Open-Door Playhouse is a monthly podcast harking back to live radio theater broadcasts. Created to introduce New Plays, New Writers, and… a wealth of unknown talent. Giving them the opportunity to have their works created in sound studios as opposed to live stage productions and presented on the Podcast as “Radio Productions.” Play submissions will be solicited online, outreach centers and word of mouth. Broadcasts will be once a month (to start) and grow as demand requires. Long term goal is to reach out to undeserved writing communities: prisons, school and community groups to provide an avenue to have their voices heard, via plays, short stories or poetry, and to establish Podcast as its own 501c3 organization.To submit your play contact:open-doorplayhouse@gmail.com
A Sensitivity instructor is forced to return to Basic Training after making a careless remark while teaching a class.
Playwright Chriselle Almeida directs a cast that includes Swati Kapila as Sheila, Marisa Chandler as Donna, Zelda Kimble as Karen and Michael HarveyFletcher as Nathan.
Ms. Almeida’s previous plays include Shakespeare’s Heroines at the Gynecologist (which was produced by Open-Door Playhouse) and Siblings. A busy actor, she has recently appeared on episodes of the television series Fallout, Never Have I Ever, Shameless, and more.
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 Short and One-Act plays from Playwrights across the country and internationally. In 2021 Open-Door Playhouse received a Communicator Award for Content for the Play Custody and in 2023 the play What’s Prison Like was nominated for a Webby Award in the Crime & Justice Category.
Plays are produced by Bernadette Armstrong, Sound Engineer is David Peters, sound effects are provided by Audio Jungle, and music from Karaoke Version. All plays are recorded at The Oak House Studio in Altadena, CA.
There’s no paywall at the Open-Door Playhouse site, so you could listen to everything for free. Open-Door Playhouse is a 501c3 non-profit organization, and if you would like to support performances of works by new and emerging playwrights, your donation will be gratefully accepted. Your tax-deductible donations help keep our plays on the Podcast Stage. We strive to bring our listeners thoughtful and surprising one-act plays and ten-minute shorts that showcase insightful and new perspectives of the world we share with others. To listen or to donate (or both), go to https://open...
SPEAKER_05
Hello and welcome to Open Door Playhouse, a theater podcast that celebrates live theater on the podcast stage. I'm Chriselle Almeida. 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 202, Insensitivity Training. Written and directed by Chriselle Almeida, starring Swathi Capilla as Sheila, Marissa Chandler as Donna, Zelda Kimball as Karen, and Michael Harvey Fletcher as Nathan.
SPEAKER_04
Thank you everyone for attending this sensitivity workshop. If I can let you in on a little secret, you all were my first group ever. This was the first class I taught. Aw, thank you, ladies. It means so much to have the support of all you wonderful women as I start my teaching journey.
SPEAKER_03
Um, excuse me, but I am not comfortable with you referring to this group as ladies and women. You never asked us to state our preferred pronouns when we introduced ourselves, as this sensitivity manual booklet clearly states that you needed to do.
SPEAKER_04
Oh, um, I suppose I was uh going off the stories you shared during the session. Uh Jan here mentioned delivering her child. Veronica talked about her struggle with menopause. Uh Sandy there expressed overcoming ovarian cancer and and Patricia, you yourself spoke about experiencing discrimination from your male co-workers based on your gender, so I naturally assumed No. Aha!
SPEAKER_02
And that was your mistake, Patricia. Please. I think you've made your point. Not everything needs to be a gotcha moment.
SPEAKER_04
No, Patricia is right. I am so sorry. Does everyone here identify as she her?
SPEAKER_03
Yes. Too late! You should have received our consent before assuming how you could address us. I feel violated. If you're gonna be teaching a class in DEI, you best be making extra careful you follow the rules yourself. I will be reporting you to your company. I think it's time you retake your own basic training. See what it feels like to sit through a day of an unnecessary workshop like this.
SPEAKER_04
Oh man. Back to one week of basic beginner sensitivity training.
SPEAKER_03
Hello, new classmate. I'm Donna. Sensitivity training, huh? I predict I'm the one that will have to be sensitive to some idiot's opinion in this class.
SPEAKER_04
Hi, Donna. I'm Sheila. You better not let anyone hear you say that. Oh, or what?
