Why an exploration of Eugene ONeill?
A. This is a project that no other theater in the country would ever do or has thought of doing or would be crazy enough to even contemplate. The Goodman is able to do this exploration because we have more than 20 years of experience producing the work of Eugene O’Neill, who I think of as the American Shakespeare. He is America’s most influential and greatest playwright and we have had tremendous success with our productions of O’Neill’s difficult and complex plays. Q. You will be directing O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms as the centerpiece of the exploration. What is your approach to this famous masterpiece? A. O’Neill, who I truly love, is a challenge. In a way, he is like an old pair of shoes with rocks and pebbles in them. I know him so well, but his work is hard, it’s tough—those shoes are hard to walk in. You really have to struggle with his plays and work with them. I wanted to force myself to think in new ways, so this production of Desire Under the Elms is a bit more extreme t
