Category: #interview

Check Out New Streaming Platform, Vilpa Max, How to Watch, How to Get Your Film Shown in this interview with Alejandro Vilpa conducted by Lou #StreamingService #Streaming #StreamingPlatform #Films #Movies #VilpaMax

Interview with Alexjandro Vilpa
New Streaming Service, Vilpa Max

Interview by Louise Cannon

Streaming Services/platforms, we are all very familiar with them and watch from the likes of Netflix, Prime, Now TV, BBCI Player and more… Now there’s a new one to explore called Vilpa Max. Alexjandro has worked from the best award-winning producers, including those involved in blockbusters such as James Bond. The service is said to be already having a positive impact on the film and streaming industry from its launch earlier this year, 2026.

Here, in this fascinating interview, you can discover how you can access Vilpa Max and how you can get in touch if you work in the film industry and would like to consider it as a platform for your film. You can also follow on YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok, all of which you can find details of at the end of the interview.

Let’s now welcome Alejandro Vilpa to Bookmarks and Stages to tell you more…

Vilpa Max is your new platform and has the aim, firstly in the UK, North Africa and the Middle East, to provide short filmmakers from around the world an opportunity to present their work to a global audience. How did you come up with this idea and can you say a little more about the process of seeking out the filmmakers?

The idea came from my own experience as an artist. When I finished making my first short film, The Undertone of David Jansen, I faced the question of how to bring it to the market, and that’s when I realized there was a significant gap between emerging voices and the industry. So I decided to build a bridge — a space where emerging filmmakers and top-tier, award-winning cinema could coexist as equals. That’s how Vilpa Max was born.

We normally scout emerging filmmakers at festivals, and many of them also reach out to us directly. They all go through a curating phase, and if they meet the quality criteria, we offer them a place in our catalogue.

You already have short films set to be featured as Vilpa Max launches, including Oscar-winning short “The Mozart of Pickpockets” from writer/director Philippe Pollet-Villard, the Oscar-nominated “The Red Suitcase” from director Cyrus Neshvad, and Palme d’Or winning “All the Crows in the World” from writer/director Yi Tang.

What was their reaction to Vilpa Max and its aims?


They were very excited. I’ve been very fortunate to work with major producers in the past, such as the producers behind the James Bond films, so bringing Oscar-winning cinema to my app was not a new path for me.

What is the process for a filmmaker to get their work on the streaming platform?

They have to send their films to our email: business@vilpafilms.com. Then our team reviews them and gives an answer. If it’s positive, they get a place in the catalogue; if it’s negative, they are entitled to receive feedback explaining why their film didn’t make it into the catalogue. It’s important to mention that the number of submissions we are receiving is reaching our full capacity, so we might introduce a submission fee very soon.

One of the aims is to empower new voices by giving them opportunities to gain international visibility and positioning as they continue building their careers.
 What impact on both filmmakers and audiences do you feel Vilpa Max will have on their careers?

Vilpa Max is already having a positive impact on the emerging voices in our catalogue. All of the emerging filmmakers currently featured on the platform already reach hundreds of thousands of people through our social channels. This is something we constantly track and provide evidence of.

On the other hand, they have gone from not having their work on streaming platforms to being streamed alongside Oscar- and Cannes-winning films. This gives them a badge of credibility and a level of positioning that no other player in the industry could offer them.

Who will the filmmakers be able to show their production to?

To the audience we have in MENA and the UK, which is typically people between the ages of 22 and 55 who appreciate high-quality cinema. To give an example, we reached 11,000 subscribers in just six days of operation. This gives a good sense of the potential reach their work can have if they become part of Vilpa Max.

What genres of films can people expect to find to watch?

We have a wide variety of genres, including drama, horror, comedy, coming-of-age, and short documentaries. One of the audience favorites, however, is animated films. For example, we have Waves ’98, which won at Cannes in 2015 and is very interesting to watch. We also feature an emerging filmmaker, Arseniy Oleinik, with his animated film Cafe, and both are receiving a wonderful response from audiences.

You, the founder of Vilpa Max and Vilpa Films are an internationally published author in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. You also work with Oscar-winning and Cannes-acclaimed films, are on the Forbes Business Council and have previously contributed to the script development team at Caledonia Productions, the U.S. branch of Eon Productions, the producers of James Bond.
With all this experience, can you pinpoint that gives you the edge in the competitive nature of streaming?

Yes, the only reason I was able to create Vilpa Max is because I learned how to market content from some of the best producers in the world.

Where can both filmmakers and audiences find Vilpa Max when it launches on Saturday 31st January?

You can find us at www.vilpamax.com and also on the App Store as Vilpa Max. We are launching the Android version very soon. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok as @vilpamax, and on YouTube for previews and trailers under the same handle.

