Barrington Stage Company’s recent production of Harry Clarke isn’t just a play. It’s a test-case — the first Actors’ Equity Association-approved production since theater went dark. As such, the spotlight was blinding, and all eyes were on this

Quick drop with an update

Apr 6th, 2020 6m 50s

A quick drop with an update about the next two episodes, featuring the backdrop on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and the musical Come From Away — two acclaimed productions now on hold because of the coronavirus. And why that’s a shame, consideri

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, PART II

Feb 11th, 2020 25m 19s

The Play That Goes Wrong is a great play about bad theater. Kevin says it’s also one of the best plays, comedy or drama, to hit Broadway in the past decade. In part one, he interviewed creator and original cast member Henry Lewis (of Mischief T

Episode 6: WILL ARBERY

Jan 14th, 2020 33m 10s

"The war is coming, dude.” So says a central character in one of the most talked about plays of the year. Is she right? Could be, who knows. But if a civil war returns, Will Arbery is undoubtedly the right playwright to spin our basest impulses

Will Arbery

Jan 14th, 2020 33m 55s

Episode 5: SAMUEL D. HUNTER

Dec 25th, 2019 37m 39s

Samuel D. Hunter is the MacArthur genius award-winning playwright who may have started small — as a teenager growing up in Idaho — but has since assembled a deep roster of plays set there. And that’s the point: small towns, all the better to ex

Samuel D. Hunter

Dec 25th, 2019 38m 24s

HARRY TOWNSEND'S LAST STAND

Dec 12th, 2019 40m 45s

Harry Townsend’s Last Stand is a comedy about what could be tragedy — the decline of a man beyond his prime, and the struggle of a son to connect with his fading father. Written by playwright George Eastman, it hits close to home for Kevin, who

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

Nov 26th, 2019 29m 34s

The Play That Goes Wrong is a comedy about a mystery. It was also a huge hit — during its run, it became the longest-running play on Broadway. Kevin has a mystery he needs solved: the mystery of why he has seen it seven times. To solve that who

Waterwell's THE COURTROOM

Nov 17th, 2019 39m 29s

Waterwell Theater Company’s latest play, The Courtroom, has no playwright. Or even a theater. But as Waterwell founder (from HBO’s “Succession” and Tony nominee) Arian Moayed and Artistic Director Lee Sunday Evans tell Kevin, that’s the point.

August Wilson's JITNEY

Nov 4th, 2019 28m 42s

The big open, on all things August Wilson. In a deep dive on August Wilson’s JITNEY, Kevin drills down with Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson and actor Francois Battiste, and visits with Constanza Romero Wilson about her legendary husband

Trailer

Podcast Trailer

Oct 29th, 2019 3m 54s

So the show’s a smash. But why? And why now? THE BACKDROP puts theater's biggest hits and most compelling productions in context — featuring interviews with the creators and cast, punctuated by a punchy, deeply researched dive into the reasons

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