A Guide to the Letter to Robert Sisk, 1932 O'Neill, Eugene, Letter to Robert Sisk 6448-m

A Guide to the Letter to Robert Sisk, 1932

A Collection in the
Clifton Waller Barrett Library
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 6448-m

Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Reference Request Form: https://small.lib.virginia.edu/reference-request/
URL: http://small.library.virginia.edu/

Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Special Collections Department

Repository

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Accession number

6448-m

Title

Letter to Robert Sisk, 27 December 1932

Physical Characteristics

This collection consists of 1 item, ALS, 3 pages on 2 l.

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Letter to Robert Sisk, Accession # 6448-m, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased on 16 November 1992.

Scope and Content Information

In this letter from Eugene O'Neill, Sea Island, Georgia, to Robert Sisk O'Neill (1888-1953) O'Neill thanks Robert Sisk (1901?-1964), the publicity manager for the Theatre Guild, for sending him the Monte Cristo program; his father, James O'Neill, played the role of Monte Cristo, alone or in repertory until 1912. He reports that he has been working hard on two plays, Ah , Wilderness and Days Without End , since arriving at Sea Island, which has proved harder work than doing the play Mourning Becomes Electra , "The one I've worked hardest and longest at is based on the idea I told you about, but it has managed to get itself involved in all sorts of tangles - the old trouble (mine) of trying to make a thing hold more than it can hold - and I don't yet see my way out." He sums up his difficulties, "I feel sort of in an intermediary phase, full of all sorts of new ideas - too many, that's just the trouble - while at the same time obsessed with a more than usual lack of enthusiasm about the theatre and my own job of playwright as represented by my past work." He also mentions trouble with indigestion, the effects of the Depression upon his area of Georgia, and his plans to take a New Year's vacation.