Welded, Director

The January 2022 production of Welded by Eugene O’Neill took on a life of its own in 2022. First produced at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley in Danville, CA, it went on to be the featured event on the opening night of the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland in October 2022. The January incarnation  was staged for an intimate 50-seat house and relied on spotlighting and the use of actors as audience to tell the story. In New Ross, the play was reimagined for the large proscenium space of the St. Michael’s Theatre and was explored through sound. The play became more like a lyrical dance piece which leaned further into symbolism.The marital crisis at the center of the play retained the intensity of the first production, but the emotions of the play were more sweeping with the heightened importance of sound and movement.

In November and December of 2022, Welded was filmed in the intimate space of the old barn at Tao House. A neutral stage space (or nowhere space) strategy was employed to emphasize that the story was about relationship and emotion and not about place. With the filming, lighting, and in particular the use of shadows, became important again to highlight the internal life, the emotional journeys, within the play. The film was released in the spring of 2023 and can be viewed on this website.