Eugene O'Neill Award

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The Eugene O'Neill Award (Swedish: O'Neill-stipendiet) is one of Sweden's finest awards for stage actors. It is a scholarship for actors at the Swedish theater. It has been awarded annually by the Royal Dramatic Theatre since 1956.[1][2][3]

Eugene O'Neill
U. S. Postage (1967)

History[edit]

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (1888–1953) was a noted American playwright. He was a four winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama and was the Nobel laureate for literature in 1936.[4]

Just before Eugene O'Neill died in 1953, he drew up a will in which he gave the then not yet staged play Long Day's Journey Into Night (written in 1941) to Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre, along with exclusive first performance rights. The play had its world premiere in Stockholm on February 2, 1956. The gesture was as thanks for the Royal Dramatic Theatre's continued interest in staging his plays (more so than any other theatre in the world), and for Swedish appreciation of his work long before he became recognized internationally, or in his home country.[5][6]

Later his widow American stage and film actress Carlotta Monterey (1888– 1970), also gave the Royal Dramatic Theatre the performing rights to A Touch of the Poet (1942), Hughie (1942) and More Stately Mansions (posthumous). She refused staging fees for his plays in Sweden, provided that 8% of the royalties from the revenues of each performance were given to the Eugene O'Neill Memory Fund, which manages the money for the Eugene O'Neill Award.[7][8][9]

The scholarship is bestowed annually on the 16th of October, the anniversary of O'Neill's birthday. In accordance with O'Neill's own wishes, it is given to "highly deserving actors of the Royal Dramatic Theatre". Recipients of the award are decided by Dramaten's board of directors. As an extra honour to Eugene O'Neill, the first award was granted to the two actors who played the leading parts of James and Mary Tyrone in the original staging of Long Day's Journey Into Night at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in February 1956; Lars Hanson (1886–1965) and Inga Tidblad (1901–1975).[10][11][12]

Recipients[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "O'Neill-stipendiet". pressmeddelandena från Dramaten. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  2. ^ "O ́Neill-pris" (PDF). Dramaten. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Eugene O'Neill". eoneill.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Eugene O'Neill, Biography". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Long Days Journey Into Night". Jonathan Cape. London, England. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Long Day's Journey Into Night". The Broadway League. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Carlotta Monterey". The Broadway League. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Hughie". The Broadway League. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  9. ^ "More Stately Mansions". The Broadway League. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Lars Hanson". Svensk Filmdatabas. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Inga Tidblad". Svensk Filmdatabas. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Tidigare O´Neill-stipendiater". Dramaten. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Dramaten – press release". Cision Wire. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2010.

External links[edit]