[1] The play won second prize in the Southland Centennial Playwriting Competition in 1956, however it was rejected by a number of New Zealand theatres.
[1] After it achieved success in England, the New Zealand Players, who had previously rejected it, toured forty North Island towns with it in 1959.
[3] It was met with critical acclaim, The New Zealand Herald calling it "an adult, compelling and first-class piece of work".
[3] Contemporary critics compared The Tree to Arthur Miller's style of playwriting, and particularly his 1947 play All My Sons, with its sparse dialogue and portrayal of a family under pressure.
[1] 1980s commentators on the play point out that the father's role is relatively insignificant, and that other of Jones' works also show strong female lead characters, although this gender-based analysis may not have been apparent to audiences in the 1950s.