Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, collectively known as JONES HOPE WOOTEN, enjoy the reputation of being three of the most popular and widely-produced playwrights in the United States. They specialize in writing laugh-out-loud comedies and creating vivid strong roles for women. Because of their commitment to and support of local theatres across the nation, they've built a following with legions of loyal fans and have been dubbed "America's Playwrights."

We had the pleasure of chatting with Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten about their background, writing process and how their works translate here in Australia and New Zealand in schools. 

How did your individual writing careers start?

JJ: In 1992 I co-authored a play that eventually was produced Off-Broadway in New York.

NH: I started writing plays when I was in college. My first play was given a production in a theatre in Austin, Texas.

JW: I was working as a cruise director on Princess Cruises and our home port was Sydney! I broke my knee dancing and had to come up with something new to do with my life. I bought a typewriter when we docked in Honolulu and that’s when I started writing television sitcom scripts.

What brought you three together? 

JJ: Eventually, we all wound up in Hollywood where we crossed paths. Evidently, all people in show biz with Southern roots are destined to find each other. I was an actress, Nick was a network casting director, and Jamie had been writing and producing about a kablillion sitcoms. After my Off-Broadway play was turned into a movie, I decided to write full time. Nick was ready for a change, too, and signed on. Later we formed a trio with Jamie and sold many, many television scripts to various networks and production companies. We had a blast.

NH: After we hit a wall when no studio would let us write anything with a Southern flavor, we had a ‘Eureka!’ moment. It was time to leave television and return to our roots – the theatre. We had lots of Southern-flavored stories to tell and we believed theatre would embrace them. And we were right.

What is your writing process as a trio? 

JW: We work almost every day, all in the same room with a blinky computer, massive monitor and a cat. We write every word together which can result in some rather colorful disagreements. But happily, we share compatible senses of humor. We outline the hell out of every scene of every play before the first line of dialogue is written. Our process is – idea, then story, followed by structure, development of characters and finally dialogue. And then comes all that funny stuff.

What is your favourite part of the writing process?

JJ/NH/JW: Lunch!

What is the most challenging part of the writing process? 

JJ: At one time or another, each of us has been a performer and having done so, the challenge in each script is to create for each character, whether the part is large or small, a moment that she or he can shine. We strive to ensure that there are no thankless roles in Jones Hope Wooten Comedies.

What is your favourite play you've written collectively and why?

NH: We fall in love with every story we tell and with all the characters who bring them to life – and we love them all equally.

A career highlight?

JW: Very early in our career as playwrights, one cold night we attended a production of DEARLY BELOVED, our first play, in a tiny town in South Carolina. The streets were empty but the theatre was filled with excited audience members. After a spirited performance, we made a heart-felt thank you speech to the theatre staff, cast and crew. We said our good-byes and when we walked out to the deserted street and hurried to our car, we heard a roar coming from inside the theatre. We learned later that the cast, crew and audience members were all cheering for us. This is one we’ll never forget.

Do you have any advice on staging your work in a school environment or youth theatre?

JJ:  We spend an enormous amount of time crafting stage directions for our plays. If our stage directions are followed, it will guarantee that the show will be a success. So we say to directors - digest and trust our stage directions. We know what we’re doing, we’ve done it a long time. Also, we always want to impress upon directors there can be no rewrites to any copyrighted, published script, no additions, no deletions. This is stipulated in the contracts for each production.

Which plays of yours would you recommend for schools? 

NH: THE RED VELVET CAKE WAR, MAMA WON’T FLY, DELIVER US FROM MAMA! These plays have lots of juicy roles, lots of raucous fun, audience pleasers all.

It must be a great honour to see your work played across the globe, what do you think the appeal of your work is internationally? 

JW: Our success internationally came as a surprise, but over time, we’ve come to understand that audiences delight in our comedies because they are about people in nutty situations, wacky family members and friendships that last forever, and all are written with lots of heart. People everywhere can identify with that. Besides, funny is just funny no matter where you are. And in these trying times, we think everyone would agree with our motto here at Jones Hope Wooten World Headquarters… Life is better when you’re laughing.

*EXCLUDES: Honey Sugar Lady Doll, Buddy Bro Bubba Dude, Lickety Split

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