THEATER 182: The Fortune Takers

The play centers on a Times Square tarot and palm reading storefront run by a married pair of grifters. Everything changes when a wealthy and mysterious new client appears.

Bernadette Armstrong directs a cast that includes Camille Ameen as Mary, Matt Foyer as Dave and as a flyer distributor, Noelle Evangelista as The Mark, and Allen Wasserman as Happ.

Cameron Scott is a Connecticut-based playwright who was educated at NYU. A previous play, That Day Is Coming, Every Day Is Coming, was produced by Open-Door Playhouse. His play Uphill was a winning play at ESTAFest (Eastern States Theatre Association). He has also served in administrative capacities on numerous Broadway shows.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Hello and welcome to Open Door Playhouse, a theater podcast that celebrates live theater on the podcast stage. I'm Noelle Evangelisti. At Open Door Playhouse, we strive to bring our listeners thoughtful and surprising 10-minute shorts and one-act plays that showcase insightful and new perspectives of the world we share with others. Open Door Playhouse is a 501c3 theater organization. Support for Open Door Playhouse comes from listeners like you. Your tax-deductible donations help keep our plays on the podcast stage. Now playing in Theater 182, Fortune Takers, written by Cameron Scott and directed by Bernadette Armstrong, starring Alan Wasserman as Hap, Noelle Evangelisti as The Mark, Camille Amin as Mary, and Matt Foyer as Dave and the Flyer Man.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Testing, testing. The fish twisted and turned on the bent hook. The colt reared and threw the toll rider. Her purse was full of useless trash. Her purse was full of useless trash. Okay, let's begin. My name is Hap. John Hap. I'm a private detective by way of retirement from the Fifth Precinct, 19 Elizabeth Street, Chinatown, New York City Police Department. And this is my tape. My last tape. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. That's Shakespeare. Well so they tell me. I was never much for Shakespeare or school or reading. If it won't crack a case, it's of no use to me. But with this particular case, I was in over my head, way over it. And that short little quote from Mrs. Cobb's 11th grade English class from Hamlet kept creeping in its petty pace back into my craw. Even the most brilliant of philosophers can explain so very, very little to us. It's all too impenetrable this life, inscrutable, too imponderable. Not just in this vast, vexing universe, but right here upon our equally enigmatic earth. And even when I was confronted with exactly what happened, I still couldn't believe it. How did it happen? So here I am, recording it all here on these tapes, these spools, trying to make some sense of it, any sense of it, before the nightmares fades, as all dreams eventually do. It began on a day as far away from this day as one could imagine. Beautiful, late summer, New York City, a few blocks from the heart of Times Square, September 19th, 1958. Out, out, brief candle.

SPEAKER_06 3:31

Get it! Get it! Get it! Come inside and get what you need! Satisfaction! Guarantee! Best lunch in New York City! Best me bye! What a pity! Get it! Get it! Get it! Hey, what's with the brush on, brother? This is what you've been looking for! World's best meal at a steam! Oh, gonna be that way. All right, all right, I got it. You don't need to eat, I guess, but I do. Yeah, I don't know, Mary. Days get longer. I get older. It's harder. How much longer you got, you know? How much longer you got in you?

SPEAKER_05 4:18

For this? For this long days and longer nights? The scratching and clawing of every dime for the game? For the grift? Not much. Not much longer.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

That's Mary. An a nameless street hawker who's worked beside Mary's shop for years, selling lunch, selling dinner for the cafe one door down. But I never got his name. They're both working denizens of Times Square and lifelong residents of Hell's Kitchen. While Mary hasn't made a fortune for herself in the fortune-telling business, she has managed to make a career of it. And make no mistake, while it may not be the most prestigious profession, it is unquestionably a business through and through, dishonest as it may be. And it certainly doesn't hurt her pocketbook that Mary can still turn heads. She turned mine, albeit after the fact. Even in the black and white photographs I received when agreeing to get into this whole mess and accept this investigation of murder. It takes a siren to pull us onto the rocks. That's not Shakespeare. That's me. And this is my story to tell. And to be clear, the business at hand is grifting. The shingle Mary hangs above her door may advertise palm and tarot readings for a dollar, but she can't recall the last reading that cost that little. Where she starts, and where the bill ends, you could drive a Buick through, with a Cadillac or sidecar attached. For Mary, and particularly her husband David, it was always about the big score. The payday to end all paydays, a means to finally escape this wretched city.

