Preston Jones (April 7, 1936 – September 19, 1979) was an American playwright best known for ''

A Texas Trilogy ''A Texas Trilogy'' (also known as ''The Bradleyville Trilogy'') is a set of three plays written by Preston Jones (playwright), Preston Jones. The three plays are set in a mythical West Texas town and employ idiosyncratic language and characters th ...

'', a set of three plays.

Biography

Jones was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His father, James B. Jones, was

lieutenant governor of New Mexico The lieutenant governor of New Mexico ( es, Lista de Vicegobernadores de Nuevo México) is an elected official in the state of New Mexico that ranks just below the governor of New Mexico. The lieutenant governor is the first person in the order of ...

. Jones graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1960, with a degree in education. After briefly working as an educator, he began studying drama at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

under Paul Baker. Due to a conflict between Baker and Baylor's administration, Baker and Jones both moved to

Trinity University (Texas) Trinity University is a private liberal arts college in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1869, its student body consists of about 2,600 undergraduate and 200 graduate students. Trinity offers 49 majors and 61 minors among six degree programs, ...

in San Antonio, where Jones received a master's degree 1966. Jones spent the majority of his adult life in the employment of the

Dallas Theater Center The Dallas Theater Center is a major regional theater in Dallas, Texas, United States. It produces classic, contemporary and new plays and was the 2017 Tony Award recipient for Best Regional Theater. Dallas Theater Center produces its original w ...

(DTC), performing many different roles including actor, stage manager, and director. During his employment at DTC, he met his wife, actress, director, designer and DTC's assistant director, Mary Sue Jones, who had a major influence on his writing and career. In 1972, Jones was given directorship of the Down Center Stage (a workshop within DTC), through which he premiered his best-known work ' 'The Texas Trilogy''. The first two shows from the ''Trilogy'' were included in the Playmarket 74 showcase, attended by

Audrey Wood Audrey Wood (born August 12, 1948) is an American children's author. Wood resides in Santa Barbara, California. Biography Wood's first memories of storytelling were in Sarasota, Florida, where her father was employed by Ringling Brother ...

(who became Jones' agent) and

Alan Schneider Alan Schneider (December 12, 1917 – May 3, 1984) was an American theatre director responsible for more than 100 theatre productions. In 1984 he was honored with a Drama Desk Special Award for serving a wide range of playwrights. He directed th ...

(who directed the ''Trilogy'' in Washington, D.C. and New York). Following his discovery by Wood and Schneider, Jones became a subject of significant interest to the theatre community, and was compared to

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

by critics. Jones continued to write, creating '' A Place on the Magdalena Flats'', '' Santa Fe Sunshine'', and ''

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

'' before his death in 1979 from complications related to surgery on a bleeding ulcer.Cannan, Gwynedd (November 1993)
"Preston Jones Papers."
Southwestern Writers Collection, Texas State University. Retrieved on 2006-05-27.

External links

1936 births 1979 deaths Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights {{US-playwright-stub