PTC to Continue Play-By-Play Series with TWO HENRYS

Pioneer Theatre Company presents Two Henrys, the second installment of PTC's play reading series called Play-By-Play. Two Henrys by Kenneth Jones runs February 5 and 6, 2016. PTC Artistic Director Karen Azenberg directs the production.

In the dead of winter, Henry flies to Florida to offer condolences at the funeral of his late partner's father. But in a house that he was never welcomed to visit before, is the divide between him and the surviving widow and grown daughter too wide? Set in 2012, somewhere between the dusk of the AIDS crisis and the dawn of marriage equality, Two Henrys - from the playwright who wrote PTC favorite Alabama Story - is a funny, warm, hope-filled look at three indelible characters struggling valiantly to come to terms with their perceptions and prejudices.

KENNETH JONES is a playwright, librettist and lyricist. His play Alabama Story, a 2014 Finalist in the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, had its world premiere by Pioneer Theatre Company in January 2015 following development in Pioneer's 2014 Play-By-Play Series and at Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Southern Writers' Project) and Off-Broadway's TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (NewTACTics). In 2016, Alabama Story will be seen in three new productions by Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, Peninsula Players Theatre in Wisconsin and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater on Cape Cod. An earlier draft of his play Two Henrys wasa Semi-Finalist in the O'Neill NPC in 2015 and, in its current PTC Play-By-Play version, was just named a 2016 O'Neill NPC Semi-Finalist. With Karen Azenberg, he co-conceived Pioneer's 2015 holiday musical It Happened One Christmas. His darkly comic Christmas revue Naughty/Nice (with composer Gerald Stockstill) is published by stagerights.com. His musical Voice of the City (with composer Elaine Chelton) enjoyed readings by York Theatre Company in NYC and Human Race Theatre Company in Ohio. He writes about his own work and advocates for other playwrights, new plays and theatre makers at his website ByKennethJones.com.

PTC Artistic Director KAREN AZENBERG, who created the Play-By-Play series, directs the reading. Originally from New York, her work there includes Lyrics and Lyricists (92nd St. Y), Blocks (a collaboration with Jonathan Larson), Prom Queens Unchained, and choreography for Richard Greenberg's The Dazzle (Roundabout). Other credits include national tours of Carousel andBrigadoon, Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Regional Theatre Premiere at Geva), West Side Story (over 15 productions; Drama-Logue Award for Outstanding Choreography), A Christmas Memory (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), and Same Time Next Year (Indiana Repertory Theatre). This is her fourth season as Artistic Director at Pioneer Theatre.

The all equity cast includes ROBERT SCOTT SMITH, LESLEY FERA and SUSAN PELLEGRINO.

ROBERT SCOTT SMITH plays unexpected guest Henry, whose longtime partner, also named Henry, died more than a decade ago. Scott Smith's New York credits include Keeping Ishmael (Workshop); Pericles (SLANT); and the co-development of Roger Benington's new work, Mormon Bird Play. Salt Lake acting credits include Shhh! Burlesque, Pains of Youth, and Santaland Diaries with Tooth and Nail Theatre; Rapture Blister Burn, Good People, CHARM (World Premiere), Swimming in the Shallows, Six Years, Big Love, BATBOY: The Musical, and Gross Indecency with Salt Lake Acting Company; Our Town with The Grand Theatre; and BASH with Plan-B. Scott Smith's is Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory. He was last seen at PTC in The Crucible.

LESLEY FERA plays mourner Amy, the late Henry's sister. Fera was most recently seen here at PTC in Two Dollar Bill. Fera's Los Angeles theater credits include Ruth in The Homecoming, Sister Margaret in The Hasty Heart, Lillian in Happy End, Olympia in Big Love, Anna in Anna Christie and Lady Chatterley in Lady Chatterley's Lover. Other theatre credits include: Noises Off (Asolo Rep); Misalliance (PA Centre Stage); The Children's Hour (Provincetown Rep); Communicating Doors (San Jose Rep), and Baby Taj (TheatreWorks). On television, Fera currently plays Veronica Hastings on ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars.

SUSAN PELLEGRINO plays grieving septuagenerian widow Constance, Amy's mother, who is struggling with dual losses. Pellegrino's Broadway credits include Shows for Days, Equus (with Daniel Radcliffe), Prelude to a Kiss, Imaginary Friends, Present Laughter, The Kentucky Cycleand Two Shakespearean Actors. Off Broadway credits include The Hummingbird's Tour at Roundabout Theatre, Distracted, The Paris Letter at the The Keen Co., Outward Bound, Pullman Car Hiawatha at Ensemble Studio Theatre. TV credits include Law and Order: SVU, Law and Order, Law and Order: Trial By Jury, Unforgettable, Pan Am, The Good Wife, Hack and Soul Man. Film credits include Michael Clayton, The Wendigo, Notes For My Daughter, The Becky Bell Story and Mac.

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