IDEOLOGICAL READINGS OF EUGENE O'NEILL'S PLAYS ANNA CHRISTIE AND DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS IN SLOVENE THEATRES BEFORE AND AFTER WORLD WAR II

After the initial fiasco of Eugene O'Neill's plays Anna Christie and Desire Under the Elms in interbellum Slovenia, the post-war years brought the author a critical and public rehabilitation. However, O'Neill's sudden popularity proved a double-edged sword. The subject-matter of his plays was abused for the promotion of Socialist Realism and the establishment of the post-war Communist regime. Stage directors were compelled to distort the artistic truth and present the idea of each play according to the requirements of the current political agenda. This paper discusses and explains the critical and public reception of these plays in the light of the political, social and literary conditions in Slovenia between 1926 and 1963.