#Interview with Wednesday and Knives Out Actor, Riki Lindhome by Lou about her new comedy stage show, Dead Inside, tickets Available Now @rikilindhome #DeadInside

Interview with Riki Lindhome about Dead Inside
By Louise Cannon
photos by ©Elisabeth Caren 2024

Riki Lindhome is perhaps best known for the film franchise, Knives Out, Wednesday,
The Big Bang Theory and more, that will be mentioned later. Among her fans is Michelle Obama. Even with all this, she remains grounded and explains later how that is.
Currently, Riki Lindhome is appearing in theatre (see details after the interview), starring in her show, Dead Inside. A comedy hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, now touring, it tells about the life journey of fertility, freezing eggs, surrogacy and adoption. We talked about this, resilience and hope, being one half of comedy music duo Garfunkel and Oates and of course being part of popular major film/tv/streaming franchises.

Let’s welcome Riki Lindhome to Bookmarks and Stages as she tells us her fascinating, insightful, authentic answers. Thank you to Gingerbread Agency for connecting us.

What or who inspired you to become an actress?

I remember being six years old and seeing a girl who looked like me in a bubble gum commercial. I felt such palpable jealousy every time that commercial came on that I turned to my mom and said, “That’s going to be me someday.” 

You are most widely known for Knives Out” and “Under the Silverlake” and major hit shows “Wednesday”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “Brooklyn 99” and most recently “The Muppets Mayhem”. How does that feel to be part of hugely popular shows and how does this impact your career when you go off to do other types of shows such as your new comedic one-woman musical “Dead Inside” that originated at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has now transferred to Soho Theatre, London?

I felt so lucky to be a part of those projects. There’s something very special about being involved in work that people connect to on that scale.

What’s interesting is that something like Dead Inside is almost the opposite experience. It’s much more personal and much more exposed. When you’re part of a big show, you’re one piece of a larger machine. With this, it’s just me, so the connection with the audience is very direct.

I think the two sides actually support each other. The larger projects give me a platform, and then something like Dead Inside lets me define my voice more clearly.

Dead Inside addresses infertility and delves into freezing eggs, embryo implantation, pregnancy loss, undiagnosed medical conditions, surrogacy, adoption.
How important do you think this is to be portrayed on stage and how did you go about infusing it with comedy?

RIKI LINDHOME ©Elisabeth Caren 2024 All Rights Reserved

I think it’s important because it’s something so many people go through, but often very privately. There’s still a lot of silence around it, which can make it feel even more isolating.

For me, comedy was the way in. It allows you to talk about something that might otherwise feel too heavy or difficult. I wasn’t trying to make light of the experience, I was trying to make it shareable. If people can laugh, they’re more open, and that creates space for the more emotional aspects of the story as well.

You have dug into your own life experiences to bring to stage, how did you feel doing this did you have support, if you wanted some?

It was definitely a process. At the beginning, it felt more vulnerable, because I was still very close to the experience. Over time, it became more about shaping the story than reliving it.

I’ve been very lucky to have supportive collaborators and friends who helped me develop the show. My director, Brian McElhaney, said he wanted to direct the show before I even wrote it. I just told him about the idea and he was like, “I want to be a part of that.” Then, Zach Zucker from Stamptown and Alchemation helped me bring it to Edinburgh (also before they saw the show). So I’ve felt very supported in this whole journey, honestly right from the start.  

You emphasize resilience and hope within your show. What does that mean to you and how do you feel it comes across to your audiences so far?

For me, it’s less about a clean, inspirational version of resilience and more about continuing even when things are uncertain or don’t go the way you expected. The experience I went through didn’t follow a straightforward path, and I think that’s true for a lot of people in different areas of life. 

I think what audiences connect to is that it’s not presented as a perfect or resolved journey. It’s more about navigating something complicated and still finding moments of humor and joy within it.

You are one half of musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates and have toured the world. Michelle Obama is a fan and you have amassed over 100m hits on YouTube.

How do you stay grounded and how do you use each success to propel you into doing a new show, such as your current one, “Dead Inside”?

It’s been very easy for me to stay grounded because I’ve experienced far more failure than success. But I have been lucky to be a part of so many amazing projects and hopefully, each thing I do makes me more equipped to do the next one. 

Where can people find more info about your show, social media and You Tube channel?

You can find information about the show, tickets, and updates on my website rikilindhome.com, my Instagram, TikTok and Facebook @rikilindhome and my YouTube channel @rikilindhomesongs

Riki Lindholme will be performing Dead Inside at Soho Theatre from 31stMarch – 18th April. Tickets available HERE.

#Interview with singer, songwriters Melanie Crew and Ross Palmer set music scene alight with new album Some Other Stories, gigs, radio and more… #SomeOtherStories #Music #Accoustics #Singers #Songwriters

Interview with Melanie Crew and Ross Palmer
on Album Some Other Stories, Behind the Music Scenes, Gigs, Radio and more…

Interview by Louise Cannon

Earlier in the week, I invited Melanie Crew and Ross Palmer to feature on my blog. Two normal down to earth people making big waves on the music scene with their new album Some Other Stories.
They have been composing their own songs and singing them for a number of years together and on solo work. BBC Radio 6, BBC Essex, BBC Kent, local radio stations and community radio station all support this duo from London and their unique brand of folk music and occasional songs with a sea shanty vibe too. You can also find them across all streaming platforms.
They also perform at various gigs in London and across the country when they aren’t doing their “day jobs”. You can find gig details for April and September within the interview.

