Six Characters is a modern classic. Or maybe just a classic. It's hard to know where the age boundaries for those things are. Either way in this play Pirandello brings an early example of going full meta in theatre, introducing a rehearsal room full of actors (and maybe the real director, stage manager and technician) to a group of fictional characters that have come to life and need help in finishing their dramatic arc.We talk play structure, Mussolini and Byker Grove.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

The Woods is poetry on the stage. Okay, so all plays are poetry on the stage, but this one even more so. Inhabiting an American woodland and also a British kitchen, our protagonist 'The Woman' is continually haunted by 'The Wolf,' an evil figure who may be her son that was, or an abusive partner, or her inner psyche, or the outside world, or probably all of these rolled into one.It's really good.As promised in the episode, you can find Nancy's dubbed over cameo in a Phoebe Waller-Bridge interview here: https://youtu.be/D3mmqLVi_QQ?t=243Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

This is the second in McCraney's 'Brother Sister Plays' trilogy, though is the first one he wrote. Drawing on Yoruba cosmology transposed into present day Louisiana, The Brothers Size is a poetic yet brutally grounded story of two brothers trying to reconnect after one returns from a stint in prison. Emotions abound.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

This 2000 play is a landmark text in verbatim theatre. Documenting the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Laramie, Wyoming resident Matthew Shepard, The Laramie Project is a collation of almost 2 years of interviews with Laramie residents. All at once it is a portrait of a town, a stark warning, an examination of everyday human hypocrisy, an advocation for gay rights, an exploration of loss, and a meta-investigation into make sure verbatim theatre is 'done right.'Find more information on the Matthew Shepard Foundation here:https://www.matthewshepard.org/Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

This 1930s play is about two single women who run a girls' school together, and how their lives are brought crashing down when a student accuses them of lesbianism.  We discuss the play's treatment of queer issues, its place (or not) on today's stage, and the eerily accurate depiction of lockdown life in Act 3.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

Part 2 of an Oresteia double bill, this time we take a look at Robert Icke's totally new adaptation of last episode's classic. We talk altering plot points, phycological complexity, and the time period-fluid setting of Icke's plays.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam @Samwebbercool

First part of an Oresteia double bill, this time we take a look at a straight translation of the original. We talk gender representation, off-stage gore, and the complexities of justice (which is funner than it sounds)Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam in person if you happen to recognise him

Crazy stage directions? Form-breaking? Super long and in depth but somehow still entertaining discussions on female empowerment and the male role in society? YES PLEASE! Discussion includes: Scripts that don't tell you everything, gender-reversed acting, and the benefits of snacks on stage.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam in person if you happen to recognise him

It's time for some children's theatre! In this delightful, dark, funny, fantastic, terrifying tale for all ages, Kneehigh theatre does what they do best with collaborative and innovative re-telling of a classic story. Discussion includes collaboration in art, the power of children's theatre, and the joy of little chicken puppets.Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam in person if you happen to recognise him

This episode Nancy & Sam discuss the shocking and powerful play drama Yen by Anna Jordan. The audio of the first half got mangled by the internet, so this one jumps in partway through - in this epic half-discussion, however, is covered themes of nature vs. nurture, the harsh choices around family life, and the depiction of intimate acts on the stage. It's certainly a cheery one!Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover?Visit the official podcast twitter @playgroundpoddyChat to host Nancy @N_NetherwoodChat to host Sam in person if you happen to recognise him