2014 O'Neill Society panel at the MLA convention
2014 9–12 January, Chicago
“O’Neill and the City”
Our host city of this year’s MLA Conference is Chicago, and, coincidentally, this city has become a major site in recent years of revivals of the plays of Eugene O’Neill. The importance of urban settings, including the depiction of life in specific cities, has played an important role in the plays of Eugene O’Neill. One thinks of the presence of New York City in The Iceman Cometh, or in the recently discovered Exorcism. One also thinks of the influence Greenwich Village had while home to O’Neill in the writing of his early plays.
Our panel will address the many aspects of O’Neill and his relationship to urban life, either as depicted in his plays, his own environment as it influenced his writing, or in the producing of his plays, including major revivals.
The Eugene O’Neill Society at the American Literature Association
24th Annual Conference
May 23-26, 2013
Westin Copley Place
Boston, MA 02116
Following our successful collaborations in the past, for the 2013 ALA Conference, the Eugene O’Neill Society again joins the American Theatre and Drama Society, the Arthur Miller Society, the Susan Glaspell Society, and the Thornton Wilder Society, as well as a newly formed August Wilson group, this time to collaborate on a series of panels and roundtables on the theme of The Theater of Engagement, conceived in the broadest sense. The topic is meant to include social political, and historical engagement, as well as engagement in philosophical and aesthetic ideas, and engagement with other theater artists, audiences, and texts. Contributions that analyze or extend the idea of engagement are especially welcome. Contributions from O’Neill Society members are solicited for two sessions:
- Eugene O’Neill and the Theater of Engagement
This panel will explore external engagement in relation to O'Neill’s work.
- Roundtable: The Theater of Engagement
Each of the drama societies will be sending one participant to a collaborative roundtable exploring the topic of The Theater of Engagement.
Details about the conference are available on the American Literature Association Website.