Some Other Stories, available now. The album is highly relevant and mixes fun with thought-provoking, poignant lyrics that gently touch the heart and mind. The songs, coupled with their rather sweet, melodic voices makes the album easy to listen to in the car or when out walking. I have a link to their album near the end of the interview.

Please give a warm welcome to Melanie and Ross who have both answered questions below with fascinating answers so you can get to know who they are and take a little sneaky peek behind the music scene too.

  1. Who or what inspired you to sing and play folk music and why does this particular genre of music attract you to perform it?

Ross: Speaking personally, the initial attraction when I was in my late teens was the guitar playing.

I started to listen to people like Bert Jansch and Davy Graham, and slightly more singer-songwriter-y types who came out of the 1960s folk scene in the UK, like Nick Drake and John Martyn. Hearing their virtuoso fingerpicking styles and alternate tunings absolutely knocked my socks off! You just didn’t hear that style of guitar playing in contemporary music at the time – not in pop or rock, anyway.

Once I started listening to them, I started hearing these songs that were part of the tradition of folk music, centuries-old ballads that have fantastic stories to tell and have been kept alive through the folk process and mostly sung unaccompanied.

2. Melanie and Ross, you write your own songs and compose your own music. What is your creative process?

Ross: We tend to write separately for the most part, then we bring our songs to each other to start playing, working out harmonies and extra instrumental parts. We do a lot of the recording at home, and it will usually start with a guitar and vocal performance by whoever wrote the song, which we’ll then add to with extra guitars or harmonies, and sometimes bass and drums.

If we need an instrument neither of us play, we dip into the network of people we know from the London folk and singer-songwriter circuits. We’re lucky enough to know some fabulous musicians like pianist Nick Frater, double bassist Adam Beattie and violinist Basia Bartz, all of whom are writers and singers and multi-instrumentalists themselves and bring a songwriter’s ear to their instrumental parts.

3. You have been featured on Radio 6. What was that like and what was the impact, especially since you not only write music, you also have rather ordinary jobs in the mix.

Melanie: A few songs from my solo EPs were played by Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music, and since then we have both played live on BBC Essex, and Ross has played live on BBC Kent as well. We’re really grateful for the support we’ve had from local radio, not just the BBC but many other local and community-run stations.

This year, for the first time, some of our songs were played on radio shows in the US which was really nice – we recorded a live performance for the Great American Folk Show, which was broadcast on National Public Radio. Shows like this help us reach more people. However, our everyday lives haven’t changed all that much: we both have full-time jobs, and this means we are a bit more limited in how much time we’re able to spend promoting our music.  

4. How do you agree what to keep and what to discard?

Ross: If one of us has a song we think the other will like, we’ll try playing it together and if we feel like it works we’ll record it. There are occasions when we’ll finish a recording but decide it’s not quite right for the album or EP we’re making, in which case we’ll hold it back and see if it finds a home later.

5. You create images within the lyrics, especially in Take a Picture where there are reminisces of the past in scenery, the younger self and present feelings. What inspired and experiences did you draw on to write this song?

Melanie: This song, and another song called Look Back on Before which is also on the album, are both about looking back on past experiences, whilst also trying to ‘be present’ in the current moment and not letting life pass you by. Look Back on Before is a slightly more personal song – there is a line in it about having a ‘personal archive in a drawer’, which refers to a drawer I have at home full of all the diaries and notebooks I have kept over the years. Take a Picture has a similar theme of reminiscing but for this one I imagined a scenario where someone was thinking of a past relationship/friendship and happy times they spent with that person by the seaside. With lyrics, usually I have a very general concept or idea and then build something around that. 

6. Making Lists, the title of a song, is something lots of people do. You turn it on its head, almost getting people to look at them and ask deep questions about finding advice and that human thing of validation, seeping into that sense of wellbeing. When you wrote this song, what impact did it have on you both and listeners who make all manner of lists?

Melanie:  I love a good list! My phone is full of lists I have made (places I want to go, exhibitions I want to see, TV shows I want to watch, books I want to read). I also keep a list each year of all the things I’ve done. These lists help me keep track of things, and not forget stuff.  As someone who likes to plan, rather than do things spontaneously, they are very helpful! The song Making Lists is about trying to plan ahead and bring some sense of order to everyday life, but not getting too hung-up on things, by overthinking decisions or seeking external validation all the time. 

7. Close the Book is another philosophical book of when people are captured at their best, a guilty man taking the stand and when the book is closed on life and all is brushed aside. What influenced this song?

Ross: When I started that lyric, I had an image in my mind of a musician being filmed playing on stage in a TV studio, with a big clock on the studio wall. It made me think about how everything in a mediated world gets turned into a kind of performance for public consumption, even the act of being an artist. So the images in the lyrics all came out of that: being on stage or being photographed, while simultaneously feeling like a condemned man about to be executed and then forgotten.

I guess the song is about the futility of the images that we construct of ourselves for the consumption of others. Not just celebrities or influencers or performers, but basically all of us create a version of ourselves for the public that we want to be thought of as really being like.

