Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

This article is about the theater in Waterford, Connecticut. For the theater in Manhattan, New York, see Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
The Hammond Mansion, "Ironsides",[1] in 2017
Map
Address305 Great Neck Road
Waterford, Connecticut
United States
TypeRegional Theater
Opened1964
Website
www.theoneill.org
Walnut Grove
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center is located in Connecticut
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center is located in the United States
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
Coordinates41°18′37″N 72°6′35″W / 41.31028°N 72.10972°W / 41.31028; -72.10972
Area40 acres (16 ha)
Built1822
Architectural styleFederal, Gothic Revival, et al.
NRHP reference No.05001044[2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 21, 2005

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill, seating just over 1,000 guests. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Award and the 2010 Regional Theatre Award.[3] President Obama presented the 2015 National Medal of Arts to The O'Neill on September 22, 2016.[4]

The O'Neill is a multi-disciplinary institution; it has had a transformative effect on American theater. The O'Neill pioneered play development and stage readings as a tool for new plays and musicals. It is home to the National Theater Institute[5] (established 1970), an intensive study-away semester for undergraduates. Its major theater conferences include the National Playwrights Conference[6] (est. 1964); the National Critics Conference[7] (est. 1968), the National Musical Theater Conference (est. 1978), the National Puppetry Conference (est. 1990), and the Cabaret & Performance Conference (est. 2005). The first full-fledged National Playwrights Conference took place in the summer of 1966.[8][9] The Monte Cristo Cottage, Eugene O'Neill's childhood home in New London, Connecticut, was purchased and restored by the O'Neill in the 1970s and is maintained as a museum. The theater's campus, overlooking Long Island Sound in Waterford Beach Park, has four major performance spaces: two indoor and two outdoor. The O'Neill is led by Executive Director Tifanni Gavin.[10]

The estate, also known as Walnut Grove or Hammond Estate, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 21, 2005, for its architectural significance, and its associations with Revolutionary War Colonel William North and Edward Crowninshield Hammond, a wealthy railroad tycoon who frequently had the young O'Neill thrown off of the property when he owned it.[1]

  1. ^ a b Verde, Tom (October 7, 1996) "Eugene O'Neill Center May Get Remains of Tycoon Who Chased Him Off It" The New York Times
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "Search Past Tony Award Winners and Nominees – TonyAwards.com – The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards® – Official Website by IBM". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  4. ^ "President Obama to Award 2015 National Medals of Arts". NEA. September 14, 2016. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "National Theater Institute". nationaltheaterinstitute.org. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  6. ^ "National Playwrights Conference (History)". The O'Neill - Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Napoleon, Davi (June 3, 2010). "At the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Critics Institute 5Q4 Dan Sullivan". The Faster Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  8. ^ Stern, Alan (August 31, 1982). "Inspired under the elms - The O'Neill Center: Summer camp for playwrights". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  9. ^ "New Work by Decade (1966-1969)". The O'Neill - Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "Leadership & Staff at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center".