Life, Death, and Language in The Realistic Joneses

-
An Interview with Playwright Will Eno

By Shannon Stockwell

Playwright Will Eno has always been writing, “at least in some shy way,” he says. But it wasn’t until he was in his late twenties that he sat down to write a play in earnest. His plays have since won several honors, and one—Thom Pain (based on nothing)—was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

As for why he writes? He has some theories. “In some plain way, in the early days, I was probably trying to get my dad’s attention,” he says. “Or, maybe I had already sublimated him into some general idea of a large, unlistening Universe, so I was just trying to get some attention, and I don’t mean in just a needy little-kid way, but just some feeling or response from the Universe to prove that I existed or could be seen or heard.”

Eno spoke with us about the world of The Realistic Joneses, now running at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater until April 3.

Playwright Will Eno. Photo by Gordon Lish.

What was the inspiration for The Realistic Joneses?

I can’t say there was one single point of inspiration. Certainly, the play concerns things that I have been thinking about—intimacy and fear of death. The fact that we all die and our fears or anxieties about it are potentially things that we could share and that could make us feel less alone, but I think sometimes we lug that anxiety around and keep it like a dirty secret, and that probably ends up making us feel a little estranged from other people. Almost like we’re ashamed of the fact that we’re going to die. People talk about the meaning of life; it seems like if you can get some kind of a handle on the meaning of death, then the life part might be a lot clearer. The point of all these considerations should be, in the end, to have the happiest, fullest life you can imagine.

Why “realistic,” above all other possible adjectives? What’s realistic about these characters? Is there anything that isn’t realistic?

My thought was that, in terms of trying to face death, which is an unreal or at the very least surreal proposition, any human response might be called realistic. Also, I like the idea of that word “jones,” as in craving or need. It’s usually used in relation to drug addiction, but I think of it here in a more innocent way: the real needs and cravings we all have. What we might be able to reasonably expect from life and the world. But it has to do more with these two couples, the Joneses. Though we all might live in the middle of some serious illusions and delusions, from the inside, it probably always feels like reality. I think all the Joneses are doing their best, are living with the maximum amount of reality that each can manage.

How does your relationship with language manifest itself in The Realistic Joneses?

I think people are generally sort of brilliant. I think language is an amazing human invention. And I think people in an audience can follow things and flesh things out with incredible speed. So with all that in mind, I just try not to make too many mistakes or use words lazily. I try to use language in a way that is specific enough to satisfy the logical part of the brain, but jagged enough or gentle enough that the heart and the stomach can also get involved.

To read more of Will Eno's interview, click here to purchase a printed or digital copy of Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth performance guide series. All proceeds go to our ACTsmart education programs, serving teachers and students throughout the Bay Area. 

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die, ...
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me...
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for ...
Read more