This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Charlie Russell: Welcome to the Mischief Makers podcast. I am your host, Charlie Russell, and this is the Thespians edition. I am very excited to welcome our guests today. We have Claire-Marie Hall.

[0:19] Claire-Marie Hall: Hello.

[0:20] Charlie Russell: We have Luke Latchman.

[0:22] Luke Latchman: That's me.

[0:23] Charlie Russell: And Ashley Tucker.

[0:24] Ashley Tucker: Hiya.

[0:25] Charlie Russell: Oh, it's very exciting to have you guys here. Thank you so much.

[0:31] Claire-Marie Hall: Thanks for having us.

[0:32] Luke Latchman: Yes.

[0:33] Charlie Russell: Now, of course, you are the cast or some of the cast of Thespians. So I'm going to start with you, Claire. Could you tell us, for those who don't know, how your journey with Mischief began? Like, is this the first time you've even encountered Mischief on Thespians?

[0:45] Claire-Marie Hall: The first thing I ever saw with Mischief was a comedy about a bank robbery, which had Holly Sumpton in, who I ended up working with in Mincemeat. And I thought she was amazing. I thought the whole show was amazing. And then I think, kind of from there, I think I've seen most of like your older kind of works. I've seen Play That Goes Wrong. I've seen The Christmas Carol you've done on the TV. I've seen Peter Pan Goes Wrong. I'm like, yeah, I'm properly in with Mischief. I wanted to work with you guys for a long time.

[1:20] Charlie Russell: Oh, wow. That's so exciting. I actually didn't know that. That's very cool. Because, you know, I saw you do Mincemeat at the Riverside Studios.

[1:32] Claire-Marie Hall: Oh, gosh. Long time ago.

[1:33] Charlie Russell: That's when I first encountered. So it's like, before Holly, pre-Holly.

[1:38] Claire-Marie Hall: But with Sean.

[1:39] Charlie Russell: But with Sean. I didn't see Sean then, but I've seen Sean since. So obviously Sean Carey, if anyone doesn't know. Another Mischief alum. You've got Holly Sumpton, a Mischief alum. I love that the world, the universe is crossing over. This is very cool. Luke, can I ask you, is this your first encounter with Mischief? Have you seen the shows, that kind of thing?

[1:57] Luke Latchman: I don't think I've seen many of them live, but I've seen a lot of the recorded stuff, which is obviously strange for a comedy. But I loved the Goes Wrong show. I watched that quite a lot. And I think I saw the Play That Goes Wrong live. But then I actually auditioned for the Play That Goes Wrong about a year ago. And I kind of flumped the audition. I did. I did really bad listening skills. And I think you freak out in auditions or I freak out in auditions. And my listening goes completely out the window. And we were set this, I think it was a clowning exercise about the three of you are in a band and you have to repeat the same thing over and over. And the crucial information that I missed was, and don't let it grow each time.

So when it came to doing the exercise and we were doing it, I was like, yeah, OK, this is working. I'm going to go further. I'm going to grow it. I'm going to build it. And we finished. And the person leading the workshop was like, so what do you think of that? And one of the auditionees, because it was a workshop audition with a group of us, one of the auditionees went, I think it grew. And I was like, well, yeah, that's what we do, right? So I was offered another job. And I asked Mischief, how likely is this? And they were like, yeah, I think we'll have to go with someone else.

[3:21] Charlie Russell: I hope it was done in a nice way.

[3:23] Luke Latchman: Well, I like that story very much for the very fact that it just shows we've all had auditions that didn't go the way we hoped, that we feel we flumped. And actually, it doesn't always mean the end of the world. And people can totally see all your talent and then they'll just find another space for you somewhere else. And like, don't give up. Because look at you. I'm so glad that didn't get in the way of you auditioning for Thespians.

[3:47] Luke Latchman: Yeah, yeah. Luckily, luckily, they brought me back in for another project. So I went, should we try him on then? This might be more suited to him. But then you never know now, because of like all the we love working with everyone millions of times, as we're about to discuss. And you never know where that will lead. And it just shows like maybe we are all a bit hard on ourselves, aren't we? When we do something we're not, we don't think we did our best in.

[4:10] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, yeah.

[4:11] Luke Latchman: And actually, we can just sort of chill, chill a little bit. And the people on the other side of the panel are certainly I know from Mischief, like we only want you to do well and we only completely get it. And we just say, oh, yeah, yeah, I've done that. And there's much more. It's usually, I think, much more kind-hearted than we think.

[4:28] Charlie Russell: Yeah, well, I'm very ready for that exercise now. You know, come at me.

[4:31] Luke Latchman: You will not grow.

[4:32] Charlie Russell: I know the instructions.

[4:34] Luke Latchman: I will not grow.

[4:35] Charlie Russell: Years, months, months. I've learned it before I came in.

[4:37] Luke Latchman: Yeah, I've been thinking about that one. If we don't do it, I'll get to the end and go, can we do the exercise? We don't grow because I've really been working on that. I've been working on my lack of growth.

[4:49] Ashley Tucker: Amazing.

[4:50] Charlie Russell: Ashley Tucker.

[4:51] Ashley Tucker: Hello.

[4:51] Charlie Russell: Hello, Charlie Russell. Please tell us about your Mischief journey.

[4:54] Ashley Tucker: Oh, well, my Mischief journey started in 2018 when I saw a casting call for the comedy about bank robbery. And I went, I've got to be in that show. Had you seen it before?

[5:06] Charlie Russell: That show is amazing.

[5:07] Ashley Tucker: And then I went again because you're really nice and be like, you come for an audition. Here's a slightly cheaper ticket. So I went and watched and I was like, now I really, really have to be in that show. Please. And so I sent a very, and what's the right word? Audacious, bold email to the office because I've been working on a children's show at the time for the same producer and that had finished. And so I sort of knew someone in the office and I said, look, I really have to be in a show. I love it. X, Y, Z, plus, plus, plus. Is there any way I can get in the room? Here's my CV. If you need anything else, let me know. And they came back and said, look, we I work for the person I was emailing.

I work for the children's side of the production company, but I can certainly try and send your email in the right direction. So someone did me a massive solid and sent my very sort of bold email to the office. Yeah. And then I think possibly a combination between that and my very brilliant agents and the lovely casting office for you guys. I got in the room in 2018 and I got the job on Bank Robbery. And then that ended up lasting two years, which is unbelievable.

[6:08] Charlie Russell: You ended up starting as an understudy and then moving up and playing the role of Ruth Monaghan, Ruth Monaghan for the whole tour and then the West End.

[6:20] Ashley Tucker: Yeah. So it was really bonkers because the show was co-produced by Birmingham Rep Theatre and I trained at Birmingham School of Acting and I'm from Leicestershire. So we did all the rehearsals in London for five weeks or whatever it was, then went and finished them in Birmingham. And whilst we're in the last of the rehearsal room, I'm just about to go into tech. There was the conversation about, OK, we think we might need you to do tech if that's OK in the principal role. And I was covering both parts, both female roles. So, OK, all right, strap in, lads. So we started, we did the tech and then it was like, OK, I think we're going to need you to do previews, press and the start of the run in Birmingham before we go on tour. It's like, OK, great. So then we did that. And obviously it's mixed, isn't it? Because you're stepping in because someone else is not able to do it. And that's a bit rubbish.

[7:08] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, that is rubbish.

