Private Jones at Signature Theatre

Private Jones

Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Avenue Arlington

Hiding his profound hearing loss, young Gomer Jones fakes his way through enlistment in the army. He becomes a celebrated sniper, but the horrors of the front threaten to expose his secret and destroy his very humanity unless he learns to trust his fellow soldiers to accept who he really is.

Thru - Mar 17, 2024

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 703-820-9771

www.sigtheatre.org

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Private Jones Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Pailet’s germ of an idea is genius: What would the war experience be like for someone who can’t hear the chaos? After discovering “two sentences” in a historical article about a real-life, well-liked Pvt. Gomer Jones, who was Deaf from infancy yet managed to enlist as a sniper, Pailet developed the portrait of a private who could fake his way onto the battlefield because he’d lost his hearing older, as an adolescent, after a bout of meningitis and could already speak and read lips. Initially, he knows nothing of sign language, and Private Jones becomes an eye-opening tutorial — and testimonial — for him and the audience alike."

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- Terry Byrne

MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended

"...Pailet’s production gains a lot of mileage from the sentiment of a boy and his dog, thanks in large part to persuasive puppetry, but the show’s not overly sentimental. It’s downright brutal at times, powerfully evoking the horrors of war — soldiers riddled with bullets, survivors forced to use bodies as cover — though the carnage is rendered with astute, artful understatement."

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- Andre Hereford

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...Additionally, Private Jones struggles to establish a consistent, reliable tone. Initially signaling that its audience is in for the kind of sepia-stained storytelling akin to War Horse or Band of Brothers, the tone rapidly shifts to irreverence and, often, vulgarity when Gomer struggles to enlist in the army and find his place in the world. While the whiplash is confusing, the resulting songs and sequences are, thankfully, charming enough to overcome such a shift."

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- D.R. Lewis

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...Catering to military history and theatre buffs alike, “Private Jones” is likely to charm you even in its darkest moments with flashes of humor and earworm melodies. The brilliant sound design is upstaged only by the talents of the twelve-person cast. Like Gomer, picking up a rifle for the first time at home in Wales, this is surely just the start for “Private Jones.” Heed the call and see it while you can!"

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- Charlotte Selton

BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended

"...Throughout this very engrossing musical there is a natural and interactive building- up of the sense of the kinship and communal spirit of fellow soldiers who are standing in solidarity in the line of fire. This seriousness is complimented with the ribald humor, honesty and mutual kidding around that playwright Marshal Pailet has written so well."

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- David Friscic

Private Jones at Signature Theatre

Private Jones

Private Jones Reviews

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended

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