Play Ground

Step 1) Nuclear MeltdownStep 2) Gang Warfare Over Simpsons QuotesStep 3) ????Step 4) The Greatest Story Ever ToldIf you're not familiar with the play of post-apocalyptic pop-culture mythology, prepare to have your mind blown, as we discuss Anne Washburn's play all about The Simpsons and the fusion of high/low art.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visi

Despite the characters explicitly talking about the cold all the time, prepare to hear about some very hot and sweaty goings on in this William's classic. When a young hot guy walks into a Southern town that's afraid of hot people, there's prejudice and hatred to deal with on top of all the wild animal metaphors that Tennessee loves so much.We discuss why the town i

Up front:1) TW, this episode contains quite frank discussions of a variety of grisly topics, including sexual assault and suicide.2) This podcast is about the original play, NOT the musical version (though we do of course mention the musical as how could you not!? In particular the recent Almeida production which, spoiler alert, we love)Have some feedback? A play you'd like us

It was inevitable that at some point we'd bump into the bard on our ever winding theatrical-textual journey, and we do so what in our un-researched opinion is 'one of the more obscure ones.' Cymbeline is a play about a young couple who vow their love to each other but then hate each other but then don't really and also this horrible man named Cloten who is an id

You Stupid Darkness! takes us into the world of Brightline, a call centre for those who need to talk to someone about their problems, and the 4 volunteers who answer those calls late at night. Meet Frances, Angie, Jon, and Joey the work experience boy, as they navigate life and each other.Oh, and also the apocalypse is in full swing.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to

The Flick is a 2013 play set in a cinema, in which you the audience sit where the screen is and watch as three employees get into some serious sweeping. This often silent and uneventful play is brim full of sad heartfelt characters, musings on what it means to be a grown up, and terrible opinions about films.Also discussed:- The power of celluloid film- MonkeysHave some feedback? A

The Hothouse (so called because the house is...hot?) is a 1980 play by Harold Pinter which was actually written in 1958, but still has his signature style of heightened language, biting edge and yes, lots of famous pauses. It's been a while since we did one of these, so there's lots of catching up to do on theatre and genre-based theatre, as well as a deep dive into the c

Six Characters is a modern classic. Or maybe just a classic. It's hard to know where the age boundaries for those things are. Either way in this play Pirandello brings an early example of going full meta in theatre, introducing a rehearsal room full of actors (and maybe the real director, stage manager and technician) to a group of fictional characters that have come to life a

The Woods is poetry on the stage. Okay, so all plays are poetry on the stage, but this one even more so. Inhabiting an American woodland and also a British kitchen, our protagonist 'The Woman' is continually haunted by 'The Wolf,' an evil figure who may be her son that was, or an abusive partner, or her inner psyche, or the outside world, or probably all of thes

This is the second in McCraney's 'Brother Sister Plays' trilogy, though is the first one he wrote. Drawing on Yoruba cosmology transposed into present day Louisiana, The Brothers Size is a poetic yet brutally grounded story of two brothers trying to reconnect after one returns from a stint in prison. Emotions abound.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to co