A Park Avenue Armory and Old Vic London Production

The Hairy Ape

Eugene O'Neill
Richard Jones
Bobby Cannavale

A Park Avenue Armory and Old Vic London Production

The Hairy Ape

Eugene O'Neill
Richard Jones
Bobby Cannavale

March 25, 2017 - April 22, 2017

Wade Thompson Drill Hall

Written in 1921 by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill, this iconic piece of expressionist drama is a searing social commentary of the divide between the rich and poor in the industrial age. This timeless story of class and identity gets a thrilling new life in a production by visionary director Richard Jones, who boldly reimagines his acclaimed staging at The Old Vic for the soaring Wade Thompson Drill Hall.

Tony-nominated actor Bobby Cannavale stars as Yank, the unthinking laborer who embarks on a search for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the wealthy. His journey from the bowels of a transatlantic ocean liner to the wealthy neighborhoods of New York society literally revolves around the audience like the conveyer belt of a larger machine, serving as a metaphor for the struggle between the working man and the industrial complex found at the heart of the play. This fresh approach creates an inventive and contemporary rallying cry addressed as much to our own gilded age as to O’Neill’s that rattles the cages of capitalism.

Performances

Tuesday–Thursday at 7:30pm
Friday at 8:00pm
Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm
Sunday at 2:00pm
Wednesday at 2:00pm
   and 7:30pm (April 12 and 19)

Run Time

This performance is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.

“mesmerizing…ravishing…But this production also rings with the primal pain of a working-class American who, once stripped of the identity of his job, discovers he belongs nowhere.”

The New York Times

“‘The Hairy Ape’ at the Park Avenue Armory Is Eugene O’Neill At His Most Epic…as staged in the 55,000 square foot space of NYC’s Park Avenue Armory, [it] is a work of art: a painting, or a puppet show perhaps. You don’t see it, so much as sink into it…It is not possible to look away, even for a moment.​”

The Daily Beast

Gallery

  • Chris Bannow (Long, Ensemble) and Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    1/13

  • Mark Junek (2nd Officer, ensemble) and Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    2/13

  • Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    3/13

  •  David Costabile (Paddy, ensemble) and members of the cast of Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    4/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") and members of the cast of Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    5/13

  • Catherine Combs (Mildred Douglas, ensemble) in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    6/13

  •  Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") and members of the cast of Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    7/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") and members of the cast of Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    8/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") and members of the cast of Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    9/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    10/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    11/13

  • Bobby Cannavale (Robert Smith "Yank") and Phil Hill (Gorilla, ensemble) in Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    12/13

  • Richard Jones' production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape at Park Avenue Armory.
    Photo: Stephanie Berger

    13/13

Related Videos

  • Teaser | The Hairy Ape

    1/3

  • Richard Jones and Bobby Cannavale Discuss Eugene O'Neill's Expressionist Drama | The Hairy Ape

    2/3

  • Bobby Cannavale on Playing "Yank" | The Hairy Ape

    3/3

Artists & Creatives

  • Playwright

    Eugene O'Neill

  • Director

    Richard Jones

  • Yank

    Bobby Cannavale

  • Designer

    Stewart Laing

  • Choreographer

    Aletta Collins

  • Lighting Designer

    Mimi Jordan Sherin

  • Composer and Sound Designer

    Sarah Angliss

Related Events

Friday, March 31, 2017 at 6:00pm

A "Hairy Ape" for the 21st Century: Artist Talk

The Hairy Ape director Richard Jones, Bobby Cannavale, and Robert M. Dowling (Eugene O’Neill scholar and Professor of English, Central Connecticut State University) discuss the challenges of presenting Eugene O’Neill’s play nearly 100 years after its first production by the Provincetown Players in 1922.

Friday, April 14, 2017 at 6:00pm

"The Hairy Ape" and New York City: Class and Identity

Catherine Combs (“Mildred”), Valerie Paley (Chief Historian at the New-York Historical Society), and Erika Rundle (Associate Professor in Theater Arts and Gender Studies at Mount Holyoke College) discuss The Hairy Ape’s intersecting forces of class, gender, and identity—issues that continue to entangle the social fabric of New York City today.