[7:08] Ashley Tucker: But also mixed with the emotion of, oh, I'm from around the corner and I love this theatre. And it was just it makes me emotional now thinking about it because it was just like sort of serendipitous that that's where we were when that happened. And the cast, Mischief have a knack of hiring really good eggs. So everyone around you, like you can do this sort of like this week. I'm sure we'll get on to that. You can do it. It's going to be fine. But then we got through previews, press night and tech, and then it's just sort of it rolled on. And then you ended up taking over for the rest of the tour. And then we got the call that they were going to take the whole cast to the Criterion. And we all after a year or two, we all got to transfer to the West End together.

And I got the offer for the leading part. And I'd never worked on the West End before. And it was unreal. What an experience. That was my first experience of Mischief. And I went, well, can I do this forever? These guys are great. And that show will always have a very special place in my heart because of that.

[8:00] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, it was just it's great. It's so good.

[8:02] Ashley Tucker: Plus, I got to slap Sean Carrey around the face every night. So come on, it's a lot. Feel so good.

[8:06] Charlie Russell: I really like Sean Carrey's back because he played my son.

[8:11] Ashley Tucker: Oh, there he is.

[8:12] Charlie Russell: Every time he played your son.

[8:13] Ashley Tucker: He did, yeah.

[8:15] Charlie Russell: Tee hee, tee hee. And also you were because that was you were the cast just before the pandemic.

[8:20] Ashley Tucker: Exactly. Yeah.

[8:21] Charlie Russell: So we did get cut a little bit short, sadly. So I think we were going to shut in the May and in the end we shut in the March. And funnily enough, I had people don't know when you do a lovely West End contract, you get a sort of normal world holiday. So I booked a couple of weeks. My partner was working on an international tour at the time. Yes, we everyone's looking at me with tired eyes. It was on international tour. So I'd actually booked a couple of weeks holiday to go visit him in Australia. So I went and did that thinking, oh, I wonder if I'll make it through these airports. And then whilst I was away, the show shut. So I missed I accidentally missed the last few shows. And so that sort of been hanging for the one was that that was 2020.

And then until we came back for comedy about spies, Mischief were great. I got seen for I think every other show you guys made, which is amazing. It just didn't work out. And then comedy about spies was the comeback. And I couldn't believe we were together again. And this time with the original people, the OG Mischiefs.

[9:20] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, it's fun to start a show as you guys are doing like the first time around, isn't it? There's something really, really special about that.

[9:25] Ashley Tucker: It's kind of dreamy as an actor. It's kind of the thing that you want, really, isn't it? You're building it.

[9:30] Charlie Russell: Yeah. Well, and you do build it. So that actually leads me to another question. Obviously, you've all worked with you've all worked extensively and with lots of different people.

[9:46] Luke Latchman: Yes, we're very old, Charlie.

[9:51] Charlie Russell: Very old, very experienced.

[9:53] Ashley Tucker: I'm older than me.

[9:54] Charlie Russell: So could you tell us what's the sort of is there any differences that you've noticed with working with Mischief compared to maybe other companies? And if there are none, that's great. But is there anything that you've noticed that is maybe different when you now that you've been doing a first Mischief show?

[10:18] Luke Latchman: Yes. So for me, I find that Mischief are. And so obviously, this is my first time working with the Mischief guys. And Jonathan Sayer was our writer. And quite early on in the process, the Mischief veterans were like, just just so you know, because Mischief veterans being Ali, Ashley, Matt.

[10:41] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[10:44] Luke Latchman: And they hung out together. They were quite tight straight away. And I was like, why is this? Oh, you've all worked together before. You're very, you know each other very well. You've been bonded by fire.

[10:52] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[10:53] Luke Latchman: Exactly. Forged by fire. Absolutely. And I came into the process. I was so, so excited for this. I cannot tell you how buzzing I was to get this job and to be doing it. Prepared. Exactly. I didn't notice that read through. So I turned up to the read through having learned everything. I learned all the lines. I learned the show. I learned all the songs. I mean, it's a brilliant thing to do. One should do it if you can. It did really help. It did really help. And then and then I very quickly found out that what we were sent was absolutely not the script we were going to be performing. It was like the first draft of the script. I mean, the thing is, it wasn't the first draft. It was probably like the fifth.

But it's the first of the rehearsals. Right. Sorry. First off for rehearsal. But of course, many drafts before it. But for you guys, it's the first draft. But it turned out for me, it was the first draft. Because every day something changed and it became a running joke that I would lose lines every rehearsal.

[11:55] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah. All the ones you'd spent so much time learning.

[11:58] Luke Latchman: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I still remember some of them that I've just like I dare to just disappeared because they wanted to that. They kind of wanted to change the direction of the trajectory of the character in the original or the one that I was sent. It was much more of a love story or maybe not much more, but it was a bit clearer that it was a love story between Atlas and Thespis. And it was kind of that was it was it was sorry. It was a strange one, because it felt like on one side it was like this is a comedy. On the other side, it was like we really need to have this to have a heart. And it was like, how do we make both work that one doesn't sacrifice the other? And so they kind of kept chipping away at the me and Atlas story.

Sorry, I am from the me and Thespis story. So it just became a bit of a running joke of each time we did a scene, it was like, so we're going to make some cuts. Atlas, you're going to lose this and this and this. And every day I'll be like, oh, I lost two lines today. I lost five lines today. But I'm really glad that I did the prep work because that that's basically from another job that I did. I did everybody's talking about Jamie. Wow. And I did that fairly early on in my career. And it was backed right onto a panto that I was doing. So I just didn't have a lot of prep time. And then we had like two weeks because it was a not a remount. What's the name when you do a show again? That's been on before.

[13:19] Ashley Tucker: Revival.

[13:21] Luke Latchman: But it was still running. Like it was just like a recast.

[13:25] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, recast. That's the word.

[13:26] Luke Latchman: It was a recast. So they wanted to keep it as cheap and tight as possible as we all do, because we're all businesses.

[13:39] Claire-Marie Hall: Hand me a cookie as you give me that.

[14:09] Luke Latchman: And it was because I was trying to do the Jamie stuff at the same time, so that was stressful. So since then, when I get a job, I ask for the script quite early and I start looking at it and trying to really get on top of it.

[14:54] Claire-Marie Hall: There is a thing with Mischief where there's always this push and pull about... We know things are going to change in rehearsals, we know things are going to change during previews and even after previews, but you think, oh well if it's going to change so much, maybe I shouldn't worry too much about learning it. But I think over my years of doing it, I prefer to change something I already know than just be constantly behind with learning something. But I don't know, did you find like, obviously things were cut, but because you actually already knew it.

[15:26] Ashley Tucker: Well me and Claire, on the way here, we're talking about digs and how we love to book our digs so far in advance of a tour. Because I just feel too anxious doing things at the last minute and I feel like it's the reason I mentioned that. Because it feels like it's the same with learning things that I agree that actually I found it quite easy to do the cuts because I knew the material around it so well. So I was really freaking out about it and I said to Jonathan quite early on, no please don't change that, please don't cut it, I can't handle change. I really like routine and systemic and I like things being really rigid and that actually it was absolutely fine. Because I was like, oh so I know what that line is, so if I'm losing that line then that doesn't affect that or this is how I... So actually I would do it again, if I worked for Mischief, when I work for Mischief again.

Thank you! When I work for Mischief again, I would absolutely do the same thing, learn it all ahead of time and know that it's going to change. And be like, but you know what, those changes are going to be easier if I know the framework within which it's going to change.

[16:30] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah and also, congratulations because you have learnt that about yourself and you've learnt that you can handle change.

[16:38] Luke Latchman: Yeah! Yay!

[16:39] Ashley Tucker: So you come out of every job, don't you? Grow, grow!

[16:42] Claire-Marie Hall: You will grow!

[16:44] Luke Latchman: You must not grow!

[16:45] Ashley Tucker: No growth for gross!

