Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Jordan Elizabeth Henry (she/her) lives on the homelands of the Kaskaskia, Miami, Shawnee, and Osage peoples. Her work explores neurodivergence, mental illness, and trauma survival, investigating the intersections of her own identity and experience in the world. Her play, HOWLING, was an O'Neill NPC 2023 Finalist, a Normal Avenue NAP Series 2023 Finalist, a Bay Street Theatre Title Wave Festival 2023 Finalist, an American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award 2024 Semifinalist, & a DGF Virtual Playwriting Fellowship 2023 Semifinalist. POISON TREE was an O'Neill NPC 2024 semifinalist. Workshops and readings of her plays include: DOWN CELLAR (The Workshop Theatre); A WITNESS (New Normal Rep, Inkwell Theatre, The Shattered Glass Project); RESURRECTION (Bechdel Group, Walking Shadow; published by Next...

Jordan Elizabeth Henry (she/her) lives on the homelands of the Kaskaskia, Miami, Shawnee, and Osage peoples. Her work explores neurodivergence, mental illness, and trauma survival, investigating the intersections of her own identity and experience in the world. Her play, HOWLING, was an O'Neill NPC 2023 Finalist, a Normal Avenue NAP Series 2023 Finalist, a Bay Street Theatre Title Wave Festival 2023 Finalist, an American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award 2024 Semifinalist, & a DGF Virtual Playwriting Fellowship 2023 Semifinalist. POISON TREE was an O'Neill NPC 2024 semifinalist. Workshops and readings of her plays include: DOWN CELLAR (The Workshop Theatre); A WITNESS (New Normal Rep, Inkwell Theatre, The Shattered Glass Project); RESURRECTION (Bechdel Group, Walking Shadow; published by Next Stage Press); THE INTERIOR LIVES OF WOMEN (recipient of the Ohio Arts Council's Artists With Disabilities Grant); TRANSFIGURATION (Elephant Room Productions, Inge New Play Initiative, Wordsmyth Theatre); WHAT THE MIND FORGETS (Millersville University Theatre, Heartland Theatre Festival); and TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ANYONE... (DGA's End of Play Readings). You can read more about her current projects at www.JordanElizabethHenry.com.

Scripts

poison tree

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

—-semifinalist, O’Neill npc 2024 —-

therapy is hard; julianna should know - she’s been in and out for years. why’s she at it yet again? it’s this… flash. that’s the only thing to call it - not a memory, just like a… blip. she can’t get past it, no matter what she tries: she drinks. she runs. she sings karaoke. she gets sober. she gets married. nothing seems to work. her half-sister, gwyn, is young - like...

—-semifinalist, O’Neill npc 2024 —-

therapy is hard; julianna should know - she’s been in and out for years. why’s she at it yet again? it’s this… flash. that’s the only thing to call it - not a memory, just like a… blip. she can’t get past it, no matter what she tries: she drinks. she runs. she sings karaoke. she gets sober. she gets married. nothing seems to work. her half-sister, gwyn, is young - like younger than a 16-year-old should be. it's her birthday and she’s scored a fake id! her crush is back from college! everything’s going so friggin well! she takes hunter back to her place, but that's when she starts feeling... weird. she's just not used to taking shots! that must be it. except there's this... blip that keeps blipping in her mind about that night. she puts the thoughts away - but of course julianna always knows how to worm the truth out of her little sis. and when she does - when the scenes come crashing back; when the feeling of his hands against her skin...; the smell of him...; the way she couldn't breathe... that's when julianna says she has a plan: they'll get her justice. (or they'll get revenge.)

howling: a fairy tale

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

__FINALIST__
O'Neill NPC 2023
Title Wave Play Festival 2023
Normal Avenue's NAPSeries 2023

__SEMIFINALIST__
Dramatist Guild Foundation’s Virtual Playwriting Workshop 2023
American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award 2024

Birdie & Lin are getting married, and Lin is about to Meet The Parents, Mona & Mal, for the first time. Birdie's therapist, Sy, has been encouraging her to reveal her recent Autism diagnosis with Lin...

