Playing On Air: Short Audio Plays

By Playing on AirArts Performing Arts

Playing On Air: Short Audio Plays episodes

October 13, 2019 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.
19 min
September 22, 2019 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 discuss music onstage, desire, and the playwright's craft.
13 min
September 08, 2019 A LITTLE PART OF ALL OF US by Jesse Eisenberg (Re-Release)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, PoA's The Blizzard) is both playwright and actor in the satirical short A LITTLE PART OF ALL OF US. Since 9/11, anxious hipster Joey (Eisenberg) has been haunted by survivor's guilt. Or -- maybe he's just co-opting a national tragedy to justify a decade of depression? A LITTLE PART OF ALL OF US also stars Justin Bartha (The Hangover trilogy, "The Good Fight") as Ted, Joey's deadpan "friend." Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation between host Claudia Catania and the cast.
17 min
August 25, 2019 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.
28 min
August 11, 2019 AT THE WATER'S EDGE, WET by Jonathan Bernstein (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 host Claudia Catania.
21 min
July 28, 2019 NUDITY RIDER by Hamish Linklater
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter," Hedwig and The Angry Inch), Martha Plimpton ("The Good Wife," PoA's Gun Show), and actor-playwright Hamish Linklater (The Big Short, "Legion") star in NUDITY RIDER, a world-premiere comedy by Linklater. The cameras are ready to roll on the set of a New Orleans basic cable show, but the high-strung leading man, Keith Saturday, has a problem: his most up-close-and-personal scene has been unexpectedly rescheduled for today. And he's been eating. A lot. Now, an incisive production assistant (Hall) and no-nonsense makeup artist (Plimpton) must battle the clock - and assuage Saturday's ego - to save the shoot. After the episode, host Claudia Catania joins the cast and director Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway's Hand to God, Bernhardt/Hamlet) for an in-studio interview about writing for radio and what it takes to be a successful actor. NUDITY RIDER is presented with the support of Fred Wistow.
37 min
July 14, 2019 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 musical) 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.
20 min
June 30, 2019 NEW YORK STORY by Mike Reiss (Re-Release)
"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.
32 min
June 16, 2019 TWO DADS by David Auburn
Content warning: this play deals with themes of domestic violence. "You can't really influence them. You can maybe adjust the trajectory a little bit, you can try to guide, but after a certain point? No." Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale ("Will & Grace," Broadway's The Lifespan of a Fact, PoA's Gun Show) and Tony nominee Peter Gallagher ("Grace and Frankie," "The O.C.") star in a live recording of TWO DADS by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner David Auburn (Proof, PoA's An Upset), When two fathers meet at a resort and start swapping stories from the front lines of parenting, their poolside banter takes an unexpected, heartbreaking turn. In turns bitingly funny & disquieting, TWO DADS is directed by Claudia Weill (Girlfriends, PoA's Hate Baby). After the play, the artists join host Claudia Catania for an onstage conversation. TWO DADS was recorded live at BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York.
22 min
May 26, 2019 HEDGEHOG YEARS by Lily Akerman
"Any words spoken by hedgehogs in this play are in translation. Please note that all translations are betrayals..." Emmy winner Carol Kane (The Princess Bride, Hester Street, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") and Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos ("Better Call Saul," Clybourne Park) star in Lily Akerman's Hedgehog Years, the second place winner of Playing on Air's 2018 James Stevenson Prize. When he was five, Theo (Shamos) met his best friend: an excitable hedgehog (Kane) who loves leftovers and longs to go to summer camp. Now, sifting through his memories, Theo must try to make sense of the days when he ran away from home and started living like an animal. Mischievous and heartbreaking, Hedgehog Years is an adventure for anyone who's ever ached to return to childhood. After the play, Tony winner and director Judith Ivey joins the cast, Akerman, and host Claudia Catania to discuss imagination and animal instincts.
27 min

About Playing On Air: Short Audio Plays

From the publisher's feed

Hear short, contemporary stage plays with first-rate casts. Playing on Air brings together award winners and emerging young talent, and each play is followed by a conversation with the playwrights and…