On B'wy-THE REALISTIC JONESES - Don't Bother Keeping Up

THE REALISTIC JONESES by Will Eno, Horton Foote winning playwright (MIDDLETOWN '13.)  JONESES is a 4 character, 1 act play featuring an all star cast.  Oscar winners, Toni Collette (Jennifer) & Marisa Tomei (Pony,) Golden Globe winner, Michael C. Hall (John) and Tracy Letts, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (Osage County) & Tony winning actor (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)  A perfect assemblage of talent is imperfectly balanced.  John & Pony Jones are new neighbors in a small town to Bob & Jennifer Jones.  Besides the same family name, it is ironic how very much they all have in common.  The Joneses share the fears, failures and loneliness that everyone feels.  Everybody's conversations are exactly like those of the Joneses, well almost everyones, or maybe no one's.  People don't speak to each other as the Joneses do, with their "awful vocabuary, awkward punch-lines, & gobble-y-gook nonsense." But again, "people just throw words at each other and never know what the other is talking about."  Eno is a clever writer who is way too smart for his own good.  I found the play so funny I forgot to laugh.  Although, the audience found it hilarious; there are "different levels of not knowing."  This play is a play on words filled with oxymorons.  Eno tackles theology, sociology & linguistics without scoring a run.  I found the play vast yet lacking in depth.  However,  I do agree "the way to listen is by not talking." And, I do love it when it's "so quiet you can hear the clouds passing."