Ron Jones is a friendly man with a passion for theatre, which he has been pursuing for over 40 years, mostly directing and teaching in the Houston area. My perception was that he directed lots of new work. When I called to speak with him for an article on “what bugs him about working with playwrights on their brand new plays,” he hesitated. “I haven’t actually worked with that many playwrights on premieres.”
As he recounted, Ron had worked with Mark Medoff at Kingwood College when Ron was teaching there, but that was revisiting one of Mark’s plays. Ron also tried to find a venue in Houston where he could work with Tennessee Williams (who had seen Ron’s direction of A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur at Theatre Suburbia, and wanted to revisit Vieux Carré with Ron directing), but Williams died before the production could go forward. In fact, the only playwright Ron could remember working with on a brand new piece (other than very short ones) was Jack Heifner, on his autobiographical play Casserole at Stages Repertory Theatre many years back.
Why did I have this perception that Ron directed lots of new work? Surprisingly, he thought the same, but our definition of “new work” was the difference. As he told me, “I am an advocate of Houston premieres. I’ve probably only directed one show that has been seen here before, and that was Boys in the Band in its 25th anniversary year. I beg and plead for new plays that I have a passion for, trying to place them at the right theatre. I will take a play to an artistic director and tell them ‘This is a wonderful play – it would be a good show for you – and I would love to direct it.’ The last three plays I directed – all Houston premieres – I took to the theatre that did it.” (Three different theatres.) “Most plays I recommend I haven’t seen; I am on the Internet constantly, looking for new work, reading reviews. It is the story that usually interests me – that was the thing about Complete Stage Beauty which I just finished – it was a fabulous story.”
As to brand new work, though, Ron said,“When people ask if they can send me a new script, I tell them ‘Please, yes, send it to me, but I have no idea when I will get back to you.’ My problem is I have so little time to do that. I teach full-time, and I direct almost everything here at Lone Star College, as well as my free-lance work. But I also say, ‘Don’t send the play if you don’t want my honest opinion about it.’ Several people have sent me their plays, and they have gotten their feelings hurt. I don’t like for that to happen. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but by the same token, I feel the writer wants honest feedback – my honest reaction to it.”
Surprisingly, an old truth about Houston instantly became clear to me in a different way: We may live in a big city, but the Houston theatre world is a small community where everyone knows everyone else. We work together; we see each other at the theatres, the schools, the memorial services, the art gatherings. We are physically close to one another, and being (for the most part) sensitive folks like Ron Jones, we don’t want to hurt one another. In fact, most of us try to be as supportive as possible about each other’s work, and being honest about a new script can be akin to saying to a parent “You’ve certainly got one ugly baby there.” Closeness has its advantages, but as Ron revealed to me, closeness can also cause problems for brand new plays.
Houston
By Diana Howie
Ron Jones is a friendly man with a passion for theatre, which he has been pursuing for over 40 years, mostly directing and teaching in the Houston area. My perception was that he directed lots of new work. When I called to speak with him for an article on “what bugs him about working with playwrights on their brand new plays,” he hesitated. “I haven’t actually worked with that many playwrights on premieres.”
As he recounted, Ron had worked with Mark Medoff at Kingwood College when Ron was teaching there, but that was revisiting one of Mark’s plays. Ron also tried to find a venue in Houston where he could work with Tennessee Williams (who had seen Ron’s direction of A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur at Theatre Suburbia, and wanted to revisit Vieux Carré with Ron directing), but Williams died before the production could go forward. In fact, the only playwright Ron could remember working with on a brand new piece (other than very short ones) was Jack Heifner, on his autobiographical play Casserole at Stages Repertory Theatre many years back.
Why did I have this perception that Ron directed lots of new work? Surprisingly, he thought the same, but our definition of “new work” was the difference. As he told me, “I am an advocate of Houston premieres. I’ve probably only directed one show that has been seen here before, and that was Boys in the Band in its 25th anniversary year. I beg and plead for new plays that I have a passion for, trying to place them at the right theatre. I will take a play to an artistic director and tell them ‘This is a wonderful play – it would be a good show for you – and I would love to direct it.’ The last three plays I directed – all Houston premieres – I took to the theatre that did it.” (Three different theatres.) “Most plays I recommend I haven’t seen; I am on the Internet constantly, looking for new work, reading reviews. It is the story that usually interests me – that was the thing about Complete Stage Beauty which I just finished – it was a fabulous story.”
As to brand new work, though, Ron said,“When people ask if they can send me a new script, I tell them ‘Please, yes, send it to me, but I have no idea when I will get back to you.’ My problem is I have so little time to do that. I teach full-time, and I direct almost everything here at Lone Star College, as well as my free-lance work. But I also say, ‘Don’t send the play if you don’t want my honest opinion about it.’ Several people have sent me their plays, and they have gotten their feelings hurt. I don’t like for that to happen. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but by the same token, I feel the writer wants honest feedback – my honest reaction to it.”
Surprisingly, an old truth about Houston instantly became clear to me in a different way: We may live in a big city, but the Houston theatre world is a small community where everyone knows everyone else. We work together; we see each other at the theatres, the schools, the memorial services, the art gatherings. We are physically close to one another, and being (for the most part) sensitive folks like Ron Jones, we don’t want to hurt one another. In fact, most of us try to be as supportive as possible about each other’s work, and being honest about a new script can be akin to saying to a parent “You’ve certainly got one ugly baby there.” Closeness has its advantages, but as Ron revealed to me, closeness can also cause problems for brand new plays.
dhowie@dramatistsguild.com