May Playwright's Theatre: Clifford Odets: Heir to O'neill

Home , Clifford Odets, Golden Boy (play), Till the Day I Die, Waiting for Lefty

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

May Playwright’s Theatre: Clifford Odets: Heir to O’Neill

In the years after Eugene O’Neill’s amazing run of success in the 1920’s and early 1930’s, O’Neill all but disappeared from the public eye. Unknown to many, he was building a home in the Danville hills and continuing his writing. At this time, Clifford Odets became the toast of Broadway and the heir apparent to Eugene O’Neill. Writing in the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, Odets’ work was

seen as both social activism and entertainment.

This May, Playwrights’ Theater will feature staged readings in the Old Barn at the Eugene O’Neill Historic Site of two of Odets’ most important plays Waiting for Lefty on May 3rd th Waiting for Lefty by by Clifford Odets, New Phoenix Theatre Company. and Golden Boy on May 17 According to Vice President of Artistic Programming Eric Fraisher Hayes, “Waiting for Lefty epitomizes Odets’ ability to bring the struggles of the common man to the stage. It is both fierce in its call for social change as well as incredibly theatrical. By contrast, Golden Boy, the most popular and commercially successful of Odets’ works in the 1930’s, is more of a conventional drama involving popular subjects of its time, namely boxers, corrupt managers and gangsters.” This May highlights the broad writing talents of Clifford Odets, the most popular play-

wright of the 1930’s.

Reservations for both productions are available online at the Foundation website

First Two Tao House Fellows Selected for

Travis Bogard Artist in Residence Program Playwrights’ Theatre in May …………..…….. 1 Foundations’ First Tao House Fellows ….….. 1 Realizing a long-held goal, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, launches the Travis Bogard Artist in Residence program in O’Neill Festival: A Season of Desire ………… 3 April, selecting two Tao House Fellows whose projects represent both the academic and creative fields of the performing arts. Student Days 2015: Experiences Shared ….. 4

While at Tao House, David Palmer, Assistant Professor of Philoso- National Park Service Report …………………. 5 phy at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, will work on a manu- Won’t You Join Us? …………………………….. 5 script relating to O’Neill’s plays, taking a “cognitive studies” approach to the analysis of tragedy which has emerged in recent Getting Ready for O’Neill Studio Retreat ….... 6 years, due to advances in brain research and evolutionary psychol- ogy. Herman Daniel Farrell III, a professional playwright and Pro- NOTICE TO OUR MEMBERS: For our members, the Eugene O’Neill Foun- dation will continue to mail the Foundation Newsletter directly to you First fessor of Playwriting at the University of Kentucky, aims to create Class, giving you the convenience of a handy guide to Foundation activities the first draft of a “postmodern” play about Eugene O’Neill, his life and news right at your fingertips. The Newsletter will continue to be posted on our website (www.eugeneoneill.org) for non-members and others. and work. Continued on page 2...

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 1 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

