Breaking Through Bars: The Bold Vision Behind Oracle Theatre’s The Hairy Ape

HowlRound: Written in 1922, Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape is a brilliantly expressionistic play significant in early American Theatre history, yet easily forgotten about over time. However, Chicago’s Oracle Theatre recently lifted the play from its dusty anthology, breathing vital new life into The Hairy Ape. O’Neill wrote the play as a fundamental condemnation of class separation. With the Oracle’s remount, director Monty Cole adds a layer of modern depth by using an all-black cast. The result is a production that conjures both Clifford Odets and Ralph Ellison, a dynamic assessment of both class and race structure.