Episodes

  • Troilus and Cressida - Episode 2 - The Sifting
    Jul 13 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** As Agamemnon and his Generals argue in the Greek camp, the Trojan Aeneas arrives to deliver Hector’s challenge to a duel in single combat. When the brute Ajax hears about the proclamation, he beats the foul-mouthed slave Thersites for not telling him what it says. Achilles and Patroclus come to Thersites’ rescue and defend him from Ajax even though Thersites insists on insulting all of them. Back in the Royal Palace of Troy, Priam and his sons Hector, Paris and Troilus dine in the Trojan Council Chamber and debate whether to surrender Helen to end the war. Hector argues she isn’t worth the bloodshed and that it’s the honorable thing to do. They are interrupted by their mad sister, Cassandra, who enters and prophesies that if they do not let Helen go, Troy will burn. Troilus and Paris argue to keep her nonetheless, ultimately deciding to continue the fight. Back in the Greek camp, Ajax hopes to be picked as the champion to fight Hector. Thersites curses them all. The PLAY ON PODCAST SERIES, “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA”, was written by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and translated into modern English verse by LILLIAN GROAG. All episodes were directed by KIM MARTIN COTTON. Radio play by CATHERINE EATON. Executive Producer: MICHAEL GOODFRIEND This podcast was recorded under a SAG-AFTRA AGREEMENT. The cast is as follows: BENJAMIN BONENFANT as TROILUS AWNI ABDI-BAHRI as CRESSIDA JAMES UDOM as ACHILLES GEOFFREY ALLEN MURPHY as AJAX STEVEN RATTAZZI as PANDARUS and MENELAUS DAISUKE TSUJI as THERSITES ANNA SUNDBERG as ALEXANDRA, CASSANDRA and HELEN NOAH KEYISHIAN as AENEAS, MARGARELON and HELENUS ROB NAGLE as AGAMEMNON LISA WOLPE as ULYSSES WAYNE T. CARR as HECTOR and CALCHAS EDWARD GERO as NESTOR and PRIAM EDDIE LOPEZ as PATROCLUS and PARIS JOHNNY WU as DIOMEDES KIM MARTIN COTTON as ANDROMOCHE Casting by THE TELSEY OFFICE: KARYN CASL, CSA. Voice and Text Coach: JULIE FOH Original Music Composition, Mix and Sound Design by LINDSAY JONES. Sound engineering and mixing by SADAHARU YAGI. Mix Engineer and Dialogue Editor: LARRY WALSH. Podcast Mastering by GREG CORTEZ at New Monkey Studio. Coordinating Producer: TRANSCEND STREAMING (KYRA BOWIE and LEANNA KEYES). The Play On Podcast Series “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA ” is produced by NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS and is made possible by the generous support of THE HITZ FOUNDATION. Visit ⁠NEXTCHAPTERPODCASTS.COM⁠ for more about the Play On Podcast Series. Visit ⁠PLAYONSHAKESPEARE.ORG⁠ for more about Play On Shakespeare. Subscribe to Play On Premium for ad-free episodes and join our Patreon for exclusive merchandise and early commercial-free releases. Go to nextchapterpodcasts.com for our Bonus Content, where you’ll find interviews with the artists, producers and engineers who brought it all to life. And remember: “The proud man eats himself”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    34 mins
  • Troilus and Cressida - Bonus Content Episode 1 - Theatermaker Lillian Groag
    Jul 6 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** “There are no good guys.” Renowned theatremaker Lillian Groag explains why “Troilus and Cressida” is her favorite of all the plays Shakespeare ever wrote, but not without wondering out loud what happened to him along the way... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • Troilus and Cressida - Episode 1 - The Milling
    Jun 29 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** The lovesick Trojan prince Troilus is so consumed by his infatuation with Cressida that he refuses to fight in the endless Trojan war with the Greeks, lamenting his woes to Cressida’s uncle, Pandarus, who serves as the go-between for the lovers. Aeneas arrives with news that Troilus’s brother, Paris, has been wounded by Menalaeus in battle, persuading Troilus to rejoin the fight. Inside the Trojan Citadel, Cressida gets the gossip from her friend Alexandra before Pandarus arrives to sing Troilus’s praises. Together, Pandarus and Cressida watch the Trojan warriors return from battle. Pandarus keeps heaping praise on Troilus as Cressida remains aloof, but once alone, she confesses she’s only playing “hard to get” in order to keep Troilus interested. Meanwhile, in the Greek encampment outside Troy, the Generals Agamemnon, Nestor and Ulysses lament that the war has dragged on for years without victory. Ulysses blames it on a breakdown of hierarchy and order brought on by Achilles’ mocking their leadership, whipping the Greeks into a frenzy of anger and frustration. The PLAY ON PODCAST SERIES, “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA”, was written by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and translated into modern English verse by LILLIAN GROAG. All episodes were directed by KIM MARTIN COTTON. Radio play by CATHERINE EATON. Executive Producer: MICHAEL GOODFRIEND This podcast was recorded under a SAG-AFTRA AGREEMENT. The cast is as follows: BENJAMIN BONENFANT as TROILUS AWNI ABDI-BAHRI as CRESSIDA JAMES UDOM