Open-Door Playhouse

Send us Fan Mail Denise and Matt believe they are the legal owners of the contents of an abandoned storage unit. Then along comes a big dude who begs to differ with their appraisal of their circumstances. Sometimes you just can’t make a deal. Kim Hlavac directs herself, Jeff LeBeau , and Keith Barber . Kim is also the playwright. A frequent contributor to Open-Door Playhouse as an actor, director,...

Send us Fan Mail On a dark and stormy night, a distraught young woman seeks the aid of a doctor to release her from the thrall of a deadly entity changing her into….something else. But her immortal Master has yet another, more powerful, unholy being under his control. What can the doctor do? Bernadette Armstrong directs Allan Wasserman, Elaine Mello, and Daaman Krall . Simon Bowler Khan is the pla...

Send us Fan Mail “The Suitcase involves a married couple coming to a major decision about their life together. It has a serious theme with a surprise ending that no one sees coming.” Miranda Stewart directs actors Anne Cooper and David Purdham . Stuart Brown is the playwright. A prolific author of short plays, his works have been presented in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, and Con...

Send us Fan Mail Set in 1863, just after the Emancipation Proclamation, Chess Master tells the story of a confrontation between a defiant plantation owner and a newly freed slave. The owner, desperately clinging to the old order, attempts to coerce his former servant into staying on as an unpaid laborer---a potent allegory for the continuing struggle to create a truly free society. The cast includ...

Send us Fan Mail Astrid meets Paolo for the first time in almost a year after breaking up. He has convinced her to meet his “new self” at a men’s clothing store. When he makes his reveal, she has difficulty adjusting to what he now looks like. The ghost of his former self arrives, and both react intermittently. The cast includes Ivy Jane and Matthew Scott Montgomery. Bernadette Armstrong directs....

Send us Fan Mail This new comedic play begins with three women and forty-four cats. Simple enough ingredients with which to launch a narrative, yes? Not so fast…. The cast includes Reyna Stephanie, Joyce Hananel, and Zelda Kimble. Yunyi Zhu directs. James C. Ferguson is the playwright. The Massachusetts-based writer is the prolific author of a number of short plays, including OMG, Don’t Jump the G...

Send us Fan Mail A man dies and must decide whether to accept the finality of his death or choose to be reborn and give it another go. Was his one life enough or should he roll the dice and try again? The cast includes Kim Hlavac and Dennis Gersten. Kim Hlavac directs. Mark Saunders is the playwright. Based in Portland, Oregon, he is a prolific writer of short plays. His full-length works include...

Send us Fan Mail  In the chilly streets of New York, a disillusioned young man is troubled by his recent work as a death doula, prompting him to ponder life's deeper questions. One night, he encounters Chloe, who appears to be on the brink of personal turmoil. Observing her spiral into alcoholism, Ben intervenes and brings her to his apartment. What starts as a promising evening of connection...

Send us Fan Mail Present-day actors rehearsing the roles of Richard III and Queen Margaret are interrupted by the arrival of the real Richard III and Philippa Langley, the British writer and ; producer who played a pivotal role in finding the bones of Richard in 2012. Now, Philippa and Richard are intent on rescuing his reputation. Gary Lamb directs Billy Mendieta, Kevin Carr, Joanne McGee, and Ca...

Send us Fan Mail Two fellows encounter each other at a party. One insists they have recently been lovers. The other denies anything of the kind, to the irritation of the other man. The story has a conclusion that you won’t see coming. Matt Ritchey directs Matthew Scott Montgomery and Kevin Phan. F.J. Hartland is the playwright. Based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he is the recipient of an M.F.A. fro...

Send us Fan Mail An older gentleman invites a younger man to his apartment for dinner. As the meal progresses the two discuss the difficulties that each generation has delt with over the years; each contending that their generations has endured the harshest difficulties. As the conversation between the two fades, they acknowledge their similarities and the evening takes on a more personal tone. Ga...

Send us Fan Mail Ethan wants to be a good son and a good caregiver to his forgetful mother. Not everything is how it seems, however, in this narrative which has an unexpected twist ending worthy of O. Henry. Miranda Stewart directs Carol Goldman, Noelle Evangelisti , and Omari Williams. F.J. Hartland is the playwright. Based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he is the recipient of an M.F.A. from Carnegi...

