The Eugene O'Neill Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE:

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EDITOR'S FOREWORD

By the time this issue reaches subscribers, the semi-officially designated O'Neill centennial year (October 16, 1987 - October 16. 1988) will have begun, and the "countdown to centennial" and news sections herein offer abundant evidence that the event will definitely not pass unnoticed. Conferences in Belgium. Sweden and China are scheduled for the period from mid-May to early June of 1988; and a fourth, in Tokyo, is being planned by Yoshiteru Kurokawa. (Details of the Japanese conference will be announced as soon as they are formulated.) While the Hartford Stage Company can hardly be faulted for claiming that its imminent production of A Moon for the Misbegotten will "celebrate the centennial of Connecticut playwright Eugene O'Neill," the international interest in the dramatist would suggest that he can rightly be considered a "citizen of the world"! Note, for instance, the title of the O'Neill session at this year's MLA Convention in San Francisco on Tuesday, December 29: "Eugene O'Neill and the Orient." That session, directed by O'Neill Society Secretary-Treasurer Jordan Miller, will be held at Noon in the Tamalpais Room of the San Francisco Hilton. (See this issue's Society section for details of the other Society events at MLA: meetings of the Board and membership later on the 29th, and a Special trip to nearby Tao House at midday on the 28th.) America, too, of course, is well represented in the roster of centenary salutes—productions, publications, and a public television triptych: a heady blend of activities that will atone somewhat for the disregard O'Neill suffered in his homeland during his last decade and a half. And Connecticut deserves special praise, considering the Collaborations III project co-sponsored by Connecticut College in New London and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford. (See the "countdown" section in this issue.) The Newsletter is eager to publicize and laud all other such projects, big or small, and urges planners to report their projects as soon as possible.

Precentennial activities are becoming so many that the editor is finding it increasingly difficult to keep tabs on them all. In addition, spatial limitations prevent the inclusion in this issue of a number of book and performance reviews that were promised in the last issue. Apologies, therefore, to reviewers and readers; the promises will be kept in the next issue, which I hope will be in the mail by Christmas. (Note that that is not a promise. I'm learning to be prudent and wary!)

Rather than reiterate any more of what is already available elsewhere, I'd like to offer some words of advise to those who wish to contribute articles and reviews to future issues. The bulk of the present issue comprises papers that were previously delivered at conferences, but we are particularly eager to receive scholarship that has not appeared before in any forum. And publication will be likelier and speedier if a submission is well written, employs the new MLA documentation style (parenthetical references, referring to a concluding list of "works cited," rather than footnotes), and is accompanied by information about the author that can be used in compiling the "persons represented" section when the article appears. A number of submissions are still awaiting the time needed for editorial overhaul or later biographical data. I regret the delay, and urge future contributors to shorten it by checking this and previous issues and utilizing the format that has become standard. Granted, multiple formats have been accepted, and they will continue to be accepted. But uniformity is still an editorial dream hereabouts!

Another dream, though perhaps just as hopeless a hope, is for the Newsletter to become a true and complete clearing house for information about all O'Neill-related activities around the world. That's a rather grandiose ambition for a one-person operation; but it can at least approach realization if every reader remembers to report to the editor everything that he or she sees, hears and attends. Don't just attend productions of O'Neill's plays; review them, and request photographs that can accompany the reviews. (You're likely to be admitted gratis if you announce your critical intent.) Don't just send a reprint of your essays that have been published elsewhere; I certainly welcome same, but seldom have the time to abstract them all. Your own abstract will not only ease my burden; it will assure you fair and accurate representation. Remember that the Newsletter is your "letter to the world"--at least to seventeen of its countries. And the world is looking forward to your next missive! As am I.

The Eugene O'Neill Newsletter, Vol. XI, No. 2, 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.