THEATER 114: Switchboard Soldiers

Open-Door Playhouse

Open-Door Playhouse continues to present short plays in podcast form. Its upcoming
play Switchboard Soldiers will debut on November 14, 2023 online at http://opendoorplayhouse.org
Before women could even vote, Miss Banker leads the first corps of women that help turn the tide of World War I.
This is an interview with the first woman soldier Chief Grace Banker of the Signal Corps
Female Telephone Operators Unit. General John Pershing, commander of the American
Expeditionary Forces in WWI, demanded female “wire experts” when he discovered that inexperienced doughboys were unable to keep him connected with troops under fire.
In 1918 the US Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France during WWI. They were
bi-lingual and experts in the latest technology, the switchboard. They had access to privileged coordinates and military assignments. These brave women chose to serve their country despite the fact that women were not considered full citizens. Back in the states, they could not vote, nor own property, but a group of six women led by Miss. Banker served alongside Gen Pershing on the front line as they operated the switchboards. They were responsible for over 26 million calls during their service.
Rachel Berney-Needleman directs a cast that includes Tania Verafield, Omari Williams, Jaycee Porter, and Felipe Figueroa.
Special thanks to Carinne Meyrignac" for assisting the cast with the French pronunciations.

Dana Hall is the playwright. A member of the Dramatists Guild, she received the Award
for Excellence in Playwriting by the Theatre Association of New York State. She is also an actor. A prolific writer, her plays include My Vagina Has a First Name, The Little Christmas Tree, Under the Floorboards, When Your Stepfather Wants to Rule the Earth, I Hate My Afterlife, One Night in September, and many more.
Switchboard Soldiers is a selection in the Open-Door Playhouse month-long Salute to
Veterans in November, focusing on works created by veterans.
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, the 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 can 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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