john & jen

A two-hander musical by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald, john & jen weaves through the intertwined lives of siblings John and Jen Tracy, as they navigate through tumultuous history and a fraying family. Beginning in 1952, the young pair are bonded by elder Jen’s protectiveness against their abusive father. Despite their differences, John and Jen grow throughout the decades to bridge the distance between, especially when Jen heads to New York City, for college at the turn of the 1960’s. However, when John, influenced by their father, enlists in the military to fight in the Vietnam War, Jen is left grappling with feelings of abandonment and fear. 

 

Nearly three decades later, Jen, now an adult, struggles to raise her son, John, whose life echoes the lost innocence of her youth. Through her son’s struggles, Jen confronts the unresolved trauma of her past. As they wrestle between love and memory, mother and son wrestle with the question of how to honor those we love, while navigating the scars they leave behind. 

 

This rendition of john & jen by the Asian American Collective of Theatermakers features Sally Zheng as Jen and Sam Ahn as John.