The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in
Waterford, Connecticut, is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...
non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill, seating just over 1,000 guests. The center has received two
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
s, the 1979 Special Award and the 2010 Regional Theatre Award.
President Obama presented the 2015
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
to The O'Neill on September 22, 2016.
The O'Neill is a multi-disciplinary institution; it has had a transformative effect on
American theater. The O'Neill pioneered play development and stage readings as a tool for new plays and musicals. It is home to the National Theater Institute (established 1970), an intensive study-away semester for undergraduates. Its major theater conferences include the National Playwrights Conference (est. 1964); the National Critics Conference (est. 1968), the National Musical Theater Conference (est. 1978), the National Puppetry Conference (est. 1990), and the Cabaret & Performance Conference (est. 2005). The first full-fledged National Playwrights Conference took place in the summer of 1966. The
Monte Cristo Cottage,
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
's childhood home in
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
, was purchased and restored by the O'Neill in the 1970s and is maintained as a museum. The theater's campus, overlooking
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
in Waterford Beach Park, has four major performance spaces: two indoor and two outdoor. The O'Neill is led by Executive Director Tifanni Gavin.
The estate, also known as Walnut Grove or Hammond Estate, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on September 21, 2005, for its architectural significance, and its associations with Revolutionary War Colonel
William North and Edward Crowninshield Hammond, a wealthy railroad tycoon who frequently had the young O'Neill thrown off of the property when he owned it.
[Verde, Tom (October 7, 1996]
"Eugene O'Neill Center May Get Remains of Tycoon Who Chased Him Off It"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
Major works
The following is a list of plays, musicals, and performance pieces first developed at the O'Neill that have gone on to further success.
; National Playwrights Conference
* ''
Slave Play'' -
Jeremy O. Harris (2018)
* ''I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard'' –
Halley Feiffer (2014)
* ''
The Nether'' –
Jennifer Haley (2011), Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2012
* ''
The Receptionist'' –
Adam Bock (2006)
* ''
Fuddy Meers'' –
David Lindsay-Abaire (1998)
* ''Trueblinka'' –
Adam Rapp (1997)
* ''
Seven Guitars'' –
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
(1994)
* ''
The Piano Lesson'' –
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
(1986)
* ''
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage, based on the novel ''Joe'' (1991) by Larry Brown
* Joe (2023 film), an Indian film
* ''Joe'' (TV se ...
'' –
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
(1984)
* ''
Fences'' –
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
(1983)
* ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' –
John Patrick Shanley (1982)
* ''
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' –
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
(1982)
* ''
Agnes of God'' –
John Pielmeier (1979)
* ''
FOB'' –
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...
(1979)
* ''
Bent'' –
Martin Sherman (1978)
* ''
Uncommon Women and Others'' –
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...
(1977)
* ''A History of the American Film'' –
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (January 2, 1949 – April 2, 2024) was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in th ...
(1976)
* ''
Madmen and Specialists'' –
Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka , (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian author, best known as a playwright and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty five plays and five memoirs. He also wrote two transla ...
(1970)
* ''
House of Blue Leaves'' –
John Guare
John Guare ( ; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''.
Early life
He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckma ...
(1966)
; National Musical Theater Conference
* ''
Tales of the City'' (2009)
* ''
In the Heights'' (2005),
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
, (2008)
* ''
Avenue Q'' (2002),
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
, (2004)
* ''
The Wild Party'' (1997)
* ''
Nine
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit
Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...
'' (1979),
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
, Best Musical, 1982
; Cabaret & Performance Conference
* ''
The Story of My Life'' (2006)
* ''
title of show'' (2005)
; National Critics Conference
* ''
Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater'' –
Davi Napoleon
Notable O'Neill alumni
; National Theater Institute
*
Emily Bergl
Emily Bergl (born Anne Emily Bergl;''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com 25 April 1975) is an English-born American actress. Bergl is known for her roles as Rachel Lang in the supernatural horror ...
*
Adam Bock (''
The Receptionist'')
*
Gordon Clapp (''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...
'')
*
Jack Coleman (''
Heroes'')
*
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...
*
Rachel Dratch (''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'')
*
Chris Elliott (''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'')
*
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on '' Lost'' (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include ...
*
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Company ...
*
Paul Hodes (US Congressman, New Hampshire)
*
Daniel Dae Kim
Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in network television and theater. In 2025, ''Time'' magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people.
On television, he portray ...
*
Kristina Klebe
*
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), where he was also a producer and occasional director. He directed, co-w ...
(''
The Office
''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
'')
*
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series '' Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the Britis ...
(''
Entourage'')
*
Michael Portnoy
*
Josh Radnor (''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'')
*
Kate Robin (''
Six Feet Under'')
*
Sam Robards
*
Britain Simons
*
Mark Teschner
*
Rebecca Taichman
*
Elizabeth Olsen
*
Adam Shulman
*
Cynthia Wade
; Conference Playwrights
*
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
*
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...
*
Lee Blessing
*
Julia Cho
*
Kathleen Clark
*
Kia Corthron
*
Joe DiPietro
*
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (January 2, 1949 – April 2, 2024) was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in th ...
*
Jacob Aaron Estes
*
Rebecca Gilman
*
Gina Gionfriddo
*
John Guare
John Guare ( ; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''.
Early life
He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckma ...
*
Willy Holtzman
*
Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio and ...
*
Samuel D. Hunter
*
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...
*
David Lindsay-Abaire
*
Adam Rapp
*
John Patrick Shanley
*
Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...
*
Regina Taylor
*
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...
*
August Wilson
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...
*
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Performing groups established in 1964
Theatre companies in Connecticut
Drama schools in the United States
Theatres in Connecticut
Tony Award winners
Buildings and structures in Waterford, Connecticut
Tourist attractions in New London County, Connecticut
Buildings and structures in New London County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut
Federal architecture in Connecticut
Gothic Revival architecture in Connecticut
1820s architecture in the United States
Historic districts in New London County, Connecticut
1964 establishments in Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Special Tony Award recipients