The Hairy Ape

by Eugene O’Neill

Center for Performing Arts, Minneapolis, MN
November 10 to 18, 2023

Production Team

Paul Epton, Joni Griffith, Lily Jones, Micah Kopecky, and Jim Peitzman

Directed by Kym Longhi

A new adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s classic explores the connections between the rage of the working class, the need for belonging and the nihilism of MAGA world. It speaks with eerie resonance of the world in 2023 as much as when it was written in 1922.

Yank is a soot-blackened laborer who works all day to fuel the steamship that carries elite passengers. Yank struggles to understand who he is and where he belongs. Inspired by the equality proposed in the Declaration of Independence, Yank believes he’s the equal of anyone. But a devastating encounter suggests otherwise. His search for belonging and dignity becomes a journey of alienation that leads him to a startling conclusion.

O’Neill’s lyrical prose combined with Combustible Company’s powerful physical ensemble will transport you from the fiery bowels of a steamship in 1922 through time to our present day.