Our presenter was Eric Fraisher Hayes, artistic director of Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House. Under his leadership, EONF has become the leading producer of the plays of Eugene O’Neill in the country. Eric has directed 29 of O’Neill’s 51 plays including this September’s O’Neill festival production of A Moon for the Misbegotten at Tao House. This past July, he presented his theatrical lecture “Eugene O’Neill: 51 Plays in 51 Minutes” at the Eugene O’Neill International Conference in Boston. In October, his production of O’Neill’s Welded will be featured at the 3rd Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland. At the same festival, he will be directing a production of O’Neill’s Shell Shock with an international cast.
The places Eugene O’Neill lived and experienced during his lifetime greatly influenced his plays. In this presentation, Eric explored the many intersections between the playwright’s biography and his fiction. Danville, New London, New York, Ireland and the open sea all shaped the man and the plays that changed the American theater.
See All Virtual Programs