8. Blindly Through the World and Our Captain Cried All Hands has a light sea shanty vibe in the music, a bit different from some of the other songs that have a folk music vibe. How did you find changing up the tempo and sound of the songs?

Ross: Our Captain particularly was a tricky one! The melody was “collected” by the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1909 and is also used for a couple of more famous pieces: a folk song called The Blacksmith and a hymn called To Be a Pilgrim (or He Who Would Valiant Be), which we sang all the time at my Catholic secondary school.

It’s in a slightly knotty time signature of 7/4, so there’s one beat fewer than you expect, which made playing the drums on it a challenge. What’s lovely about that song is how differently it’s been interpreted by the people who have sung it. Granny’s Attic recorded a beautifully slow and melancholy version of it a few years ago, just voice and concertina, while an American freak-folk group has a very droney, modal arrangement of the song for four voices.

9. Have you got any gigs coming up and what’s next for you both in your music career?

Melanie: Yes, we have a couple of shows in April – we’re playing at Redbridge Music Lounge on 10 April, and then we’re playing at a new songwriters’ event at the Ignition Brewery in Sydenham (southeast London) on 25 April. Later in the year we’re really looking forward to returning to St Edith folk club in Sevenoaks on 25 September.

In terms of what’s next, we are planning on re-recording some old songs to give them a bit of a fresh update – then hopefully releasing those, along with a couple of new songs, on an EP. 

10. Where can people find you and listen across social media and streaming services?

Melanie: You can listen to our music on all the usual streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube music, Apple music, Amazon music. You can also find us on Bandcamp at https://melaniecre wandrosspalmer.bandcamp.com/ album/some-other-stories.

On social media you can follow us on Instagram (@melaniecrewandrosspalmer). For general updates (e.g. on gigs) you can sign up to our mailing list on our website at https://melaniecrewandrossp almer.com

#Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws on new tv series, directing comedy specials and more… #StuartLaws #Comedian #Actor #Director #TVDrama #Stage #Patience #Channel4 #ComediansTakingPenaltiesWithChloePetts #StandUp

Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws
conducted by Louise Cannon

Stuart Laws is known for his stand-up comedy, directing well-known comedians James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar and is highly respected amongst many other comedians too. I was given the opportunity to interview him on Bookmarks and Stages where we covered what it was like to direct the aforementioned comedians, his latest projects, including acting in channel 4 drama, Patience, Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts, a new web game show, Is It A Bone?, his inspiration to do these many jobs and being neurodivergent in the tv world, for him it’s autism. After the interview you can also discover his latest live shows for February and March 2026.
Welcome Stuart Laws to Bookmarks and Stages and thanks to PR, Julian Hall for creating this opportunity. Now, let’s begin our interview…

  1. You’ve done stand-up comedy, appeared in dramas, directed, it’s a great achievement. What spurs you on?

A desperate desire to prove my enemies wrong. Also, I do find it funny to not see a friend for 3-4 months and then when they ask – “oh what have you been up to?” to be able to provide a list of genuinely surprising new developments. I love watching TV, comedy, film and so to be any part of it fills me with excitement. As long as I can I will keep doing as many different, fun things until it’s very clear I’m not good at those things. VERY CLEAR. It’ll have to be VERY CLEAR.

  1. Who or what inspired you to act, direct and do comedy?

When I was a kid it was films like Jurassic Park and Back to The Future or stand up comedy like Lee Evans or Harry Hill’s Channel 4 show, then I got older and it was things like Twin Peaks and Arrested Development. Once I had started doing stand up comedy and was making short films I was really inspired by new acts that I met on the circuit and loved watching perform and made me want to be better. Chuck in enough arrogance to believe that I could help them be even better and bam, it all started to coalesce.

  1. You’re appearing in Channel 4 drama, ‘Patience’, can you tell us a little bit about the character you play?

Alex is a member of the adult autistic support group that Patience Evans, the lead character played by the brilliant Ella Maisy Purvis, attends and so I get to stretch my acting muscles by playing an autistic adult. When the audition came in I remember being excited because I don’t get a huge amount of scripted and definitely very little drama auditions so I knew I wanted to nail it. Because the show has a strong sense of humour running through it I knew I wanted to lean into that, especially knowing the character was across multiple episodes – it’s a good chance to have a think about the wider context and life of your character. Saying that, it’s not a huge part but a delight to play and the production team so good and the first series of the show so compelling and fun to work that I knew I wanted to be involved and to be able to add whatever details and experience I could.

  1. You’re a go to director for comedians, James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar, what is your process to direct other comedians and have you got any favourite moments when directing these comedians in-particular?

