Play Ground
A fortnightly theatre bookclub hosted by Nancy Netherwood and Sam Webber. Every other Thursday we take a deep dive into a different play from a range of genres, writers, times and places - join in the conversation over on Instagram @playground_pod
Episodes
The Duchess. Hot, recently widowed, and swearing blind to her villainous brothers that she would never ever even THINK of marrying again. Anyway, 3 minutes later she marries the (presumably also hot) Antonio in secret, and over the next 5 acts all hell breaks loose.
We talk demons, revenge tragedies, and a whole list of iconic lines from dying characters.
Content Warnings: Murder/Sexism/Incest/Illness/Suicide/Chi...
A dilapidated flat in East London. 17 year old Davey has followed 53 year old Anita home. Over an intense hour stories are revealed, connections are formed, and they both work through an intense amount of grief. There are some jokes, as in all good plays, but be warned this is a fairly bleak one.
We talk shame, storytelling, and Philip Ridley's penchant for tough old lady characters.
Content Warnings: Homophobia...
The distant future. The year 2000. Robots have been invented, subjugated, and produced in the millions. And they're very angry. This play not only invented the word 'Robot' (near enough), it's also an absolute banger of a comedy about industrial greed, workers revolutions, and the pitfalls of being just a simple girl.
We talk robots, incredibly metal (as in hardcore) stage directions, and the impeccable timing of the...
An underground bunker filled with a thousand ping pong balls (which are actually other things) and a table tennis table (which is itself). 3 days, 3 characters, and some very rapid dialogue make this fringe play by Sam Steiner the perfect companion piece to his other play (podcast favourite) 'You Stupid Darkness!'
We talk 'Table Tennis Play' as it's own subgenre, our love of ephemera, and how everything is a game.
Con...
In the ancient play The Frogs, which has survived 2.5 thousand years and been a lynchpin of many hundreds of academic careers, Dionysus and his slave (eesh) Xanthius go in desperate search of funny bits they can do. Some good funny bits include: spanking, calling the audience idiots, and slagging off the guy who once gave the author a bad review.
We talk ancient Greek theatre funding, the looming threat of (Spartan) ...
A 300 year epic told through 17 minute portraits, Joel Tan's No Particular Order is a very heavy going, incredible piece of writing detailing the rise and fall(?) of an unnamed despot in an unnamed country in an unnamed time.
We talk war, dictatorships, and whether ART can ever do justice to the atrocities that so many must suffer.
Content Warnings: War/Fascism/Sexual Assault/Murder/Seeking A...
Noël Coward has a legendary reputation - and this play lives up to it!
Otto, Gilda and Leo all love each other, but due to the world's boring machinations they must keep trying out monogamy - can they, as a three, discover a new... design for living????
We talk throuples, flouncy theatre comedy, and the timelessness of trying to find a new... design for living.
Content Warnings: Homophobia/Conservatism.
Have some feedba...
We're doing a musical! And trying our very best to discuss the published script rather than the four thousand different live shows that Nancy has obsessively watched.
This 2013 show is an adaptation of the controversial book (and cult film) American Psycho, but infused with synth and backflips. Strongly recommend listening to the soundtrack for this one as well as reading the play - although for reasons discussed the...
Football! Wait no soccer - Soccer!
This Pulitzer-nommed play from 2016 follows an U17s indoor girls soccer team as they warm up for various games. Very little happens, and it's one of the most devastating plays we've ever read.
We talk teen archetypes, coming of age, and (unfortunately) whether or not certain play-structures are mimicking of the male bedroom experience.
Content Warnings: Death/racism/bullying/sports
Hav...
'The trashiest play we've ever done.'
Content Warnings: Murder/Drugs/Classism
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)
Theme music this episode: Spooky music by Victor_Natas -- https://freesound.org/s/560181/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
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
Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to...
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 Su...
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 ...
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 gen...
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 ...
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
Ch...
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)
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 o...
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...
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 mi...
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