The Realistic Joneses Kindle Edition

Two couples occupy adjacent homes. Both men suffer from an obscure degenerative disease. The women try to cope with the effects of it on their marriages and aren’t finding it easy. Nor do the men help. The one man seems to have lost affect: he either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care what his wife is going through as life closes in on them. She remembers a better past between them but it isn’t there any more. What should she do? For the duration of this play, which presents a slice of their life, not their whole life, she drifts between temptation and duty. At the end of the play, it’s not all that clear which side she’s come down on, but probably duty. The other couple is more bohemian but not all that much: social conventions weigh in on all these people. So there’s a little almost-flirting, nothing much happens, and at the end of the play, things are pretty much like they are at the beginning. But isn’t that the way most of life is? Along the way, using ordinary, not poeticized, language, playwright Eno produces affecting images of loss.

A good play to have within your reach if you’re an actor, educator, or just lover of theatre.Not only are there great 2-4 person scenes to play but also lovely, short monologue options throughout. An enjoyable read, fun to workshop, difficult (in a fun way) and lovely to stage.

A really good play by a really good playwright and performer. How long has it been when you've gone to see a play and never felt you knew what it was "about" and enjoyed it so much, you were glad its "aboutness" was so illusory or like, hey, real life. Or Chekhov?

Seems zany, but is realistic!

Some witty dialogue, but the point of the play is not clear

A profoundly interesting play. Performance brings it to life and the lessons about human connection burn as a beacon of truth.

It is a great play!

This is a great play by an inventive playwright.