When 2 time TONY award winner Brian Dennehy honored us last year with an interview onstage at SCTC I asked him what it took for an actor to play in an O'Neill play. His answer, to paraphrase, was " You need to leave your heart, emotion, laughter and tears onstage. You need to give him everything". I conveyed this to my cast for "Exorcism" two weeks ago as our play was taking shape. After last night's dress rehearsal it proved that they are great students of Mr. Dennehy. As a playwright, directing O'Neill is always something that can lead to dark places. His work is so honest and personal that, if you are brave enough to dig deep inside his words, he will lead you to your own personal darkness through his own. He shows you the "secret" as he later wrote about in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and, as he wrote, that your "seeing the secret..ARE the secret". The humor in this dark play is also honest and comes from a place of alcoholic pain and mask wearing. This play is genuinely very funny which, I think, might surprise some. "Exorcism - a Play in One Act" is a deep, pointed look into a young man's genius...and pain. I am honored to travel this road with the master and to have such an incredible cast of gifted actors to share this path with me. I hope to see you this weekend at SCTC. I hope Brian would approve.
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