Eugene O'Neill Theater Center#National Playwrights Conference

{{Short description|Non-profit theater development facility and school, Waterford, Connecticut}}

{{about|the theater in Waterford, Connecticut|the theater in Manhattan, New York|Eugene O'Neill Theatre}}

{{Infobox venue

| name = Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

| image = EOTC HammondMansion.jpg

| image_size = 325px

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| caption = The Hammond Mansion, "Ironsides", in 2017

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| address = 305 Great Neck Road

| city = Waterford, Connecticut

| country = United States

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| type = Regional Theater

| opened = 1964

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| website = {{URL|http://www.theoneill.org}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = Walnut Grove

| nrhp_type = hd

| nocat = yes

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| coordinates = {{coord|41|18|37|N|72|6|35|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Connecticut#USA

| built = 1822

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| architecture = Federal, Gothic Revival, et al.

| added = September 21, 2005

| area = {{convert|40|acre}}

| refnum = 05001044{{NRISref|2009a}}

}}

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) 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 Awards, the 1979 Special Award and the 2010 Regional Theatre Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search?start=0&year=&award=&lname=Eugene+O~Neill&fname=&show=|title=Search Past Tony Award Winners and Nominees – TonyAwards.com – The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards® – Official Website by IBM|work=TonyAwards.com|access-date=12 October 2015}} President Obama presented the 2015 National Medal of Arts to The O'Neill on September 22, 2016.{{cite web | url=https://www.arts.gov/news/2016/president-obama-award-national-medals-arts | title=President Obama to Award 2015 National Medals of Arts | publisher=NEA | date=September 14, 2016 | access-date=January 23, 2018 | archive-date=August 23, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823204350/https://www.arts.gov/news/2016/president-obama-award-national-medals-arts | url-status=dead }}

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{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaltheaterinstitute.org/|title=National Theater Institute|work=nationaltheaterinstitute.org|access-date=12 October 2015}} (established 1970), an intensive study-away semester for undergraduates. Its major theater conferences include the National Playwrights Conference{{cite web |title=National Playwrights Conference (History) |url=https://www.theoneill.org/npc |website=The O'Neill - Eugene O'Neill Theater Center |access-date=September 17, 2024}} (est. 1964); the National Critics Conference{{cite news | url=http://thefastertimes.com/theatertalk/2010/06/03/at-the-eugene-oneill-theater-centers-critics-institute-5q4-dan-sullivan/ | work=The Faster Times | title=At the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Critics Institute 5Q4 Dan Sullivan | first=Davi | last=Napoleon | date=June 3, 2010 | access-date=June 4, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607063149/http://thefastertimes.com/theatertalk/2010/06/03/at-the-eugene-oneill-theater-centers-critics-institute-5q4-dan-sullivan/ | archive-date=June 7, 2010 | url-status=usurped }} (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.{{cite news |last1=Stern |first1=Alan |title=Inspired under the elms - The O’Neill Center: Summer camp for playwrights |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-08-31_11_35/page/n65/mode/1up |access-date=September 17, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=August 31, 1982}}{{cite web |title=New Work by Decade (1966-1969) |url=https://www.theoneill.org/newwork |website=The O'Neill - Eugene O'Neill Theater Center |access-date=September 17, 2024}} The Monte Cristo Cottage, Eugene O'Neill's childhood home in New London, Connecticut, 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 in Waterford Beach Park, has four major performance spaces: two indoor and two outdoor. The O'Neill is led by Executive Director Tifanni Gavin.{{cite web | url=https://www.theoneill.org/staff | title=Leadership & Staff at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center }}

The estate, also known as Walnut Grove or Hammond Estate, was added to the National Register of Historic Places 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) [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/07/nyregion/eugene-o-neill-center-may-get-remains-of-tycoon-who-chased-him-off-it.html "Eugene O'Neill Center May Get Remains of Tycoon Who Chased Him Off It"] The New York Times