__FINALIST__
O'Neill NPC 2023
Title Wave Play Festival 2023
Normal Avenue's NAPSeries 2023

__SEMIFINALIST__
Dramatist Guild Foundation’s Virtual Playwriting Workshop 2023
American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award 2024

Birdie & Lin are getting married, and Lin is about to Meet The Parents, Mona & Mal, for the first time. Birdie's therapist, Sy, has been encouraging her to reveal her recent Autism diagnosis with Lin, but Birdie's hesitating -- Lin's daughter, who was killed in a car accident at age 3, was Autistic and never spoke. Will Lin feel compelled to Take Care Of Birdie, when all Birdie wants is autonomy? Or will Lin see Birdie as Not Autistic Enough? Meanwhile, Birdie keeps dreaming of The Woods, following a trail of breadcrumbs that take her deeper into her childhood and closer to the Wolf at the door.

true

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

Allison has just dropped out of college after her torrid affair with a professor ended in a pregnancy, and then a miscarriage. Listless and confused, the one thing that's crystal clear is that she wants to be a mom - more than Anything. (Probably.) When she meets the charismatic Terry, a fertility specialist running a clinical trial in an idyllic Appalachian holler, she feels a sense of purpose and belonging for...

Allison has just dropped out of college after her torrid affair with a professor ended in a pregnancy, and then a miscarriage. Listless and confused, the one thing that's crystal clear is that she wants to be a mom - more than Anything. (Probably.) When she meets the charismatic Terry, a fertility specialist running a clinical trial in an idyllic Appalachian holler, she feels a sense of purpose and belonging for the first time in her life. Terry just makes her feel ---so good--- about herself; and when such a good person sees good in you, well, it's hard to tell them No. Never one to make friends easily, Allison struggles to find her place in this new community. But Dom, Terry's partner, sees something familiar in Allison and decides, against her own better judgment, to take the newcomer under her wing. As Allison's fertility journey continues, more about this community comes to light, and Allison finds herself in a free fall toward a life she didn't anticipate. As Terry's plans begin to come together, Allison's less sure of what's really going on. But it's not like anything dangerous could possibly happen here - Terry's such a good person, and she only brings good people into the fold.

When Dom makes a shocking discovery, the situation begins to unravel and a sudden shift in weather threatens the community.

(moths emerging from cocoons) one night in tennessee

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

One Act (50 minutes): aggie and max argue about some things that don't matter, eventually getting around to a few things that do.

One Act (50 minutes): aggie and max argue about some things that don't matter, eventually getting around to a few things that do.

the interior lives of women: the life and art of anna catherine wiley (1880-1958)

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

In the early 1900s, Anna Catherine Wiley, an impressionist painter from Knoxville, Tennessee, rose rapidly to fame and descended just as quickly as a number of personal and professional losses culminated in a "mental breakdown" in 1929 that landed her in an institution where she would die 30 years later, having never painted again. ... Or at least that was the story as it was known to the few surviving family...

In the early 1900s, Anna Catherine Wiley, an impressionist painter from Knoxville, Tennessee, rose rapidly to fame and descended just as quickly as a number of personal and professional losses culminated in a "mental breakdown" in 1929 that landed her in an institution where she would die 30 years later, having never painted again. ... Or at least that was the story as it was known to the few surviving family members, artists, and historians who still know Wiley's name. But there's more to the story than the art community knows.

Jordan Elizabeth Henry was awarded the Ohio Arts Council's Artists with Disabilities Grant for FY 2022 to develop this piece.

down cellar

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

As a sudden and intense storm descends on a cabin in the woods in northern Maine, four people are unexpectedly brought together.

As a sudden and intense storm descends on a cabin in the woods in northern Maine, four people are unexpectedly brought together.

a witness

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

Tacoma, Washington, 2010, after the state passed Death With Dignity. Billie, a sober Autistic woman teetering on the edge of the wagon, is a hospice nurse with a new patient: Chuck, a woman in the final stages of ALS. As the anniversary of the death of Billie's brother, Kosmo, approaches, Nathan, Kosmo's partner, is cartwheeling through Autistic burnout, totally devoid of executive function and hope. Meanwhile...

Tacoma, Washington, 2010, after the state passed Death With Dignity. Billie, a sober Autistic woman teetering on the edge of the wagon, is a hospice nurse with a new patient: Chuck, a woman in the final stages of ALS. As the anniversary of the death of Billie's brother, Kosmo, approaches, Nathan, Kosmo's partner, is cartwheeling through Autistic burnout, totally devoid of executive function and hope. Meanwhile, their friend, Des, demands answers about her relationship with Nathan as Chloe just happens to wander into their lives and disrupt everything.

