Open-Door Playhouse Debuts JUST PLAYIN Next Week

Lee Franklin's play Just Playin' focuses on a group of men at a rustic cottage in Maine celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their regular poker game. The next day, their wives (in one case, an ex-wife) gather at the same cottage (after the guys have left) to play Mahjong. The Mahjong game is also marking its 25th Anniversary.

The longevity of these activities suggests that the participants are not kids. These people, boomers all, are in fact seniors. The things that they talk about during the course of their games include what you would expect from people of their generation: aging, their gradual physical decline, sex, memory issues, their grandchildren, the senility and demise of relatives from the generation that preceded them, and concerns of their own mortality. The one divorced man, tormented by regret, is experiencing clinical depression.

What these men and women have are the friendship and genuine regard that they have for each other. None of them will have to face their difficulties alone.

Lee Franklin is the playwright. The UConn graduate resides in Maine. His previous plays include The Sea Nest, Isaac, and The Thesis. A member of the Dramatists Guild, he is also an actor and director.

Open-Door Playhouse will present this play online in podcast form in two parts: Starting November 16, Part One will depict the poker game. Part Two, debuting November 23, will depict the Mahjong game. Both parts will continue to be available on the Open-Door Playhouse website.

Part One is directed by Dennis Gersten and stars David Purdham, Gary Lamb, Rick Friesen, Allan Wasserman and Jimmy Gleason.

Part Two is directed by Rachel Berney Needleman and stars Elizabeth Wells, Alexis Genya, Anne Cooper, Noelle Evangelisti and Rosemary Thomas.

Open-Door Playhouse is a podcast created to introduce new plays, new writers, and a wealth of unknown talent. Founded by playwright and filmmaker Bernadette Armstrong, Open-Door Playhouse brings plays to the airwaves, in response to the fact that theatres were shuttered all over the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving playwrights with nowhere to produce their plays. Open-Door Playhouse supports new and emerging writers. Since its inception, Open-Door Playhouse has presented over 70 new short plays, with no limit in sight.

Producer: Open-Door Playhouse. Sound engineer: David Peters. Recorded at The Oak House Studio in Altadena, CA. Sound Effects provided by Audio Jungle, music from Karaoke Version.

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://opendoorplayhouse.org

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