What does it mean to pursue the self, and what does it cost? In this episode, playwright Will Eno and director Tim Carroll talk about Gnit, Eno’s wild and thoughtful reimagining of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, now on stage at the Shaw Festival.

From existential longing to awkward small talk, they explore what makes this modern fable so strangely human, and why Gnit’s detours and dead ends speak to something universal. They also reflect on their creative collaboration, the role of failure in art, and the serious joy of making theatre without preciousness.

We’re also joined by executive director Tim Jennings, who shares how the Shaw’s All Together Now campaign aims to foster real human connection through live performance, both now and for generations to come.

Will Eno is a playwright and Residency Five Fellow at the Signature Theatre in New York. His work includes The Realistic Joneses (Broadway), Middletown, The Open House, and Thom Pain (based on nothing), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His plays have been produced across the U.S. and internationally.

Tim Carroll is in his ninth season as artistic director of the Shaw Festival. His directing work includes My Fair Lady, Saint Joan, The Magician’s Nephew, and Victory, as well as acclaimed productions for Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Broadway.

Tickets to all of our shows are available now at shawfest.com.

Hosted by Alexis Milligan
Produced by Kelly Wong
Original Music by Travis Seetoo

We want to hear from you! Drop us a line at podcast@shawfest.com

What does real suspense feel like on stage? In this episode, actors Sochi Fried and Bruce Horak dive into their roles in Wait Until Dark at the Shaw Festival, a play full of menace, vulnerability, and razor-sharp tension.

They talk about trust, sensory awareness, and the risks of staging a thriller in a real space, in real time. From soundscapes and silence to darkness and danger, they figure out what it takes to make audiences hold their breath.

Sochi Fried is an actor whose stage work includes Candida, The Apple Cart, and The Game of Love and Chance, and Wights, and she has appeared on screen in Star Trek: Discovery, Transplant, and Murderbot.

Bruce Horak is an actor, writer, and visual artist whose stage credits range from Blind Date and Goblin: Macbeth to A Christmas Carol, Richard III and his acclaimed solo show Assassinating Thomson. His screen work includes Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Tickets to all of our shows are available now at shawfest.com.

Hosted by Alexis Milligan
Produced by Kelly Wong
Original Music by Travis Seetoo

We want to hear from you! Drop us a line at podcast@shawfest.com

What happens when you blend tabletop role-playing games with the works of George Bernard Shaw and C.S. Lewis? In this episode, Travis Seetoo and Cosette Derome join us to talk about The Roll of Shaw: Through the Wardrobe, a unique live show at the Shaw Festival where fantasy storytelling meets improvisation, audience participation, and the deep winter of Narnia.

From drawing monsters to running sound cues on vintage projectors, Cosette and Travis share how they bring audience ideas to life in real time—and why they believe everyone belongs in the world of the play.

Travis Seetoo is in his twelfth season at the Shaw Festival. He’s appeared in over 30 productions, from Brigadoon and The Magician’s Nephew to Snow in Midsummer, and has created original music for Shaw Variety Show and this podcast.

Cosette Derome is in her second season at the Shaw Festival, where she has appeared in Snow in Midsummer and The Shaw Variety Show. Her stage work spans theatres across Canada, including the NAC, the Foster Festival, and Theatre Gargantua.

Tickets to all of our shows are available now at shawfest.com.

Hosted by Alexis Milligan
Produced by Kelly Wong
Original Music by Travis Seetoo

We want to hear from you! Drop us a line at podcast@shawfest.com