At Heaven’s Door ~ 2 Acts ~ Cast: 3 (2F, 1M)
Synopsis
At Heaven’s Door is a 2 act play where 21 diverse characters, played by 3 cast members, await being called through heaven’s door. While their lives are being reviewed, everyone must wait in this entry room before being called home to eternity.
We learn that the review is not to see who has been naughty or nice but rather who has had a purpose filled life. Be it for an entire life of doing good, such as Mavis Jackson who practically lives at Ebenezer Baptist Church, or who may have accomplished a single act of goodness, such as Chalisa Morgan (a prostitute).
Those that you expect to breeze right through Heaven’s Door do not. And those that you expect not to pass through Heaven’s Door anytime in the near future pass right through with lightening speed. . For example, Sister Angela had been a nun for over 50 years and has been waiting at Heaven’s Door since September, 1953. Alan Meier, a frustrated, gay actor-wannabe turned bus tour guide, spends little time at Heaven’s Door before being “called home to eternity”
There are characters that you absolutely love such as Jewish grandmother Trixie Horowitz. We learn that she gives of her time and money…even generously supports the Catholic Charity Appeal. She reasons they have to live too. Trixie barely gets a chance to sit and chat before being called to pass through Heaven’s Door. (When called, Trixie, tells God to Hold on, I’m not even through with my Twinkie yet.) Freddie Danton, a flamboyant drama queen, adds a comedic dimension in both his pithy comments and his stage presence. After all, he has headlined at the Torrid Palace Bathhouse for 23 years!
There are characters that you will positively hate. Take Joanne Martinelli who carries her 34 year argument (a/k/a marriage) right up to Heaven’s Door. Not only will you pity her very Italian husband, Guido, but you will probably want to give her a slap. And there are characters you will positively love, such as the saintly Mavis Jackson having a weakness for playing bingo for money.
By the end of Heaven’s Door, we will have laughed, shed a tear or two, wanted to throw a few punches and we start thinking. That could be me at Heaven’s Door. What good deeds am I doing or have I done in my own life?
Theaters: Request a copy of this script.
