page to mark 75 Years of ongoing Nakba and steadfast resistance - a night of performance, poetry, music and reflection that will journey through a century of struggle, colonization and insistence on life.

Actors will bring to life words from the past, beloved authors will reflect on the present.

Organised by the Palestine Festival of Literature & Friends.

Tickets at £15 standard and £12 for students for maximum accessibility.

Bar until 11pm.

Apple TV will launch Season two of this epic sci fi series this summer and with it my Captain Timandra. I can’t wait to see what fans make of the even more ambitious second series of this adaptation of Asimov’s seminal books. Series 1 is available now on Apple TV.

The world premiere staged reading of Belly of the Beast by Saana Sze, winner of the 2022 ETPEP Award, plays for one night at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre on Saturday, 15 April 2023 at 7.30pm.

YoungMartha, a bright and agreeable student, falls in love with Gia, who has had enough of school and teachers that don't care about girls like her...
NowMartha enters the teaching industry, optimistic about making a positive change, but soon begins a quick journey towards disillusionment when they realise the corporate hell they're in...

Black, non-binary and queer, YoungMartha and NowMartha are set against rigid systems which insist they conform.

Belly of the Beast examines school politics, from the standpoint of both student and a teacher, as it asks "What are schools for?"

This acclaimed production, in which I played Horatio, ran at Bristol Old Vic Theatre. It was selected as one of the Observer’s Best Shows of 2022.

The live broadcast has been edited for screen and will show in over 300 cinemas across the UK + Ireland from April 6th.

Ice Station RGS

With concerns increasing around the severe shift in the Earth’s climate, the Royal Geographical Society is working with artist Michèle Noach on an evening of immersive entertainment that aims to stimulate discussion and reflect on the feelings ice evokes in us all.

The Society’s building in South Kensington, London, will be transformed, offering the opportunity to hear from indigenous Arctic voices, those who have trekked to the poles, and individuals at the cutting edge of policy and research into our cold environments.

Appearances over the evening include:

Poet Nancy Campbell; materials scientist Mark Miodownik; actor and writer Isabel Adomakoh Young; writer, songwriter and granddaughter of Kathleen Scott, Louisa Young; musician and Penguin Café member Arthur Jeffes;

Musician and member of Hot Chip Alexis Taylor; visual and sound artist Max Eastley; artist and daughter of Augustine Courtauld Susie Hamilton; choreographer and dancer Suba Subramaniam; writer Michel Faber; science journalist Quentin Cooper;

Broadcaster John Simpson CBE and his son Rafe, polar oceanographer Mark Brandon, and scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, Scott Polar Research Institute and Greenpeace

Stop. That’s iconic.

Pecs Drag Kings return to VAULT with their club cabaret extravaganza and this year, we’re bringing icons only.

Expect pop culture kings, TV highlights and quintessential queer royalty in a celebration of icons all kinds across history.

We’ll be joined by special guests from the best of London’s Drag scene and slick DJs to get you sweaty dancing all night long.

So scour your favourite programmes, flick through fashion moments and scroll through pop prominence because we want to see you decked out as your favourite icons. There will be a catwalk.

Kings and Queers, it’s been a big year and for the first time ever PECS are sending it off with a bang for all their Pecs Pals in a love letter to the Drag King scene. Join us for a final 2022 cabaret club night extravaganza with PECS Kings, putting two fingers up to TERFS, Tories and the patriarchy in a celebration of Drag Kings far and wide.

31ST DECEMBER, 10:00PM-4AM

EXPECT…

★ PERFORMANCES FROM PECS AND GUESTS ★

★ DJS ALL NIGHT LONG ★ ★ HOT KING GO GO DANCERS ★

★ TAROT FOR TIPS ★

★ GAMES FOR GAYS ★

★ MIDNIGHT COUNTDOWN ★

TICKETS

General Admission— £16.50
Low  / no income – £5

ACCESS

Our venue is flat throughout with a slightly uneven concrete floor. There are no steps at The Yard. We have an accessible toilet, and all our toilets are gender neutral.

The kings of Pecs have taken a spooky turn and are back at Shoreditch Town Hall, bringing you their first Halloween special!

**NB I will not appear in this show as I’ll be in Hamlet**

A show filled with tricks and treats, and boy do we have treats, we’ll fill your cauldron full of London’s best Drag Kings and Things in a frighteningly camp cabaret. You’ll be so possessed with laughter, you’ll need a Pecsorcism.

Come ready with your sharpest fangs for a apple bobbing competition and keep your wits about you for any ghostly sightings.

Extra points to those who come in costume, because remember in Pecs world, Halloween is the one night a year where a queer can dress how they normally do, and nobody can say anything about it.

There is a limited number of £8 tickets available for anyone who would like to attend the show but who may struggle with the full price ticket. To buy one from this small allocation, please email info@shoreditchtownhall.com

The Kings Head Theatre presents ‘KHT50: Barstools to Broadway’. Join them in celebration of 50 years of fringe theatre, as we dive into the dusty archives and re-mount plays that started at this small but mighty pub theatre – many for the first time since their original staging.

