Performing O'Neill

"Eugene O'Neill is, arguably, the greatest American playwright. Performing O'Neill encompasses the whole range of activities, emotions, and methods employed in the acting and directing of his plays in the twentieth century. Yvonne Shafer begins by looking at the work of early O'Neill performers such as Paul Robeson, George M. Cohan, and Lynn Fontanne to limn the roots of the original productions. She then brings the discussion up to the present-day by talking to those actors and directors, both English and American, who have interpreted O'Neill's work in our time: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Michael Kahn, Jason Robards, Theodore Mann, Arvin Brown, Len Cariou, Teresa Wright, Gloria Foster, Edward Petherbridge, and Fritz Weaver. These great men and women of the theater frankly and openly discuss how they approached O'Neill, their attitudes toward his plays, and the pleasure of acting his great roles."--BOOK JACKET.