Two Henrys

by Kenneth Jones

In the dead of winter, Henry flies from New York to Florida to offer condolences at the funeral of his late partner’s father, a man he never knew. But as the booze flows at the wake, are the surviving widow, Constance, and her grown daughter, Amy, ready to raise a glass to the unexpected guest? Set in 2012, somewhere between the dusk of the worst days of the AIDS crisis and the dawn of marriage equality, TWO...

In the dead of winter, Henry flies from New York to Florida to offer condolences at the funeral of his late partner’s father, a man he never knew. But as the booze flows at the wake, are the surviving widow, Constance, and her grown daughter, Amy, ready to raise a glass to the unexpected guest? Set in 2012, somewhere between the dusk of the worst days of the AIDS crisis and the dawn of marriage equality, TWO HENRYS is a humor-laced drama exploring guilt and grief, perceptions and prejudices, and the urge to find family. Above all, it may be about the bravery of having uncomfortable conversations that lead to change.

Find a perusal copy at NPX or inquire with playwright. Seeking developmental/world premiere opportunities.

FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT
Constance has just lost her husband, Mike, after 60 years of marriage. But his sudden death isn’t the only grief inside her as she prepares for his wake at the southwest Florida home that they shared. The sting of losing her son, Henry, to HIV/AIDS 15 years earlier is aroused again with the arrival of a stranger at her home: Henry’s partner, also named Henry, has come to express his condolences — and to make a connection with the mother-in-law he never knew, in a place where he was not previously welcomed. Constance’s daughter, Amy, emboldened by alcohol and threatened by Henry’s appearance, shares memories of her brother but also questions the motives of the outsider, even as she hides a secret about her own family. Henry’s audacious visit is met with an equally audacious invitation. Constance, a drinker herself, asks him to stay the night in the guest room — Henry’s old room — setting the stage for an overdue confrontation about the late Henry’s life and death, the surviving Henry’s guilt and goals, and the staunchly conservative family’s role in the decline of their golden child. The play’s poolside conversations — dark, funny, humane, honest, touching — address prejudices and perceptions, mirroring “coming out” exchanges that still go on today. But following the decades-long delay of addressing the realities of their family tree, is hope still possible for a mother who needs a son, a son who needs a mother and a sister who seems to only need a drink?

“Two Henrys” is the result of a lot of things that I’ve experienced or heard over the years on the subject of LGBTQ people coming out of the closet. For some, “coming out” might seem like an almost quaint topic, in the age of marriage equality, but the struggle is real for millions of people who grow up in communities that are intolerant and downright hostile about anything that is “different.” The act of telling the truth about the experience of your identity is still a thing. I became interested in a fresh take on the coming-out ritual, through the lens of middle-aged and senior people: I envisioned something about an aging mother who never had “the talk” with her gay son — and never would because he died of illness before HIV/AIDS was treatable. I also knew that I wanted to write a comedy. Like my play “Alabama Story,” I built “Two Henrys” on the foundation of clear opposites: conservative and liberal, gay and straight, brother and sister, parent and child, wellness and illness, spiritual and secular, grief and acceptance, sobriety and addiction, funerals and weddings, silence and communication, tears and laughter. At an earlier reading of the play in Salt Lake City, a gay man and his parents approached me with tears in their eyes. The father said, “We sure have lived some of this story.” I hope you come to fall in love with what’s both specific and universal about “Two Henrys,” and that maybe it inspires communication where before there was only silence.

This play is a time capsule, a period piece, a remembrance of attitudes, perceptions and prejudices that existed — and still exist. Most everything spoken in the play is based on words spoken directly to me or to my LGBTQ+ friends. This is about silence — and the talk a son and a mother never got to have. They are finally having the talk now, but not with their blood family. This is how the conversation might have gone with their respective family had timing and circumstance allowed it.

As long as there are forces shoving people into the darkness, coming out stories will be relevant, necessary and alive. And if you think we’re beyond these stories, you only have to look at the alarming attempted suicide statistics in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among queer youth.

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Two Henrys

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: Two Henrys

    An incredibly powerful confrontation on the man lost to AIDS between the mother and partner left behind. For the first time, a mother learns the truth of who her son was and a partner finally meets the family he never was given the chance to be a part of. A great deal is tackled magnificently in this impactful and important work.

    An incredibly powerful confrontation on the man lost to AIDS between the mother and partner left behind. For the first time, a mother learns the truth of who her son was and a partner finally meets the family he never was given the chance to be a part of. A great deal is tackled magnificently in this impactful and important work.

  • Shelley McPherson: Two Henrys

    Two Henrys is a beautiful play about love, acceptance, grief and forgiveness. The three onstage characters are joined by a large community of offstage characters, alive and dead, who are as human and sympathetic as the characters we come to know. Heart-breaking and redemptive. Riveting from start to finish.

    Two Henrys is a beautiful play about love, acceptance, grief and forgiveness. The three onstage characters are joined by a large community of offstage characters, alive and dead, who are as human and sympathetic as the characters we come to know. Heart-breaking and redemptive. Riveting from start to finish.

  • Rachel Bublitz: Two Henrys

    One of the most beautiful scripts I've read in along time. There were only about a hundred times I teared up reading it off the page, and laced throughout the play are also incredible moments of humanity and humor. I am a huge fan of Kenneth Jones' work. He has a deft hand with plays that capture touching and deep human moments, that never feel overly dramatized or overly sentimental. They're aren't overly anything in fact, they're wonderful and impeccable. I would LOVE to see this fully produced, it belongs in theaters' seasons all around the country.

    One of the most beautiful scripts I've read in along time. There were only about a hundred times I teared up reading it off the page, and laced throughout the play are also incredible moments of humanity and humor. I am a huge fan of Kenneth Jones' work. He has a deft hand with plays that capture touching and deep human moments, that never feel overly dramatized or overly sentimental. They're aren't overly anything in fact, they're wonderful and impeccable. I would LOVE to see this fully produced, it belongs in theaters' seasons all around the country.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Actors Theatre of Indiana, Carmel, IN, Year 2022
  • Type Reading, Organization Third Avenue Playhouse, Wisconsin (online), Year 2021
  • Type Reading, Organization Cape May Stage, Cape May, NY (online), Year 2020
  • Type Workshop, Organization Red Mountain Theatre Company, Birmingham, Alabama [Workshop Production], Year 2019
  • Type Reading, Organization Hudson Stage Company, Armonk, NY, Year 2017
  • Type Reading, Organization Pioneer Theatre Company Play-By-Play Reading Series, Year 2016
  • Type Workshop, Organization Co-Op Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice, CA [Workshop Production], Year 2016

Awards

  • National Playwrights Conference
    Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center
    Semi-Finalist
    2015
  • National Playwrights Conference
    Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center
    Semi-Finalist
    2016