“Depression, opioid addiction, and suicide are topics at the forefront of our culture’s consciousness,” says playwright Jeff Mustard, “this one-act tragicomedy is a snapshot of two people challenged by dark forces, but each come to realize how precious life is while creating a surprising bond.”
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (PRWEB)
September 02, 2021
At a time when mental health and self-care issues are front and center in popular culture during our country’s Covid crisis, the timing for this “dark-themed” but light-hearted and sentimental work could not be better for tv and the stage writer Jeff Mustard’s Open-Door Playhouse production of “Chance.” Presented by Open Door’s Artistic Director, Bernadette Armstrong, and directed by Dennis Gersten, these two “true-life-story” vignettes of each character, set in a Florida Hospital room, have been blended into a 20-minute production premiering on the Open-Door Playhouse Podcast, http://www.opendoorplayhouse.org. The Podcast is FREE to listen to and download.
THE FATEFUL STORY
Amber Jordan, trapped in the endless struggles and disappointments of the past 21 years, is convinced her life is not worth living; that is until she meets Michael Hollings, a man who has found a new spirituality, on opposite ends of the spectrum, their fateful collision will bind these two unlikely characters together for the rest of their lives. “The individual stories of each of the two main characters are based on the real-life circumstances that I was familiar with for each of these two people,” says Mustard. “Individually, these were, and are heartbreaking stories, but after a long time ruminating about each, I finally found a way to combine them in a manner that brings out a soft, tender side of humanity that is hopeful and inspirational,” says Mustard, “life is precious and worth living, despite the challenges faced by internal and external forces.”
THE PRODUCTION & THE CAST
Recorded and Produced at E.S. Studios in Burbank, CA, mixed/engineered by David Peters, and directed by David Gersten, who doubles as voice talent in the play, the cast features Whitton Frank, Noelle Evangelista, Rosney Mauger, Ayla Rose Barreau, and Dennis Gersten.
ABOUT JEFF MUSTARD
Jeff Mustard (Playwright) is a writer and producer for various media. Jeff’s print, radio, television, and stage work has been published and produced locally, regionally, and nationally. He has written two prestige historical-fiction pilot television shows in recent years, both of which have earned multiple T.V. industry accolades. During the pandemic and following the George Floyd Murder, he wrote and produced a six-track album, Enough under the media banner he created, Equal Justice Studios, addressing society’s racial and social inequities. To see more of his work, please visit his websites: https://Boycott1902.com, http://www.ExileFromCuba.com, and http://www.equaljusticestudios.com.
ABOUT DENNIS GERSTEN – DIRECTOR/VOICE TALENT
Dennis Gersten (Director) is the co-artistic director of Theatre Unlimited in the Noho Arts District in L.A. He is a founding member of the Michael Chekhov Studio in L.A. and Stagewrights, Inc. in NYC and a teaching artist with Inside Out Community Arts/P.S.Arts. He has directed and performed in many original and classic works, garnering multiple awards.
ABOUT OPEN DOOR PLAYHOUSE
The Open-Door Playhouse is a podcast that supports new and emerging writers by producing plays in the style of the live Radio Plays popular in the 1940s & 50s. Open-Door Playhouse is hosted by playwright and producer Bernadette Armstrong, who conceived of the Podcast after her most recent project, Custody, which was scheduled to open in North Hollywood on September 8, 2020, at the Secret Rose Theater, was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since September, the Podcast has presented over 30 new plays by emerging playwrights from all over the country. http://www.opendoorplayhouse.org
http://www.equaljusticestudios.com/chance-the-play-podcast/
LISTEN TO THE PLAY: https://bit.ly/2WFqOfQ
To see more of Jeff Mustard’s work please visit his websites at:
https://boycott1902.com/
https://exilefromcuba.com/
http://www.equaljusticestudios.com/chance-the-play-podcast/
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