SPEAKER_03
I'll get cancelled? Getting voluntoled by my job to be here after making a careless remark is punishment enough.
SPEAKER_04
What did you do?
SPEAKER_03
Okay, so there's this old guy, Bill, who works at the office of my wait for it, youth center. He refuses to send basic email. He literally goes around and puts post-it notes on our laptops as a way to communicate. I have offered to help him learn a bunch of times. He flat refuses. So finally I snapped and I said, Bill, if you don't want to learn, maybe it's time you retire. Oh ouch. Yeah, not good.
SPEAKER_04
I have to be here so I can get back to teaching this class.
SPEAKER_03
I kind of messed up. Let me guess. Someone you were teaching blew things out of proportion. How did you know? Well, it's like we get punished for having one human moment. I'm calling it now. There will be another weirdo in our class. Don't let them get away with nonsense. Oh no, not me.
SPEAKER_04
I am not here to be a rebel or make any enemies. I'll be keeping my head down, aiming for an A plus so I can get that certificate and start teaching again.
SPEAKER_01
Good morning, class. Okay, if everyone can please take your seats. We're gonna get started here in just a minute.
SPEAKER_03
Oh, hello, Professor Hottie. And no way will you be getting distracted by our teacher who is quite the snack. Shmm. You can't say things like that. What? I can't comment on how attractive someone looks. To you, my hopeful bestie for the week in this place of hell? You were thinking the same thing.
SPEAKER_04
Thinking and saying things out loud are different. Plus, he's our instructor. Would not be appropriate.
SPEAKER_03
Oh, I hate that word. Oh my gosh, look at that. What is that blonde woman wearing? Is that a Bindy? Oh, she's coming over.
SPEAKER_02
Excuse me. If you two could please keep it down, this is a learning environment. Namaste.
SPEAKER_01
It's wonderful to have you on this one-week journey. To be sensitive, we need to cover diversity, equity, and inclusion. Your main exam will be in the form of a show and tell presentation on equity. Be creative. You can store your props in the closet here, and there will be an opportunity for extra credit. Now, let's start with our names and pronouns. I'm Nathan, he him.
SPEAKER_02
Oh, I'll go next. My name was Karen, she, her, but after I faced so much discrimination. Uh, here we go.
SPEAKER_01
Now that's actually not the correct use of the word. Unless were you not granted certain rights?
SPEAKER_02
Uh well, no, but people were making fun of me.
SPEAKER_01
So that's actually ridicule.
SPEAKER_02
Yes, and it was awful.
SPEAKER_01
I I don't mean to minimize your pain, Karen.
SPEAKER_02
It's Juanita now. Excuse me? I have always identified with the Latin American culture ever since I backpacked around Huatamala during my spring break.
SPEAKER_04
You want us to call you Juanita, Karen?
SPEAKER_02
No, not Juanita Karen. Just Juanita.
SPEAKER_04
Yeah, no, I'll be calling you Karen. At a girl, Sheila.
SPEAKER_02
You can't do that. Nathan, tell her that she has to call me by my preferred name.
SPEAKER_01
This is touching on cultural appropriation for me, so uh, Karen, let us go with the name on your state-issued ID.
SPEAKER_02
Not fair.
SPEAKER_04
It's the day of our big equity show, and Talon I can't find my bag of shoes.
SPEAKER_02
They were in the closet. Oh, you mean that bag you wanted to give to Goodwill? I went ahead and took it over for you yesterday. You're welcome. What? No!
SPEAKER_04
Those shoes were for my presentation. I was going to hand out the same one-size shoe to everyone and demonstrate that equal does not mean equity. We need a different size to fit our individual needs.
SPEAKER_02
Oh, oopsie. I thought you just had so many of the same ugly shoes that you finally decided to give them away. I was doing a good deed to help you.
SPEAKER_03
You nasty devil. This was payback for us not wanting to call you Carmelita, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_02
It's Juanita. Uh. Juanita. And I forgot all about that humiliating moment. You know, the two of you may be in here because you messed up at your jobs in some way. And you're trying to redeem yourselves. But I actually care about learning and making myself better so that I can be more supportive as an ally and a colleague in the work environment. Did your job announce a promotion if you get this certificate? That is entirely beside the point.
SPEAKER_01
And uh can you explain the significance of these sandwiches, Karen?
