so-many-reasons-to-honk-for-joy

Actors in colorful farm themed costumes and crew members stand together on a brightly lit stage with a platform in the background and oversized green and brown cattails framing the stage.

Photo Caption: The colorful cast and crew in front of the set with a bridge and cattails. HONK! 2026.

Photo Credit Meghana Arvind

In March, we welcomed over 1900 patrons to The Dragonfly Theater to experience our 2026 production of HONK! This is our 46th year of making theater accessible on both sides of the curtain, and we are thrilled that so many Open Door friends, old and new, joined us this year to experience Ugly’s journey of self-discovery. If you attended a performance of HONK!, we hope that you will complete our Audience Survey at https://forms.gle/rXY88SwAcsMTpFX38. We value your feedback and we really pay attention. Our accessibility practices are the result of direct feedback from our cast, crew and patrons, and we invite you to help us improve next year. And in case you missed it, here are the links to the HONK! Program and

the Cast/Crew Bios.

Thank You HONK! Crew, Access Providers and Volunteers!

Collage of photos including three ASK interpreters wearing blue shirts, five men building a platform on a stage, two volunteers at a table, a man holding a prop pink cake, two adults in a bootj with lighting equipment, a man at a table holding a mic.

Photo Caption: HONK! crew and volunteers including ASL Interpreters, set construction team, Duckiegrams volunteers, pre-show backstage tactile tour of props with Blind patron Kwaku Darko, light booth and sound check.

We are crowing with appreciation for the hundreds of people involved in making HONK! come to life. From Costumes and Sets, to Front of the House and Tickets, from the Sound and Light Booths, to the Stage Crew, Props and Green Room teams, we could not do it without the hard work and dedication of all of our volunteers, access providers and crew members. Thank you!

From the Stage to the AD Booth

Photo of three people sitting at a booth, an African-American woman wearing a gray sweatshirt signing I Love You in ASL, a Latinx male wearing a black shirt and crochet beanie and a South Asian woman wearing a navy top and holding a stenographer mic.

Photo Caption: Olivia Sutton, Luis Cotto and AD Mentee Lali Haines in the Audio Describer Booth.

Central to Open Door's mission is modeling and disseminating best practices in accessibility and inclusion in theater arts, while serving as a training ground for emerging Access Providers in American Sign Language interpretation, Audio Description and Open Captioning.

This year, long-time Open Door cast alum Lali Haines took on a new role as Audio Describer Mentee. In partnership with Think Outside the Vox, Lali gained training and experience providing culturally competent Audio Description for Blind and Low-Vision patrons during performances of HONK!. Lali worked with veteran Blind Quality Control Expert, Matt Shiffrin, and Luis Cotto, a Describer trained through the Vox CCAD program. In the photo above, Lali sits at the Audio Describer booth in the back of the Dragonfly Theater with Luis Cotto and Olivia Sutton, a new captioner also being trained at the HONK! performance.

Stay Tuned!

Later this spring, we will announce our 2027 Production. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get all the latest updates!

Ask Me Fair at ABRHS

In May, Open Door is bringing the Ask Me Fair to students at Acton-Boxborough Regional High Schoool. Spearheaded by ODT Volunteer and ABRHS Sophomore, Zoe Kriveshko, this year's Ask Me Fair will feature a panel of four guest presenters of different intersectional backgrounds and identities. Attendees will be invited and encouraged to ask any questions they may have of the presenter's thoughts and experiences related to their personal identity.

Ask Me Fair Guiding Principles: The Ask Me Fair provides safe spaces for intentional and respectful conversations that will promote empathy, acceptance and tolerance while dispelling stereotypes and fear of those who are different.

We hope that the unfamiliar can become known and understood through thoughtful questions and answers, and that people of different backgrounds and experiences can educate, learn from, and appreciate each other.

Thank You Sponsors

Graphic of colorful logos for community partners and sponsors.

We are grateful for the support of many community partners. Our production of HONK! was sponsored in part by the Community Foundation for Metrowest, the Astra Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, Middlesex Savings Bank, Main Street Bank, Acton Lions, AB Community Compass and the Local Cultural Councils of Acton-Boxborough, Ayer, Carlisle, Concord, Harvard, Littleton, Stow, Sudbury and Westford.

Every donation helps us raise the curtain on stories that matter and voices that deserve to be heard. Please consider Donating Through Paypal or by check, mailed to Open Door Theater, PO Box 2553, Acton, MA 01720.

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Open Door Theater of Acton

501(c)(3) Non-Profit, EIN 04-2785919

P.O. Box 2553, Acton, MA 01720

[email protected]