At a glance
Two suburban couples share more than a name in “The Realistic Joneses.”
In Will Eno’s play, the Jones families live in identical neighboring homes and struggle with similar problems. CATCO will present the central Ohio premiere, which will open on Friday in the Riffe Center.
“The play focuses on the fact that we’re all the same: Everyone is dealing with some demon or other issues in their lives,” director Joe Bishara said.
“But the two couples don’t at first realize their commonality. ... These people are struggling or questioning their lives and the direction of their lives. And in talking ... Eno’s characters reveal their souls.”
Set in a small U.S. town surrounded by mountains, the play explores the couples’ isolation, mortality, marital frustrations and communication difficulties.
“Can our inability or reluctance to talk plainly and openly about mortality lead to a general inability to share “The Realistic Joneses” CATCO Riffe Center’s Studio One Theatre, 77 S. High St. 614-469-0939, www.catcoistheatre.org 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, March 15-17 and March 22-24; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 18 and March 25; and 11 a.m. Wednesday and March 21 $40 Fridays and Saturdays, or $35 Sundays, $30 Thursdays and $20 Wednesdays
with other people, to share both hardships and joy?” Eno said in an email interview.
“One other thing that was very much on my mind was ... how we sometimes might need a certain type of partner to cover for a particular weakness, and, at the same time, we might bristle and chafe against the life and protection that that partner provides.”
After receiving acclaim for his off-Broadway play “Thom Pain (based on nothing),” a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama, Eno made his Broadway debut in 2014 with “The Realistic Joneses.” The darkly comic drama costarred Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, Marisa Tomei and Tracy Letts.
"Don’t come to the play expecting tidy resolutions, clearly drawn narrative arcs or familiarly typed characters,” critic Charles Isherwood wrote in The New York Times.
“(The Joneses) also possess an uncanny otherness expressed through their stylized, disordered way of communicating. ... But for all Mr. Eno’s quirks, his words cut to the heart of how we muddle through the worst life can bring,” Isherwood wrote.
Director Bishara compared Eno to playwright Samuel Beckett, best known for his existential drama “Waiting for Godot.”
“I’m a big fan of Beckett, and I feel like Eno is Beckett reincarnated,” Bishara said.
“The play feels like a tragicomedy similar to ‘Godot.’ People are constantly expecting things to be different when no one is doing anything to make any changes. It’s absolutely like life.”
Ralph Scott plays Bob Jones, husband to Jennifer (Ella Palardi).
“He’s a man who hides from his feelings and from a (fictionalized degenerative) disease he has. He thinks if he ignores it, it won’t be real,” Scott said.
“He’s like an ostrich sticking his head in the sand, but it adversely affects his relationship with his wife. Jennifer is trying to be as supportive as she can, but Bob doesn’t want to talk about it. ... The comedy comes out of the pain.”
Shenise Brown plays Pony Jones, wife of John Jones (Bobby Loyd).
“She’s free-spirited. Pony loves to be open and loves attention, but she’s also very complicated,” Brown said.
Pony increasingly turns to Bob because of frustrations with her secretive husband.
“Pony loves her husband ... but she only knows half of him,” Brown said.
“She’s extroverted, but she becomes introverted. ... Even in the most awkward situation or heartfelt moment, Eno’s play is funny. It’s a great play that says life doesn’t always go as planned.”