THE FINAL INTERROGATION OF CEAUȘESCU’S DOG by Warren Leight (Re-Release)

 
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In the wake of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, a dictator’s beloved pet must answer for the crimes of his owner. What’s the cost of staying loyal to the hand that feeds you — especially if that hand belongs to a tyrant? 

Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, Happy Talk, PoA’s The Blizzard) and Golden Globe winner Ed Asner (Elf, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” PoA’s New York Story) open the 2021 Winter Mini-Season with a sly satire: THE FINAL INTERROGATION OF CEAUȘESCU’S DOG by Tony winner Warren Leight (“In Treatment”, Side Man, “Law & Order: SVU”). After the play, host Claudia Catania joins Asner and the playwright for a behind-the-mic interview. 

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [11 Minutes 49 Seconds]

FAKE NEWS by Doug Wright

 
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Content Warning: Violence

Anchors Bob Tunley and Fran Mercer are the iconic voices behind radio’s KLWP News Hour — but today, they’ve become the story. As bizarre and menacing soundbites interrupt their live broadcast, the studio crew begins to fear that they’re under attack.

Mark Brokaw (Broadway’s How I Learned to Drive, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella) directs Obie winner Eisa Davis (Passing Strange, PoA’s Gun Show), Tony nominees Jeremy Shamos (Clybourne Park, PoA’s Hedgehog Years) and Steven Boyer (Hand to God, PoA’s Human Resources), and Tony winner Katie Finneran (Noises Off, PoA’s La Traviata) in FAKE NEWS by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, PoA’s Wildwood Park). After the episode, host Claudia Catania talks with the artists about writing plays specifically for audio and how these genius actors were able to play around with different accents and impressions on such short notice.

Doug Wright’s FAKE NEWS is Part One of a two-part thriller that continues next week with Rajiv Joseph’s CLEAN SLATE. Both pieces are world premieres through Playing on Air and Axe-Houghton Foundation’s annual Wordsmith Duo Project, which invites two extraordinary playwrights to explore a shared theme or story through original, partnered plays.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [23 Minutes 15 Seconds]

THE MANDELA EFFECT by Max Baker

 
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Are the Berenstain Bears, Nelson Mandela's death, and Darth Vader's most famous line evidence of a parallel universe?

During lunch with a friend, an actress works herself into a cosmic tizzy about the unsettling MANDELA EFFECT, the collective misremembering of names, news stories, and cultural artifacts. Written and directed by Max Baker (Revolutionary Road, Broadway's 1984, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), THE MANDELA EFFECT features Geraldine Hughes (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jerusalem, Rocky Balboa), Kelly Hutchinson (Catch Me If You Can, Broadway’s Macbeth) and Bill Buell (Cyrano, Equus, “Boardwalk Empire”). In the post-show discussion, Baker and his cast delve into the bizarre, fascinating phenomenon that inspired the play.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [29 Minutes 11 Seconds]

VERNON BAKER AND DANIEL INOUYE from Beyond Glory by Stephen Lang

 
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"As starkly moving as taps at dusk" says the Washington Post about BEYOND GLORY, a powerful tribute to military valor written and performed by stage and screen star Stephen Lang (Colonel Quaritch in Avatar).

First Lieutenant Vernon Baker and Captain Daniel Inouye (who later became the long-serving US Senator from Hawaii) both experienced racism in the armed forces during WWII and recount that as well as the incidents that earned them the Medal of Honor many years later. Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation with Stephen Lang and Producing Artistic Director, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 23 Minutes 13 Seconds]