[16:46] Claire-Marie Hall: This industry is so hard!

[16:49] Charlie Russell: So tell us now, I'm going to ask you for a relatively brief, tell us how you got into this job? Because I think lots of people listen to the Mischief Makers podcast and they're thinking about a career in the industry. And that's why we talk to people from stage management or design or producers. But obviously a lot of people would like to be performers and everybody's story is different. So roughly, how did each one of you become professional actors?

[17:20] Ashley Tucker: How did I become a professional actor? It's a really good question, Charlie. Well, I did the thing that I think a lot of people do and I did sort of after school clubs and things like that. Like in primary school, because just I loved it and I would like to laugh and be silly. And you know, that was a really good outlet for that. And then that sort of like progressed to doing things on a weekend when I got a bit older. And then sort of I definitely owe a lot to YMT, Youth Music Theatre, because I used to do that. And I was very lucky that I got to do that in the summer holidays because it wasn't even at the time. Like it's not cheap like and there is funding available. So I'd encourage anybody to apply for it as well.

But I was really lucky that I got to do that. So I'd go away for a couple of weeks in the summer and sort of make a musical from scratch. It's all sort of, you know, new stuff put together. And that really taught me quite a lot. And I thought so for a long time, I thought, oh, I'm going to go in training. Like that's where I first met when I was sort of like 15 people who were going to drama school. So it wasn't until then that I realised that you could actually legitimately go and do that. So I don't know if that's quite late compared to other people's experience. But I met people there that were going to go to drama school. I thought, oh, my goodness. And then when I was 16, my dad was like, well, you could go.

Like you could leave school and go for sixth form if you wanted to. And there was no way I was ready. I was very happy to stay in my routine, go to school, do my academic stuff. I couldn't have gone. I was quite young. For 16, there's no way I could have left home and gone then. But that started the conversation about, oh, you can make money like someone like me from like a little village in Leicester, wherever you can go and be what I see on the telly. OK, so I gave it a lot of thought. Put all my eggs in one basket over the next two years. Did some A-levels. I did English literature. I did drama, you know. And then I auditioned for three drama schools, maybe near my family from Bristol. So I went there.

I auditioned Birmingham. It's down the road. I auditioned at RADA because it was. You've got to give it a go. Because it was the famous one. Gotta give it a crack. But I was 17 when I went to that audition. I did all my bits. And at the end they went, actually, how old are you? And I went, oh, I'm 17. They went, OK, lovely to meet you. Thank you very much. And I left and I never heard from them again. But lovely people. Thank you for seeing me. Yes, that was it. And then I got on the BA at Birmingham and I went and I did three years. And honestly, the time of my life. I loved it there. And that was it. So I think possibly quite a traditional route in. I did go to drama school. I know it's not everyone's way, but I loved it.

And then, yeah, moved out of Birmingham, moved to London and just gave it a crack. Done a lot of random jobs in between to try and keep it going. But here we are. And it's working out at the minute. Nice. Comes and goes, doesn't it? Like it does when you're a freelancer. But yeah, it does.

[19:50] Luke Latchman: Is it the same for you, Lou?

[19:52] Luke Latchman: Um, I, so I'm, I'm from quite a, I was a child prodigy. I don't know about you guys. That's quite amazing. I hope this is genuine.

[20:00] Ashley Tucker: Oh, please, carry on.

[20:02] Luke Latchman: I'm not Mark. I'm not Mark.

[20:03] Ashley Tucker: I'm joking.

[20:04] Luke Latchman: Is Mark a child prodigy?

[20:05] Ashley Tucker: Yes.

[20:06] Luke Latchman: He's done so many films.

[20:07] Ashley Tucker: Has he?

[20:08] Luke Latchman: Yeah. He worked with Johnny Depp.

[20:09] Ashley Tucker: He was in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

[20:11] Luke Latchman: Oh my God.

[20:12] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[20:13] Luke Latchman: As a child.

[20:13] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[20:14] Luke Latchman: As a child part, like the main kind of part.

[20:16] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[20:17] Luke Latchman: Wow.

[20:17] Ashley Tucker: I've seen that film and I haven't.

[20:19] Luke Latchman: You would have seen Mark. That means you've seen Mark. I've had texts from people that I've not spoken to for ages about Mark. They've been, I've seen he's such and such from X. Can you say that I love him? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Genuine. I should have got him. He's got a great TV. Yeah. Get rid of you guys. Sorry. I need the name. He's too good for me. He wouldn't come off.

[20:40] Luke Latchman: No Luke, tell us about your child prodigy experience.

[20:44] Luke Latchman: I actually, I lie. I was from a very low income background or I am from a low income background. I know I don't sound like it. It's because my mum worked in like a high end hotel. So she had to fit in with the clientele. So I kind of picked up the voice from her. But she's since slipped back to her roots with her voice a little bit.

[21:02] Ashley Tucker: What are those roots?

[21:03] Luke Latchman: Well, she just sounds a little bit more common.

[21:06] Ashley Tucker: Common?

[21:07] Luke Latchman: I mean, like, where are you from?

[21:09] Ashley Tucker: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[21:11] Luke Latchman: London?

[21:12] Ashley Tucker: Which bit of England?

[21:13] Luke Latchman: We, we, we are from London, but due to domestic violence, we had to move down to Canterbury. Sorry, I say that with a silly voice to avoid the emotional attachment. But yeah, I'm from, I'm from a low income background. I'm sort of single parent background. I saw my dad a lot. He wasn't the bad man. But he would visit a lot. But my mum was the one that raised me. Primary caregiver. She was my primary caregiver. Exactly. I knew from quite a young age that I liked it. And I wanted to do it because I tried loads of school clubs, thanks to my mum. And Stagecoach Performing Arts School Canterbury was the one that stuck for me. And I really enjoyed it. And then Claire Beddoe, one of the teachers there, who has since become the principal there, really looked after me, took me under her wing.

And when I know you can't afford extra training, do you want to come to my school? And I'll, you know, give you some extra training. And so I worked on my dance with her there. I then went to Canterbury College because I didn't get my drama GCSE grade. I completely flummoxed. I grew. No, I'm joking. I completely flummoxed the written part. Oh, I did that. So it dragged my grade down. And the school I wanted to go to was like, you need a B grade to come and study here. And I only got a C grade. So I was like, fine, I'm going to go to Canterbury College and have a wonderful time and just do musical theatre. Yeah, good for you. Not do the English part that I was going to do in A level. And then whilst I was doing that course, I also discovered drama school was a thing.

And was like, oh, I want to do that. That sounds amazing. Auditioned for like three drama schools, didn't get into GSA or Mountview. ArtsEd said, we're starting this new full-time foundation course. It's nine grand for the year and it's just training and there's no qualification at the end. Do you want to do it? And I was like, do I want to? Yes, can I afford to? No. So I was going to go to the university that auditioned for, which was Colchester, I think. And yeah, that's where we started. And then my mum was like, you want to do this as a career, don't you? You've wanted to for a long time. I was like, yes, mum. And she was like, and if you want to do it as a career, you kind of need to go to the ArtsEd one, don't you? And I went, oh, yeah. And she went, okay, well, I don't know how, but let's make it work. Let's do it. So I owe everything to my mum.

[23:47] Claire-Marie Hall: What's your mum's name?

[23:49] Luke Latchman: Amanda, Amanda Roach.

[23:50] Claire-Marie Hall: Thank you, Amanda Roach.

[23:52] Luke Latchman: Yeah, she means everything to me. She really, she's the reason I'm here.

[23:57] Ashley Tucker: Oh, I'm a little woman.

[23:59] Claire-Marie Hall: That's lovely, thank you.

