The Play Podcast

Anton Chekhov’s 'Three Sisters', the third of the quartet of great plays that he wrote in the last years of his short life, is a symphonic study of the search for purpose and love. Three Sisters premiered in January 1901 at the Moscow Arts Theatre, where his previous two major plays, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull had debuted. As we record this episode a spellbinding new production is on stage Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London. The text for that production is translated by playwright Rory Mullarkey, who joins us to explore Chekhov’s masterpiece. https://lnkd.in/eNamc4Kp Photo by Johan Persson.

When Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun opened in New York in 1959, its author became the first African-American woman to have a play on Broadway, and this with her debut at age of 29. The play was ground-breaking for its realist portait of a black working-class family, spotlighting their personal dreams and the public prejudice they confront. We recorded this episode shortly after an acclaimed new production of the play completed its run at the Lyric Hammersmith theatre in London, and I am delighted to talk with the production’s director, Tinuke Craig, about this landmark play. https://lnkd.in/eY7BrJCY

Tennessee Williams’s third great play, 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof', is a blistering drama of family conflict and repressed sexuality. The play opened on Broadway in 1955 to rapturous reviews, and the film that followed with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman was a box-office hit, despite its egregious watering down of the play’s sexual trauma and family strife. As we record this episode a stunning new production of the play is on at the Almeida Theatre in London, and I am delighted to talk about this classic with Arifa Akbar, the Guardian newspaper’s chief theatre critic. https://lnkd.in/efNjNnUm Photo by Marc Brenner

Oscar Wilde’s 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is arguably the most famous romantic comedy in theatrical history. The play is renowned for its effervescent portrait of aristocratic romance, and its impossibly clever wit, including some of the most quotable lines in dramatic literature. But it is also an anarchic parody of social custom and pretension – a serious statement of aesthetic principles and coded sexual politics. As we record this episode, a joyous new production of the play is running at the National Theatre in London, and I am delighted to talk about Wilde’s classic with its acclaimed director, Max Webster: https://lnkd.in/edERGbjG Photo by Marc Brenner

Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, is a notoriously confounding work of theatre. The play is renowned for its lack of conventional plot or exposition, and for its existential predicament. Given its desolate philosophical landscape it is also surprisingly funny. Its theatrical imagery and intellectual provocation remain as potent as when it was first performed in Paris in 1953. As we record this episode an illustrious production is on stage at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London starring Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati. I am delighted to be joined by Matthew McFrederick from the University of Reading to help survey this famously challenging landmark of modern drama. https://lnkd.in/eeUnkun3 Photo by Marc Brenner

Arnold Wesker’s quiet classic, Roots, is a story of doomed love, rural poverty and social protest, and most of all, of cultural aspiration and growing up and away from family, from one’s roots. We recorded this episode as a sensitive revival of the play was finishing its run at the Almeida theatre in London, and I was delighted to be able to talk to its director, Diyan Zora, about Wesker’s love letter to his wife and her roots. https://lnkd.in/ehryp2QS Morfydd Clark as the coming-of-age Beatie, at the Almeida Theatre Photo by Marc Brenner.

John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger is one of the landmark plays of twentieth century British theatre. It’s raging protagonist, Jimmy Porter, represented a generation of disaffected youth, and its proletarian setting heralded a new style of ‘kitchen sink drama’. But how well has Jimmy’s abusive anger aged? I’m delighted to welcome two experts to help us address this question, and many more: Dan Rebellato, the author of '1956 and All That: The Making of Modern British Drama', and, Atri Banerjee, the director of the first revival of the play in London for 25 years, currently running at the Almeida Theatre. https://lnkd.in/eSVng_QB Billy Howle as Jimmy Porter and Ellora Torchia as Alison Look Back in Anger Almeida Theatre, London, September 2024 Photo by Marc Brenner

Clint Dyer and Roy William’s trilogy of plays, Death of England, is a searing state-of-the-nation drama voiced by both black and white working-class characters. Having been performed individually at intervals at the National Theatre through Covid lockdowns, the three plays were greeted with acclaim when they were finally brought together at the Soho Place theatre in the summer of 2024. I am delighted and honoured to welcome playwright Roy Williams to the podcast to discuss this important work. https://lnkd.in/eAsxTJP8

Tom Stoppard is renowned for his intellectual wit and playful dramatic form, both of which are certainly on show in 'The Real Thing', but the play also explores more personal emotional territory: on what constitutes the real thing in love, politics and art. As we record this episode, a new production of the play is on stage at The Old Vic theatre in London. My guest to help us navigate the romantic entanglements and structural twists in the play is the renowned arts journalist, Mark Lawson. https://lnkd.in/eWzUTvFe James McArdle and Bel Powley at the Old Vic Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Mike Leigh’s 1977 ‘tragi-comedy’, Abigail’s Party is renowned for its iconic snapshot of the material and social fabric of its time. The play’s portrait of suburban social pretensions is both hugely funny and excruciating to witness. It is not just an exercise in period kitsch, however, because underneath there are universal human truths, about aspiration and identity, as well as about honesty and generosity, or the lack thereof, in intimate relationships. As we record this episode a vibrant new production of the play is on stage at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director, Nadia Fall. I’m delighted to talk with Nadia about this classic of British theatre. https://lnkd.in/eYkv-NCZ