Recorded on a hot day in the theatre Cait interviews Perry (as the Chief Whip), Ian Wainwright (Director) and Alexa Adam (Production Manager). Whipping it Up is a quick-witted political satire set in the Whips' office at Westminster, Whipping it Up is a play about the grubby wheeling and dealing that go on behind the scenes and off camera as the Whips employ any means at their disposal in order to get wavering MPs to vote the 'right' way.

It's a week before Christmas in an alternative 2010, and the new Tory government is facing dissent over its latest Bill. With a majority of only three, the Whips' office is out in full force, and they’Il stop at nothing to keep the strays in line. Written in the twilight of the last Labour government, the play explores privilege, class and fears about what happens when the “old boys club” seize power.

Whipping it Up by Steve Thompson.
Directed by Ian Wainwright & Milly Gladstone.

Tuesday 18 - Saturday 22 August 19:45 with afternoon matinee at 15:00 on Saturday 22 August. Putney Arts Theatre in the Studio

Cast:
Alastair - Jim Dixon
Tim - Will Hunter
Chief Whip - Perry Kitchen
Delia - Saffron Miller
Guy - Graham White
Maggie - Charlotte McCormack

Crew:
Co-Directors - Ian Wainwright & Milly Gladstone
Production Manager - Alexa Adam
Stage Manager - Deborah Paul
Stage Designer - Robyn Doyle
Lighting Designer - Hayden Lee
Costume Designer - Alexa Adam

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The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – www.putneyartstheatre.org.uk/whatson

Host: Cait Hart-Dyke.
Producer, podcast editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.

Recorded in a rather boomy Studio at the Putney Arts theatre, Cait interviews lead actors Lonje and Rob, and the co-directors Rob Wallis and Will Hunter.

In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern are Dead, two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet suddenly find themselves at the centre of a story they do not understand and cannot seem to influence.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pass the time flipping coins, trading riddles, and trying to figure out just what is going on with the Prince of Denmark. As they stumble in and out of Shakespeare’s tragedy, they encounter the mysterious Player King and his troupe of Tragedians, actors who embrace blood, death, and rhetoric as all part of the show – which is to say, life. What begins as a comic rumination on chance and circumstance deepens into a haunting exploration of what it means to exist when your part is already written.

Stoppard’s play is a dazzling blend of existential comedy, verbal acrobatics, and theatrical playfulness that reframes Shakespeare’s play from the wings.

Cast :
Rosencrantz - Lonje Kalanda
Guildenstern - Rob Ryan
The Player - Eric Petrossian
Hamlet - Nathan Chatelier
Claudius - Ian Cooke
Gertrude - Julia Blyth
Polonius - Edward Ogilvie
Ophelia - Anastasia Babich
Tragedians - Emma Buckley, Eve Newton, Finton McCluskey, Kelsey Norris, Nora Holman, Rebecca Fallon

16-20 June, 2026 at 19:45 with matinee at 15:00 on Saturday
Putney Arts Theatre, Main Stage

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The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – www.putneyartstheatre.org.uk/whatson

Host: Cait Hart-Dyke.
Producer, podcast editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.

What do characters do when their author abandons them?

Nick chats with Megan Good (Elizabeth Watson), Amanda Benzecry (Lady Osborne) and Sarah Kitchen (Nanny) about Putney's latest production, based on Jane Austen's unfinished novel, adapted by Laura Wade. The Watsons is directed by Stuart (not related) Watson.

Nineteen and new in town, Emma Watson has been cast off by her rich aunt and banished back to the family home. Unless she can marry, and quickly, she faces a life of impoverished spinsterhood, dependent on her boorish brother and his ghastly wife.

Fortunately, a ball is being held in town, and she has plenty of suitors to dance with, from debonair but fickle Tom Musgrave to loaded but awkward Lord Osborne. Whose advances should she accept?

But that’s where Jane Austen put down her pen. Two centuries later Emma’s happy ending still hangs in the balance. Who will step in to finish the story? Laura Wade’s inventive, sparklingly witty play looks under the bonnet of Jane Austen and asks: What happens when the writer loses the plot?

Cast
Emma Watson — Emily Mark
Elizabeth Watson — Megan Good
Margaret Watson — Jessica Hearn
Robert Watson — Peter Collins
Mrs Robert — Kathryn Felton
Mr Watson — Perry Kitchen
Nanny — Sarah Kitchen
Tom Musgrave — Alex Rein
Lord Osborne — Columbus Mason
Lady Osborne — Amanda Benzecry
Miss Osborne — Alexandra Gallacher
Mr Howard — David Miller
Mrs Edwards — Rhonda Lidgold
Mr Edwards — Chris Routledge
Laura — Amelia Roden Kirk
Officers of the Militia — Jared Pearl

Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 April 2026, on the main stage at Putney Arts Theatre.

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The Putney Theatre Company at The South West End!
See us online – www.putneyartstheatre.org.uk/whatson

Host: Cait Hart-Dyke.
Producer, podcast editor and sound design: Nick Wells.
Music is 'At the Tropicana' by Chalalatas, license courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Recorded at the Putney Arts Theatre.