Mrs. Harrison

by R. Eric Thomas

At their 10-year college reunion, Aisha and Holly meet by chance. Aisha is a Black, successful playwright; Holly is a white, struggling stand-up comedian. Aisha's most successful play bears a striking resemblance to a tragic event in Holly's life. Is it a coincidence or is it theft? They both have a story that they've been telling themselves about what happened years ago and they're both willing to fight for the truth in the present.

77 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

R. Eric Thomas (he/him) is a national bestselling author, playwright, and screenwriter. His books include, Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, which was featured as a Read with Jenna pick on NBC's Today, Reclaiming Her Time: The Power of Maxine Waters, co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer, the YA novel Kings of B’more, a 2023 American Library Association Stonewall Honor book, and the essay collection Congratulations, the Best Is Over!

For his playwriting, Eric has won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play, the Dramatist Guild Lanford Wilson Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and was a finalist for the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. On screen, he wrote for the Peabody Award-winning series Dickinson on AppleTV+ and Better Things on FX and is currently developing multiple film and television projects, including a half hour comedy based on his memoir. Off the page, Eric is also the long-running host of The Moth StorySlams in Philadelphia, and has been heard multiple times on The Moth Radio Hour.

Reviews

[Allison Heishman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was luckily enough to see a production of this play in Philadelphia. The tension created by the complicated relationship between these two flawed characters is electric! Thomas has crafted a world I wouldn’t want to escape from even if I could.

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. This talky play is not theatrical at all. It's two characters – both of whom are rather terrible people, although one of them is less terrible – talking to each other for about 80 minutes. It's like a long conversational version of "Who Is the Bad Art Friend?" except that who is right and who is wrong is much more on the nose in Thomas's version.

For some reason, this play was nominated for a LAMBDA Literary award for LGBTQ Drama, but this play is not remotely about sexuality or queerness. The characters each make a single reference to being gay. Calling Mrs. Harrison LGBTQ Drama is kind of nuts.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playing Holly in an upcoming production.