The coming year may prove to be a banner year for the Eugene O’Neill National Historic site in Danville.
At Tao House in the Danville hills, playwright Eugene O’Neill and his wife Carlotta lived from1937-1944, and it is here that O’Neill penned his most notable plays, including A Long Days Journey into Night, The Iceman Cometh, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. During his lifetime the playwright received four Pulitzer prizes for Literature, and in 1936 was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature – the only American to ever receive this award. The playwright is regarded by many as “The Father of American Drama.”
Not only is 2016 the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, which operates the site in Danville , but the coming year has even greater significance for the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House. The non-profit Foundation is getting ready to celebrate with its 16th Annual Eugene O’Neill Festival from September 4 to October 4.
“The annual O’Neill gives us the opportunity to bring greater attention to O’Neill’s legacy,” says Foundation Co-President Gary Schaub. “Throughout the year the Eugene O’Neill Foundation coordinates a number of educational and community events, but the annual O’Neill Festival is at the top of our agenda.”
“We’re calling this year’s Festival ‘A Season of Desire,’” says Eric Fraisher Hayes, artistic director for the Foundation. “We experience desire through the eyes of two of America’s greatest playwrights. Through the Festival events, we’ll explore the drives behind the role of desire in human experiences.”
Working closely with Role Players Ensemble of Danville, the Town of Danvillle, and the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation will sponsor a month-long series of performances and events for the community in downtown Danville and at the Old Barn stage at the O’Neill Historic Site.
A full schedule of all Festival events can be found online at eugeneoneill.org. Tickets for events are available at the Town of Danville’s ticket service at villagetheatreshows.com.
The Festival opens on September 4 with Role Players Ensemble production of Tennessee Williams’ classic play A Streetcar Named Desire at the Village Theatre in downtown Danville. Directed by George McGuire, performances run through September 19.
The O’Neill Foundation will highlight the Festival with performances of O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms in the Old Barn at Tao House. This production opens September 18 and runs through September 27.
In addition to the two staged productions, the 16tth Annual Eugene O’Neill Festival has scheduled several panel discussions, tours and talks on themes related to the Festival theme of “Desire.”
A special screening of the 1951 Academy Award-winning film A Streetcar Named Desire is planned for Thursday, September 10 at the Village Theatre, featuring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh.
A lively panel discussion, “100 Years of Desire” will be held at the Old Barn at Tao House on Saturday, September 19, to review desire as depicted in cinema, theatre and literature.
Biographer and novelist, John Lahr, son of comic Bert Lahr, will discuss his biography of Tennessee Williams and his new book “Joyride” at Rakestraw Books in Danville on Sunday, October 4.