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2016 Interview

Contains audio clips and transcript extracts from a 2016 interview in which Gillian Hanna and Mary McCusker look back at the development and achievements of the company.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
WOMEN ACTORS IN THE 1970s. Mary McCusker talks about some of her experiences as an actor in the 1970s.
A PERFORMERS' COLLECTIVE
MUSIC IN THE EARLY SHOWS
WORKING AS A COLLECTIVE. Mary McCusker and Gillian Hanna discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of the company's collective decision-making.
STAGE INVASION AT LEEDS
LEEDS STAGE INVASION. Mary McCusker describes a notorious episode in the company's history, in 1978, when the stage was invaded during a performance of Time, Gentlemen, Please.
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES I AND II
ANGELA HOPKINS AS DIRECTOR. Gillian Hanna pays tribute to Angela Hopkins, who directed the second version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1979-80)
'THE EXECUTION' AND THE COLLECTIVE
TOURING 'CALAMITY'
CHANGES IN THE 1980s
'MY SISTER' AT HAMPSTEAD. Gillian Hanna and Mary McCusker discuss how Hampstead Theatre's publicity concealed the fact that this was a Monstrous Regiment production.
The shift to an artistic director
ARTISTIC IDENTITY OF THE COMPANY. Mary McCusker and Gillian Hanna talk about the problems for the company's artistic identity in the mid-1980s, without a permanent group of performers or an artistic director.
IMPACT AND LEGACY
COMPANY RETROSPECT. The interviewers and interviewed reflect on the company's contribution to improving the position of women in theatre.