SPEAKER_06 6:22

Oh, there's my hungry honey. Best lunch in Manhattan. Best north of Staten. Check it out.

SPEAKER_04 6:30

I'm not hungry.

SPEAKER_06 6:33

Most don't stop to tell me that, sister.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

I'm here to see Miss Saranya. I is that you?

SPEAKER_05 6:42

I uh I had a feeling. How may I be of service to you today? Paid service?

SPEAKER_04 6:52

I'm in need of your help.

SPEAKER_05 6:53

Yes. Yes, I uh I can feel it. But how? May we speak in private? Please. Up the stairs, fifth floor, first door on the right. The main door is open. We have a buzzer, but you won't need it. I'll join you shortly.

SPEAKER_06 7:19

Something about a rod.

SPEAKER_05 7:22

I think I feel it too.

SPEAKER_06 7:24

Yes, yes, I can feed it, but oh Mary, you're the best, the best.

SPEAKER_05 7:34

I'll agree if I come back with next week's rent.

SPEAKER_06 7:38

You're gonna be okay up there with her?

SPEAKER_05 7:40

Yeah, Dave's up there. I'm good, thanks. But now, now you need to give me a few minutes to uh get into character.

SPEAKER_06 7:54

The best, baby.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

Oh, uh um Are you waiting?

SPEAKER_06 8:07

For Miss Ranyer. Um yes, yes, I I am.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

As am I. I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here.

SPEAKER_06 8:17

I am Yuri. Yuri Sokolov.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

And if you believe he is Yuri Sokolov, I have a bridge for sale you might be interested in. He's not even Russian. Manhattan born and bred. Except an annual summer's visit to Brighton Beach, he couldn't be less Russian. He's Dave, Mary's Haran High School Hell's Kitchen sweetheart and now husband. Like Mary, he's blessed with a grifter's cunning. And cursed with a grifter's heart.

SPEAKER_04 8:50

I'm Amara. I met Saranya outside. This is my first time here.

SPEAKER_06 8:56

Well then, you're in for a treat, Amara. Miss Saronia has quite literally changed my life. Well, the path of it. She is a marvel.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

How so?

SPEAKER_06 9:11

How so? Well do you mind if I open the window? It's often snuffy in here.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Hear that? Those few steps to the window? That's how long it takes him to hatch a plot, to access his prey and find its weak spot, its jugular vein, to weave a gorgeous, glittery scheming web. His gifting acumen is unmatched. Listen to how he lures her in, sets the hook, and reels her in.

SPEAKER_04 9:46

May I ask what it is you do, Mr. Sakolov?

SPEAKER_06 9:50

I um I aim a trader. Mostly I trade media. I used to trade out of a small office in a small Russian town, but now I have operations in London, Hamburg, and here in New York. Expanding every year. And Miss Arania made it all possible. The best investment I've ever made.

SPEAKER_04 10:16

Investment?

SPEAKER_06 10:17

Honestly. That's the only way to phrase it. Take every ruble I've invested in Miss Sarania has never failed to return at least tenfold. Tenfold? At least.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

May I ask how much you've invested with Sarania?

SPEAKER_06 10:35

Well that would be impolite to say, but let's just say um five figures. Oh, five figures. Deep into five figures, and worth every penny. See what Miss Sarania is able to achieve has enabled me to achieve millions many times over. She is a drastic business partner. A life partner. Miss Sarania!

SPEAKER_05 11:10

Mr. Sokolov, so good to see you. Have I overlooked our appointment?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

This part of the dance is well choreographed. They pretend to not know each other, create a distraction, and lure the mark into the salon, buying David time to do some financial accounting, some uh research, so to speak. Did I mention Dave's also a pig pocket?

SPEAKER_05 11:41

Please sit, Mrs.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

Amara. Just Amara is fine. As you wish. What brings you to me this day? I'm growing concerned because I feel as if someone or some force is out to take advantage of me and my family to do us harm. Are you able to provide examples for me? Sure. The other day on Tuesday, I felt a heavy pressure on my back, like something was leaning on me. I found it hard to breathe. And then I heard a voice, like the cracking of a twig. A twig? Are you sure it wasn't a twig?

