© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A Train Plays: From Concept to Stage in 28 Hours

<strong>Fast Art:</strong> Librettist Craig Pospisil (left) and director David Brind discuss their play, about a couple taking a train to a funeral. Brian Nash, on the keyboard, calls one song "God Hates Me, and I Don't Think I Am All That Great Myself."
Fast Art: Librettist Craig Pospisil (left) and director David Brind discuss their play, about a couple taking a train to a funeral. Brian Nash, on the keyboard, calls one song "God Hates Me, and I Don't Think I Am All That Great Myself."

In fast-paced New York City, art is imitating life. The fad for so-called "fast art" includes plays, novels and films all created in a single day.

The classic events in this genre are known as "theAtrainplays:" plays and musicals created on the A train, the city's longest subway line. Performers, writers, composers and directors have about a day to take a production from the first line on paper to its first performance.

The artists who create these plays work in teams. Each team creates a play or musical, about 20 minutes long, during the time it takes to travel the entire route of the A train, from 207th Street & Broadway to Far Rockaway and back. And yes, each work has to take place on the train.

Actors are chosen at random, their names written on pieces of paper picked out of a bag. The directors and composers are also assigned randomly.

NPR follows a group of 40 artists, split into six teams, as they take a show from the first line on paper to the first performance on stage during one 28-hour period.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Margot Adler died on July 28, 2014 at her home in New York City. She was 68 and had been battling cancer. Listen to NPR Correspondent David Folkenflik's retrospective on her life and career

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.