COURSE INFORMATION

SGL Name: Steve Bloom

Course Meeting Times/Dates:  Wednesdays, 11:10 am - 12:35 pm, February 28 - May 8, 2024

Contact information of SGL:  617-759-0707

Course meets at 60 Turner Street in Waltham and sometimes (TBA) on Zoom: https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/95548972237

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This study group will combine a deep dive into one of the great American family dramas, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, by Eugene O’Neill, with the study of a brand new play called Thirst, by Ronan Noone, a clever “spin-off” from O’Neill’s play, which will be in production at the Lyric Stage in Boston this spring. Thirst focuses on the household help working in the Tyrone summer home as the action of Long Day’s Journey proceeds offstage. We will read and discuss Long Day’s Journey Into Night before reading and discussing Thirst, and then we will see and discuss the Lyric Stage production of Thirst. We will consider the text of that new play on its own merits, how it relates to O’Neill’s drama, and how it plays in production. We will then continue our study of the rich dramaturgical, psychological, sociological, and existential issues raised by Long Day’s Journey Into Night with the added perspective of at least one film version of the play. The class will be primarily given in person, although 3 – 4 sessions will be on Zoom. All study group members must see the Lyric Stage production, at their own expense, most likely a matinee performance on March 16th or 17th. Discount tickets will be available. Further details will be provided  before the term begins.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• To understand O’Neill’s significance and legacy in the history of American drama, in terms of dramaturgy and thematic content, as illustrated by Long Day’s Journey Into Night 

• To understand O’Neill’s vision of the human condition in Long Day’s Journey Into Night 

• To understand the ways in which O’Neill’s drama is highly autobiographical and at the same time universal 

• To understand and appreciate how Noone draws on characters and situations in O’Neill’s play to create a drama of his own that is independent of O’Neill’s 

• To understand and appreciate the “Irishness” of O’Neill’s drama and how Ronan Noone connects that to his original play, Thirst 

• To understand and appreciate how Noone depicts characters and situations that draw on and reflect the immigrant experience in America 

• To understand and appreciate O’Neill’s and Noone’s depictions of the human experience as seen through their perspectives as Irish Americans of their times

• To experience and understand the differences between reading a play on the page and watching it in performance on stage and on film 

• To appreciate the benefits and limitations of each genre, i.e., reading a play and seeing a live and filmed productions of a play