Ever wondered what’s the big deal with a particular play or playwright?
Was Romeo really worth it? What exactly was Oedipus’ complex? Who was Antigone antagonising? And why was a play about vaginas revolutionary for its time?
This is where Play: Notes comes in.
Join Dramaturgs Emily Duncan and Allison Horsley as they give you the need-to-know notes on plays that have influenced how we watch, read, and think about theatre.
Warning: Contains mature themes, language, and spoilers.
Play:Notes is produced by Prospect Park NZ and engineered by Otago Access Radio. Season Two original theme music is by Matthew Morgan.
https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
For the second of three episodes on women playwrights connected to Ōtepoti Dunedin, Allison and Emily are joined by Amy Wright to talk about the script she developed during the 2021 Otepoti Theatre Lab Playwrights Programme, Wish Yeti Were Here. Links:Amy Wright PlaymarketWish Yeti Were Here ScripThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
9 Nov 2023
Playwright Abby Howells
For the first of three episodes on women playwrights connected to Ōtepoti Dunedin, Allison and Emily talk to Abby Howells about her one-woman autobiographical and award-winning show, HarleQueen. Links:Abby HowellsAbby Howells PlaymarketThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
9 Nov 2023
Playwright Jo Randerson
In the final episode of season two of Play:Notes, Allison and Emily discuss Banging Cymbal, Clanging Gong with playwright Jo Randerson and how both the work and the playwright have changed since it was first presented in Ōtepoti Dunedin in 2001.Links:Jo Randerson PlaymarketBanging Cymbal Clanging Gong ScriptBarbarian ProductionsThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www...
2 Nov 2023
Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Is Three Sisters Masha 2.0? Is The Cherry Orchard an early examination of NIMBYism? We cover all this and more – including a big fire of little consequence – in the final of this season’s Chekhov episodes. Links:Five Chekhov PlaysWriting Adaptations and Translations for the StageThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
2 Nov 2023
Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
Uncle Vanya shows us just how much Anton Chekhov loved trees, even if not all his characters did. In this episode we also look at the social setting of Chekhov’s Russia and some approaches to translation and adaptation. Links:Five Chekhov PlaysWriting Adaptations and Translations for the StageThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
2 Nov 2023
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
When is a seagull not a seagull? And why did everyone have so many names? In the first of three episodes on Anton Chekhov’s most famous plays, Allison and Emily discuss The Seagull.Links:Five Chekhov PlaysWriting Adaptations and Translations for the StageThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
28 Sept 2021
Fleabag
We go out in phenomenal style in the final episode of season one with Fleabag. Since its first showing at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s smash hit one-woman show has launched an astonishing career. Join us as we discuss what aspiring playwrights should take note of in this script.Content Warning: Discussion of suicide.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to ht...
21 Sept 2021
The Vagina Monologues
Did they really say that?! It’s time to cover your grandmother’s ears – or not – as we take a look at the play that got so many talking in ways they never had before. Eve Ensler’s landmark work started a movement still going today.Content Warning: Discussion of sexual violation and violence towards womenThanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
13 Sept 2021
End of the Golden Weather
We round off season one with a trio of monologues. First up, is the New Zealand classic The End of the Golden Weather. If you’ve ever wondered how we do Christmas on the beach in Aotearoa, then this is the episode for you.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
7 Sept 2021
Merchant of Venice
In the final of three episodes on Shakespeare we ask if The Merchant of Venice really fits the comedy mould. Was the Bard an anti-Semite? What did he want us to make of Antonio and Bassanio’s bromance? And did Portia really walk her quality of mercy talk?Content Warning: Discussion of antisemitism.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
31 Aug 2021
Othello
What’s in a prop? How can one handkerchief create so much drama? And why and how would you stage a story about a Moorish General today? Content Warning: Discussion of intimate partner violence.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
24 Aug 2021
Romeo and Juliet
Oh Romeo, Romeo, what did you do? Why did Juliet fall so hard for you? In the first of three episodes on Shakespeare, we get to grips with the Bard’s language.Content Warning: Discussion of suicide and domestic violence.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
17 Aug 2021
Medea
The perfect cautionary tale for why you should never receive gifts from an angry ex. In the final of our three Greek Tragedy episodes for season one, we discuss how playwright Euripides modified the story of Medea and take a quick dive into Greek mythology. Content Warning: Discussion of family violence and filicide.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospe...
10 Aug 2021
Antigone
Was Antigone the original kick-arse woman character? She’s definitely not going down without a fight. In this episode we also take a look around some theatre architecture, the social context in which Greek tragedies were performed, and what it was like to watch a show in 442 BCE.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
3 Aug 2021
Oedipus Rex
Long before the invention of the combustion engine Sophocles showed us that road rage never pays. In the first of three episodes on Greek Tragedy, we meet Oedipus the King and get our brains and tongues around hamartia, hubris, and catharsis.Content Warning: Discussion of incest and suicide.Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
19 Jul 2021
Preview
Meet Emily and Allison. They’re both dramaturgs. Meaning they’ve read a lot of plays. Here they tell you why and how this came to be in the preview to season one of Play: Notes.First Episode coming August 3rd 2021Thanks for listening! Please consider leaving us a rating and a review.To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Contact Play: Notes
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Play: Notes?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
