Monadnock Moment No. 172

Era 6: Development of the Industrial United States -
           1870 to 1900

Birth of a Playwright

Keene's Cheshire Republican newspaper of October 5, 1888, alerted its readers to the upcoming performance of "Monte Christo" with actor James O'Neill to be held at City Hall the following week. O'Neill and his company arrived in Keene and performed their theatrical version of Alexander Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Christo on October 10th. The Republican's critic reported that Mr. O'Neill presented a "striking bit of acting. As an interpreter of the sensational drama he has no superior…" The review concluded by stating that "Mr. O'Neill may be sure of a flattering reception if he returns to Keene in the future."

Actor James O'Neill had indeed become quite famous, and wealthy, as a result of his stirring interpretation of the Count of Monte Christo. The play was extremely popular across the country.

It is easy to imagine the audience vigorously applauding the performance that night at City Hall. Probably very few of those people realized, however, that O'Neill was expecting his wife to give birth to a child at any moment. Six days later in New York a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. James O'Neill. Many years later that son, undoubtedly influenced by his father's acting career, began to write plays. He eventually wrote dozens of plays and was awarded four Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize for his work. Among his many plays were "Desire Under the Elms," "The Iceman Cometh," and his autobiographical masterpiece, "Long Day's Journey Into Night." On that night in Keene 100 years ago actor James O'Neill was awaiting the birth of the son whom he would name Eugene O'Neill, and who would go on to become one of the most important playwrights in American history.