Here's a sampling of some of the work I've written:
ONE MAN SHOWS
King of the Hobos - an original one man American folk-rock musical set in 1930. Click here to learn more about the production (and check my music page to hear sample clips from the soundtrack) I'm currently seeking investors for an open-ended Off-Broadway run. For investment inquiries, contact me at jarajones@gmail.com.
Ghost on a Stick - a semi-autobiographical play loosely based on my twenties, working on a haunted ship and confronting mental illness. You can hear an audio performance of the work on SoundCloud. Winner of the 2013 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity award for Outstanding Performance in a Solo Show.
ESSAYS
Bowling with Dad - An autobiographical piece detailing life lessons learned while knocking down pins. Published in the short story collection: I Am Here: The Untold Stories of Everyday People.
PLAYS
Nerva and Tiberius - a fictionalized classical one-act reimagining the relationship between Roman Emperor and his trusted friend/advisor Nerva. Finalist of the 2016 Red Bull Theater Short Play Festival.
The Stoat and the Hare - a one act horror-drama centered around two women who meet each other upon a bridge at midnight.
Trocar - a one act comedy set in an amusement park. A mortician pines for a costumed princess while his pickpocket friend consoles and inspires him.
Tow - Set in a tow yard, this one act drama pits two estranged friends together as a simple call for help escalates into a life-or-death confrontation.
This Great Mortality - a full length play cycle for six actors playing over twenty roles. This one hour play (with an alternate timeline being performed simultaneously) ruminates on the lives of the rich and poor before, during, and after the Black Plague in Avignon, France.
POETRY
A National Library of Poetry award winner, I've had several poems published in Palaver, Los Poesy, In the Grove, Onomatopoeia Magazine, and, strangely enough, a high school biology lesson plan. I released a book of my poems written from age 19-29 called Ramshackle.
I'm also currently working on a new book of poems using the framework of divorced dads and monologues inspired by Texts From Last Night prompts.
“The poetry of Jara Jones does the unforgivable — it seemingly entertains with wit and literary guile while surreptitiously forcing the otherwise lazy reader to actually confront the oddities and eccentricities of the world and examine his own reactions to them. ”