[24:00] Ashley Tucker: Sorry, that was really deep.

[24:02] Claire-Marie Hall: Never apologize for being deep.

[24:06] Ashley Tucker: If anybody knows me at all, I'm at the party and I'm talking about my dead mum. So don't worry about it.

[24:10] Charlie Russell: Don't worry, you're very much in safe hands here and you're very welcome. Thank you for going deep for us.

[24:19] Claire-Marie Hall: And now, Claire, tell us, was it the same?

[24:22] Claire-Marie Hall: It's more like, yeah, quite traditional route. I mean, I think I discovered I could sing when I was in school. My teachers discovered I had this shaky voice. I like to call it, it's like obviously vibrato. And then they kept giving me solos in the school shows. And then my mum like cottoned on and was like, ooh, typical Asian mum, like overachieving. She was like, let's make this a thing. She kept putting me in for talent competitions. My first one, I was dressed as a mermaid. She made me a mermaid costume. I sang part of your world. And I know-

[25:02] Ashley Tucker: Is there footage?

[25:03] Claire-Marie Hall: There's like, I've got a whole like picture of me. I won the competition.

[25:06] Ashley Tucker: Of course you did.

[25:08] Claire-Marie Hall: In my little mermaid costume on the front of our local paper. It's horrendous.

[25:10] Ashley Tucker: Okay, we need the material to go out.

[25:12] Claire-Marie Hall: Oh, we're going to find out the internet. Even like the middle one, there's actually a little spread in the middle with all of us lined up and they never told us we were going to take a picture. There's me in my mermaid outfit with a little jacket that my mum had made me. Cause obviously it was like bikini, I'm 13. So I'd like wandering around and I've got my big glasses on as well. Cause they didn't know that we're going to take a photo. I'm just there like, awful. But I won a scholarship to Stagecoach Performing Arts from that competition. And then it kind of like grew from there. The whole love of performing. Didn't realise I could do it as a career cause I was going to be a lawyer. Again, overachieving family.

We were like, you can be a lawyer or a doctor. What would you like to be? Would you like to go to Cambridge or Oxford? Choose which one you would like. So I was going to go to Cambridge and be a lawyer. And then I think around sort of 17, I realised that it was a viable career option to go and do performing, not just a side hustle. And so yeah. And then kind of convinced my parents to let me do that and try out for some drama colleges. Happened to get into Mountview. And then yeah, went down the whole traditional route of like, kind of, okay, well, let's do this. Let's see where it ends up. And then if it doesn't kind of end up the way I want it to, I can always fall back on being a lawyer. Or my mum still to this day, my mum's like, there's still time to be a lawyer, Claire. I think you might be okay.

[26:27] Luke Latchman: With your CV, I think there's still time.

[26:31] Claire-Marie Hall: I mean, she's not wrong, but that can be the side hustle.

[26:35] Ashley Tucker: Just a little law degree on the side.

[26:37] Claire-Marie Hall: Being a lawyer is a viable side hustle for you.

[26:40] Luke Latchman: That would be outside the realms of overachievement, wouldn't it?

[26:44] Claire-Marie Hall: I'm a really successful performer and also...

[26:46] Ashley Tucker: Don't give my mum ideas.

[26:47] Claire-Marie Hall: Sorry.

[26:49] Ashley Tucker: I've got a couple of, I know two different people who are doctors.

[26:53] Claire-Marie Hall: No, three different people who are doctors as well as performers. And I just think, come on, go away. How do you fit that in, in your time?

[27:01] Luke Latchman: Because lawyers, I do also like people who've gone to do a law degree, started and either finished it and gone, nah, or have stopped halfway through and gone, actually, I want to be an actor. I guess if you're standing up in court, is it a version of performing?

[27:13] Ashley Tucker: Well, I think when I was a kid, I was like, I want to be a police officer. I want to be a lawyer. And...

[27:18] Claire-Marie Hall: I want to be a surgeon and then I realized I wanted to be in The Bill or in Holby City. Like I didn't want to actually do those jobs, I wanted to play those roles. I want to wear the outfit. I want to wear the outfit and the wig and do the thing. Fabulous. Well okay, quickly tell us your role in the show. Obviously you don't have to go into major detail about the plot but tell us who you play, Claire.

[27:44] Claire-Marie Hall: So I play Polly who is Thespis's sister and she's quite like very, very clever, kind of bookish, unconfident. Not confident. She finds herself through the show.

[27:54] Charlie Russell: Oh, I love it. I've seen it three times. I love all those moments. Luke, please.

[27:59] Luke Latchman: I play Atlas who I refer to to my friends and family as the love interest. Yes, that's how I call him and I was reminded very recently that I am the straight character of the piece, meaning that I'm not the comedy, I'm not the playful one. I am the play for the truth and the honesty.

[28:18] Charlie Russell: Well, you're very funny in it.

[28:22] Luke Latchman: I know, thank you very much. As someone who often plays the straight man, it's funny because you've got loads of great gags.

[28:30] Luke Latchman: Yeah, I do. And you are extremely funny but it is true that it really works so beautifully because we attach ourselves to you, I think, as an audience.

[28:37] Charlie Russell: Yeah. Same with Polly. We need those characters to relate to and ground it and you're the heart, you know? And it is very, very effective.

[28:48] Luke Latchman: So although I have really great comedy moments, I've been reminded, don't play into them. Just if they happen, great, but don't force them, which is hard because they're really lovely moments that I really want to play with and I really want to play into.

[29:03] Charlie Russell: The audience are genuinely laughing with you.

[29:05] Luke Latchman: Yeah, and the audience tend to be really on board.

[29:07] Charlie Russell: Well, I think almost maybe they laugh more the straighter you play. You are extremely funny, but you're right, it's about that. It's a tricky note to get. I've had the same. And in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, we always used to say, like, actually, you don't realise because you can't hear a smile and you can't hear the emotional response a lot of the time unless you get an awe, I suppose. But in Pan, you'd be like, oh, they only care about Robert getting stuck in a door.

[29:12] Charlie Russell: Tell us what you do in the show.

[29:36] Luke Latchman: Can I just say, you were phenomenal in that. I've seen you in that and you were phenomenal.

[29:40] Charlie Russell: So yes.

[29:41] Luke Latchman: That's not why I said it, but, you know, you heard it first.

[29:46] Charlie Russell: What a compliment.

[29:47] Ashley Tucker: Yes.

[30:14] Ashley Tucker: My name is Ashley Tucker and I am in the trio of joy that is the ensemble.

[30:19] Ashley Tucker: Oh, you are fantastic. Me and the lovely Joshua Telfoster and Curse Patrick, shout out. My partner's in Pink and Crime. Are the, yeah, three is the magic number, hey. And on top of that, the three of us cover every role in the show.

[30:33] Ashley Tucker: No, no mean feet. So I have, um.

[30:36] Luke Latchman: No, very, very mean feet.

[30:39] Ashley Tucker: Some would say cruel.

[30:42] Ashley Tucker: Yes, I cover all three of the female presenting characters in the show. So Polly, Melampus and Rhapsodies.

[30:49] Charlie Russell: And you were on this week.

[30:50] Ashley Tucker: I was indeed. Yeah, for Melampus. And I, you know, I was thinking about this this morning. I think this is, I wonder if we can find out across the board, but this is, for me, the latest I've ever been on. It's the longest I've ever gone in a mystery show without going on. And I wonder what the track record is.

[31:07] Luke Latchman: That's true, actually. I remember in Bank Robbery, the understudies were like, all right, but we won't like, obviously, it'll be a while before we have to go on.

[31:19] Ashley Tucker: No, we're going to hang someone up a wall.

