Jones’s characters all deal with their need to assimilate into American culture. In showing us these struggles, Jones is giving us a way of seeing what is being gained and lost in the process. Her characters deal with many issues in America. The Pakistani Ali describes himself on the phone as an “Allah-fearing Republican.” Ali’s cheeky sense of humor is used to cut through his awkward feelings, as he jokes about every thing from owning the Enemy of the State DVD to being feared for “Limericks of Mass Destruction.”  His is one of the most intricately formed characters, for we see both his public voice as the host and his private voice during the poetry night’s intermission. Jones’s other standout characters are the Polish American Jewish Woman Mrs. Levine, a young Vietnamese slam poet, a party-crashing hip-hop MC, a wheelchair-bound Latino, and Haitian immigrant. Her transitions are seamless, and normally done behind columns or a door, behind which she transforms instantaneously. The most notable transition is from a Bronx teacher to the student she is introducing. Jones exits the room, only to return as the different character with a different costume before the door even closes!

Bridge and Tunnel is as strong thematically as it is technically. The characters all bring their voices to the poetry-fest, allowing for much social commentary. The powerful young Vietnamese slam poet comments on American stereotypes with “crouching tailor, hidden dry cleaner.” The Chinese mother shares her speech prepared for an immigration hearing concerning the lack of marriage rights for her Lesbian daughter and her partner. The wheelchair-bound Latino tells a heart wrenching story of his love Veronica trying to come across the border. The teenage Jordanese woman recites a Beatles song to her Iraqi crush, showing us the global reach of western culture. The struggling Haitian immigrant is finally allowed to vent about “the real estate man” by saying, “God Bless America, but not because of you.”  The Jewish Mrs. Levine claims, “I am happy to appear alongside Muslims,” yet the two are appearing on the same space of Jones’s body. Levine also tells us of a “No Jew” sign that she once saw on a highway, and that anti-immigration feeling have been the same for decades. These feelings return in the end of the play, as we learn that the I.A.M.A.P.O.E.T.T.O.O. gathering was kept out of its former Starbucks gathering space after 9/11 due to increased xenophobia. These characters find their voices at Jones’s Bridge and Tunnel, rather than through corporate America. Jones uses her solo performance to speak for many divergent groups, and gives us her own American voice in the process. In the audience at this performance was acclaimed female soloist Lily Tomlin. Tomlin led the standing ovation at the close of the show. Jones is here to stay.