Review: Desert Theatreworks Starts its Season with a Top-Notch Production of the Enigmatic Play, THE REALISTIC JONESES

Desert Theatreworks (DTW), Palm Desert's 501(c)(3) community theatre, is presenting Will Eno's esoteric play, THE REALISTIC JONESES. This top-notch production is a must-see for theatergoers interested in well-acted, absorbing, unsettling plays.

Even after peeling back the layers of the onion-like script, two people may not agree on its meaning - is the dialogue hopelessly banal, or do the words contain hidden substance? At the matinee performance I attended, there were numerous laughs during the first scene, which reminded me of a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch, but the laughs shortly gave way to rapt silence, punctuated by occasional gasps. I assume that the audience members at that performance view THE REALISTIC JONESES as a drama. In contrast, according to DTW's artistic director, Lance Phillips-Martinez, the opening night performance generated hearty guffaws throughout. However, I suspect that even those who consider THE REALISTIC JONESES to be a comedy soon realize that what they are watching - the meltdown of two marriages in the face of life-threatening illness - is funny only on the surface.

The plot concerns the Joneses, who rent the house next door to the Joneses. The former, John and Pony (yes, really), played by Tanner Lieser and Brianna Eylicio, are a young couple with unusual personalities. Pony seems terrified of almost everything, and John cracks bad taste jokes about almost everything. They meet their older, more mundane neighbors, surly Bob and micromanaging Jennifer (Luke Rainey and Christine Tringali), when the young Joneses sneak into the older Joneses' yard and eavesdrop on their conversation. In addition to their last name, the male Joneses share something else - light-headedness, befuddlement, and temporary blindness. Bob suffers from a degenerative neurological disease, and soon suspects that John may be similarly afflicted. The two men spend much of the show at odds, as do the two women, but each woman has more patience and empathy for the man next door than for her own husband.

There is no denouement as such - I realized the play was over because the actors came out for a curtain call, rather than a new scene. The final scene is surprisingly upbeat - like the rest of the play, it is difficult to understand, but, contrary to what I expected, none of the four characters dies.

THE REALISTIC JONESES is an ambitious production for a community theatre. The director, Daniela Ryan, a DTW veteran, is up to the task. She has chosen a fast pace for the dialogue and action, and the play never drags. The four actors in the ensemble cast all give outstanding performances. DTW newcomer Christine Tringali, as competent, stoic, cold Jennifer, perfectly balances Brianna Eylicio's depressed and frightened Pony. Luke Rainey not only convincingly portrays Bob's mood swings and his damaged gait, but he uses his eyes and facial muscles to mimic the appearance of a man with a degenerative nerve disease - a similar achievement to the one for which Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar as Stephen Hawking. John is Tanner Lieser's breakout performance; after having specialized in cartoonish parts, among them Mr. Boddy in CLUE: THE MUSICAL and Star Cat in PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, Mr. Lieser turns in a superb performance in a challenging role.

Ron Phillips-Martinez has designed a clever set. The elder Joneses' haimish backyard, with a brick wall, plants, garden clippers, and a picnic table with a basket holding plastic condiment containers and corny implements, occupies much of the stage. The set hints that Bob was not always so cantankerous, and Jennifer was not always so businesslike - at one time, they obviously enjoyed their backyard. In contrast, the younger couple's rented home is sparsely furnished, and hints at financial problems that could either be causing or resulting from John's and Pony's other concerns.

Phil Murphy's design and Angus Feath's board operation make the most of the facility's lighting, including convincingly portraying fireworks. The other technical aspects of the show are equally impressive: stage management (Jenny Ferguson, assisted by Violet Feath), sound (designed by Lance Phillips-Martinez, board operated by Claudia Gomez), props (Priscilla Lawson), costumes (Mark Demry), and hair and makeup (Emily Ramirez).

I highly recommend THE REALISTIC JONESES, for teenagers on up. It will run through September 24, 2016. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.

All of DTW's performances take place at the Arthur Newman Theatre, in the Joslyn Senior Center, 73-750 Catalina Way, Palm Desert CA, 92260. Tickets can be purchased online at www.dtworks.org, in person at the Joslyn Center, and by phone at 760-980-1455. General admission is $28, senior admission (ages 55+) is $26, and student admission (with i.d.) is $15. Season tickets for three shows are $72, and for five shows are $120. A package of six flex tickets, which can be used for any show during the season, up to a total of six tickets per package, are $144. Tickets for groups of 8-19 attendees are $22 each. Tickets for groups of twenty or more are $19 each. For further information, call the box office at 760-980-1455.

The rest of DTW's 2016-17 season consists of:

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED (November 4-13, 2016)
A classic Agatha Christie puzzle with mixed motives, concealed identities, and Miss Marple as sleuth.

CHRISTMAS MY WAY: A SINATRA HOLIDAY BASH (December 9-18, 2016)
40 swingin' hits for the holidays.

45 SECONDS FROM BROADWAY, by Neil Simon (January 27 to February 5, 2017)
The coffee shop at the Edison Hotel is literally about 45 seconds from Broadway, but it seems likes miles for the employees looking for their big break.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (March 9-19, 2017)
A theatre fan listening to the cast album of a 1920's Broadway musical finds himself in the middle of the story and becomes involved in the show's shenanigans.

NEXT TO NORMAL (April 21-30, 2017)
The musical about the perfect family - or not - that won the Pulitzer Prize and three Tony awards.

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