Next Chapter Podcasts and Fiasco Theater Release MEASURE FOR MEASURE Podcast Series

Next Chapter Podcasts and Fiasco Theater have teamed up for a new Play on Podcasts production of Measure for Measure, in modern verse translation by Aditi Brennan Kapil. The series will be released in weekly installments, which began on October 28, and will conclude on December 9. Directed by Fiasco Co-Artistic Director Jessie Austrian, and featuring the Fiasco ensemble, the series will be a complete aural experience for listeners, bringing them into Shakespeare's story wherever they are. The series will be available through Spotify, Apple, and everywhere else podcasts are found.

Building upon Play On Shakespeare's mission to enhance the understanding of Shakespeare's plays in performance, Play On Podcasts bring timeless tales directly to modern audiences. The series is presented by Next Chapter Podcasts, in partnership with Play On Shakespeare.

"We are overjoyed to bring our two companies together for this invigorating collaboration," said Jeremiah Tittle, Founder & CEO of Next Chapter Podcasts. "Next Chapter, and Play on Podcasts in particular, exist to reimagine how we tell stories and present authentic, unique voices. Fiasco's reputation as reinventors and explorers of Shakespeare make them the ideal partner as we produce a brand-new Measure for Measure."

"We are thrilled to work with Next Chapter, and to work again with the brilliant Aditi Brennan Kapil on her new translation of Shakespeare's story," said Jessie Austrian, Co-Artistic Director of Fiasco Theater and Director of Measure for Measure. "Fiasco has a six-actor Measure for Measure adaptation, but this project, translated by Aditi and brilliantly adapted for radio play by Nat Cassidy, is very different from our production. What a joy to experience a story we know well in an entirely different setting, through a new lens. And a delightful challenge to work in an entirely New Medium for us."

Michael Goodfriend, Executive Producer of Play On Podcasts, adds "Aditi Brennan Kapil's work challenges us to appreciate language for its malleability and its unique capacity to forge new realms of understanding through storytelling. She's the right person to present a prism for us to perceive this timely play in a new light, and the Fiasco Theater is perfectly poised to interpret these words in the profoundly intimate and immediate medium of podcasting. We are proud to bring yet another phenomenal series to our subscribers!"

Lue Douthit, President and Creative Director of Play On Shakespeare: "Every Play On Shakespeare translation has at least one moment of stunning clarity, where you finally and viscerally understand what the speech is all about. One fine example of the Play On Effect is Aditi's translation of Pompey's speech in prison. After listening to it, tell me that Shakespeare isn't our contemporary. By translating the characters from Shakespeare's time period into ours, it connects us directly to a social commentary about our times as Shakespeare's audience would have connected in theirs. It's not just the words, it's the context that we want to bring forward, which is our definition of translation."

The cast of Measure for Measure is: Noah Brody, Kimberly Chatterjee, Tina Chilip, Paul L. Coffey, Andy Grotelueschen, Devin E. Haqq, Ben Steinfeld, Paco Tolson, and Emily Young, plus cameos by Jessie Austrian and Michael Goodfriend.

For more information about Fiasco, please click here. For more information about Next Chapter Podcasts, please click here. Show art for media use (graphic credit: Next Chapter Podcasts) is available here.

About Fiasco:

FIASCO THEATER is an ensemble that creates dynamic, joyful, actor-driven productions, and the highest quality, accessible, affordable training for emerging artists. They are currently running Pericles through October 29th in NYC. They have recently presented work through three development series - Open Your Ears, Some Of Its Parts, and Without A Net, and offered digital access ticketing to their fall 2021 Without A Net production of Imogen Says Nothing. Fiasco's most recent full production, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, was presented through their residency at Roundabout Theatre Company and was nominated for Drama Desk and Off-Broadway Alliance awards. The Fiasco Conservatory training program, which offers 15 emerging artists the chance to train full-time in text, clown, movement, and more with the company's members and associated artists, is a living and growing program. Beginning in 2019 with a 6 Week program, the Conservatory was most recently offered in the spring of 2022 as a 9 Week initiative, and it will continue to expand in years ahead. Fiasco also frequently offers free training programs, workshops, masterclasses, and more, and mentors alumni around the country.

Additional past shows include Cymbeline (TFANA/Barrow Street), Into the Woods (Roundabout, Old Globe, McCarter), Measure for Measure (New Victory, Long Wharf), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Folger, TFANA), The Imaginary Invalid (Old Globe) and Twelfth Night (Classic Stage Company). Cymbeline was presented Off-Broadway twice, for nearly 200 performances, and was honored with the 2012 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for best revival. Into the Woods garnered the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival. Into the Woods went on to play the Menier Chocolate Factory in London, and the 2016-17 national tour won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Visiting Production and LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Direction and Best Ensemble. Fiasco's work has been commissioned by The Old Globe and they have been in residence with TFANA, Duke University, Marquette University and LSU. In addition to Roundabout, they are currently in residence with NYU-Gallatin. Their work has been developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab, the Orchard Project, SPACE at Ryder Farm and the Shakespeare Society.

About Next Chapter Podcasts:

NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS is a podcast company dedicated to telling stories with a positive impact on our world by elevating bold, authentic voices. It boasts a team with decades of experience in media spanning television, radio, music and theater. NCP believes storytelling is embedded in our DNA, and the modern day audio phenomenon is a return to our primal, instinctual desire for human connection. By nurturing relationships with artists, leaders, writers and activists, NCP seeks to expand its imprint beyond podcasting by creating adaptations of content to inspire generations through compelling storytelling in a variety of formats. Shows produced by Next Chapter include Politics War Room with James Carville, The 500 with Josh Adam Myers, Tough Juice with Caron Butler, and The Ten News, with Bethany Van Delft. More info at ncpodcasts.com.

About Play On Shakespeare:

PLAY ON SHAKESPEARE is a non-profit company promoting and creating contemporary modern translations of Shakespeare's plays. Since its inception in 2015, Play On has commissioned dozens of contemporary playwrights and translators to translate 39 Shakespeare plays into modern English, with a majority of the commissions being helmed by BIPOC and womxn playwrights. Far from a paraphrasing exercise, each playwright was tasked with matching Shakespeare's linguistic rigor as they approached the text, preserving rhyme, rhythm, metaphor, meter, imagery, symbolism, rhetoric, and the structure that make Shakespeare's plays engaging and accessible to today's audience. Play On partners with artists and organizations across the globe to deliver and advocate for these translations through different channels, including theatrical productions, podcasts, publications, and film. For more information, visit playonshakespeare.org. Play On Shakespeare is made possible through generous support of the Hitz Foundation.

About The Hitz Foundation:

THE HITZ FOUNDATION has projects in science, the arts, and the environment throughout the world. In addition to Play On Shakespeare and Play On Podcasts, the foundation also supports several archaeological projects in northern Guatemala and funded the largest LiDAR mapping ever undertaken for archaeological research to support these projects (discovering 60,000 new Mayan structures). The foundation funds Global Digital Heritage which captures state-of-the-art 3D models of museum collections and heritage sites and shares them with the world at no cost. The foundation also supports several environmental projects including the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, which protects the ecosystems and biodiversity of East Africa through conservation efforts that directly benefit wildlife, wilderness and the local Maasai communities.