MEM: How long has the series been running?
BERNADETTE ARMSTRONG: Open-Door Playhouse is currently in its sixth year, our first play Custody, premiered on September 15th, 2020, during the theater blackout due to Covid-19.
How did this idea come about?
The theater in North Hollywood had to cancel my play, Custody, in September 2020 due to COVID. I was so disappointed, because it is based on a true story, and I had been thinking about writing it for months… okay years. And I finally got the script done and cast and … the dream was over. I reached out to other online podcast theater groups and ran into a stone wall because they required an agent to submit my plays. I have never had an agent, so that would not work. But then I looked back at my play Joan, based on the life of the late Joan Crawford. In the play, Joan was waiting in the bardo to pass over into the new world. As she waited, she had time to reflect on her life, including her participation in several Radio Plays during the 1940s and 1950s. It made sense to me to use snippets of her plays to bring her life and star power to light. And so, I got the idea about a theater podcast, ran it past my friends who were also out of work, and there you are – Open-Door Playhouse was born. I honestly think the most important thing about the podcast is that I make sure I can pay the cast, directors, and my sound engineers. I mean it was not just playwrights, like me, it was actors, directors and sound engineers that were out of work. We created plays during COVID, and we created plays during the strike.
How did you come up with the name and what’s the Website?
I understand how hard it is to get plays up on stage when you are an unknown playwright. After my cancelation in 2020 I thought about all the other unknown writers, who suffered the same disappointment as I did, many of them who were counting on festivals to pay the production costs. I have been fortunate enough to find the funds to produce all five of my plays on stage: all successful, and all without any outside support from producers or agents. Open-Door Playhouse seemed like the right name to present my concept to a wide variety of playwrights, including PEN America in Prison Writing Contest, which has supplied me several plays for the podcast over the years. My info@opendoorplayhouse.org email is always open and I have received & produced plays from all over the world. So, it seems like this crazy idea has panned out nicely, and I have lived up to my original quest. The site is open-doorplayhouse.org
How are plays chosen?
I read them, and if the story, writing, and ideas are new – I reach out to them and explain to them how the podcast works. And they must be willing to sign a submiss agreement, supply a photo and bio for the website and now in my 6th year I have started mentioning to all writers that I am it, my 501©3 organization is supported by me, and any amount of donation to help cover the production cost would be greatly appreciated.
What do you look for when choosing a performance?
I have been so fortunate to work with so many talented actors for over two hundred (up to 212 now) plays since I created Open-Door Playhouse. It has been a wonder to me to hear from them about what Open-Door Playhouse means to them – it is very humbling. After working with so many actors overtime, I have gotten to know where they shine and how wide of a range they have. It is not just the actors, the directors that have brought their talent, but also, the actors that they know from film and stage who I would never have had the opportunity to meet.
How often do you run the series?
The least amount of plays a month is two, the rest of the time I fill up the months with plays I have read and that moves me. I read all the plays that come into my email. When I find a play I like, then I notify the writer and move on to the next, some days I have several plays to I download and some days my email is empty. I try to celebrate Mother’s Day in May, PRIDE in June, Halloween (necessary) in October, the military or historical events in November and of course Christmas in December and when I have plays that involve these events. If I do not have specific plays, then we schedule more good plays.
Which shows do you have coming up?
The biggest event I have going now is a live production of Custody at the 30-60 Minute Festival in Los Angeles at the Stephanie Fuery Theater, on November 15th and November 21st, 2026. Which is where I have produced four short plays each year from the podcast, at the 30 Minute or Less Festival also at the Stephanie Fuery Theater. And it has worked at getting ODP more listeners.