The Play Podcast

• The Play Podcast - 103 - Titus Andronicus, by William Shakespeare

  Episode 103: Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare Host: Douglas Schatz Guest: Max Webster Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing. Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare’s first tragedy, although in fact, scholars believe that Shakespeare did not write the whole play himself. Whatever its origins, the play is notorious for its graphic horror, which includes multiple killings, amputations, decapitations, rape and cannibalism. Horrors that have overwhelmed audiences and alienated critics for centuries. Although the play was hugely popular in Shakespeare’s time, later critics dismissed it for its excessive violence and crude, fragmented structure. However, the play’s bleak portrait of amoral leadership, sexual violence, racial conflict, and personal and political despair has struck a chord in more recent times, with several acclaimed productions and restored critical opinion. As we record this episode an exciting new production of the play is on stage at the Hampstead theatre in London, having transferred following its acclaimed run at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. The production is directed by Max Webster, who joins me to explore Shakespeare’s full-blooded tragedy.

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• The Play Podcast - 102 - Every Brilliant Thing, by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe

  Episode 102: Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe Host: Douglas Schatz Guests: Duncan Macmillan              Jonny Donahoe Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing. Every Brilliant ThingWhen their mother attempts to take her own life, a seven-year old child decides to start a list; a list of “everything brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for.” A list for mum. This is the premise for Every Brilliant Thing, the hit one-person play created by playwright Duncan Macmillan and performer Jonny Donahoe. The play started life at Ludlow Fringe Festival in 2013, and in the decade or so since, it has been seen in over 70 countries around the world. As we record this episode Every Brilliant Thing has reached London’s West End, with a rotating cast of five different performers appearing over its three-month run at the Soho Place theatre. The critic, Lyn Gardner, described Every Brilliant Thing as “one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see about depression.” She is spot on – it is funny and poignant and finally life affirming.  I am very privileged to be joined in this episode by the show's two creators, Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe.   

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• The Play Podcast - 101 - The 101 Greatest Plays

  Episode 101: The 101 Greatest Plays Host: Douglas Schatz Guests: Michael Billington              Mark Lawson Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing. In 2015 the esteemed theatre critic, Michael Billington, published The 101 Greatest Plays – From Antiquity to the Present. Michael wrote that his selection was intended as a “provocation”, a “prelude to debate”. Ten years on I invited Michael and the arts journalist, Mark Lawson, to join me to review and debate his criteria and selection. During our discussion we not only wrangled over specific inclusions and exclusions in Michael’s list, including most controversially his omission of both King Lear and Waiting for Godot, we also addressed more general questions about the criteria for selection, what elements make a great play, and what makes a play more likely to endure beyond its own time. Join us in the debate!

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• The Play Podcast - 100 - A Moon for the Misbegotten, by Eugene O'Neill

  Episode 100: A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill Host: Douglas Schatz Guest: Beth Wynstra Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing. A Moon for the Misbegotten is the last play that Eugene O’Neill wrote. It is in some way a eulogy for his brother, Jamie O’Neill, who like the character of Jim Tyrone in this play, drank himself to death. In fact, it is also an epilogue of sorts to his autobiographical masterpiece Long Day’s Journey into Night, where we first met Jim Tyrone. It is eleven years later, and Jim is about to leave the family home in Connecticut following the death of his parents, but not before saying a final goodbye to the woman who lives next door, Josie Hogan. Josie and Jim have unacknowledged feelings for each other, but their tortured moonlit night together does not offer them the salvation or future that they may have thought possible. As we record this episode, a new production of A Moon for the Misbegotten is playing at the Almeida theatre in London, and I am delighted to be joined by O’Neill expert, Beth Wynstra, to explore what one American critic called ‘a major minor-masterpiece”. To mark our 100th episode listeners have a chance to win £100 of theatre tokens – visit https://www.theplaypodcast.com/100-a-moon-for-the-misbegotten-by-eugene-oneill/  for details on how to enter!

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• The Play Podcast - 099 - Till the Stars Come Down, by Beth Steel

  Episode 099: Till the Stars Come Down by Beth Steel Host: Douglas Schatz Guest: Beth Steel Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing. It is Sylvia and Marek’s wedding day. But this is not an entirely traditional English wedding, because unlike her older sisters, Sylvia’s husband-to-be is not a local man; Marek is a Polish immigrant. As the festivities unfold, fuelled by beer and vodka, emotions run high, and fault lines appear within the family that will change their lives forever. Beth Steel’s Till the Stars Come Down, is an hilarious and heartbreaking family drama, as well as a richly layered exploration of the social and economic landscape of the country they live in. Till the Stars Come Down premiered to great acclaim at the National Theatre in January 2024, and as we record this episode is back on stage at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End. I’m delighted to be joined by the play’s author, Beth Steel.

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