Directing a comedy special is a lot about just getting the cameras in and making sure the lights look nice and the comedian is as good a mental space as possible to do their show as well as they can. I’m there to put out fires, be a sounding-board and to ensure the crew all are supported and can do what they do best. The next level up is a chance for me to work with the comedian, watch the show in advance, suggest structural tweaks or new lines, to eventually know it inside out, know the vibe of the comedian and talk about themes, tone and style they’re looking to achieve and what of my ideas are interesting to them – it could be to do with the style of how the cameras move, where they’re positioned, what the lighting is like and how we want the audience to feel while watching. Then I get to have conversations with heads of department about the best tools for those ideas and prep the crew as best as possible about how they can make the plan a reality. We recently shot Nish Kumar’s new one and we discussed dutch angles, 70s directors and Stop Making Sense, for James Acaster we talked about wrestling, 3:2 open gate aspect ratio and creating a sense of perpetual motion so that the cameras all cut together smoothly in the full 360 degree audience set up. That’s the fun of it for me, knowing that there’s certain things a stand up special needs to have but to also know that there’s wiggle room to express what makes the comedian brilliant, to make the jokes and the themes land even harder.

  1. You have a new SO TV series of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts.’ What are your football skills like and is there a particular football team you support?

I’m a Spurs fan and a Gotham fan and played for Goldhill FC for 23 years. I’m not a good footballer but I’m pretty solid and I think I’m happy with that, let’s put it this way – there is one cup final that my team played in that’s called The Stuart Laws Final – and I’m pretty happy with that. When I met Chloe on the circuit we immediately bonded over football and both being absolute lads so getting to write on and be in this series is a real dream come true. What is less exciting is the physical toll of playing football for 10 hours straight, two days in a row on the hottest days of the year. I think it took a couple of weeks for my body to recover and I can absolutely tell in some of the penalties that I haven’t dived because my brain refused further injury.

  1. What was your favourite moment of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts?’

Harriet Kemsley being on any TV is a promise of a good time and in her episode I suggested that she do a run-up from the halfway line for her last penalty. She of course immediately ran to the halfway line to do it and after a 15 second run-up she kicked the ball and it went so far wide that science still doesn’t really understand it. It was so funny and such a perfect denouement. Aside from that, it really was the team – they were so welcoming and supportive and that was all from Chloe and Andy at the top. They had brilliant ideas and worked so hard to turn the concept from a fun summer kick about into a genuinely funny and charming series that I HOPE HOPE HOPE gets a second series.

  1. You’ve created new web game show series ‘Is It A Bone?’ It sounds intriguing, with it involving a different sense: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.. How did you come up with the idea?

I was at dinner with comedian Chloe Radcliffe and she asked for her bone marrow dish to be boxed up to take with, it was served on a bone and they put that into the box and dropped it down on our table. Chloe said “IS IT A BONE???”. I laughed and then said that it was a game show and then immediately started laying out what I saw as the format. I then mentioned it to Rhys James and he said yeah of course that’s a show and we riffed more, then I took it to Al & Nick at my production company and they both had their own great ideas. Then we got Ben Mumford on board as a producer and he brought even more ideas. That got us to shoot day where Sam Lake the host and all the brilliant guests brought even more of their own ideas to it – that’s what I liked the most, creating a set up for the comedians to be funny and do what they like, knowing we could get them back onto the format when appropriate.

  1. . For ‘Is It A Bone?’ How did you choose your contestants?

I texted a bunch of people “Would you like to be a contestant on a game show I’ve developed, it’s filming at my office studio, you’d be in two episodes and it’ll take a couple of hours?” And they just all said yes. Like, didn’t even ask for more details about the show or what they’d have to do. Which means that each of them is genuinely reacting in the moment to what’s happening. How did I choose who to text? I went through my phone and thought who is damn funny and would team up well with others? I’d say that’s 35% of my address book to be fair, so more people will be getting texted for series 2 in 2026.

    12.You’re autistic, what advice would you give to other people who want to enter showbiz who also autistic?

It’s becoming more welcome and accepting of neurodivergence, which is handy considering the percentage of people in the entertainment industry who are neurodivergent is probably higher than the average population. It can be tough, it isn’t necessarily guaranteed that every project, location, team will be open or aware or able to make adjustments but it is becoming more common. Hopefully through my increasing awareness of it and trying to be vocal and supportive where I can I can play a part in it becoming more normalised in conversation. I’m aware that I’m privileged in being white, straight, able-bodied, low needs and therefore that makes my path smoother in disclosing. I know of a good number of people who are reluctant to disclose because they feel the discrimination is palpable or it makes them feel less secure. Hopefully that is changing.

   14. Where can people follow you and your work on social media?

You gotta get on instagram, though I am now trying to crack on with building my mailing list – I send out semi-regular updates with exclusive stuff and links to tickets and other cool things before they go public. Sign up at www.stuartlaws.com

Latest Live Shows

10th February @ Pleasance London
Comedians Beer Mat Flipping Championship 
6th March @ Pleasance London
Stuart Laws as Michael Caine Saying Never for One Hour

#Interview by Lou with Writer and Actor Ollie Maddigan on his award winning play, The Olive Boy showing in January 2026 @O.maddigan @Theoliveboyshow @swkplay #RonnieAncona #TheOliveBoy #Theatre #Play #WhatsOnTheatre #OllieMaddigan

Interview with Ollie Maddigan on theatre play,
The Olive Boy

Interview by Louise Cannon

Showing at Southwark Playhouse Borough in January 2026, Olive Boy is award winning (Offie Award) and has previously had successful runs at both Camden and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. I have had the great opportunity to interview Ollie Maddigan about his play, Olive Boy, performed and written about him, with timely voiceovers performed by impressionist/comedian/actress, Ronnie Ancona. We delve into losing his mum at 15, counselling, making sense of the world and more… I thank Ollie for his courage, willingness and honesty in answering my questions on such a sensitive topic as I recognise it’s one thing to perform it, but quite another to be interviewed about it.
Here’s a bit about the play and then there’s the interview and details of how you can see the play.