“Travis Bogard Artists In Residence Program” continued from page 1... The two Fellows were selected from ten stellar applicants for the program, which is designed to provide developing or established artists, scholars or critics of the performing arts the opportunity to work in the solitude and quiet which inspired Eugene O’Neill, America’s only Nobel Prizewinning playwright. The program is named for the late Travis Bogard, professor emeritus of Dramatic Arts at UC Berkeley and the O’Neill Foundation’s first artistic director. Soon after the Foundation was formed forty years ago, Professor Bogard envi- Travis Bogard sioned Tao House not only as a living memorial to Eugene O’Neill, but as a creative work- place for writers and scholars. O’Neill Foundation Co-President, Gary Schaub, says, “For many years the O’Neill Foundation has been look- ing to initiate the Artist in Residence program at Tao House, a goal our early mentor Travis Bogard set for us. The Foundation Board is very pleased that Travis’s dream is being realized with the appointment of our first two Tao House Fellows”. The first Fellow, David Palmer, will arrive early in April and spend a month working on the O’Neill section of a book tentatively entitled Evolution, Ethics and Tragedy: A Cognitive Studies Approach to the Plays of Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill. At Tao House he will focus on the late autobiographical plays and particularly Eu- gene’s brother, Jamie, whom he describes as “a man who is driven into crippling shame by his confrontation with his inability to realize his idealized self.” Herman Farrell will arrive in late May to revisit a project he began in 1983. A few months after graduating from Vassar he wrote an “epic play” Dreams of the Son: A Life of Eugene O’Neill which he now describes as melodramatic, reminiscent of the theatre of O’Neill’s father. After thirty years experience of researching and teaching O’Neill, including being selected three times as a playwright fellow at the National Playwrights Conference of the Eugene O’Neill Center in Waterford Con- necticut, he now intends to write a different type of play. An David Palmer award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Farrell’s most recent ventures include a touring production of The Voices of Student Veterans, a drama based on interviews with college student veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and Cousin’s Table, which involves a get-together of a multi- cultural family who haven’t been together since a falling out over the invasion of Iraq. He Herman Farrell earned a Peabody Award as co-writer of the HBO film Boycott. The Tao House Fellows will work in a specially-designed space in the Trunk House (named because it housed Carlotta’s Louis Vuitton luggage) in the courtyard of Tao House just below the window of O’Neill’s study. They will live at the San Damiano Retreat Center and travel a short distance to Tao House each day. Florence McAuley, head of the Foundation’s Advisory Board Committee which has developed the three year pilot program in collaboration with the National Park Service, explains that an evaluation panel of professionals assessed the projects and rated the applications, recommending that this first stage of the program include representatives from both the academic and creative fields.

Members and friends of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation support this program and donations are gratefully received.

Thank you for your support!

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 2 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

Clifford Odets – the Heir to Eugene

O’Neill

Long known as the champion of the disenfranchised, playwright Clifford Odets (1906 - 1963) came on the scene in the early 1930s. He was widely seen as a successor to Eu- gene O’Neill as O’Neill began to retire from Broadway’s commercial pressures.

While Odets was successful on Broadway and in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, O’Neill – having moved to the West Coast and to Tao House – rebounded with his famous “Tao House plays” including More Stately Mansions, The Iceman Cometh, A Moon for the Misbegotten and A Long Days Journey into Night – all written while O’Neill lived in Danville.

Odets is most known for his socially relevant dramas which proved most influential during the Great Depression. Waiting for Lefty (1935) was Odets’ first great success. He learned his profession as an actor in repertory companies, including his role with the influential Clifford Odets photo courtesy of Wikipedia Group Theatre in New York as one of its original members. The Group Theatre empha- sized an acting technique (“The Method”) based on a system devised by Russian actor and director Constantin Stanislavski, and developed further by Group Theater director Lee Strasberg. Odets became the Group’s primary playwright.

Other plays followed, including Awake and Sing, Till the Day I Die, and the notable Golden Boy (1937). In the early 1940s, Odets transferred his interest to Hollywood as a screenwriter. His play, The Country Girl was a success in New York, and later adapted for a film starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly.

2015 O’Neill Festival:

A Season of Desire

Following up on the incredible, sold-out run of last year’s The Iceman Man Cometh and the record-setting Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation is proud to announce that it will be partnering again with Role Players Ensemble for a Season of Desire. The 2015 O’Neill Festival will feature a production of the O’Neill classic Desire under the Elms at Tao House, while the Village Theatre in downtown Danville will be hosting Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. This year’s Festival will run September 4th – 27th.

Tickets for the plays and other festival events will go on sale later this spring.

