Speakeasy with playwrights Thomas and Sherry Jo Ward

Playwrights Thomas and Sherry Jo Ward talk about their he said/she said play ‘Going With Jenny,’ soon to make its world premiere at Theatrical Outfit.

In 2006, Theatrical Outfit staged one of Atlanta’s most impressive world premiere Southern plays of the decade, Keeping Watch by Thomas Ward. For Going with Jenny, opening Wed., Jan. 28 at Theatrical Outfit, the playwright shares writing duties with his wife, Sherry Jo. The play’s a semi-autobiographical, he said/she said account of dating and marriage starring Mandy Schmeider and Travis Smith. Married for 11 years, the Wards currently teach at Baylor University in Texas and discuss the perils of writing about their relationship while still being in their relationship.

How did you meet?

Thomas: We met in college doing theater together. It’s almost so romantic it makes me puke, but we played Tevye and Golda opposite each other in Fiddler on the Roof and started dating.

Sherry Jo: We had to fight not to have “Sunrise, Sunset” at our wedding.

__Thomas, you were more experienced as a playwright before Going with Jenny. How did you decide to collaborate with Sherry Jo?
Thomas: Right when Keeping Watch opened, I guess I wanted to strike when the iron was hot. I told Tom Key (Theatrical Outfit’s artistic director) I had a one-man play in my drawer, and I wanted his feedback on it, for his expertise in the one-man show form. He came back and said he wanted to produce it. After Sherry and I left Atlanta and went to Baylor, I talked to Tom who said he was still interested but that it was too short for his 2008-2009 season. During that conversation, I said “What if Sherry wrote Act Two?” Tom jumped at that, and I told Sherry. She was familiar with what I’d written, and I said “Write a response to it.”

Sherry Jo: It’s been an interesting process because it felt like a commission for me. I felt close to the play because Thomas had always shown me his writing. Plus, it was about marriage and ex-girlfriends, so I was happy to get my two cents in and make him the punch line of some of the jokes.__