As many of you know or have heard, the May 1995 conference on “O'Neill's People” at Suffolk University took place almost exactly as announced on pp. 4-10 of the last issue; and it is reported to have been a distinct success.  It ill behooves the event's co-host (along with Monte Cristo Cottage curator Sally Thomas Pavetti) to “boast and blow” about the scholarly, theatrical and social joys that were savored between a fog-draped Thursday in Beantown and a spectacularly sunny Sunday—courtesy, doubtless, of Mr. Belasco—in New London.  But we are chockablock full of marvelous memories—of insights gained, friendships renewed or ignited, and anecdotes enow for many a winter fireside ahead—and we hope that you are too.  Thanks above all to the entrepreneurial genius and grace of coordinator Bernadette Smyth, the third (and I dare say final) international O'Neill confab at Suffolk University was one for the record books.

And the record begins herein, with Caldwell Titcomb's summary of the whole shebang (reprinted from This Month on Stage, July 1995, p. 57), and Athenaide Dallett's report on the Friday morning session featuring medalists Barbara Gelb, José Quintero and Jason Robards.  In lieu of Mrs. Gelb's splendid keynote address, we reprint an essay of hers, on almost the same subject, that appeared in the Spring 1996 issue of The New Theater Review, a Lincoln Center Theater publication (pp. 22-23).  And the essays in this issue by Professors Berlin, Bogard, Brucher, Porter, Liu and Smith & Eaton are revisions of papers delivered in Boston.  (Michael Abbot's, while new here, was actually written for the conference too, but Professor Abbott had to leave before its scheduled session.)  All of this, plus conference candids (by John Gillooly) strategically scattered throughout, should comprise a nice souvenir for attenders and a partial fill-in for absentees.

Speaking of absentees, the absence we most lamented was of medal-winner Geraldine Fitzgerald, who sent an acceptance speech that was read by an associate, Michael F. O'Neill.  I trust that neither will mind its inclusion here.

I am deeply moved by this honor because of the enormous significance Eugene O'Neill's work holds for me.  My relationship with O'Neill was truly solidified when I was cast as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night.  This production was brilliantly directed by the man who was to become one of my greatest friends—Arvin Brown.  Performing Mary Tyrone was a turning point in my life, reviving me artistically and personally.

 

In the years that followed, I had the chance to tackle some of Eugene's other great works.  I appeared in Ah, Wilderness! at Circle in the Square and got to share the stage with the wonderful Jason Robards in A Touch of the Poet, directed by the equally wonderful José Quintero.  All of this work I hold close to my heart.

 

I have been blessed with a long and rich life, but I think, as O'Neill well understood, life's conclusion brings its inevitable sadness and loss.  It is as a result of my recent losses that I cannot be with you tonight, and that itself is a loss, but being commemorated as one of “O'Neill's People” makes me feel like I am part of a community that will live forever.                              Thank you.

Thank you, too, Ms. Fitzgerald, both for your kind words and for the very special light you have shed, as skilled director and consummate actress, on the work of Eugene O'Neill.

On August 5th, at the Stratford Festival Theatre in Ontario, I had the pleasure and honor of presenting three more of Gil Whitman's beautiful medals (seen above)—to Martha Henry and William Hutt, Mary and James in Diana Leblanc's brilliant Stratford mounting of Long Day's Journey in 1994 and again in '95; and to the Festival, in the person of Artistic Director Richard Monette, for its splendid O'Neill productions of the last decade.  Robert McLean's illustrated review of the '94 Journey appeared in the last issue (pp. 179-184); but I'd like, in addition, to share with readers a tribute, both to that specific production and to O'Neill's underappreciated gift for evocative language, that appeared in Toronto's Globe and Mail on 20 July 1994 (p. C1).  And I thank its perceptive author, Robert Fulford, for letting me do so in this issue.

All the rest I'd intended to say I'll fold into the news and comments section.  Enjoy 1994.  I hope it was worth the wait!

Fred Wilkins