Send us Fan Mail Lizzy is nine months pregnant and is due to give birth on Mother’s Day. Lizzy wants to name the new baby Mildred, after trailblazing scientist Mildred Dresselhaus, who was known as The Queen of Carbon. Lizzy’s husband Danny has other ideas. Rachel Berney Needleman directs Gloria Tsai and Felipe Figueroa . Bara Swain is the playwright. The exceptionally prolific Greenwich Village-b...

Send us Fan Mail Ellie’s a recent college graduate. She often perceives thing differently from her mother, Janet. What Janet reveals about Ellie’s recently deceased dad will profoundly affect Ellie’s understanding of things. Bernadette Armstrong directs Camille Ameen and Elaine Mello . Bara Swain i s the playwright. The exceptionally prolific Greenwich Village-based writer has created numerous pla...

Send us Fan Mail In the late 1960s, Grace has become a teen mom at 16. Her daughter has been taken away from her, against her will. Her boyfriend, the little girl’s father, has been killed on the battlefield while serving in Vietnam. Now, Grace is determined to do whatever is necessary to get her daughter back. First, Grace will have a reckoning with her own mother. The playwright, Sandra Cruze, p...

Send us Fan Mail Ludlow has been overweight his entire life, from childhood through adulthood. He’s depressed about being fat, but his mom is about to give him an entirely new perspective on things. Yunyi Zhu directs Justice Davis and Zelda Kimbal. F.J. Hartland is the playwright. Based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he is the recipient of an M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. The prolific write...

Send us Fan Mail Support the show Founded by playwright and filmmaker Bernadette Armstrong, Open-Door Playhouse is a Theater Podcast- like the radio dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. The Playhouse launched on September 15, 2020. At the time, Open-Door Playhouse provided Playwrights, Actors and Directors a creative outlet during the shutdown. Since its inception. Open-Door Playhouse has presented Shor...

Send us Fan Mail Two priestesses are debating the beauty of Cleopatra outside her chambers. The discussion ends up being about far more than beauty as the older priestess tries to convince the younger one that sometimes beauty should stay in the eye of the beholder. This is a comedy about power that takes a few sharp jabs at history. Yuniy Zhu directs Goreti da Silva as Akila and Monique Gonsalves...

Send us Fan Mail A young sex researcher is conducting interviews with men and women forty years his senior finding many of their answers quite surprising and just a bit unnerving. Bernadette Armstrong directs Joyce Hananel as Mavis and Matthew Scott Montgomery as Alan. Rich Rubin is the playwright. Based in Portland, Oregon, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is the recipient of six playwr...

Send us Fan Mail Martine and Amy are actresses about to open in a Broadway play. Martine is assured. Amy, who lives in a shelter, is fragile. They are friends. The enemy of the title is Paul, a theatre critic with a razor-sharp pen dipped in acid. Are the actresses prepared to face their foe? Dennis Gersten directs a cast that includes Leah Jarvik, Whitton Frank, Peter Bonoff, and Matt Ritchey. Da...

Send us Fan Mail A white police captain, his white wife, and their two adopted Black teen children try to keep their family from being torn apart as their town and the nation become engulfed in protests in the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Open-Door Playhouse continues to present plays in podcast form. Whitesville is a full-length, three-act play. Each act will be presented in...

Send us Fan Mail A white police captain, his white wife, and their two adopted Black teen children try to keep their family from being torn apart as their town and the nation become engulfed in protests in the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Open-Door Playhouse continues to present plays in podcast form. Whitesville is a full-length, three-act play. Each act will be presented in...

Send us Fan Mail A white police captain, his white wife, and their two adopted Black teen children try to keep their family from being torn apart as their town and the nation become engulfed in protests in the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Open-Door Playhouse continues to present plays in podcast form. Whitesville is a full-length, three-act play. Each act will be presented in...

Send us Fan Mail In 2014, Flint, Michigan changed the source of its water supply. This resulted in the contamination of its drinking and bathing water, causing a dozen fatalities and sickening dozens more. The changes in the water supply were motivated by the greed of a few people in power and by systemic racism: The city was 54% Black. (UN)Drinkable stars Barika Phillips Bell, JayCee Porter , and...

Send us Fan Mail Open-Door Playhouse continues to present short plays in podcast form. A theatre pro offers advice to young Will Shakespeare. Will’s Dramaturg stars Jeffrey S.S. Johnson and Andrew Elvis Miller. Kim Hlavac directs. Rich Rubin is the playwright. Based in Portland, Oregon, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is the recipient of six playwriting awards. His full-length plays inc...