A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Exorcism

Short Play, Drama  /  5m

Eugene O'Neill

Revolving around a suicide attempt, Exorcism draws on a dark incident in O’Neill’s own life. This defining event led to his first serious efforts to write...

Exorcism

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5m
  • Duration
    Duration
    60 minutes (1 hour)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Biography, Period
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Revolving around a suicide attempt, Exorcism draws on a dark incident in O’Neill’s own life. This defining event led to his first serious efforts to write. Exorcism displays early examples of O’Neill’s unparalleled skills of capturing deeply personal human drama, and it explores major themes—mourning and melancholia, addiction and sobriety, tensions between fathers and sons—that would permeate his later work.
History
Premiered with the Provincetown Players in 1920.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
NED MALLOY
JIMMY - his roommate
MAJOR ANDREWS
EDWARD MALLOY - Ned’s father
NORDSTRUM
  • Time Period 1920s, 1910s / WWI
  • Setting Interior of a New York City rooming house. 
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features No intermission
  • Duration 60 minutes (1 hour)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Drugs
    • Intense Adult Themes

Media

"Exorcism might be read as a preparatory sketch that resonates powerfully with Long Day’s Journey into Night, one that brings the O’Neill family drama full circle in ways at once intimate and grandly conceived.” - Louise Bernard, Yale Univeristy 

"Exorcism [is] a kind of portrait of the artist as a young man." - npr.org

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing available for professional groups only. Some restrictions apply.
    Minimum Fee: $75 per performance

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Authors

Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O’Neill, born in New York City on October 16, 1888, was the first great American playwright. His father was James O’Neill, the famous dramatic actor, and during his early years, O’Neill often traveled with his parents. Beyond the Horizon (1920), the first of his plays ...

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