onomatopoeia productions presents

a workshop production of…

Hughie

by Eugene O’Neill

Running April 18th-21st at The Basement

3rd and Broad St. Richmond

This workshop production of Hughie is a direct result of the passions kindled in Cadence Theatre’s Unstaged Adult Acting Classes taught by Rusty Wilson. Students Otto Konrad and Will Dunlap wanted to continue working after their sessions ended, and asked Rusty to suggest a vehicle for them to continue their training process. Hughie fit the bill perfectly, giving Otto and Will the opportunity to continue training, only now in a production/performance context.

Hughie is one of O’Neill’s last works, and one of his best. It was originally intended as part of a series of short plays, but it became the lone survivor when O’Neill destroyed the others. It did not receive its American premier until twenty years after its composition and ten years after the author’s death.

Hughie is set in the small lobby of a seedy Times Square hotel early one morning in the late 1920’s. Its characters are the hotel’s gray, withdrawn night clerk and “Erie” Smith, a small-time gambler who has spent most of his last fifteen years at the hotel between periods of drunkenness. His most recent bender was prompted by the death of the title character, who was the night clerk’s predecessor. Erie babbles through tales of his life’s imaginary successes, as well as his panicky optimism towards the futile future.

Hughie is directed by Rusty Wilson and features Otto Konrad as “Erie” Smith and Will Dunlap as the Night Clerk. Set design is by Vinnie Gonzales, and stage management/lights by Crimson Piazza.

Featured Musical Guests: The John Winn Jazz Trio.

Running time is 50 minutes with no intermission

Tickets are $25.

To purchase tickets, please go online to https://tinyurl.com/hughieshow

4/18-20:

Doors open at 7pm and music begins at 7:15pm. There is a cash bar, and the show begins at 8pm.

4/21:

Doors open at 2pm and music begins at 2:15pm. There is a cash bar and the show begins at 3pm.

Please join us at the bar for more drinks and jazz after the show!