G.O.A.T. by Ngozi Anyanwu

Jay, Bonita, and Row have gathered on the rooftop to burn the sage and drink the sacred Gatorade. To pray to the goddess Nike, and the power of Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe. To summon victory for their beloved champion: Serena Williams, the Greatest Of All Time. 

Directed by Whitney White (What to Send Up When It Goes Down, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord) and featuring original music by Jeremy Lloyd (Marian Hill, clear eyes), G.O.A.T. is an electric celebration of Black Girl Magic, on and off the court. Denise Manning (Daddy, PoA's Wild and Precious Life), Obie winner April Matthis (Toni Stone, PoA's Hate Baby), and playwright/performer Ngozi Anyanwu (Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen) star - and Drama Desk nominee Bobby Moreno cameos -  in the final episode of Playing on Air’s Spring 2020 season. After the episode, stay tuned for host Claudia Catania’s conversation with the artists, about ritual, their multi-hyphenate talents, and the G.O.A.T. herself, Serena Williams.

G.O.A.T was nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award for Outstanding Audio Theater Production.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [22 Minutes 18 Seconds]

HUMAN RESOURCES by Jason Gray Platt

Playing on Air is proud to present the winner of our 2019 James Stevenson Prize: Jason Gray Platt’s HUMAN RESOURCES.

Tech start-up Diddly has a problem: their staff is whiter than a Coldplay concert in Vermont. Fortunately, Human Resources has a plan to “improve” Diddly’s corporate culture —at least in theory.

A biting satire about virtue signaling and elephant milk, HUMAN RESOURCES features Tony winner Julie White (Airline Highway, A Doll’s House, Part 2) and Tony nominee Steven Boyer (Hand To God, PoA’s An Upset). Jade King Carroll (Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth, Proof of Love) directs the world premiere, recorded live at New York’s Pershing Square Signature Center. After the play, host Claudia Catania joins the ensemble for a discussion about comedy, identity, and the absurd.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [24 Minutes]

WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE by Patricia Cotter

There's a lot of money to be made at this funeral. 

Friends and flames have gathered to celebrate and remember the WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE of the charismatic, outrageous Sheila (Tony & Emmy winner Debra Monk)  — but the dearly departed still has one more trick up her sleeve. 

WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE by Emmy winner Patricia Cotter (PoA's Rules of Comedy, The Daughters) features an ensemble cast of Playing on Air favorites — Monk, Scott Adsit, Lucy DeVito, Denise Manning, Lisa Emery, and Jeff Biehl — original music by folk-rock duo Misner & Smith, produced and recorded by John Kilgore, arranged and performed by Charlie Rosen. Associate Producer Michele O’Brien directs. Stay tuned after the episode, as host Claudia Catania chats with the artists about celebrating life and how they’d like to be remembered.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [23 Minutes 36 Seconds]

THE CLAM by Amanda Quaid

Tony Shalhoub and Kristine Nielsen star in Amanda Quaid’s THE CLAM, the Second Place winner of Playing on Air’s 2019 James Stevenson Prize competition. 

After a lifetime of playing it safe, a wistful clam (Shalhoub) decides to come out of his shell with  help from a therapist (Nielsen). His friends are disappearing without a trace, he’s lost touch with thousands of his children, and he’s desperate for a pearl to call his own. Alternately tongue-in-cheek and deeply identifiable, THE CLAM is a comedy for anyone who’s ever felt adrift in their search for happiness. 

Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway’s Bernhardt/Hamlet, Hand to God) directs Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” The Band’s Visit, “Monk”) and Tony nominee Nielsen (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Androninus, PoA’s Wildwood Park). The opening episode of PoA’s 2020 Spring Season, THE CLAM was recorded live at New York’s Pershing Square Signature Center.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [24 Minutes 49 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]

THE GOODNESS OF YOUR HEART by David Ives

What would you sacrifice for a lifelong pal? A kidney? Your safety? $900 -- for a very specific television?

From acclaimed wordsmith David Ives (Venus in Fur, PoA's The Blizzard), THE GOODNESS OF YOUR HEART asks what the limits of friendship really are. Directed by Tony winner John Rando (Broadway's On the Town, PoA's The Philadelphia), the cast features comedic favorites Arnie Burton (Broadway's Peter and the Starcatcher, PoA's The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage) and Rick Holmes (Broadway's Cabaret, "Fosse/Verdon"). After the play, the artists join host Claudia Catania to discuss morality, childishness, and the fruits of generosity.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [27 Minutes 55 Seconds]

MY HUSBAND by Paul Rudnick

A wedding isn't a competition - until the mothers get involved.

After gay marriage is legalized in New York, one meddling matriarch will stop at nothing to get her son to the altar. Starring Michael Urie (Broadway's Torch Song, "Ugly Betty," PoA's A Departure) and Tony winner Harriet Harris ("Frasier," "Desperate Housewives," Phantom Thread), MY HUSBAND by Paul Rudnick (The New Yorker, the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada) is directed by Claudia Weill (Girlfriends, HBO's "Girls," PoA's Hate Baby). After the short comedy, host Claudia Catania joins the artists for a behind-the-scenes discussion.

MY HUSBAND 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! [19 Minutes 58 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]

HATE BABY by Gracie Gardner

Content advisory: this episode contains themes that may not be appropriate for younger listeners. 

Sigrid has a new little bundle of joy, and she's worried that he might be... evil. Today, she's tagging out: this baby is her neighbor Darla's problem now. Just in time for Mother's Day, Gracie Gardner's HATE BABY, the winner of Playing on Air's 2018 James Stevenson Prize for Comedic Short Plays, delves into the often-gross, ever-changing world of new parenthood. HATE BABY features Emily Bergl (Broadway's The Ferryman, PoA's Evening at Anaheim), OBIE winner April Matthis (Elevator Repair Service, PoA's Wanting North), and Tony nominee Steven Boyer (Hand to God, PoA's An Upset). After the play, the artists join host Claudia Catania and director Claudia Weill for an onstage interview. 

HATE BABY was recorded live at the 52nd Street Project in New York City.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [19 Minutes 37 Seconds]

AN UPSET by David Auburn

Content advisory: this episode contains explicit language and sexual references.

When a cocky, jaded tennis star (David Harbour) loses a pivotal match to an inexperienced Romanian player (Steven Boyer), the two men lock into an unlikely battle for dominance on and off the court. Over the course of three encounters on the Grand Slam circuit, AN UPSET by David Auburn (Tony & Pulitzer winner for Proof) peers irreverently, and explosively, behind the locker room door.

After the play, Tony nominees Harbour ("Stranger Things," Hellboy, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Boyer (Hand to God, "Trial & Error") join director Michael Wilson (PoA's Wildwood Park, Broadway's The Trip To Bountiful) and host Claudia Catania for an exclusive talk-back about working with your idols and what it means to be an amateur.

AN UPSET was recorded live at the 52nd Street Project in New York City. 

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [29 Minutes 02 Seconds]