Playing on Air

From the oral tradition of the Iliad to TED talks, audio storytelling has always been a fundamental part of how we interact with language, learning and cultural transmission. The earliest dramas survive in text alone; the magic of theater lies in the manifestation and interpretation of that text. At Playing On Air, we’re dedicated to the simplest, most raw form of theatrical performance: a text coming alive with the sound of the human voice. Playing On Air was founded to combat the idea that the range of live theater performance is limited--by cost, geography, or even by medium. In pursuit of democratized, accessible theater, we record short contemporary plays with award-winning actors and deliver them to listeners across the U.S. via public radio, podcast and online streaming. At the heart of our mission is the promotion of living American playwrights and their work, which is an essential element of our evolving cultural heritage and a tribute to the richness of American language arts today. “Playing On Air does something remarkable for playwrights,” says acclaimed writer Sheri Wilner. It “gives new, unexpected life to our plays. Hearing your script performed on the radio, by such stellar actors, is like having one of those dreams in which you discover your house has additional rooms. The show offers writers a thrilling new venue for their work as well as an audience they never would have reached had their plays remained limited to theatrical performances.” But even more important than what it offers writers, she continues, “is what is offers listeners: thought-provoking delicious morsels of art that they can enjoy and contemplate in between distressing news reports or their mundane chores.” It’s our goal to leverage our unique medium to not only deliver existing excellent short plays to our listeners, but to spark the development of a new range of American literary excellence. As part of an expansion plan to begin in early 2018, we’ll be placing an increased emphasis on commissioning, producing and broadcasting new, original work by today’s celebrated playwrights.