playbill vip

John Christopher Jones

Out of the Box Theatre Company (OotB) dedicates this production of Animal Farm to the memory of our beloved colleague, actor/director/educator/writer/translator John Christopher “Chris” Jones, who died on September 15, 2025, from complications of Parkinson’s Disease, which he’d fought for more than 22 years.

Chris’s remarkable career included acting in more than a dozen Broadway shows, including Otherwise Engaged, directed by Harold Pinter, Hurlyburly, directed by Mike Nichols, The Goodbye Girl, directed by Gene Saks, Democracy, directed by Michael Blakemore, and Beauty and the Beast, directed by Rob Roth; dozens of Off-Broadway plays, including Aristocrats by Brian Friel, Tartuffe by Molière, Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Gray, Slavs! by Tony Kushner, Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay Abair, and Sight Unseen by Donald Marguiles. His film credits included featured roles in Moonstruck, Awakenings, and The Village; television credits included On Our Own, Popcorn Kid, The Sopranos, Evil, and New Amsterdam. Also known for his translations of stage classics, Chris received the Lortel Award for Best Revival for his translation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at Classic Stage Company.

OotB was privileged to have Chris direct our productions of The Hollow Crown, The Loves of Cass McGuire, and Harvey and perform in several of our live and streamed fundraising shows. In addition to being an enormously talented actor and director, Chris was a delightful raconteur who would come out with a story, monologue, or poem at the drop of a hat, and a much-loved friend and supporter of OotB. Chris will be greatly missed by Out of the Box and the theater community at large. We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Mary Beth Coudal, and their three children.