The Realistic Joneses

by Will Eno

"[A] tender, funny, terrific new play. . . . Mr. Eno's voice, which teases out the poetry in the pedestrian and finds glinting humor in the static that infuses our faltering efforts to communicate, is as distinctive as any American playwright's today."—The New York Times

"Weird and wonderful . . . Eno's familiar sudden-shifting between profound and playful verbiage is delightfully disarming and sometimes awfully funny."—Variety

A wonderfully moving new play by the Pulitzer Prize–finalist author of Thom Pain (based on nothing).

Meet Bob and Jennifer and their new neighbors John and Pony, two suburban couples who have more in common than their identical last names. Boasting the playwright's quintessential existential quirkiness, this new comedy finds poetry in the banal while humorously exploring our ever-floundering efforts at communication. Listed as one of New York Times's Best Plays of 2012, The Realistic Joneses will receive its Broadway premiere in spring 2014 starring Toni Collete, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts and Marisa Tomei.

Will Eno is the author of Thom Pain (based on nothing), which ran for a year Off-Broadway and was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Other works include Middletown, The Flu Season, Tragedy: a tragedy, Intermission, and Gnit, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt. His many awards include the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award, the Horton Foote Prize, and the first-ever Marian Seldes/Garson Kanin Fellowship by the Theater Hall of Fame.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Book Club, American

Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

نبود معنی، امید و هدف در زندگی دو زوج با فامیلی مشابه 'جونز' اولین حسی هست که مخاطب دست می‌دهد.
حسی که با تمام کردن کتاب به تنهایی آدم‌هایی تبدیل می‌شود که تو خصوصی ترین روابط‌ زندگی هم نمی‌توانند از لاک خودشان بیرون بی‌آیند.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this play on broadway with Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, Marisa Tomei and Tracy Letts. It was absolutely wonderful. The dialogue, the story, the acting--everything about it was excellent. I would highly recommend this play to anyone who enjoys good theatre and good writing.

[Hollowspine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absurd, yet realistic at the same time. I enjoyed the dialogue and found that I could almost hear how these characters voices would sound. I'd definitely go see this if it ever came to a theater near me. Despite being a short play to read I really got a sense of the characters and the setting, it was interesting to picture it all and sense what was going on in the pauses.

This would not appeal to people who want all the answers at the end, or who want clear intentions and an obvious plotline. But for those who like a little ambiguity and don't want everything spelled out or an ending tied up in a neat bow, the action and dialogue from beginning to end create an interesting world to ponder.

[Ross Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this after seeing Eno's "Tragedy: A Tragedy." I had high expectations and it didn't disappoint. Several laugh out loud moments. The characters are absurd, yet realistic. Except they're not. Well sometimes, but not in that way.

The laughs would come easily in performance, the truck would be to capture the empathy and emotion that's lurking -- well empathy doesn't really lurk, does it? It's hard to empathize with someone who lurks. Unless you lurk yourself. I mean, who doesn't?

[Brice Ezell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Will Eno's done here is write a gentle, absurdist-inflected satire of the family play that's like if Beckett wrote an Airplane!-esque parody of the stock-and-trade American family drama. Great fun, and so many performance possibilities. Reading the stacked Broadway cast (Tracy Letts, Toni Collette, Marisa Tomei, and Michael C. Hall), I'm furious I didn't get my act together to find this play back when I could have seen it done live.

[Luke Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

A painful, rambling, but intriguing dissection on suburbia from two married couples and neighbors that share the same last name. Parallel storylines from each couple and their interactions, sometimes with different spouses, reveal the similarities and opposites of their lives, with sharp clarity. It's definitely a thinker.

[francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"and I'd look out a window. And I'd be somebody else."

The rapid fire dialogue made it hard to keep the characters straight in my head, but this would obviously be remedied on stage. That said, I loved how much talking there was, and the excruciating awkwardness of most conversation. The vastness of the backyard sky is a fantastic backdrop.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much inside this script. I already want to go back and read it again to find even more nuances. I would love to have seen either of the early productions. Would love to see this show - or direct it - period.

[Mike Errico · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I found this company that’ll send you the transcript of any audiobook.”
“Wouldn’t that just be the book?”
“You know what, you’re right. That Would just be the book.”

Steven Wright for playwrights? So good.

[Joe Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never liked Will Eno. I find his work so unapproachable.
That being said, I loved this play. It has everything; humor, wit, melancholy, weirdness. I highly recommend this play- it will sit with you for a long time.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Would jump at the chance to see it staged. I'm sure it's the kind of thing that a lot of people would tear their hair out over, but I lapped it up. Sad people saying clever things can easily go off the rails, but this was pitch-perfect for me. My favorite character was Bob. Go figure.

[Mary Amato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the unexpected insights from these characters. Eno's dialogue is weirdly realistic and yet surreal at the same time. Can't wait to read more of his work.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny and sad and surprising with amazingly realistic dialogue. Kind of like a rollercoaster.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange play for sure. Eno has a very elliptical style that probably comes across more intriguingly on stage, but on the page it can feel a little inert.

[Allan Hayhurst · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not a drama. It's just a conversation.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild ride!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spare, moving play that I now very much want to act in.

[GG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tender, hysterical, quirky, intimate.

[Dani Pike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite genre of play - there is something obviously surreal about it, something absurd, and yet it is undeniably and intrinsically human. Naturalistic and realistic. A paradox.

[Ethan Li]

possibly the most hilariously off-kilter dialogue anyone has ever written.

nyt great plays 13/25

[?0?0?0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still don't have the words to describe how Will Eno's "The Realistic Joneses" hit me, and I think he'd be fine with that. After all, this is a play about language, communication, and what we choose to tell others and how what we want to remain hidden. It's a heartbreaking play that I read twice in one sitting and reminded me of some of Edward Albee's earlier work, which is not a complaint. This play is also dedicated to, and written for, and starred (twice) Tracy Letts, so try reading the character of Bob without imagining Letts killing it on stage. Like the best Eno plays, there's a lot of wordplay and lines so memorable and innumerable I couldn't even know where to begin with the quotes so just go read or see this remarkable, moving play.

[Susan Andrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird little play, but I think it has potential depending on the director and actors. It could be terrible and boring or it could be poignant and funny depending on how it's put on. I can't imagine how I'd do it, so it wasn't the most entertaining play for me to read. I was frustrated by the characters who never seemed to get anywhere. I guess that's pretty realistic though... but realistic isn't terribly entertaining.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading through back issues of "American Theatre" and this was published in one of them. I've heard Will Eno's name thrown about a fair amount but had not, to this point read or seen any of his work.

This play was fine. Some deft comi-tragic navigation of married couples facing the aging process but nothing that will stay with me over the long term - no real surprises.

[Pgregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two suburban couples talking, their language connects but the meanings collide. The result: not quite communication bordering on Alzheimer's. The way we live now. It's a comedy but it could be more funny strange than funny ha ha. Either way, Jacques Derrida is laughing in his grave.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite contemporary playwrights scores again with this, his Broadway debut. Although it is strangely reminiscent of early Albee (ca. The American Dream), Eno is definitely his own master. Would love to see this performed.

[Tom Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but not terribly memorable.

[Kendra Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super enjoyable. Laugh out loud bits. Heavy on the dialogue. Ending peters out.

[Alisea Thenea · Rating 4 out of 5]

~absurdná snaha o komunikáciu ~