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 3 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015 Teen Participants Share their Experiences th from our 24 Annual Student Days

Sixteen teenagers from seven high schools assembled at Tao House in the hills above Danville for the first of our two Student Days in March. It was a fun-filled day of drama and art under the guidance of actor/teacher Chad Deverman of Walnut Creek and Debby Koonce, retired art teacher from Moraga Junior High School. “Getting over artist’s block”, “appreciating different styles”, “making new friends”, “learning new techniques”, “relaxing in the beautiful Tao House setting…” – these were what Student Day participants, Young Bi, Samantha Carmel Cole, Cameron Hui and Janelle Doolit- tle hoped to experience at the 24th Annual Student Days at Tao House in early March.

Drama students learned to ask questions, work as an ensemble or team, and to take risks in their work. Sounding like a combination drill sergeant and supportive coach, Deverman lead the students in “warm-ups” including breathing and articulation exercises followed by opportunities for students to share perspectives: “I love the energy here (at Tao House)”, “I feel the spirit in the peace of the surroundings.” Student participant, Evelyn McCollom of Mt. Diablo High School hopes to “base my life around the arts.” Jacob Freeman, also of Mt. Diablo High School, says “making people laugh makes me feel alive inside.”

Monte Vista senior Janelle Doolittle, who plans to major in environmental engineering as a college freshman next year, shared that she “finds herself in other people’s lives…[that she is studying]… and thereby learns more about herself.” Similarly, Mt. Diablo student, Sabrina Pohyar finds she “watches herself in acting and writing…[and thereby]…knows herself better.”

The peace of the surroundings of Tao House were explored by artist/student Cameron Hui of Dougherty High School under the guidance of Koonz. Together, they surveyed the pastoral setting of Tao House and chose three likely subjects for Hui’s preferred sketching style. Taking 30 minutes to complete each sketch, Koonz then supported Cameron with side-by-side painting in- struction so that the process was concretely demonstrated and explained.

In the afternoon (following a pizza lunch under the shade of the oak trees), Cameron was invited to select one of her sketches to develop further, including the possibility of painting it with oil colors. Cameron chose to paint and the results were enthusiastically approved by the drama students when displayed at the end of the day during the closing.

For our second Student Days, aspiring photographers and writers gathered at Tao House where they worked in their chosen areas. The photography instructor, Lorena Castillo, brought along several old cameras for the students to inspect giving them a clear idea of the strides that have been made in photography. One of the activities for the participants was a scavenger hunt where the students were required to take pictures repre- senting parameters such as hot, cool, hard, soft, and finally something green, but not from nature.

The writers, working under the guidance of playwright Erin Edens, wrote short scenes using various prompts and shared their writings with one another. This summer many of the writers return for the O’Neill Studio Retreat in July when they will write short plays which will be performed by the acting students.

And…were their expectations realized? When asked if they would like to return for the summer program, the students unanimously raised their hands affirmatively!

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 4 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

National Park Service Report

By Tom Leatherman, Superintendent, Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site

In 2016 the National Park Service will turn 100 years old and we are getting ready to celebrate our centennial through a variety of activities and events. The goal of the centennial is to “Connect with and create the next generation of park visitors, supporters, and advocates.” The programs that happen at the site are right in line with this goal and we are excited about building even more interest and involvement in these activities for 2016. Whether it is Student Days, Playwright’s Theatre or the Eugene O’Neill Festival, we hope to use the centennial to introduce more people to the legacy of Eugene O’Neill and the inspiration that Tao House provides.

In building towards this goal, we are already engaged in new and exciting programming at the site. With funds provided through a National Parks Conservation Association grant obtained in cooperation with Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, Richmond High School students, in collaboration with the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, presented Un- Rapping O'Neill, a modern adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Jour- ney into Night. In the performance, the students unravel the themes of isolation, addiction, and forgiveness from O'Neill's masterpiece and connect these to the challenges and anxieties of communities in Richmond, California. The production brings a contemporary feel to the classic play by weaving beat boxing, rap, and break dancing into the storytelling. Our hope is that this play can be performed at Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site sometime in the future to help demonstrate how the legacy of O’Neill can remain relevant and inspiring for future generations.

