BANSHEE by John Patrick Shanley (Summer 2022 Re-Release)
Tony, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck, Outside Mullingar) wrote and directed this short play about a banshee, a fantastical Irish spirit, who pays an ailing teacher a visit and makes him an otherworldly proposal. The mystical comedy features Geraldine Hughes (THE MANDELA EFFECT, TWO CROWS APART, Jerusalem, Gran Torino) and Aidan Quinn (“Elementary,” Michael Collins, Desperately Seeking Susan). Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation between the playwright, actors, and founder and consulting director Claudia Catania that includes a few delightfully surprising responses.
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! [ 25 Minutes 46 Seconds]
AT THE WATER'S EDGE, WET by Jonathan Bernstein (Summer 2022 Re-Release)
The curtain is up. The show is in progress. But for two stage managers calling the cues behind the scenes, the night's most dazzling romance isn't playing out onstage. Written and directed by Jonathan Bernstein (PoA's RULES OF COMEDY & A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY) , AT THE WATER’S EDGE, WET stars Callie Thorne (“Necessary Roughness,” “Rescue Me,” “The Wire”) and Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos (Broadway's Clybourne Park, "Better Call Saul," PoA's HEDGEHOG YEARS). Stay tuned after the performance for an in-studio conversation with the artists, moderated by founder and consulting director Claudia Catania.
Download on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [20 Minutes 13 Seconds]
PLAYING GOD by Alan Zweibel (Re-Release)
In PLAYING GOD, a divine comedy from SNL's Alan Zweibel (Playing on Air's HAPPY), a self-involved OB-GYN (Scott Adsit of 30 Rock) creates chaos for his pregnant patient (Emily Bergl). Over the objections of a heavenly assistant (Susie Essman of Curb Your Enthusiasm), God himself (Bill Buell) challenges the doctor to an outrageous squash match for his faith.
Following the play, director Fred Berner and host Claudia Catania join the cast and playwright to talk about their roots in comedy.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below!
HOW MY GRANDPARENTS FELL IN LOVE by Cary Gitter (Re-Release)
“A gorgeous high note...a Jewish screwball romance… uproarious and beautifully cast, with tone-perfect direction by Colette Robert."
— The New York Times
It's 1933, and a young Jewish immigrant has returned to his Polish hometown in search of a wife. On a snowy afternoon, he sets his sights on Chava, a savvy, sarcastic shopgirl in a local hat store.
Directed by Colette Robert (STEW, Behind the Sheet), HOW MY GRANDPARENTS FELL IN LOVE by Cary Gitter (EST’s Youngblood, The Sabbath Girl) features a sparkling cast: Eli Gelb (Skintight, Indignation) and Lucy DeVito (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” PoA’s Gun Show). After the play, host Claudia Catania moderates a conversation with the artists.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [19 Minutes 19 Seconds]
SKIN by Naveen Bahar Choudhury (Re-Release)
Nobody comes to the campus health clinic looking for love. But as he waits for the nurse to call him in, Robby (Vandit Bhatt) finds himself drawn to Angie (Nitya Vidyasagar), a disenchanted writer with problems of her own. Can two strangers find unexpected poetry in each other? And do they even want to?
SKIN by Naveen Bahar Choudhury (My Name is Yusuf, Ma-Yi Writers Lab) features Bhatt (“Quantico,” Indian Ink, “New Amsterdam”) and Vidyasagar (“Sesame Street,” The Glorious Ones) in a rom-com for cynics. Playwright Naveen Bahar Choudhury joins the play’s director, host Claudia Catania, for a post-performance conversation.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [15 Minutes 36 Seconds]
RULES OF COMEDY by Patricia Cotter (Re-Release)
We're re-releasing 5 of our most popular episodes for a 2020 fresh start!
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Caroline can't find anything funny -- not her awkward love life, not her jaded standup coach Guy, and definitely not the punchlines she's been reading in 101 Dirty Jokes.
Originally produced at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theater of Louisville, Patricia Cotter's RULES OF COMEDY is a playful, wry look at the lives of comedians when they dare to go offstage and off script. Directed by Jonathan Bernstein, Cotter's short comedy stars Louisa Krause (The Flick, Billions, PoA's Winter Games) and Michael Esper (Trust, The Last Ship, PoA's Anniversary). After the play, stay tuned for an artist interview about the playwright's background in comedy, avoiding the pull towards bitterness, and toeing the line with your material.
"Cotter's script is lush with the knowledge of standup comedy... this play is a scream" - Todd Zeigler, Broadway World Reviews
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [24 Minutes 41 Seconds]
2B OR NOT 2B by Jacquelyn Reingold
Sometimes, the most seductive offers come from unexpected messengers. Heartbroken on a Friday night, Franny (Jenn Harris) finds herself confronted by a charming bee (William Jackson Harper) with a buzzy - and delicious - proposal.
Recorded live, 2B OR NOT 2B by Jacquelyn Reingold ("The Good Fight," HBO's "In Treatment) features Harper ("The Good Place," Midsommar, All the Way) and Harris ("High Maintenance," Gayby). After the play, host Claudia Catania joins director Michael Barakiva (Hangar Theatre), the playwright, and the cast for a discussion of unlikely inspiration, in love and art.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [18 Minutes 33 Seconds]
THERE YOU ARE by Leslie Ayvazian
"Have you spoken of it?"
“No. No one."
After 31 years apart, two widows meet by chance at a concert and consider the whirlwind romance that they didn't dare to pursue - until now. Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Netflix's "Tales of the City) and Tony nominee Maria Tucci (The Slap, Broadway's The Rose Tattoo) star in Leslie Ayvazian's THERE YOU ARE. After the play, Ayvazian and host Claudia Catania, the play’s director, discuss music onstage, desire, and the playwright's craft.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [12 Minutes 30 Seconds]
AT THE WATER'S EDGE, WET by Jonathan Bernstein
The curtain is up. The show is in progress. But for two stage managers calling the cues behind the scenes, the night's most dazzling romance isn't playing out onstage. Written and directed by Jonathan Bernstein (PoA's Rules of Comedy & A Very Very Short Play), AT THE WATER'S EDGE, WET stars Callie Thorne (“Necessary Roughness,” “Rescue Me,” “The Wire”) and Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos (Broadway's Clybourne Park, "Better Call Saul," PoA's Hedgehog Years). Stay tuned after the performance for an in-studio conversation with the artists, moderated by host Claudia Catania.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [20 Minutes 13 Seconds]
CARRY THE ZERO by Christopher Sullivan
CARRY THE ZERO "gets the awkwardness of teenage hookup culture squeamishly right" (NY Times).
Mark and Nicole just had sex for the first time, and now they're facing the long, embarrassing drive back to Nicole's house. Directed by John Giampietro, Christopher Sullivan's short play stars David Gelles (Graceland at LCT3, NBC's "Deception") and Arielle Goldman ("The Knick," "The Marvelous Ms. Maisel") in an intimate and brutally funny look back at sexual awakening in the age of instant messenger and indie rock.
This episode contains adult themes that may not be suitable for some younger listeners.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [26 Minutes 25 Seconds]