Advertise on podcast: Play Ground

Send us Fan Mail 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/Child Murder/Dismemberment/Mental Illness/Torture Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram Theme Music this time: Konstantinos Paliatsaras - The Duchess of Malfi Song

Send us Fan Mail 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/Hate Crime/Murder/Sexism/Sex/Terminal Illness/Hospitals/Pedophilia/AIDS/HIV/Grief/Amputation/Birth Trauma The grief essay we mention: Mustafa, Esma. (2026). GRIEF IN PHILIP RIDLEY'S VINCENT RIVER. Çukurova Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi. 35. 10.35379/cusosbil.1653643.  Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram Theme Music: j'ai peur de mes cordes devenues toiles by Rrrrrose Azerty https://loyaltyfreakmusic.com/ License: Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/nKM Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube

Send us Fan Mail 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 1940s mail system. Content Warnings: Death/Murder/Slavery/War/Sexism/Gore/A.I./Nazis Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail 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. Content Warnings: Death/Dementia Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail 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) war, and which writers we would bring back from the dead. Content Warnings: War/Slavery/Death/Execution/Murder/Sexism Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail 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 Asylum/Racism/Sexism/Death/Child Death/Animal Death/Gore/Most Other Traumatic Events Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram Theme music this time: Monk in the wind - Drums Ethno Choir Monk Voice Drone World Hum Action Dark Cinematic Music Surround.wav by szegvari -- https://freesound.org/s/609034/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Send us Fan Mail 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 feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail 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 these will! not! match! We talk psychology, stock markets, and the relevancy of this kind of guy today. Content Warnings: Murder/Death/Sexual Assault/Sex Work/Racism/Child Death/Drug Use/Podcast Bros Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram The theme music this time is SON OF PSYCHO by MadGravityStudio -- https://freesound.org/s/832440/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Send us Fan Mail 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 Have some feedback? A play you'd like us to cover? Find us @playground_pod on Instagram Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail '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

Send us Fan Mail 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 cover? Chat to host Nancy @N_Netherwood on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)

Send us Fan Mail 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 Surgery 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)

Send us Fan Mail 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 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)

Send us Fan Mail 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 general. Eve Leigh we love you, if you see this please hit us up. 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)

Send us Fan Mail 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 on various Chat to host Sam @Samwebbercool2 on Instagram (and go find @rootlingtheatre for his puppet antics)