Won’t You Join Us? If you are currently a member of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, you’re very special to us. If you are thinking about joining as a member, now’s the time to do it!

Our members make the Foundation happen. Even though we work very closely with the National Park Service at the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, the O’Neill Foundation receives no direct financial support for the community and educational programs we produce each year – programs such as last year’s sell-out production of The Iceman Cometh, or the upcoming May Playwrights’ Theatre staged-reading of Clifford Odets’ provocative Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy.

Without membership and community support, these programs, which promote the legacy of America’s most honored playwright, wouldn’t be feasible.

It’s easy to join. Just go online to www.eugeneoneill.org – the O’Neill Foundation’s website – and renew your membership or make a com- mitment to join us, helping us to provide these educational programs throughout the year. Basic membership starts at just $35/year, but members at Playwrights’ Circle Level ($100-249), or Director’s Circle Join us! Level ($250-499), or higher, earn special recognition and perks, as well as the knowledge that you are helping the Eugene O’Neill Foundation as well as making its programs available to the entire community.

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 5 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

E X P A N D E D SUMMER STUDIO RETREAT

IN THE WORKS FOR TEEN WRITERS AND ACTORS AT TAO HOUSE

Emerging playwrights and actors interested in developing their own short plays and having them performed will be interested in the O’Neill Studio Retreat, taking place at the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in Dan- ville. The workshop runs from Thursday, July 9 through Saturday, July 19, with a day off on July 13. The retreat will be expanded this year to ten days, from seven days in past years. Applications for participation in the summer’s program are being accepted through June.

Sponsored by the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House in partnership with the National Park Service, the intensive workshop provides the opportunity for young writers and actors to work collaboratively with professional playwrights and stage directors in the development of short plays (8-10 minutes). The program is geared for advanced high school students. A limited number of writers and actors can be accepted into the intensive workshop. The workshop meets daily from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. from July 9-20. The retreat culminates with a performance in the Old Barn Theater before a community audience on the final afternoon. Ignacio Zulueta mentors a Studio Retreat participant ( Tom Donahoe) The O’Neill Studio Retreat is a unique program, designed to provide a more thorough understanding of playwright Eugene O’Neill and his place in American drama, as well as to encourage creative production by the students. The expanded program will enable a more comfortable timeframe to develop and prepare the emerging scripts for presentation.

This is collaborative workshop in playwriting and acting, led by two experienced playwrights and an actor-educator. The workshop staff includes published playwright Ignacio Zulueta, recipient of an Emerging Playwrights Award and a 2012-13 Fellowship from San Francisco Playground; and playwright Erin Edens who hold her MA in Dramatic Arts from UC Santa Barbara, and an MFA in playwriting from University of Texas at Austin. Both writers have had their works produced around the country. Stage Director/Educator Chad Deverman will also return for this summer’s workshop. Deverman is a professional actor who has worked with many local groups, including Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep TheatreWorks, and CalShakes.

Applications for participation in the July 9-19, 2015 workshop are available online at www.eugeneoneill.org (click on “O’Neill Studio Retreat”). The O’Neill Studio Workshop is supported by grants from the Wood Foundation and the Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation.

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 6 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015 Did You Know … WELCOME:

...that No Reservations are needed to visit the Eu- NEW BOARD MEMBER! gene O’Neill National Historic Site on Saturdays? Amy Glynn is an award-winning poet and essayist and occasional actor who first got a taste for the boards in a Just show up at the Museum of the San Ramon production of O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" as a teenager. Her writing appears widely in journals and anthologies Valley, 205 Railroad Avenue, Danville, board the including "The Best American Poetry (2010 and 2012);" NPS Shuttle at 10:00am, her poetry collection "A Modern Herbal" was published by Measure Press. She noon and 2:00pm for a has been a James Mer- ride up to Tao House. rill House Fellow and the recipient of Poetry Northwest's Carolyn Ki- Take a picnic! zer Award. She grew up in Alamo, CA and now lives in Lafayette with her two daughters. 2015 FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Committee Board of Directors Advisory Board

