The Offstage Cast

Finally, it's Festival week and we have a great lineup to share with Liverpool and the World.  Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Italy, USA, Mexico, Wales are all at the 2022 festival for a great weekend of theatre.  Deborah, Vic and Neil discuss all those visiting troupes and more on this episode of the Offstage Cast.   Come join us if you can!! More information and for a full line up information - visit www.litf.ca 

The Offstage Cast is back on 21st September 2021. Discussing all things Liverpool International Theatre Festival, it has guests from all around the world.  Hosted by Deborah Raddall with Neil Maidman and Vic Mills.   Be sure to subscribe to hear all the news and views on this great theatre festival.  http://www.litf.ca 

This week we talk in-depth and detail with LITF’s adjudicator, Paul Fowler, and explore with him how judgments can be made about the qualities of a theatre performance. We discover what he looks for and how he shares his analysis with theatre audiences in competition and how he gives feedback to performers and practitioners after watching their work.The Offstage Cast from the Liverpool International Theatre Festival is hosted by Deborah Raddall along with Co-Artistic Directors, Neil Maidman & Vic Mills. www.litf.ca/offstagecast

From Crystal Palace to Malawi.This week Vic chats in-depth with a London- based young professional actor, Andrea Guerini, from Civitavecchia near Roma about all things theatrical as they find much in common and many things to laugh about together.  He also meets up with Imran Kingsley Shabban the Director and writer with Young Travellers Theatre of Malawi to explore how he and his company are managing to produce film and stage work during the pandemic, in a fascinating and richly entertaining conversation.Please subscribe and for more information on the LITF, please visit www.litf.ca/offstagecast

 A Word with the BossThe Offstage Cast team are hauled before the big Boss for a good talking to in our latest podcast. Yes, it is Jean Robinson-Dexter at her most forthright and revealing as we go backstage for the lowdown on running a festival from the boss’s big chair.We also chat to John Gillis, director of The Little Theatre of Norfolk, Virginia on getting a company and a show ready to take to Canada for 2021.Your Hosts are Deborah Raddall, Neil Maidman and Vic MillsThe Offstage Cast can be contacted at www.litf.ca/offstagecast or by emailing ad@litf.ca

In this episode of the Offstage Cast,  the team (Deborah Raddall, Neil Maidman and Vic Mills) talks about how a programme is put together for an international festival and how companies work is scrutinized and selected for performance. Vic meets up to chat with the wonderful Polycarp Mugisha, a dancer, singer, writer, actor, and teacher from Kampala where he works at the renowned Tender Talents School for teaching performance.More information on the LITF can be found on our website. www.litf.caContact the show with your questions via email at  AD@litf.caWe hope that you enjoy the Pod...and don't forget to hit the subscribe button...and tell all your friends about the LITF Offstage Cast 

In this episode of the Offstage Cast, Deborah takes (the newly arrived in Canada) Neil on a tour of the Astor Theatre and the Curling Club (The Theatre Festival Hub) and they chat with Jean Robinson-Dexter about all things LITF ahead of the upcoming festival.  Vic was at home and joins the pair to discuss their excitement to finally have the troupes arriving next week! More information and to book tickets can be found by clicking HERE

An amazing programme of world theatre.Our Artistic Directors chat about the very varied programme of theatre which is coming to Liverpool from across Europe, North Africa and the Americas, in just a couple of weeks.As final preparations are made in Liverpool, and theatre troupes from around the world pack their bags, we chat about what is in store for audiences who will attend The Astor Theatre from 13th-16th October.Find out more at by clicking through to the LITF website

The team talk all things positive as we hear from the winners of Short Cuts and they tell us all about what the virtual festival has meant to them and just how to go about making winning theatre in a pandemic.www.litf.ca/offstagecast

The Offstage Cast from the Liverpool International Theatre Festival is Back for Season 2!!In preparation for the Liverpool International Theatre Festival in May 2022, Artistic Directors (Vic Mills and Neil Maidman) chat with Offstage Cast host, Deborah Raddall about plans for the festival and take a look at the success of the virtual festival ' Short Cuts'.  In this episode, Neil and Vic talk about  Short Cuts and the decision process in choosing the winners.  Each of the top six is discussed and we would encourage you to watch the finalists - some great theatre there.Links via our Facebook page to each of the finalists are here.  https://fb.watch/83-ox5ewbk/ Toofa’s Reward – Tender Talents – Ashindi Theatre Company Kampala, Uganda https://fb.watch/83-s7VTmOo/ Family Pics – Venzi De Scena’ from Civitaveccia in Italy. https://fb.watch/83-tVvlndY/ Hide and Seek – Port Tobacco Players Maryland, USA https://fb.watch/83-xdmrPvJ/ Half Full Half Empty - Team Poupoulo from Greece https://fb.watch/83-EWj9pZ3/ Fetus  Il Luogo in Buio from Napoli, Italy https://fb.watch/83-IH9Emii/ Extraction without Pain - Compagna De Teatro Casa delartista and producciones Veneteatro - from Caracas, Venezuela. Head over to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/litfns for all the latest news on the festival, plus links to the troupes that are taking part in 2022.Please remember to subscribe to this podcast!  

