The following is the official dramaturg's note from the program.
As Desire Under the Elms begins, “Eben Cabot enters, […] puts his hands on his hips and stares up at the sky. He sighs with a puzzled awe and blurts out with halting appreciation. ‘God! Purty!’” Eben enters the play bearing the troubles of the world on his back. He is haunted by the loss of his mother, torn between two cultures, and facing insurmountable economic hardship. And yet, his burdens momentarily drop away in the face of such a breathtaking landscape. This is the devastating world that Eugene O’Neill paints for us. In this production, we have moved the setting to 1928 in the Ozark Mountains. Director Randy Reinholz hails from this area and sees a connection between the Missouri he knows and O’Neill’s portrayal of a community affected by poverty. In this town, we find that from extreme poverty comes extreme cruelty. Eben demonstrates and defines the constant conflict between life’s harshness and its beauty, what is hard and what is soft. As you watch, you will see the cycles of abuse, greed, and poverty as people try to hold on to their culture. If it is not possible to find a balance between tradition and a more just world, then we are fated to repeat our mistakes. The characters in our play walk that fine line.
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