“When Ollie was fifteen, his mum died, and he was the one who found her. The Olive Boy explores his attempt to make sense of life at a time when everything was falling apart, yet he was expected to carry on as normal. It looks at what it means to grow up with that kind of loss, especially as a teenage boy navigating school, friends, first relationships and the pressure to keep quiet about how you’re actually feeling. 

A therapist’s recorded voice, played by Ronni Ancona, runs through the piece, reflecting the distance he felt in counselling at the time and the wider silence around boys expressing grief and all the emotions that come with it.”

Firstly, congratulations on having The Olive Boy transfer from Camden Fringe to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it sold out and winning an Offie Award to having a dedicated London season. What does that feel like and how does this inspire you to keep going?

Simply put, it feels great. You never imagine, when you’re first creating a show, that it could grow to this level, so I feel completely privileged. Watching The Olive Boy move from a tiny Camden Fringe run to Edinburgh, to a national tour, to an Offie Award, and now to a London season has genuinely been one of the highlights of my career. It’s been overwhelming in the best way. In terms of what inspires me to keep going, I think you know instinctively when something has reached its end and when it hasn’t. For a long time, I felt there was still more to do with this show and more people it could reach. That said, the run at Southwark might be the final chapter for The Olive Boy and if it is, it feels like the right place to end it.

 

  1. Secondly, sorry to hear about the loss of your mum at such a tender age.

The Olive Boy is about exploring a 15-year-old Ollie finding mum dead and trying to make sense of the world. What impact did that have on you at 15 years old and the adult you now?

 

Losing my mum at 15 changed everything. At that age you don’t really have the emotional language to understand something so sudden, so you just try to keep moving and hope you’ll catch up with yourself later. It forced me to grow up quickly, but it also left a lot of confusion that I didn’t unpack until adulthood. As an adult, I can see how much that moment shaped my humour, my outlook, and the way I connect with people. The show has been a way of finally giving that younger version of myself some space to be heard, and in doing so, it has allowed me to understand the adult I became.

 

  1. What did it feel like looking back to when you were 15 years old and what did you gain from this as that younger you tried to make sense of a world without mum physically in it anymore?

 

Looking back at myself at 15, I mostly feel a mixture of compassion and frustration. I can see how hard I was trying to make sense of something that didn’t make any sense. When you lose a parent that young, you’re suddenly pushed into a world that feels far too adult, but you’re still very much a child trying to keep up. What I gained from revisiting that younger version of me was perspective. I realised how much he was carrying without the tools to process it, and how he used humour and distraction to survive it. Writing the show allowed me to acknowledge that, rather than judge it. In a way, it gave that younger me the space and understanding he never had at the time.

 

 

  1. Therapy is still a bit taboo for some people, but it was more so for boys at a certain time, and a bit for even girls at a certain time too, but what was it like for you to attend counselling? You talk about reflecting the distance you felt, what effect did that have and would you ever consider counselling or recommend it to people now therapy is slowly opening up to wider ranges of people?

 

Counselling was a complicated experience for me at that age. It wasn’t something boys really talked about, and I remember feeling quite distanced from it, almost like I was watching myself go through the motions rather than actually opening up. I didn’t have the vocabulary to express what I was feeling, so it felt easier to stay on the surface.

That distance definitely stayed with me for a long time. It meant a lot of emotions got stored rather than processed, and I’m only now, as an adult, realising how much that shaped me.

Would I consider counselling now or recommend it? Absolutely. I think the stigma is slowly shifting, and people are starting to see therapy for what it really is: a space to understand yourself better. I wish I’d had the tools back then to make the most of it, but I can recognise now how valuable it can be, especially for young people who are trying to navigate grief or upheaval.

 

  1. After your mum died, there was a pressure felt to keep quiet about your emotions. What was living up to that pressure like?

 

There was definitely a pressure to keep quiet about what I was feeling after my mum died, and living up to that was exhausting in ways I didn’t understand at the time. When you’re young, you think staying silent is the same as staying strong, so you push everything down and hope it will sort itself out.

Looking back, that pressure created a kind of emotional numbness. I became very good at performing “being fine,” even when I wasn’t. It took years to recognise how much energy went into holding everything in, and how isolating that can be. The show has helped me confront that silence and acknowledge the cost of it.

 

  1. When trying to make sense of this world you were living in without your mum, what conclusions did you come to between then and now?

