PlayMe launches impressive new season of audio dramas this week
iPhoto caption: Handout image of PlayMe branding.
PlayMe, the revolutionary podcast produced by Expect Theatre in association with CBC, returns this week with a jam-packed lineup of audio plays.
Distributed by CBC since 2018, PlayMe converts Canadian plays into multi-part audio dramas, often featuring the plays’ original casts. PlayMe then adds additional value to these recordings by offering in-depth interviews with the playwrights.
The new season of PlayMe launches on January 10 with Liisa Repo-Martell’s adaptation of Uncle Vanya.
Here’s what you can expect from this season of PlayMe.
Uncle Vanya
Written by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Liisa Repo-Martell
Premieres January 10
This much-acclaimed adaptation premiered at Crow’s Theatre in 2022 under the direction of Chris Abraham. The PlayMe re-imagining includes most of the original cast, including Tom Rooney, Eric Peterson, and Bahia Watson reprising their roles as Vanya, Alexandre, and Sonya, respectively.
da kink in my hair
Written by Trey Anthony
Premieres February 14
Trey Anthony’s enduring play with songs, first produced in 2003, is finally making its way to the world of podcasts. The PlayMe run features a star-studded cast of Black women, including d’bi. young anitafrika and Shakura Dickson, as the proprietors and customers of a West Indian beauty salon in Toronto.
First Métis Man of Odesa
Written by Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova
Premieres March 6
This true story traces the origins of MacKenzie and Khomutova’s love story, following the young couple through long-distance dating, the pandemic, an unplanned pregnancy, and the war in Ukraine. MacKenzie and Khomutova play themselves in this deeply affecting, critically acclaimed two-hander.
Prodigal
Written by Paolo Santalucia
Premieres April 3
Santalucia’s red-hot play about religion and familial dysfunction, first produced by The Howland Company in association with Crow’s Theatre in 2023, is an exciting addition to the PlayMe lineup. The audio play features memorable performances by Dan Mousseau, Nancy Palk, Shauna Thompson, and more.
Guilt: A Love Story
Written by Diane Flacks
Premieres May 1
Flacks’ solo show about guilt and the tribulations that go with it will play in-person at Tarragon Theatre from February 6 — March 3, followed by its PlayMe launch on May 1. The play explores Flacks’ life through a lens of that fickle feeling that is guilt, with laughs to spare along the way.
You can learn more about PlayMe here.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling is Intermission's senior editor and an award-winning arts journalist with bylines including the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, CBC Arts, CTV News Toronto, and Maclean's. She likes British playwright Sarah Kane, most songs by Taylor Swift, and her cats, Fig and June. She was a 2024 fellow at the National Critics Institute in Waterford, CT.
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