Opera is Like Boxing

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! In today’s episode, we step into the ring… or rather, the opera house. And trust us, by the end, you’ll see they might just be the same thing.

First up, we kick things off with a Looney Tunes twist in Stump the Room: Bugs Bunny Meets Opera Edition. Can you tell your Wagnerian heroines from your Saturday morning demons?

Then, our host Kevin Bennett is joined by Thomas Guthrie - opera director, writer, composer, and founder of the charity Music and Theatre for All. Kevin challenges Tom to convince him that opera isn’t just about powdered wigs and posh intervals but is something raw, real, and resonant.

Then, we visit the vibrant heart of Lewisham with our Parish Notices, where guest correspondent Vicky Annand brings us stories of connection and creativity from the local community. 

Later in the show, Kevin shares a personal piece titled ‘The Weird Sister’, a true story from his time running a Shakespeare collective in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. It’s about trust, transformation, and how one woman, through the words of the Porter in Macbeth, found her voice in an unexpected place.

And finally, it’s time to hang upside down - literally. Archie McAlpine returns with Neuro Nuggets, offering a curious brain hack about blood flow and perspective that’s part gym trick, part neuroscience. You can learn more about Archie’s work here.

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Links:

Find out more about Thomas Guthrie

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(01:27) Stump the Room

(02:44) Tom Guthrie Interview

(45:13) Parish Notices

(51:11) The Weird Sister

(59:30) Archie’s Neuro Nugget

(1:00:51) Stump The Room Answers

(1:04:41) Outro

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Hosted & Exec Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Assistant Produced by Adam Wright

And a big thanks to Vicky Annand, our guest correspondent