SPEAKER_05 12:24

Most. Why? Because it said my name. Ah please hold out your hand. Hmm. Yes. Your poem speaks volumes.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Another master at work, Mary. She's the whole package. Listen to how she brings the mark into her confidence, compliments her, her intelligence, her beauty and charisma, and then makes herself positively indispensable to her.

SPEAKER_05 13:06

Amara, it is important that you be honest with me.

SPEAKER_04 13:12

I haven't been dishonest with you.

SPEAKER_05 13:13

Oh, I'm not accusing you, Amara. But you need to know that in order for me to help you, we must work together. Our relationship must be a partnership. There are forces against you much stronger than either of us as individuals. But together, together we may be able to achieve great things for you. I understand. You must understand this. The session is over. Have I offended you? What have I done? You haven't done anything, but something is being done to you. This I already know. I'm going to need you to listen very carefully.

SPEAKER_04 14:08

Yes?

SPEAKER_05 14:09

This hardship in your life you will overcome it. It is not your fault. There is a foe here, and we shall need to begin work at once. A foe? I cannot say much more at this time. I need you to return home and gather the following items. Are you listening, Amara? Yes. Photos of those you hold dearest. And an item that means something to you and connects you to one of those persons you hold most dear. An item you cherish that you can keep on your own person at all times. Is that all? No. Return here Monday at exactly this time with those items. And then the real work begins.

SPEAKER_04 15:08

What do I owe you?

SPEAKER_05 15:09

What do you owe? This is not a partnership the way it's supposed to work. Please. This is not a financially transactional moment. I will see you Monday.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

Oh Saranya. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 15:24

Thank you, truly. Together we will overcome Amara. We will remove fear. We will soon prosper. See you Monday. Monday.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

And that, as they say, is how it's done. My friends, you just witnessed a clinic and how to take a mark for all she's got. After that command performance and after the mark was a safe distance away, Dave burst into the salon, hardly able to contain himself. Breathlessly, he told Mary to put on her best fanciest dress. They were going to celebrate. Barbetta, Peter Luger, P.J. Clark's. No restaurant was too fine or too expensive. He had life-changing news to share.

SPEAKER_05 16:22

Dave, what I can't understand is how the lovely restaurant Barbettas became an automat in Hell's Kitchen.

SPEAKER_06 16:34

Mary, this uh this day, Miss Broad, is the one.

SPEAKER_05 16:40

From today? It is entirely possible.

SPEAKER_06 16:47

Mary, I mean it. Mary, this is it. This is our moment. I was rifling through her wallet in the lobby. It was an easy pick from her purse as we shook hands. It's all there. She has every credit card, the newest and the best. Diners Club, Bank America, American Express, and that wasn't all. Cash. Cash's a rife. It was stretching the seams of her wallet and her purse. She's got it to the gills, Mary.

SPEAKER_05 17:16

Don't tease me now, Dave. Don't play with my heart.

SPEAKER_06 17:21

I play with the love of my life's lifelong dreams. With her, our future. Never. That's right. Never, Mary. It's here. It's finally here. Salvation Day. This is the one score we've been waiting for all our lives. The one that will catapult us out of here. Straight to Miami Beach. Straight to no worries. Straight out of a city we've wanted out of for far too long.

SPEAKER_05 17:51

Don't toy with Miami. Never. With the beachside bungalow?

SPEAKER_06 17:56

No.

SPEAKER_05 17:57

With the cocktails on the porch, listening to the rain?

SPEAKER_06 18:01

I would never do that.

SPEAKER_05 18:03

This is the one? Honestly?

SPEAKER_06 18:07

Honestly. She checks out. Her husband must be some big daddy oil chic. I even got her social and bank records and home telephone. You just need to reel her in.

SPEAKER_05 18:21

For how much?

SPEAKER_06 18:22

All the way, Mary.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

All that we need. Dave and Mary rehearsed their act all night preparing for the Mark's return. Polishing each spoken word, each question, every special beaten moment of their carefully constructed playlist until they could anticipate any path the mark might go down and direct her to exactly where they needed her to go. And mostly that was to her bank. Amara God was revealed to be the Mark's true name. Uncovered by Dave's deft pick of her wallet back at the Tarot shop, Albar showed up right on time, four minutes early, actually, never knowing her wallet was even missing. Unseen, Dave buzzed her up, then hid in the closet. The mark wasn't to buy Mr. Sokolov being in the waiting room a second straight day.