as ACHILLES GEOFFREY ALLEN MURPHY as AJAX STEVEN RATTAZZI as PANDARUS and MENELAUS DAISUKE TSUJI as THERSITES ANNA SUNDBERG as ALEXANDRA, CASSANDRA and HELEN NOAH KEYISHIAN as AENEAS, MARGARELON and HELENUS ROB NAGLE as AGAMEMNON LISA WOLPE as ULYSSES WAYNE T. CARR as HECTOR and CALCHAS EDWARD GERO as NESTOR and PRIAM EDDIE LOPEZ as PATROCLUS and PARIS JOHNNY WU as DIOMEDES KIM MARTIN COTTON as ANDROMOCHE Casting by THE TELSEY OFFICE: KARYN CASL, CSA. Voice and Text Coach: JULIE FOH Original Music Composition, Mix and Sound Design by LINDSAY JONES. Sound engineering and mixing by SADAHARU YAGI. Mix Engineer and Dialogue Editor: LARRY WALSH. Podcast Mastering by GREG CORTEZ at New Monkey Studio. Coordinating Producer: TRANSCEND STREAMING (KYRA BOWIE and LEANNA KEYES). The Play On Podcast Series “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA ” is produced by NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS and is made possible by the generous support of THE HITZ FOUNDATION. Visit NEXTCHAPTERPODCASTS.COM for more about the Play On Podcast Series. Visit PLAYONSHAKESPEARE.ORG for more about Play On Shakespeare. Subscribe to Play On Premium for ad-free episodes and join our Patreon for exclusive merchandise and early commercial-free releases. Go to nextchapterpodcasts.com for our Bonus Content, where you’ll find interviews with the artists, producers and engineers who brought it all to life. And remember: “The proud man eats himself”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    35 mins
  • Introducing...Troilus and Cressida
    Jun 22 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS PRESENTS THE PLAY ON PODCAST SERIES, “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA” SHAKESPEARE’S BITING COMEDY ABOUT THE ABSURDITY OF WAR AND THE UNDERBELLY OF LOVE. AN EPIC ANTI-LOVE STORY PERFORMED BY AN ENSEMBLE OF AMERICA’S MOST ACCOMPLISHED STAGE ACTORS IN A MODERN ENGLISH VERSE TRANSLATION BY LILLIAN GROAG. DIRECTED BY KIM MARTIN COTTEN RADIO PLAY BY CATHERINE EATON WITH ORIGINAL SOUND DESIGN AND COMPOSITION BY LINDSAY JONES Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 min
  • Bonus Content - Actor Randall Duk Kim & Director Annie Occhiogrosso - Pt. 2
    Jun 15 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** “We Gave Everything We Had”: Actor Randall Duk Kim and Director Annie Occhiogrosso reflect on their lives as artists, creating American Players Theater, how much you can learn from studying “Hamlet” over fifty years, what it takes to be great, where to find the best audiences in the country, how strawberries and chocolate can make all the difference on Press Day, the importance of language, what Keanu Reeves reads between takes, how Laurence Fishburne found his way into “Othello”, why every actor should start a theater, being Asian on an island, how Edwin Booth, Walt Whitman and a slaughtered lamb all played a part in bringing world class productions to a town of 1,200 people in rural Wisconsin, why it’s important to plant the seeds of inspiration in young people if we want to have any hope for our future, and much, much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • Bonus Content - Actor Randall Duk Kim & Director Annie Occhiogrosso - Pt. 1
    Jun 8 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠⁠ *** “We Gave Everything We Had”: Actor Randall Duk Kim and Director Annie Occhiogrosso reflect on their lives as artists, creating American Players Theater, how much you can learn from studying “Hamlet” over fifty years, what it takes to be great, where to find the best audiences in the country, how strawberries and chocolate can make all the difference on Press Day, the importance of language, what Keanu Reeves reads between takes, how Laurence Fishburne found his way into “Othello”, why every actor should start a theater, being Asian on an island, how Edwin Booth, Walt Whitman and a slaughtered lamb all played a part in bringing world class productions to a town of 1,200 people in rural Wisconsin, why it’s important to plant the seeds of inspiration in young people if we want to have any hope for our future, and much, much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Bonus Content - Historian Cassidy Cash
    Jun 1 2026
    ***⁠⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠⁠ *** “I fell into Shakespeare!” Historian and podcaster Cassidy Cash describes how finding a copy of a play tucked between a Bible and a hymnal in her grandmother’s house in rural Alabama led her into a life of learning about the past, the present, engineering information, painting castles, making podcasts, playing Noddy and knowing what a Link Boy was! Check out her excellent show That Shakespeare Life wherever you listen to great podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • Bonus Content - Professor Richard Burt
    May 25 2026
    ***⁠⁠Complete our⁠ listener survey⁠ for a chance to win a $50 gift card!⁠ *** There is no Orthodoxy”: Professor Richard Burt teaches us about the paratext, un-reading Shakespeare, Derrida and Plato in under an hour! With a soothing reminder that writing is both the poison and the remedy... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins