This is a Classic: The Expand the Canon Theatre Podcast
Episodes
Nannuccio & his Fifteen Stepdaughters & Oh, These Times!
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a cousin of commedia with a razz on dads… Nannuccio & His Fifteen Stepdaughters by Sister Annalena Odaldi should do the...
A Reflection in Disguise & Tango Palace
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a one-person piece that grapples with the legacy of women writers and the artifice of gender… consider this sharp short by W...
Screens & Soldadera
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a satirical critique of the blinding effects of media and consumerism… look no further than Dolores Prida’s Screens. In Pr...
The Mannequin & The Falcon
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a snappy satire of the sexist dating scene… consider this tight one-act from literary luminary Germaine de Staël. Although ...
It's Official! We're Rebranding!
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
*drumroll* We are now, officially, Expand the Canon – all day every day. Join some of our fabulous team to toast to this long-time-coming shift. We ...
The Guitarrón & The Girls from the Five and Ten (Les filles du 5-10-15)
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month's two plays: The Guitarrón by Lynne Alvarez & The Girls from the Five and Ten (Les filles du 5-10-15) by Abla FarhoudIf you’re l...
The Inheritance & Rain of Ice
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month's two shorter plays: The Inheritance by Kim Ja-Rim 김자림 and Rain of Ice by Hasegawa ShigureIf you’re looking for the character-...
Pleasure & Three Women
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month's two shorter plays: Pleasure by Rachilde and Three Women by Sylvia Plath!If you’re looking for a play that reveals how the pursuit o...
Season 5 - Shorter & One Act Plays
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're back to expanding the canon! The 5 curators for our 5th List are here to dish about what makes this year's list of plays special. Not on...
Spell #7 by Ntozake Shange
01 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for an ensemble-lead choreopoem that explores the Black experience in the entertainment industry… consider Spell #7 by celebrate...
Le Favori (The Favorite) by Marie-Catherine Desjardins
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking to explore the transactional nature of relationships when status is on the line… consider this tender-hearted hilarious romp co...
Day of the Swallows by Estela Portillo-Trambley
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a lush, poetic drama with a powerhouse queer heroine and an intersectional view of indigeneity… consider this moving piece f...
Mother of 1084 by Mahasweta Devi
01 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a whirling political drama centering a mother’s feminist awakening… consider this dreamlike exploration of familial ties a...
Adelinda by Hannah Brand
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for an irreverent class comedy featuring a gritty female lead… consider this romp of mistaken identities by the 18th century mas...
The Verge by Susan Glaspell
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a tragi-comedy where the lyric insight of Virginia Woolf meets the electric cruelty of Hedda Gabler… consider this post-war ...
Sons of Erin by Alicia Sheridan Le Fanu
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a plot-twist-filled farce with bold schemes to fight prejudice… consider this comedy from the elusive Irish playwright, Alic...
New System of Freedom by Charlotte von Stein
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a madcap Comedy of Errors with chaotic Gen-Z wit…consider this arch, rollicking take on love and freedom from German dramati...
This is a Classic! LIVE! - NYC Partner Panel
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This season, we have 8 partner companies diving into our 2023 list with us and producing readings. We were honored to have 4 of our New York partners ...
Heaven Challenges by Li Man-kuei
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a dramedy about reframing your life and learning to fall in love (with yourself) again… consider this powerful Chinese play ...
This is a Classic! LIVE! - Curators' Top Picks
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Now that we've released our 4th list and have 36 featured plays by historic women playwrights, our curators get together to dish about our favorit...
The Stone Host by Lesya Ukrainka
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you always wished you could see Lady Macbeth take on Don Juan… consider this reimagining of the Don Juan myth from a celebrated Ukrainian author....
The Singing Valley by Josefina Niggli
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for an atmospheric romance where the truest love story is one with home and community… consider this heartfelt struggle between ...
Panel Replay: Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels of Folger Theatre
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels of Folger Theatre joined us for a panel last year after we released our 2022 list. Enjoy this replay of her conver...
Laodamia by Catherine Bernard
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking to blend the political intrigue of Shakespeare’s histories with the visceral drama of a Greek tragedy… consider Catherine Bern...
Dust to Earth by Shirley Graham Du Bois
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a live-wire take on fossil fuel and the American labor system… consider this incendiary drama exploring the intersection of ...
Artistic Director Olena Hodges on Partnering with Island Shakespeare Festival
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Island Shakespeare Festival, off the coast of Seattle, has committed to produce THREE YEARS of Expand the Canon plays! ISF Artistic Director Olena Hod...
The Mésalliance by Luise Gottsched
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a farcical skewering of the aristocracy that evokes an Arrested Development for the 18th century… consider this contemporary...
Las Pascualas by Isidora Aguirre
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for an ethereal folk story about the perils of love and loneliness… consider this elusively modern take on a traditional Chilean...
Director Kathleen Capdesuner on Sor Juana's Los Empeños de Una Casa (House of Desires)
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Repertorio Español has a festival of Golden Age Classics –– and this summer, they're all by women! Emily and Gagarin chat with director Kath...
The Uncle by Princess Amalie of Saxony
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for the German Jane Austen’s riff on a marriage plot where the impressionable ingenue turns out to be a shrewd strategist… con...
And The Soul Shall Dance by Wakako Yamauchi
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a wistful story about immigration, identity, and the American dream… then dive into the powerful yet sparse world of Wakako...
Roundabout Theatre's Refocus Project with Anna Morton
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We initially connected with Roundabout Theatre's Refocus Project in 2021, when they used the first Expand the Canon list to create their first Ref...
The Lucky Chance by Aphra Behn
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking to gamble on love with this multi-generational comedy featuring headstrong heroines and aging Romeos… consider this raunchy Rest...
Season 3 Teaser
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Is A Classic returns! And we have new voices! Listen in to get to know our new curators. This season we're covering all the plays in the 2022...
Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking to tackle race, imperialism, and the prejudice of the Western world towards African countries… consider this mesmerizing masterp...
The Frolicks by Elizabeth Polwhele
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a Restoration play with even more hijincks than Merry Wives of Windsor… consider this energetic, bawdy comedy that centers a...
The Fatal Falsehood by Hannah More
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you want a high-octane alternative to Two Gentlemen of Verona… consider this tight rollercoaster of a poetic play instead. Here, two of the close...
Director Victoria Collado on A Happy Country
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Victoria Collado is a Cuban-American director who lead our reading of A Happy Country in 2021's Expand the Canon festival! We loved her insights ...
A Happy Country (Un País Feliz) by Maruxa Vilalta
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re seeking a play about revolution where the family drama is the political drama… consider this powerful portrait of love, protest, class, ...
The Beau Defeated by Mary Pix
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a fun rom-com where your wingman is a flock of wingwomen… consider this witty Restoration comedy. A rollicking, hilarious, a...
Forging the Truth by Yang Jiang
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a clever class comedy by a Noel Coward contemporary… consider this zany play that takes on tradition, marriage, and capitali...
Translator Catherine Boyle on Ana Caro
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine Boyle is a professor, as well as one of our favorite translators. You may know her from our 2020 list, having translated Sor Juana Inez de l...
Valor, Agravio, y Mujer by Ana Caro Mallén de Soto
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you want a scorned heroine who is determined to live in a revenge tragedy but accidentally finds herself in a comedy… consider this Spanish Golde...
Françoise by George Sand
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for something a bit lighter in your Ibsen or Shaw slot… consider this deft comedy where the girl finally learns to stand up for ...
Director Awoye Timpo on Foriwa
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Director and Founder of CLASSIX Awoye Timpo sits down with Mary & Shannon (amidst directing Alice Childress' Wedding Band at TFANA!) to talk a...
Foriwa by Efua Sutherland
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a story about a small community and love akin to Our Town... consider this play about how an overlooked outsider and two power...
Season 2 Teaser
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lots to look forward to -- including SPECIAL GUESTS and a DISCOUNT CODE! Alice Childress' Wedding Band (from our 2020 List!) is being produced at ...
Wedding Band by Alice Childress
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to take on the pandemic, privilege, and systemic racism with grace and heart… then you need to look to Alice Childress. A compassionate ...
Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re dreaming about a combination of the musical folklore of Hadestown and Oklahoma… Spunk is a theatrical event (with music). An expansion o...
One Acts by Fumiko Enchi
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re interested in the intersection of art and politics… consider these one-act plays! In Restless Night, two college students debate the vir...
The Drag by Mae West
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you thought LGBTQ+ culture was invented in the 1960s, think again… Witty, tragic, and vibrant, The Drag is an exquisite portrait of the existing ...
Rachel by Angelina Weld Grimké
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking to engage a white audience in Black Lives Matter conversations… consider this heartbreaking yet love-filled family portrait. Thi...
Anima (Her Soul) by Amelia P. Rosselli
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you put The Seagull, A Doll’s House, and Mrs. Warren’s Profession in a blender… you get this thoughtful dramedy about a woman’s true value....
Bold Stroke for a Husband by Hannah Cowley
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re thinking of producing The Taming of the Shrew… consider this play, featuring five bold women with strength and agency instead. While Oli...
Bold Stroke for a Wife by Susanna Centlivre
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a restoration play that tackles the patriarchy (comedically, of course)… you’ve met your match. A star vehicle for a chari...
House of Desires by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you wish Twelfth Night’s love triangle was a love octagon… meet this passionate and thrilling comedy. House of Desires is a 1600's romantic...
Origin Story: Why Expand the Canon?
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet your hosts – Mary, Emily, Skye, and Shannon – as they take you through why Expand the Canon came to be, how they each ended up in this conv...