Actors, Acting, and Activism: Performing Eugene O’Neill’s Plays
CFP:
Actors, Acting, and Activism: Performing Eugene O’Neill’s Plays
In Racing the Great White Way, Katie N. Johnson argues that beginning with The Emperor Jones, Eugene O’Neill’s plays paved the way for African American performers like Charles Gilpin and Paul Robeson by breaking the color-barrier in casting on Broadway and elsewhere. At the same time, Johnson demonstrates how theatermakers of color from different backgrounds and nationalities reimagined O’Neill’s characters and plays in order to challenge racial barriers in American and transatlantic theater and film. O’Neill’s plays, in other words, have provided a compelling resource for actors, acting, and even activism.
The Eugene O’Neill Review is soliciting peer-review articles on the topic of “Actors, Acting, and Activism: Performing Eugene O’Neill’s Plays” for EOR 48.2. Submissions could address any of the following:
- Actors known and acclaimed for performing O’Neill plays (Charles Gilpin, Paul Robeson, Jason Robards, Colleen Dewhurst, Jessica Tandy, Jessica Lange)
- The ways actors reimagined the characters of O’Neill’s plays
- The performance of O’Neill’s plays and characters in translation
- The role of acting/actors for O’Neill’s plays/characters (James Tyrone...)
- Social performance and performativity in O’Neill plays
- Practice-based or pedagogical approaches to acting an O’Neill script
- Casting, especially non-traditional casting for O’Neill plays
Please submit 5,000-10,000 word articles to the Editorial Management system for Penn State University Press: https://www.editorialmanager.com/eor/default.aspx
Information about the Eugene O’Neill Review can be found here:
Deadline: January 1st, 2027.
If you have any questions, email J. Chris Westgate at eugeneoneillrevieweditor@gmail.com