 

 

When I was 15, I didn’t come to many real conclusions at all. I think that’s the point: you try to make sense of a world that suddenly doesn’t make sense anymore, and most of what you land on is survival rather than understanding. At the time, my conclusion was simply to keep going, keep my head down, and hope things would eventually feel normal again.

Looking back now, the adult version of me can see that there is no neat conclusion to losing someone so central. What you find instead is acceptance. You learn that grief doesn’t disappear; it just changes shape as you grow. You learn that you can carry loss and still build a life around it. And you realise that the world without my mum physically in it is still a world she shaped through the memories, the humour, the resilience, and the perspective she left behind.

 

  1. Ronnie Ancona plays your counsellor in a recording. What was that like to have her on-board and be on stage yourself, knowing it was just her voice that carried through?

 

I mean, come on — it’s Ronni Ancona. Who better to play a character called “The Voice” than someone famous for her vocal impressions?

For me as a performer, it was a strange but exciting dynamic. You’re on stage responding to someone who isn’t physically there, but because it’s Ronnie, the performance feels alive. Her delivery is so precise and nuanced that it gives you something real to play off. It elevated the scenes and added a layer to the show that audiences always respond to.

 

  1. How did you inject humour into what feels heartfelt and such a personal play?

 

Teenage boys are funny. No matter what they’re going through, they’re crude, ridiculous, and absolutely convinced they know everything. I wanted to show that when you’re grieving as a teenager, you don’t suddenly stop being a teenager. You can be dealing with the biggest loss of your life and still be just as focused on trying to get past the child-blocker on the computer.

That contrast felt important to capture – the messy, contradictory reality of being fifteen and grieving, but still undeniably a teenage boy.

 

  1. What do you get personally from telling your story on stage in-front of a live audience?

 

There’s something grounding about standing in front of a room full of people and saying, “This happened, and it shaped me,” and feeling them meet you with empathy rather than judgement. It’s not about reliving the past; it’s about making sense of it in real time. When audiences laugh at the stupid teenage moments or fall silent during the heavier ones, it reminds me that grief is universal, and that there’s value in being open about it.

 

  1. What do you hope the audience will get out of your show, Olive Boy?

What I hope audiences take away from The Olive Boy is a sense of recognition. Whether they’ve experienced grief themselves or not, I want them to connect with the idea that growing up is messy, complicated, and never as straightforward as you expect it to be. If people leave feeling seen, or feeling like their own story makes a bit more sense, then the show has done its job. Above all, I want people to feel that, even in difficult chapters, there can still be humour, connection, and a way forward.

  1. Where can people follow you/your play?

 

O.maddigan on Instagram for me and Theoliveboyshow on Instagram for the show!

The Olive Boy will be performing at Southwark Playhouse from 14 January to 31 January 2026. Tickets and information: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-olive-boy/

#Interview with Writer/Performer Leigh Douglas on Political Satire Stage Show – Receptionist of the United States (ROTUS) @leighdouglascomedy @ParkTheatre #Theatre #Stage #Satire #ReceptionistOfTheUnitedStates

Interview with Leigh Douglas
Receptionist of the United States
(ROTUS)

Interview by Louise Cannon

20th January – 7th February 2026 at Park Theatre, London

After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, today, I present an interview I did with writer/performer Leigh Douglas on her political satire, Receptionist of the United States, set to be staged at Park Theatre, Finsbury Park, London in February 2026. (ticket link after the interview). We talk about American politics, the conservative women behind those corridors of power, the internal journeys in those corridors, the contradictions, her views on Donald Trump and more…

Receptionist of the United States is said to be “A sharp, satirical and very funny look at the conservative women behind America’s corridors of power, ROTUS follows Chastity Quirke, a White House receptionist and staunch Republican as her blind faith in the system begins to crack and she’s forced to reckon with the consequences of her own complicity.”

Thank you very much for your time, let’s begin…

What or who inspired you to become a comedian and do political satire?

Coming from Ireland, there’s an explicit link in 20th century Irish history between art (theatre especially) and politics. My granddad lived through a lot of that history, born in 1929. He grew up with several relatives who signed with a mark as they couldn’t read or write. My granddad himself was self-educated from the age of 12 onwards and was one of the most well-read and funniest people I’ve ever known. He went on to write for the stage as well as radio, and he instilled in our whole family that literacy is power. My granddad and I were very close, and until he passed away in 2024, he would often be one of the first to read a new piece of my work. He didn’t pull punches with his criticism, even when I was a child. There is no doubt much of my love of the theatre came from him. I was at the Edinburgh Fringe doing a split-bill with my fellow comedian, Sophie Garrad, when I got the call to say he had gone into hospital. He told me not to come home; the show must go on. In terms of stand-up and comedy, I was raised on the likes of French and Saunders, Kathy Griffin, and Smack the Pony. In university, I studied Brecht and discovered The Thick of It. I knew I wanted to make work that brought together a feminine sensibility but tackled politics.

You take a funny look at the conservative women behind America’s corridors of power: what fascinates you most about them?

