Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Announces Opening Of Monte Cristo Cottage 5/27

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today that Monte Cristo Cottage, boyhood summer home of Eugene O?Neill , setting for two of his most revered plays, Long Day?s Journey Into Night and Ah, Wilderness!, will be open for public tours Thursday, May 27 through Labor Day weekend; Thursday through Saturday, noon to 4 pm; Sundays 1-3 pm. The Cottage will be closed on Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Monte Cristo Cottage, a National Historic Landmark, is located at 325 Pequot Avenue, New London. The Cottage is named after the role of The Count of Monte Cristo, made famous by Eugene O'Neill's father, actor James O'Neill.

Monte Cristo Cottage was built in the 1840?s and purchased in 1974 by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center to serve as a cultural resource. It features museum space relative to the life and work of New London's most famous son and America's only playwright to win the Noble Prize in Literature. Cottage collections continue to evolve, most recently with the opening of Ella's Room, the bedroom of O'Neill's mother, Mary Ellen "Ella" Quinlan O'Neill. With a collection of O'Neill and theater literature, the Cottage also serves as a center for the study of O'Neill and his work.

Preston Whiteway, executive director of the Eugene O?Neill Theater Center noted: "The Monte Cristo Cottage is a National Treasure, and one of the leading tourist attractions in New London. Walking into the house is taking a trip into American literature. I'm pleased to open the doors to this literary landmark to the public once more."

General admission to the Monte Cristo Cottage is $7 per person, $5 for students and seniors, and $5 per person for groups of ten or more. O?Neill Members are free of charge.

For more information on Cottage tours or docent opportunities , contact Trevor M. Wise, 860-443-5378 x 285, twise@theoneill.org.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O?Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. The O?Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.

O?Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has received the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, a special Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence in 1979, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org

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