Henchmen by James Nelson

A handful of low-level gangsters have a simple job: kidnap the son of a billionaire and keep him alive until a ransom is negotiated. But when the hostage turns up dead and nobody knows who did it, their bloodthirsty boss goes on a rampage, starting a violent escalation that leaves a high body count in its wake.
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Henchmen

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Character Information

Written for 6 actors with doubling. Most roles are written to be open to any gender, age, ethnicity, and type, to give ownership to the producer and director to create dynamics that they are interested in. HOSTAGE and PAULIE should double. The actor playing FINLEY can also play HOSTAGE/PAULIE if cast with a male-presenting actor or with SUSIE if cast as a female-presenting actor. The actor playing BRYCE also plays WALLY. Pronouns in the script default to non-binary for most characters but can be changed to align with casting.

  • TONY
    One of Franky's gangsters.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • BILLY
    One of Franky's gangsters.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • BRYCE
    One of Franky's gangsters.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • FINLEY
    Franky's top gangster.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female, Male
  • FRANKY
    A powerful gang boss.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • HOSTAGE
    A hostage.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • SUSIE
    A pizza delivery girl.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • PAULIE
    One of Roderick's henchmen.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • WALLY
    One of Roderick's henchmen.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Anglo-Irish Theatre Group (Tuebingen, Germany)
    ,
    2013
  • Workshop
    ,
    UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
    ,
    2012