Quines Cast podcast looks for more success with second season

Quines Cast, run by intersectional feminist theatre company Stellar Quines, takes a different theme at every show and brings together a wide variety of artists to discuss the topic from a feminist perspective.

Speaking to the Sunday National, artistic director of Stellar Quines Caitlin Skinner said: “The company is celebrating its 30th birthday this year so it’s a unique position.

“We work to champion the work of women, girls and non-binary people. We’re interested in the role that theatre has to play in gender justice and particularly I guess how gender overlaps with social inequality and social justice.”

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Throughout May and June, Skinner and her co-host Hannah Lavery recorded four live shows on a variety of topics – riot, loss, pleasure and education.

Skinner explains that the show “isn’t your average sit-down chat and interview podcast” but is more akin to a “cabaret night” that brings together lots of different artistic voices in response to the theme in question.

Among the guests this season are Scottish poet Liz Lochhead and drag performer Nelly Kelly while in the past there have been appearances from author Denise Mina along with a host of others.

Skinner explains that she joined the company as the country started coming out of Covid.

“We had an opportunity to rebrand as a company and lean into our politics a bit more – what does gender equality look like for the theatre sector in terms of getting women working and getting them on stage?

The show sees a wide variety of acts perform (Image: Kat Gollock)

“What’s our role in that bigger conversation? We’ve been able to have that conversation quite literally with artists and the general public about the state of the nation so it’s been a key project for us.”

On the format, Lavery explained: “We open with a reflection on the theme and then we move onto people who respond. We have a musician; we also commission a play and have a drama in the middle and we usually have a poet or writer interweaved throughout.”

Stellar Quines also pre-records a discussion with a group of women with backgrounds in activism, academia, health, social services and culture. 

“Each podcast has a structure with the reflection and the discussion group. The artists are recorded live but then our part is recorded later.”

Having already completed one season, the hosts are looking forward to the full release of the second and the confidence that has come with that.

Lavery continued: “It feels bedded in now, we know how it works and we have a confidence that comes with that.

“I think what was wonderful in season one was that we had this idea and we had very broad themes that allowed people to respond in the way they want.

“What I found exciting about it all was bringing together a group of women and seeing that these themes mean to them.”

Skinner echoes her co-host's thoughts, explaining that finding that format for the first season worked so well that it’s now about developing the project further rather than a complete overhaul.

“There isn’t anything like this out there. Gender inequality exists and it needs to change and for this to be expressed through a mixture of art and conversation”, she added.

“We have more confidence with it and can play with it. We learned that we loved the way we did it the first time around so it’s definitely about going deeper rather than a gear shift.

“We get to meet all these different audiences and get to be in different places and appeal to people interested in a wide variety of things."

The first series of Quines Cast is available on Spotify now and the second season will be released weekly throughout July across all usual podcast streaming platforms.