Theatre Couch
Nominated for a 2022 Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Podcast, veteran acting couple Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs tackle a new set of social and cultural issues with each new play. You will leave this podcast with a greater appreciation of playwrights, theatre, and your connection to our world. Seasons 1 & 2 are currently available with Season 3 on the way. Let's talk plays!
Episodes
21 episodes
Episode 21 - What Do We Need To Talk About? by Richard Nelson
Where were you when the Covid-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020? What was your initial reaction? How did it feel to be separated from your loved ones? How thankful are you that Zoom wa...
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Season 2
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Episode 21
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49:58
Episode 20 - Lydia's Funeral Video by Sam Chanse
What would you do if you suddenly found out you were pregnant, dying, and needed to do your own funeral video? Maybe do three sets of stand up comedy for good measure? These are the stipulations imposed by Lydia Clark-Lin’s embryo, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 20
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47:30
Episode 19 - Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau
How would you prepare for the impending loss of your good-paying job which was supposed to be your ticket to upward mobility? In Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew, autoworkers Faye, Dez and Shanita find themselves caught in the...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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47:05
Episode 18 - Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith
What would you do if your city was on fire from decades of racial tension? Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angles, 1992 tells the collective story of the riots which erupted from the not-guilty verdicts of the police off...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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49:54
Episode 17 - The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
What would you do if an anonymous and insidious illness relentlessly preyed upon your nearest and dearest? This is Ned Weeks' reality in July 1981 when he meets Dr. Emma Brookner, one of the few physicians treating gay men stricken with t...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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47:21
Episode 16 - Miriam's Flowers by Migdalia Cruz
How do you cope with grief? This question haunts every character in Migdalia Cruz’s “Miriam’s Flowers.” It’s the 1970’s in the South Bronx and a Puerto Rican family has just suffered the loss of 7-year-old Puli who was struck by a t...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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46:01
Episode 15 - The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare
Have you ever become so obsessed with a goal that it devoured everything else in your life? This is the conflict for Artie, an incompetent songwriter who shares the delusion with his conniving mistress Bunny, that he must and WILL hit the...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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46:20
Episode 14 - Picnic by William Inge
Have you ever felt stuck in your life but didn't quite know how to get unstuck? This is the nagging reality for every character in William Inge's Picnic. Set in a small Kansas town in the early 1950s, handsome drifter Hal Carter arr...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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44:43
Episode 13 - Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon
If you knew you had only one week to live, what would you do with it? This is the game Eugene Morris Jerome and his fellow army recruits play in the barracks at basic training in 1943. It's simply a game, but the young soldiers' hopes and...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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44:20
Episode 12 - The Nance by Douglas Carter Beane
What if you spent your life hiding who you are? Not because you want to, but because other's want you to stay invisible. In 1937 New York, burlesque performer Chauncey meets newly arrived Ned at an automat where gay men cruise. Since homo...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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38:10
Episode 11 - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson
August Wilson once again places the African American experience front and center—this time, through the strained interactions between blues musicians and the 1927 recording industry bent on denying them creative freedom and economic equality.&n...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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46:59
Episode 10 - Act One by James Lapine
They say writers should write about what they know. But, is what you know enough to get your writing noticed? This is the story of Moss Hart's courageous journey from a Bronx tenement to legendary scribe of the Broadway stage. This episode's pl...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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43:34
Episode 9 - The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse
When it comes to political correctness, who gets the final edit? Through her comic sensibilities and believable depictions of today's so-called "wokeness," playwright Larissa FastHorse reveals the folly of a white theatre group constructi...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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43:50
Episode 8 - Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz
What's more important to you: QUANTITY or QUALITY? In 1929, A cigar-making, Cuban-American family in Ybor City, Florida must face the harsh realities that accompany this dilemma. In this episode, Nikki and Nathan break down Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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46:44
Episode 7 - King of the Yees by Lauren Yee
When was the last time you asked your parents about your family's history? Would knowing it change you? These are some of the questions raised in Lauren Yee's semi-autobiographical comedy King of the Yees. (Published by Samuel French). Nikki an...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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42:28
Episode 6 - King Hedley II by August Wilson
Restrained by daily racism, on probation, and facing a baby on the way, King Hedley is determined to outsmart these harsh realities and achieve a decent life for his family. He contends with the inner and outer obstacles that stand between his ...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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47:39
Episode 5 - In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl
Yes. You read that correctly. This is a play about a vibrator. Not 2022 style--more like the late 19th century, when electricity was new and much was misunderstood about women. Join Nathan and Nikki as they grapple with the big questions posed ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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38:45
Episode 4 - Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar
How much does one Muslim man have to give up in order to be accepted by American society? Join Nathan and Nikki as they tackle this and other complex questions posed by Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, published by Back Bay ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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40:25
Episode 3 - Indecent by Paula Vogel
How far are you willing to go to make sure a story gets told? Nathan and Nikki explore the world of Yiddish theatre in Paula Vogel's Indecent (published by Theatre Communications Group). Come hear how theatre can change the world!&n...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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36:51
Episode 2 - Rock 'N' Roll by Tom Stoppard
How would you thrive under the weight of an oppressive government? Within the framework of Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll (published by Grove Press), Nathan and Nikki search for some answers. Listen in and find some of your own!...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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40:28
Episode 1 - Eclipsed by Danai Gurira
Welcome to Theatre Couch podcast! In the inaugural episode, Nathan and Nikki deconstruct Eclipsed written by Danai Gurira and published by Dramatists Play Service. Topics include: misogyny, survival in war-torn Liberia, and Gurira's...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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39:12