[31:21] Luke Latchman: First week, and then we're going to drop three more for the ceiling.

[31:23] Ashley Tucker: I think it was the first week or within the first two. And I remember Steve Roston's absolute hero hadn't even done a run.

[31:34] Luke Latchman: Rehearsal started for covers.

[31:36] Ashley Tucker: Well, we would do it. We would sometimes just swap in and out.

[31:38] Luke Latchman: And they were constantly working while we were rehearsing.

[31:41] Ashley Tucker: But obviously, it was an original show. So we were also changing things, trying things all the time. Their job was so difficult.

[31:48] Luke Latchman: Steve went on as Shuck without having ever gone through it and smashed it.

[31:54] Ashley Tucker: There's a lot of fighting in that show.

[31:55] Luke Latchman: It's really physical.

[31:56] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[31:58] Ashley Tucker: It's just like, just don't ever think this is what I mean. I've never understudied, but from the outside, I'd just be like, don't ever think it won't happen.

[32:04] Ashley Tucker: Because whatever you don't want to happen will happen.

[32:11] Luke Latchman: As soon as you get complacent, that's when you end up on, isn't it?

[32:14] Ashley Tucker: As soon as you go, oh, it's fine, I don't. Oh, okay.

[32:18] Luke Latchman: And it will be the day after a big night out.

[32:22] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, it will.

[32:23] Luke Latchman: It will.

[32:24] Ashley Tucker: I am still in trouble for Matt Cavendish getting called in to do Peter Pan Goes Wrong on New Year's Day after I'd plied him with margaritas.

[32:35] Charlie Russell: And I think there should be a public service announcement for the strength of Charlie Russell's margarita is not a normal.

[32:42] Ashley Tucker: Where's the barrel? Can I look directly down the camera? It's not a normal margarita.

[32:46] Charlie Russell: I don't know. It's about 60% stronger. They're very good.

[32:50] Ashley Tucker: They are very good.

[32:52] Charlie Russell: Yes, if you're having one of my margaritas, you will go on the next day.

[32:58] Charlie Russell: Okay, so obviously this is Mischief's first musical. So could you tell us now what the first musical you ever saw was and or your favourite? Who's got one in their minds?

[33:10] Luke Latchman: Yeah, I do.

[33:11] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, my really nice mum and dad. Shout out to my mum and dad for taking me to plays. Mums and dads today.

[33:17] Luke Latchman: Mums and dads, guys.

[33:17] Ashley Tucker: But yeah, my mum booked Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for my 10th birthday. Really great present. Thanks, mum. And we went to the Palladium, as I called it at the time. We went up, we went down to London from Leicester and we went and saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[33:33] Luke Latchman: Oh, you went in style. You actually went to like the West End.

[33:35] Ashley Tucker: We went to the West End and saw the Palladium. And yeah, it was magic. It was really magic. The flying car, the whole thing. I was like, well, I've got to be Trudy Scrumptious, guys. Surely.

[33:42] Luke Latchman: Surely.

[33:44] Ashley Tucker: And my favourite musical is Sweeney Todd.

[33:47] Luke Latchman: Come on.

[33:48] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, I'm a massive, massive Sondheim fan, which is part of the reason I wanted to work on this, because I feel bits of it in Ed's beautiful music.

[33:54] Luke Latchman: That's true.

[33:55] Ashley Tucker: He's such a Sondheim fan. And shout out to our gorgeous director, Robin, who's actually currently working on Sweeney Todd at The Rep at the minute.

[34:02] Luke Latchman: Wow.

[34:03] Ashley Tucker: And I looked the other day, can we get to a show? And we just, it's cross schedules, but it sounds awesome. So that's me.

[34:09] Charlie Russell: That's very cool.

[34:10] Luke Latchman: So cool.

[34:11] Ashley Tucker: Well, I think first of all, one of the shows that got me into the business.

[34:15] Luke Latchman: Yeah.

[34:15] Ashley Tucker: Which was actually, it's the backstage video that I saw. I couldn't, I didn't see the show until like years later, but it was the backstage kind of documentary of Miss Saigon called The Heat Is On. And I had it on VHS and my mum bought it for me. I remember just watching Lea Salonga like audition. It was just like backstage auditions and like talks with the creatives and stuff. And I was like, I want to be her. I have no idea what this show is about, but I just want to be her.

[34:38] Luke Latchman: So cool.

[34:38] Ashley Tucker: So yeah, that's, yeah.

[34:39] Luke Latchman: Didn't you pick up something at the flea market?

[34:42] Ashley Tucker: Oh, at the flea market?

[34:44] Luke Latchman: When you were on Broadway, wasn't there a bit of something that you got?

[34:47] Ashley Tucker: Well, I got one of the original posters from the Broadway show. Also, I met Lea Salonga. She's like, what's it called? Yeah, she's one of my absolute idols. But yeah, so that was one of my favourite shows kind of growing up. My actual, I don't know what my favourite show is now though.

[35:01] Charlie Russell: Yeah.

[35:01] Ashley Tucker: Anything new.

[35:02] Luke Latchman: Anything new.

[35:03] Ashley Tucker: Guys, dreams can come true.

[35:05] Charlie Russell: That's so cute.

[35:07] Ashley Tucker: Look at me, babe.

[35:08] Luke Latchman: I'm with you.

[35:10] Ashley Tucker: Hello.

[35:11] Claire-Marie Hall: I grew up watching all the pantomimes at the Canterbury Marlowe. So I assume that would have been my first live.

[35:17] Luke Latchman: Shout out to Pantomime.

[35:18] Claire-Marie Hall: Oh yeah. It was my first experience of theatre.

[35:20] Luke Latchman: Me too.

[35:21] Claire-Marie Hall: An absolute legend of a dame who sadly is dead now. But he was amazing growing up. Dave Lee was his name.

[35:27] Luke Latchman: So you always remember your first dame, don't you?

[35:31] Claire-Marie Hall: It happened like a dame.

[35:33] Luke Latchman: That's true.

[35:33] Claire-Marie Hall: That is true.

[35:34] Ashley Tucker: Cut that bit for special.

[35:37] Claire-Marie Hall: You always remember your first dame.

[35:39] Ashley Tucker: But really, it was Chicago, the film.

[35:42] Luke Latchman: Oh yes, Chicago.

[35:46] Ashley Tucker: That is the second person, that is the second Chicago reference I've heard today.

[35:50] Luke Latchman: Oh really?

[35:51] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[35:51] Luke Latchman: What was the first?

[35:52] Ashley Tucker: Helen.

[35:53] Luke Latchman: It was the first musical Helen saw.

[35:55] Ashley Tucker: No way.

[35:56] Luke Latchman: Oh wow.

[35:57] Ashley Tucker: Well, I saw the film, which arguably might be better than the musical.

[36:01] Luke Latchman: The film is good.

[36:03] Ashley Tucker: I really liked the film.

[36:04] Luke Latchman: It's so good.

[36:05] Ashley Tucker: And I played those songs to death in the car.

[36:08] Luke Latchman: My god, my brother to this day cannot stand any of those songs.

[36:13] Ashley Tucker: What does he do?

[36:16] Luke Latchman: He does stuff.

[36:19] Ashley Tucker: I'm sorry. Is he in the mafia?

[36:22] Luke Latchman: I'm saying spy.

[36:24] Ashley Tucker: Am I five? Or is it one of those jobs where you can't ask again?

[36:27] Luke Latchman: Do you know what he mostly does?

[36:29] Ashley Tucker: He mostly plays a lot of video games.

[36:31] Luke Latchman: Nice.

[36:33] Ashley Tucker: That's his lifestyle.

