|
Ubderlying drama heats up readings
The artistic process that goes along with creating drama can often itself be the cause of much drama. In the case of the unique collaboration between the Yale Dramat and the New York City-based Playwrights Theater, students have been able to take from their experience much more than simple dramatic exercize. On Sun., Nov. 8, at 7 p.m., student directors, producers and actors will present a staged reading of three of Eugene O'Neill's early works in the Davenport common room. This production, jointly undertaken by the Dramat and the Playwrights Theater, will be assisted by Steven Kennedy Murphy—playwright, artistic director, and founder of Playwrights Theater. The students involved are taking part in the first phase of Murphy's plan to stage all 49 of O'Neill's plays over the next eight years. Murphy kicked off his pet project this summer when Playwrights Theater hosted a month-long festival celebrating O'Neill's works. Housed in the same Greenwich Village theater in which O'Neill staged his first New York production, Playwrights Theater staged seven of O'Neill's earliest plays in the month of August. This weekend's readings of Abortion, The Movie Man, and Bound East For Cardiff will mark the eighth, ninth and tenth installations in the overall project. O'Neill, quite arguably one of the greatest American playwrights of this century, is known for such plays as The Iceman Cometh and Desire Under The Elms. The three one-act plays (one comedy and two melodramas) being produced this weekend are from the early years of O'Neill's career and, while perhaps not as sophisticated as some of his later masterpieces, show the foundations upon which he would come to build his future works. Murphy began his career as an opera director. After his first big-time gig in New London, Conn., he found that he was dissatisfied with the path his work was taking. A friend suggested he study O'Neill's work, an endeavor that would become a life-long artistic pursuit. A firm believer in destiny, Murphy soon realized that his calling in life was to present O'Neill's work to a larger audience. "Many are called and few are chosen—that's something that few people can say, but I had that for [this project]," he explained. Murphy cited O'Neill's willingness to take artistic risks as his most appealing quality as a writer: "He did wild experiments that no one had ever done before. Everyone should experiment as much. He's a monument to process, whether you like his work or hate it." The collaboration between Murphy and the Yale Dramat has presented some unique conflicts. Murphy, who came to Yale multiple times last year to direct students in a production of two other O'Neill plays, has now passed directing responsibilities onto the students. Murphy has been making weekend trips to New Haven since the middle of October to help guide the creative process. "My dominant role is that of teacher. That's how I came into [the project]. I'm teaching a workshop. I'm presenting their work," Murphy said. Lilly Tuttle, PC '99, director of Bound East For Cardiff, said of the endeavor, "It's been, for the most part, a positive experience. It's unusual, as a director, to have someone watching you all the time, making criticisms and giving input." Although this leads to some self-consciousness on the part of the directors, Tuttle added, " If you think you're beyond criticism, you're in big trouble. I see [Murphy] as a good resource—he knows more about the play than I do and I can bounce ideas off of him and be cofident to ask for a second opinion. But I still see it as my work." Murphy also recognized this need for artistic autonomy. "There is tension, but it's the kind of tension that comes from people who have chemistry," he said. "If there weren't such strong personalities involved, the work would be a fucking bore. I realize now that I need to let the directors make their own mistakes." Before performing at Yale on Sunday, those involved with the production will travel to Provincetown, Mass., the town in which O'Neill first staged his work, on Sat., Nov. 7. Murphy hopes one day to include Yale students in his annual summer festival in New York City. "It's been an exciting, chaotic experience," he said. " I frustrate them, they frustrate me. In the end, they frustrate me into learning something." | ||||||||||||||||||||
