Thank goodness for the amazing and creative people of the Open-Door Playhouse Podcast. Saving us from our theatre wasteland, wandering alone, yearning for a play….any play!!
They are giving us just that, a play. Each month, several plays in fact, as podcasts, ranging from 30 to 60 mins and full of remarkable stories told by fantastic actors eager to do so. I love the tenacity of theatre, the nerve of it, the art of creating something soul stirring out of nothing and now, more than ever, we need this. We deserve this. We are eternally grateful for this.
“Beethoven and the Misfortune Cookie” is based on the true story of Kabin Thomas, a music appreciation professor at the University of Arkansa who was fired, after 10 years of much loved and much lauded work, for profanity and for displaying a picture of a lynching in his class during a lecture on Billy Holiday.
He was wildly popular, with long waiting lists and staggering student popularity. He was fired for being too popular. He became too big, too excellent, too easy a target for those so much less than him, I think. It broke his heart.
It’s not hard to believe really. How many of us have suffered the same fate? Jealousy, greed, self loathing can and often does, tempt the fate of those among us who harbor those feelings. Those who are in a position of power too, will sometimes use it to find satisfaction in the destruction of others, since I suppose they cannot find satisfaction in any other way. So this is the story of that. The utterness of an act of cruelty constructed from a lie and used to end something wonderful and unique. And how Mr Thomas became who he is now and conquered it.
We follow his life, from his passion for Beethoven, music, his incredible understanding of it and love for teaching, his family, his “how,” and his “why.” The firing, his adventures in Hollywood, his spiral into depression, his fears, always going back to his lectures and his point of no return – the lecture that got him fired.
People are shits aren’t they?
Not everyone obviously, but enough. We see this more and more just lately. These terrible people coming out of the shadows, unrelenting and remorseless.
Only art it seems can save us. Art is the ‘why’ of it all in the end. It is what keeps us whole, brings us together and separates us from the ghouls who yearn to destroy it…because they can’t understand it. These are glorious podcasted plays, “Beethoven and the misfortune Cookies” being one of almost 20 of the podcast homepage. Gorgeous love letters to us all. Beautifully produced, effortlessly performed and highly entertaining.
Each month there will be more and more, all clamoring for our attention and our gratitude. They are free, although there is a button to donate…one which you should use…and they will all remain up once premiered.
I love radio, podcasts, spoken word and audio books, so I am totally enraptured by Open-Door Playhouse.
Imagine being able to keep original new plays like this brilliant “Beethoven” in our pockets. Able to click ‘play’ when we can, when we like or when we desperately need to hear a voice sharing their story, their drama, their worlds. We are all so bereft of live theatre and performance. It’s a tough existence for us all and this makes it a little less tough for a little while. Just knowing the Open-Door Playhouse exists in this disparate world makes me feel better. Bravo!!
In the months to come Open-Door Playhouse will showcase humorous, thoughtful and surprising 10-minute shorts and one-act playhs that showcase insightful and new perspectives of the world.
If you are interested in submitting a play for production you can find that information on the website as well.
https://www.opendoorplayhouse.org
Written Joni Ravenna
Directed Devereau Chumra
Featuring Amir Abdullah