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Headphones/Earpods Essential: 3D Binaural Audio Comedy Drama – Put On Your Headphones / Ear Pods and Listen!
Be aware: This audio drama discusses suicide and gender-based violence, which some people might find distressing.
Haunted by an elusive rare butterfly, lepidopterist and gangland boss JOHNSON is in denial of the empty noose swinging in his walled garden – the reminder that his trans daughter killed herself last night, because of Johnson’s homophobia.
His young enforcer, TEDDY, feels guilty about the suicide – he had promised to ‘come out’ as well, but had chickened out. Teddy unintentionally rubs salt in the wound when he reveals to Johnson that he identifies as non-binary.
In an attempt to enlighten Johnson and not be thrown out of the gang, Teddy teaches a chemistry lesson about the symphony of gender diversity to his boss and his uneducated henchmen. But it takes more than science to overcome the prejudice and fear of Teddy’s psychopathic boss.
When Teddy accuses Johnson’s bigotry of being the cause of his trans daughter’s suicide, Johnson launches a vicious attack.
The Chemistry Lesson is set in the world of male gangsters, defying the usual stereotypes, encouraging the audience to question their own socially prescribed beliefs around gender. The ‘rare and special’ metaphor and imagery of the story comes from an in-depth interview with a gender-politics expert, and reflects the huge misunderstandings that persist about this complex aspect of contemporary life.
Guy Ritchie’s timeless and familiar ‘Gangster RocknRoller’ expressionist style, makes the subject matter more accessible to an audience, who may find the concept of non-binary gender as confusing and threatening as it is to the film’s gangland boss antagonist. The play dramatises the idea that in the symphony of gender diversity, maybe rare and special people are a sign of a healthy social ecosystem.
Teddy’s attempts to enlighten his bigoted boss may seem futile, but when Mother Nature is involved, the humanity that lurks within even a psychopathic gangster, can sometimes surprise us all.
© Starting Over Show Prods 2025
