By Izzie Claudio, Guest Writer
Open Door Theater is a non-profit, accessible community theater that was founded in 1980. Over 40 years later, Open Door is still producing one major show a year, bringing together members of the Acton community and beyond to tap into the magic of theatre. Today, their mission is stronger than ever.
Sam Gould is the current President and Executive Producer of Open Door and has worked with the theater company for 25 years. “What we are is an integrated inclusive theater company, so it is our responsibility and our goal to break down external barriers so that as many people as possible can participate in the human right which is art,” she says. Open Door is a center for disability justice and disability joy, providing a space for joy to break through all boundaries.
This year’s Open Door production is The Prom, which follows four Broadway stars who are searching for their next moment in the spotlight. They discover a small town in Indiana on the brink of prom season. Emma Nolan wishes to take her girlfriend to prom, but is met with an outraged response from parents across the town. This fun, heartwarming, and important story brings together Broadway’s most eccentric group and one girl on a mission to spread love where it’s most needed.
Isabel Coviello, who plays Emma Nolan, is a current high school senior and expresses how necessary it is to share the story of The Prom right now. “In terms of theater shows, there’s not many that center on queer people, especially young queer people, and those are the kids who feel really alone right now…It’s important for audiences to be open to listening to stories like this and to build general empathy that is so lacking and really highlight queer voices,” they say. Brian Kelly, the director, shares the same sentiments. “The biggest goal was to really highlight diversity as best as we can and show that it is a real part of everyday life…Diversity is all around us and we have to be accepting of diversity, we have to be embracing of diversity, and we have to show that everybody has strengths and the ability to contribute to the big picture, to society,” he says,
Emma Nolan is the only out queer kid in her town, which is still a reality for many kids in this country. The Prom tells a story that reflects real life. “[We’re] making it clear that we’re not going to move backward, that we’re going to stand up for those who are under represented, who are discriminated against. It’s crucial to continue to put forward art that really reinforces that message,” says Adam Sell. Sell plays Barry Glickman, one of the Broadway stars that has brought his big personality to the small town of Edgewater, Indiana. Cast and crew alike have found a great sense of community at Open Door Theater.
The inclusivity and love that is emphasized by Open Door is clear from the moment you walk into the rehearsal space. “Everybody is so supportive, it’s the most supportive theater I’ve ever been in,” says Sky Lokere. Lokere plays Alyssa Green, Emma’s girlfriend who is navigating their own queerness in the face of their mother’s narrow-mindedness. The Prom is an Open Door debut for Coviello, Sell, and Lokere and they all emphasize the amount of joy and support that is present at Open Door Theater.
Every performance of The Prom is ASL interpreted, open captioned, sensory friendly. The second weekend of performances are audio-described. They are also providing live feed of the performance on a monitor in the hallway so audience members can take breaks if needed. Sam Gould explains that Open Door is constantly taking steps to increase accessibility based on community feedback. She says, “Last year we had a regular number of patrons who were low vision and hard of hearing, so we were able to spend the last year researching and bringing in better technical equipment.”
Open Door is now able to provide a headset that combines multiple accessible features for those that are low vision and hard of hearing. Instead of wearing two headsets, live feed from the performers’ mics and the audio description are present in one headset. The patron can then control how much of each they want to hear. This is an accessible feature that is not seen in most theaters. “We really want everybody to be able to experience and enjoy theatre in the way they need to do it,” says Gould.
In Open Door’s production of The Prom there are numerous ways that ASL is highlighted. Kristin Johnson is the Director of Artistic Sign Language and works alongside the production of the show to build the interpretation. In The Prom, the actor playing Principal Hawkins is deaf. Instead of simply having an interpreter to speak his lines, the interpreter acts alongside him reflecting the real life scenario of a school principal having a professional interpreter working with him.
“We are able to build our accommodations from the ground up, so we’re able to put them in as we’re building the show, which is critical path; trying to retrofit access later is not as useful,” Gould says. “Because of all the accommodations and all the creative ways that we build low tech, high impact accommodation solutions here, we were getting inundated with requests from other theatres and professional theatre as to how to help. We actually spun off a nonprofit called Think Outside the Vox, where we do that kind of consulting.”
The Prom is an important story to be told right now and with DEI at risk, accessibility is also under attack. Open Door’s production of The Prom embraces every community that is all too often othered. With this story, Open Door spotlights their consistent mission. Adam Sell says,“If we become invisible, even on stages like this one, there is a chance that people are going to try and make this go away, and there has never been a world without queer people, without disabled people, without deaf people, so it’s important to reflect that on stage and in our heart.”
The Prom is playing for two weekends, March 21st through March 30th, at Dragonfly Theater, R.J. Grey Jr. High School, 16 Charter Road, Acton, MA 01720. Tickets are available at www.opendoortheater.org.
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