The Western Stage at Hartnell College will present the classic
stage play
”
Ah, Wilderness
”
starting Friday at the Performing Arts Center in Salinas.
The Western Stage at Hartnell College will present the classic stage play “Ah, Wilderness” starting Friday at the Performing Arts Center in Salinas.
Performances run through Aug. 3 and tickets are as little as $12 for a performance. For more information, call (831) 375-2111.
Set in a Connecticut house on July 4, 1906, the play centers on the story of Richard Miller, an optimistic young man who thinks that his lofty ideals, his favorite writers and his love for his high school sweetheart, Muriel McComber, will make his world a living paradise.
But, Richard’s beliefs are tested when his mother condemns his taste in literature, the morally corrupting works of Henrik Ibsen, Oscar Wilde, and A.C. Swinburne. His father questions his radical anti-capitalist rhetoric and Muriel breaks up with him under pressure from her father, who has discovered the scandalous poems Richard has been including in his love letters.
Spurned, Richard joins his brother’s school friend from Yale in a night of debauchery at a local tavern, but discovers in the process where his true values lie. “Ah, Wilderness” is a classic coming-of-age story.
Eugene O’Neill is considered one of America’s greatest playwrights, has works that include the classics “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “The Iceman Cometh,” “The Emperor Jones,” and “Desire Under the Elms” to name only a handful of his seventy dramatic works.
His style stretches the gambit of 20th Century theatricality, from the internal drama of expressionism to the hyper-detailed world of naturalism. “Ah, Wilderness” was written late in O’Neill’s career, a period predominantly associated with his tragedies, and stands out all the more as the only comedy in more than 40 years as a playwright.
O’Neill once said the inspiration for this play came to him in a dream.
He wrote in his diary back in 1932, that he woke with the idea for a “Nostalgic Comedy” and worked out a tentative outline “fully formed & ready to write.”
As with many of his plays, the subject of “Ah, Wilderness” was autobiographical.
He called the play “a dream walking” and “a comedy of recollection.”
However, unlike his other domestic tragedies, the family in “Ah, Wilderness” is not dysfunctional.
The play is directed by Stephanie Courtney, a graduate of Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island.
Her credits include Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus in Tennessee Williams’ “Orpheus Descending,” Caryl Churchill’s “Vinegar Tom,” Israel Horovitz’ “Line,” and Edna O’Brien’s “Virginia.”
She currently teaches Theatre History at Hartnell College, and serves as Volunteer Coordinator for The Western Stage.
The Western Stage continues its 29th season with the world premiere of Victor Villaenor’s “Rain of Gold” beginning Aug. 8.
On Sept. 6, the Western Stage welcomes Oscar and Tony award winning actor Joel Grey for a benefit performance of his one man show “Joel Grey: The Road to Cabaret” at Sherwood Hall in benefit for The Western Stage and Meals on Wheels of the Salinas Valley. Tickets are now available for this exciting evening which includes a dinner catered by Hullaballoo Restaurant, fine Monterey County wines and a reception with Mr. Grey following the show for sponsors and premium ticket holders.
The Western Stage continues its main stage season the following week with “Cabaret,” the show that made Joel Grey famous.
Other shows this season include “A Doll’s House,” “Anton in Show Business,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and the holiday favorite “A Christmas Carol: Scrooge & Marley.”