[36:35] Luke Latchman: Hours and hours of video games.

[36:36] Ashley Tucker: As soon as I say, because I play a lot of video games as well. And as soon as I say to him, I've played like 130 hours on The Witcher now.

[36:42] Luke Latchman: He's like, amateur.

[36:44] Ashley Tucker: I've played 300 hours in the past four weeks on this game.

[36:47] Luke Latchman: And I'm like, right.

[36:49] Ashley Tucker: That's commitment.

[36:50] Luke Latchman: Okay.

[36:50] Ashley Tucker: Not sure that's a brag.

[36:52] Luke Latchman: That's far more than.

[36:54] Ashley Tucker: I'm going to do the maths on that later.

[36:55] Luke Latchman: You think I have a problem?

[36:56] Ashley Tucker: Like he, and World of Warcraft is the one that he's played the most.

[37:01] Luke Latchman: And he has literally weeks of gameplay time on that game.

[37:05] Ashley Tucker: Like weeks of his life.

[37:07] Luke Latchman: Sorry, but anyway, anyway.

[37:09] Ashley Tucker: Whatever floats your boat, honestly.

[37:10] Luke Latchman: Yeah.

[37:10] Ashley Tucker: But he's still mad about Chicago.

[37:12] Luke Latchman: He still hates Chicago.

[37:15] Ashley Tucker: And in terms of favourite show, I wouldn't necessarily say I have a favourite favourite. But one that made such an impact on me that I love to this day is Billy Elliot.

[37:25] Luke Latchman: I'm such a fan of Billy Elliot.

[37:27] Ashley Tucker: He's coming back.

[37:28] Luke Latchman: It is.

[37:29] Ashley Tucker: And Chris Grahamson, I worked with him on Now That's What I Call A Musical, which is the job I booked when I didn't book Play That Goes Wrong. And it all worked out.

[37:35] Luke Latchman: Yeah, it all worked out.

[37:37] Ashley Tucker: About halfway through the contract, I found out that he's the brother in the filmed version of Billy Elliot.

[37:41] Luke Latchman: Oh, go on.

[37:43] Ashley Tucker: And I watched him a few times. And then I watched it again. I was like, he's so cool. And I'm working with him.

[37:48] Luke Latchman: That's so exciting.

[37:49] Ashley Tucker: That's wicked.

[37:50] Luke Latchman: Dreams are coming true.

[37:51] Ashley Tucker: Yes, that was really cool.

[37:54] Ashley Tucker: I've still never seen the stage version.

[37:56] Luke Latchman: I loved the film.

[37:57] Ashley Tucker: It's really my favourite.

[37:57] Luke Latchman: I don't think I've seen the film.

[37:58] Ashley Tucker: We'll go.

[37:59] Luke Latchman: I think I've only seen the stage version.

[38:01] Ashley Tucker: Bowie!

[38:01] Luke Latchman: The film's great.

[38:03] Ashley Tucker: I'm sorry, guys.

[38:03] Luke Latchman: Oi, dancing boy!

[38:05] Ashley Tucker: So good.

[38:06] Luke Latchman: Oh, that was a dreadful accent I'm going to get.

[38:08] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, no, I did a really bad one as well.

[38:10] Luke Latchman: It's okay, we'll cut it.

[38:11] Ashley Tucker: But we'll go.

[38:12] Luke Latchman: We should go.

[38:12] Ashley Tucker: I would love to see it.

[38:14] Luke Latchman: I would love to see it.

[38:15] Ashley Tucker: Oh, I've been watching so much content of those kids getting cast in that show. I just love it.

[38:19] Luke Latchman: How stressful.

[38:20] Ashley Tucker: Performing kids.

[38:21] Luke Latchman: Oh, I love it.

[38:21] Ashley Tucker: If I go and see Matilda, I cry.

[38:24] Luke Latchman: They're such a good show.

[38:27] Ashley Tucker: They're one of my favourites.

[38:28] Luke Latchman: I'm a huge Tim Minchin fan.

[38:30] Ashley Tucker: I've loved his material since before Matilda.

[38:33] Luke Latchman: And so, oh my goodness, the way he writes.

[38:36] Ashley Tucker: The lyrics are so clever. I just love it.

[38:38] Luke Latchman: Choir is one of my favourite musical theatre songs of all time.

[38:40] Ashley Tucker: As in the one that Matilda sings.

[38:42] Luke Latchman: Yeah.

[38:42] Ashley Tucker: Oh, it's just so, so gorgeous.

[38:45] Luke Latchman: And did you ever see Groundhog Day?

[38:48] Ashley Tucker: Yes, that's so good as well.

[38:49] Luke Latchman: I never got to it.

[38:50] Ashley Tucker: Me either.

[38:50] Luke Latchman: I never saw it.

[38:51] Ashley Tucker: I saw it last year though.

[38:53] Luke Latchman: The revival of it that they did.

[38:54] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, it was only recent, wasn't it?

[38:56] Luke Latchman: It was like two years ago, I can't remember.

[38:59] Ashley Tucker: Oh, yeah, it was a couple of years ago.

[39:01] Luke Latchman: I saw it on Broadway.

[39:05] Ashley Tucker: But it had been in the UK before.

[39:07] Luke Latchman: You would have seen my friend in it.

[39:09] Ashley Tucker: Sorry.

[39:09] Luke Latchman: Oh, really?

[39:09] Ashley Tucker: She would have played, is it Nancy?

[39:11] Luke Latchman: Oh yeah.

[39:11] Ashley Tucker: She was all using Sissolo in it.

[39:12] Luke Latchman: Yeah.

[39:13] Ashley Tucker: She was in High School Musical with me here.

[39:15] Luke Latchman: And then she did it on Broadway over there.

[39:17] Ashley Tucker: Oh, go on.

[39:17] Luke Latchman: She was brilliant.

[39:18] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[39:19] Ashley Tucker: And they all...

[39:19] Luke Latchman: Rebecca Falkenroot.

[39:20] Ashley Tucker: Come on.

[39:21] Luke Latchman: And they were all brilliant.

[39:22] Ashley Tucker: And even now, if I listen to the music, there's something that happens.

[39:26] Luke Latchman: All these tears just start forming behind my eyes.

[39:29] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[39:30] Ashley Tucker: I met the original Miss Honey once in the bathrooms of a rehearsal room.

[39:33] Ashley Tucker: And I thought, this is weird. We just stood there washing our hands. And I was like, I have to tell her. Because obviously, I was at school down the road from Stratford.

[39:40] Ashley Tucker: And so I went and saw it when it was first out. And I was just obsessed. And I just think Miss Honey is such a brilliant part. And she was so great. So I did that fangirl thing.

[39:48] Ashley Tucker: I waited for like a minute. And I was like, I'm really sorry. I just think you're really good. I actually love that show. Thank you so much for being in it.

[39:54] Ashley Tucker: I'd actually booked one of his gigs, his own shows.

[39:57] Luke Latchman: As in Tim?

[39:58] Ashley Tucker: Yeah.

[39:58] Luke Latchman: And we missed it.

[40:00] Ashley Tucker: Me and my two friends, Katie and Helen, we were supposed to go. We missed it because we had a performance at drama school.

[40:05] Luke Latchman: And he did a Q&A one night at the RSC after the show.

[40:08] Ashley Tucker: No, you missed that?

[40:09] Luke Latchman: So I went to the Q&A after a night of Matilda. He was talking about the music and whatever, and how he wrote it, and the alphabet song and all of that.

[40:16] Ashley Tucker: So afterwards, I asked him to sign my program. And I said, look, we were supposed to be coming to see you in your concert. And we can't because we're at drama school. We're doing a show. But I just think this is amazing. And I think you're great. Congrats. And sorry, we're going to miss it.