I’m not above aesthetics and there’s no denying that the aesthetic of American conservative women is compelling and aspirational. If you’re in any way drawn to glamour, there’s something about powerful American conservative women that will always be compelling. This is no accident. A huge part of their calculus is to fulfill some kind of patriarchal fantasy of what a woman should be. Then there’s the delicious hypocrisy of their stated goals and views, dripping in self-righteous moral superiority and privilege. It’s camp. Their gender performance is almost as studied as a drag queen persona. As a lesbian who spends quite a bit of my time stomping around London in Doc Martens, it’s enormous fun to drag up as one of these women.

Receptionist Of The United States (ROTUS) is about Chastity Quirke, who is a White House receptionist who is fiercely loyal to the Republican side and its President in a “blind” manner, who then reluctantly becomes self-aware. How do you think that feels, and how important do you feel it is to show how paths of sheer certainty can still change.

When we give up on hope for humanity, we might as well give up and go home. Everyone comes from a context, and no matter what their political beliefs might be and no matter how misinformed they are, everyone has a reason for believing what they do which is grounded in something true to the reality of their lived experience. In writing Chastity, I wanted to come to understand what circumstances might create a woman with diametrically opposed political views to my own. I could then game out where those views might lead her, not to mention what it might take for the bubble to burst for her. If Chastity Quirke is an anti-feminist Scrooge, what three ghosts might come to visit her? If the spread of right-wing fascism is going to be stopped, we have to hope that some of the foot soldiers are redeemable under the right set of circumstances. Otherwise, we’re writing off half the population forever.

How did you go about working out where the internal journey begins and how it ends?

The interesting thing in writing about complicity, culpability and political criminality is that no one in Chastity Quirke’s world is going to say exactly what they mean. Those who say the quiet part out loud will be weeded out as disloyal or set up as the fall guy. Chastity, as someone who thrives in this world, is reading between the lines all the time to work out where she stands, what exactly is being asked of her, and what chess move she should anticipate next. She begins with absolute certainty that she knows what move everyone else will make next. Her internal journey begins the first time someone makes a move she doesn’t see coming. As the show progresses and Chastity loses control, she is surprised more and more frequently by the actions of others. Her internal journey ends when the rules she’s been playing by are thrown out the window by the most powerful players and she realises she never had any control at all.

The play is partly inspired by real people. How did you research those people for the play to ensure you got their part of the story right in how they are portrayed?

Of course I went to traditional primary sources like Cassidy Hutchinson’s memoir, Enough. The way she wrote about her time in the Trump White House and her ultimate decision to testify to the January 6th investigation was the initial inspiration for much of the show. However, I then also scrolled all the way back in time on Karoline Leavitt’s Instagram to see how she was presenting herself online years before she was ever White House Press Secretary. I listened to right-wing podcasts like Sincerely American to make sure that Chastity’s vernacular and mode of expression was authentic. I also drew inspiration from the way conservative influencers present on social media and in reality TV. There is an indisputable link between the glamorization of conservative lifestyles in shows like Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, social media accounts like Ballerina Farm, and the presentation of conservative women working in the White House. It’s all promoting the same conservative values and politics.

Where do you stand on politics and President Donald Trump?

Safe to say, I think Donald Trump is a menace and I find the state of what’s happening in the United States currently demoralising, frightening and dangerous. I wrote ROTUS in January 2025 as he was being inaugurated for his second term as a way of processing my grief. The Democrats have their own problems, of course, but, in my view, they’re a right sight more compassionate, capable and compelling than the alternative we’re living through now. I was working as a barmaid in a North London pub when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was first elected to Congress; if she ever runs for president, she’d get my vote. To me, she’s always represented the working woman living under capitalism. I’d also love to cast a vote for Jasmine Crocket or Pete Buttigieg.

What do you feel the pressures, contradictions and moral consequences faced by young women operating within hard-line conservative politics are, and how do you use this in your show?

The contradiction at play for young women operating in conservative politics is that Republicans are the party of Christian fundamentalism. The rhetoric of the hard right is that a woman’s greatest priority should always be her role as a wife and mother. Therefore, if you’re an ambitious young woman in right-wing spaces, you have to go husband hunting in a manner befitting a Jane Austen novel in order to remain in line and on message. You have to tell other young women that having a career is a distraction, whilst you yourself pursue a demanding career. Balancing your career and having a family cannot be perceived to be a struggle. You have to portray yourself as superwoman, effortlessly fulfilling both roles perfectly. If you admit to struggling or just not wanting a family, you’ve failed as a woman.

ROTUS was highly successful at the Edinburgh Fringe, what did that feel like and what are you looking forward to most at Park Theatre?

It was incredibly meaningful to me that Chastity and the show connected with people. It was exhilarating to feel like a piece that I’d written, partly as a way of processing my own grief at seeing Kamala Harris lose the 2024 presidential election, was also an outlet for audiences. In Ireland, we have wakes when someone dies that are often some of the most riotous, most brilliant parties you’ll ever go to. Something about the experience of doing ROTUS at Edinburgh felt cathartic in a similar way.

Where can people follow you on social media?

@leighdouglascomedy

ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States is at Park Theatre from 20th January – 7th February 2026. Tickets available HERE.