SPEAKER_02
Well, equality would be if I gave you all the same sandwich. However, if you remember, I had you fill out a survey of your dietary needs. I then catered this feast from Shape of Tree's. One that fits all of your specific restrictions. We've got no pork for John, vegetarian for Leslie, gluten-free for Ronald, dairy free for Matilda. And that, my friends, is equity. Enjoy your lunch.
SPEAKER_01
Wow. Karen, I am blown away. A meal and a lesson? Bravo. But I see that you've uh missed Sheila by mistake.
SPEAKER_02
Oh, Sheila's intermittent fasting. No food for her.
SPEAKER_04
That was so thoughtful of you.
SPEAKER_01
Alright, Sheila. You're up.
SPEAKER_04
Okay. Um So equality is if I gave you all the same size pair of shoes. Equity would be if I asked you all your shoe size and gave you a pair that did fit your feet exactly.
SPEAKER_01
Is that it?
SPEAKER_04
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01
Sheila, can I speak to you for a minute? It was a good analogy, but this was meant to be show and tell. You should have demonstrated with real shoes.
SPEAKER_04
Real shoes? Why didn't I think of that?
SPEAKER_01
I can't pass you on this assignment. I'm sorry, but you're at the risk of failing this class.
SPEAKER_04
Cheers, my friend! This beer does help drown my sorrow. Yeah, so what are you gonna do? Passing is not enough. I need a high score to get assigned work. I need extra credit. Now what are you thinking?
unknown
Uh uh.
SPEAKER_04
You said you mentor at a youth center. Yeah, so. Do you think I could borrow some of your most sympathetic looking clients to come in and talk about what makes them feel included? Wait, wait, wait.
SPEAKER_03
You want me to hire my kids in wheelchairs? I know, it's not ethical. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, they'll do it, but you will probably end up regretting it. Hey kids, it's really simple. Here's the script. Thomas, you're on, buddy.
SPEAKER_00
I feel ink ink. Ink included.
SPEAKER_04
Included, included.
SPEAKER_01
I feel included when my friend Sheila plays Scrabble with me.
SPEAKER_02
Take it away, Maggie. Sheila's nice. She does not treat me different. Okay. Both together now. Inclusion. Inclusion means feeling like you belong.
SPEAKER_00
Feeling like you belong.
SPEAKER_04
And Sheila makes me feel like we're feel like we're best friends. Oh, this is wrong. I feel bad.
SPEAKER_02
Bravo, kids! Ha! Oscars for everyone. Not so fast. Let's discuss payment.
SPEAKER_04
Oh, sure. Um, does $20 each sound good?
SPEAKER_01
$20 each to spend in the park.
SPEAKER_04
Oh boy, I warned you. We'll park, like down the street. Disney. What? But that's $150 a ticket.
SPEAKER_01
And we will need a chaperone.
SPEAKER_02
Mm-hmm. Can I hire just one of you? Oh no. It's both of us, or we tell on you.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
Perfect score, Sheila. And after that moving extra credit project that reflected your good work in the community, I'm happy to write you a letter of recommendation to your employer. You're more than ready to get back out there and teach again.
SPEAKER_04
Oh, that's wonderful, Nathan. Thank you. And now that our relationship is that of colleagues, would you be open to getting dinner with me sometime? I just I sense a connection between us.
SPEAKER_01
Oh. Uh I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, Sheila, but I'm quite gay.
SPEAKER_04
Oh! I am sorry. I I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01
No, no, it's okay. Most people don't realize it, but girl, I put the G in LGBTQ.
SPEAKER_04
Girl, what? I would never have taken you for a homo.
SPEAKER_01
Excuse me?
SPEAKER_04
Uh homo sapien. Uh that likes men. But why wouldn't you? Right? Men are great. There's really no way out of what I just said, is there?
SPEAKER_01
There's really not.
SPEAKER_04
I'll report back Monday to take this class over.
SPEAKER_05
Recorded at the Oak House Studio in Altadena, California, mixed by Sound Engineer David Peters. Sound effects and music downloading from Audio Jungle and Karaoke version. If you are interested in submitting a play for production, you can find that information on our website, www.opendoorplayhouse.org. Please share this podcast with friends, and do not forget to subscribe so you will be notified when our next production goes live on the podcast.
