It's Gene To His Friends

DISCLAIMER:  WIKIPEDIA RESEARCH AHEAD.  I can't find my goddamned Brockett, it is absolutely nowhere in this house but then where did it go.  [confused ben body language]


So Eugene O'Neill.  An interesting guy.  His most lasting contribution to the American theatre was realism; stark realism, more often than not.  Stark because all but one (1) of his plays is a tragedy, the tragic* comedy Ah, Wilderness!, a piece largely remembered for Mark Chevalier's purple, brown, and skeletal set.  Sigh... so tragic.  His importance as a force of American theatre was reinforced during his lifetime as he won four (4!) Pulitzer Prizes, awarded for:



Beyond the Horizon, 1918
Anna Christie, 1922
Strange Interlude, 1928
Long Day's Journey Into Night, 1957


Pretty Impressive.  I'll probably come back to these before the year is over - Maybe Strange Interlude and Long Day's Journey Into Night...  Oh, but not for a while.  Three of these is enough for now, even if it's basically one big story.


Yep, three stories for the price of one.  As do most of his plays from the period, they rely on early psychology to explain the characters truthful behavior.  His characters experience tragic chains of events in their lives, and, in attempting to hang on to their dreams, they are crushed by disillusionment.  Not fun, but hey, shit happens.  Realism!  No longer are theatre's just housing for scantily clad revue's!  But in O'Neill's works, that shit just seems to happen again... and again... and again to these poor saps!  (ASIDE: I can swear in my "papers" now - holy shit!)


Anyway, just a little bit of background - I'll get to the truthful motivations in my topic post.


Rock,
Ben




*Dennis, if you ever find this and read it, I'm sorry.  It was.  I don't blame you.  But there's hope, see my post on how not to hate on O'Neill.