Co-Presidents Mary Camezon Linda Best Trudy McMahon Katy Colbath Dan Cawthorn Gary Schaub Amy Glynn Wendy Cooper VP Education Eileen Herrman Carol Lea Jones Jack DeRieux Susan Jackson Jim R.K. Kantor VP Programs Florence McAuley Beverly Lane Eric Fraisher Hayes (Advisory Board Rep) Florence McAuley Board Secretary Merilyn Milam Claudia Nemir Joyce Michalczyk Robert Rezak Secretary Diane Schinnerer Carolyn Schaffer Administrative Assistant Carol Sherrill Alison Bodden Brian Theissen

Honorary Members

Stephen A. Black Glenda Jackson Arvin Brown Paul Libin Zoe Caldwell Lois Robards Kiera Chaplin Kevin Spacey Max von Sydow George C. White Brian Dennehy Gerald Eugene Stramm Barbara Gelb Liv Ullman

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 7 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

The Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House is most grateful to you, our supporters for your generous contributions that allow us to provide artistic and educational programs which focus on O’Neill’s vision and legacy. Eugene O’Neill is recognized throughout the world as America’s foremost playwright.

Please join us in recognizing the following donors through March 31, 2015. All gifts and updated donations received after that date will be acknowledged in our next publication.

Thank you also, to all our valued Crew Level and Affiliate Level Supporters. Education Program Grants: Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation, Wood Foundation

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CIRCLE PRODUCER’S CIRCLE PLAYWRIGHT’S CIRCLE (cont.) $1000 and above $500-999 Rosalie E. Malatesta Jack Schwartzman Family Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Ray Camezon Ms. Susan McEvilly Ms. Carolyn Schaffer Mr. & Mrs. Patrick J. McMahon David Miller Gagen, McCoy, McMahon, Koss, Markowitz, Raines Mr. & Mrs. Vasili Millias Robert O’Donnell Linda Grundhoffer Mr. & Mrs. Don Ritchey Ms. Judy Olson Mr. & Mrs. Robert Sehr Gary Schaub & Maria Gounaris Robert R. Rezak Kay and Carol Jones Brian & Carolyn Thiessen Marla Roden Mrs. Merilyn Milam Diane & Don Schinnerer Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Mr. & Mrs. Howard Nemir John & Carol Sherrill Marian L. Shanks Malcolm and Florence McAuley Jack & Cecilia De Rieux Roberta Eisel David & Linn Coombs DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE PLAYWRIGHT’S CIRCLE Helen Smith $250-499 $100-249 Barbara Stevens Mr. & Mrs. Dan Cawthon Judith Abrams Gerald Stram Wendy & Tony Cooper Robert Arellanes Susan Terzuoli Paul & Marilyn Gardner Mrs. Nancy Bartholomew Michael & Joyce Wahlig Barbara & Rob Grant Ed & Linda Best Rodney Washburn Dr. & Mrs. Ronald Iverson Karen Bonnar-Fay George C. White Beverly & Jim Lane Ms. Penny Chuah Diane Wieser Susan Taylor Ms. Katy Colbath Mr. & Mrs. Tony Woodward Carol & David Wynstra Dave & Sue DeVoe Bill Blair Mr. Jeff Elfont Carol Anderson Marianne & Bill Gagen Nancy & William Lieber Amy Greacen Martha & William Slavin Ms. Eileen Herrmann Virginia Hooper Ms. Susan Jackson ACTOR’S CIRCLE Ms. Barbara Kuklewicz $75-99 Samantha Lemole Rosalind Hirsch David Lewis Paul & Fran Sheehan Ms. Winifred Stribling Joanne Dunec & Bruce Teel Phil Belman

P.O. Box 402 • Danville, CA 94526-0402 • (925) 820-1818 [email protected] • www.EugeneOneill.org PG. 8