For the last podcast of Season 1, Deborah chats to Vic and Neil, our two Artistic Directors about their experiences of LITF over the years and our final interview is a terrific one with Giannis and Elisabeth, leaders of TheatreHouse of Thessaloniki in Greece - the birthplace of western theatre.Clips that are discussed in the podcast by Vic and Neil.  We hope that you enjoy them!! Last Tango in Liverpool by David Tristram - performed by the Winds of Change at LITF 2010 Directed by Neil Maidman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XPYH1RLJcSc 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9vyWiIn9gGodfather Death by Vic Mills & Directed by Neil Maidman.  Blackwood Little Theatre - 2012 - Filmed at the Gwent Festival, Wales. https://youtu.be/zylonkFdLIg The Ruins of Talgarth by Vic Mills & Directed by Neil Maidman.  Blackwood Little Theatre at the MADF (Isle of Man) Festival in 2015.  This was performed at LITF 2018.  https://youtu.be/vFTpfX17m4sFrom Deborah, Vic and Neil, along with everyone at the LITF, we would like to wish you a happy holiday season and that we all have a healthy 2021.  We will be back early in the New Year - so make sure that you have hit that subscribe button to your next episode of 'The Offstage Cast'!!

This week we travel to Mechelen in Belgium to meet the Lucky Leo Theatre Company and find a lot to laugh about with four wonderful creatives. We also catch up with Vic and Deborah and find how they are still managing to be creative in Wales and Canada.Your Hosts for this Podcast are Deborah Raddall and Vic Mills.More information can be found herePlease note that the performance of "A Christmas Carol' which is mentioned in the Podcast, has had to be since cancelled, due to Covid restrictions. 

This week we drop into Casablanca, but instead of finding Rick in his bar, we bump into the wonderful Hajar Reghini Idrissi. There’s no pianist called Sam but Vic does persuade Hajar to sing...and to chat with him about all things theatre in this part of Morocco. Come and join us as this great young actor shares with us all the backstage secrets of the amazing FunTasia Theatre.Please be sure to subscribe to the Offstage Cast.  For information on the Pod and the LITF head over to LITF.ca/offstagecast

In this episode of the Offstage Cast, Deborah Raddall, Neil Maidman and Vic Mills discuss the upcoming, LITF Shortcuts Virtual Theatre Festival.  LITF Short Cuts is a new virtual theatre festival, presented by the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, open to amateur theatre troupes around the world to submit 5-10-minute original plays, recorded on video. Plays will centre on the theme of FAMILY, to be interpreted as widely and creatively as possible.Get your application form hereVirtual Festival RulesEntry to the competition is FREE OF CHARGE.Groups may enter as many plays as they wish.Writers and performers must be aged 16 or over on November 30, 2020.Plays must be of 5-10 minutes duration.This is not a ‘film’ competition – so filming must be basic, with limited editing – the aim being to make a simple film record of a short piece of new theatre.The work must be written and performed specifically for this competition.The play may be performed in any suitable space, outdoors or indoors. and should be performed in strict accordance with social distancing laws applying in the country where it is produced.All entries must be submitted to LITF by November 30th, 2020.Entrants must submit a public YouTube or web link to their recorded play.Play’s subject matter is to be based around the theme of ‘FAMILY’ – this should be interpreted freely and creatively.There may be as many or as few performers as you choose. It may be a one-actor performance if desired.The work may contain dialogue, movement, dance, music, as required.Entries will be judged by LITF artistic directors Neil Maidman and Vic Mills in December 2020.By entering, you grant LITF permission to show the plays or excerpts on social media, on their website, and at the 2021 Liverpool International Theatre Festival (see application form).There will be a number of entries designated as worthy of commendation and these will form a longlist. These will be screened on the LITF YouTube channel and through other social media, during January and February 2021.  They will also be screened at LITF 2021, October 14-17, 2021.At the beginning of March 2021, a shortlist will be announced – this will take place on a livestream on social media. All shortlisted entries will receive an LITF certificate.The winners will be announced at LITF 2021. The best three entries will be recognized with cash prizes $500, $250 and $100 Canadian dollars.  Dates of filming; play title, short summary, names of cast, writer, director, theatre company, and country should all be supplied together with the submission to LITF.Entries will be judged objectively according to the following criteria:PerformanceArtistic merit of the scriptArtistic endeavour and impactAll filming should be in landscape and in HD or above, if at all possible. The filming should be simple and done on one device with little editing.Email the completed form to ad@litf.ca.

Welcome to episode 1 of the Offstage Cast from the Liverpool International Theatre, in Nova Scotia Canada.  Your hosts are Deborah Raddall in Nova Scotia, and Artistic Directors Neil Maidman and Vic Mills who are in Wales, UK.  Your Host's take you through in this episode what this international theatre festival is all about and exactly who they are with it all.  Future episodes will talk about festivals past and to come, along with the people who make it possible both in Canada and across the world.  Future guests will include actors and directors from Malawi, Belgium, Morocco, Egypt, Uganda, Italy, Georgia, USA, Canada, and more besides. 

The offstage cast is a podcast series about The Liverpool International Theatre Festival in Liverpool, Nova Scotia Canada.  Over the coming months, the podcast will bring you news and updates from the festival that sees theatre coming to Canada from all around the world.  Your host will be Deborah Raddall and she will be joined each episode by LITF Artistic Directors, Neil Maidman, and Vic Mills.  Be sure to hit the subscribe button to hear our first full episode coming to you on October 20th, 2020.  www.litf.ca/offstagecast