Five Questions for Tracy Jones Playwright Stephen Kaplan

We posed five burning questions to Stephen Kaplan, writer of the new play Tracy Jones. The production will be Art House’s inaugural effort in its new black box theater Dowtown and was developed in Art House’s INKubator program.

As described by Art House, Tracy Jones is “a touching comedy of individual connection in an increasingly busy world. The main character, Tracy Jones, rents out the back ‘party room’ of Jones Street Bar and Grill: The Place for Wings and Things to throw a party to which she’s invited every woman in the area who is also named Tracy Jones. Tracy sits for over an hour alone, nursing her Diet Coke, waiting for any other Tracy Joneses to show up, and help alleviate her epic loneliness. Through her encounters with the limited guests that attend, this hilarious play challenges the audience to question loneliness, connection, and why we do the things we do.”

JCT: The synopsis of TJ describes a woman inviting every woman with her name to “Jones Street Bar and Grill: The Place for Wings and Things.” What interested you about that scenario?

SK: I’ve always been fascinated by the ways we try to find connection with others. We often assume that because someone shares the same interests as us, or the same background, or comes from the same town or went to the same school that that is what is going to automatically connect us to another person. And sometimes it does connect us, but oftentimes it’s just an arbitrary thing that we can put too much reliance on.

Click Here for the full Jersey City Times interview by Aaron Morrill