Reaction to the work of Eugene O'Neill

During my freshman year at NYU, I took a directing class in the Educational Theatre department. The semester coincided with the 100th anniversary of O'Neill's birthday. The teacher found this 'coincidence' impossible to resist so we submitted to a semester's worth of study on the work of Eugene O'Neill.

 

Our assignment was to use our fellow students as actors to stage scenes of his work. Of course, these students were people who thought the class would be an easy credit.

 

The work we read included.

*The Emperor Jones

Strange Interlude

Moon for the Misbegotten

The Iceman Cometh

Long Day's Journey Into Night

 

If you know O'Neill's work then perhaps you have accessed the situation correctly: It was a most depressing semester. I learned that I never ever wanted to be the kind of writer who kept writing the same emotional baggage over and over again.

 

My reaction to O'Neill's work back then was a visceral one: Get therapy dude. Work it out.

 

That directing class didn't teach me how to direct. Rather, it taught me to look for themes and unresolved issues when reading multiple works by the same author.

 

At the time, we all agreed that the drudgery of the rest of O'Neill's work made Long Day worth it. I suppose it did. I still have my copy of that play, but I have yet to pick it up again.

 

Isaac discusses O'Neill's work, especially Long Day's Journey Into Night.

 

 

*I never read The Emperor Jones because I have issues with stories that feature primitive tribes taken over by "civilized" characters. Seriously. In my book collection, I have studiously avoided collecting any books with variations of this storyline. It's not a rational thing. I can't trace it to a political opinion. It's a gut-level repulsion.

 

Avoiding this storyline is difficult if you collect books from 1920 through to 1970. It shows up in a myriad of ways, particularly through the 50s

Comments

[Scott Walters]

I think the mistake your teacher made was in focusing almost exclusively on the late plays -- early O'Neill is much more experimental, energetic, and engaged. Unlike Isaac, I think "Emperor Jones" is brilliant -- I teach it in my Harlem Renaissance class -- although the film that was made of it it significant for what was left out (most of the commentary on race). I think "Beyond the Horizon" is an excellent play, and "The Hairy Ape" is really powerful.

[Laura]

Truthfully, I think the mistake my teacher made was in her career choice. I'm sorry, I can't help but be a smart-ass about that class.

I'd be willing to give it a try... His earlier work. I'm skeptical, but open-minded.