SPEAKER_05 19:22

Come in, Mrs Gad.

SPEAKER_04 19:26

I see I am no longer being addressed as Amara.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

There should be no secrets between us.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

Of course.

SPEAKER_05 19:34

But may I ask how how I knew your surname? The question that needs to be answered, Mrs. Gad, is why you withheld it. I thought I made it clear that this must be an honest relationship in order for it to work for you and for us. This is a partnership. There can be no secret.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Yes. Total honesty is required in the partnership. Isn't it, Saranya?

SPEAKER_05 20:10

Please, Mrs. Gard, be seated.

SPEAKER_04 20:15

Have you seen Mr. Sakoloff today, Miss Saranya? No. Why do you ask? Curiosity. No reason.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Mary instructs the mark to lay the items she requested down upon the table. Amara placed several photos there and jangled a bracelet onto the table as well. She informed Mary that these were pictures of her cherished and now deceased daughter Yasmina, and that the bracelet was a treasured gift and her daughter's most prized possession. She explained that Yasmina had passed too young, that her untimely death drove her and her husband apart. The anguish and stress was just too much for the relationship to bear. Mary asks her to clutch the bracelet tightly and hold out her free hand so that they may begin.

SPEAKER_05 21:08

Ah, please, Amara, hold my hand and think of her and only of her.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

Please, Sudani, I'm afraid it haunts me this torment, this foe. It won't relent. Amara, this foe is feeding off your sadness, off your loss. I am afraid it is after Yasmina as well, that she cannot rest, even in the afterlife, that it wants to end us both. Hold my hand tighter.

SPEAKER_05 21:37

Concentrate. Think only of her. What is happening? Hold my hand tighter. Tighter, you must leave it once. Please, no.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

What happened?

SPEAKER_06 22:08

Mary. Mary, what happened? Mary. David, please.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

Please take me home.

SPEAKER_06 22:19

What happened? What did she do to you? I can't What happened?

SPEAKER_05 22:25

It was in the room with us. I saw it. So what? The monster.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Now, you can't say I didn't warn you, right? It was at this moment the case blew apart, completely untethering from reality. The precise second I was launched violently out of my comfortable existence and into another world I knew nothing about. I was called in to solve a murder, not explain a monster. I surprised even myself, however. I somewhat liked this uneasy feeling. I embraced the unknown. I doubled my resolve to crack this case. I later learned of the following conversation between Mary and Dave. Mary had been on their bed for hours, poring over a book, frantically searching for answers. Dave asked her to join him on the fire escape just outside their bedroom window for a calming glass of wine. The night was warm. The night was lovely.

SPEAKER_06 23:37

Mary! Ah, come out here with me. Enjoy this last of summer night. Oh, get off that bed. Get your head out of that book. Get out of the bedroom and onto the fire escape. It's Eden out here. I need a minute. What you need is a mental health minute. Come on.

SPEAKER_05 24:03

It is gorgeous out here, isn't it?

SPEAKER_06 24:07

What did I tell you? And look what else. A glass of red for you.

SPEAKER_05 24:15

Almost makes me want to stay.

SPEAKER_06 24:18

Almost.

SPEAKER_05 24:21

David. This woman, Amara, she's in grave danger.

SPEAKER_06 24:30

Are you ready to talk about this now? About what happened?

SPEAKER_05 24:33

As I was holding her hand, it froze up behind her.

SPEAKER_06 24:38

It?

SPEAKER_05 24:40

What's torturing her? Her foam.

SPEAKER_06 24:43

I'm not following.

SPEAKER_05 24:44

I'm not sure I am either. But a thin, wispy being, something haunting, something that was pure evil, was physically there in the room with us.

SPEAKER_06 24:59

Mary, this is what we sell. This is not real. You're just tired. You've had enough of this life. It's worn at you. It's time to move on.

SPEAKER_05 25:10

It was real days.

SPEAKER_06 25:12

I'm sorry, Mary, but it wasn't. None of this is real. What's real is your fatigue, the stress of the moment. Now we can't afford to let this broad slip away. It's weighing on you.

