IN THIS ISSUE:

• Israel Horovitz on the legacy of O'Neill

• Albert Bermel on dreamers (pipe- and other) in A Touch o the Poet

• James C. McKelly on the triumph of language in Hughie

• FOCUS ON BARBARA GELB'S MY GENE

  • Gary Vena assesses the play and production

  • Sheila Hickey Garvey interviews the playwright

  • Louis Sheaffer reveals the provenance of the protagonist's surname

• James P. Pettegrove records a 1970 interview with Karl Ragnar Gierow

• Jeffrey E. Sands interviews Mary Arbenz, Electra's first Hazel

• Reports of pre-centennial conferences at Tao House and Monte Cristo Cottage

• THE EUGENE O'NEILL SOCIETY SECTION

• Reviews and abstracts

  • Tom J. A. Olsson on The Hairy Ape in Stockholm

  • Frederick C. Wilkins on Long Day's Journey in Portland, Maine

  • Gary Vena [and Fred Wilkins] on a one-man O'Neill show in Manhattan

  • Marshall Brooks on a new biography of Harry Kemp

  • Three abstracts by Stephen A. Black

• News, notes and queries

• Persons represented in this issue

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EDITOR'S FOREWORD

The Newsletter inaugurates its second decade with as vast an array of varied entries as it has ever provided--thanks both to the large number of contributors and to editorial tardiness in getting the issue into print. I won't say that there's something for everyone in what follows; O'Neillians are too heterogeneous a lot for that to be claimed with certainty. But I would expect, if it is not too immodest a claim, that almost everyone will find something of use and value herein. I am particularly pleased to share with non-attenders the talks by Israel Horovitz and Albert Bermel at last year's O'Neill conference in Boston; and to provide the first forum for the work of James McKelly, whose assessment of Hughie deserves a prominent place in the growing body of literature about that play and the special power of the later O'Neill. (Mr. McKelly's distinction between illusion and fiction on p. 18 is a nice complement to Prof. Bermel's differentiation between dream and pipe dream on p. 12.) As promised, I have compiled an alphabetical list of the authors and titles of all the articles that appeared during the Newsletter's first ten years (pp. 27-32). I hope that the decade now begun will result in as impressive a list in 1997. And knowing the industriousness and dedication of the Newsletter's ever-growing cadre of contributors, I am confident that it will.

Rather than delineate further the contents of the present omnium gatherum, I'd like to offer a prefatory note to the boxed request at the bottom of the page. The centennial of O'Neill's birth is well nigh upon us: as is noted on a later page, the generally agreed upon dates of the centennial year are October 16, 1987 to October 16, 1988, the latter date being the actual 100th anniversary of the playwright's birth. This does not mean that a publisher or theatre company should not bring out a book or mount a production later in '88 or even in '89, especially if late planning necessitates a later target date. (No one would wish to squelch O'Neill-related activities whenever they occur!) But it does mean that if there is to be any coordination and complementarity among centenary efforts--so many of which are cited throughout this issue (and I am sure that more are not listed than those that are)---the various and widespread celebrants need to know as quickly as possible what their distant colleagues are doing and planning. And the Newsletter stands eagerly willing, to the extent of its thrice-ennial ability, to serve as the vehicle of communication among them all (you all, us all). Whatever your plans, however big or small, do please rush word of them to the editor, who will share them prominently in the next issue, which should reach subscribers about one month before the start of the centennial year. And if you don't have any plans as yet, the news items and "Countdown to Centennial" reports in this issue should suggest a number of ways in which your affection for America's greatest dramatist can be communally and prominently expressed. Working together, we can give Eugene O'Neill the celebration he so richly merits. And If I might close on a note of personal prejudice, I believe he deserves to have his entire canon represented, in informal readings if not on the boards, for the celebration to be truly complete. One more fully staged Long Day's Journey is always welcome, of course: a play that rich and multifaceted can never be overdone. But a family's backyard, poolside reading of Servitude or Recklessness would be just as noteworthy a contribution to our communal endeavor. The Newsletter looks forward to announcing and congratulating every contribution. So DO write--PLEASE!!

The Eugene O'Neill Newsletter, Vol. XI, No. 1, ISSN: 0733-0456. Copyright (c) 1987 by the Eugene O'Neill Newsletter. Copyright © 2011 by Harley J. Hammerman. Editor: Frederick C. Wilkins. Assoc. Editor: Marshall Brooks. Subscriptions: $10/year for individuals in U.S. and Canada, $15/year for libraries, institutions and all overseas subscribers. Only one-year subscriptions are accepted. Members of the Eugene O'Neill Society receive subscriptions as part of their annual dues. Back issues available @ $5 each. Address: The Eugene O'Neill Newsletter, Department of English, Suffolk University, Boston, MA 02114 U.S.A.