A darkly comedic fable of violently lonely doppelgängers who mind-meld and are brought together through cookies, rats, and their cosmic connection to an exterminator. Written by Erin Courtney Produced and directed by Kate Bergstrom Written for Crystal Finn and Lucy Taylor and Todd Almond as the Exterminator. Sound Designer and Additional Music Works by Michael Costagliola Associate Produced and Stage Managed by Calvin Anderson   With music by Todd Almond

A panel of Black thinkers (a Broadway playwright, a spoken word poet, a Columbia professor, and an activist) try to define Freedom in the year ???? in this dark comedy about ancestors and artists. Written by Dave Harris Directed by Taylor Reynolds Sound Design by Ben Scheff Sound Editing by Dylan Carrow Production Stage Manager -- Hanako Rodriguez CAST: Walter Mixon Riley -- JEROME PRESTON BATES LaToya Beasley -- BRITTANY BRADFORD Jake Dillers / Sponsors / Announcer -- YONATAN GEBEYEHU Jones Joseph -- DAVE HARRIS Jerome Barker Thomas -- BEETHOVEN ODEN Season 2 of Soundstage was made possible with the generous support of the Scherman Foundation’s Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.   Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the J. L. Greene Arts Access Fund in The New York Community Trust, and The Shubert Foundation.

This week we're so happy to bring you a full length audio play written, directed, and produced by our friends and frequent collaborators Ken Urban, Dan Kluger, and Knud Adams. It premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival as part of their Audio Storytelling program, and we're so pleased to be able to re-release and amplify it here for you, our Soundstage audience! Enjoy! At a chance meeting at the farmers market, two strangers find a connection rooted in their own unspeakable tragedies. The evening they spend together becomes an encounter they can’t forget. Written by Ken Urban Directed by Knud Adams Audio Produced and Mixed by Daniel Kluger Starring Maulik Pancholy and April Matthis Recorded by Noel Nichols Edited by Noel Nichols and Christian Frederickson Foley by Daniela Hart Additional Sound Design by Christian Frederickson Produced by John Albert Harris Original Music by Daniel Kluger and Occurrence To listen to the music from Vapor Trail, the soundtrack is available here: https://occurrencemusic.ffm.to/vaportrail VAPOR TRAIL premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival as part of their Audio Storytelling program and it was developed at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, MN during the 2020-21 season. VAPOR TRAIL was made possible thanks to the support of the d'Arbeloff Fund, the DeFlorez Fund and the SHASS Research Fund from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The farmer wants the shepherd. The shepherd wants God. The playwright isn't quite sure what she wants. A play about grief and desire and the mess that is the theater. Written by Agnes Borinsky Directed by Brooke O'Harra Sound Design by Nick Auer CAST: Loretta -- JANICE AMAYA   Leah / Bruce -- JESS BARBAGALLO Bonita -- AGNES BORINSKY   Vinie -- VINIE BURROWS Martha -- ANNIE FANG Adam -- ADAM GREENFIELD Mary -- MARY NEUFELD Bettina -- BRYNA TURNER Flautist -- Isabel Lepanto Gleicher

A little meditation on what it is to carry what we can and can't control, and the crossroads of being and belonging. Written by Julia Izumi Directed by Sarah Cameron Hughes Sound Design by Fan Zhang Rocks -- JESS BARBAGALLO Someone -- JORGE CORDOVA   Grandchild -- MIDORI FRANCIS    She -- HARUNA LEE He -- RONALD PEET Mother -- SAORI TSUKADA

Two audio plays -- an old radio comedy of anxiety in the modern world, and a soliloquy of lost love -- sprung from the mind of this singular and iconic playwright. Written by David Greenspan Directed by Ken Rus Schmoll Sound Design by Leah Gelpe (There's) No Time for Comedy Cast: Sidney - EVANDER DUCK JR. Henry Flower - DAVID GREENSPAN Darlene - BETH GRIFFIN Mona - LISA KRON Donald - PACO TOLSON Loops Cast: Player - DAVID GREENSPAN

An abandoned limestone statue chronicles centuries of adventures through and beyond the Chinese diaspora. Written by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig Directed by Michael Roth CAST: Uncle Dirt - KOK-HWA LIE Music Composition/Arrangements/Sound Design/Editing by Michael Roth Final Sound Mix and Mastering by Jessica Paz

Congratulations for choosing Program B! Our goal is to challenge and elevate you. It won't be easy, but transformation is possible! If you trust the process. Written by Sheila Callaghan Directed, Designed, and Edited by Alex Barron Original music by Surrija CAST: Rashan – FRANCIS BENHAMOU Chatty Stranger – SHEILA CALLAGHAN Whispering Man – MATTHEW J. HARRIS Additional voices – BRANDT ADAMS, KAILEE AYYAR, ALEX BARRON, ALISON KOCH, NGOFEEN MPUTUBWELE, J.J. SUELTO, MAGGIE THOMPSON, NYSELI VEGA Learn more at phnyc.org/soundstage or text PHNYC to 44-321.

It's official: We'll be back for more! Playwrights Horizons has commissioned an additional roster of playwrights to be part of Soundstage Season 2 including Agnes Borinsky, Sheila Callaghan, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, David Greenspan, Dave Harris, Julia Izumi, and Kit Yan & Melissa Li. We'll see you next week!

Playwrights Horizons Associate Artistic Director Natasha Sinha interviews Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Will Arbery about his new play, Corsicana, how these characters are and are not like those in Heroes of the Fourth Turning, the minefield that is language, his complicated relationship to theatrical musicals and Hilary Duff, and how his sister inspired him to become a playwright.