SPEAKER_05 25:25

She actually needs our help day.

SPEAKER_06 25:28

Mary, listen. I, your husband, need your help right now. We need your help right now. This is on you now. You can make this for us or break this for us, and you need to make it. Mary, you have to. This isn't just another option. This is our one chance. We won't get another.

SPEAKER_05 25:49

I've been studying this book, searching for what is haunting her.

SPEAKER_06 25:53

Mary, enough with the book. You need to focus now.

SPEAKER_05 25:57

And I think I found it. It's real. It's not a ghost. It's simply another being. I I think it's a djinn.

SPEAKER_06 26:09

What?

SPEAKER_05 26:09

A djinn. A Muslim spirit. It's not living, it's not dead. It just is. It's another of God's creatures. Just different.

SPEAKER_06 26:23

Mary, are you listening to yourself? Wake up.

SPEAKER_05 26:27

Somehow Amara's wounded. It's seeking revenge upon her.

SPEAKER_06 26:33

Enough. Enough, Mary.

SPEAKER_05 26:35

That's something she's not telling me. Stop!

SPEAKER_06 26:40

Enough! I love you, Mary, but enough. Please. You're overwhelmed. That's all. Put the book down. Put it away. And listen to me, Mary. Listen closely. This is what I need you to do. We have to execute the story of the urn, our staple. You know how this one works backwards and forwards. There's a ghost. It needs to be contained. It's not a ghost. The urn is not just an urn, but an ancient artifact. It's an instrument. A professional tool costing $10,000.

SPEAKER_05 27:21

It's not a ghost.

SPEAKER_06 27:27

Mary. For this investment of 15 grand, she will give her daughter eternal peace. And more important, she will get her own life back. And we will finally have ours just as we want it. Win win, Mary. Win win. Can you do this, Mary? For us.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 28:00

You'll need to call her now and give her these instructions. The payment must be in cash. No fancy credit card. She'll have the money, I promise you. And then we will have Miami Beach. She can afford this, Mary, and we can't afford not to. Call her now. Get an operator. Call her now.

SPEAKER_05 28:31

Operator. Murray Hill, Manhattan, please. Five nine six six six. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Hello?

SPEAKER_05 28:43

Mrs. Gad, this is Sarania.

SPEAKER_04 28:48

How did you find me?

SPEAKER_05 28:49

Mrs. Gad, I need you to listen to me very closely. Yes. And do exactly as I say.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

A jinn. Mary did her research, and as is my trade, I did mine. I looked it up. A jinn is indeed an Islamic spirit, but it's so much more. What was tormenting Amara God was a force, a creature that could not only simultaneously occupy the spirit world and the mortal world we call home, but interact and live within each domain quite freely. A jinn can forcibly strike its foes, cause them physical harm, bruising, bleeding, even death. But a jinn can also love. Just as passionately and uncontrollably as it can hate, a jinn can love a woman and more. I can't make this stuff up. It's not my job to. Just the facts. This story is about to race to its end. Buckle up.

SPEAKER_06 29:59

This is looking good. Ern miles. Candles. The salon's set. Looks good. Looks great. We're good to go.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Good to go.

SPEAKER_06 30:10

I'll buzzer in. If you need me, I'll be hiding in the closet, dreaming of you. Fifteen grand and Miami Beach. Mary, this train pulls out of the station tonight.

SPEAKER_05 30:26

Dave, I love you. But this is not the way. Miss Saranya. Oh! You startled me. I didn't hear the buzzer.

SPEAKER_04 30:40

Apologies. Your husband let me in.

SPEAKER_05 30:43

My husband? I don't understand.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

I believe you do, Saranya. I've brought the money you requested to achieve the goal.

SPEAKER_05 30:54

Please. Shut the door and please be seated.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

I believe we both know how grave your situation is.

SPEAKER_04 31:06

Yes, this situation is most grave.

SPEAKER_05 31:09

The money is a means only, Mrs. Gad, to achieve your goal.

SPEAKER_04 31:15

Yes. To achieve the goal. I see the urn over there. It's beautiful. What an artifact. May I touch it? But not now.

SPEAKER_05 31:27

There is much work to be done.