A play about connection, detachment, and the power of having a witness to your life.

transfiguration

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

In a secluded town in the far north, a mysterious Chamber beneath the sea ice is about to be permanently flooded. Once the main source of revenue for the small adjacent town, it has been abandoned for years after a half-forgotten tragedy. Julian, a woman riding the tides of her mania and depression, has returned home to write a book with her best friend, Hector, about the loss of her twin sister, Lucy, at a...

In a secluded town in the far north, a mysterious Chamber beneath the sea ice is about to be permanently flooded. Once the main source of revenue for the small adjacent town, it has been abandoned for years after a half-forgotten tragedy. Julian, a woman riding the tides of her mania and depression, has returned home to write a book with her best friend, Hector, about the loss of her twin sister, Lucy, at a young age. But Julian has ulterior motives that she's hiding from Hector and her older sister, Catherine - and it all hangs on the mysterious Chamber beneath the ice.

NOTE: can be produced in black box and/or with limited set pieces

to fall in love with anyone...

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

Roni and Zeke, both actors trying to find their "big breaks", have spent the last three months as bitter enemies after a night of passion turned sour. Now that they're forced to work together after landing roles in the same play, they agree to put their differences behind them and build their stage chemistry. But they both, of course, have their own plans to seek revenge, and only time will tell who will end up...

Roni and Zeke, both actors trying to find their "big breaks", have spent the last three months as bitter enemies after a night of passion turned sour. Now that they're forced to work together after landing roles in the same play, they agree to put their differences behind them and build their stage chemistry. But they both, of course, have their own plans to seek revenge, and only time will tell who will end up on top.

resurrection

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

NOW AVAILABLE FROM NEXT STAGE PRESS!
Riley has returned to the place she was raised to bury her grandfather, who did the raising. Her sister Shae's been cleaning house, making arrangements, silently spinning out. When their grandfather's will reveals that Riley and Shae could be millionaires if Riley agrees to live in the house for a year, things get... complicated. As the sisters hash out old wounds, a secret...

NOW AVAILABLE FROM NEXT STAGE PRESS!
Riley has returned to the place she was raised to bury her grandfather, who did the raising. Her sister Shae's been cleaning house, making arrangements, silently spinning out. When their grandfather's will reveals that Riley and Shae could be millionaires if Riley agrees to live in the house for a year, things get... complicated. As the sisters hash out old wounds, a secret begs to be unearthed -- a secret Shae wants buried, but Riley is ready to resurrect it.

heavy jar of white peonies.

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

adam & cara.
cara & adam.
who even remembers how long they've been friends? how many fights have they had? how many times have they woken up in bed next to each other with no memory of the night before?
it's nothing special, really --- just 2 people trying to talk to each other but failing again & again. it's a comedy!

adam & cara.
cara & adam.
who even remembers how long they've been friends? how many fights have they had? how many times have they woken up in bed next to each other with no memory of the night before?
it's nothing special, really --- just 2 people trying to talk to each other but failing again & again. it's a comedy!

elephants

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

TEN MINUTES: Sue has lived with her Aunt Jeanie since her mother disappeared when she was a little girl. With the aid of her vivid imagination, Sue holds a special communion with her absent mother. But where did her mother go? And when will she come back?

TEN MINUTES: Sue has lived with her Aunt Jeanie since her mother disappeared when she was a little girl. With the aid of her vivid imagination, Sue holds a special communion with her absent mother. But where did her mother go? And when will she come back?

Goat-Sucker: A One-Minute Play

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

A woman tells a spooooky story.

A woman tells a spooooky story.

Manticore!: A One-Minute Play

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

She's just trying to get ready for a meeting when she is rudely interrupted by a handsy male coworker.

She's just trying to get ready for a meeting when she is rudely interrupted by a handsy male coworker.

Shake It, Baby: A One-Minute Play

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

She's feeling confident today: she's got her Confidence Outfit, her Confidence Coffee, her Confidence Hair. She's ready to start her workday. That is, until she gets sidetracked by a male coworker.

She's feeling confident today: she's got her Confidence Outfit, her Confidence Coffee, her Confidence Hair. She's ready to start her workday. That is, until she gets sidetracked by a male coworker.

What the Mind Forgets

by Jordan Elizabeth Henry

Synopsis

Sylvia tries to reprocess a childhood trauma.

Sylvia tries to reprocess a childhood trauma.