Not True, But Useful... A Cheek by Jowl Podcast
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Series 5, Episode 5: Separate Demons
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 5, Episode 4: Études and Explorations
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 5, Episode 3: The Central Question
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 5, Episode 2: Advice to Self
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick think about advice they give to themselves when they are making a play, and the problem of letting yourself get in the way of the work...
Series 5, Episode 1: Verse and the Big Lie
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 4, Episode 12: Time
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Time is never the character’s friend - but this makes it useful to the actor. In this episode, Declan chats to Lucie about time in Shakespeare’s t...
Series 4, Episode 11: Treacherous Exercises
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Declan talks to Lucie about a question he can’t stand: can he share the exercises he uses in the rehearsal room? He urges directors to ask not for a...
Series 4, Episode 10: Flow
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lucie talks to Declan about his favourite word in the rehearsal room: Flow. Flow is like love, like a football match, like a good evening spent with f...
Series 4, Episode 9: The Art of Forgetting Things
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Declan presents an unusual piece of advice to actors: forget things. He talks to Lucie about how this allows the actor to be truly present as the char...
Series 4, Episode 8: Imposter Syndrome
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Imposter syndrome is another longstanding problem that most actors face. For Declan, however, it is not unique to actors: the characters of Shakespear...
Series 4, Episode 7: The Problem of Not Feeling
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan chats to Lucie about the age-old problem actors face of not ‘feeling’ what their character feels, and whether the characte...
Series 4, Episode 6: Oedipus
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan and Lucie discuss the transgression and intensity of Sophocles' classic tragedy, Oedipus. They talk about Declan and Nick...
Series 4, Episode 5: Shakespeare and Love
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan and Lucie discuss the subject of love in As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet. They talk about the BBC Open University document...
Series 4, Episode 4: To Be Or Not To Be
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Beginning with a reading of Hamlet, Declan dives deep into the universal themes of (non-)existence, futility, and being driven by the fear of anonymit...
Series 4, Episode 3: The Element of Surprise
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan and Lucie talk about the issue of heightened behaviour and the act of being surprised on stage and on screen.The music in this...
Series 4, Episode 2: Body and Meaning
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Declan joins Lucie to discuss the limitations of language and how the body ought to be prioritised in the rehearsal space.The music in this...
Series 4, Episode 1: Character Revisited
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of our winter mini-series, Declan revisits 'character', a much discussed subject, and questions how useful it may be i...
Series 4 Trailer...
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're back with some special bonus episodes for the cold winter months...Subscribe to 'Not True, But Useful...' on Apple Podcasts, Spot...
Series 3, Episode 9 - Extra Tagliatelle
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To mark 40 years since our first ever touring production - The Country Wife - we're delighted to release a bonus episode of Series 3. Declan an...
Series 3, Episode 8 - Troilus and Cressida
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick discuss Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare's scathing anti-war satire on glory, chivalry and doomed love. Find out why the play is...
Series 3, Episode 7 - Much Ado About Nothing
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick take a deep dive into one of Shakespeare's best loved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing. They join Lucie to discuss the darkness b...
Series 3, Episode 6 - The Revenger's Tragedy
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ahi ahi ahi ahi! This week’s discussion takes us back to Piccolo Teatro di Milano and Cheek by Jowl’s last live onstage production before the lock...
Series 3, Episode 5 - Measure for Measure
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Declan and Nick talk the politics of acting, the importance of ensemble, and the danger of logic in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure....
Series 3, Episode 4 - Three Sisters
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you think Chekhov’s plays are about nothing happening, think again. This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Three Sisters, another play of love...
Series 3, Episode 3 - Hamlet
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Hamlet, including their experiences of staging the play as a ballet for the Bolshoi (without the words!), th...
Series 3, Episode 2 - Twelfth Night
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s great tale of love, loss, and self-deception.More information about Cheek by ...
Series 3, Episode 1 - Macbeth
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back for another series of Not True, But Useful! To kick off Series 3, Declan and Nick join Lucie Dawkins to discuss Macbeth, a play that cont...
Series 3 is on its way...
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Series 3 of ‘Not True But Useful’ is on its way! The new series will see Declan, Nick, and Lucie returning to their mics to share personal insigh...
Series 2, Episode 8 - Cymbeline
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the final episode of the series, Declan, Nick and Lucie discuss Shakespeare's 'badly behaved' play Cymbeline. They chat about empath...
Series 2, Episode 7 - Boris Godunov
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we head to Russia to discuss Pushkin's great lyrical masterpiece Boris Godunov, a compelling exposé of the seductive appeal of power ...
Series 2, Episode 6 - The Changeling
25 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
'The whole point of making art is that you’re sharing something with somebody that cannot be put into words.’ This week, Declan, Nick and Lu...
Series 2, Episode 5 - The Tempest
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does theatre make us less alone? What is the role that the audience has to play in the act of art? What does Shakespeare have to teach us about hu...
Series 2, Episode 4 - As You Like It
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"If it's not painful, it ain't love!"This week, Declan and Nick talk about Shakespeare's As You Like It, paying special atten...
Series 2, Episode 3 - Ubu Roi
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Blood, sex, tyranny, and sausages! Declan and Nick join Lucie to discuss Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry's gruesome and raucous 1896 satire.More informatio...
Series 2, Episode 2 - Tis Pity She's A Whore
27 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tis Pity She's a Whore is a vivid and violent Jacobean tragedy about a brother and sister’s passionate descent into hell. It is also the first ...
Series 2, Episode 1 - The Winter's Tale
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick discuss Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, a play in which unity of time, place and action are hurled aside as we range across Europ...
Series 2 Trailer
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cheek by Jowl are back with a new series of 'Not True, But Useful...' as Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod and host Lucie Dawkins bring fresh i...
Episode 10 - Tagliatelle
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Like the delicious Italian meal made from the remainders of other pasta, in this episode we have assembled the tastiest bonus offcuts from the intervi...
Episode 9 - Character and Process
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does an actor go about stepping into a character? How can they begin to embody them onstage? In Declan's view, a character is not fixed, but ...
Episode 8 - Encountering the Predicament
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick talk about the predicament of being a human, and how that helps us to think about plays. They consider cats, Breaking Bad, Shakespeare...
Episode 7 - Design Deep Dive
05 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Co-Artistic Director Nick Ormerod joins Lucie to dive into the world of theatre design, discussing how design can be informed by the space and the act...
Episode 6 - Why We Do What We Do
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan Donnellan talks about motive, and ways of examining why people in real life and characters in plays do what they do. He talks ...
Episode 5 - Words Grown False
22 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Declan and Nick talk about how words can behave treacherously, and explore what this means with staging the great plays. With Fawlty Towers, detective...
Episode 4 - Scenes and Sandcastles
15 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan and Nick discuss an important idea in their work: 'Thresholds', following on from their discussion about 'Space...
Episode 3 - Into The Woods
08 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Declan and Nick talk about the history of their collaboration, and the way they work together as director and designer. They map 40 y...
Episode 2 - Space and Shakespeare
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do lobsters, Shakespeare, the room next door, and our lockdown all have in common? They all have something to tell us about space and the theatre...
Episode 1 - Thoughts from Inside Quarantine
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode, Cheek by Jowl's Artistic Director Declan Donnellan talks to Lucie Dawkins about his thoughts on life, quarantine, making t...