Play Ground

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After an infamously terrible debut, this classic Russian play went on to define naturalism, changing how we make theatre in the West forever. It is also full of sad theatre makers, which may go some way to explain its enduring popularity with theatre makers.

We talk 3D characters, endurance, and theatres first goth icon.

Content Warnings: Suicide/Ageism/Infant death/Mortality

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Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

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A travelling 'Odditorium' is struggling to make ends meet, and as a change of tactic the performers start trying to make themselves as normal as can be. If you can see how bleak this is about to get, then congratulations on having more insight than Riley, the owner of this circus.

We talk fables, otherness, and the futility of trying to fit in.

Content Warnings: Domestic abuse/Transphobia/Ableism/Child Abuse/Forced Surgery

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

Cillian Murphy somehow remains looking beautiful through this deeply intense and gruelling play - first performed in 1999 by Walsh himself, we very specifically take a look at the revised/updated 2011 version which took the intimate one-person show and blew it up to National Theatre size.

We talk the victim mentality, routine as self-expression, and bootleg theatre recordings.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

Is this a play? Performance art? Essay? Real or not real? This play/text/email chain was originally presented as a live performance and digital experience combination, then printed onto paper, and now thrust back onto the internet by us in the form of audio podcast exploration. Heavy. 

We talk chronic illness, the digital body, and the horrors/freedoms that the internet brings. Also, how cool Eve Leigh is in general. Eve Leigh we love you, if you see this please hit us up.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

East coast round 2! 

We talk aliens, village gossip, and the strange prescience of this play written in 1973 about 1907 when being read in 2025.

FAIRYTALE UPDATE:

I have searched and can find nothing substantial about this fairytale or why it is the birth of drama in children. If anyone has any ideas please get in touch.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

Once again we dive into a time bending play about sad women. This time it's Lucy Kirkwood's 2020 play The Welkin; set in 18th century Suffolk/Norfolk, 12 women must decide the fate of another in this epicly jam-packed courtroom(ish) drama. We talk oppression, class solidarity, and jokes about Lowestoft.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

Time. Ghosts. Violence. Hope. Academia. 

We return to pod favourite Alistair McDowall for his incredible 2022 play The Glow. 

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

We recorded this 3 years ago and then forgot to make more podcasts. It holds up!!! Declaring this the end of season 1, we'll be back with certified fresh content in 2 weeks time.

Sam Shepard's True West is about two things: truth and the wild west. Oh, and two brothers. Oh, and Picasso. And coyotes. It's pretty famous.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail

Step 1) Nuclear Meltdown
Step 2) Gang Warfare Over Simpsons Quotes
Step 3) ????
Step 4) The Greatest Story Ever Told

If 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?

Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddy
Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

Send us Fan Mail

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 is so afraid of hot people, what it might be like to be a bird with no legs, and themes of isolation in one's own body.

Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?

Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddy
Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood
Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool