Jones
started
her
work
in
theatre as an actor in college
under the mentorship of an extraordinary 88
year old, 4-feet 11-inch nun,
Sister Mary Donatus IHM. With
Donatus at her back, she took every
opportunity on campus and off to put up a
show. Jones put herself
through graduate school working political
sketch comedy in the back room of Mr.
Henry's in Georgetown with Roberta
Flack on
the piano in the front room. In 1968,
she joined the
Midsummer/Orestia
tour of the National Players
out of Washing D.C. As Titania and/or
Clytemnestra, Jones
performed 1 night stands six nights a week for
10 months. In the process she became an
excellent
driver of the tour's station wagons and
eventually performed in 37 states. Then
she went to New York.
The New York underground theater scene was
electricity for
her work. The
shift in emphasis from
actor to writer/director was like coming
home.
Jones is an intense
collaborator. She has
directed original works (her own and other
playwrights) at innovative off-off
houses including HERE Arts Center, The Mint, New
Voice and on Theatre Row. Her
collaboration with the brilliant
solo performer, Samantha Jones, resulted in Butterfly
Suicide
which was one of 12
shows selected
for the prestigious Sola Nova
Arts Festival at P.S. 122.
Jones'
love for playwriting evolved in the pre-dawn hours
of
Manhattan where she first wrote on an old Royal
typewriter then on a succession
of computers.(The typewriter
still works.)Her craft grew
through rehearsals and her considered experience
as a teacher of writing.Jones served as
playwright-in-residence
at four established off-Broadway houses including
Manhattan Class Company and
Circle Rep.Her play, Jeremy Rudge,
was produced in New York
at The Mint Theatre with Austin Pendleton and
Becky Ann Baker.Her play, The Breezeway, was produced in New
York at The American Theatre for
Actors. In
2007
she
co-wrote
and
directed
the independent feature film, The
Last Christmas Party, for Dora Mae
Productions.
Throughout
her years in theatre, the beginnings of her short
stories collected in the back of an old file
cabinet.Writing these short stories
gave Jones a freedom to explore
place she hadn't found in the dialogue of her
plays.And it was a real pleasure
to write about the place where
she grew up putting on shows in Susan Peters'
garage so she pulled together a
short story collection for publication.Tales of
Wonder from the Garden
State is an award-winning finalist in
The USA Best Books 2011 Awards. Her short story, Lou the Mule, is a finalist for The Eric Hoffer Award and as such is included in Hopewell Publications' BEST NEW WRITING 2016.
In
2007,
Jones
was
selected
by The Dramatists'
Guild as one
of the "Top 50 to watch." She is
the recipient of the prestigious Berilla Kerr
Award for her body of work in New
York theatre. Jones wrote for the
syndicated TV series Happiness,
which
was the recipient of both The Film Advisory
Award for Excellence and the Dove
Award. She is a founding partner
of Dora Mae Productions, a member of The
Dramatists' Guild, PEN American, the
UFT, AEA and Alpha Psi Omega. She
attended Immaculata College for her
BA in English and earned her Master's Degree
from Columbia University in
English Education. Jones
thoroughly enjoyed teaching Latin, and writing
at The Center School, a public
middle school in New York City, for 19 years.
Dora
Mae Jones
(3/1/91-9/6/01)
Dora
was the real star of Dora Mae Productions. She
lived on the Upper
West Side for 10 years. She enjoyed long walks
in the Ramble, warm naps
in the sun, good company, and squeaky toys with
faces! She is deeply
missed and will always be our muse.