A Posey for Spring, in The Realistic Joneses at Yale Rep

If you thought the Yale Rep had no thrilling announcements left after the one-two-three-four-five-six punch of its 2012-13 season announcement last Friday… well, ust remember that the 2011-12 season ain’t over yet.

With Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale now in previews and opening to critics this Thursday, the Rep’s announced who’s in its next show, the world premiere of The Realistic Joneses by hotshot contemporary playwright Will Eno—another hotshot contemporary playwright!: Tracy Letts, of August: Osage County Pulitzer-winning fame. Letts acts as well as writes, and does both as an ensemble member of Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

(Other notable sighting of Steppenwolfers at the Rep in recent years include Bruce Norris’ The Unmentionables in 2007 and this year’s production of Christina Anderson’s Good Goods, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Tina Landau.)

Also in the four-person Realistic Joneses cast:

Johanna Day, who was in David Adjmi’s The Evildoers at the Rep in 2008; did an earlier Will Eno work, Middletown, at the Vineyard Theatre; and was in the original Vineyard Theatre cast of Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive.

Glenn Fitzgerald, who played Hoffman in Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone at Long Wharf Theatre in 1999, and appeared in such heralded Off Broadway productions as Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange and Melissa James Gibson’s This.

Oh, and Parker Posey! Parker Posey! Parker Posey! Parker Posey! Parker Posey! Parker Posey! A movie and TV star, yes, but also a consummate ensemble member, as validated by everything from the stage revivals of Hurlyburly and Fifth of July Off Broadway to her film work with Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) and Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration). I am particular partial to Posey’s turns as a fun-loving librarian in Party Girl and a conniving music-biz magnate in Josie & The Pussycats.

The Realistic Joneses is directed by the busy Sam Gold, whose production of Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar (starring Alan Rickman) is now running on Broadway while his production of John Osborne’s classic Look Back in Anger is at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company. Gold’s earlier Roundabout success was Tigers Be Still. He’s married to playwright Amy Herzog, the Yale School of Drama grad whose Belleville world-premiered at the Rep this season.

Now, you might be wondering, what’s The Realistic Joneses about? I’m loathe to regurgitate press releases, but with new plays that nobody else has yet described publically, paraphrasing is a fraught exercise. The Rep press release describes the show thus: “Meet Bob and Jennifer (Tracy Letts and Johanna Day), and their new neighbors John and Pony (Glenn Fitzgerald and Parker Posey), two suburban couples who have more in common than their identical homes and the same last name on their mailboxes.”

The Realistic Joneses plays at Yale Rep April 20 through May 12. Opening night in April 26, there are talkbacks on May 3 and at the April 28 and May 5 matinees (the open captioning performance is also May 5 at 2 p.m.), and the “audio description” happens at the May 12 matinee. Tickets range from $20 for April 23-25 previews up to $88 for the best seats on Saturday nights. (203) 432-1234. www.yalerep.org