Welded 2022: A Conversation

Abstract

To say that the theater landscape shifted during the COVID era is an understatement. Yet, even during these trying times for the arts, and for theater in particular, productions of O’Neill’s plays have continued, often in bold and innovative ways. For example, there was a virtual production of the Irish Repertory Theatre’s A Touch of the Poet just as the pandemic was beginning and an Audible Theater production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night as the pandemic (hopefully) was winding down. In the throes of COVID, however, where any end point to the international nightmare remained nebulous, there was the Eugene O’Neill Foundation and, specifically, Eric Fraisher Hayes.Hayes, swiftly and successfully, pivoted to new modes of production and new ways of storytelling for the performances of the O’Neill Foundation. In 2020 he directed and filmed COVID-safe, script-in-hand performances of three of O’Neill’s early one-act plays: The Web, Recklessness, and Abortion. At the start of 2021 he and the Foundation launched “The Ghosts of Tao House,” a series of short films featuring actors performing monologues from O’Neill plays. These films drew on the beauty of the exterior and interior spaces of Tao House. In the fall of 2021 Hayes directed a film of Beyond the Horizon. While other theater companies recorded stage productions, Hayes conceived his Beyond the Horizon as a film, fundamentally distinct from the staged production that he and the Foundation would mount at around the same time. Compelling close-ups, integrated and original music, distinct camera angles, and wide-sweeping views of the gorgeous San Ramon Valley and Las Trampas Hills combined with first-rate acting make this Beyond the Horizon a highly successful film.Along with his exciting, artistic experimentations, Hayes used theCOVID moment to expand and enhance the scholarly presence for the Foundation productions. He oversaw the filming of nearly two dozen videos for the Foundation’s website in which scholars discuss various aspects of Beyond the Horizon, O’Neill’s “lost plays,” the playwright’s life, and American theater history. He also brought me on as the dramaturg for the Foundation’s fall and early spring productions (Beyond the Horizon, fall 2021; Welded, spring 2021). In addition to serving as the official researcher for these productions, I developed an interactive engagement guide for Beyond the Horizon and appeared with Hayes in a virtual, pre-show talk. The “ghosts” and the scholarly presentations are accessible, gratis, on the Foundation’s website (eugeneoneill.org), where one may also access the film of Beyond the Horizon for a modest fee.The production of Welded marked the return of live, in-person, and indoor theater for the Foundation. The production took place at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley in January 2022. In early February we chatted about Hayes’s bold choice to stage this historicallyneglected play, our long-distance collaboration, and Welded in a modern context.