Muddy Waters Theatre Presents Eugene O'Neill's NOW I ASK YOU 6/11 - 6/27

Friday, June 11, marks the opening of Muddy Waters' production of the 1916 Eugene O'Neill comedy -- yes, really -- Now I Ask You. We are certain it is a Midwest premiere and may be the first time it's ever been performed professionally, though the history is fuzzy on that. It is also interesting because of the certain collaboration with Agnes Boulton O'Neill, the playwright's second wife. Special interview and background opportunities are available the first weekend which are detailed in your invitation below. O'Neill family members and Dave King, the biographer also are available to you on Saturday, though there is no party.

A young woman presses a pistol to her body, and a shot rings out as the curtain descends. And that's just the beginning of "Now I Ask You," an early O'Neill play, one of his very few comedies, and a look at the world of the privileged class at the turn of the 20th century.

Lucy Ashleigh and Tom Drayton are engaged, though Lucy's pursuit of the latest intellectual fads has led her to think that marriage is slavery while free love offers the only true relationship between man and woman. But, Lucy's bourgeois origins offer a conflicting view of unlicensed sex, so they marry after all, with Lucy's mother as Tom's guide in the quest for the true Lucy, whom Mrs. Ashleigh believes has the kind of "young, wild spirit" that in the end will make a difference.

Soon, the newlyweds receive a visit from Leonora Barnes, an artist, and Gabriel Barnes, a poet, who present themselves as Bohemians living as enlightened lovers in Greenwich Village - just the sort of life Lucy's neo-intellectualism finds right and true. The relationships among the four lead to misguided trysting, quarrels, retaliation, boredom and remorse until, a young woman presses a pistol to her body, and a shot rings out. . . . .

Cast: Robert Ashton as Mr. Ashleigh, Ben Ritchie as Tom, Sarajane Alverson as Leo, Katie McGee as Lucy, Alan David as Gabriel, and Andra Harkins as Mrs. Ashleigh.