October is, of course, the month of Halloween, and Monsters Anonymous is certainly appropriate for the season.

Dracula wants to be a better monster and feels guilty for his past killings. Determined to stop, he struggles with his addiction to human blood, despite being able to survive on animal blood. He joins Monsters Anonymous (MA), posing as an alcoholic, and meets other monsters with unique addictions: Gaywolf, obsessed with bulking up; Frankenstein, addicted to plastic surgery; and Ghost Girl, who can't stop stalking her ex-girlfriend. Can the group help Dracula resist his urges, or will he relapse into killing again?

Bernadette Armstrong directs Kevin Carr, Monique Gonsalves, Gina Elaine, and Larry Coleman.

Melissa Marie Watson is the playwright. Melissa won two creative writing scholarship contests and two essay contests at Eureka College, read poetry over the radio in Chicago, and was published in The Quill, The Pantagraph, and The Woodford County Journal. She was recently published in two anthology books: Words of the Wise: Stories of Awakening Journeys and I’m a F*cking Entrepreneur Volume II. Her monologue, Made to Be Alone, was performed by Nomad Theatre in their Ghostlight Project showcase, and her short play, The Lesser of Two Evils was a finalist in Nomad's The Polling Place contest.

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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://opend...