SPEAKER_04 31:30

Forgive my forwardness, but is the work not already done? You've brought me here, and I've brought your money.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

Mrs. Gad, it is only a means. The money itself, it is meaningless to the cause. I could care less about your money.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

I respectfully disagree. If we're speaking honestly, Mary, it means everything, does it not, to Miami Beach? There must be an honest partnership between us in order for there to be success. Don't you agree?

SPEAKER_05 32:06

Who are you?

SPEAKER_04 32:07

Amara Gad. Your husband figured all that out by pinching my wallet the other day. It's all there, he said. She has every credit card, diner's club, bank America, American Express, and that's not all cash. Cash so rife, it was stretching the seams of her wallet and her purse.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

She's got it to the gills, boy.

SPEAKER_05 32:33

What do you want?

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Your life in exchange for my human daughters, yes, Vinus.

SPEAKER_05 32:39

You're a mad woman.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

I was a mad to offer as your sweet sign suggests love, money, marriage, and the rebelling of lost loves to a trouble, disillusioned 17-year-old girl, a perfect girl who, after visiting you, paid you for the privilege of taking her own life.

SPEAKER_05 32:58

I don't know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

Again, I disagree.

SPEAKER_05 33:02

What are you?

SPEAKER_01 33:07

He can't hear you, Mary.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

What are you?

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Need you ask? You know. He can't hear you, Mary's dead. And no one can hear you either, Mary, because you're already dead.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

And that is where it ended for them. A warm summer Times Square Street in the West Forties for Dave, the cool tile floor of the tarot and palm reading shop for Mary. And that's also where it ends for us and where my story comes to a close. And I have to be honest with you. I haven't been entirely honest with you. I was hired to investigate a murder. That much is true. But you've probably been wondering how does this guy know so much about stuff that he never witnessed? And the only two who did are dead? How does he have this tape? His last tape. Those are all excellent questions. I was hired by a gal who lost a child, a daughter, a young, impressionable girl of seventeen who was deeply in love for the first time and couldn't handle its end. After visiting the palm reading shop and not receiving the answers she so desperately wanted to hear, she took it upon herself to write her own solution and she took her own life. They did that in Shakespeare too. Her name was Juliet. This girl's name was Yasmina. My client was a dame named God, Amaragod. Only she just wasn't a dame. She was a being who could feel boundless love as well as untamed rage and hate, each in equally passionate parts, just like us. Only she could do it in both worlds. She was a Jinn. Maybe that's a curse. Maybe that's the best of both worlds. Did she wear his soul as clothes? The human form we mostly know her as, or was it much darker, deeper, and more convoluted? Was she simply a reflection of life? Unfortunately, my client didn't take too kindly to how I handled this case. After all, it came up blank. I couldn't pin anything on Dave or Mary. In our world, no laws were broken. There was no legal injustice. Dave and Mary ran a clean grift. Neither of them directly killed Yasmina. She ended what she couldn't bear all by herself. But my client saw it otherwise. In his world, she saw grave injustice, and she decided to take matters into her own hands. First on her list was ending my life and then theirs. Losing a child, I'd wager that's the worst thing that can happen to a mother in any world. Could this story have ended any differently? Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor a hell a fury like a woman scorned. That's not Shakespeare. That's certainly not me. But it gets the job done when words fail me, and Shakespeare. Thank you, Mrs. Cobb and your eleventh grade English class. I suppose you could say my story is a sad tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. But we all know better. It was a tale that only could have been told in New York City across three late summer nights with this specific cast of characters of which I was one. Though I am not naturally honest, I am sometimes so by chance. Here's the truth. I have been dead this whole time. I was just a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.

SPEAKER_06 37:39

Get it! Get it! Get it! You gotta get this! Don't miss your chance! Take it! This is New York City, people! The city never sleeps, but it always gotta eat! Get it! Get it! Get it! Take a chance! Live your best life! Do it tonight! Get it! Get it! Get it!

SPEAKER_04 38:15

Thank you for listening to our plays. Our plays are produced by Bernadette Armstrong, recorded at the Oak House Studio in Altadena, California, and mixed by our talented sound engineer David Peters. Our sound effects are provided by Audio Jungle and music by karaoke version. If you're interested in submitting a play for production, you can find that information on our website at www.opendoorplayhouse.org. Please share this podcast with friends. And don't forget to subscribe so you will be notified when our next production is live.