[40:28] Luke Latchman: And he was so nice.

[40:30] Ashley Tucker: He was like, oh, guys, you're doing it. You're out there doing it. Like, you know, I won't kill this with another dreadful accent. But yeah, he was so lovely and really sort of encouraging.

[40:39] Luke Latchman: Oh, I love that.

[40:40] Ashley Tucker: Given that we had to give the tickets away. I'm such a fan. I think he's amazing.

[40:58] Ashley Tucker: How do you find it when you've done the show and people come up to you to tell you what they think, if it's nice in particular? It's nice, it's great. I mean, it's really lovely. It's like, that's exactly what we do at the same time. How I was with Lea Salonga, I still can't talk to her. I'm like, hi, you're amazing. But yeah, genuinely, that's the whole reason you get into this business, isn't it? To make people happy.

[41:26] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, exactly.

[41:29] Ashley Tucker: Oh, not for the adoration. I thought that's what you were saying.

[41:32] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, I like compliments, thank you. That's the reason we get into this, so that people can compliment me. More like I'm saying, you look up to people that got you into this business. So there are people that you would have gone and paid respect to. And so it's so nice that people are coming and saying that you, especially the people that have gone on to do something in the career as well. It's like, oh, you've inspired me to do this or that. I think that's so lovely.

[41:55] Ashley Tucker: Oh, I know, I cry. Even just people that appreciate the work. That's why we're putting it out there. I just love people taking the time to wait.

[42:02] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, I actually haven't really experienced it like this until I worked for you guys this year. And oh my goodness, I've never known anything like the amazing people that waited outside the Noel Coward when we're doing comedy about spies. It's unbelievable. The fandom that you guys have created, like you have, is just, but every, it's such, it's, I mean, I've only had this year's experience of it being with you. But for me, it seems like it's only like, it's so positive. The sort of people that stand and wait are just so...

[42:26] Ashley Tucker: Well, it does take a special kind of person to stand and wait to be mean. And so I'm glad people don't do that. That would take a lot of effort, but it is lovely, isn't it? When they come and wait, I always worry because the only thing I think is that sometimes after you've done a show, if you've done two shows that day and maybe you're not very well or something else is going on in your life, I sometimes feel a pressure that I can't deliver what they want. Like, like with Tim Minchin, you're like, oh my God, and he was so lovely. But what if I'm just having one of those days? I had had a breakup during spies and I was quite emotional. And so I was like, oh, I'm a bit, I can't really do it. And I felt really stressed about not delivering.

[43:12] Claire-Marie Hall: You're worried about being a disappointment.

[43:12] Ashley Tucker: Yeah. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I really appreciate now people saying like, are you in the mood for a hug? Like, are you in that space today? I really loved that change because sometimes when you're hugged and you're not ready for it, or if you weren't in that place, like you can be a bit overwhelmed. But generally, everybody who waits is so kind. I just, maybe it's just my way of saying, I'm so sorry if I wasn't 10 out of 10 that day that you came and said hello.

[43:38] Claire-Marie Hall: Oh, so you are human.

[43:39] Ashley Tucker: Yeah. And if you're ill, like, I don't want to make somebody ill. It's so funny, but it is, it really means a lot. And like, you remember that you're still that person that goes up to somebody else and says, I'm so sorry. I just have to tell you like, you're fantastic. We're all the same. I've done that quite a few times before where I've waited after a show to just go, you don't know me, but I really liked what you did. You were brilliant. Thank you. Bye. I love that.

[44:05] Claire-Marie Hall: And you lot handle it so gracefully as well. I think like, cause it, there is, I don't know if you've seen a massive change, but I certainly, it feels like, like, since you've had all the stuff on the telly and the TV show and whatever, there's a massive uptick in the amount of people that know who you are. I've been out with Henry Lewis on tour and my female experience of being, have things shouting out of a car window as someone drives past is quite different to what happened to me being out with Henry Lewis, which was just, here mate, I absolutely love the show. Driving straight in the way down the road and Henry being the lovely man, he was like, oh, thank you. Thank you so much. And I'm like, dude, you're famous.

[44:44] Ashley Tucker: But it's also the power, you're right, of like putting theatre onto screen. Because I was saying in one of the other podcasts that I really remember having the VHS of Cats and I did not understand that show. But I would spend hours, quite literally, I mean, think about Thespians, that joke makes me laugh, it was very popular. I was obsessed. And I would just be in the living room pretending to be a cat for like hours alongside the video playing. And I came up with all these backstories for all the different characters to try and make, you're trying to make my story brain was like, those two are dating.

[45:19] Claire-Marie Hall: But it is stuff like that. And you watching a backstage video, I know, I've missed Saigon. And then like, yeah, I put in the Goes Wrong show on TV, or like the VHS is you out of Chicago and like, guys, the first time I saw Phantom, the only time I've seen Phantom was in the cinema. Actually, we've got to make sure we do that sometimes just because it's not always easy to get to the theatre. And if you don't have loads of money, like actually, well, not VHS anymore. But like, oh, I love the new age accessibility of theatre. National Theatre at Home, for example. So good. I'm really here for it. And I think it's a real shame that the theatre productions that we've done in the past, some of them just, it just feels like they don't exist anymore. They just vanish from it. And to just have even just a stilted recording from the front, like ones that dance captains use just something like that would be so lovely.

[46:11] Ashley Tucker: Sorry, to go back to the, I actually I find it quite hard to process what people are saying to me in real time. I think sometimes I like stage door.

[46:22] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, I think I'm a little bit slow with the thank you so much. What was that? So I actually love it when I get a message like on Instagram, like I get home and I see in my request and it's just like a really nice message. Just want to say I came to the show really enjoyed it. Thought you were great. Well done like that. That for me is really wholesome and fulfilling. And a good reminder as well to like, if anyone does wait that exactly we're human, and maybe we've just done a show. So we're not always ready to like engage. And maybe also if something happened to you, just like thinking about that. But don't, don't think it's not appreciated.

[46:58] Ashley Tucker: Yeah. And if it's maybe not, absolutely. And I try to really engage with everyone. But I just think I, I just can't keep up with the really excited, like, it's a really excitable energy. And I've just finished work. So I'm in a kind of like, really winding mellow, chill, ready for my PlayStation. And so to just kind of be met with energy, sometimes I'm like, I don't know what to do with this. And yes, thank you very much.

[47:20] Claire-Marie Hall: Yeah, it is. It's a weird one. I'm still for me, I'm still like, on a journey with that experience, because it wasn't something I ever thought would happen necessarily. Like I think the child in me thought, yes, yes, I'll win Oscars. And then the other part of me is like, no, I just want to be a working actor. And you don't, you forget that people are watching.

[47:42] Ashley Tucker: Okay, so two quickfire questions. Thinking of Thespians, what is the first word that comes to mind? Go.

[47:52] Claire-Marie Hall: Fresher.

[47:52] Ashley Tucker: Camp.

[47:52] Luke Latchman: Camp. Big fan. Big fan of that.

[47:55] Claire-Marie Hall: Shiny.

[47:56] Ashley Tucker: Skirts.

[47:56] Luke Latchman: Skirts. I don't know. I don't like condensing things. Busy.

[48:01] Ashley Tucker: Long.

[48:01] Claire-Marie Hall: Hard.

[48:10] Luke Latchman: Fun.

[48:12] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, so much fun.

[48:12] Claire-Marie Hall: All right. And now I've been asking everybody this, obviously, Thespians is set in ancient Greece, and you've got the different gods of everything, including the god of grape and wine. If you were the god of anything, we've had the god of sandwiches, just putting that out there.

