Live Recording of Three Short Plays featuring Sam Waterson, Estelle Parsons, John Patrick Shanley, & Alan Zweibel to Benefit PLAYING ON AIR

Each play recorded for public radio and podcast will be followed by a conversation with its playwright, cast and director led by Playing on Air's founder and artistic director, Claudia Catania. "We record and share the work of contemporary theater's best practitioners. That way new and diverse audiences, including those with limited time, access or cash, can enjoy a taste of quality theater without constraint." says Catania. "And devotees can indulge their habit. We want to showcase a wide variety of voices and think the short play form is an ideal fit for the rhythms of radio and podcast listening."

Says Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Auburn, "The process of putting these plays up live is a lot of fun. It's pickup basketball, but with NBA players - people operating at extremely high levels."

Beth Henley notes, "PLAYING ON AIR is a phenomenal endeavor that seamlessly brings the finest playwrights and actors to a large and diverse audience with the utmost grace... A great gift to theatre lovers and newcomers."

Catania adds, "Radio performances invite audiences to use their imagination." "Ultimately, we want to cultivate future audiences for the theater, and extend a playwright's platform."

Original music is composed for every play by series composer Tom Kochan. John Kilgore lends his sound design and recording expertise.

Playing on Air thanks Willy Holtzman and Sylvia Shepard for their support of the evening in memory of Seth Gelblum.

Benefit tickets are available for a $100 contribution, which include a post-show reception with the artists. Playing on Air is a 501(c)(3) and contributions are tax deductible.

Visit playingonair.org or click here for tickets.

Program Details
Tennessee
written and directed by John Patrick Shanley
with Caitlin Fitzgerald ("Masters of Sex"), Timothée Chalamet ("Homeland")

Happy by Alan Zweibel
directed by Fred Berner
with Scott Adsit ("30 Rock"), Frankie Faison ("The Wire")

A Man of His Time by Kate T. Billingsley
directed by Estelle Parsons
with John Douglas Thompson, Sam Waterston

About Playing on Air

Playing on Air is a public radio show and podcast featuring quality recordings of notable contemporary 10-25 minute American plays. It's purpose is to share an important art form with the nation via public radio and podcast.
It has recorded short plays by Lynn Nottage, Christopher Durang, David Lindsay-Abaire, David Ives, Beth Henley, David Auburn, John Guare, Tanya Barfield among many.

Dynamic actors populate these shorts including Chris Cooper, Jesse Eisenberg, Audra McDonald, Steven Boyer, John Leguizamo, Julie White, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bill Irwin, Jane Krakowski, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Rosie Perez and Adam Driver. Listen online at www.playingonair.org

Since launching in June of 2012, Playing on Air has produced and recorded over 70 short plays. It has aired on 90 public radio stations and affiliates in 18 states across the country. The programs are distributed by PRX, the public radio exchange for independently produced radio content.

About The Jerome L Greene Space

The Greene Space is the street-level broadcast studio and performance venue of WNYC and WQXR that produces special live editions of WNYC programs and WQXR concerts and festivals, as well as original programming, including theater events, arts and culture conversation series, political debates and audio theater. It serves as a place for experimentation, cultural discovery and dialogue. For more information, visit www.thegreenespace.org