Gay Men and Their Wives

It's July, 2009. Larry Stratton is the alpha dog city councilman who needs his life to be the perfect picture of marital bliss, while Mindy, his wife, wants everything to change; she hates how Larry takes her for granted, she hates the constant drive-by rap in their sewer of a city, and she hates her teaching job, but at least the kids are away for three weeks at camp. She conveniently ignores all the...
It's July, 2009. Larry Stratton is the alpha dog city councilman who needs his life to be the perfect picture of marital bliss, while Mindy, his wife, wants everything to change; she hates how Larry takes her for granted, she hates the constant drive-by rap in their sewer of a city, and she hates her teaching job, but at least the kids are away for three weeks at camp. She conveniently ignores all the signs that Larry has been having sex for years with Tom Robinson, their neighbor. Larry’s mother, Ruth, an erstwhile Presbyterian church lady who came alive after her husband died, is a ghostly one-person Greek Chorus who’s able to teleport herself to her son’s house. Tom and his wife, Carida, accept their life for what it is, except for the minor wrinkles that they want badly to have a kid, that Tom’s sperm count results are terrible and that Tom is convinced that he’s gay. How to get pregnant--Larry’s sperm or the fertility clinic, where a young man has “donated” his sperm regularly for two years?—brings about hijinks and farce, and then Larry’s brother Keith, who disappeared ten years earlier, just after giving a torrid best-man toast at Mindy and Larry’s wedding, enters. Larry wants nothing to do with him, but Tom and Carida fall for him, upsetting the order Larry has set up.

In Act 2, Tom and Keith, amazed at how quickly everything has happened, kiss. Carida enters, and it turns out the night before they had an amazing threesome, but Keith, not wanting to screw up their marriage, says he has to leave—immediately. Tom and Carida try to dissuade him, but he goes out to his car, followed by Tom. Just after Mindy enters and insults Keith, Mindy raves to Carida that they have to fight for their men or they’ll all become fags. But Carida, knowing Tom can’t be happy and wouldn’t be Tom without the gay part of him, wants Keith to stay. After deciding not to keep running from himself, Keith, who's happy here with Tim and Carida, lets on that he’d been dumped by a famous Mystery Man in San Francisco, after being with him for nine years.
That night, Tom, Carida and Keith sneak into the Straton house to surprise them, but no one’s home. Watching video on Carida’s iPhone, Keith says Larry and Mindy’s son is gay. As Tom dances wildly to get his sperms to move and is joined by Carida and Keith and the ghostly Ruth, Mindy and Larry enter. Larry’s political party is set on his running for the now vacant congressional seat, but Mindy doesn’t want to be one of those humiliated wives standing by her shamed husband. They make promises, and just when everything seems to be going well, Keith reveals that he and Larry had sex regularly as kids. Larry insists it was only blow jobs and jerking off, President Clinton, but Mindy freaks. Keith argues that for them, in their screwed-up household, it was normal; he was and is proud of Larry and excited his running for congress. Mindy, Tom and Carida escape to the garage, where, with their help, Mindy recovers somewhat. Mindy watches video, sees Tommy is gay and is okay with it. Larry tells Keith he can’t live without Tom.
A couple of weeks later, Keith enters on Tom, who’s happily studying. Carida enters, sure she’s pregnant with a girl. General excitement, then Larry and Mindy enter, followed by the real live Ruth, come to help pick up the kids from camp. Larry asks Tom to be his campaign manager, but Tom says no, that he’s going to go to school to become a physician’s assistant. Keith walks his mother out to the car while the rarely hurt Larry spews how they’re dreaming if they think it’s ok to be gay. And he walks out, as he did to Keith so many years before. Mindy, though bonding with Keith, follows. Left alone, the three are excited that Tom stood up for himself and that Carida’s pregnant, and they talk about checking out their daughter’s boyfriends, which offends Tom. The play ends on the humorous note of Tom wondering what they’ll do if their daughter’s a lesbian.



  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Gay Men and Their Wives

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Amateur Comedy Club
    ,
    2022

Production History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Overtime Theatre
    ,
    2020