[48:28] Ashley Tucker: Oh, that's a good one.

[48:29] Luke Latchman: Yeah, right. Imagine. That's your thing. What would you imagine yourself to be the god of?

[48:36] Claire-Marie Hall: Dogs.

[48:38] Ashley Tucker: Dogs. The god of dogs.

[48:39] Luke Latchman: I got in there first. I would like to be the god of dogs.

[48:43] Ashley Tucker: Big dog fan?

[48:44] Claire-Marie Hall: All the dogs. Yes. Yeah. I'm a big animal fan. But yeah, dogs in particular. Give me the dogs.

[48:50] Ashley Tucker: Yes. This is god of dogs. And also dog and god are the same word.

[48:55] Claire-Marie Hall: Oh, yes! It was meant to be!

[48:58] Ashley Tucker: Is it a palindrome?

[49:00] Luke Latchman: No. Same as it is backwards as it is forwards.

[49:02] Ashley Tucker: Yeah, so that would be gog or dog.

[49:05] Charlie Russell: Thank you, Charlie.

[49:07] Ashley Tucker: No. Who are you going to be the god of?

[49:10] Luke Latchman: Sleep.

[49:10] Ashley Tucker: Sleep? The god of sleep?

[49:12] Luke Latchman: Yeah. Look, if I could grant you, yeah, if I could grant you a really decent night's sleep, wouldn't that be so useful? But also taking away a good night's sleep to your enemies.

[49:21] Ashley Tucker: Cruel.

[49:22] Luke Latchman: Unfortunately, the god of sleep is taken.

[49:24] Ashley Tucker: He's taken. So if that slot's not open...

[49:26] Luke Latchman: I want to say hypnos.

[49:27] Ashley Tucker: Well, I think...

[49:28] Luke Latchman: You can be hypnos.

[49:30] Ashley Tucker: Okay. All right. Well, maybe they'll do like a job share.

[49:32] Luke Latchman: We're just going to make up the rooms.

[49:33] Ashley Tucker: Yes, that's what I'm doing.

[49:36] Claire-Marie Hall: We have learned that Luke lacks structure.

[49:38] Ashley Tucker: Is the god of dogs shaken?

[49:38] Luke Latchman: I actually don't know. I don't know if there's a god of dogs in Greek mythology. Obviously, you've got... Is it Anubis in Egyptian mythology?

[49:45] Ashley Tucker: Can I swap? I want to swap franchises. Can I go Norse? I want to be Loki. Come on.

[49:51] Luke Latchman: Can I fight Henry Lewis for god of mischief?

[49:55] Ashley Tucker: I think god of sleep, but maybe you're like the god of a good night's sleep.

[49:59] Claire-Marie Hall: Or naps.

[50:00] Ashley Tucker: God of naps.

[50:01] Luke Latchman: God of naps is a good one.

[50:02] Ashley Tucker: God of naps is a good one.

[50:03] Luke Latchman: Child of hypnos.

[50:04] Ashley Tucker: You do love a nap. And you can bloody nap anywhere.

[50:06] Luke Latchman: Baby hypnos can't have that one.

[50:07] Ashley Tucker: Love that nap.

[50:08] Luke Latchman: Yeah. Missed you four show weekend. You should see me nap under a dressing room table.

[50:12] Ashley Tucker: I have. I have. It's been great. I've watched you like a creep.

[50:18] Claire-Marie Hall: It's a bit obvious, but I think I'd love to be the god of games.

[50:21] Luke Latchman: Like PlayStation games? Or any game?

[50:23] Claire-Marie Hall: If we're going to be specific, it would be computer games. It would be video games, if you will.

[50:27] Luke Latchman: Oh, I like that. I will.

[50:29] Ashley Tucker: Oh, big fan.

[50:30] Luke Latchman: Allow it.

[50:31] Ashley Tucker: I'll allow it. I will allow it.

[50:33] Claire-Marie Hall: What about you, Charlie?

[50:34] Charlie Russell: Yeah.

[50:36] Ashley Tucker: Putting it back on you.

[50:37] Charlie Russell: Oh, okay. I was thinking about... So it's because I think of it as probably being my specialist subject on Mastermind. Can I be the god of the archers?

[50:50] Luke Latchman: Oh, of course you would be.

[50:51] Charlie Russell: The Radio 4 serial.

[50:53] Luke Latchman: The Radio 4 programme.

[50:54] Charlie Russell: Yeah. I've been listening to the archers. So my mum used to listen. So when I was a kid, my mum would listen. And so I heard it in the background. And then... So my mum died when I was 18. And then a couple of years later, I'm doing the play that goes wrong for the first time. And my alarm clock, my alarm time changes from 8am to 10am. And then I start listening to like Radio 4 in the morning. And then it's on in the background because I didn't have a TV. So I start listening to the archers again. And when we went to Broadway, it was like, I'd go where I felt a bit homesick. It's the accent. I used to love getting to see Radio 2 on. Yeah. And like, you feel a bit homesick. And you just fancy that sort of connection.

[51:39] Ashley Tucker: And it's a connection to my mum. And then also with my eldest auntie, we like still text about it. And then I actually did a podcast during lockdown with my friend George, who from Grown Ups and Play That Goes Wrong, about the archers, just talking about the week's episodes to kind of keep us going. And I'm obsessed. I'm going to try and go and see the big... It's having a show and it's on tour.

[52:02] Luke Latchman: We need to get you on it.

[52:03] Charlie Russell: Oh, I'm dying!

[52:05] Ashley Tucker: Lee's going to be on the archers!

[52:07] Charlie Russell: Hello, Radio 4. This is Charlie Russell. She has an excellent voice. She knows everything there is to know about the archers. She doesn't need to review the last 60...

[52:15] Luke Latchman: How old is it?

[52:16] Charlie Russell: It's the oldest running soap in the world. Because it started like in the 50s, I think. And it was partly to educate people about farming through like storylines. There'd be lots of storylines about, you know, keeping your crops well looked after or like biodiversity or biohazards and that kind of thing. But then since then, they've done stories about domestic violence in the countryside. They've done, you know, stories with LGBTQIA characters to help everybody understand more. There was this really great bit where a Christian family and a Muslim family were living together around the time of Ramadan. And so the Christian family were learning about Ramadan and getting involved. And I actually think it's brilliant.

It's not like a weird irony. I'm obsessed. This is the plug. Put her in the show. Please, can I be in the archers? And I'll be the god of the archers. Can we start a hashtag, still a thing? Can we start a hashtag? Get Charlie Russell's the archers. Please!

[53:23] Ashley Tucker: Oh my god! It's giving podcasts before podcasts were cool. Like it sounds really informative. It sounds like a dramatized podcast. And I love a bit of drama and like story. And I always read fiction books. I don't watch documentaries very much. I don't read non-fiction books. I just like a bit of story. So yeah. And there's an accompanying podcast on the BBC. And I really want to be part of that.

[53:51] Charlie Russell: Okay, enough of me. Thank you all so much for coming on the Mischief Makers podcast.

[53:56] Ashley Tucker: Thank you for having me.

[53:57] Claire-Marie Hall: I've had a lovely time.

[53:59] Luke Latchman: It's been an absolute treat.

[54:01] Charlie Russell: Thank you for all your stories, all your honesty, all your joy. If you want to find out about anything we've talked about, like the Goes Wrong show, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Play That Goes Wrong, Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, which Ashley will be starring in on the UK tour as Sandra. Hello Sandra, baby! And we have the comedy about spies coming back. You can find out all the information on mischiefcomedy.com. Thank you so much for listening. Goodbye.