BITE THE HAND by Ara Watson (Summer 2022 Re-Release)

In this week's summer re-release, we're doing a bit of time travel. It’s a balmy night in the post-WWII Ozarks, and a young woman is leaving behind her life as a "lady of the evening" for an offer of marriage. Then a client shows up with some jaw-dropping news.

Oscar-winner Chris Cooper (A Doll’s House, Part 2, Adaptation, American Beauty), Emmy-winner Margo Martindale (“The Good Wife”, "The Americans," "Justified") and Broadway’s Liv Rooth (SURE THING, To Kill a Mockingbird, Venus in Fur) star in BITE THE HAND, Ara Watson’s (A Different Moon) potent classic, directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes (SOMETHING I'LL TELL YOU TUESDAY, Doubt). Stay tuned after the performance for an animated conversation with Watson and the cast moderated by Playing On Air founder and consulting director Claudia Catania.

Listen on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 40 Seconds]

Gun Show by David Auburn (Summer 2022 Re-Release)

From David Auburn, Pulitzer and Tony winner for PROOF, comes a riveting, witty world-premiere commission for Playing on Air: GUN SHOW. In the aftershock of a national tragedy, a congenial double-date morphs into a battle of the sexes. As tempers blaze, two couples must reconsider the possibility of safety in a divided nation. Along with Emmy winners Bobby Cannavale (“Will & Grace,” “Boardwalk Empire”) and Martha Plimpton (triple Tony nominee, “The Real O’Neals,” “The Good Wife”), the star cast features Eisa Davis, David Furr, and Lucy DeVito. Gun Show was directed by Wendy Goldberg and performed in front of a live audience at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. After the play, host Claudia Catania talks shop with the entire creative team.

Gun Show was commissioned by Playing on Air with the support of The Gilchrist Foundation and Phyllis and Joel Ehrlich.

Download on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 56 Seconds]

THANKSGIVING FOR ONE by Hamish Linklater (Re-Release)

After his hit NUDITY RIDER, OBIE winner Hamish Linklater returns for another helping of irresistible comedy: the world-premiere commission THANKSGIVING FOR ONE.

Marjorie Mumms (Jean Smart) would rather not be eating her holiday turkey alone at the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. She can’t get a decent gin & tonic, her daughter is spending Thanksgiving in another state, and her crazed waiter has cast her in a festive audio play. It might just be time to flip the table – and the script.

With direction by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Paradise Blue, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine), THANKSGIVING FOR ONE unites actor-writer Linklater (“Legion,” “The Big Short,” The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park) with Emmy winner Jean Smart (HBO’s “Watchmen”, “Fargo,” “Frasier”). After the play, join host Claudia Catania for a behind-the-mic chat with the artists.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [30 Minutes 4 Seconds]

THIRD GRADE by Dominique Morisseau

THIRD GRADE continues Playing on Air’s yearlong celebration of MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ winner Dominique Morisseau (The Detroit Project, Pipeline, Ain't Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations). 

Elementary school teacher Kai is dedicated to helping her students thrive. But when one of her third-graders is brutally bullied, Kai must unexpectedly go to battle with the boy’s father over how best to protect his son. 

J. Alphonse Nicholson (Starz’s “P-Valley”, A Soldier’s Play) stars alongside playwright-performer Morisseau. Directed by Stori Ayers (The Last O.G., Chautauqua Theater Company), THIRD GRADE is a searing look at the impossible choices that parents and public school educators are making to protect America’s kids. Later in the episode, the artists join host Claudia Catania to discuss their own third grade experiences and the need to ”go deep.”

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [30 Minutes 52 Seconds]

THANKSGIVING FOR ONE by Hamish Linklater

After his hit Nudity Rider, OBIE winner Hamish Linklater returns for another helping of irresistible comedy: the world-premiere commission THANKSGIVING FOR ONE.

Marjorie Mumms (Jean Smart) would rather not be eating her holiday turkey alone at the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. She can’t get a decent gin & tonic, her daughter is spending Thanksgiving in another state, and her crazed waiter has cast her in a festive audio play. It might just be time to flip the table – and the script.

