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2 Male, 1 Female • Two-Act/Full Length • ~100 Mins

Next Stage Press

Synopsis

Oscar-winner Jack Dunn returns from self-imposed exile to face his oldest friend — and rival — Wade Henry. What begins as a nostalgic poker night spirals into an intense, booze-fueled showdown where grudges are laid bare and legacies are up for grabs. Cooler is a darkly funny and gripping discourse on aging, ambition, and the roles we play when no one is watching.​

Playwright Note

I frequently explore toxic masculinity in many of my works, usually assigning those traits to characters who, on rare occasions, evolve into slightly better men but who generally meet their downfall because of it, resulting in either hilarity or devastation, sometimes both.  With Cooler, I bring all of it front and center: toxicity on full display as two men with outrageously inflated egos come together under intense circumstances. Our dueling protagonists, Jack and Wade, are actors from a different era; they’ve been professional artists nearly their entire lives. And, as with many if not all actors, they’re always performing. Is there a greater or deeper message in this play? If you find one, let me know. In the meantime, buckle up and prepare yourselves for a dark and twisted journey. ​

Production History

COOLER will receive its world premiere production with Lab Theater Project (Tampa, FL) opening on Thursday, May 15th, 2025 and closing on Sunday, June 1st, 2025. The cast will feature Jason Hoolihan as Jack Dunn, Kyle Stone as Wade Henry and Denise Mestanza-Taylor as Delia Sabatini/Judith Williams. The piece will be directed by Katie Calahan. 

Development History

COOLER received a private virtual development reading on Wed, Sep 6th 2023. The cast featured Frank Nall as Jack Dunn, Dana Scott Galloway as Wade Henry, and Lisa M. Hodsoll as Delia Sabatini/Judith Williams.

COOLER received a public development reading in Chautauqua, New York on Tue, Jul 25th, 2023. The reading was hosted/produced by Mike Thornton and Stephen Stout and the cast featured Mike Thornton as Jack Dunn and Stephen Stout as Wade Henry.

Awards/Recognition

None to date.

Reviews/Recommendations

"Houk tackles toxic masculinity here with his accustomed caustic wit and singularly off-kilter view of the world, and proves once again he can write straight male characters with strength, heft, and grit while being unforgiving of their sometimes idiotic foibles."

"With a setting and characters that seem to have stepped out of the glorious golden age of stage and screen, we're thrust into a "Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf" type atmosphere riding along on one whiskey after another as the characters open a new pack of playing cards in an attempt to start afresh. But can they? Houk offers up some great comic lines which buffer the tension that builds and the pathetic fallacy throughout will leave an audience on the edge of their seats."

LAB Theater Project (Tampa, FL/Ybor City - 2025)