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.
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
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
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!
All aboard! Valerie invites radio host Terrence Standish to cruise. Sasha and Ted have actually read the play The Chairs and are tasked with telling the team how it really ends. PR consultant Cyd McCormick offers crucial counsel. Coral speaks up – but only one thing’s for certain, no one can snorkel their way out of this mess.
Could the relaunch be the most successful event since the Fyre Festival? The voyage has sold out and, as egos ride high, plans are made to convert restaurants into guest rooms. The Dane Cruising team bonds over dreams of onboard karaoke, and visionary director Angela's artistic choices rattle her assistant Coral.
Showtime! Mere hours into their journey, Terrence is broadcasting live from the MS Phoenix Rising. A new show is center stage as Terrence interviews the front office cast members, even grabbing a short interview with Co-Captains Rigor Johnson and Moranis Jackson, all leading up to THE cultural event of the decade. But what should be a standout win in the history of Dane Cruising has potential to become a greater horror than any imagined by Ionesco.
It's time for the "Field of Dreams Strategy." Audience Development Director Gregory Limon and Finance Director Rupert Lake teach Marketing Assistant Sasha Heron this hot campaign idea... and the influencers take the bait. This episode offers a peek into the personal lives of Marsha and Angela (hint: more pleasure than business) while PR head Jackie Bowers receives a shocking phone call that could change everything.
The entire team has an epic call with Angela and assistant Coral DeMornay where budget cuts and clarity around the production's vision are top priorities. CEO of Dane Cruising Valerie Dane reveals the VIP list, but there’s trouble on the horizon as Financial Assistant Ted Rickles sinks into an existential crisis and the Ionesco Estate attempts contact.
Has everybody dialed in? Eying the end of the cruise industry’s shutdown, Marketing Director Marsha DeBois brings the Dane Cruising team avant garde theater director Angela Hove’s production of The Chairs to headline the relaunch. Approval in place, the front office bangs out next steps, oblivious of the complicated journey ahead.
Surprise! We're back! It's our pleasure to be dropping a 6-part podcast miniseries THE MS PHOENIX RISING, created by writer Trish Harnetiaux and director Katie Brook. Check out this introduction from Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Adam Greenfield as well as an interview with Trish and Katie, then go ahead and binge the whole thing!
Music Credit: Cradle Rock by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).