Performers include Dame Harriet Walter and Gemma Whelan, as well as Joel and I who played Romeo and Juliet together last year! We’ll be directed by Complicité co-founder Annabel Arden.

Hannigan and Zuki want to get into the Guiness Book of Records. Well, Hannigan does and Zuki is his golden goose. With his band of talented women – including a harem of Death Wall motorbike performers – Hannigan is determined to make his fortune. But will everyone survive his ambition? 

Like Dolls or Angels was my godfather Stephen Jeffreys’ first play. After winning The Sunday Times Playwriting Award at the National Student Drama Festival, this one act play transferred to the King’s Head in 1977. 

With a post show discussion with Oliver Award Winning playwright and Dramaturg April De Angelis and special guests.

£10-50

CAST & CREATIVES

Director Annabel Arden

Assistant Director Lily Dyble

Zuki Isabel Adomakoh Young

Hannigan Joel MacCormack

This year's office party has a Pecsmas twist! The cinnamon spiced boys of Pecs Drag Kings are coming to town and we want to treat all you nice (and naughty) queers to a big queermas bash.

Don your best rhinestoned Rudolf jumper and get ready to be dazzled - because this time we're not coming empty handed! We'll be filling your stockings full of London's wise Drag Kings, Queens and Things for a tinselising cabaret.

Pecs Drag Kings are an all-female/non-binary theatre and cabaret company who have been creating critically acclaimed shows for the LGBTQ+ community since 2013. Through their drag king cabarets and theatre shows, they explore gender identities, politics & sexuality, to create cultural space for queer women, trans* & non-binary folk. Their shows are sexy, raucous and highly entertaining, using songs, dances and comedy to celebrate inclusivity, queerness & community.

NB I will not be performing in this show!

Boiler Room Festival returns to London with no headliners this October with IRL events broadcast online but also a digital programme for everyone to attend.

The programme will unfold over four nights, shifting focus to explore four scenes and sounds: Jazz Mind, Rap Fantasy, System Sound, Club.

Opening night at Boiler Room Festival is an eclectic presentation of live music, breaks and jazz-influenced sounds as South London’s Bussey Building. Brainchild Festival, gal-dem, and Zakia curate a stage each whilst Boiler Room’s video platform, 4:3, presents a video installation in collaboration with HOME by Ronan Mckenzie.

Pre-sale tickets are live as of Thu 10 June at 10am

Glasgow! Join us for a night of music, drag, poetry and FREE vegan ice cream at our Big Green Cabaret!

Join Ben & Jerry’s and our friends at climate action charity, Possible for a very special Big Green Cabaret.

Hosted by creator, activist, and change maker, Kayza Rose, we’ll be bringing you a packed, climate justice inspired, show designed to energise and entertain. And what’s better than a whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment? A whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment with FREE vegan ice cream of course!

Whether you’re a climate newbie or a seasoned activist, our artists and experts will bring you a night you’ll remember long after the curtains close.

Performers to be announced, but I will be one of them!

Please note: Due to the nature of the acts, this event is suitable for >18 only.

All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Possible.

The Big Green Cabaret events in Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow are part of the Great Big Green Week - a national week of events celebrating action on climate change.

Liverpool! Join us for a night of music, drag, poetry and FREE vegan ice cream at our Big Green Cabaret!

Join Ben & Jerry’s and our friends at climate action charity, Possible for a very special Big Green Cabaret.

Hosted by creator, activist, and change maker, Kayza Rose, we’ll be bringing you a packed, climate justice inspired, show designed to energise and entertain. And what’s better than a whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment? A whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment with FREE vegan ice cream of course!

Whether you’re a climate newbie or a seasoned activist, our artists and experts will bring you a night you’ll remember long after the curtains close.

Performers to be announced, but I will be one of them!

Please note: Due to the nature of the acts, this event is suitable for >18 only.

All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Possible.

The Big Green Cabaret events in Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow are part of the Great Big Green Week - a national week of events celebrating action on climate change.

Cardiff! Join us for a night of music, drag, poetry and FREE vegan ice cream at our Big Green Cabaret!

Join Ben & Jerry’s and our friends at climate action charity, Possible for a very special Big Green Cabaret.

Hosted by creator, activist, and change maker, Kayza Rose, we’ll be bringing you a packed, climate justice inspired, show designed to energise and entertain. And what’s better than a whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment? A whole evening of spoon tingling entertainment with FREE vegan ice cream of course!

Whether you’re a climate newbie or a seasoned activist, our artists and experts will bring you a night you’ll remember long after the curtains close.

Performers to be announced, but I will be one of them!

Please note: Due to the nature of the acts, this event is suitable for >18 only.

All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Possible.

The Big Green Cabaret events in Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow are part of the Great Big Green Week - a national week of events celebrating action on climate change.