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Chapters (19)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Production History
  6. Characters
  7. Scene 1
  8. Scene 2
  9. Scene 3
  10. Scene 4
  11. Scene 5
  12. Scene 6
  13. Scene 7
  14. Scene 8
  15. Scene 9
  16. Scene 10
  17. Scene 11
  18. Scene 12
  19. About the Author

With thanks to: Mark Barton, William Berlind, Amy Boratko, Maggie Brohn, James Bundy, Ty Burrell, Toni Collette, Michael Crea, Johanna Day, Glenn Fitzgerald, Susan Gallin, Sam Gold, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Kiger, Tracy Letts, Stacey Mindich, Victoria Nolan, Christopher Pineda, Parker Posey, Jeffrey Richards, Mary Lu Roffe, Andy Sandberg, Anne Seiwerath, Catherine Sheehy, Mark Subias, Daniel Swee, Marisa Tomei, Steve Traxler, Will Trice, Rachel Viola and David Zinn.

Production History

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The Realistic Joneses received its world premiere on April 20, 2012 at Yale Repertory Theatre (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) in New Haven, Connecticut. It was directed by Sam Gold; the set design and costume design were by David Zinn, the lighting design was by Mark Barton, the sound design was by Ken Goodwin; the production stage manager was Jenna Woods. The cast was:

BOB JONES Tracy Letts
JENNIFER JONES Johanna Day
JOHN JONES Glenn Fitzgerald
PONY JONES Parker Posey

The Realistic Joneses opened on Broadway on April 6, 2014 at the Lyceum Theatre. It was directed by Sam Gold; the set design was by David Zinn, the costume design was by Kaye Voyce, the lighting design was by Mark Barton, the sound design was by Leon Rothenberg; the production stage manager was Jill Cordle. The cast was:

BOB JONES Tracy Letts
JENNIFER JONES Toni Collette
JOHN JONES Michael C. Hall
PONY JONES Marisa Tomei

Characters

CHARACTERS

BOB JONES, male, 40s

JENNIFER JONES, female, 40s

JOHN JONES, male, late 30s–40s

PONY JONES, female, late 30s–40s

SETTING

The play takes place in the present, in a regular and semi-rural town, not far from some mountains. The particular settings are:

The porch and backyard of Jennifer and Bob’s house.

A grocery store.

The kitchen of Pony and John’s house.

The backyard of Pony and John’s house.

NOTE ON THE TEXT

Run-on sentences punctuated with commas are meant to represent speech as it’s generally spoken. These may look ungrammatical but are entirely consistent with the way contemporary speech is generally spoken. There shouldn’t be too many pauses or too much effort shown in changing the direction of the line, within the line, unless indicated.

Scene 1

Scene 1

Porch and backyard of Jennifer and Bob’s modest house, late spring, late night. Silhouette of mountains in the background. Jennifer and Bob are seated at a picnic table, drinking water and tea. Bob looks as if he’s trying to remember something. All is calm. An owl hoots, in the distance.

JENNIFER: I love that sound. (Brief pause) When was the last time we painted the house?

BOB: I don’t know. It’s probably years.

JENNIFER: Maybe we should do it over the summer.

BOB: Then wouldn’t we just have to do it again?

JENNIFER: Isn’t that what people do?

BOB: I guess.

JENNIFER: It’s not some crazy theory. People paint their houses.

BOB: So then we’ll paint the house.