The First Five Years:
1964-69


Cast members prepare for BEDFORD FOREST
by Joel Oliansky (OPC ’66)
The 1966 National Playwrights Conference opened with BEDFORD FOREST. The amphitheater was completed the afternoon of the opening. Up until “the house” actually opened, we were still hosing down the asphalt to cool it and allow to harden. The production was a great success and many local people filled out the cast of soldiers (included in the group, who also volunteered to build the amphitheater, was 19-year-old aspiring actor Michael Douglas).

In an attempt to complete the mirror of a Broadway experience, I had enlisted the aid of some prominent critics to sit on stage after the performance and critique the play, and also to hold a session with the playwright. In the case of BEDFORD FOREST, the post-play session was extremely positive, entertaining for the audience, and possibly instructive for the playwright.

THE BIRD, THE BEAR, AND THE ACTRESS was less successful. Franchot Tone was excellent, but the play was not as well received as a Civil War epic. The after-play critique was respectful, but unenthusiastic.

Two especially prophetic events were the premiere of Gallaudet College’s deaf sign language production of IPHIGENIA IN AULIS, and the staged readings held in informal spaces such as the kitchen’s back yard, created with seating from the local little league baseball field. In the former case, The National Theater of the Deaf was launched and would, for the next ten years, be a program of the O’Neill Center, until it became independent in 1977. The backyard readings were surprisingly successful, and received a great deal of enthusiastic attention. The young actor Al Pacino performed in Israel Horovitz’s THE INDIAN WANTS THE BRONX, while John Guare created the character of Artie in his play THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES.


(l to r) John Guare, George White and Michael Douglas
at the O’Neill’s 20th anniversary event
At the 1966 “Conference on the Conference,” it was generally determined that the staged readings were so successful that they should be the route to follow. In addition, a variety of seminars were held making the Playwrights Conference truly a conference. Albee and Barr came back, and other useful discussions were held, led by agent Audrey Wood, producer William Darrid, and David LeVine, executive director of the Dramatists Guild.

This pivotal summer shaped the future, and the O’Neill programs such as the Theater of the Deaf began.

In the fall and winter of 1966-67, efforts were made to build a more sound financial base, and promote ourselves. I was able to interest NBC in doing a television special on the Theater of the Deaf, which insured national attention, and I enlisted the interest of the Rockefeller Foundation in the possibility of a multi-year grant to develop the National Playwrights Conference. The major drawback to foundation funding was the newness, and the youth of the major instigators. Due to the cleverness of Rockefeller Arts Director Robert Crawford, he suggested if I could find an established institution willing to oversee the program, he could route a grant through it to the O’Neill Center. J Ranelli, a young drama instructor at Wesleyan, was key in convincing the college to accept a three year, $100,000 per year grant on our behalf. Built into the funding was also a program for drama teachers and a series of theater seminars at Wesleyan organized and chaired by Audrey Wood.

 

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