With direction by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Paradise Blue, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine), THANKSGIVING FOR ONE unites actor-writer Linklater (“Legion,” “The Big Short,” The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park) with Emmy winner Jean Smart (HBO’s “Watchmen”, “Fargo,” “Frasier”). After the play, join host Claudia Catania for a behind-the-mic chat with the artists.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [30 Minutes 4 Seconds]

CRAZY EIGHTS by David Lindsay-Abaire

Two recovering addicts (Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo) have their Saturday night card game interrupted by a love-struck parole officer (Bobby Cannavale) with major boundary issues.

Written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Good People), the madcap comedy CRAZY EIGHTS features Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman, “Boardwalk Empire,” PoA's Gun Show), Tony winner John Leguizamo (Latin History for Morons, Ghetto Klown, Moulin Rouge), Oscar nominee Rosie Perez (Do The Right Thing, Fearless, "The View"), and Kevin Hogan ("Mr. Robot").  Stay tuned after the performance for an interview with David Lindsay-Abaire and the cast, moderated by Artistic Director Claudia Catania.

CRAZY EIGHTS was recorded live at BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [32 Minutes 10 Seconds]

NEW YORK STORY by Mike Reiss

"It's not luck, it's fate. You, me - a couple of old showbiz pros. At the same place, at the same time..."

When a slick comedian (Ed Asner) and leading lady (Elizabeth Ashley), now both in their seventies, meet by chance in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the retired performers catch a glimmer of the magic they've been missing in their daily lives.

Also featuring Daphne Rubin-Vega and Peter Jacobson and directed by Michael Wilson, "The Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss's NEW YORK STORY is a wryly funny answer to the question, "Whatever happened to that guy?" After the play, the cast joins host Claudia Catania to chat about Vaudevillians and the tenacity showbiz requires.

New York Story was supported by Don and Linda Silpe.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 27 Seconds]

Inside Voice by Kate Robin

Playground tantrums. Modern angst. Hungarian dance festivals. In Kate Robin's Inside Voice, dive into the secret lives of parents. Directed by Rebecca Taichman (Tony Award winner for Broadway's Indecent, Lincoln Center Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater), the cast features Patch Darragh (Broadway's Our Town, "Weeds," "The Path," Sully) and the playwright herself ("One Mississippi," "The Affair," "Six Feet Under"). After the play, the artists and host Claudia Catania discuss showrunners, women on TV, and the role of fear in theater.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [33 Minutes 41 Seconds]

Gun Show by David Auburn

From David Auburn, Pulitzer and Tony winner for PROOF, comes a riveting, witty world-premiere commission for Playing on Air: GUN SHOW. In the aftershock of a national tragedy, a congenial double-date morphs into a battle of the sexes. As tempers blaze, two couples must reconsider the possibility of safety in a divided nation. Along with Emmy winners Bobby Cannavale (“Will & Grace,” “Boardwalk Empire”) and Martha Plimpton (triple Tony nominee, “The Real O’Neals,” “The Good Wife”), the star cast features Eisa Davis, David Furr, and Lucy DeVito. Gun Show was directed by Wendy Goldberg and performed in front of a live audience at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. After the play, host Claudia Catania talks shop with the entire creative team.

Gun Show was commissioned by Playing on Air with the support of The Gilchrist Foundation and Phyllis and Joel Ehrlich.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 56 Seconds]

GETTING IN by Frank Gilroy

In GETTING IN, the autobiographical play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Frank Gilroy (The Subject Was Roses), a scrappy GI gleefully recalls how he went from truancy, almost flunking out of high school, and the trenches of WWII to Dartmouth College courtesy of the GI Bill that changed his life.  

GETTING IN is a short play with a long cast of eleven talented actors - David Beach, Kim Bendheim, Matthew Cowles, Caroline Gilroy, Michael Godere, Carter Hudson, Lillian Laserson, Thomas Lyons, David Margulies, Fiana Toibin and Jack Wetherall! The play’s director, Claudia Catania, joins playwright Frank Gilroy for a lively conversation after the play.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [32 Minutes 56 Seconds]