Jan Neuberger and Armando Acevedo in the Florida Rep PlayLab reading of “Why We Go to Florida.” (Photo by Joe Dafeldecker)
Why We Go to Florida, my three-character comedy-drama that reunites estranged chosen family members after the death of a patriarch, was presented in a staged reading May 1 in Florida Repertory Theatre’s 2025 PlayLab Festival of New Works. Like the four other dramatists in the annual festival, I was on Florida Rep’s campus in Ft. Myers, FL, for the process, which included rehearsals, the public reading, talkbacks and networking opportunities.
D.J. Salisbury directed actors Armando Acevedo, Jan Neuberger and Suzanne O’Donnell (with stage management and directions by Dianne Summers), telling the story of Wisconsin snowbirds — matriarch Constance and her grown daughter, Amy — who have gathered for a wake at Constance’s home in Southwest Florida. A surprise guest, Henry, the former partner of Constance’s late son, shows up all the way from New York City to express condolences. It’s an audacious act, considering the family shut him out years ago, when their golden child was dying of AIDS-related illness.
(The updated script of Why We Go to Florida is available to read at New Play Exchange, or you may request a free pdf perusal copy of the play from me.)
Armando Acevedo, Jan Neuberger and Suzanne O’Donnell in Florida Rep’s reading of “Why We Go to Florida.” (Photo by Joe Dafeldecker)
Catholic Midwesterner Constance, grieving the long-ago loss of her son and the fresh loss of her husband of 60 years, greets the stranger with an even more audacious response — she invites him to stay the night. This puts all three characters on edge as they try to navigate past and present, grief and guilt, perceptions and prejudice.
In some ways the play is about people who think they’re ready for communicating, but they aren’t — so there are interruptions, twists, delays and fumbles. As “serious” as the play seems, it’s a comedy about finding family, about our urge to gather family even when it’s complicated. There’s joy and humor in Why We Go to Florida. It begins with a funeral but ends with a wedding. It’s brimming with hope and healing.
Here’s how Florida Rep billed the play:
“In the dead of winter, Henry flies from New York City to Southwest Florida to offer condolences at the funeral of a man he never knew — his late partner’s father. But as the booze flows at the wake, will the widow, Constance, and her grown daughter, Amy, 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, Why We Go to Florida is a humor-laced drama exploring guilt and grief, perceptions and prejudices, show tunes, silence and survival.”
The play, a two-time semi-finalist in the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, went through multiple revisions leading up to the May 1, 2025 reading, and edits and clarifications happened in the brief 12-hour rehearsal process. The talented director and cast were so sensitive and kind and eager about listening, asking questions and tackling my rewrites on the spot. I left with a better script, and jumped into additional revisions in the days that followed.
L-R, Playwright Kenneth Jones, director D.J. Salisbury and actors Jan Neuberger, Suzanne O’Donnell and Armando Acevedo in a post-reading talkback at Florida Repertory Theatre. (Photo by Joe Dafeldecker)
Why We Go to Florida, a one-set play (which has a surprise location change in the final scene), is looking for development toward a world premiere. Under a different title, Two Henrys, the play had earlier readings by Actors Theatre of Indiana, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Pioneer Theatre Company and other companies.
One of the miracles of this season’s PlayLab was that it’s the second year in a row that I was invited into the festival, following the 2024 reading of my vignette comedy Ten Minutes On a Bench, which has since been licensed and produced by a handful of companies.
Read more about all the titles in the 2025 Florida Rep PlayLab, curated and produced by Florida Rep associate artistic director Jason Parrish.
